Global tensions are beginning to heat up, and end-times expert Michael Snyder says Americans need to wake up the fact that another world war may be on the horizon. Yet some, he says, are living without a care in the world despite the volatile situations between Israel and Iran and China and the U.S.

A global storm, Snyder says, is definitely headed our way.

“It’s kind of quite right now, so a lot of people are using this time to enjoy life, to party and have a good time,” Snyder told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of “Greenelines” on the Charisma Podcast Network. “I really think that right now is a time for preparation. Not just physical preparation but spiritual preparation, getting your house in order and getting things you need to get done for whatever is coming.

“Some, like John Paul Jackson, have described it as a perfect storm—not just political war and geopolitical shaking, but also the economy and the rest of it. Things may be peaceful right now, but I would encourage people to not use this time to party but to prepare to get closer to God than you’ve ever been before.

“So work hard, seek the Lord and draw near to Him, because when shaking comes, that’s an opportunity to do great things for the kingdom of God. It’s going to be a great opportunity to do great exploits for the Lord.”

For the rest of Michael Snyder’s thoughts about global tensions and the upcoming presidential election, listen to the podcast above.

As a mother of 10 and a popular Christian blogger and cultural activist, Elizabeth Johnston has slain a few cultural giants over the past few years. With hundreds of thousands of social media followers, the woman known as the Activist Mommy has crusaded against issues such abortion and gender insanity with some incredible results.

When advising her followers of what they can do to help advance the kingdom of Christ, however, Johnston tells them to start small.

“You don’t just go and slay a giant right out of the ballpark,” Johnston told Dr. Steve Greene in a recent episode of “Greenelines” on the Charisma Podcast Network. “God gives you a bear and a lion to slay first, and then your giant will come. Be faithful in whatever it is that God has laid upon your heart.

“Is it a backyard Bible club for your neighborhood? Is it taking your children out to the abortion clinic and praying? Is it going to city council and telling them that you will not tolerate 200-pound men being in the dressing rooms and locker rooms at your daughter’s … whatever that thing that you’re passionate about, maybe it’s the sex-ed situation at her school, just be faithful in that little thing.

“You will be amazed at how God will use you to change that situation for good, how He will fight on your behalf in the midst of that, no matter what kind of pushback you get. And then let me tell you, He’s going to bless you with some bigger battles if you want to be used even [more mightily] of God. He will bless you, and you’ll be slaying giants before you quit.”

For the rest of the story on how the Activist Mommy slays cultural giants, listen to the podcast below.

I have spent the past five years of my life in a health hurricane, a financial blizzard and a relational disturbance. In the midst of these circumstantial cyclones, I have discovered divine direction and peace as I studied the storms that are recorded on the sacred pages of the Bible.

There is an extraordinary and riveting story found in the closing chapters of the book of Acts that describes a vicious storm on the Mediterranean Sea. Paul was a prisoner on a ship bound for Rome that was being battered by the contrary winds and tumultuous waves of this storm. After more than two weeks of battling the wicked typhoon, this is what the Word of God tells us:

^“Fearing that we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come” (Acts 27:29).

As I read this verse one stormy afternoon, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and directed me to cast four anchors into the water and then wish for daybreak. I wondered to myself, “What are the four anchors that I need to let down?” As expected, the Holy Spirit was quick to answer, and I let down the four anchors that enabled me to withstand the relentless waves and wind of the storm.

1. God’s Word. The first anchor that protects my life from the jagged shoreline of circumstances is the Word of God. The eternal truth, divine wisdom and inherent healing power that are found on the sacred pages of the Bible determine my primary anchor of protection. You will never make it through a storm unscathed unless you willfully choose to open the pages of the Bible and then dive in!

2. Worship. The second anchor that holds my life steady in the appalling monsoons of life is a choice to worship even in the storm. When the tempest is building force on the horizon of my life, and the forecast is deadly—I choose to worship! When the waves of circumstances are threatening to wash over me, and the riptide is threatening to pull me under—I choose to worship! When the shoreline is dangerously rocky, and I am afraid for my very life—I open my mouth and sing!

The choice to throw the anchor of worship deeply into the waters that surround your life is a decision that every believer needs to make at their worst moment in life—will I sing or not?

3. Commitment to prayer. My third anchor is a commitment to prayer. I have found it needful—more times than I can count—to stop talking about my storms and instead start praying about them. Why should I worry about the weather forecast when I serve a God who created the clouds, winds and rain? Why should I cower in fear when my God can speak one word to a storm and cause it to cease in an instant?

