Note: This is the first of a two-part article.

We long for love and acceptance. But many have only experienced pain, rejection and shame.

In Christ, we are made new. He has borne our grief, sorrow and shame, and we can appropriate through His cross freedom and wholeness to live free of the pain and shame of the past.

The writer of Hebrews states of Jesus, “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor” (Heb. 12:2b, NLT).

The Father, through our new life in Christ, wants us to disregard shame and receive His honor as a beloved daughter or son. We are completely accepted, loved and desired in Him!

Looking at the story of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NKJV), I want to discuss moving from shame to honor.

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

Chronicles was written by Ezra toward the end of the fifth century B.C., after the Babylonian captivity and return of the exiles to Jerusalem. It was to remind Israel of the promises God had given them and to give them hope again.

The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles consists of a long list of genealogies—with no seeming relevance. Then suddenly, we read of the story of Jabez, which serve as an epitaph for Jabez, to be inserted in the list. Based on the names before and after, scholars have approximated that Jabez lived around the time of Joshua and conquest of Canaan.

Why would God make sure these two verses were in the Bible?

There must be something significant about the context and his life that God wants us to see. Despite only two short verses, there is much here.

At that time, the Hebrew people were “God’s covenant people.” Throughout their history, God repeated His promise they would be a great and prosperous nation in the land of Canaan. God first promised this to Abraham and then reaffirmed this promise through Moses to the nation as they came out of Egypt to settle in the promised land.

In Deut. 28:1-14, the Lord’s desire was to bless the Israelites and cause them to be influential, thus provoking other nations to desire to know God. Further, the Messiah, Jesus, would come from this nation, despite their rebellion and disobedience at times. God’s highest goal was to bless them so that they could be a blessing!

Paul would write of the Christian’s promised inheritance in Christ, by way of the Hebrews and specifically Abraham, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29, NKJV).

God’s desire for His people is to live blessed, according to His promise. Jesus said he desires for us to live an abundant life. Why? Foremost, He loves us. It brings Him pleasure and glory when His children are blessed, and lastly, with right motive, we can impact others with the gospel.

But there is a caution with the message of blessing, abundance and prosperity. We pursue Jesus, as His devoted disciples, not for selfish gain, money and riches. We cannot serve two masters, God and money (Matt. 6:4).

There is nothing wrong with working hard and having wealth, but we are to be rich toward God, using the resources He gives to reach others with the gospel. It is important for us to maintain an eternal perspective. Paul warns:

“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim. 6:9-10, NIV).

Wrong Identity Creates Shame-Based Thinking

In 1 Chronicles 4:9, we see that the name Jabez means, “He will cause pain.” His mother perhaps had the Hebrew word Ah-Tzav in mind, which means anguish, intense sorrow or pain. By transposing two letters, we arrive at his name. His name Jabez is a pun/sound.

In this verse, there is no mention of his father. So why did his mother name him “he will cause pain”? Most believe it was due to her circumstances in childbirth. Or maybe the father was absent?

Perhaps she was a single mother, or maybe the father had a bad reputation? Maybe his family was not wealthy or influential? Maybe he was not wanted? Maybe the pain she experienced was one more child to feed during tough times? We do not know for sure, but Jabez was given a name, a constant reminder that he was a source of pain.

By the way, data shows that 25% of children in America are raised by a single parent, most of them single mothers. They often have some of the highest poverty rates in the country. For many of these children, they grow up with feelings of rejection, abandonment and shame. They need from the church the message of love and acceptance, as well as practical help to empower them to become who God says they are and make a difference in our world.

Most children are given pleasant names, perhaps Faith, Grace or Joseph. Can you imagine growing up with the name Pain?

Every time his name was mentioned, it was a reminder to him that somehow his mother and his family saw him as one who caused pain. His name was a curse to him and created shame over his life. {eoa}

Bob Sawvelle is the founding and senior leader of Passion Church in Tucson, Arizona. Passion Church is a vibrant, kingdom-minded church in the heart of Tucson that values God’s love and presence. He is a doctor of ministry doctoral mentor for the Randy Clark Scholars cohort at United Theological Seminary, an adjunct professor teaching master’s-level classes in evangelism, discipleship and church planting with the Global Awakening Theological Seminary and an online course facilitator for Global Awakening’s Christian Healing Certification Program and Christian Prophetic Certification Program.

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Recently I awakened from a dream of a horrendous nuclear attack upon America.

I was at a church service in San Bernardino, California, and was assisting with a fundraiser for a ministry. Upon its conclusion, I learned of another ministry needing help raising funds at a service in which 2,700 believers were attending.

I was with a fellow evangelist, and I asked him, “Do they need my help?” And she answered that they did, in fact, need my assistance.

I went to my car to drive there to assist. As I was walking to my car, I heard a tremendous explosion. I turned around to see the source. I saw a gigantic mushroom of reddish, black and white clouds billowing up into the sky far away. I knew that we were in imminent danger, and if there was any chance to survive, I had better get in my car and drive the opposite direction as fast as I could.

