If you want to see what the Holy Spirit is doing worldwide, you do not want to miss these four movies—”Almost Holy,” “Mully,” “Free Burma Rangers” and “Emanuel.”

Each one is unique in its relevance for today and an inspiration to believers worldwide.

‘Almost Holy’

With the world’s focus on Ukraine, this film is more relevant today than when it was released in 2015. Steve Hoover’s documentary ruthlessly paints the city of Mariupol, Ukraine, as it was in the early 2000s post-communist aftermath of the Soviet Union’s fall. The lens of the story centers on Pentecostal pastor-turned-vigilante Gennadiy Mokhnenko. He kidnaps street kids and adopts them, forces kids into drug rehabilitation, punches pedophiles and shuts down drug-dealing pharmacists.

Mokhnenko’s critics in Ukraine call him a vigilante, arguing that his “actions can end badly.” When he’s accused of taking the law into his own hands, he simply replies, “I do,” and adds, “And despite that, God strengthened my fist in the process.”

While exposing a cesspool of corruption in Ukraine’s institutions and mourning an inevitable war with Russia, “Almost Holy” honestly blends the hope and heartbreak of a pastor who cares about Ukrainian street kids.

IMDB gives the film a 7.5 out of 10. I give it a 10.

You can watch the film here.

‘Mully’

It’s hard to write a review of a film whose story seems so impossible only God could write it. For me it’s a little like reviewing the Bible. While I’m not comparing this film to Scripture, I am saying that if you want to believe nothing is impossible with God, watch this movie!

As a young Kenyan boy, Charles Mully woke up in his hut to find that his family had abandoned him. For 10 years, he begged on the streets to survive. “I became hard,” Mully says. “I became full of hatred. I became a street boy.” He hated his life and wanted to commit suicide.

At Mully’s lowest point, a young man invited him to a church for prayer and fellowship. During the service, he heard the preacher say, “Work hard, and by faith, there is nothing impossible before God.”

And that’s where the story begins. It would be easy to recount every twisting detail and every miracle that happened along the way, but I want you to see this documentary for yourself.

IMDB gives it an 8.1 I give it a 10.

You can watch the film here.

‘Free Burma Rangers’

“Pray with faith. Act with courage. Never surrender.” This motto drives a team of rangers who provide medical assistance to and document the stories of indigenous people targeted by the Burmese government for genocide. Led by David Eubank, a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer, the Free Burma Rangers are not pacifists. Many of them carry medicine, video cameras and guns.

Because of their constant documentation of war and genocide, the raw grit of this film punched me in the gut with real footage that I will never forget. A man runs behind a tank through gunfire, smoke and the rubble of a city to save a girl who’s hiding under her dead mother’s clothing. A woman wraps an electrical line around her wrist and is dragged over rocks to avoid being shot by ISIS. And a man is shot six times including once in the throat in a rain of enemy bullets. None of it is reenacted.

While the jarring battle and rescue scenes could make Eubank and his team seem like unadulterated heroes, the filmmakers are careful not to make Eubank a cheesy, glorified caricature of himself. Instead, they document the battle raging within him and other members of his team.

Eubank honestly admits in one scene, “I want to kill every Burmese soldier. That’s how I feel.” In another scene, after a little girl is murdered in front of him, he vows to hunt down every member of ISIS, but then he recants his vow after God teaches him the difference between vengeance and justice.

“You know, it would be really simple if the world was just like ‘Lord of the Rings.’ Here’s the humans, and the elves, and the dwarves, and the hobbits, and we’re pretty good. And there’s the evil orcs, and they’re all terrible,” says Eubank. “But in real life, the line of good and evil isn’t between us and other people. As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said … ‘The line is in our hearts—each human’s heart. This is the first battle.'”

Eubank and his team struggle with praying for and forgiving their enemies, but they choose to do it out of submission to God.

Eliya, a medic and one of the rangers, says, “Loving your enemy and praying for your enemy is not easy, but I have to try.” He continues, “That is not easy. Pray for your enemy. Love your enemy. But your enemy will become your friend someday.”

Throughout the movie, I realized when the Free Burma Rangers repeat their motto, it’s not just a motivational axiom. They pray with faith for their friends and enemies. They act with courage in the face of danger. And they never surrender to the enemy or their own hatred.

IMDB gives it a 7.7. I give it a 10.

You can watch the film here.

‘Emanuel’

When Dylann Roof, a white male, entered Mother Emanuel AME Church, the members of the Bible study, all of whom were black, invited him to join. After he sat with them for 30 minutes, the group bowed their heads to pray. When they did, Roof opened fire and killed nine members of the Bible study. Instead of calling for his death sentence, the victims’ family members who spoke to him in court forgave him.

