Have you ever felt like you’ve damaged your life so much with bad decisions that you don’t believe you can ever find your way out of the hole?

Dr. Tony Evans, a pastor, teacher, author and speaker, says he’s seen that type of discouragement in believers almost everywhere he goes. But he says with God, the damage isn’t irreversible, and nothing is impossible.

Evans wrote his book U-Turns, to help believers know that when they align their life choices with God by pursuing an intimate relationship with Him, they can experience the abundant life Jesus died to give them.

“So many people are living with regrets, failures, sins and circumstances that have negatively affected them because they’re having to live with the consequences,” Evans tells Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “Sometimes it’s from their own decisions; sometimes it’s from the impact of the decisions others have made for them.

“And those consequences, those negative repercussions are discouraging them or limiting them and are causing them not to maximize their potential,” he says. “So, I wanted to write a book of hope.

“Yes, there are consequences to being a sinner and living in a sinful world,” Evans says. “But the beautiful thing about our faith is that the consequences don’t have to have the last say. They don’t always immediately disappear, but we no longer have to be held hostage to them. So, my writing the book was to give hope, based on the fact that God is a hope-giving God, even when we are dealing with the repercussions of our own decisions that have given us negative circumstances.”

For the rest of this encouraging interview with Tony Evans, listen to the entire episode of Greenelines at this link, and be sure to subscribe to Greenelines on your favorite podcast platform. {eoa}

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The story of the five loaves and two fish isn’t simply one of Doug Stringer’s favorite passages in the Bible. It has become an instruction manual for the human compassion ministry he founded nearly three decades ago—Somebody Cares America/International.

A small organization with only eight regularly-paid staff in its Houston, Texas, office and limited financial resources, Somebody Cares follows the principles Jesus implemented in biblical times to turn a little into abundance to help the poor, the destitute and those devastated by natural disasters.

It has become known as a coalition and network of organizations and churches impacting communities through prayer initiatives, compassion outreaches, leadership training and responding in times of crisis.

From Houston to the four corners of the world, from urban to foreign missions, from inner cities to unreached people groups, Somebody Cares helps to transform lives through united efforts of prayer, tangible expressions of Christ and community transformation through kingdom collaborations. In what has become known in SCAI’s circles as “compassion evangelism,” the organization and its network of ministries and churches extends God’s tangible love in the form of food, clothing, shelter, financial resources and the comfort of the gospel of Jesus Christ to those hungry for a better life.

Although Stringer’s compassion ministry began in the early 1980s, Somebody Cares was birthed as its own entity in 1994.

Following the story in Matthew 14—when Jesus fed more than 5,000 men, not including women and children, with only five loaves of bread and two fish—Stringer doesn’t concern himself about a lack of resources when faced with what looks in the natural to be an insurmountable task to help those in need.

He remembers what Jesus did for the 5,000 and how he did it—and then he puts his full trust in God to come through.

“You look at what Jesus said. He said, ‘feed them,'” Stringer says, referring to Matthew 14:16 (NLT). “And then the disciples said, ‘We don’t have anything. How can we feed them?’ The point is, Jesus didn’t ask them, do we have enough? He didn’t ask them about what they had; he said, ‘feed them.’ And that is what we are committed to.

“For us, we’re simply being obedient, and simple obedience is the highest form of worship,” Stringer continues. “The first time the word worship is ever used in Scripture is not in the context of singing or with instruments. It’s a context of obedience. If we simply just take what we have and offer thanksgiving, God will multiply the loaves and the fishes. After He did that, they had more than enough. It is a principle we have seen everywhere.

“It’s compassion, but you don’t just do compassion without having the wisdom of God or the heart of God.” According to Stringer, “It’s about being a part of something bigger than yourself. It’s not about who gets a pat on the back or who gets the credit. It’s just about helping people, and when you do that, you see the kingdom advanced. People’s lives are changed, impacted, and you ultimately leave equity for God’s kingdom. That’s when people will become more curious to the gospel. If you see the tangibility of the gospel, then the loaves and fishes principle goes into full force.”

Stringer and his team are fully aware they cannot fulfill that mission on their own merit. If they are to leave “kingdom equity,” as Stringer calls it, in the areas they serve, they must rely on other organizations and churches to partner alongside Somebody Cares to bring God’s tangible love to those who desperately need it.

