“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'” (John 11:25-26, BSB).

Yes, Lord. I believe that Ray has never been more alive than at the moment on Jan. 4 when his faith became sight, and he saw You face to face. Yet I remember that at the tomb of Lazarus You, too, believed, and yet You wept. While I’ve read many of the well-deserved tributes to Ray given by Christian leaders worldwide, all I have been able to do is weep.

Yet I, too, want to give tribute:

Ray was saved as a child through my father’s ministry, which made him in a unique way my spiritual brother. I first met him when his wife, Vicki, was the office manager for our “Just Give Me Jesus/San Diego” revival in 2000. Since that day, he and Vicki have become two of my very dearest friends. Ray accepted me for the person that I am and supported me fully in the ministry to which God has called me. At least once a year, he invited me to preach at Maranatha. In the last conversation I had with him, he extended once again an invitation to preach at Maranatha in the new year.

Ray helped me lead my Prayer and Prophecy Tour of Israel in 2018. The 200 people on tour fell in love with him for his wisdom, insight into Scripture, encouraging words and passionate love for God’s people and God’s land.

During my cancer journey, he and Vicki tracked closely and carried me on their knees. Since I was restricted to the home, I began joining the Sunday morning service at Maranatha Chapel online. I was so blessed that I asked him if he would accept me into membership. After prayer, he agreed. I met with his leadership team, shared my testimony and was taken into full membership. Ray Bentley was my pastor in every sense of the word. I told him that not since I was a young girl had I been shepherded by a pastor as he shepherded me.

Every two weeks or so he would call just to check in, then pray over me. He reached out to each of my three children, and they reached out to him for his prayers and wisdom. In the last four years, his loving reach has extended to my grandchildren. He gave them his cell number so they could text him their prayer needs and concerns. Which they did. He has ministered to them, prayed for them, counseled them and encouraged them.

And now … Ray is with Jesus. While I truly rejoice for him, knowing that there is no place he would rather be, the emptiness inside that I feel is reverberating through my family. Who will pray for us? Encourage us? Love and accept us as Ray did? If my sense of loss is severe, I can hardly bear to think of the devastating grief breaking the hearts of beloved Vicki and their own family.

So, this is my humble request. Would you please pray for Vicki and Ray’s family? For Maranatha Chapel in San Diego? And for me and my family? Pray for God’s comfort, of course, but also for a strong sense of purpose. God has left us here because He has more “fruitful labor” for us ({Phil. 1:22). Pray that each of us will make each day count, bear much eternal fruit and finish strong—for the glory of God—and as living tributes to Ray Bentley.

Maranatha! Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Editor’s Note: Watch the video of Pastor Ray Bentley’s memorial service above or at this link. Anne Graham Lotz’s tribute begins at 13:08. {eoa}

This article originally appeared at annegrahamlotz.org.

Called “the best preacher in the family” by her father, Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz speaks around the globe with the wisdom and authority of years spent studying God’s Word. The New York Times named Anne one of the five most influential evangelists of her generation. She’s been profiled on 60 Minutes and has appeared on TV programs such as Larry King Live, Today and Hannity Live. Her Just Give Me Jesus revivals have been held in more than 30 cities in 12 different countries to hundreds of thousands of attendees. She is also a best-selling and award-winning author. Her most recent releases are The Light of His Presence, Jesus in Me, The Daniel Prayer, Wounded by God’s People, Fixing My Eyes on Jesus, Expecting to See Jesus and her first children’s book, Heaven: God’s Promise for Me.

International House of Prayer Kansas City’s Mike Bickle is convinced that the five chapters in the Bible between John 13 and John 17 are extremely critical for believers to digest during these chaotic and uncertain times in human history. He’s so convinced of the power of Jesus’ words in these chapters that he has devoted more than half a year of study of these Scriptures, 20 to 30 hours a week, he says.

They are important to the body, yet Bickle says many believers who study them don’t take them to heart or put them into action. John chapters 13 through 17 gives an account of the upper room gathering between Jesus and His disciples on the night before He was crucified.