“Emanuel” pays appropriate respect to the victims by giving detailed accounts of how the shooting impacted family members. “I break down and cry—started screaming. I said this can’t be for real. This can’t be,” says Nadine, whose mother, Ethel W. Lance, was shot to death.

Other family members, journalists and city officials emphasize the terror, grief and confusion with stories. Without depending on heavy-handed dramatization, director Brian Ivie skillfully weaves many of their sobering stories, views and experiences into one cohesive narrative.

He allows room for dissenting voices of BLM activists and other family members to criticize the forgiveness. He also lets the backdrop of Charleston’s racist past speak for itself without politicizing it.

The film will surprise you with the spontaneity of the unplanned statements of forgiveness for Dylann Roof. It’s almost like the same person was working behind the scenes to bring forgiveness and unity to the Charleston community.

IMDB gives it a 7.5. I give it a 9.

You can watch the film here. {eoa}

Rob Vischer is a freelance writer for Charisma News.

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I know that faith is a real place because I live there. God wants you to be located at the address of faith in Him.

If you have chosen to live outside the parameters of glorious faith, it will be impossible to please Him.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6, NKJV).

Never make the mistake of thinking you are the only person in all of history who has faced impossible circumstances. Hebrews chapter 11 honors men and women who lived at the address of faith at their specific time in history. Although faced with horrific circumstances and events, they held on tightly to their mandate from command central in heaven.

Sarah went through menopause before she conceived a baby! Now that is what the medical community would label “impossible” and “ridiculous.” Sarah was an old woman who in the natural had no reason to believe she would ever give birth to a bouncing baby boy.

But God spoke to Sarah and her husband when they were well past the age of changing diapers, getting up in the middle of the night to feed a wailing baby or potty training a toddler. Our glorious and powerful God was not limited by the demise of Sarah’s reproductive system. There are now millions and millions of people in the Jewish nation simply because one elderly woman considered Him faithful who had made a promise to her.

Sarah did not focus on her unproductive womb, the ancient date on her birth certificate or the futility and improbability of her circumstances. Instead, she wrapped her heart and mind around the God who had promised a baby.

“It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise” (Heb. 11:11, NLT).

God rewards people who, like Sarah, diligently seek Him regardless of the pleasure or the pain of the events they are experiencing. We all possess the same promises, the same faith, the same power, the same Holy Spirit and the same Jesus.

If you desperately desire the reward of God, then you will diligently seek Him and Him alone. That’s it, my friend; you must have faith. You must believe He exists to reward those who seek Him above all else.

We must do more than simply seek Him; we must diligently seek Him. This word diligently in the Greek means “one who seeks something so passionately and determinedly that he literally exhausts all his power in the search.” Diligence is not only required in the kingdom of God but it is also a requirement for any avenue of greatness. Ask Olympic athletes, successful moms, award-winning gardeners, concert pianists or research scientists about diligence. I can assure you that if you seek the Lord, you will find Him.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isa. 55:6, NKJV).

God is not playing hide-and-seek. He is just one whispered prayer away. When you draw near to God, He will draw near to you (Jas. 4:8).

Living in that place of stubborn faith must not be a minor issue in your life. It must capture your complete and undivided attention every day of your life. The outcome of every other area of your life will be determined by this one decision—will you be diligent in your faith or not?

The challenge of being diligent in one’s faith is scripted in several daily disciplines:

• Your eyesight: You must see what others do not see.
• Your embraced beliefs: You must believe what others refuse to believe.
• Your mouth: You must use your mouth as a tool that breaks through the seen to the unseen. You must confess with your mouth what you have not yet seen in the natural.
• Be stubborn: You must stay insistent in your resolve to push the powers of hell aside.

“For the word of God will never fail” (Luke 1:37, NLT).

What you choose to see and believe by faith is what you will receive. Faith looks at a desert and sees a luscious and vibrant garden springing up in that very place. Faith looks at an overgrown and expansive wilderness and sees a roadway to destiny in its place. Faith looks at nothing and sees everything. {eoa}

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.

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The Federal Reserve and the current administration grossly miscalculated the impact of the 2021 stimulus bill. President Biden indicated that the price hikes because of the $1.9 trillion stimulus would be temporary. Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the new spending shouldn’t create an inflationary problem.

Janet Yellen, current secretary of the US treasury and Powell’s predecessor at the Fed, indicated that the risk of inflation was small, even insignificant. About a year ago, Secretary Yellen indicated that inflation might rise to 3.0%—it is currently at 8.3%.