With limited staff in Houston, carrying out the organization’s kingdom commitment would seem impossible. But Stringer says we serve the God of the impossible, and it’s not simply about what happens in Houston.

The entire vision of SCAI is based upon what he calls “relational equity.” It’s the relationships Stringer has built with church and ministry leaders over the past 40 years that has allowed SCAI to grow exponentially.

Another important relationship Stringer cultivated many years ago was with Paul Tan, the senior pastor of City Blessing Churches in Los Angeles and the president and apostle of City Blessing Churches worldwide.

Still another crucial relationship Stringer formed is with Jack Hayford, the former senior pastor of The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California, and former president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Hayford invited Stringer to speak at a Love LA pastor’s gathering that year, and that trip helped Stringer to network with other attending pastors and ministry leaders and to ignite their interest in SCAI’s mission.

Stringer also connected with Daniel Bernard, a former missionary to Nigeria who returned to the Tampa Bay, Florida area. He started Bay of the Holy Spirit, a network of churches and ministries that realized Somebody Cares Houston was a model they could implement in their area. In 1997, Bernard contacted Stringer and asked if they could officially become a chapter and called it Somebody Cares Tampa Bay. He invited Stringer to meet with 120 pastors to officially launch Somebody Cares Tampa Bay.

Stringer also connected with Marlene Yeo, a pastor who worked with homeless children in the New England area. Yeo is now the executive director of Somebody Cares New England.

“It’s all about relational equity, mending the net. Every one of our chapters is autonomous,” Stringer says. “They have a license and an agreement with us to carry on our core values and not to misuse them. It becomes a ‘spiritual fathering’ or mentoring. We are just the command center in Houston.”

Since 1994, chapters have been established worldwide in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Fiji and Aberdeen, Scotland. In the U.S., chapters have been birthed in Puerto Rico, San Antonio, Texas; Haverhill, Massachusetts; Baltimore, Maryland; Denver, Colorado; Jasper and Newton Counties in Texas; Tampa Bay, Florida; St. Augustine, Florida; Citrus County, Florida; Pasco County, Florida and Hernando County, Florida.

SCAI also has affiliates called Love Botswana in Africa; Love Bought International, ministering to orphans in Colombia; and Coreluv for Orphans in Haiti. SCAI has had significant ministry and ongoing relationships in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Middle East. It also has centers in Texas cities and regions ike Brownsville, Denison, the Rio Grand Valley and Brazos Valley.

Save Our Streets Ministries in Bryan, Texas, also helps to facilitate Somebody Cares Brazos Valley. Medical Missions International is an official affiliate as well as many others.

“With that many affiliates and chapters, you can see why the needs of hundreds of thousands are met,” Stringer says.

Because “we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28, MEV), some SCAI chapters have arisen out of crisis situations. After Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017, Stringer formed a strong relationship with Rey Matos, pastor of Catacumba 5 church in Anasco.

After that deadly Category 5 storm struck Puerto Rico, Stringer partnered with Matos, and through the FEMA office there and several other disaster relief organizations, sent shiploads of resources and medical equipment to help the devastated people on the island. Some parts of Puerto Rico are still recovering from the storm, and through Stringer’s relationship with Matos, people are still receiving aid spearheaded by SCAI.

Quick Response

When a need is identified or a crisis situation arises, that’s when the network of ministries and churches go to work with lightning efficiency. Conference and Zoom calls are set up with Stringer and his teams to discover exactly what the needs are, and strategies are established to meet those needs, including how the costs will be covered.

As soon as strategies to attack the need are put in place, churches and ministries are contacted, and God’s works are set in motion.

“It’s incredible that, most times, we start with nothing, but we’re able to find men and women of peace in communities who really want to help,” Stringer says. “People come out of the woodwork, so to speak, to serve. So, it all starts with availability.

“That’s when you start leveraging the local churches and people in the communities.” Stringer continues, “Every hurricane, every natural disaster that we are called about, it’s amazing how so many churches want to come alongside and help, some as distribution centers. Resources just seem to come pouring out.”

Stringer says, “We get the inertia, the momentum, going. This is another place where you see Jesus’ principle of the loaves and the fishes get started. The need becomes identified, and then you simply become obedient to God’s Word, and you trust that He is the one who is going to meet the need. It’s an incredible principle.”

Disaster Relief

While compassion evangelism was originally intended to be the staple focus of Somebody Cares, the organization has become well known for its efforts in disaster relief. When the Indian Ocean tsunami wreaked major havoc in 14 countries in 2004, Somebody Cares was on the ground soon after.