“John 13 through 17 is the greatest teaching by the greatest teacher for the greatest time in history,” Bickle says. “The Lord really struck me with this—intensely. There is nothing in all of the Bible that equals those five chapters. Jesus is unpacking His heart at the deepest level right before He dies. Many people agree that John 13 through 17 are their favorite chapters in the Bible. But almost nobody studies them intensely or does anything with them.”

I just wanted to share a word of encouragement with you. I just love these words of encouragement.

We get such good feedback. People say, “Wow, I really needed to hear that today.” Well, I’m going to tell you a little secret. Sometimes, it’s just a spur of the moment kind of prophecy, but I get really encouraged too. I’m like, “Wow!”

Even as I’m prophesying it, I’m going, “Well, thank you, Holy Spirit. That’s really good.” Some of you don’t know but preachers often preach to themselves, even from the pulpit. They’ll say things and the Holy Spirit will start inspiring them, and it’s like, “Oh, my soul really needed to hear that.”

Controversial Pastor Greg Locke has made good on his pledge to hold a “burning service,” with his congregation reportedly coming together Wednesday night to torch Ouija boards, copies of Harry Potter and other items.

Locke, the Global Vision Bible Church pastor in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, posted a video on his Facebook page last night that started with worship and preaching and ended with a massive fire held at the church.

“The devil doesn’t win,” Locke proclaimed at the start of the video. {eoa}

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The Bible’s New Testament warns of the “mark of the beast”—a key sign of the end times before Christ returns. But how can Christians recognize the mark when it becomes reality?

In a recent video on YouTube, Evangelist Ray Comfort examines that question by looking at Revelation 13:16-17 (NKJV): “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

In the video, Comfort, the founder of Living Waters Publications and the ministry The Way of the Master, explains the mark is not a vaccine or a virus.

“But the Scripture gives us the reason for the mark: It is for commerce. Those who don’t have the mark will not be able to buy or sell,” the Bellflower, California-based preacher said.

To read the rest of this story, please visit our content partners at CBN News. {eoa}

n early 2020, two months before I ever heard the word coronavirus, I stopped at a convenience store near my home in LaGrange, Georgia, to fill up my gas tank. When I went inside to purchase a few items, I noticed the clerk at the cash register had a thick Indian accent. “What part of India are you from?” I asked the man, who looked as if he were in his late 40s.

The man seemed surprised that I knew his ethnicity. He asked: “You know India?”

I told him I had visited there four times and that I had good friends in several cities in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

I had a vision of Jesus presenting me with a key ring with three keys on it: one gold, one silver and one bronze (or dark/ancient-looking). He said, “Use these to go unlock the ‘more.'” As I waited, I heard Him say, “I want to unlock more in you so I can unlock more for you, then unlock more through you!”

I knew these were keys that the ekklesia would need to unlock things for the new season: to unlock authority, unlock the heavens, the earth, resources, favor and so on. Each key had a specific purpose, which we will discuss in just a moment. This means that certain things, which have been locked up and inaccessible, are being made accessible when the kkklesia rightly uses their keys. It means closed gates are being opened so the King of glory can come in.

The Keeper of the Keys

Jesus gave us one of the most significant passages of Scripture regarding our kingdom authority as the ekklesia and the keys we would use to perform the duties of our office. In Matthew 16:18-19 (MEV), He said, “…You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church (ekklesia), and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

As we continue into 2022, the Lord has strongly placed on my heart words for this year and beyond, which I have had the privilege of submitting to our prophetic council (Australian Prophetic Council) and sharing at our recent Australian Prophetic Summit. These words are invitations to take hold of and pray for! I hope they bless and encourage you and stir your heart to partner with all that He has planned.

Awakening Hunger for More

“…’Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord of hosts.'” (Zach. 4:6, emphasis added)

I believe we are going to experience and see an increased move of the Holy Spirit like never before. Life-changing encounters with Holy Spirit will cause people to wake up from the dead … from their slumber (Ezek. 37:9). It will bring awakening, revival and a hunger for more. We will be carriers of His glory: walking in boldness, releasing His love and reflecting His glory on this earth. {eoa}

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The Spirit of the living God would say to you this day,

Dead bones must rise again! Shake off the sleep and the slumber. Press toward the mark of our high calling. Unleash the resurrection power of My Spirit within you. No longer be timid and shy. You have entered into a time when there is no turning back for My beloved—My church.