When I entered my car, an unsaved nephew of mine was crouched on the floor of the front passenger seat. I looked up, and I saw a multitude of missiles flying overhead. We braced for explosions.

I touched his shoulder and began praying that God would save us from the onslaught of missile attack that could kill us at any moment. The missile attack continued. Hundreds upon hundreds of missiles were flying overhead. It seemed to be nonstop. I continued to worship out loud, and I asked God to prepare our souls to be with Him for all eternity.

Then a missile struck the ground nearby, but it had not detonated in the sky. I knew that it could still explode.

I started the engine and backed out of the parking lot onto the road. I attempted to drive as fast as I could in reverse to get away from its possible imminent explosion, but my car began to slow down. An electromagnetic pulse had caused the engine to fail. My car slowly came to a halt, and I found myself with fellow Americans who were noticeably disturbed. Our nation was in deep trouble—a fight for its existence. Then I woke up.

Friends, God has given me a number of dreams showing me what might befall—not only Christians in our nation—but our nation as a whole. As I sit here, having come out of a deep sleep and seen this hellish nightmare unfold before my eyes, figuratively speaking, I am reminded of the three dreams that George Washington shared with his servant in his presidential tent at Valley Forge, the third one being the most devastating with thunderous clouds that represented war coming over America.

In the fifth century B.C., Ezra prophetically stated, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14).

Brothers and sisters, I urge you to repent and be ready, not only physically but, most importantly, spiritually, for what might befall our great nation. Please do not be caught unaware. {eoa}

James F. Linzey studied church growth under C. Pete Wagner and signs and wonders under John Wimber at Fuller Theological Seminary, ministered under John Wimber on the Anaheim Vineyard’s Large Ministry Team, and is the chief editor of the Modern English Version Bible. He served as a military chaplain for 24 years.

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I met the Holy Spirit at around the age of 11 and didn’t even know it until nearly 30 years later.

I had grown up in the church. I made my decision for Christ during a spring revival at a Southern Baptist church before I reached the teen years. I went all the way through Sunday school to youth group, from elementary school to college. Later, I had that mid-20s swoon some believers go through when I didn’t even bother with His knowing better (or did I know better?); I just barged forward in late-late-adolescent verve into life after college doing my thing my way.

God, in His infinite patience and lovingkindness, gave me lots of room on the leash to run off for a while, until He gave me a loving yank and pulled me back to Him in my early 30s. It was a hard but wonderful day, and through it all, I tried to stay pressed into the Spirit. Some times proved more effective than others. But what little I thought I could confidently say I knew, those things that I knew that I knew, were: the central message of the gospel, who God is and how I fit into His grand purpose that was far bigger than me.

But it was back at the age of 11 that, as I would only realize in hindsight, the Lord was making in me a heart after His. He gave me an almost unrecognizable capacity to see the good, humble and possibly even vulnerable heart in every person I encountered each day. From the kind grandmotherly figure at the grocery store to some hulking wall of muscle from the nearby middle school who would sooner grind me into a fine powder and sprinkle me over the schoolyard fence into the parking lot, I saw the hearts of others.

It was my own mom who saw this at a time when I was sure no one noticed, not that I was sure what this was. I happened to have overheard her on a telephone call with her twin sister, our beloved aunt, saying something about how “…even if someone gave him a box of chocolate-covered ants, he’d still appreciate the thought.”

My mind was blown. Here I’d been, having these long talks at bedtime with God. I’d say my nightly prayers, but then suddenly have those chats regularly zoom off into all sorts of different directions. To this day, I’m still grateful that even at the age of 11 I had—God allowed me to have—just enough presence of mind to observe these patterns in how my prayers were changing, mainly in that I had begun to have such an endless unconditional love for pretty much everyone.

Somehow, I could see the frailty in each person each day, regardless how frequently my own flesh would clog up the works and shift my seeing from God’s eyes to my feeble human sight. But it was clear there was something else new and building, and it was as exhilarating as it was unfamiliar and uncomfortable. And I had been given a gift of this message of confirmation through my own dear mother, who saw my little kid’s heart before I did.

Years later, on a youth group retreat between Christmas and New Year, I had the blessing of feeling closer to God than ever before. I remember walking back to our room to get a pen and thinking to myself, “Lord, here I am. I don’t have anything to ask for, but I haven’t spoken to You in at least three minutes, and I already miss You … so, hello, and thank You for the amazing gifts in this retreat.”

It was an astonishing new thing to have a prayer conversation with Jesus purely for the purpose of wanting to be near Him. On that retreat, I had one of the first of many “now I know that I know” moments, and in that moment, I experienced James 4:8, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” How amazing to call on the Maker of the heavens and the earth, discovering He loves me vastly beyond any capacity I would ever hope to have to comprehend. And to seek Him purely to be closer to Him at any moment.

