In the days of the apostles, the writer of Acts quoted the prophet Joel as saying:

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17, NJKV).

But do the “last days” mentioned in this verse refer to our times? In The Spiritual Warfare Handbook, a compendium by Rebecca Wagner Sytsema and me that contains the wonderful book When God Speaks, we have a great section on understanding prophecy that is helpful in understanding its role in the Church today:

Most Christians in the United States grew up in churches that did not embrace the idea of God speaking to us today. We were taught cessationism, which means that the power gifts of healing, tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles and the like all ceased to function in the first century. One of the gifts that supposedly stopped functioning was prophecy. What that basically means is that God said all He had to say by A.D. 95 and has been silent ever since.

Those who hold to this line of thinking believe that prophecy passed away when the Scriptures were completed. They base their belief on 1 Corinthians 13:8–9, which says that prophecy, tongues and knowledge will pass away. However, in the following chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul encourages us to desire prophecy (see 14:1). He did not say that these gifts would be replaced by any others or that they would pass away before the Second Coming of Christ.

In fact, in Ephesians 4 Paul writes: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (vv. 11–13, NKJV, emphasis added).

In this passage, we see that these gifts have been given until we come to unity and we reach the stature of the fullness of Christ. At no time in the history of the church have we achieved these things. Therefore, based on Paul’s own words, these gifts, including prophecy, are still in operation today.

How Can We Know the Will of God?

The Bible makes it very clear that God has a purpose and a plan for our lives. Any biblical scholar will agree that this did not end in the first century. But if we have a God who doesn’t speak to us, it will be hard to discern what that plan is. Many of us have read books or heard messages on knowing the will of God, which are filled with good principles to follow. Yet, the fact remains that the Bible only gives one real principle to follow in trying to determine God’s will for our lives. In the Bible, when someone wanted to know the will of God, they asked Him—and He told them!

God does speak to His people. But if we are so entrenched in a mindset that says God does not speak today, we well write it off as our imagination. The truth is that the prophetic is not an optional extra in the Christian life or in the church. Amos 3:7 goes so far as to say, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

In late 2019 the Lord had to find someone with whom He could discuss the year 2020. He had to say that this Passover season and the days, months and decade beyond were crucial in His earth. Why did He decide to use me? I can’t answer that—only the Lord can. My responsibility is simply to obey and try to bring forth the things He is sharing as accurately as I can.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul reminded the Gentiles that they once worshiped mute idols. What a foolish thing to worship something that cannot communicate! Our God, however, is not like the mute idols. Our God constantly pours out new revelation and is continually speaking to His people. He is a God who loves us enough to want to share communication with us. God speaks, and we prophesy what He says!

So, what is prophecy? The definition of prophecy is simple. Prophecy is speaking the mind and heart of God as revealed by the Holy Spirit. Prophecy is the outflow of the heart and the very nature of God. Revelation 19:10 says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Jesus cares about His church and, therefore, has things He wants to communicate to His church.

Those communications come by way of the Holy Spirit. That is prophecy. It is what Jesus is saying to His church. The testimony of Jesus, which is prophecy, is not just a corporate promise. Jesus says that His sheep know His voice (see John 10:4). If you are one of His sheep, you have the capability, the capacity and the privilege of hearing the voice of your Shepherd, which comes through the Holy Spirit.

In the middle of a crisis, prophesy. This can come in the form of comfort, encouragement, exhortation or direction. Never forget that there is a redemptive purpose in your life and surroundings that the Lord is unlocking. Prophesy that ultimate redemptive purpose. {eoa}

Excerpted from Chapter 3 of The Passover Prophecies by Chuck Pierce: A New Era With a New Season of War (Charisma House 2020). Used with permission from Charisma House.

Every week in synagogues all over the world, a section of Scripture called a Parsha is read, so that during a year’s time, the entire Torah will have been read. This week, we read Parsha Pinchas (Phinehas).

This reading begins with the events of Numbers 25 where Israel has fallen into idolatry and sexual immorality to such a degree that these sins were being openly flaunted not only in front of Moses and Aaron, but also in front of the tabernacle of G-D’s presence. Phinehas becomes zealous for G-D and takes a spear and drives it through a man and a woman, which kills them and brings an end to the plague that had taken the lives of 24,000 Israelites.