I have empowered you for this time, this day and this moment. No longer will you remain silent as the world passes away. I have given you a voice; it is time to lift it up and use it for My glory.

Reject the lukewarm waters that are trying to consume you. Refresh yourself with the coolness of My Spirit. And as you quickly refresh, for the time is ever so short, allow the living water within you to heat up until it boils over to all those around you. You have no time to lap in the vomit of passiveness.

That same Spirit that raised Me, the living Christ, from the dead lives within you and is warming up the dead bones—and as you surrender to this life-giving power of Mine, those dead bones will come back to life again.

I am the one whom you want to reach out and touch. And as you do—I will be there to meet you with all power in this last hour. It is time for My people who are called by My name to rise up in the power of My might.

And what is my name? I Am the great I Am. I Am the Messiah—the one true Savior of this world. I bled and died for you because of My great passion for you. You are created in My image, and I am passionate about My Father. And I am passionate for My beloved bride—the church. And you are created to be passionate about Me and My Father.

Although the attacks are strong, My Spirit within you is even stronger. Rise up! Leave that fear behind you. Take courage in knowing that you do not fight this battle alone, for I fight for you. This battle belongs to Me, and you are My mighty warrior destined to conquer, not be conquered.

I call forth the dead bones within the body to rise up with My power as your strength. I call forth a refreshing to the new person within you. I command you to forsake the past, no longer look back with longing for what once was, but stand for hope of My soon return.

Be not afraid in these last days but be strong and courageous. Know that your faith is your shield. And My Word is your sword. The end is predetermined—and you are created to win.

All creation is ready, and the heavens and the earth are beckoning Me to raise up the church in this great hour. I have created you to release My power among the lost inhabitants of this earth. For it is passing away, and it must for My new heaven and the new earth to manifest. Release the kingdom of God on this earth. It’s time; position yourself with My Spirit.

All hell is about to break out. You think, It’s time to run and hide. And I say, “No! it’s not time to run and hide. It’s time for My beloved bride—my church—to allow My resurrection power of life to cause those dead bones to arise.”

Surrender your spirit, soul and body unto Me—allow Me to fight through you.

Thus says the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. {eoa}

This article originally appeared at authorbeckydvorak.com.

This excerpt is a prophetic word taken from The Waves of Healing Glory, chapter 11, “The Church is Breaking Out!”

Becky Dvorak is a dynamic preacher of the gospel, healing evangelist, prophetess to the nations, Destiny Image author and host of the powerful teaching program, Empowered for Healing and Miracles, featured globally on the It’s Supernatural! Network on ISN. She conducts healing services, seminars and conferences globally.

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For many years now on Rosh Chodesh (the biblical start of a new month), our synagogue family gathers together for family game night. Our fellowship hall fills with the smell of hot pizza and the sound of people being family. As the evening goes on, discussions begin to take place. Hearts begin to open up. Needs, hurts and fears that have been bottled up inside bubble up to the surface and are shared without fear of rejection of judgment. Those who need prayer, uplifting and encouraging receive it, and people leave knowing how to pray and who to pray for.

As we play these games, people will begin to have discussions and many will start to open up about their family, their jobs, their hopes. Over the past few years, a real topic of discussion has been their fears. Over the past few years, so many people in our communities have dealt with such significant losses. However, many of them have kept their feelings bottled up inside, partially out of fear of personal failure and partially because of terrible teaching that tells people that if they are having a problem of any kind it is the result of their sin. This horrible doctrine, which instead of preaching the delivering power of G-D, joins the adversary, Satan, as he screams accusations at the children of G-D.