When the 2010 catastrophic magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti, Somebody Cares organized relief efforts from distributing food to coordinating the building of temporary houses for numerous families whose homes were destroyed by the quake. Thousands of hot meals were provided along with groceries and clean water, as well as bringing encouragement to hundreds of pastors.

SCAI has been instrumental in helping many other cities and regions recover from destructive natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Hurricane Rita in September 2005, Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 and Hurricane Laura in August 2020.

More recently, SCAI responded to cries for help during the harsh winter storm that hit its own home state of Texas in February 2021. The storm caused major power outages, resulting in burst pipes throughout the state, which cascaded into water outages. That, coupled with icy roads, also shut down businesses and schools.

In the months following, many remained without drinkable or running water, and families were on two-month waiting lists for plumbers and plumbing supplies. Somebody Cares equipped churches and ministries to distribute food, water and other supplies to individuals and families who suffered in the aftermath of the unusual winter storm.

SCAI brought in truckloads of bottled water from the Midwest Food Bank to distribute to families. It also purchased plumbing supplies from out of state to fix leaks for those on fixed incomes, those who lost wages and those who struggled without insurance coverage for the water damage incurred.

Everyday Compassion

Through strong kingdom relationships and networking with organizations that thrive on human compassion, Jesus empowers SCAI to meet felt needs around the world, not only during natural disasters—which Somebody Cares is most known for—but also in everyday life.

For example, in 2008, SCAI learned from Pastor Suliasi Kurolo of World Harvest Center, its facilitator for Somebody Cares Fiji, that there were no dialysis machines in all of Fiji. People who needed dialysis had to travel to Australia or other countries for treatment.

Somebody Cares Vice President Jodie Chiricosta put out the word through their network of the need for a dialysis machine in Fiji and, within days, a ministry partner had provided three fully refurbished machines with spare parts. At about the same time, Stringer had been invited to minister at the City Blessings Churches in Los Angeles, pastored by Tan, who is also founder of the Indonesian Relief Fund and World Blessing Foundation.

Stringer and Tan connected, and City Blessing offered to pay half of the shipping bill for a container to deliver food, medicine and the three dialysis machines to Fiji. Another food distribution organization in Georgia also helped to defer the costs of delivering the machines.

“That’s how the kingdom works—on relationships,” Stringer says. “The machines arrived in Fiji and were donated to the Ministry of Health by the churches of Fiji—which opened new doors of ministry in the nation and provided tangible help to those needing dialysis.”

A Beacon of Hope Through COVID-19

Somebody Cares has even made its compassionate presence known through the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year. Stringer says out of its Houston office and their “little ministry,” SCAI has distributed well over $400,000 not only to local residents in need, but also sent additional funds to other cities like Baltimore and regions such as New England and sent some assitance to the Navajo Nation. This does not include other funds sent out to help victims of other disasters.

When the pandemic struck, at-risk children who normally attended school and who depended upon school lunches for a meal every day, began to miss out on those lunches when they were ordered to learn from home. The director of Somebody Cares Baltimore reached out to restaurant owners in the area who were also missing out on income because of the COVID-19 restrictions and, because people identified the need, the need quickly became met.

“We have helped people who have been affected by COVID-19, those who have lost income, with their utilities and with rental assistance,” Stringer says. “That’s not even counting the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of resources we gave away to medical professionals, first responders, community outreach agencies and churches to assist with responses across the country.

“It’s so amazing how God has taken what little loaves and fishes we have,” Stringer says, “The biggest thing we’ve learned through all of this is that if we offer what we have on our own, we’ll never have enough. But, if we offer what we have with all of our thanksgiving to God, we always end up with more than enough. God tends to multiply the fish and the loaves we have when we offer it with an attitude of gratitude.”

Compassion Evangelism Still Going Strong

Stringer says in order to meet the felt needs around the world, SCAI must remain continually creative and stay connected with those who have the same passion to not only provide for felt needs but to spread the gospel of Christ so that Jesus’ mission of the salvation of every man and woman becomes a reality.

“When I first started,” Stringer continues, “I realized that my heart for compassion was not about just doing good works, which become dead works. My heart for compassion was to find strategic, tangible ways to express Christ. When you meet needs and touch the heart, it opens an opportunity to minister to people beyond the arguing of the mind.