As a result of Phinehas’ zealousness, G-D establishes a covenant of shalom and a covenant of everlasting priesthood with Phinehas and his descendants. As I read these words again this year, it once again made me wonder how the result of such a violent act could be the establishment of an eternal priesthood. Phinehas’ actions could hardly be defined as peaceful.

The more I thought about the words of Numbers 25:12-13 (TLV) the more I saw the beauty of the prophetic foreshadowing of Yeshua (Jesus) in this text, “So now say: See, I am making with him a covenant of shalom! It will be for him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood — because he was zealous for his God and atoned for Bnei-Yisrael.”

Just think about it:

In the time of Phinehas, Israel was in the midst of idolatry and immorality was in the presence of the Tabernacle. In the time of Yeshua, Israel was also involved in idolatry and immorality was in the presence of the Temple.

In the time of Phinehas, a man was killed because of sin, and a spear was driven through him. The result of his death was the end of the plague from G-D’s fierce anger against Israel. In the time of Yeshua, a man was killed because of sin (not his own, but substitutionary for those who were sinners) and a spear was driven through him. The result of His death was the end of the plague from G-D’s fierce anger against Israel.

Phinehas’ actions of zealousness for G-D and His Word resulted in a change of priesthood and a new covenant of peace. Yeshua’s actions of zealousness for G-D and His Word resulted in a change of priesthood and a new covenant of peace.

I will never again read Numbers 25 without seeing Yeshua and the truth that it was through Yeshua’s death, which was an extremely violent act, that the true and perfect eternal covenant of peace was brought forth. {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.

As a professional therapist, Stephanie Murphy had always wondered how to navigate the relational issue of generational dysfunction.

The product of a broken home with divorced parents herself, Murphy can tell you firsthand that the mending process is a challenging and sometimes tedious one that no one should go through alone. But then, not everyone is open to the counseling they need.

“One thing I’ve realized during the process of counseling is that people won’t change until it’s more uncomfortable not to change than it is to change,” Murphy told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “As a marriage therapist, I’ve seen how unresolved issues can affect the quality of a marital relationship.

“You may have a Christian couple, and they’re wanting to be kind, and they know they are supposed to be kind, but there are anger issues or reactivity or lack of respect. Those kinds of things that were possibly generational issues are coming out, and they just don’t know what to think because they get a lot of guilt over it because they’re trying to do what they’re supposed to do.

“These dynamics show themselves under stress and, at certain times until people take a look at them and deal with them. Most people have defenses—ego defenses build up. And these defenses were necessary in childhood. Maybe they were being neglected by parents, so they became very independent, very responsible and met their own needs while in adulthood. This may keep them from being able to be vulnerable with other people and ask for help. …

“If there are anger issues, a history of that in the family, then I would definitely recommend that they go to a counselor. These patterns get stronger as they’re passed down from generation to generation.”

For more about how to address the issue of generational dysfunction with Stephanie Murphy, listen to the entire podcast. {eoa}

According to Valerie Richardson in The Washington Times on Sunday, July 5, “pro-lifers have long accused Planned Parenthood of racism.” But recently, more than 350 “current and former staffers” of the giant “health” organization in the greater New York City area, as well as more than 750 donors, supporters and volunteers, signed a critical June 18 open letter to the New York entity.

The “woke” letter from “Save PPGNY” revealed a long history of racial concerns, including that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was “a racist white woman” and that the organization suffers from “institutional racism” and is “steeped in white supremacy.”

Most Americans—red, brown, yellow, black or white—are unaware of the group’s controversial founder. Margaret Sanger’s 1939 racist Negro Project was her eugenics plan for Black Americans and others she and her fellow eugenics enthusiasts deemed “unfit to reproduce.”

These “sophisticated” white supremacists sought to contain the “inferior races” through segregation, sterilization, birth control and abortion. It should not be surprising that about the same time Hitler had eugenics studies and horrible experiments—often at Jewish concentration camps—carried out as he dealt with “the Jewish problem,” in search for the development of his goal of a German “master race.”