God led me to a career where I was blessed beyond measure to use my God-given passions in a place and with an amazing team to meet the world’s deepest needs while taking the gospel to our desperately hungering and thirsting world. I have been blessed to enjoy the infinitely wise counsel of wonderful co-laborers far more knowledgeable in the things of the Holy Spirit than I was when I joined them nearly 20 years ago.

God piqued my appetite for His gifts, and I began a process of learning the gifts of the Holy Spirit, discovering which ones He built me with and how many places I might seek to bless Him by using them, glorifying our Father in heaven and causing Him joy.

I prayed one morning several years ago for Jesus to fill me with His Holy Spirit, excited about possibly speaking in my prayer language. I’d read about others experiencing intimacy with God in this way, and I desired this too.

For the umpteenth time in my life attempting to walk with the Lord, He took my breath away—I felt Him tell me, “I’ve known you forever, before you were knit in your mom’s womb, you’ve always had My fire burning in the deepest corners of your heart.” And I discovered that I knew that I knew, upon seeking the Holy Spirit that day, I had already met him as a child and have always known Him. {eoa}

Listen to more Fruit of the Vine podcasts here.

Robert Caggiano Jr. has been a member of the Charisma Media Book Group for more than 17 years.

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Have you recently seen or heard the late Kim Clement’s “Two President Prophecy”? It has been posted and discussed in a number of places due to recent political controversies.

Many people seem to be discouraged because their presidential candidate was not sworn into office. And millions of people question the validity of the U.S. presidential election across party lines. And many are believing in a coming miracle.

With these things in mind—and with the “prophetic crisis” of ministries apologizing for predicting Trump’s 2020 reelection and it seemingly not coming to pass—I invited Pamela Christian to Adventures in the Spirit.

I wanted to follow up from a previous episode with Tony Kim where I asked, “Did the prophets get it wrong?” And with Pamela, I wanted to ask, “Did the prophets get it right?” referring to the “Two President Prophecy” and its present application.

Knowing that the topic may be controversial, in a spirit of love, I quoted Clement’s prophecy. A portion of it says:

And they shall say, “But now there is a second president. How can we have two presidents?” An unusual thing, isn’t it? says the Spirit of the Lord.

Why would it be that one with a double-mind would stand up and face the people? No, they shall say, “We have two presidents, what do we do now?”

Fear not. For God says, as I promised before, this is My nation, and I will change things according to the time and season. And I told you now in spring, I will expose and reveal things that have been hidden, so that My nation can move into this next election and to the next phase with victory and honor and glory, says the Lord of Hosts!

Some interpret the prophecy stating Clement’s word means there will be one double-minded U.S. president. But others interpret it to mean there will be two U.S. presidents. Pamela said, “This is a battle of good versus evil.” Feb. 10, 2007, Clement prophesied about a “hot blooded” president who will have two terms … April 4, 2007, Kim prophesied, ‘Trump shall be a trumpet.'” Pamela connected a handful of prophecies with Trump. I then asked if the “Two President Prophecy,” applies today to Trump and Biden.

Pamela responded, “I do think so, and I know there are people who won’t agree with me and that’s fine. … The world of prophecy is like a puzzle. One person will be given a little bit of information, and another person will be given more. And it can be given over a process of time. … If the prophecy is genuine, it will be fulfilled in God’s time and on His timetable. There is nothing we can do to alter God’s timetable.”

With the understanding that there are numerous potential cases going to court contesting the 2020 election, I asked what the fulfillment of Clement’s prophecy could look like. With wisdom, Pamela said, “You know Jared, if we could figure out how God would produce a miracle, then it wouldn’t seem like a miracle to us. If we could figure out the path that God is going to take to do something, then it’s only natural, logical conclusions and not a miracle. … God has to present this information in such a way that people wake up. So, when He acts, we can see the justice in what He is doing.”

This conversation had a sweet presence of God upon it. You don’t want to miss this, so listen and share this episode on Apple, Spotify, Google, CPN, YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts. {eoa}

Jared Laskey, ., M.A. in Christian ministry, is the founder of Fireborn Ministries and host of the Adventures in the Spirit podcast. He lives to see Jesus awaken this generation to the power of the Holy Spirit. Jared loves teaching people how to hear God. He has recently published the Spirit-Empowered Journal, available on Amazon, and e-courses Entry Level Prophecy, The Last Days, The Baptism with the Holy Spirit and more on .

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I find the need to be biblically truthful much greater than being popular, and I hope that everyone will read this through the end before coming to conclusions about what I am saying.

Since nearly the beginning of COVID, when vaccines began to be discussed, an undercurrent of concerns bubbled up over the internet: everything from tiny mind-control capsules incorporated into the vaccines to turn people into zombies, to fear that the vaccine is the mark of the beast. The mark of the beast is the topic of this article.

The zombie issue, as well as the thousands of other possible issues with vaccines, I will leave to you readers to investigate and come to your own conclusions. The reason I am writing today about the mark of the beast issue and not zombies is because the mark of the beast issue is biblical.