“We’ve had so many stories and testimonies over the years,” Stringer says. “Doing good works can be cumbersome and exhausting. You can have compassion burnout if you are not being fueled by the presence of God. From the very beginning 40 years ago, before Somebody Cares came to fruition, I knew right away that this ministry had to be based in prayer, which is communication with God. It had to be fueled out of his presence.

“I realized that everything we do,” Stringer says, “has to be prepared in a place of prayer and a place of worship in the presence of the Lord so that when we are able to minister to people, it comes out of the overflow of his presence rather than just trying to make something happen ourselves.

“And in that place,” Stringer says, “is when God will take what little you have and multiply it through relationships with those who are like-minded. That’s when the stories of the loaves and the fishes really comes alive.”

Shawn Akers is content development editor with Charisma Media.

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Demons look for those who are ignorant of Satan’s devices because that makes them vulnerable to his attacks. Children are perhaps the most vulnerable targets.

But how do demons enter your children? From what should you guard them? How do you protect your child?

Check out this clip for some timely revelation for the days in which we live.

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Amid what seems to be exponential growth of antisemitism around the world, Yael Eckstein remains steadfast about her kingdom mission.

As the president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Eckstein knows how crucial it is to continue to not only build bridges between Christians and Jews, but also to help Jews escape poverty and antisemitism, as well as return them to their biblical homeland. With funded humanitarian assistance, The Fellowship has touched the lives of millions of Jews in Israel and worldwide in a culture where hatred and disdain for their people is increasing rapidly.

Comprised of independent organizations in Canada, the U.S. and Israel, The Fellowship collectively raises over $165 million annually. Eckstein oversees all programs for The Fellowship while serving as the international spokesperson for the organization. She is also the host of the Nourish Your Biblical Roots podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network.

Her work to combat antisemitism around the world is tireless, including in Israel, where a ceasefire was recently declared for yet another conflict with Hamas that reared its ugly head for approximately 11 days.

“The violence that we’re seeing, we thought we were done with it,” Eckstein told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “We haven’t seen this in a long time. I don’t know God’s plans, but I have to believe that somehow it’s going to bring some good; maybe even to remind the Jewish people without assimilation how Israel is their only home. They can’t forget their identity; they can’t forget who they are.

“But I think it’s all of our responsibilities to really stand strong against this hatred that is spreading like wildfire. I believe if we don’t get it under control, it will burn all of us down as a people of faith. … Everyone’s prayers are Israel’s weapons of mass destruction. That’s why we’re protected. Not one person in Israel takes one prayer for granted. So, thank you.”

Additionally, The Fellowship is more than doing its part to help Jewish people make Aliyah to Israel. On a daily basis, The Fellowship helps people from places like the former Soviet Union and Ukraine, South America and France to escape antisemitism.

“The amazing thing is that there were 4,000 rockets falling on Israel, which is the size of New Jersey, and you had Jewish people saying, ‘Israel is the safest place for me.’ That’s how you know how bad antisemitism has gotten.”

For more about The Fellowship and Yael Eckstein, listen to the entire episode of Greenelines here, and tune in to Nourish Your Biblical Roots with Yael Eckstein on the Charisma Podcast Network. {eoa}

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God is calling us back to our first love—and He’s calling the prodigals home. In a recent Mornings with the Holy Spirit broadcast, He showed me too many have moved into the fringes of Christianity.

It reminds me of Christ’s words to the Laodicean church: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:14-16).

Indeed, a lukewarm spirit is moving through the body of Christ and tempting many to settle for less than deep intimacy with the Lord who loved them enough to die for them. Others are moving into New Age philosophies that put out the fire they once had for God.

I heard the Lord say:

“I’m calling you back to the center because the enemy has tried to force you out of My presence. The enemy has tried to cause you to withdraw from My heart. I am calling you back to the center—out of the fringes and back to the center.

“This is where you will hear My heartbeat, and this is where you will see My face as you seek My face. This is where you will hear My voice and understand My will for your life. And you will see and know and understand that the attacks of the past season were to keep you out of this sweet spot—to keep you out of the next glory. And you will rise up and fight against the enemy that tried to take you out.

“I cannot see you. I am looking for you in My heart, and you’ve strayed. But now it’s time to come back. Now it’s time to come back. Now it’s time to come back. Where are you? I don’t see you in your place, on your post. I don’t see you on your knees in your prayer closet. Where are you? That familiar place where I used to meet you, you’re not there because you strayed to the fringes, and you strayed from My heart because the pressures of this world squeezed you out of My presence, but you’re not out of My life.”