The administration has blamed nearly everyone and everything including Putin, COVID, the corporate greed of oil companies and meat-packers, the Ukrainian war, truck drivers, the Federal Reserve, Republicans, computer chip shortages and Trump. Policy has been about the only thing excluded from blame, which was the purpose of the misdirection. Misdirect blame to minimize responsibility. The misdirection is likely to continue.

Miscalculation, followed by misdirection, is likely to result in deception. If we incorrectly attribute the causes of current inflationary pressures, finding solutions will be far more difficult. Not correctly evaluating potential solutions is likely to result in delay or even failure. Deception is expensive. Failed solutions are likely to result in further miscalculation, further misdirection and further deception.

For citizens of the kingdom of God, our adversary is always trying to get us to miscalculate, to misdirect us away from our King, and to deceive us into thinking that the temporary rewards of this world are greater than the eternal rewards of the kingdom. If we follow the Word and His Spirit, we will not miscalculate. If we have our hearts and minds fixed on Jesus, we will not be misdirected to anyone or anything contrary to His principles. Sincere and pure devotion to Christ will keep us from being deceived.

“See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ” (Col. 2:8, NASB).

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3).

The devil will try to get us to make poor decisions by miscalculating. Eve miscalculated that she was wiser than God. The devil will misdirect us. Eve was redirected to follow the wisdom of the devil and her eyes instead of God. The devil will deceive us to be in opposition to God’s commands. By eating the fruit, Eve violated the singular prohibitive commandment given in the Garden of Eden. She then persuaded her husband to also eat. Sin loves company (Gen. 3:1-6).

These are perilous times. Fake has almost become the mantra. We are seeing more than our share of charlatans, counterfeits, cover-ups, decoys, fake news, falsities, feints, forgeries, hoaxes, illusions and replicas. We must be anchored in the truth. But, we are not left as orphans.

The antidote to the deceptions of the devil is truth. We have a King, and He is truth. We have a Guide that will lead us into all truth. We have a written standard that is the truth of God. Let us go forward boldly, valiantly and courageously in proclaiming the kingdom of God in word and deed.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me'” (John 14:6).

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13).

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). {eoa}

James R. Russell is a professor of economics at Oral Roberts University.

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What is God saying for America? Most of us want to know what the Holy Spirit is doing, as it seems the darkness over our nation is getting worse.

God speaks to all of us and through prophets who discern times and seasons. Elizabeth Tiam-Fook of International Young Prophets recently published a broadcast to help answer this question, giving hope in troubling times. The following words were paraphrased by me, but you can watch and listen to these prophetic words for yourself to understand the full context.

Elizabeth said, “These are important topics for the days ahead.” She continued, saying she’d heard about food shortages. “God always prepares the prophets, but He gives them insights to prepare us for what He is going to do. People tend to jump into fear, but that’s not how God does things. He wants us to operate in faith.”

Prophetic reformer Amanda Shiflett said, “Since 2016 the Lord has been telling me, ‘It will be the best of times and the worst of times.’ And in June 2018 the Lord released me to speak these words, so I began. He said there will be an increase in natural disasters and some of them will be extreme, unprecedented and historic. Last year He said there will be food shortages and you must prepare for that.

“But we don’t prepare in fear; it’s actually going to be a time of great faith for God’s people to know that regardless of what we go through, God is with us and will lead His people as long as we are trusting Him to do that. There will be miracles and lots of amazing things for the best of times. People are to be led by the Spirit to prepare because things will be different in the various parts of the country. Those who are prepared will be used to also evangelize as they help others during the worst of times. And the Lord will multiply food for you to share with others.”

Writer and speaker Seth Dahl said, “Families should make sure they are in the river of the Holy Spirit with a clear understanding of what the gospel actually is. Our kids must understand what the cross really did and know what covenant we live under. They need to understand the presence of the Holy Spirit. And it was through a kid bringing two fish and five loaves of bread that Jesus multiplied food. As a church we must be aware of what kids bring for the church. We are to also make sure our kids understand serving the people around you. We are to be dependent on God’s government and allow kids to give what they have as God uses them in the days ahead to help turn countries back to the Lord.”

Elizabeth also said, “In the Hebrew calendar, this is the ‘year of the House.’ I think it’s strategic that this could be the year that God flips Roe v. Wade. We are going to see Malachi 4:5-6 with our own eyes here in America as God turns the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.”