Prayer is a place of powerful influence and sweet communion; prayer is the force that makes hell quiver in fear and causes heaven to rise to its feet and joyfully applaud. Eternal, heavenly realities are brought to earth through the participation of believers who are committed to the discipline of prayer.

I have heard it said that “history belongs to those who pray,” and I know that to be true. Prayer is the vehicle through which the greatest work of any of our lives will be accomplished.

4. The Holy Spirit’s power. The Holy Spirit has always been a part of God’s plan for the believer’s life, just as Jesus has been a part of God’s plan for humanity since before the beginning of time. After His Resurrection, Jesus promised that when He went to heaven to be with God the Father, He would send the Holy Spirit to be here on planet Earth with us.

You will never make it through any storm in life, large or small, if you don’t tap into the power of God’s Spirit—and allow yourself to be changed by it! I have discovered that I am unable to get through even the peaceful, ordinary days of life without the Spirit’s power.

These, then, are four deep anchors that can preserve us in any storm: the Word of God, worship, prayer and the Holy Spirit.

Carol McLeod is a bestselling author and popular speaker at women’s conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. She is the author of several books, including StormProof, Guide Your Mind, Guard Your Heart and Grace Your Tongue and Pass the Joy, Please!

For more from Dr. Carol McLeod on facing life’s storms, listen to the podcast included with this article!

Note: This is part 1 of a two-part series.

When we examine the robust church of the book of Acts and the New Testament, we see a community in its nascent form that had much more effectiveness than the contemporary church.

Unfortunately, even a perusal of Christian history will illustrate the fact that, since the first century, much of the activity of the body of Christ took place outside the context of the local church.

The contemporary church is often so weak, to many people, she has been reduced to a Sunday-morning church service and perhaps a midweek service to hear a sermon and utter a few prayers. Furthermore, the solutions to present-day local church challenges is a lot more complex than saying “the answer is a heaven-sent revival” or “we need more prayer”!

Of course, we can always say we need continual flows of revival and renewal fueled by fervent prayer. But even if we experience renewal, it doesn’t take away from the fact that we need several things to refurbish the present-day “gutted” local church.

To make it easier for the reader to have a handle on both the present-day challenges of the church and my proposed solutions, I have collapsed the issues down to 10 key points.

10 Things the Local Church Must Do to Restore Its Fullness

1. Restore leadership development. The early church developed its leadership within the context of the local church. They did not ship a potential leader out to a “Bible college” to learn the Scriptures, since they realized that character development takes place only within the cauldron of the complexity of human interaction and problem solving.

To grant somebody the oversight of a local church merely because they received a master’s degree from a notable seminary is ludicrous! Jesus said that believers would be “perfected in unity” (John 17:23b, NASB) which implies that maturity comes when the glory of God is manifest in our love for one another as we strive for unity in the body of Christ. (In the same way the primary goal Father God has for us in marriage is holiness, not mere happiness). Consequently, lead pastors and elders need to rethink leadership development and reframe it to fit the New Testament pattern, which is home-grown leadership.

2. Restore theological development. “What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem” was a question second-century church father Tertullian asked when the church started flirting with Greek philosophy and mimicked Greek philosophical schools and academies in its attempt to apply the Scriptures to Hellenistic culture. One result of this shift toward Greek philosophy in the second and third centuries is that the local churches eventually shifted serious ordered learning and theological education away from the local church and depended upon “The Academy” to educate their future leaders.

If we want New Testament results related to theological training, we will need to go back to the way of Christ and His apostles. Jesus did not start an academy to disciple the 12; He did life with them and modeled leadership in the context of challenging ministry that took place within the context of His community of followers and through His community of followers to the multitudes surrounding them.

The learned religious leaders of the first century were shocked at the knowledge, power and ability of Peter and John and were amazed at the fact that they were uneducated (they had no formal rabbinic training) and untrained but recognized that they had been with Jesus (see Acts 4:13). Unfortunately, almost 2,000 years later, we still have the same mindset regarding theological education. Most denominations require lead pastors obtain a seminary degree—which often means they live apart from the life of a local church while receiving their formative training in Scripture.