Click here to read the rest of this prophecy, Scripture meditation and prayer. {eoa}

Jennifer LeClaire is an internationally recognized author, conference speaker and recognized prophetic voice. She is the senior leader of several prayer networks like Awakening House of Prayer, Ignite Network, the Awakening Blaze prayer movement. Jennifer formerly served as the first editor of Charisma magazine and has authored more than 25 books, including Mornings with the Holy Spirit, The Making of a Prophet, and The Spiritual Warrior’s Guide to Defeating Jezebel among others. She is a frequent contributor to two of Charisma’s publications, the Prophetic Insight newsletter and her very own column, The Plumb Line, in addition to her frequent contributions to the Elijah List. Jennifer lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is very active online via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. You can also find much more on her ministry website .

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Prophet James Goll, author and founder of God Encounters Ministries, says every believer can learn how to hear God’s voice, something many Christians long for on a daily basis.

But the host of Charisma Podcast Network’s God Encounters Today says it won’t be a simple act of listening. There are things the believer must do to discern the voice of God, because there is little doubt that He wants to connect with us every day.

The Bible, Goll says, tells us that we need to have our “senses trained to discern good and evil” (Heb. 5:14).

“How would you like to have an emotionless relationship with your wife?” Goll asked Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “How would you like to have a non-emotional relationship with a child, especially a newborn child of yours?

“God is our Father, and He loves us and the Bible says that God just falls all over us with joy,” Goll says. “So I make an appeal that God is an emotive God. God has emotions. And, if God has emotions and we are made in the image and likeness of God, and God the Creator, Jesus Christ, in the new creation, lives in us, then how about some of the emotions—not all—that we actually experience are God’s emotions expressed in and through us.

“In this new book of mine, The Feeler, it’s discovering how sensitivity helps you discern God’s voice. And let’s get more raw or transparent. We are all made to be sensitive creatures, and that’s a blessing.”

You can either acknowledge and work with it, or you can acknowledge it and work against it, Goll believes.

“In today’s culture, we are taught to be so fear oriented. There are real issues and it is complex. So one of the main things is to keep your worship on. You’ve got to keep your worship on or you will end up in worry. We are supposed to walk by faith.

There are three W’s that enable us to walk by faith. Goll says, “You’ve got to keep your worship on, you’ve got to keep the Word as your anchor and you’ve got to remain in God’s ways.”

“You will be an anchored believer by the Word and by worship,” Goll says. “You’ve got to put the Word in you or you’re going to float around like a kite by every wind. Learn to embrace the Word of God so you can attain the promise.”

For more of this interesting interview with prophet James Goll, listen to this entire episode. Subscribe to Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network for more inspiring interviews and listen to God Encounters Today for more with James Goll. {eoa}

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We have just celebrated Shavuot, or Pentecost, the last of the biblical spring feasts, and we enter the season between the spring feasts and the fall feasts, the hot and dry months of summer.

These arid months remind us of the wilderness journey of the Israelites. Figuratively, this is the time in between the Exodus and receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai and the Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (Tabernacles).

Prophetically, this season can be viewed at the time between the outpouring of the Ruach ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit) on Shavuot and the sounding of the trumpet proclaiming the return of Yeshua (Jesus). This is the season of time that you and I find ourselves in today as we await the soon return of our Messiah, while all around us we are seeing many things politically and socially that may cause us to be concerned. Every single one of these things were prophesied in the Bible to take place. While we should be concerned as believers, we should not be afraid.

Yet, many believers I speak to do seem to be afraid. Fear has overcome many of those I hear speak or post on social media. This fear among believers has grown over the past year as we experienced economic problems, social unrest, a pandemic, wars and political controversies.

Because I’ve seen and heard so many people who proclaim to believe in Yeshua and the Bible speaking and acting in fear, my studies brought me to a place where I wrote a short e-book titled Overcoming Fearlessness about the right and wrong types of fear.

However, the more I prayed and studied, the more one thought kept running through my mind. I am cautious about over-spiritualizing my prayer life or saying, “G-D spoke to me.” But I will say that I felt that I was being directed and redirected back to this concept every time I began to seek G-D for answers concerning the fear that is attacking the body of Messiah. It is this thought that I am presenting today in this post, and I ask that you would prayerfully consider if the Spirit of G-D within you confirms this word.