During one of these family game nights, I began to think about the Exodus story and when Moses was leading the children of Israel out of Egypt. The people find themselves between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea. As they realize their predicament and begin to complain to Moses, we read:

“They said to Moses, ‘Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why have you dealt this way with us, to bring us out of Egypt? Did we not say to you in Egypt, “Let us alone, so that we may serve the Egyptians?” It was better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!'” (Ex. 14:11-12, TLV).

Moses provides a response to them in the next verses:

“But Moses said to the people, ‘Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and see the salvation of Adonai, which He will perform for you today. You have seen the Egyptians today, but you will never see them again, ever! ”Adonai will fight for you, while you hold your peace'” (Ex. 14:13-14).

In the very next verse, G-D seems to respond to Moses, however we only see G-D’s response to Moses. We don’t actually know what Moses said that brought about G-D’s response:

“Then Adonai said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying to Me? Tell Bnei-Yisrael to go forward. Lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. Then Bnei-Yisrael will go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.'” (Ex. 14:15-16).

As I thought about these verses, I noticed three things:

1. The children of Israel were being honest in their fears based upon their reality, just as those who are struggling with their present situation are being honest with their fears today. The truth is, if we are honest, many of us have felt as if the Egyptian army were behind us and the sea in front of us, and when we turned to our leaders, they were just as perplexed and fearful of our circumstances as we were.

2. Moses responded exactly as too many rabbis and pastors responded over the past few years: Don’t be afraid; Stand still; Watch what G-D is going to do; The victory is ours; and many other cliches and platitudes. However, while Moses was speaking “faith” to the children of Israel, it appears from G-D’s reply that he was whining to G-D with the same level of disbelief that the people were expressing to him.

3. G-D’s response to Moses is so important and often mistaught. Look closely at what G-D says. He doesn’t tell Moses the things Moses told the people. G-D doesn’t say, ” “Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and see the salvation of Adonai, which He will perform for you today.” Not at all. G-D tells Moses to stop crying to Him and to tell the children of Israel to go forward. G-D actually tells Moses to tell the people the opposite of what Moses told them. G-D’s instructions continue by telling Moses to lift his staff, stretch out his hand over the sea and divide it.

Contrary to the teaching of Moses and many rabbis and pastors, our response to fearful events in our lives, like those we have experienced over the past few years, is not to “stand still and see the salvation of G-D.”

Rather, our leaders should be stepping forward in faith and telling all those in the body of believers to move forward in faith.

One last but important thing to note is that G-D didn’t tell Moses to chastise the people for their fear and unbelief. G-D didn’t say, “You guys are stuck in between the army and the sea because of sin in your lives.” G-D told Moses to stop crying to Him and to tell the people of G-D to move forward.

I hope you hear my heart from my words today as I encourage you: Don’t look at the army behind you, don’t look at the sea in front of you and don’t look for someone to blame. Just move forward. I can’t promise that the sea will always part, but I can promise that with each step, you will move closer to G-D’s promise for you. {eoa}

Eric Tokajer is the author of Overcoming Fearlessness, What If Everything You Were Taught About the Ten Commandments Was Wrong?, With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry, #ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer, Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians and Galatians in Context.

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The hugely popular television series The Chosen is the first multi-season story about the life of Jesus Christ. Garnering millions of dollars in support, it has become the top crowd-funded media project of all time.

So far, The Chosen’s worldwide audience has paid it forward to completely fund Seasons One, Two and Three, with the hope of having a fully funded Season Four in 2023.

The series continues to captivate audiences and has even inspired one renowned painter to capture a poignant moment between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

Dallas Jenkins, the show’s writer, producer and director, met with artist Liz Lemon Swindle, who illustrated the powerful “You are mine” scene from Episode One where Mary Magdalene is delivered by Jesus.

“This moment here, without even a close second, [is] the single most important moment in the whole show,” Jenkins said to Swindle. “The whole gospel is encapsulated in this moment. She ran from Him. He met her where she was. He met her in a bar … at her lowest point. He chases her down and then she finally surrenders. Thank you for capturing it,” Jenkins said while holding back tears.

The artist explained why she chose to capture that particular moment on canvas.

