During his time as a believer, Rabbi Kirt Schneider has learned to walk in the peace of God, regardless of his circumstances. Now that he’s in Israel—where there is mortal danger all around him—he says it’s a principle he needs to apply now more than ever.

Schneider and his wife, Cynthia, arrived in Israel three weeks ago. Like many others, they awoke to the sounds of sirens Saturday morning when the terrorist group, Hamas, unleashed an attack on Israel the likes of which hasn’t been seen in 50 years. More than 700 Israelis have died since Saturday, and the attacks from Hamas and other terrorist groups are still taking place as of Monday morning.

During an interview with Charisma News Monday, Rabbi Schneider and his wife were forced to seek cover at a nearby bomb shelter. Sirens once again went off only a couple of minutes into the interview. Minutes later after returning to speak with Charisma’s John Matarazzo, the sirens went off again. Only this time, it was a false alarm.

Schneider said the bomb shelter is only 200 feet across the parking lot from their apartment building. When looking into the taking the apartment, the Schneider’s asked the caretaker about a bomb shelter, and he confirmed that there was one close, but that it was never used.

The shelter, which holds about 50 people, has been used extensively since Saturday.

Schneider says the reaction to the attacks by Israelis have been mixed.

“Some are emotionally fine, while others are very shaken up,” Schneider says. “The people that are the most shaken up are the people living here. There were some people that were here for the holiday season and they aren’t experiencing much of a shakeup. We were just in the bomb shelter with some people from Chicago and they seemed pretty light-hearted about it. But a lot of people here feel this is deadly serious.”

Schneider says immediately the story of the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7 came to mind when the chaos in Israel began.

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“I have not been shaken, but I continually pray for God to keep me in that place,” Schneider says. “I am wired—and I’m trying to be humble now—to be in faith, especially right now. From my perspective, I have to trust God in the big picture. Whether Israel will be able to bring about a peace that is sustainable for several years, who knows, but as God’s people, we need to have a peace beyond circumstances.

“Jesus said ‘My peace I give you a peace that is not of this world.’ When Stephen was being stoned to death, he obviously looked terrible but in the midst of being stone, all of a sudden, he looked up and praised Yeshua, Jesus, at the right hand of God. So, I am truly walking in peace regardless of circumstances. That’s the only way to have freedom and victory in life.”

In a recent blog, Schneider said he appreciates believers’ prayers for God’s glory, for His kingdom to come, and for His will to be done, praying:

“Here in the land, on Earth, even as it is in heaven, we lift up both Israel, the Israeli soldiers, the IDF and we lift up all people as well, Schneider says. “We lift up the Palestinians. And so, we say, ‘Baruch haba b’Shem Adonai.’ Come back, we pray, Lord Jesus, and establish peace on Earth. Yeshua, You say You are ‘coming quickly and soon.’ We say, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

At the closing of Monday morning’s interview, Schneider prayed:

“Father, first of all, we want to tell you that we love You. And Father, we’re so thankful for You, Father, for Your shelter over our life. And You said, Father, that we shouldn’t call it conspiracy, The world causes some conspiracy or fear. But we should fear You alone, and that You would become for us a sanctuary. So, Father, we just want to first of all glorify You by saying to You that we are not shaken, that we’re not afraid, because You are our rock, and You are our source. And You told us, Lord, not to fear a man that kills the body, but to fear Him who could destroy both soul and body and house.

“Father, I honor You. We honor You right now. We say to Yahweh, we fear You alone, we will not bow to any other fear any other demon out here. Father, we worship You. And Father, we thank You for Your mercy. And we thank You for Your grace. And we ask You to strengthen us now in the inner man by the power that raised You up from the day that we walk in divine strength. And that, Father, Your joy was raised more than conquerors in every situation, that greater receive that’s in us than he that’s in the world, and that nothing can separate us from Your love.” {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

In full view of the Gaza Strip in Israel, Jonathan Feldstein and his family were rudely awakened Saturday morning at around 6:20 a.m. by a loud siren, only a few hours after they had returned from their daughter’s home from a “lovely” holiday meal for Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles.