Let me provide the requisite disclaimers: I believe that the vaccine was rushed and, in many ways, is untested. I also believe that we have no idea at this time the long-term effects of the vaccine. I, like many others, have grown to not be overly trusting of the government, as more evidence of corruption and ungodliness comes to light in both parties.

While I do not believe that the vaccine is the mark of the beast, I do believe that governments around the world are using the crisis to enact controls that could very well set the stage for the mark of the beast.

As I said above, the mark of the beast is a biblical topic, and the best way to find out about a biblical topic is to look at the Bible. Here’s what it says in Revelation 13:11-17 (TLV) and Revelation 14:9:

Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast before him, and he makes the earth and all those who dwell in it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth through the signs he is permitted to perform, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image in honor of the beast who has the sword wound yet lived. The second beast was permitted to give life to the image of the first beast, so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause all who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He also causes all—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slave—to receive a mark on their right hand or upon their forehead. And so no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark—either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand…”

First, note that in both of these texts we read that the person who receives the mark of the beast will first worship the beast. Worship requires choice, purposefulness and intentionality.

Someone must decide they want to worship someone or something. True worship cannot be done accidentally; it must be done from the heart. So, if the vaccine is the mark of the beast, who (or what) is the beast, and how are those people intentionally worshipping the beast?

Worshipping anyone or anything but G-D is idolatry, which is a sin. It is actually the very first sin listed in the Ten Commandments spoken by G-D from the mountain.

Idolatry is an intentional sin, and when we discuss intentional sins, they require purposeful choice. In the case of vaccines, while a person would be making a purposeful choice to take the vaccine, the vast majority are not making a choice to worship anything; they are making a choice to receive a vaccine. They are not being presented with a person or idol to bow down before or to worship.

I know that people are listening to and reading about the possibilities of neither buying or selling without having the vaccines and trying to make a connection between the vaccine and the mark of the beast. While not being able to buy and sell is a result of not taking the mark, we must remember that one must worship the beast before taking the mark for this to be an accurate interpretation.

So please study, watch, pray and stay aware as the days approach. But, while doing so, remember that the testimony of believers gets weakened whenever we say or share things that are unbiblical and sow fear instead of faith.

Yes, there will one day be a mark of the beast, but before people are forced to choose to receive the mark or not, there will be a recognizable beast that people choose to worship instead of the G-D of the Bible.

The choice to receive the mark comes only after the choice to worship the beast. {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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Note: This is the second of a two-part series. Click here for part one.

Perhaps some of you can warmly remember hearing and singing Bill and Gloria Gaither’s inspiring song “The King is Coming!” many times, in church or—before CDs—on cassettes and 8-Tracks.

But have you ever sung the one that says “The Judge is Coming?”

I’m not sure there is such a song, but Scripture teaches that Father God has given all final judgment to His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, who “has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He is coming back to earth to eventually judge all mankind, from ages past to these “last days.”

His judgments will be righteous, real and related to what each individual “has done, whether it was good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10b). Nothing will escape His attention.

John’s gospel tells us that “the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him … and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man” (John 5:22-23, 27).

We will study more about those end-times judgments a little later in this article. First, we should review how the apostle John spoke of a special messenger in Revelation 14:6-7, having an “eternal gospel” to preach to all those yet alive on earth at the end of this age:

“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the eternal gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. He said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

In the context of “the hour of His judgment,” the angel gives three commands to those who “dwell on the earth” in those ending days of mankind: “Fear God … give Him glory … Worship Him …” (14:7b). Any ministry (or minister) that fails to bring people to God to repent of their sins, to “lift up their heads” and give the Creator-God their highest respect and honor, while worshipping His nature and modeling His character, is misguided in its mission.

Our Creator-God is to be worshipped and adored for who He is and praised for what He has done. We are to give Him and His Son our greatest respect, “for the hour of His judgment has come …” (v. 7b). He comes to answer Abraham’s ageless question, “Should not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25b).

Christ is returning to judge the world, reward the faithful and remove evil and wickedness from the earth (Jude 14-15, Ps. 96:13). He no longer will allow mankind to curse the God of heaven or persecute and kill His prophets and people. Those whose deeds were evil shall be exposed and judged accordingly (John 3:17-20, Matt. 25:31-46, Rom. 2:6-8, 2 Cor. 5:10).

Peter reminds us that God’s eventual “judgment and destruction of the ungodly” is delayed only to allow “all to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:10). Believers are to use this time to develop and deploy our spiritual gifts in His service while growing in His character and displaying love for all believers (and even their enemies).

The closer we get to the return of Christ, the more Satan will strive to deceive and draw even professing believers in Jesus to turn their backs on the faith they once believed and joyously practiced. Paul says many will succumb to this deception, and there will be great apostasy. Even Jesus asked the question, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

We read in the book of Revelation of those who “overcame” the devil “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (12:11). These end-time believers did not shrink back from death itself, but they showed enduring patience while keeping the commandments of God and faithfulness to Jesus (12:17, 13:10, 14:12).

When these severe steps of persecution and martyrdom begin to happen, Jesus said for us to “look up and lift your heads, for your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). The apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonians with these words: “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ” (2 Thess. 3:5).