Modern pro-life advocates have released undercover videos showing that some Planned Parenthood leaders and late-term abortion centers have even arranged to sell baby body parts as part of their business plan. Some of these brave, nonviolent, pro-life advocates have been arrested, fined and sentenced to prison for exposing these alarming practices! These judicial decisions are currently under review or appeal and need our prayers.

Sadly, one of Planned Parenthood key clinics in Los Angeles County is located just blocks from the church my family and I attend, in the center of LA’s San Fernando Valley. Planned Parenthood is strategically located there in order to prey upon the Latino and African American communities that surround our church campus.

Abortion activists argue for absolute individual autonomy. Planned Parenthood’s former president, Cecile Richards, repeatedly told audiences that she and women around the country are “so sick of men telling us what to do with our bodies.” No one has a right, she and her “women’s rights warriors” insist, to tell them what to do with their own bodies; or with what or who is growing inside those bodies.

This tyranny of the individual callously ignores even the basic assumptions for human rights:

1. If it is growing inside the womb, it is alive.
2. If it is alive, it must be a human life.
3. If it is a human life, it is precious, valuable and worthy of protection, like you and I are!

The radical leftist ideologies in the Democratic party and their presumptive 2020 presidential nominee, Joe Biden, have publicly celebrated abortions as good for both women and society, since the last presidential cycle. They call for you and me, as taxpayers, to pay for their awful choices of abortion—including “partial-birth abortions”—barbarously bringing most of a fully developed, unborn, human baby from the womb, before cruelly killing it.

Sadly, unrestricted abortion is now considered by most Democrats as a right, at any time up to live birth (or even afterward, if it survives the abortive efforts). It is a key factor in the Democrat party’s agenda. As a matter of fact, Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democrat National Committee, has declared that there is no place in their party for pro-life members or candidates.

While it is recognized that the Supreme Court made it legal in 1973, abortion is a private, personal choice and American taxpayers should not be forced to pay for those life-ending choices, which many bipartisan believe to be immoral acts of infanticide.

“Abortion always ends in the killing of an innocent human being,” says John Piper.

Polls show that a wide majority (63%) of Americans say they oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. This includes nearly half (45%) of pro-choice Americans! Racial opposition includes significant percentages of African Americans (65%) and Hispanic Americans (61%).

This issue involves more than infanticide itself. It is a last days” manifestation of a highly sensual society, many sinful lifestyles and unbridled sexual immorality—of which we are warned in Scripture.

Our Creator has formed each human being in His own image and abhors abortion. He holds those accountable who wantonly take the innocent blood of our unborn sons and daughters. For Blacks in America, abortion is a genocidal, life-and-death matter.

Dr. Alveda King, a niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has said, “Under the veil of deceit and deception, 60-plus million babies have not been born because they were aborted legally since ’73. One-third of that population belonged to the African American community.”

Given that blacks make up only 13% of the U.S. population, this is a frightening and telling number!

‘s founder, Pastor Clenard Childress Jr. has said, “The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.”

Planned Parenthood’s strategic placement of its abortion mills in minority neighborhoods has contributed to the drastically declining birth rates of Blacks. Currently, their replacement fertility rate is so low that experts fear they may not sustain their own race, in this land of the free.

From the Bible’s point of view, there is only one race—the human race.

It is time for all people, of all ethnicities to stand up for life from conception to the grave and peacefully stand against infanticide, suicide and genocide. {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. Gary and his wife live in Southern California and have two married daughters and five grandchildren.

While racism has become a hot-button issue in America since the May killing of George Floyd, there is a centuries-old form of the social disease that continues to go largely ignored around the globe—Antisemitism.

The war against God’s people—the Jews—continues to rage around the world, as evidenced by violent attacks against synagogues and Jewish individuals that have filled the news over the past few years. And, Susan Michael, USA director of International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, says it has gotten progressively worse since the COVID-19 pandemic struck at the beginning of 2020.

Michael says the attack against the Jews is just that—a war—and it is demonic in nature.

“What makes antisemitism so unique is that, compared to any other bigotry or hatred in the world, as a Christian, I would describe it as spiritual,” Michael told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “As a historian, it’s eternal; it never goes away. And you can go back 4,000 years in history and begin tracing this hatred of the Jewish people.