Living in Israel, Feldstein, an Orthodox Jew and regular contributor to Charisma News, and his family are accustomed to sirens that signal military-type attacks from terrorist groups like Hamas. These attacks are frequent.

But this time, the incident was much different. Feldstein says “thousands” of rockets—3,000 is the number he heard—rained down on Israelis during Shabbat, a time of the week for rest and spending time with family. From news accounts, more than 700 Israelis died while hundreds more were kidnapped by members of the reprehensible terrorist group.

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The attack came as a complete shock to Feldstein and his fellow Israelis, who were in the middle of the Sabbath and were completely offline. They didn’t know about any of it—until the sirens sounded.

“We were peacefully asleep in bed when the air raid sirens went off, about 50 yards behind my bedroom window,” Feldstein tells Charisma News in a live video interview. “You know, some people don’t wake up from their alarm clocks, but this is something you don’t sleep through. We grabbed our stuff, and my wife and I went downstairs to our bomb shelter. It’s a standard Israeli construction to have a bomb shelter in your house.

“We had two of our six kids at home, and the four of us sat for several minutes until we heard explosions,” he says. “But what was surreal was that we were sort of in between being awake and asleep while you’re just lying there and not completely aware of what’s going on. I didn’t think it was real. I paid no attention to it. Then moments later, we realized when we were scurrying down to the bomb shelter that the booms we heard were the Iron Dome knocking out rockets that had been fired 40 or maybe 45 miles from the Gaza Strip to where we live in the Judean mountains just south of Jerusalem.

What became real to the Feldsteins and others was that war—a very real war—had come to their own backyard, and on Shabbat, which is a dangerous time of no communications for Orthodox Jews in Israel.

“The general rule in observing the traditions of Shabbat is that if it’s not life threatening; you’re not using technology,” Feldstein says. “You can be completely unplugged. So we didn’t even have lights on in our bomb shelter because no one thought at that time that’s where we would be.”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a declaration of war against Hamas, saying in a statement:

Hamas forces invaded Israeli territory on the morning of a holiday and Shabbat and murdered innocent civilians, children and the elderly. Hamas started a cruel and evil war.

We will win this war, but the price is too heavy to bear. This is a difficult day for all of us. Hamas wants to murder us all. It is an enemy that murders innocent children and mothers in their homes. … What happened today is not seen in Israel and I will make sure that it does not happen again. The entire government stands behind this position.

Feldstein says there may be terrorists “camped out” in his own community and others, so this is a time where Israelis are “living in tremendous danger, tremendous fear. … This is not a war in the sense of armies going to war against each other. This is an obscene terrorist attack against civilian populations. It is a war crime on every level.

“What Americans need to do is pray,” he adds. “I’m always praying that God will change the hearts of our enemies. But barring that, and God could have done that yesterday or last week. If he hasn’t done that yet, we have an obligation to go in and defeat our enemies. And that’s solidly biblical.” {eoa}

Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

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All heaven is rejoicing because Satan has lost yet another soul.

Katherine von Drachenberg, a TV personality, tattoo artist, entrepreneur and recording artist, has laid down the occult and given her life to Jesus, capping a long journey of personal change by getting baptized in water as revealed by an Instagram video posted earlier this week.

Kat Von D, known for her work on the TLC reality television show LA Ink, renounced the occult and witchcraft last year. She has also long been known for her affinity toward all things Gothic.

Her transformation was made official with her immersion into baptismal water and captured on video on Instagram.

“Katherine von Drachenberg—upon your profession of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in obedience to His Divine command—I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” the pastor said before submerging Von D, draped in a white robe, symbolizing her being washed clean by the blood of Jesus. She joyfully hugged the pastor when she emerged from the water.

Many friends and family attended the baptism and were shown in the video worshipping from hymnals.

Movieguide® reported that von Drachenberg’s lifestyle transformation first began in 2020 when she sold her beauty brand and began covering her tattoos. Later that year, she and her family moved to Indiana to “escape California’s ‘terrible policies’ and ‘tyrannical government.'”