What’s the solution? Should we do away with The Academy altogether? I think we should do away with the practice of qualifying pastors and church overseers with mere knowledge accumulation credentials and perhaps partner with The Academy so that both work hand in hand to develop theologically trained leaders for the sake of His kingdom. Furthermore, I am a strong proponent of church-based theological education, which can also be accredited and provide effective biblical teaching while a prospective leader is serving in their local church. To me, this is the best way, if said local church has the proper teachers and theological resources. If not, they should partner with a theological school to nurture future leadership. (For resources on church-based theological education go to bild.org.)

3. Restore biblical counseling. Nowadays, the average church ships people dealing with emotional issues out to a “professional therapist,” in spite of the fact that said therapist may have not have the shared values of the church and may lack a biblical worldview. I am not against the use of Christian professional counselors and therapists if they partner with the church responsible for shepherding them biblically, however, the local church has forgotten the fact that the gospel alone (that is preached in the local church) has the power to heal the brokenhearted, relieve the oppressed and save one’s spirit, soul and body. (See Isa. 53:4-6, 61:1-3; Luke 4:18,19.)

Hence, there is a need for biblical input and counseling coupled with faith-filled prayer that, if utilized, can reduce the need for much of the therapeutic sessions in some cases. The above is the role, function and part of the primary calling of local church shepherds, elders and leaders. Instead of abandoning this practice to the “professionals,” the church should nurture trained biblical counselors so that life-altering ministry, input and counsel comports with biblical values and the teaching of Scripture. It’s very difficult to properly disciple and shepherd a person if a biblical illiterate therapist gives counsel contrary to the Bible and/or the advice of a mature Christian leader in the local church.

Consequently, God has called the local church either to partner with Christian-based counselors with a good track record, or encourage some of its own leaders to dive deeper into understanding the mind and emotions from a biblical perspective so the church can be holistic and minister to the whole person.

4. Recapture biblical discipleship. Jesus did not command the church to “win souls” but to make disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:19). As a matter of fact, Jesus’ main agenda while on the earth was not ministering to the crowds but pouring into and developing the 12 disciples; hence, His main task that prepared for His ascension and the ensuing birth of the church was to make disciples. This was also the M.O. of the great apostle Paul, who told Timothy to prioritize his time with faithful men with the ability to teach (and reproduce themselves) in others (see 2 Tim. 2:2). This was Paul’s main method for planting the gospel in cities (see Acts 14:21-23).

In spite of this, many local churches merely focus on getting people into their building on Sunday, without a corresponding plan to assimilate, nurture and ground them in the Gospels and the epistles. Not only that, but often local churches feel inadequate to this task, and so they depend upon parachurch ministries to do the hard work of disciple making. Furthermore, even when parachurch organizations partner with local churches, often the discipling curriculum is individualistic and not “member” focused—in spite of the fact that the Scriptures refer to the church as one body and members of one another (see Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:12,13).

Consequently, the solution is for lead pastors and the elders of local churches to reframe their church so that it goes from program-based to people-based. For instance, to stop institutionalizing the call to make disciples but to start having small groups with those who fit the criteria Paul laid out to Timothy (see again 2 Tim. 2:2). This means they need to “do life” with their disciples and not merely do “church services” with them.

This also has huge implications for lead pastors and elders as they have to learn to be transparent with those they pour into, which includes giving them personal access to them and socializing informally with them—and not just theologizing with them. For this, lead pastors and elders need to develop emotional intelligence and not just Bible knowledge. They need to embrace the need for their own spiritual formation and emotional maturity without solely depending upon the pulpit to communicate and project themselves to others. Consequently, having a personal touch is the main ingredient necessary to experience the deep communion necessary for disciple making.

Come back next week as I release the rest of the things the local church must do to restore its fullness. {eoa}

Dr. Joseph Mattera is an internationally known author, interpreter of culture and activist/theologian whose mission is to influence leaders who influence nations. He is renowned for addressing current events through the lens of Scripture by applying biblical truths and offering cogent defenses to today’s postmodern culture. He leads several organizations, including The United Coalition of Apostolic Leaders (uscal.us). He also has a blog on Charisma News called “The Pulse.” To order one of his books or to subscribe to his weekly newsletter, go to josephmattera.org.

For the original article, visit josephmattera.org.

Sometimes having conversations with your kids is the hardest thing in the world. It seems like they just don’t want to communicate at all.

You ask questions only to get back a yes/no answer or a one-word answer that leaves you feeling unsatisfied and disconnected from your child. There are a couple of approaches and questions that I ask my kids every week that get them talking.

Here are a few.

“What’s going on in your life?”