The Lord is coming! {eoa}

Gary Curtis served in full-time ministry for 50 years, the last 27 years of which he was part of the pastoral staff of The Church on The Way, the Van Nuys’ California Foursquare church. Now retired, Gary continues to write a weekly blog at and frequent articles for digital and print platforms.

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Several days ago, the Spirit of God spoke to me, saying, “I want My people to encourage themselves.” However, what broke forth in yesterday’s Celebration Service was far beyond encouraging.

From the first notes of worship, we were carried to a higher place of seeing, hearing and releasing heaven’s voice for today. This incredible prophetic word is just a portion of what was released to open up our recovery:

“This will be a time that I put shunts within you. For you have blocked off things that you are not aware have been blocked off. Watch as I penetrate and open up some blood flow within your body. This is a time of shunting what has been closing up on you, and because of that, you will feel a rush you’ve not felt before!

“As you stand in My presence and enter into My worship, there is a portal that is opening. The portal that is opening is releasing a new flow from heaven. As the deer pants for the water, let your soul long for Me. Do not be downtrodden, for deep calls unto deep. Listen to the voice on the sounds of worship and the waves of worship, for My voice is coming with a new portal that a new flow can occur. Not only will it bring you up, but it will bring you out and into an enlarged place.

“Portions of your soul have closed off the rush of the Spirit that I want to bring you. Let Me open them up! Let Me do the necessary surgery that needs to be done, so the rush of My Spirit can go through you!

“There is a clarion call that will be so loud the next five days. You will hear a tone, you will hear a pitch, you will hear perfect tune—it is a clarion call. I am saying, ‘Come up higher! Open up your ears to hear! Be able to see what I will show you in the next five days because it will be so clear you won’t be able to miss this!’

“Through this portal there is a rope coming down with knots on it. So many are hanging on at one place, but you’ve got to go up a rung. It’s not by power nor by might, but by My Spirit. Reach up and grab above the next rung. When you grab, I will infuse you! When you grab, I will infuse you!’

“Breathe in My Spirit in a way you’ve not breathed Me in before, and this will give you a new strength to lift up one more time. As you grab the knot above you, you will use the knot below you to stand on. What was yesterday’s weakness has now grown weary, but tomorrow is today’s strength. So, breathe in, breathe in and breathe in again, and then lift one more time. You will come up and hold on, and your feet will be planted on yesterday that you may receive the fullness of My presence. Step into the vision of your tomorrow.”

A Time to Encourage Yourself in the Lord!

The new flow from heaven that poured out upon us brought an incredible breakthrough anointing to see the best is yet ahead. The enemy would desire to keep us in a place where we fail to say what needs to be said, but yesterday our hearts and mouths were liberated with a call to rise up and recover all. Be sure to watch this entire replay to learn the power of your words and how you can encourage yourself (and others). I declare your faith is being activated to encourage yourself in the Lord! {eoa}

Charles D. “Chuck” Pierce serves as president of Global Spheres Inc. in Corinth, Texas. This is an apostolic, prophetic ministry that is being used to gather and mobilize the worshipping triumphant reserve throughout the world. GSI facilitates other ministries as well and participates in regional and national gatherings to develop new kingdom paradigms. Chuck also serves as president of Glory of Zion International Ministries, a ministry that aligns Jew and Gentile. He is known for his accurate prophetic gifting which helps direct nations, cities, churches and individuals in understanding the times and seasons in which we live. Chuck has a degree in business from Texas A&M, master’s work in cognitive systems from the University of North Texas, and a D. Min. from the Wagner Leadership Institute.

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Mark Virkler

How can I believe dreams bring a reliable message from God when I have sexual dreams and terrifying dreams and nonsense dreams and “pizza dreams”? Well, that is a very good question. Let’s see if we can’t find an answer.

Biblical Evidence Reveals God Gives the Dream

The Bible says dreams contain reliable messages which are to be acted on:”I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my affections also instruct me in the night seasons” (Ps. 16:7). Over 50 dreams are discussed in Scripture, and when people awoke, they acted on these dreams. About one-third of the Bible records these stories, so that is hundreds of chapters in support of dreams. We explore these in depth in two of our books, Hearing God Through Your Dreams and Hear God Through Your Dreams Workbook. Please review them both for a complete discussion concerning this.

Sexual Dreams

For an examination of four potential foundations of a sexual dream, you may review this blog. We also discuss this more in the Nightmares session of our DVD series (viewer discretion advised). And if we question whether God can speak through sexual symbolism, we need look no further than the book of Song of Solomon.

Terrifying Dreams

Terrifying dreams may come from God as illustrated in this verse: “As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and terror and a great darkness fell on him. Then He said to Abram …” (Gen. 15:12-13).

False Dreams

False dreams come from others, evil people who are seeking to turn the hearts of God’s people away from God. Each of the following warnings illustrates this. You will see that every warning is about others’ dreams—not your own dreams—and in each case they are seeking to turn people from the living God (Jer. 14:14; 23:16,25-27,32; ; 13:1,7; Deut. 13:1-5; Jer. 27:9-11; Zech. 10:2).