In 2022, Movieguide® reported that von Drachenberg threw out her books on witchcraft

“Right now, it’s never been clearer to me that there is a spiritual battle taking place and I want to surround myself and my family with love and light,” she said after she ditched her occult books.

In an Instagram post, she encouraged her social media followers—which includes 697,000 on YouTube, 1.6 million on Twitter and 11 million on Facebook—to make “meaningful changes” in their lives.

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Some commenters on the Instagram video said:

• “Washed white as snow. Thank you, Jesus.” – danimfield
• “I just started my walk with Jesus 6 months ago. I got baptized 3 weeks ago. I was so comfortable in the darkness that I didn’t appreciate the beauty in the light. All praise to Jesus Christ.” – mcmlxxix

Even a non-believer on Instagram congratulated von Drachenberg for her transformation. “It’s so disheartening to see the negative comments. I’m an atheist, however I love seeing people on their own paths that they find happiness and fulfillment on. You should be happy for someone if they are happy. We are on this earth for a very small amount of time, we need to do whatever fulfills us and makes that time joyful.” – paperfishies

Miraculous Transformations

Ex-witch Jenny Weaver now disciples women through her Core Group mentorship program that sees thousands of women around the world set on fire for Jesus.

As reported by Charisma News, JiDion Adams, a popular YouTuber, denounced his former life and accepted Christ. He knows full well the consequences of doing so and says he may lose his fame and fortune, but it’s all worth it.

“If I do follow Jesus and His Word, tooth and nail of what it is, I’m not going to be JiDion anymore,” he says. “There are a lot of things that I know that were happening for me before, they’re not going to be happening for me now.”

Former psychic Jenn Nizza, who began dabbling in the occult when she was 12, got saved during the past decade and has embraced Jesus to the fullest.

While some former Christians may have denounced Christ in recent months and years, those incidents have been overshadowed by the many conversions to Christ, including the latest one by Katherine von Drachenberg, who told Movieguide® last year after her decision to trash her occult and witchcraft materials:

“I’ve always found beauty in the macabre, but at this point, I just had to ask myself, ‘What is the relationship with this content?’ And the truth is, I just don’t want any of these things in our family’s lives … I don’t know if any of you have been going through changes in your lives right now, but in the last few years, I’ve come to some pretty meaningful realizations—many of them revolving around the fact that I’ve got a lot of things wrong in my past”—things she says don’t align with her anymore. {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

Do you want to live a spirit-filled life? If that’s what you truly desire, Jonathan Cahn says you shouldn’t focus your attention solely on the gifts of the Spirit or the moving of the Spirit.

Cahn says that, much like there must be the atonement of Yom Kippur before the Feast of Tabernacles can be celebrated, you must have rain before you can bear fruit in your life.

In a recent sermon, Cahn says that in order to live a Spirit-filled life, you must focus first on Messiah and your salvation—the price that was paid for you and the “love of God that was the amazing grace of God that saved a wretch like us.”

Once you do that, then comes the Spirit-led living that will produce God’s desired fruit for your life.

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“Ground your heart and your emotions—everything in your life—on your salvation, the cross, the love of God,” Cahn says. “Get that into every part of your life and you’re going to be open to all that the Spirit has for you.”

Until that happens, he says, it’s impossible to live a Spirit-filled life. The first must come before the second.

“There is no righteousness without the Spirit of God. There is no real love without the Spirit of God,” Cahn says. “You cannot force fruits. You cannot create fruit. You can’t manufacture fruit. The rain gives the fruit. The Spirit gives you the fruits of God.

“I don’t care what your denomination is; whether you’re a Pentecostal or a Baptist. It doesn’t matter. We all need the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God brings all things into the will of God. If you’re filled by the Spirit, if you move by the Spirit, you will do everything you need to do for God. You will fulfill the calling that God has for you and you’ll become what God has called you to become.

“The Feast of Tabernacles comes after Yom Kippur. That’s not an accident. It’s got to be that way. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, brings in the Feast of Tabernacles. What does that mean? It’s similar to another thing that happens in the year earlier, in the spring, Passover. And what do they have in common? Passover and Yom Kippur both center on the sacrifice. The key is the sacrifice because it brings in the Spirit.”