Watch the whole broadcast with Elizabeth Tiam-Fook, Amanda Shiflett, Seth Dahl, Brandi Belt, and Paul and Ashley Lackie to hear what God is saying about America. {eoa}

Jared and Rochelle Laskey co-founded Fireborn Ministries to teach believers how to live a daily Spirit-empowered life. You can find their resources and learn more about their ministry at . They also have e-courses such as “Entry Level Prophecy,” “The Last Days,” “The Baptism with the Holy Spirit” and more on , and the popular podcast Adventures in the Spirit, available anywhere you listen to podcasts.

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I believe that G-D created and placed everything on the earth, from the rocks on the ground to the clouds in the sky, not just to function for an existential purpose. Each piece of G-D’s awesome creation has a part in the education of all mankind.

The focus and goal of our divinely designed education is to learn how to love G-D and love our neighbor. I am sure that as you read the preceding words you began, even if only for a second, to think about some of the lessons you have learned based upon some of the things G-D purposefully put in our universe as objects for object lessons. For instance, as much as we dislike ants at a picnic, there is so much we can learn from them—not only about their work ethic, but also their community-centered existence and sacrifice for the same. Ants will freely give their lives to protect their colony.

I not only believe that G-D created everything with a teaching purpose in mind, I also believe that every time we come in contact with one of G-D’s creations, no matter which of our human senses connects with that piece of creation, it was also by G-D’s design. In other words, I believe that G-D uses His creations, both sentient and non-sentient, to guide us through our lives with the ultimate goal of conforming us to His image.

If this is true, and I believe it is, then every situation in our lives and every interaction that we are involved in was or is part of G-D’s greater plan. A plan intended to guide us and shape each of us into a vessel of honor, one He knew our clump of clay could ultimately become. So not only is every rock, fish, bird, cloud and gust of wind designed to be a blessing for all humanity, but each and every one that interacts and intersects with your life’s path was designed specifically to inform, teach and complete your creation process.

The above understanding provides a foundation for an example of one of these life-changing spiritual lessons, one that I learned from a dog. I hope it will encourage you to look at the events of your life through the lens of G-D’s lesson plan designed specifically for you.

Recently I became a grandparent to a puppy, a beautiful goldendoodle. If you know anything about goldendoodles, they are both loving and energetic, and like most puppies, very inquisitive. Not long ago the dog was staying at our home and out in our backyard. It was almost sunset and raining lightly. When the puppy walked back into the house, we noticed that he was acting agitated and scratching at his face with his paw. When we looked closer, we saw that a very large bee was attached to his face, just below his eye. I knocked the bee off his face, and the puppy seemed to relax and act normally.

After a while he lay down in his bed and went to sleep, as did the rest of our family. A little while later I heard him howling; he was shaking violently, having a seizure of some kind. I immediately ran over to where he was lying down and tried to comfort him. However, he began to angrily growl and snap at me. I backed away and sat down to watch him as he recovered and settled back down.

Understand, this puppy loves me. When I am around, he spends a lot of time on my lap or at my feet. He is also an exceedingly loving dog. To my memory, I had never before heard him growl in anger. Yet in his distress he looked directly at me and growled, baring his teeth, clearly telling me to stay away. Let me start by saying that while I believe everything that happens includes learning opportunities for each of us, I do not believe that G-D forced that bee to sting the puppy just so that I would learn something. I do believe G-D uses the results of choices to teach us lessons.

In this case, a sweet little puppy engaged with a bee, which was much smaller than he was. I am sure, knowing the temperament of this particular dog, that he meant the bee no harm and was just being inquisitive. In other words, he saw something interesting and wanted to know what it was. I am sure he looked at that bee and thought, “It’s so small; what harm could it be to me?”

This is exactly what happens to so many people when they engage with sin. Just like that dog they see themselves as larger, stronger and more powerful than the sin. But just like our little puppy, they learn that like that bee, sin causes pain and will oftentimes attach itself to you, often so tightly that without help you are unable to escape its clutches.

I cannot tell you the number of people over the years that I have watched run around in pain trying their best to knock the “bee” off their face, stumbling over and over, as with our dog, running away from the very people who could help remove the bee and help stop the pain.

But the lesson didn’t stop with the understanding of how a small sin can attach itself to someone and become horribly painful and disorienting. Even after the bee was removed from the dog’s face, the effects of the attack continued.

Hours later, the dog was by himself resting when a secondary attack hit him. This attack was even more violent than the first. When the bee was still on his face, the dog was still mostly in control of his body. He could walk, run and even make attempts at dislodging the bee on his own. Yes, he stumbled and ran into things, but he was mostly in control of his actions.

However, when he had the seizure, he was no longer in control of anything, even his body. It shook violently and was totally out of his control. While he was disoriented and shaking, he also became very combative. He went into fight-or-flight mode, and because he could not flee, his only option was to fight. This loving teddy bear of a dog growled violently at me and snapped at my hands.