Charity Kayembe: The Right Question

We know that in order to get the right answers, we must ask the right questions. During the Q&A portion of my dream workshops, I am often asked: Are all dreams from God? I explain the Scriptures covered above but then clarify and offer an even better question we could be asking. The real concern on most people’s hearts is: Are all my dreams from God? And that is much easier to answer.

Holy days bring holy nights. That means if you are saved and Spirit-filled, if you’ve been through deliverance and built up your walls of protection, if you are in the Word and filling your mind and heart with truth, and if you are living as holy as you know how to live—then yes, all of your dreams can come from God.

How do I know? Because all mine do.

I’ve been interpreting my dreams for over 30 years, and as I share in our book, I don’t believe I’ve ever had a dream that wasn’t from God. And if that is my experience, then it is definitely available as a potential and possibility for every other follower of Jesus as well. We know the character of God; He is a good, good Father. Does He stop guarding us when we’re most vulnerable? Can He not be trusted to protect us while we’re asleep?

What I’ve found is that the biggest reason people don’t believe that God is the giver of their dreams is because they simply don’t understand the symbolic picture language He speaks at night. They get confused by their scary or sexual dream and mistakenly assume if dreams are valid, these dreams must be revealing they are being attacked by Satan at best, or they are a lustful, carnal Christian at worst. If we can just dismiss these confusing dreams as “pizza dreams” and not from God, then we don’t need to pay attention to them. The enemy makes us feel ashamed of the dreams, so ignoring them becomes the easiest course of action.

Satan’s Sneaky Strategy

Most everyone believes God can speak through dreams, but they think it happens once in a lifetime or once every few years—and it’s clear and literal, and they wake up with an immediate and perfect understanding of the dream’s message. That’s how they know they’ve heard from God.

I believe one of the most successful strategies Satan has used against the church in recent years is to deceive them into believing one simple lie. By and large, most Christians in our Western culture believe the lie that most of their dreams don’t come from God. Sure, they concede He might use dreams occasionally, but we need to sift through our dreams, categorize them and disregard most of them because they don’t make sense to us, so they must not be from heaven.

This may appear to be a minor misunderstanding, but it is, in fact, huge. God declared in His Word that He speaks oftentimes through dreams. He speaks over and over again while we’re sleeping, but nobody even notices or pays attention:

“For God speaks once, yes twice, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumber on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that He might turn aside man from his purpose, and conceal pride from man. He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. … Behold, God works all these things, twice, three times with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living” (Job 33:14-18, 29-30).

Satan doesn’t need to intercept the messages God is sending to us through our dreams; he just needs to convince us to ignore them. If the enemy can trick us into believing that the silly dreams and scary dreams and strange dreams aren’t from God, then he has successfully stolen the vast majority of revelation God is downloading to us nightly. Even though God is speaking through our dreams and we are receiving and remembering those dreams—if we don’t believe they are valuable—we will continue to discount, dishonor and entirely dismiss that revelation as not being worthy of our time or consideration.

So again, it doesn’t matter if unbelievers’ dreams are from God. In fact, we know scripturally that many of them are! People who did not worship Yahweh—for example, Abimelech, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Pilate’s wife—all received legitimate and accurate revelation from heaven through their dreams. So if those who don’t follow God are able to hear from Him while they sleep, why wouldn’t we, as the church, expect to hear from our heavenly Father nightly ourselves? {eoa}

Mark Virkler, Ph.D., has authored more than 50 books in the areas of hearing God’s voice and spiritual growth. He is the founder of Communion With God Ministries and Christian Leadership University, where the voice of God is at the center of every learning experience. Mark has taught on developing intimacy with God and spiritual healing for 30-plus years on six continents. The message has been translated into over 40 languages, and he has helped to establish more than 250 church-centered Bible schools around the world.

Charity Virkler Kayembe has a doctorate in biblical studies, is passionate about the sacred supernatural and writes about the unfolding adventure that is walking by the Spirit on her blog at . She has been featured on Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural!, Cornerstone TV, Charisma magazine and The Elijah List. Charity is the co-author of four books, including Hearing God Through Your Dreams, Unleashing Healing Power Through Spirit-Born Emotions and Everyday Angels.

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Over the last 40 years, we have witnessed a slow decline within the church in the United States.

This year is no exception. In 2021 we are witnessing one of the most significant cultural shifts in American church history

The big question is this: Is the church on a respirator or just catching its breath?

The “Christian” Label

The label “Christian” is in decline from the once Christian and family-centrist cultural values. While some hold to Christian values, people of faith engage and attend church less now than any other time in America.

About one-third of Americans now say they worship weekly, and two-thirds say they rarely or never attend a service.

As recently as 30 years ago, 67% of Americans attended and supported a local church. The most recent (2013) poll by the Pew Research Center reported that just 37% of Americans attended church weekly (Gallup’s estimate came in at 39% in 2013).