For the believer, Cahn says, God saves the greatest celebration for the end of the year. In essence, God saves His best for last.

“If you’re growing in the Lord and living in the Spirit, you are moving to the best,” Cahn says. “The joy always comes at the end of the world. In the world, the joy might come in the beginning and then it goes, it fades away. But with God, the joy, the celebration—everything is heading to joy and celebration.” {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

In a world that seems to be growing stranger by the day, the topic of UFOs and extraterrestrial life has shifted from the realm of science fiction to the halls of government and mainstream news. Mysterious sightings of massive unidentified flying objects have sparked a wide range of speculations

But one perspective emerging from within the Pentagon offers a unique twist—the belief that these so-called aliens may, in fact, be demonic entities. This intriguing notion comes from a Christian perspective and is gaining attention, challenging conventional narratives surrounding UFOs and alien life.

In the past, discussions about UFOs and aliens might have been brushed aside as eccentric and implausible. However, the contemporary surge in UFO sightings and official inquiries has cast a spotlight on the phenomena in our skies, leaving many to question their nature and origins.

A recent Netflix documentary, “Encounters,” explores the case of a massive delta-shaped UFO spotted by hundreds of individuals in Texas in 2007, challenging our understanding of what may be lurking in the heavens above.

The Demonic Entity Theory

While conventional media often promote the idea of extraterrestrial life, some individuals within the Pentagon hold a contrasting belief. A substantial group, as reported by UFO researcher Ron James, postulates that these UFOs are, in fact, demons rather than beings from another world. This belief is grounded in religious convictions and has affected the allocation of funds and resources for UFO research.

The director of media relations for UFO research group MUFON, James claims there is a “very large contingent of people” within the Pentagon who opposed the work of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program because they think the UAPs regularly reported by U.S. military sources are piloted by creatures from hell, the Daily Star in London recently reported.

In fact, Luis Elizondo, who has gone on record as being the boss of the AATIP, told James it “was not just a little voice in the Pentagon … but a huge group of people thought the phenomenon that was being witnessed was demons.”

Read Charisma News’ story about these three theories about recent UFO sightings by prophetic voice Joseph Z; and another about how a whistleblower says there is a connection between UFOs and the Vatican.

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The Mysterious Intersection of Religion and Science

It remains unclear how proponents of the demonic entity theory reached their conclusion. However, this perspective presents a unique intersection of religious faith and scientific exploration. Some argue that belief in both UFOs and the Bible’s literal truth is not necessarily incompatible.

Dr. Hugh Ross, a well-known astrophysicist, notes that human encounters with these entities are almost always negative, often leading to terrifying nightmares or, in the worst-case scenario, death. These encounters have eerie parallels with accounts of demonic possessions, including trances and automatic writing.

Remarkably, a significant portion of those who experience such encounters is involved in occult activities, raising questions about the true nature of these entities.

Congressional Acknowledgment of the Phenomenon

The UFO phenomenon has gained such prominence that members of Congress are now openly discussing it. Representative Tim Burchett, during a podcast appearance, speculated that these entities possess technology beyond humanity’s grasp. His concerns revolve around the idea that we may be defenseless against these beings if they were to turn hostile.

New Legislation and Disclosure

Recent legislative developments have aimed to make information about UFOs more accessible to the public. The Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Disclosure Act, a part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2024, mandates government agencies to share records and materials related to UAPs. President Joe Biden will appoint a review board to investigate and decide which findings should be disclosed to the public.

The Bigger Picture

The question remains: Why is there a sudden surge in openness about UFOs and extraterrestrial phenomena? Are we being prepared for something? Unfortunately, answers to these questions are elusive.

What is clear is that a complex and potentially sinister agenda is at play, and the coming months and years may reveal more about the true nature of these enigmatic entities and their place in our world. {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

Deliverance minister Isaiah Saldivar calls him “one of the most influential people in our generation online.”

If JiDion Adams, who has almost 8 million followers on YouTube, is sincere about turning his life completely over to Christ—which recently he did on a video on his channel—then certainly this is a huge blow to the enemy’s end times plans.