Now because I knew what happened to him, and because I know his normal nature, I just moved a distance away and let him come to himself again. It was during this time that I learned the very valuable lesson that I hoped I could share today.

When people engage in sinful actions, many times they are just like this puppy. They start out thinking, “It’s just a little thing; what harm could it do me?” Then seemingly suddenly that sin has attached itself to them. They do everything they can to knock it off and stop their pain. As they do this they may stumble and fall. They often damage things and people around them.

When we see someone that has allowed themselves to get a “bee” on them that is now stuck on their face, it is up to us to help them get the “bee” off their face. But that isn’t the end of our responsibility because just like with our dog, the repercussions of the bee sting don’t end just because the bee is removed and the immediate pain has ended. We need to continue to observe them because just as a bee sting injects poison into the one stung, sin also injects poison into its victims. Sometimes the poison acts immediately. Other times it attacks later on when the person is alone and vulnerable.

If the poison’s effects are delayed, please remember that a person, like our dog having his seizure, is disoriented, being violently attacked, and is acting outside of their normal character and nature. They may growl, snap and act as if they are angry at you. But the truth is that they are angry at the attack. They are angry at the loss of control; they are angry at themselves for getting close enough to the “bee” to get stung.

So, learn to back away at a distance and pray for them. They aren’t attacking you. Once they come to their senses again, they will be free from the poison and probably won’t even remember their actions.

Here is the biggest lesson of this article: You need not allow their actions to become a bee stuck on your face. {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 biblical basis for Christian support for Israel is extensive and is not from one isolated section of the Bible but found throughout.

Old Testament covenants involving the calling of the Jewish people and their gift of land are affirmed in the Psalms, the prophetic books and the New Testament.

Torah

The first book of the Torah—and of the Bible—is Genesis. It tells the story of God’s choice of Abraham to birth a nation through whom He would carry out His plan to redeem fallen mankind. In Genesis 12:1–3, God explains that in return for following Him in faith, Abraham would be given a land and made into a great nation that would be a blessing to all the families of the earth. In Genesis 15, God legally guarantees His promise by making a covenant with Abraham, and in Chapter 17, He explains that this covenant is to be everlasting as will be its provision of land.

Psalms

Psalm 105 waxes poetic how the Abrahamic covenant and its promise of land—confirmed to Isaac, Jacob and all of Israel—is an everlasting covenant. It cannot be broken.

The Hebrew prophets agreed with the Psalms, and while they witnessed the devastation of judgment on the people for their sins, they prophesied of a day when God would bring His people back home, establish a right relationship with Him and fulfill their calling to bless the world. One such prophet was Isaiah.

Isaiah

The Jerusalem that Isaiah prophesied to had not yet been destroyed but was corrupt and fully deserving of it. One day, however, it would be a city praised for its righteousness when the glory of God would shine out from there throughout all the earth. Isaiah knew that day was as sure as any promise Israel’s faithful God had made, and he called upon intercessors to partner in prayer until it happened. Anyone who prayed was asked to be as a watchman on the walls, crying out in persistent prayer until God fulfilled His promise to establish Jerusalem as a praise in all the earth.

That day has not yet taken place, but the words of Isaiah still ring forth. Those of us who know the Lord are called to intercede for the city and its people until God has fulfilled all that He has promised.

New Testament

Moving now to the New Testament, we find the apostle Paul reflecting upon the everlasting nature of God’s promises to the Jewish people and the source of blessing to the world they are still to be.

In Romans 11:28–29, Paul confirmed that the Jewish people are beloved of God and their election secure as He had promised their forefathers. He went so far as to say that even though they might be considered an enemy to the gospel of Christ, their gifts and calling have not been revoked. Neither their rejection of Jesus’ messianic credentials nor exile from the land would annul God’s covenant with Abraham, which included a gift of land and a calling to bless all the families of the earth with redemption.

Paul therefore instructed the church in Rome to approach the Jewish people with humility and honor them as the spiritual root of our Christian faith. Everything we hold dear as Christians came to us through the Jewish people, and we owe them a great debt of gratitude. God used their rejection to bring about the atoning death of Jesus and cause the gospel to go out to the Gentiles. Once the fulness of the Gentiles has come into the church, He will turn again to reveal Himself to the Jewish people, and their acceptance will be a blessing to the entire world.

Firm Biblical Basis

With such a firm biblical foundation for support of the Jewish people, it is no surprise that many of the fathers of the Bible-based evangelical Christian movement preached the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland and the blessing this return would bring upon us all. Modern Christian supporters of Israel follow in the steps of great Christian leaders, such as John and Charles Wesley, Robert Murray MacCheynne, Charles Spurgeon and many Puritan preachers, to name a few.