“It keeps cropping up generation after generation, no matter where in the world and no matter what the culture, it comes back,” Michael said. “It’s been described like a virus that you think you may have stamped out in one society or one century, only to have it come back later with a slightly different name or variety. But at the end of the day, antisemitism always has the same goal, and it’s to rid the world of the Jewish people. And it’s shocking when you realize the spiritual nature to it.

“That’s why it’s so important that we, as Christians, come to understand this and what we need to do to stand against it. … It’s a spiritual war against God Himself. But His people are caught in the middle. The devil knows if he can get rid of the Jewish people, then he’s gotten rid of God’s plan for the earth and the full implementation of His kingdom on earth. Therefore, they are a target.

For more about the ICEJ and its work to eradicate anti-Semitism, listen to the entire podcast.

In light of the present civil unrest, the sole focus has been on prejudice as it relates to skin color, with many Blacks accusing White individuals of oppression against them and pointing to the white privilege they enjoy in society.

In my opinion, discrimination based on skin color is a secondary issue, not the root issue. The root issue is humanity’s alienation from their Creator, which began during the fall when Adam disobeyed God. This started a process of tremendous pain which pitted human beings against one another.

The first homicide had nothing to do with racism but envy. Cain slew his brother Abel out of jealousy (Gen. 4). Hence, human alienation from God had immediate consequences resulting in hatred and murder. The apostle John said that if we hate our brother, then we do not have the love of God and we are abiding in death (1 John 3:11-15). According to this interpretation of Cain’s wicked deed, it was inspired by the evil one who took advantage of the sin of jealousy in his heart. Satan compels us to do what we are already entertaining in our hearts.

False Theology

Some have mistakenly claimed that the commandment by God to Adam to have dominion over His creation, (“The dominion mandate” in Gen. 1:28), offered one group of human beings the right to have dominion over other less-developed or less-civilized humans. This erroneous hermeneutic could have been used by some European colonialists to subjugate less cultured, non-Europeans because they believed Genesis 1:28 granted them the manifest destiny to rule the world for Christ. However, a closer look at Genesis 1:28 illustrates that the “dominion mandate” was granted to all of humanity—not just to one ethnic group—to cultivate the earth. It could not have referred to exerting dominion over other less civilized humans since the earth was not yet populated when God spoke this to Adam and Eve.

In general, all humans who steward the created order are walking in this command regardless of their ethnicity. Although, promoting the first two chapters of the Genesis account is counter-cultural in contemporary times, especially in regards to its theistic worldview. This theistic worldview recognizes only one expression of marriage with only two genders—male and female—as seen in Genesis 1:27.

Slavery

Slavery is one of the cruelest manifestations imaginable regarding abuse among the human race.

The first illustration of slavery in the Bible was not between Whites and Blacks, but between Egyptians who subjugated the Hebrews. Since Egypt is considered part of North Africa and the Jews of those days would not look like the European Caucasians of today, slavery presented itself as African peoples subjugating people of Middle Eastern background (who probably had olive-colored or brownish skin tone).

European Slavery

During the days of Jesus, most of the population of the Roman Empire were slaves. Although this could have involved some light-skinned Europeans enslaving dark-skinned people from African nations, it most definitely involved Western Europeans enslaving other Europeans with similar skin color.

Slavery during this time most likely had nothing to do with ethnic racism but was encouraged because it directly impacted economics and those in power. Furthermore, even when we read Spanish and Portuguese historical accounts, the use of African slaves started in the 13th century. In many instances, the slaves were not kidnapped but sold by their tribal heads for economic reasons. Hence, Africans participated in the wicked slave trade for their sustenance. This increased the slave trade in Europe, including its expansion into the British Empire and the initiation of slavery in the United States.

The Rwandan Genocide

During four months in 1994, there was an attempt to commit genocide against the Tutsi people by the Hutu. This was a demonically inspired, systematic plan based on historic grievances by one Black tribe against another in this African nation.

Black on Black slavery exists today. Some will argue that Africa is again the world’s epicenter of modern-day slavery, “In recent years, serfdom in the continent has attracted global attention after videos showed slave markets in Libya where African migrants were being auctioned off in car parks, garages, as well as public squares.”

