Did you know that more people have been killed in Chicago by gun violence than the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined? The documentary film Chicago: America’s Hidden War has been nominated for an Oscar, for good reason.

Sit down with the film’s producer, Dimas Salaberrios, and learn about both the film and life. It’s Episode 37 of the Courageous Nation Podcast with Michael Anthony on the Charisma Podcast Network. Watch it on YouTube here, or listen to it on CPN now.

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I had a vision of a showdown at high noon! If the enemy routed you last time around, now is the time to emerge with guns blazing.

This time, you will take out the enemy that took you out in the last season. There’s vindication and restoration for those bold enough to confront the thief who stole from you.

Determine to engage in this prophetic showdown, this spiritual clash, this final face-off in the spirit to settle a long-lived dispute between you and the demonic powers that have harassed you. Decide to put an end to the demonic cycles and vicious circles that keep you oppressed.

When you make a stand, the Lord will back you up. If God is for you, who can be against you? (see Rom. 8:31).

In the vision, I saw a large clock right in front of somebody’s face. The clock is tick, tick, ticking. The opportune moment has come around again—and this time, you are not going to miss the chance to take back what the devil stole. This time, you are going to rise up and fight.

It’s time to engage in the confrontation you tried so hard to escape from in the last season. You didn’t know how to fight last time. You didn’t feel prepared. But you are ready now. You’re wiser. You’re stronger in the Lord and the power of His might (see Eph. 6:10).

I decree your enemies will not be able to stand against you when the Lord leads you onto the battlefield. The God who answers by fire will be with you just like he was with Elijah. He is the same God.

Meditate on These Scriptures:

“For the Lord your God is He that goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to save you” (Deut. 20:4).

” Have not I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9).

“Through You we will push down our opponents; through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us” (Ps. 44:5).

Let’s Pray

Father, in the name of Jesus, give me the courage I need to confront the demons of my past—and the demons that are hindering my progress even now. Strengthen me in my inner man so I can easily push back the darkness, break the cycles and escape from the vicious circles the enemy tapped me in during past seasons. I decree I have the upper hand because I am in Your hands. {eoa}

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Jennifer LeClaire is senior leader of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, founder of the Ignite Network and founder of the Awakening Blaze prayer movement. She is author of over 25 books. Find her online at or email her at info@.

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One man who knows suffering from experience is Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was in prison for his faith in Turkey for two years on trumped-up terrorism and spying charges before being released in October 2018. Brunson believes persecution and harassment toward Christ-followers in America is about to intensify in many ways and that Christians—charismatics in particular—are not ready.

“Jesus said that it would happen,” Brunson says. “Just as the world hated him, that it will hate His followers.”

A missionary to Turkey for 25 years, Brunson told me when I interviewed him recently on my Strang Report podcast that American Christians must to be prepared for persecution in the coming days. He said the charismatic theology that God is a good God who cares for His children like a benevolent parent is part of the reason they won’t be ready when the persecution comes.

“I’m especially concerned about my charismatic brothers and sisters,” Brunson says. “We have an emphasis on presence and on glory and encounters and miracles. When those don’t happen, how are we going to handle it?

“I think many charismatics could be in danger,” he says. “Jesus specifically warns that the love of many will grow cold, and this is talking about offense in the heart. That distances people from God, and it specifically happens in times of persecution, which I believe is coming. People become disillusioned with God because of the rise of the amount of wickedness that God allows, the judgments that He will bring and the persecution He allows, but also many people go through that silence of God. Jesus warns that many people will be knocked out. I think this is especially a risk for charismatics because of the heightened expectations that we have.”

Preparing for persecution means more than just stockpiling food or arming for violence. We must be prepared not to become offended at God for allowing such things to happen. This view of suffering goes against a lot of Pentecostal/charismatic doctrine, which teaches that God is a good God who lovingly protects His children from anything bad.

Actually, I believe that. I also believe that suffering is part of life. It’s the same way I believe Christ is all God and all man.

A mature Christian knows the Christian walk involves dealing with seeming contradictions. Jesus himself said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world (John 16:33b).