Adams, who was raised in a Christian background and professed to be a Christian, but never fully practiced it, told his YouTube followers that he was “all in” with Jesus late last month when the Holy Spirit convicted his heart following a conversation with an Uber driver.

Adams says he’s been mulling his “real decision” for Christ for about 18 months, but felt like he “wasn’t ready” for it. But after the chat with the Uber driver, who asked him if he knew where he was going if he were to die right now, he knew it was time.

He currently has friendships with secular celebrities and huge endorsement deals with the NBA. But he knows that isn’t God’s plan for him.

“I’ve been chopping it up with [rapper] ASAP Rocky, with [actor] Mark Wahlberg and [millionaire] Mark Cuban, or going to the silent charity match,” Adams says. “Would any of that really matter. No, it really wouldn’t.

“This is like me just really talking to y’all, trying to be so 100% transparent. But God tells us that a bird doesn’t have to worry about where he’s going to get his next meal from. And then he said, ‘are you not better than a bird?’ I’m way better than a bird, so why am I tripping?”

Adams says this decision is not simply a passing fancy. It’s for real. He knows the road and the gate to life is narrow.

He vows no more content like his previous videos, like ones titled, “Why Incest Should Be Legalized” or “Asking Strangers to Buy Me Beer Even Though I’m 21!” or “Using My BLM Discount on Black Friday.”

“I’m not trying to dip my pinkie toe in or I’m not just going to be sitting on the edge of the pool,” he says. “I want to jump full in. I want to dive full in. I don’t want to just talk the talk. I want you all to see it in my actions.

“I was with my girl coming back from her college. When we got back to the crib, this Uber driver looked back at us and asked us a question. Me answering it made my heart sink. She asked if I were to die would I go to heaven or hell. I had to be honest and look into myself and say, the way I’m living right now, if God was to take my breath away right now, I’m going to hell. I couldn’t even lie about it.”

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Jesus said in Mark 8:34-36, “When He had called the people to Him, with His disciples, He said to them, ‘If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever would lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?'”

Adams says he knows what is expected of him going forward. He knows that living for Christ will be difficult, but he says there’s no other way for him.

“I was letting worldly things dictate how my spirit is,” Adams says. “The Bible talks about it all the time. You can’t be moved by the world. You have to hate the world. It’s crazy. Jesus is telling me I have to hate the world. But it’s hard to hate the world when the world loves me. You feel me?”

Isaac David, known as The Daily Disciple on YouTube with more than 217,000 followers, said he understands what JiDion is going through with this revelation.

“It’s hard to hate the world when the world loves you,” David says. “The sinful culture loves you for what you do and they support you. They cheer you on to a lot of this immorality and this sinfulness. It’s hard to say that I’m going to pack it up and not receive that praise anymore.

“But JiDion is realizing that there is something much more important than people’s praise. Jesus did say that ‘the world will hate you because they hated Me first.’ If JiDion continues to preach the gospel and speak up about his faith, it won’t be much longer before they begin to turn on him.”

JiDion says that if he continues to follow what the Holy Spirit is telling him, he won’t have a problem putting away worldly things. But he also knows that his fame may wane, and it may wane severely.

“If I do follow Jesus and His Word, tooth and nail of what it is, I’m not going to be JiDion anymore,” he says. “There are a lot of things that I know that were happening for me before, they’re not going to be happening for me now.”

Isaiah Saldivar, whose main ministry is, through Christ, getting people delivered from demons, says he believes JiDion’s decision is genuine and that his influence over others for Christ will be huge.

“JiDion, I know you say that you’re not a preacher and I’m not going to teach the Bible,” Saldivar says. “Brother, you are a preacher. You are a teacher. God has called you. God has anointed you to preach His word, to set the captives free, to lay hands on the sick, to cast out demons, to make disciples, to baptize people in water. You are a disciple, brother. You are called to preach to teach the Word of God, to share your testimony. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. We’re ambassadors of Christ as it says in 2 Corinthians 5. God is speaking through all of us, calling people back to Himself.”

Whether Adams will follow through remains to be seen. But if his worldly influence has already been great, how much greater can his kingdom influence be?