I always try and find out what’s happening in their lives. I’ll ask them questions like:

• “What made you happy this week?”
• “Was there a problem this week that you had to work through?”
• “Was there something that made you sad?”
• “How are you having fun?”
• “Is there anything you think I need to know?”

I always want my kids to know that I am available if they need my help. I always want to give them an opportunity to share with the areas where they are struggling.

These are the questions that I usually ask that stimulate a back-and-forth conversation with my kids.

Sound off: What are your favorite questions to ask your kids each week?

Huddle up with your kids and ask, “What is one thing that made you happy this week? What is one thing that made you sad this week?

For the original article, visit allprodad.com.

Because of my work on the Tree of Life Version of the Bible as a part of the theology team, I am often asked about theology. My immediate response is always the same:

“My theology rests upon one statement: G-D is smart. There is nothing you or I will ever think about that G-D hasn’t already thought before. There is nothing we will ever come to know that He didn’t know already. G-D knows the end from the beginning, and there is no place in time we will ever arrive at that G-D wasn’t already there.”

I follow up this statement by saying that if you want to understand the Bible, there are only two things you need to know. The first is what I just said, that G-D is smart. The second is “Every time men think, they mess up.”

By men I mean mankind, which includes women. In my statement about thinking, I mean every time mankind thinks that they have thought of something G-D might not have thought of yet, it causes catastrophic problems.

Abraham was told to leave all of his family and go to a place that G-D would show him. Abraham thought “It won’t hurt anything if I bring Lot with me.”

The people Noah preached thought “It has never rained before.” Sarah thought “I haven’t had a baby, maybe Abraham should have a child with my servant Hagar.”

David thought “It won’t hurt anything if I stay home instead of leading my army to war.”

Solomon thought “It won’t hurt to have a few wives.”

Moses thought, “It won’t hurt if I hit the rock.”

Each and every one of these thoughts was contrary to G-D’s word and G-D’s promises. It is clear from each one that the person knew G-D’s Word, and yet they thought that their thoughts were better either than G-D’s thoughts or that G-D just had not reasoned the matter through enough to come to their thought.

Ultimately, we as believers spend every day making the choice between two thoughts, G-D’s thoughts or our thoughts. We can choose to either believe G-D is smart and therefore we simply submit to his instructions for our life, or we join the many people throughout history who forget that every time we think, we mess up.

Eric Tokajer is author of 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.

My disposition has been noted on more than one occasion by others and by me.

I love pastors. I respect pastors. I honor pastors.

In the course of a week, someone will note the occasional outlier. They will point out the negatives of pastors. They don’t take care of the members. They are in it for the money. They are dictators and bullies. They don’t lead. And on and on and on.

Of course, anytime you look at nearly 400,000 people, you can certainly find the bad apples in the batch. It seems like some church members make it the goal of their lives to focus on the negatives of pastors. We have a few of those who show up on this blog.

But this one thing I know: most pastors are godly and honorable leaders. They love their church members. They love their communities. They love their families. They love the God they serve.

Are pastors infallible? Of course not. You know as well as I that no pastor is perfect. They will make mistakes. They will have a bad day. They will get frustrated.

Should you, then, disagree with your pastor? Should you confront these leaders with something they have done wrong? Should you point out their omissions? Let me respond by offering 10 guidelines for you to consider.

1. Pray first. OK, this one is obvious. In the heat of the moment, this one can be obviously forgotten too.
2. Understand the frequency of the criticism issue. Look at this example. If your church’s average worship attendance is 100, you likely have around 200 active members (“active” defined loosely). If every church member took the liberty to disagree or criticize the pastor once a year, your pastor would be dealing with a critic two of every three days.
3. Understand the negative magnification issue. If you are disagreeing with or criticizing your pastor, you obviously understand the humanity of pastors. They aren’t perfect people. And though they would hope otherwise, most of them will obsess over your criticism. For many of them, one criticism has a ten times greater impact than one praise or compliment.
4. Make sure it is absolutely necessary. If this issue is one of preference or not getting something your way, drop it. Your criticism will likely do a lot more harm than good.
5. Don’t begin with, “I love you pastor, but …” Most pastors will only hear everything after the “but.” The prefatory phrase will typically be perceived as insincere.
6. Don’t say, “People are saying … “Speak for yourself, not the cowards in anonymity. Any leader should discount or ignore “people are saying” criticisms.
7. Don’t express your disagreement on a Sunday. Don’t criticize pastors right before or after they preach. In fact, hold off all disagreements for a day other than Sunday. If you wait a day or two, the urgency to criticize may go away.
8. Make clear you want to hear the pastor’s perspective. Too many disagreements are pet peeves or personal preferences. If you have a sincere and serious disagreement, you will want to hear the pastor’s perspective. Listen as much as speaking, if not more.
9. Seek to be a part of the solution. Criticizing and stating negatives are easy. Most of us are adept in finding problems. If you really care about your church and your pastor, you will be willing to offer a solution and to be part of the solution.
10. Pray again. If you have made the move toward disagreeing with your pastor, pray after the fact. Pray for your pastor. Pray for yourself. Pray for you words to be received well. Pray for your church.