Learn more biblical reasons to support Israel in our free download 10 Reasons Christians Should Stand with Israel. {eoa}

Dr. Susan Michael is USA Director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and host of the Out of Zion podcast. Subscribe today for more Israel Answers episodes on the Out of Zion podcast. Visit Israel with ICEJ Tours.

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It’s time. We have stood by long enough. We can’t let this go on any more.

And it’s all our fault, in a way. We put up with it, we said nothing about it all this time, we tolerated it, we were nice about it, but no more. We just wanted people to like us, so we said nothing. We went on our way and stayed quiet, hoping that people will think we are nice people.

Now, our whole society is falling apart, and we still have done nothing. But no more.

In the name of tolerance and niceness, our whole nation has turned its back on God, and we stood by and let it happen. Now our entire moral framework is on the verge of collapsing.

We have let the secularists teach our kids that there is no God. We are all accidents of nature, tiny bits of life in a vast, cold, indifferent universe, where there are no laws of life but what we make them out to be. We are finding out that is too great a burden for human beings to bear.

We have totally lost our way as a society, and we are teaching this to our children, who are confused and increasingly depressed. They don’t know what to think or believe about anything anymore. Everything they thought they knew is deemed wrong. Their parents were wrong, even the very doctors who attended their births were wrong.

This has to end.

There is a God who created this world.

If you think the world just exploded out of nothing billions of years ago, and just all by itself, all these pieces of inert matter formed themselves into living things that can reproduce and think and have self-awareness, then you’re just not paying attention. However, I think much of that is intentional.

Every nation in human history has acknowledged a higher being until the 20th century, and we think we are so much smarter than all our ancestors. Look at us.

The nations that have officially rejected a divine being are known as the most evil in all of human history. How else do you explain the tens of millions of people who died at the hands of their own governments, like what happened in the Soviet Union, China and Cambodia?

Yes, I know bad things have been done in the name of the church and God. People contaminate most things they touch. It’s called the human condition. But don’t blame God for that. That’s not what they were taught.

Throughout our nation’s history, we taught our children the Ten Commandments—even in public schools. We specifically stressed the one that says, “Thou shalt not kill.” We taught them the Golden Rule—”Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” And we taught them the second greatest commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

We had a civil, moral society. A perfect one, no, because again, we’re only human. But at least we were teaching them to be kind to each other, to care for each other.

Now the best we can do is to tell our kids to tolerate each other, as though there is no reason to like them. Just ignore them if you have to.

But we are empty inside. We have no bonds with our neighbors—the people we see and meet. They are all competing against us for our place in the world. They don’t care about us. And more and more of us are resorting to violence to vent our rage against a cold world that has no hope or meaning.

Our nation was founded on a belief in God. But even more than a belief, it was a fact. The Founding Fathers did not say they believed that God gave human beings inalienable rights and equality. It was a fact. It actually happened.

We were created, not evolved out of swamp matter. They believed that God gave us rules for life, and because people tried to follow those rules, they could live in freedom. But we have rejected God and His rules, and now we are finding that freedom to be too free. We can’t take that responsibility, and our society is crumbling under the weight.

Thinking that we are wise, we became fools. We have rejected the wisdom of the ages to try to recreate all the rules of life from scratch, and frankly it’s not working.

Some people will think I have not been specific enough in detailing the problems and solutions, but there is only one problem and solution in mind here. We need to restore God to our society and our personal lives, and more than that, we need to talk about Him again as a society.

There will be some differences in opinions, sure, but this is the elephant in the room that we have been ignoring for generations now, and we are all paying the price.

That ends now. {eoa}

Larry A. Craig went to school to go into the ministry (Moody Bible Institute, Mundelein College, Loyola University M.A. biblical studies) but spent his career in the meat business. Now he is retired, so he writes on politics and religion, both separately and jointly. He has written two books: The Importance of Healing and The Importance of the Lord’s Prayer. He is working on a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew and hopes to publish a book of his articles on politics and one of his articles on the Bible. He teaches the Gospel of Matthew in a weekly Zoom Bible class and emails out his articles on politics and religion. He can be reached at lacraig1@, and you can read his political blog at .

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The Great Commission should be imbued with the essence and mission of every local church. This is especially true if we are devoted to the “apostles’ doctrine” the way the early church was (Acts 2:42).

The early church was always “missional” because it was “apostolic.” The word “apostle” comes from the Greek word apostello, which means “sent one.” The Latin word for apostello is missio, from which the word “mission” or “missionary” is derived.