The church in America once shaped our society and strongly influenced our neighborhoods. In the ’70s, the churches began their building projects in high traffic areas — away from neighborhoods. This decision had both positive and negative repercussions.

Yes, we reached more people, but churches also abandoned the neighborhoods they once strongly influenced. This shifted the church from operating as a family to acting like a supermarket.

Four decades ago, the church was like a family.

Today’s church is far different.

I recently saw an advertisement for a Sunday morning service; the last line read, “and free doughnuts.” Really?

Would you come to church for a free doughnut?

So, this is where we have arrived, free doughnuts at church. Enticing? Not really.

The Church as a Family

I remember the days when going to church was expected. Everyone in our community attended church. It takes a church to raise a healthy community.

Do you remember when we prayed together at church? Do you remember doing life together?  We attended the games of the neighbor’s kids. Do you remember buying girl scout cookies from friends in the neighborhood? Most of that has changed.

As the church goes, the culture goes. With the American church in decline, so are our values.

The church is in decline, and simultaneously the moral climate of our culture is tanking.

“If there’s one trend to watch moving forward, it’s that America likely accelerated its journey into becoming a post-modern, post-Christian culture. The future church will have to stand as an alternative to the culture, not echo it,” church consultant Carey Nieuwhof said.

Is there a correlation between our moral compass and a declining church?

Most Americans once believed in the Ten Commandments, but like Moses, we threw them aside. Our culture now honors feelings over truth. We have substituted our emotions for biblical choices.

Premarital sex is OK if you plan on getting married. The feeling of love is ranked higher in acceptance than the sin of premarital sex. Have we lost the ability to choose God over our preferences?

We Shifted From a Family-Style Church to Attenders

In the 2000s, the church became something to attend. It also became a choice. We once considered attending church as something we needed. No longer.

Church is now an option.

The struggle with making church an option is that it becomes the last option. Would kids rather go to the beach or a picnic than go to church? Yes, for sure.

And going to the beach is fantastic, and so is family fun. But is the regular choice of family fun the best option for the family? I don’t think it is.

There are six other days and seven evenings for family fun. Families can have all the fun they want after attending church together.

Attenders only attend. The shift from connecting as a member to becoming just an attender changes the entire mindset of a person.

— Members show up early.

— Members serve the family.

— Members give love and care.

— Members are involved.

Unlike attenders:

— Attenders attend.

— Attenders come late and leave early.

— Attenders rarely serve.

— Attenders tip God.

— Attenders rarely serve others.

— Attenders enhance our numbers but rarely benefit the organization.

— Attenders eventually become consumers.

We Shifted From Attenders to Consumers

The next shift was to consumers. Attenders began to shop for the church with the best benefits, like shopping for the best restaurant.

We once chose our church based by where we were called to serve and help. Many believers now choose a church with the best worship and the best facilities. After finding the best worship leaders in town, we brag on our church like bragging about finding a pair of expensive jeans at a low price.

Thomas Rainer said it best: “Many of our congregations have become more like country clubs than churches, a place where some members demand their way instead of serving and self-sacrificing.”

All of this as we watch our communities slide into spiritual decline.

So, where are we now?

Lifeway Research survey shows that in January 2021:

— 31% of churches are still reporting less than 50% of their January 2020 attendance.

— 37% are hovering between 50%-70%, and 30% are between 70%-100%.

— Only 2% report seeing more than 100% of their attendance a year ago.

Yes, the pandemic accelerated the decline. The church experts are saying, “We are in a pivot.” And yes, they are right. And the pivot is a big one.

Can the church recover? Absolutely yes.

The 50-year learning curve is here. Some of the church changes were needed, and other changes should never have happened.

The Shift to Authenticity

The big pivot is shifting back to simple. Our former services focused on lights and haze with dramatic impact. That’s all coming down. The cool church is no longer vital.

Being relevant is more than sexy lights and haze machines

Nieuwhof says, “Cool won’t cut it, hype won’t cut it, and fun won’t cut it. Authentic is the new attraction.”

The return to connection and family is paramount and at the forefront of the coming pivot for churches. Excellent services and a new sermon series are no longer a big draw. The big draw for 2021 and beyond is connection.

People are isolated, facing anxiety and looking for meaningful relationships. The local church leaders must pivot to connecting people into groups, finding friends and building strong relationships that facilitate spiritual growth.

In some cases, church in the coming decade will flesh out as smaller churches and more focus on building people rather than building buildings.

“Nobody should be able to out-community the local church,” Nieuwhof says.

I agree.

Let’s get back to reaching people and influencing our neighborhoods. {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.

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Note: This is the first of a two-part series.

In Revelation 14:6-7, the apostle John speaks of a special messenger having an “eternal gospel” to preach to all those remaining alive on earth. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the eternal gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. He said with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.'”

The word “nation” in verse six is the Greek word ethnos, or we can say “ethnicity.” So, this angel is to bring a great and final message in the end times to “ethnicities,” or as the inclusive children’s chorus reads “… red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight! Jesus loves the little children of the world!”