I was in conversation with a pastor called to ministry from the business world. His call was genuine, I am sure, but he admitted he was a frequent critic of his pastors before he became one.

“I often knew a better way, and I wasn’t hesitant to let my pastors know,” he said. “Now that I am on the other side, I cannot believe how insensitive and even ungodly I was. The life of a pastor is so stressful. If I only knew then …”

Indeed. {eoa}

Thom S. Rainer is the founder and CEO of Church Answers, an online community and resource for church leaders. Prior to founding Church Answers, he served as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Among his greatest joys are his family: his wife, Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam, Art and Jess; and 10 grandchildren. Dr. Rainer can be found on Twitter @ThomRainer and at facebook.com/Thom.S.Rainer.

For the original article, visit thomrainer.com.

Before I begin full disclosure: I have been interested in Joshua Harris since I read his book I Kissed Dating Goodbye many years ago. My interest was not based upon his book, but his willingness to step out against the current status flow and make a stand.

• Read on Charisma News: Joshua Harris: ‘I Am Not a Christian’

I read Joshua’s book because one of my teenagers at my Messianic synagogue handed it to me. After reading the book, my youth leaders used it as a study guide for a series on relationships.

First, let me share the similarities between Yeshua and Joshua Harris:

• They both share forms of the same name.
• They were both young men.
• They both stood up against the unbiblical flow within their faith systems.
• They both provided instructions from the Bible.
• They both were rejected by many of the religious leaders of their day.
• They both were followed by people who wanted G-D’s blessings in their life.
• They both were attacked because of what they taught.
• They both had what they said misquoted and misapplied.
• They both had large groups of people who blamed their problems on the books they promoted.
• They both were blamed for the failures of others.

The truth is that there is almost nothing that has been criticized about Joshua’s books that the same criticisms are not made concerning the Bible.

With all of these similarities between Joshua and Yeshua, what then is the difference?

The difference is that when Yeshua’s words were misquoted and misapplied, and when Yeshua was blamed for the difficulties in the lives of those who claimed to follow His teachings, Yeshua didn’t believe those lies and didn’t accept the guilt people were laying upon Him.

I read where someone wrote that they followed Joshua’s instructions, and their whole life was destroyed. They married the person they believed was their “perfect partner,” and they expected that because they did what the book said, everything would be perfect. And when it wasn’t perfect, they blamed Joshua and “that book.”

Joshua taught that if they followed biblical precepts that they would have a blessed life, just as the Bible says that if we follow G-D’s precepts, we will have blessed lives. But, and this is a big caveat, we must actually follow G-D’s precepts. Those complaining said they missed out on choices because they waited for the “right people” or that they believed their sex life would be perfect and magical because they waited for the right person.

The complaints are many and varied, and each one puts the blame of bad relationships, failed marriages, poor sex lives and so on all on Joshua’s book. If only they had not read the book, everything would have been perfect. The problem wasn’t Joshua’s book; it was people’s unrealistic expectations of perfection. What they forgot was that even the most perceived perfect husband or wife is still an imperfect person.

Last night, I read that Joshua no longer proclaims he is a Christian, and I am praying for him. I hope every one of you will also.

Imagine the burden of guilt he has been carrying from the thousands of people that blame him for every failed relationship they had “because they read his book.” Please pray that Joshua would remember that he didn’t invent purity and holiness within relationships, and that he will begin to reject that burden of guilt.

What Joshua must remember and realize is that it is not his fault if people didn’t follow the holy book (the Bible) that his book instructed them to follow. {eoa}

Eric Tokajer is author of 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.

I prophesy unexpected upgrades. Expect them. You won’t see them coming, but expect the unexpected upgrades anyway because your expectation shall not be cut off (Prov. 23:18).