Paul, the great church planter, who wrote about one-third of the New Testament, was focused because he knew he was a “sent one.” Titus 1:1 (ESV) says, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle [sent one] of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth.”

Furthermore, according to Paul, all Christ-followers were given a purpose in Christ Jesus before time began. This purpose was connected to the revelation of Jesus destroying death and bringing life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Tim. 1:8-10).

Hence, all true Christians are not merely “born,” they are “sent” into this world. Consequently, it behooves all “sent ones” to understand the five snapshots of the Great Commission presented in the four Gospels and the Acts narrative.

1. Mark 16:15-17: Proclaiming the gospel while God confirms the Word with the power of signs and wonders. I understand the power of this particular snapshot of gospel proclamation. In the early days of our church, we initially grew in numbers by seeing God perform many extraordinary healings and deliverances. Demons were cast out of many people, since our community was at one time filled with various expressions of witchcraft, and much of the neighborhood was oppressed. Paul said he depended upon the power of signs and wonders when he proclaimed the gospel to the Gentiles (Rom. 15:18-20). Every person who is serious about proclaiming the gospel should allow the power of the Spirit to demonstrate His Word so that people’s trust is not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Cor. 2:1-4).

2. John 20:21: Being sent as Jesus was sent. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.'” How was Jesus sent? By taking upon Himself human flesh and personally dwelling among the people whom He came to save. This is called the incarnation.

Consequently, one way to reach people with the gospel is by living and working among them. I believe every local church should have a faithful presence in its community. This also involves holistically ministering to the practical and material needs of the people the way Jesus did. (Jesus not only preached the Word, but He also healed the sick, fed the multitudes and brought peace to the broken-hearted.)

3. Luke 24:44-49: Being a witness after being enlightened by the Scriptures. Before His ascension, Jesus opened the minds of His sent ones so that they could understand the Scriptures. After that, He commanded them to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Hence, this illustrates the fact that sent ones, in order to be effective, need to understand and live in the narrative of Jesus as shown in the Scriptures. To the extent the word of God abides in Christians, they will have the power to proclaim the message of Christ.

4. Acts 1:1-8: Being His witness through the power of the Spirit. Acts 1:8 teaches sent ones they need to be empowered by His Spirit to be His witnesses. Even after Jesus opened His disciples’ minds so that they could understand the Scriptures, He still commanded them to wait in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high by His Spirit (Luke 24:49).

Thus, sent ones need to not only know the Word of God, but they also need to be filled with the Spirit of God to proclaim the Word of God effectively. One way to be continually filled with His Spirit is to regularly give God space in our life. We must take time each day to worship Him by singing spiritual songs, hymns and the psalms (Eph. 5:18-20).

5. Matthew 28:18-20: Reaching whole people groups. Jesus said unto them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This snapshot of the Great Commission involves seeing whole tribes and/or collectives of ethnic people coming to Christ. In the early church, conversions of Gentile ethnic persons brought about changes in their identity as they forsook their foreign gods and joined the family of God through water baptism.

Eventually, as history demonstrates, whole nations were transformed after a critical mass of their population received the gospel, joined the church, and were catechized (taught the commandments of Jesus).

Consequently, the power of the gospel is so great it not only brings individual sinners into the kingdom but also causes whole people groups and cultures to experience God’s reign. This is an important snapshot to understand if the church is going to positively impact the world. Only the church as a holy nation can function as the light of the world that is called to disciple other nations (1 Pet. 2:8-9).

Truly, God intends for the recipients of the gospel to positively impact the quality of life of their communities as they restore the generational desolation of their cities (Isa. 61:1-4). {eoa}

Dr. Joseph Mattera is an internationally known author, consultant and theologian whose mission is to influence leaders who influence culture. He is the founding pastor of Resurrection Church and leads several organizations, including The U.S. Coalition of Apostolic Leaders and Christ Covenant Coalition. Dr. Mattera is the author of 13 bestselling books, including his latest, The Purpose, Power, and Process of Prophetic Ministry, and is renowned for applying Scripture to contemporary culture. To order his books or to join the many thousands who subscribe to his newsletter, go to .

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I’ve learned from experience that feelings are fickle. One day they can be up, one day they can be down, and other days they are just all over the place!

God gave us feelings, and they are not wrong in and of themselves—they are an important part of enjoying life. We don’t need to deny that we have them, but we do need to prevent them from controlling us.

In 1 Corinthians 3:3a (AMPC), the apostle Paul is talking to new Christians, and he says, “For you are still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordinary impulses].”

The flesh is our desires—what we want, think and feel. And Romans 8:8 says that “those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him.”