One reason that so many believers are struggling with fear is because the body of Messiah has been taught a message that says: “We really cannot trust G-D’s promises,” or maybe, “We cannot fully trust in G-D’s covenants.” Now, these messages are not spoken quite that boldly or directly. The message is much more subtly presented. But while the wording of the message may be spoken indirectly, and more implied than proclaimed, this message’s meaning nonetheless has caused many to question the faithfulness of G-D.

I know that at this point you are wondering what exactly is this message that has so weakened the body of believers that it has allowed fear to overwhelm and overcome them. The message that is spoken by leaders in congregations around the world is that the G-D of the Bible doesn’t really keep His covenant promises. I know you may be saying to yourself right now, “I have never heard that taught in my congregation.” Let me suggest that if your teachers told you that the Old Covenant was done away with and replaced with the New Covenant, then your teacher is teaching that G-D really doesn’t keep His covenant promises.

Before you stop reading, please consider all of the times in the Old Testament that G-D spoke the words “everlasting covenant.” Yet, so many New Covenant-believers are quick to proclaim that at least one of those everlasting covenants is no longer in effect. In other words, G-D didn’t really mean everlasting when He said everlasting. Now, in this post, we won’t have time to discuss how we as believers in Yeshua relate to all the covenants G-D made with His people in the Bible. Even Yeshua said in Matthew 5:17:

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

We must deal with the truth that if G-D made an everlasting promise to His people, then we are walking on dangerous ground if we call G-D a liar by teaching that He really didn’t mean everlasting when He said everlasting, and He didn’t really mean eternal when He said eternal.

You may be asking what does this stuff about covenants have to do with believers becoming overwhelmed by fear. The answer is simple. If we are teaching that G-D changes His mind concerning His covenant promises, or that He really didn’t mean what He said, then how can we fully trust anything He promised His people?

If G-D annulled the Old Covenant, what keeps Him from annulling the New Covenant? If His covenant promises are not sure, then how can any believer trust for protection and provision when confronted by sickness, financial issues, social conflicts and more?

When the people who are supposed to assure us that G-D is faithful instead teach us that G-D is fickle, when the people who are supposed to proclaim that G-D is the same yesterday, today and forever instead are teaching us that G-D is only kind of the same yesterday, today and forever, when those who are supposed to instruct us on how to trust completely in G-D’s promises instead tell us that we can only trust some of those promises because G-D may in the future change His mind, then none of us should be surprised when those being taught this message lose trust in the promises of G-D and become controlled by a spirit of fear. {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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Having grown up in the Muslim-dominated country of Egypt, Michael Youssef knows exactly what it’s like to face oppression for his beliefs and to defend his faith.

However, it’s something that, decades later, the founder of Leading the Way ministry and founding pastor of The Church of the Apostles in Atlanta never dreamed he be forced to draw upon while living in the United States of America. Yet here he is, like many other Christians in this country, battling a presidential administration that is becoming more and more hostile the gospel of Jesus Christ by the day.

His newest book, Hope for This Present Crisis: The Seven-Step Path to Restoring a World Gone Mad (Charisma House, 2021), explains how believers can combat this siege from within the U.S. It provides a diagnosis of the insanity of the current culture in America and a prescription to the moral decay that has beset our country.

“Growing up in a sea of a Muslim world, you kind of learn to anticipate persecution,” Youssef told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “You grow up strong because you are instructed in the home, you’re instructed in the church, and you know what it is like to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and to be ready to defend or even die for your faith.

“So, for the first 18 years of my life, that really gave me a foundation that I never knew some 55 years later I would have to draw upon. Because we are in the U.S., I never thought I’d see the day where Christians would be persecuted. Every religion, every thought, every philosophy is tolerated except the Christian faith.

“The former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, a friend of mine, said to me, ‘Do you think God has a sense of humor, bringing a man from Egypt to be a thorn in the side of liberal evangelicals?’ I’m happy to be that. God, in His mercy and grace and favor, gave me the pleasure and joy of planting our church in George 34 years ago. We just kept growing, and ever since the opening day, I will tell you that I have not changed my commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am becoming stronger. The older I get, rather than softening and weakening, I am now more committed to the preaching the uncompromised truth, the infallible Word of God.”

