R. Loren Sandford

On May 9 President Obama finally openly voiced his support for gay marriage. Already he has falsely characterized opposition to abortion as a war on women, thus stating his support for abortion rights and further adding fire to his campaign to ignite gender and class warfare.

Evidence of suppression of Christian expression in the military grows. Under Obamacare, freedom of religion has been abridged in the requirement that our Catholic brethren provide employees with birth control coverage through their health insurance programs. The president's "concession" requiring only the insurance companies to make that provision is no concession at all. The Catholic Church still pays for the service. It makes no difference that we Protestants do not share the Catholic conviction concerning birth control. It would be a mistake to assume that this requirement doesn't touch us. If the Catholic conscience can be overridden in this case in violation of the constitutional separation of church and state, then other religious freedoms for the rest of us can be similarly abridged.

These are not simple differences of political opinion, but are rather issues of morality that matter deeply to God. As America's moment of decision approaches, take note and remember these things, together with much that will yet be revealed in the course of the presidential campaign. Listen carefully to what the candidates and their surrogates say, note what is actually done by both of them and then vote according to your conscience.

It doesn't take a prophetic voice to point out that our nation and our world are in trouble and the trouble we're facing won't go away any time soon. The body of Christ must prepare to stand in the midst of it to exert influence for the kingdom of God—and the clock is ticking. It remains to be seen whether we have adequately prepared spiritually, in attitude or materially for what must come.

By the time many of you receive this, Congress may have found a solution to the current debt-ceiling crisis. The immediate danger may be averted—temporarily.

The real issue, however, isn't the budget, the debt ceiling or anything else, as much as it is a philosophical battle over the direction of the country. This is the root of the intransigence and increasing bitterness exhibited by both parties.

 What’s coming in the next few years? There’s bad news and there’s good news. The prophet Amos in ancient times brought a set of indictments against Israel that read very much like the sins of America and the Western world.

1. They rejected God’s law (Amos 2:4). In many ways too numerous to list here, so have we.

2. They believed in lies concerning false gods and demonic philosophies (Amos 2:4). The list of deceptions in modern times is long and spans a range of doctrines and philosophies, from open theism taught in the church to post-modernistic philosophy dominant in the world around us. The former denies the foreknowledge of God and, by extension, the fullness of His sovereignty; the latter writes God out of the equation altogether. And those are just two examples.

I have hesitated to publish this and have pondered carefully how I might word it in order to avoid contributing to the frenzy of fearmongering that too often passes for the prophetic word these days. Because I value accuracy in the prophetic I don’t like to speak until I am fairly certain of what I’m hearing or sensing.

To the point: We, the United States of America, are headed toward an intense crisis at the presidential level, the outcome of which will determine the direction of this country for a number of years to come.

I have not been alone in hearing from God and issuing a prophetic word that God is moving His people from the age of salvation to the age of the kingdom of God; from a focus on self, personal healing and individual blessing to a focus on demonstrating the power of the kingdom of God beyond the walls of the church for the sake of all those Jesus came to save.

But He has also been calling us deeper into His heart—a message not often proclaimed. Sooner or later, power exercised without the loving heart of the Father results in foolishness and abuse, even when it's heaven's power. The kingdom of God operates on the law of God and the order of God. He is, after all, a King. His law and His order are the expression of His own nature and character.

I recently did a study on the cloud that led Israel through the wilderness and settled over the Tent of Meeting (see Ex. 37). The cloud of glory appears as a visible evidence or sense of the Presence of God, His radiant and sometimes visible goodness. We feel it. Sometimes we see it.

It's the tangible sense of His love and peace. It's the heat or feeling of electricity flowing through you when someone prays for you and you know you're being touched. At our church and others it's also been audible angel song, feathers that fall from the air or angelic instruments we sometimes hear.

Editor's Note: The following word was first published on September 24 as a Prophetic Moments bulletin by R. Loren Sandford, pastor of New Song Fellowship in Denver, Colorado (newsongfellowship.org). Audio and video recordings of Sandford's messages may be purchased on his church's Web site.

In recent weeks I've found I can no longer turn to the History Channel (my favorite) without being confronted with the Nostradamus Effect, the Mayan calendar, the Chinese I'ching or the Christian prophet, Malachy, from the 12th century, each of which has been said to have declared the end of the world in this time period. Even people who don't read their Bibles seem to be focused on the last days.

Editor's Note: The following word was first published on May 26 as a Prophetic Moments bulletin by R. Loren Sandford, pastor of New Song Fellowship in Denver, Colorado (newsongfellowship.org). A full version of this message as preached may be viewed via streaming video at http://media.newsongfellowship.org/090517as.

Recently I've heard prophecies that America has just two to three months to turn things around before the judgment comes. Those voices have it wrong. The two to three months applies to a period of time concerning which the Lord spoke to me at the end of last year, and the judgment is not on America, but on the church in this country.

I want to hit the panic button. I really do, although I suppose my concern is the fruit of spending too much time online with CNN and MSNBC. Like everyone else right now, I must fight off the tsunami wave of fear every day. God intended prophetic ministry for times like these. So here's my own prophetic scorecard, together with a word of exhortation for believers who feel themselves drowning in a sea of bad news.

Over the last year or more I believe I heard the Lord say five clear things, each of which has developed in just the way the Lord told me it would.

At this point in history believers are caught in a tug of war between a demonically inspired blanket of fear designed to neutralize us on the one hand, and the time of our lives in joy and power on the other. Negative prophetic words fail to address the real issues and actually weaken us when we need to be strengthened. Now is the time for us to rise. Now is the time of the fulfillment of promise. Now is the time for our destiny and purpose to become real.

Editor's Note: The word below was shared by R. Loren Sandford, founder and senior pastor of New Song Fellowship in Denver, Colorado, with his congregation in early January as part one of a two-part sermon titled "Prophetic Words for 2009." You can order both parts of the message on CD through the church's Web site (newsongfellowship.org). Sandford is the author of several books, including Understanding Prophetic People and The Prophetic Church (both published by Chosen). In the word, he encourages believers not to fear the future but to look ahead with hope toward all the good things God is going to do in our nation.