Pray for him and keep an eye on him. God certainly is. {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

Apostle Tim Sheets says that while God is shaking a number of things and people in this tumultuous world of ours, there is one comforting thought believers should take to heart: We ourselves do not need to be shaken because we are part of a kingdom that’s not going to be shaken.

Sheets says he recently had a prophetic dream about the month of October “that we’re now going to see God destroy the works of iniquity of the enemy.”

“I was in a wilderness, a huge forest,” Sheets says. “I heard a bear that was dying. I’ve hunted bear and I know what that sounds like. But I heard a bear’s death rattle. When a bear is dying, they will roar. It’s a fierce kind of roar; it’s their last gasp. I heard this, and I followed the sound and I go over and find a dead bear. I dreamed that for three weeks in a row three different times.

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“The prophetic word I’m getting is that in the month of October, there are things of hell—ideologies of Baal—works of iniquity that are going to breathe their last. In other words, they’re on their last breath. They are gasping their last and I believe if we pray, things that are bears that are intimidating and coming in fierce against the people of God against our nation … there are some ideologies, some political things that are on their last breath.”

Sheets encouraged believers to get down on their knees, pray diligently and to get bold in their faith to help bring down strongholds that have severely weakened our nation.

“I’m going to declare that and ask you to pray along with me,” he says. “I’m going to study that out more and do a sermon on that, but I feel like October is a time when God is going to bring things that are very fierce—deep, iniquitous roots, ideologies, doctrines—that are only their last legs. They are breathing their last if we will pray. I ask you to agree with me and pray—pray in the Holy Ghost if you don’t know what to pray—but I’m going to pray these things:

“Lord, I believe we’re moving into a time of great strategy for the body of Christ and we’ve got to hear from You. It is a time when we must rise up and boldly declare our faith; boldly speak what you say, even like this dream with the bears that are dead; to boldly stand and say there are ideologies that are breathing their last. In October, we declare an end to you. They’re going to die. They’re going to go away in Jesus’ name.

“We speak to those powers of darkness that have exhibited themselves in our nation and we say in October that they end in Jesus’ name. Send power to bring them completely down in Jesus’ name. … We declare that October will be a month that sees the passing away of evil programs and strategies. God, we pray that there comes a supernatural release of power that comes against it to take it out, to remove the bears from the scene.” {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

Jonathan Cahn agrees with many fellow believers that our God is a God of mercy. But the bestselling author of “The Josiah Manifesto” also believes that He is a God of justice, and that His judgment is going to fall on America for it’s sins, including those of the church.

Many Christians in this day want to believe that the Lord is, as podcast interviewer and deliverance minister Isaiah Saldivar says, a “real cuddly, cute, real comfortable Jesus.” There is no fear or reverence of God in the American church, and many in our country and even the church have mocked God and “spit in his face,” thinking that God will be silent and not respond.

Galatians 6:7-8 reads, “Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows from the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

America and parts of the church within it have sown to their own flesh with corruption, murder and outright debauchery.

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“Remember, it’s what we sowed, not what God sowed,” Cahn told Saldivar during the recent podcast. “This is not God’s will. God wants mercy, but He has got to oppose evil. He cannot say it’s OK. That would be evil to say it’s OK. He is saying it, and the Bible is true.

“It’s not only the time, it’s also the place. When Jeremiah spoke to the Valley of Hinnom, he said it’s going to come back to this valley because where you shed the blood, that’s where it’s coming back. Do we have a valley of Hinnom? Yes, we do, and that is New York because New York not only introduced abortion to the continent, but it’s also been the capital of abortion in America. More blood has been shed there than any other place. When the plague came to America, it came through New York and that became the focal point of that whole thing. The Bible says judgment comes to the gate. Well, what is the gate of America? It’s New York.”

Biblical prophecy is coming to pass in the United States, but a great deal of the American church is missing—or sleeping through—God’s prophetic timeline. And it’s a subject that Cahn addresses well in “The Josiah Manifesto.”