For more about Youssef and his attack on today’s cancel culture, listen to the entire episode here, and subscribe to Greenelines on your favorite podcast platform for more inspiring stories like this one. Order Hope for This Present Crisis to discover ways you can follow Youssef’s example and stand up for your faith in the face of persecution. {eoa}.

We witnessed the first administration in over 70 years who removed “God” from the National Day of Prayer Proclamation. The administration did observe the day, yet they did not honor it.

The believers in America are alarmed. The hatred toward Christ-followers and Israel is cause for grave concern.

In my prayer chamber, I heard the Lord say, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18, NKJV).

And I heard, “Do not be surprised as to the fiery trials the enemy has planned against My people.”

Are we surprised the enemy has plans to attack the saints? No, and we shouldn’t be.

Are we prepared to handle the attacks of the enemy? Yes! God gives clear direction in His Word on how to handle conflict, aggression and confrontation. We must first remember we do not fight against people.

Be Reminded

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12, ESV).

Our enemy is the devil and the spirits that operate under his headship. There are times that self-defense is warranted. If the enemy attacks with bombs and missiles, we must counterattack the enemy. There is a time where protecting yourself has a place.

But if attacked for our faith in Jesus, we have clear guidelines from Jesus: Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek.

“But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matt. 5:39, NKJV).

Would you say it’s easier to fight back or turn your cheek? It takes more fortitude to turn away than it does to fight back. The best way to get God’s results is to do things God’s way.

What Jesus Taught and Modeled for Us

“For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet. 2:20–23, NKJV).

Jesus never fought back. Jesus never protested. Jesus did not use His wisdom to cull His enemies. Jesus never threatened.

Jesus submitted Himself to God. So, what is your plan if attacked or berated?

Stephen responded this way, “They continued stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit!” Then falling on his knees [in worship], he cried out loudly, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them [do not charge them]!” When he had said this, he fell asleep [in death]” (Acts 7:59-60, AMP).

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?” (Matt. 5:43-46a).

I pray the body of Christ is ready to respond like Stephen and to obey the words of Jesus.

This post first appeared here. {eoa}

Thomas McDaniels is a pastor and writer. He has written for and currently is a contributing writer for Fox News. He is also the founder of and the Longview Dream Center in Longview, Texas.

Read articles like this one and other Spirit-led content in our new platform, CHARISMA PLUS.

For Rabbi Curt Landry and Curt Landry Ministries in Israel, the conflict between Israelis and Hamas has become a personal one.

The animosity between the Jewish and Palestinian people over centuries is certainly no secret, and that animosity has escalated into armed conflict in the Gaza strip over the past week. More than 3,800 rockets have been fired with 13 Israelis being killed and 1,800 innocent civilians wounded.

But Landry says there is another war brewing in Israel that could be devastating. It’s one that has already affected his ministries there.

Landry’s ministries in Israel employ Jews, Arabs, Muslims and Christians. For the first time in 73 years, Landry says Israel is experiencing a civil war that has not entered into the mainstream conversation.

“The relationship with Israeli Arabs has been molded into the sense that you have Israeli Arabs attacking and killing their Jewish neighbors,” Landry told Dr. stee Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “You also have radical Jewish groups, of course, defense themselves and firing back—and that’s the civil war side. That’s what people aren’t really talking about.

“The government and our ministry and everyone else is obviously against the shedding of blood and we pray for all sides. We pray for the Palestinians, the Arabs and the Jews, the Druze; all of the people in the region.

“So this civil war, I’ll give you an example of what I know. You have Arab Israelis who are Israeli citizens, they all strike in one day. These are doctors to plumbers to hotel workers, grocery store clerks, everybody goes on strike and they won’t go to work. So, their employers say if you’re not going to go to work, we will hire somebody else. Then, they sue Israel. It’s very complicated.

“So, they’re backing up the court system. It’s just terrible. But the biggest problem with this is that—and this is a story I know of—where you have two you Arab Israelis and they go to their Arab neighbor in a neighborhood and ask which one of the cars out here belong to Jewish people. The Arab neighbor, a grandmother says those are the ones. She’s been their neighbor for years. She points out the cars and then they go out and torch the automobiles. I’ve been to Israel 45 times and have been in and out of Israel for 30 years. Like I say, I have Arab Israelis on my payroll. So, it’s not something we’re used to. We’ve never experienced anything like this.”

For more about the civil war happening in Israel, listen to the entire podcast with Curt Landry. {eoa}

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