Actually, this eternal gospel exhortation by the flying angel is significant in that it seeks to draw “every nation [ethnicity] and tribe and tongue and people” to worship our Creator God, “who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Some might question why this great and final messenger would focus on creation. This eternal gospel (meaning “good news”) is about the Maker of heaven and earth. He is the Creator of all things and therefore able to control and judge all things. He was incarnated to earth and therefore able to redeem and restore all who come to Him. If no other witness or circumstance had ever “spoken” to them, the “God-shaped vacuum” in the human soul may respond to this basic gospel message and the fearful witness of the end times.

Commentator Henry Morris has said, “The creation is the foundation of the gospel, the second coming is the ‘blessed hope’ of the gospel and the cross and empty tomb constitute the power of the gospel. …One does not really preach the gospel unless he places and teaches all these together in their true majesty and fullness.”

The Hope of Heaven and the Horror of Hell

This eternal gospel conveys both the hope of heaven as well as the reality of judgment and hell to come.

God’s right to judge is also His sovereign right to reclaim the authority that had arrogantly been given by the god of this earth (Satan, the “dragon” of Rev. 13:3-8) to the “beast,” the Antichrist of the last days, who exercised authority “over every tribe, tongue and nation [ethnicity].”

The urgency, which this final warning demands, is shown in the angel’s loud voice (Rev. 14:7a), which boldly and bluntly declares, “Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come.” The right for God to judge every soul is founded on the fact of creation. God made and owns it all!

The angel urged those still on earth to “worship and honor God! The time has come for him to judge everyone. Kneel down before the one who created heaven and earth, the oceans and every stream” (Rev. 14:7, CEV).

This last phrase reminds us of the “fountains of the great deep” which were broken up as God judged mankind in Noah’s day (Gen. 7:4-12). The land/water/atmosphere complex, originally made by our Creator-God (Gen. 1-2), were all changed by the judgment of the Great Flood (Gen. 6), and this flying angel will warn that another great divine judgment is imminent! “Fear God, and give Him glory” (Rev. 14:7b, MEV).

Both lost men and fallen angels have rejected God as Creator and refused to repent of their sins. Godless evolution has deceived our children for generations! Paul reminds us that unrighteous men of old deceived themselves and “turned the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Rom. 1:25).

Now, at the end of the age, this angelic messenger warns all remaining mankind that “the hour of His judgment has come.” This is the eternal gospel, which both warns and encourages the inhabitants of the earth.

Warning: We All Are Accountable to God

The Bible teaches that “each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). (See also 2 Corinthians 5:10, Hebrews 4:13 and Revelation 20:11-13.) Jesus was clear: “I promise you that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken” (Matt. 12:36, CEV). If other believers sin against us, we are to hold them accountable but also to freely forgive them (Matt. 18:15-17). Leaders are clearly accountable for their actions (see 1 Tim. 4:12, Heb. 13:17, Luke 16:10-12 and James 3:1).

It is interesting that when Paul witnessed to his fellow Jews, he sought to convince them that Jesus of Nazareth was the prophesied Messiah. But when he turned to the Gentile ethnicities, he first preached the gospel of creation (see Acts 14:14-17 and 17:22-30). Possibly this is why the angelic messenger urged all mankind, even those of isolated cultures or limited understanding, to turn in simple faith to the one who had created them, trusting Him to save them “from the wrath to come!”

Accountability in the Gatherings of God’s People

After condemning sexual immorality among believers, Paul instructed the church at Corinth to remove a man from their fellowship who had ongoing sexual relations with “his father’s wife” (1 Cor. 5:1-2, MEV). Then he warned: “Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch? Therefore purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new batch” (1 Cor. 5:6b-7a). We must hold fellow believers accountable to live up to the high calling we have in Christ. Gathered accountability is for our mutual sakes and to prevent the escalation of sin and its consequences in our gatherings of God’s people (see 2 Sam. 12:1-14, Luke 17:3, Gal. 6:1-5 and James 5:16).

How about you?

One day, when least expected, while life is continuing as usual (as in Noah’s day), the time and day of God’s judgment will come (Matt. 24:37-39). Are you ready? Are you trusting in your ethnicity, education or social ideology to preclude any judgment that may await mankind in these last days? Are you hoping that God will “grade on the curve?” Don’t do that!

In simplicity, follow these ABCs:

— Acknowledge your sins to your Creator-God.

— Believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, and His redeeming and reconciling work on the cross, as affirmed by the empty tomb and the teachings of His apostles.

— Confess Him to others as your Savior and transforming Lord of your life and future.

In the second part of this article, I’ll talk about Jesus, the judge of all the world. {eoa}

Gary Curtis served in full-time ministry for 50 years, the last 27 years of which he was part of the pastoral staff of The Church on The Way, the Van Nuys’ California Foursquare church. Now retired, Gary continues to write a weekly blog at and frequent articles for digital and print platforms.

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