“It’s absolutely shocking to see the parallels line up,” Saldivar says. “I hate to say it because it’s cliché, but you just can’t make this stuff up. This is such a divine timeline. It makes sense of what a lot of people have tried to figure out or make sense of. We see all of the Old Testament prophets crying out for what was happening to the innocent, crying out for the people of God in bondage. Here we are again, thousands of years later, and you know God has, praise the Lord, raised you [Cahn] up as a prophetic voice in this hour to reveal what He’s doing in His plan.”

Satan is certainly not being lukewarm in his attacks on America and the church. But the church, somehow, has remained lukewarm in its response.

But now is the time, Cahn says—the defining moment—for the church to raise its voice and become unapologetic for its zeal for God. It’s time for many in the church to “break their altars,” those things in culture that have captured our attention and taken it away from our one true God.

“One of things about that I put in ‘The Josiah Manifesto’ is that Jesus was born for His time,” Cahn says. “He was actually prophesied centuries before. I’m saying He was born for His age. And that is true for us. We are born for this age and if the age is more dramatic with darkness—it’s more radical in the dark—then we’re born to be more radically light. This is the most exciting time.

“People are praying, ‘I wish I lived in Bible times.’ Congratulations. We’re in Bible times now. This is the final chapter. Rise to it because that’s what it’s all about. That’s what Josiah did and God used him. God’s doing to do it with you, too.” {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media

A couple of weeks before the wildfires began in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, in early August, Pastor Steven Santos wrote a sermon titled “My Stronghold in Times of Trouble.” Little did Pastor Santos know just how prophetic that sermon would be.

On August 18—10 days after the fires began and with Calvary Chapel Westside Maui still intact—Santos stood at the Pastors and Leaders Conference in Honolulu and delivered the story he was tell his congregation.

“When I was writing this sermon, I honestly didn’t think it was going to be prophetic,” Santos told Charisma News in an exclusive interview this week.

Santos’ sermon was to tell the biblical story of Elijah on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 19, after Elijah had defeated the prophets of Baal and had them arrested and executed. Elijah was then hunted by Ahab and Jezebel for his deeds, and fled into the wilderness. Elijah, in his misery, asked God to simply let him die.

But it was God who was Elijah’s stronghold during his times of trouble. It was a story of which God clearly reminded Santos after waking him from his sleep on his own living room floor at 4 a.m. one night as the fires raged. His house was full of friends and relatives who had fled to safety.

“God woke me up and I asked Him, ‘What do I tell these people who have lost everything?’ asked Santos, who has pastored at Calvary Chapel Westside Maui since 1993. “Do I tell them that God loves them and He has a beautiful plan for their lives? I told him, ‘I need Your Word; I need to know what to say to these people so they can grab hold of you. It’s got to come from the Bible because Your Word is eternal.’

“I told God, you called me to be a pastor. I know people are going to be like, OK Pastor Steve, tell us what to do now. Everybody’s going to want answers. Some people tell me now ‘I don’t want your God.’ Even my granddaughter asked me, ‘Why would God do this?'”

First Kings 19:11-12 reads, “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.”

Santos said God spoke to him almost immediately and relayed the same message.

“God said to me, ‘I was not in the fire, but I am going to speak.’ So, the Lord was not in these fires, and I praise God that He does speak to us.”

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NPR reported recently that 97 people had lost their lives in the wildfires, a number lowered from a previous reported total of 115. Sadly, however, Santos said that, as of last Friday, 11 additional local people had taken their own lives, which could have resulted from the hopelessness and losses they encountered from the tragedy.

No one in Santos’ congregation was killed in the fires, although Santos said one woman from his church was burned on over 70% of her body—and she survived.

“Frankly, no one survives that, but this woman is a survivor,” Santos says. “We went to the hospital and her husband was just broken, but we got to see her. It’s a miracle she’s still living, praise God.”

Most of the entire town of Lahaina now lays in ruins, but miraculously, Calvary Chapel Westside Maui still stands. Local officials decreed that no one is allowed to return to that area of Lahaina yet.

Many people from Calvary Chapel lost their homes, and many have been displaced and are now living on the other side of the island where Santos says churches are growing. Once they are allowed back in the burn zone, Santos says, Calvary Chapel will almost be like a church plant because so many people are either leaving the area or they are migrating to the mainland U.S.