“I was her. I’m not wild by any means but I find myself putting a lot of things before Him and just getting busy with life, and He kind of gets set over here until I can get to Him,” Swindle explained. “For me, it really made Him a priority because He made me one. I look at it and think, that could be me at so many different stages in my life. Not just one time, over and over and over.”

To read the rest of this story, please visit our content partners at CBN News. {eoa}

Reprinted with permission from CBN.com. Copyright © 2022 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.

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Leading up to 2022, and even now, I have felt such anticipation about this year. People have asked me one question in a myriad of different ways, but the question is essentially: “Is this year going to go well or will it be like the last two years?”

After sitting with the Lord and letting the dreams, visions and conversations marinate, let me answer this question by simply saying: This year, God’s heart is to see the church rise as the mighty bride she is called to be. We have the authority and we are the rudder of the ship.

Distraction, divisions and sneaky games have cost us our power and effectiveness, and bowing to culture and the media’s lies has silenced our voices … but no more. I pray this doesn’t just give you information for you to add to your “2022 word repertoire,” but that it’s a word which encourages you, shakes you to your bones, ignites your spirit and sends you running into the year with a courageous and undignified roar of righteous vengeance.

Dr. Stella Immanuel: Why This Is a Moment of Destiny for America

I stood there in the bright sunshine on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, head held high and hands clasped confidently in front of me. On either side of me stood other doctors, each of us wearing our white lab coats, each from a different state, trained in a different specialty and with different ethnic and religious backgrounds. A few cottony clouds graced the blue, majestic sky, and behind us a fountain bubbled, symbolizing life and joy—much of which had been drained from our country in the crazy months following the appearance on the world scene of a treatable virus called COVID-19.

Like the other professionals with me, I was proud to be in the capital that July day in 2020 preparing to address the nation because in the midst of a flurry of health-related lies being disseminated in our country regarding the virus, its prevention, and its cure, we—a credible group of board-certified, practicing physicians—were finally going to present the truth. But even we didn’t know how far-reaching our press conference would be.

The Professionals Speak Out

Congressman Ralph Norman of South Carolina bravely introduced our group, which had just held a conference dealing with the reality behind COVID-19 and what those of us on the front lines recommended doing about it. Now, as both physicians and private individuals, we were going public with our professional opinions—opinions that were backed by verifiable results.

The Lord says, “Because there has been no moral outcry on the earth, I have released a cry from the heavens. Who will respond to the cry of their unborn children? How long will the fathers and mothers turn their head[s] in shame and plug their ears while the innocent are still weeping? [Are] there any among you who [have] ears to hear the souls crying out for justice from the cloud, and their blood crying out from the rocks of your nation?

You Are My Supreme Court

“Today I am removing the veil and judging the deaf and dumb spirit that has kept My church, and governing body in the earth, silent and ineffective. I say, ‘You are My Supreme Court’ on the earth in this hour. The era of inaction is over. Does not the watchman move to blow the horn and alarm the city of its coming destruction? Does not the watchman also move into battle to defend the walls when they are breached by the enemy?

“Are My people not the city that I call ‘Zion’? Have I not appointed them as watchmen on the walls of righteousness? From this day forward, if My watchmen do not join in the moral outcry, echoing from the clouds above and the rocks below, truly they will be held to account. {eoa}

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Following are snippets of the top stories featured this week oncharismamag.com. We invite you to visit the links to read the stories in full.

Still recovering from COVID, Pastor Jimmy Evans of Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas, took time last week to share the first three of seven prophetic predictions for 2022. But near the start of his message, he makes a startling confession: “I am not a prophet.”

Evans says he is, however, someone who has studied Bible prophecy for many years. He says the prophetic predictions he shares in this message and an upcoming one, containing the other four predictions, come “straight from Bible prophecy.”

“The No. 1 prophetic prediction I have for this next year is: Things will keep getting worse,” Evans says. “And by that, I mean the birth pains will keep getting harder.”

“Before the birth come the birth pains,” he explains later, adding, “Birth pains don’t get better until something is birthed.”

Watch the rest of the video above or at this link and receive Evans’ words of impartation and exhortation to endure in these end times. {eoa}

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