We get what we expect most of the time. If you expect something bad to happen, it usually will. If you expect to have a rotten time at the party, you probably will. If you expect God’s goodness to manifest in your life, it definitely will.

I prophesy unexpected upgrades—and double-portion upgrades. You might not discern the upgrade but be assured God has your advancement in mind. Consider the upgrade reasonable, given the trial you’ve walked through, and look forward to it. Your expectation shall not be cut off.

Patricia King prophesied upgrade at Cindy Jacobs’ Deborah’s women in leadership gathering in Washington, D.C. I heard it, and it resonated with my spirit. I did not know I would have a phone call two days later with Patricia in which she would prophesy upgrade personally over my life. What has manifested is a double-portion upgrade.

Launching a New Season

Indeed, I just experienced an unexpected double-portion upgrade that launched a new season in my life that I didn’t see coming. This is biblical. We see a number of people in the Bible who received a prophetic word that led to an unexpected upgrade.

Consider Amos. He was in the field tending sheep when God called Him to be a prophet. Amos certainly did not see it coming, and he chronicled the unexpected upgrade: “But the Lord took me away from the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel'” (Amos 7:15).

What about Jeremiah? He was just a youth who loved the Lord when God encountered Him and upgraded him unexpectedly: “Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you were born I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’ Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly, I cannot speak, for I am a youth'” (Jer. 1:4-6).

Both Saul and David experienced unexpected upgrades from common Israelites to kingship. The disciples were fishers and tax collectors, and they were unexpectedly upgraded to apostles. In the upper room while waiting on the Holy Spirit, Matthias was suddenly upgraded to be one of the 12 apostles who would witness to the life, death and resurrection of Christ (see Acts 1:23-26).

Elisha’s Double-Portion Upgrade

Remember Elisha? Let’s look at this story a little more closely. After Elijah defeated the false prophets at Mount Carmel, Jezebel threatened him and he ran, hid himself in a cave and slept. When he arose, God told him to anoint Elisha to be prophet in his place. Let’s read 1 Kings 19:19-21:

So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him and he with the twelfth, and Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak on him. He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you.”

And he said to him, “Go back, for what have I done to you?”

So he returned from following him and took a yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes from the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he got up and went after Elijah and ministered to him.

Don’t Chase the Upgrade

Notice that Elisha went after Elijah. In this season, some will receive a double-portion upgrade. Those who go after God and minister to Him are in line for an unexpected upgrade. It’s not about chasing a mantle or a blessing, it’s about chasing God. Remember Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you.”

Elisha wanted the double-portion upgrade and asked for it, but he continued to posture his heart as a servant to the man who cast his mantle upon him. In other words, he wasn’t an opportunist seeking an upgrade on someone else’s back. He wanted to make an impact, and he waited his turn while serving in humility.

Remember, Matthew 23:12, “For he who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” And again, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Pet. 5:6). For many, the time is coming near for the upgrade—and for some a double-portion upgrade.

You can listen to the prayer broadcast where the prophecy broke out here.

Jennifer LeClaire is the former editor of Charisma magazine and the founder of Jennifer LeClaire Ministries. She is the author of books like Becoming a Next-Level Prophet, 101 Tactics for Spiritual Warfare, Waging Prophetic Warfare, Decoding Your Dreams and Defeating Water Spirits.

Jonathan Cahn watches the news, and he’s well aware of the vicious attacks on God’s people in these end times. Yet Cahn also knows the eventual outcome, and he wants believers to know how they can live confidently in Christ in the face of today’s ungodly culture.

In his new book, The Oracle, Cahn reveals that, because the world is returning to its pagan roots, the church must also return to its roots as chronicled in the book of Acts. For the believer, he says, the mysteries surrounding the future will be glorious.

“When these mysteries are revealed, people are going to be blown away,” Cahn says. “People are going to see how incredibly real God is in their life, and that nothing in the world is so out of control. They are on the winning side. God is amazingly awesome, and He has an inheritance for you and a redemption for you that is yet to come. …

“God is the God of restoration, and He’s the God of bringing you to greater things. You can go through your life with confidence and power. The world is returning to where it was before with its anti-Christian values, and so must the church return to where it was at the beginning. …

“And all these mysteries of return are leading up to one return. There is one last Jubilee and return, and that is the Jubilee return of the Messiah. All these mysteries are leading up to that return.”

For more of Jonathan Cahn’s revelations about the end times, please listen to the podcast below.