The Bible is saying that always doing what we feel like doing will hinder us from doing what God wants us to do. We need to get to the place in life where we are not controlled by our emotions so we won’t miss out on His good plan for our lives.

I realize some people are more emotional than others. However, with God’s help, we can get to the point where we obey God and do what His Word says to do—regardless of our feelings.

Let me give you an example. You may know I was sexually abused by my father for years. My mother eventually found out but never confronted him because she was afraid of him. Needless to say, the abuse and pain I experienced as a child deeply affected me, and it took years for the Lord to help me receive emotional healing and truly forgive my parents.

When they reached a point where they needed someone to help take care of them, the Lord spoke to my heart that He wanted us to bring my parents to St. Louis, buy them a house and take care of them until they died.

I shared it with Dave, secretly hoping he would resist the idea. But he said, “If you think this is what God is leading you to do, then we’d better obey Him.”

We didn’t have a lot of money in the bank, and it was going to take most of it to do what God was asking. But the more I prayed, the more the Lord made it clear that He wanted us to take good care of them and treat them as if they had been the best parents in the world.

So we moved my parents to a house just eight minutes away from us, bought them a car and furniture, and met their every need. My father showed some appreciation, but he still remained the same mean and cranky man he had always been.

But one morning, three years after we had moved them to St. Louis, my mother called to say my father had been crying all week and asked if we could come over. Dave and I went to their house, and that day my father asked me to forgive him for what he had done to me as a child. He cried and cried and also asked Dave to forgive him.

We assured him that we had forgiven him and asked if he wanted to ask God to forgive him so he could begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. He said yes, and we all prayed right there on the spot. Ten days later, I had the great honor of baptizing my father at church.

I can truly say that for the next four years, prior to his death at age 86, I saw a true change in my father. I know without a doubt that he’s in heaven. My mother had asked my forgiveness years before this, and I had the joy of knowing her last years were peaceful.

The point I’m trying to make is when the Lord asked me to help my parents, I certainly didn’t feel like doing it. I had a choice to obey Him and do what I knew was right or follow my feelings and miss out on what He wanted to do in their lives and mine in the process.

I want you to take a moment and think about this: Are your feelings preventing you from doing something God has asked you to do? In the moment, it may seem that getting “your way” is the most important thing or that you’ll be giving up too much if you go along with God’s plan.

But the truth is while you can’t always control how you feel, with God’s help, you can control what you do. And when you obey God, He always rewards you beyond anything you can imagine.

I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord for strength in this area. Ask for His help to choose His will over what you want, think or feel in the moment. Because you’ll never regret making good decisions, doing things God’s way! {eoa}

Joyce Meyer is a New York Times bestselling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc. She has authored more than 135 books, including Battlefield of the Mind and The Power of Thank You (FaithWords). She hosts the Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. For more information, visit .

Please note: The views and opinions expressed throughout this publication and/or website are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Joyce Meyer Ministries.

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Reports of potential famine abound. News media is repeatedly sounding the alarm that the war in Ukraine is fueling a global food crisis.

Leaders from the G-7, which includes the U.S., Japan, Canada, the U.K., France, Germany and Italy, as well as the European Union, pledged to do everything they can to address the issue, as well as provide Ukraine with a “sustainable food supply” in this crisis.

Throughout the pages of the Bible we see famines, so this should come as no surprise. Jesus said in Matthew 24:5-8, “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled. For all these things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, epidemics, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

Through the pages of the Bible, we see God give strategies for surviving through a famine. God gave Pharaoh a dream of seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine, then gave Joseph the interpretation and a wise strategy to save the world.

Awakening Prayer Hubs is fighting against food crisis through prayer this month. Join us for a prayer call here.

So, how do we pray?

— Pray God would provide what we need and sustain us from day to day; that He would give us this day our daily bread (Matt. 6:11).

— Pray for awakening and transforming revival amidst the food crisis, that the harvesters would know that Jesus is the bread of life and whoever comes to Him would never hunger or thirst (John 6:35) as they set out to win souls.

Click here to read the rest of the prayer points. {eoa}

Jennifer LeClaire is an internationally recognized author, apostolic-prophetic voice to her generation and conference speaker. She carries a reforming voice that inspires and challenges believers to pursue intimacy with God, cultivate their spiritual gifts and walk in the fullness of what God has called them to do. Jennifer is contending for awakening in the nations through intercession and spiritual warfare, strong apostolic preaching and practical prophetic teaching that equips the saints for the work of the ministry. Jennifer is senior leader of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, founder of the Ignite Network and founder of the Awakening Prayer Hubs prayer movement.

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