Many are living in hotels in Maui, but soon will be displaced again when the hotels open for the winter season.

“The town is almost completely gone,” Santos says. “There’s about 1,000 homes upon the hill maybe still above where the fire was. There are three schools—a grade school, a middle school and Lahaina High School, the oldest high school in the Pacific—and those are still there. But everything below that, all the way to the ocean, for the greater part is completely burned.

“When you see that, people are just kind of dumbstruck. You are just kind of numb. People are still trying to find out who is alive and who we’ve lost.”

Santos says he and his family intend to stay in the area. “I know this is what God has called me to do,” he says. “I’ve been doing it for 30 years.”

Since the fires, God imparted a message to Santos about the needs of the survivors and what he and his congregation must do not only as Christians but as humanitarians to help.

“God spoke clearly to my heart that the people need food, they need water and they need rest,” Santos says. “They also need to see that God did not do this. But God is here now and He wants to speak. As time goes on, mental hurt, pain and anguish will increase. People aren’t going to get over this quickly.

“But there is a lot of opportunity here to show that God indeed is good. He will help us make the most of it.”

Like any natural disaster, the wildfires have certainly been devastating for most everyone in Maui. But like God told Elijah in 1 Kings, Santos and his family will go back the way they came—in victory. {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

See You at the Pole, a global day of student prayer, began as a grassroots movement in 1990 with 10 students praying at their school.

The event is still going strong more than three decades later and has become a national phenomenon, with millions of students praying on their campuses on the fourth Wednesday in September.

It is a prayer rally where students meet at their school flagpole before class starts to lift up their friends, families, teachers, school and their nation to God. It is student-initiated, student-organized and student-led.

Although prayer was removed from U.S. public schools by the Supreme Court in 1962, evidence of faith-based activities in schools is becoming more and more prevalent as time goes on.

As reported by Charisma News, GenZers in Corpus Christi, Texas have sparked revival in high schools around the area. Student-led services don’t take place during school hours, but they are held on school grounds before classes begin, at lunchtime and after school. Bible Clubs have been formed, teens are prophesying and are on fire for Jesus.

Joe Kennedy, a former football coach in Bremerton, Washington, was vindicated earlier this year when the Supreme Court ruled he and others were allowed to pray on the field before and after games. That court battle lasted seven years, and he was reinstated. After Bremerton’s first game, however, Kennedy resigned because he felt the school district had not kept the court order and was retaliating against him.

And then there is Released Time Education, where the United States public school system is required to set aside, during school hours—typically an hour a day—for students to receive off-campus private education.

In June, the Davis School District in Utah decided to ban the Bible from an elementary school and a middle school library. Less than three weeks later, the district reversed its decision and the Bible made its return.

On Wednesday, First Liberty Institute posted to their X account, formerly Twitter, “It reminds us that, because of our wins in cases like Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, we have more freedom than ever to express our faith in public places.”

An X post by Gulf Shores Middle School in Gulf Shores, Alabama, read: “We had a great turnout!”

The same rang true at Satsuma High School in Mobile, Alabama, where a large group of students turned out for an early-morning prayer session.

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“I’m super glad that some many of us follow God,” Brynleigh Burleson told Fox 10 TV. “It’s not really something that everyone talks about a lot, but I feel like now that we’ve come together, we have more opportunity to express our love for God.

“I want them to know that it’s okay and this is a safe place to pray and worship. And I love See You At the Pole. This my second year at See You At the Pole. It’s very fun to do,” Claire Boyett said.

Local Pastor Bailey Moore of Free Life Church helped to organize the event and was pleased with the turnout. As the sun rose, the crowd increased from dozens to hundreds of students, Fox 10 TV reported.

“It was very encouraging. Very encouraging, and very inspiring to see the students just gathering here and just showing devotion to their relationship with God. Showing devotion to their prayer life. To get up early,” Moore said.

By text from Corpus Christi, New Life Church Pastor Mike Fehlauer commented, “I haven’t heard on a national level, but here in Corpus Christi, it was an extremely strong turnout for the schools.” {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.