I wonder why the “Black Lives Matter” movement doesn’t often address this horrific situation taking place in our day? Is it because it doesn’t fit into their White against Black narrative? If Blacks indeed do matter in the USA, shouldn’t they also matter in other nations? I think the poor, enslaved and persecuted Blacks in Africa have the same human worth and value as Blacks, Whites and all ethnic peoples everywhere else! It’s unfortunate that Black civil rights leaders and political leaders in the USA are not raising their voice against this injustice.

The USA

In our own country, we see high instances of “Black on Black,” “White on White,” and “Latino on Latino” crime. It is not relegated to just “White on Black” crime or seen just when abuse is committed by White police officers on Black citizens. Hence, to my point, the main issue is a sin issue and not merely a color issue

Our Racist History

We all know that the USA has many warrants related to its initial history, none worse than the legal integration of African slavery into the southern economy. This resulted in the “war between the states” where thousands of mostly White northerners lost their life fighting against slavery. I agree that the Confederate flag and monuments to its southern separatist war heroes should be relegated to museums instead of displayed in the public square. I also believe the “Juneteenth” celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves should be a national holiday. However, I do not think every vestige of American history should be deconstructed.

It’s one thing to point out that some of the founding fathers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were slaveholders —forever diminishing their standing in the eyes of some— it’s another thing to tear down the flag of a southern secessionist group that wanted to divide our nation!

Along the lines of this reasoning, I agree with Dr. Michael Brown who tweeted, “In the spirit of pulling down historic statues and removing “racist” brand names, should there be a move to cancel the Democratic Party, since the Democrats were the party of slavery, segregation and Jim Crow?”

If we are going to go as far back as colonialist Christopher Columbus, and tear down his monuments, why not also hold the African nations accountable for who participated in the American slave trade by selling their people? Where does it end?

I will tell you where all these roads eventually lead to: back to the beginning. It started in the Garden of Eden when our common parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God. This had cosmic consequences—not merely individual—since it negatively impacted every level of human reality, such as the spirit, human relations, the physical ground, the animal and plant kingdom and the immediate heavens (Gen. 3).

I believe now is the God-ordained moment for a healthy dialogue between White and Black citizens of America and beyond. I contend that we cannot lose sight of the fact that the only true cure for individual and systemic racism in the world is a strong, united Church that preaches the gospel of the kingdom of God.

Only the gospel can restore individual sinners to the Father and garner the intellectual and political capital necessary to reflect systemic biblical justice on the earth. {eoa}

Prior to 2020, David Jeremiah couldn’t have known the extent of the chaos and angst the new year would bring to the church and to the world.

But Jeremiah, founder of Turning Point Ministries and pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, knew there must have been a reason the Lord had led him to begin a deep study of the Psalms. And, as the unexpected events 2020 began to unfold, he soon began to realize why.

It led the bestselling author to write Shelter in God: Your Refuge in Times of Trouble, to let believers know that God is always walking beside us, even through the worst of times.

“I had done some homework in the Psalms over a long period of time, and when this whole thing hit, it just it just seemed to me this was time for the Psalms to get working in the lives of God’s people,” Jeremiah told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “And actually, there are some songs that are called ‘the sheltering psalms.’ And that’s what some of these are.”

“The miracle of this whole thing was from the day we decided to do this until the book was in our hands was four weeks. That’s never happened in my lifetime ever in 40 books. That was a God thing, for sure. And, I did a little video along the way about how God over the years has sheltered people, and whenever the sheltering is over, life is always better for the people who went through it. That thing got kind of crazy and went viral and, believe it or not even ended up in India.

“The Psalms are some of my favorite portions of the Word of God. And, in many respects, the Psalms are like a journal that David kept in his life. And when you find where the Psalms belong historically in the in the play out of David’s life, it’s really instructive. When you follow David in the Psalms, you learn how to pour out your heart to the Lord.”

For more about how to find shelter in God during a crisis, listen to this entire podcast.{eoa}

In these uncertain days, Curt Landry, who has been involved in the prophetic movement for 30 years, says anyone can try to pass off prophecy as divine revelation on social media.

But the founder of Curt Landry Ministries says God’s children must be cautious, and there are certain ways to know if what you have received from the Lord is truly prophetic.

“With social media, you can put anything out there, and, let’s be honest, fear really sells,” Landry told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “If we put something out in a fear category, it’s going to have a lot more energy and numbers than if it’s about hope.

“One of the basics is 1 Corinthians 14:32, and it says, ‘the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.’ Before you take something to social media, the protocol would be that you actually get proven prophets with proven track records. …

“When your circumstances don’t line up with the vision the Lord has given you, you’re supposed to stand, not trade in the vision and modify it,” Landry said. “Then the key is, after you get that vision, then when it comes time, you’re able to run with it. …

“I have a lot of things affecting the filter, and that’s the word I want to use: ‘filter.’ Anytime you get a prophetic word, you always filter it through a lot of your own culture, spirit and experiences you’ve been through. … A prophetic word comes out of the third heaven. It is contaminated in the second heaven and then it’s manipulated on earth. …

“So, there’s a certain level of consecration and holiness that prophets need to walk in. Here’s the key: In 30 years, after I speak out of the word, I never defend God or myself,” Landry said. “You have to humble yourself, take that protocol and test it with other prophets.”

For more about testing prophecy from Curt Landry, listen to the entire podcast here.{eoa}

A few days ago, as people all around the United States celebrated Independence Day, my wife and I celebrated In-dependence Day. “Why?” you may ask. It is because we refuse to give up on the rights proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

We have just come to terms with a better understanding that while the Declaration of Independence proclaims our independence from Great Britain, it also proclaims our in-dependence to God. This is a sentiment exceptionally stated for all times in the sentence quoted above. Our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were accurately proclaimed to have been endowed upon us by our Creator.

From the day the Declaration of Independence was signed through to this very day, we have debated, argued, passed laws, fought battles and even rioted in an attempt to provide those things that were rightfully proclaimed gifts from our Creator through our human efforts. In the very same way, too many of us try to achieve the gift and promise of salvation through our own efforts, even though the Scriptures tell us that our salvation is also a gift from God.

Yet, we as a nation—or for that matter, the entire world—will never fully understand the truth of what Thomas Jefferson penned so long ago until we, as humanity, transform our minds and hearts. Until we begin to fully understand that while this document severed our ties as a nation to Great Britain, it also permanently established our ties to our Creator.

Those men so long ago didn’t simply sign the Declaration of Independence; they did something far greater: They signed our Declaration of Dependence. For too many years, we have reveled in our history of rebellion against Great Britain when we should have been rejoicing in our submission to God.

I believe it is long past the time that we, especially those within the body of Christ, begin to proclaim and celebrate our nation’s independence. Until we, as a nation, submit to the one who endowed us with our unalienable rights, we will never fully “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” {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.

Jenn Stockman knows what it’s like to have the enemy try to silence your voice for the kingdom. He does so in many ways, including the demonic emotion of shame.

But Stockman, director of the first-year program at Bethel Atlanta School of Supernatural Ministry, says God never meant us to deal with shame, and our voice for the kingdom is meant to echo throughout the world to reach the lost and the discouraged.

“There are so many mirrors all around our life, and shame wants to be a mirror,” Stockman tells Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “Sin wants to be a mirror; our poor choices want to be a mirror; our culture wants to be a mirror.

“But really, the purest mirror is the Father’s eyes, when we can get close enough to see the Father. In the purest way, we see ourselves in the reflection of how He sees us,” she says. “The gospel requires that all others bow, even my own opinion about myself. I will bow to the way He sees me in the reflection of His eyes.

“Your voice is the uninhibited sound of who and whose you are. You belong to the Father,” Stockman says. “None of us is exempt from the human experience of shame. But we are set apart on the earth for how we deal with shame and what we do with it. And really what we do is we run to the Father. Shame’s whole idea is to get us to hide from the presence of God and hide from the Father when we feel ashamed, because His love, His presence, is the healing in that experience we can never get wrong.

“We can still get acceptance when we fail,” Stockman says. “We can still get love. That is His nature. His goodness, His kindness toward us will never depend on if we got it right or if we got it wrong. That’s when our shame starts to get healed.”

For more about shattering the demonic emotion of shame and about Jenn Stockman’s ministry, listen to the entire podcast. {eoa}