On the podcast, Brunson told me he almost turned his back on God in prison but didn’t because earlier in his life he had developed a real intimacy with the Lord. He said: “The thing that best prepared me for my time under persecution was cultivating that love for God and running after His heart.”

Brunson expects “significant change in this area” [of persecution] because “many leaders in our society now—the corporate world, entertainment, media, politics and also academia—do not honor God and, in fact, they openly defy Him. They are increasingly hostile to those who identify clearly with Jesus and His teaching.”

While persecution has started as a trickle, Brunson sees “a tidal wave on the horizon, and it’s coming toward us very quickly. It’s not some far-off threat.”

And, Brunson warns, it is crucial for charismatics to strengthen and condition themselves for the upcoming spiritual warfare headed our way. He speaks from his heart and from personal experience.

“I think it is especially important for the charismatic church to begin to talk about persecution, the human cost that comes with suffering,” Brunson says. “Often, in charismatic churches, we focus on Jesus the miracle worker, and rightly so. But we don’t speak so much about Jesus as a man of suffering and grief.

“Someone said to me recently that Jesus will not be unequally yoked to his bride,” he says. “She will also be a bride who has suffered. So we need somehow to begin, as a part of our theology and teaching, to prepare people that actual suffering can happen. That can be more difficult than we expected.”

So what does this persecution look like in an American context?

“One is in silencing, marginalizing, shaming, canceling people,” Brunson said. “A big issue in the future for us is going to be communication, how we get our message out to other Christians, to nonbelievers also. What if you’re banned from social media, and no one will host your church website or your podcast?”

He also identified the danger of individuals or ministries losing their credit card processing providers or banks, which is already happening, as we have seen. Someday, churches may lose their tax-exempt status for teaching biblical morality, and already some Christian teaching is being defined as hate speech.

“This is something that’s really burning on my heart,” Brunson says. “We need to prepare ahead of time so that when we are afraid (or under pressure) we do not run but stand firm.”

He notes: “There are several ways to do this, but the No. 1 that I want to underline is [this]: The way we prepare to stand in difficult times is by cultivating love for God. … Over the years, this pursuit of God’s heart prepared us for difficult assignments, including my time in prison. So, God knew that I would struggle; He knew that I would break. But He also knew that because of all of those years of drawing close to His heart in the most difficult times, I would turn toward Him and not away.

“So, the truth is that intimacy fuels perseverance, and we are willing to suffer for those we love,” Brunson says. “The thing that best prepared me for my time under persecution was cultivating that love for God and running after His heart.”

Are you prepared for the upcoming persecution Brunson talks about? To make sure, you’ll want to listen to this most compelling interview with him. Here is the entire episode of the Strang Report. Be sure to subscribe to the Strang Report on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform for more words that will inspire and challenge you in the power of the Holy Spirit. {eoa}

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The founder of the St. Paul, Minnesota, chapter of Black Lives Matter spoke out on the “ugly truth” of a year in leadership of the group in a recent video posted on social media.

In 2015, Rashad Turner led the organization with the hopes of supporting Black families. He quickly learned in his year of leadership, the organization as a whole “had little concern for rebuilding Black families,” he says.

“I believed the organization stood for exactly what the name implies: Black lives do matter,” Turner admits.

As the first to graduate college in his family, Turner grew up learning about the gift and value of education, which drives him to support high quality education for kids like him.

“I want the same success for our children in our communities,” he says. And yet, after leading the BLM group, Turner discovered not only did the group tout false claims to support Black families, “they cared even less about improving the quality of education for students in Minneapolis.”

For more on how the controversial Black Lives Matter group creates “barriers” for Black children, especially in the education system, watch this video now.

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I have a confession to make.

When I heard the call of the Lord to be a crusade evangelist, I had not won one soul for Jesus. I confess this to my eternal shame. I was a closet Christian.

Yet, when the Lord spoke to my heart and appointed me to the mighty task of mass evangelism, I instinctively understood something: He could not use me to preach the gospel to the masses until I could witness to the individual. And so, I started—albeit awkwardly and messily. But, in spite of my inexperience and nervousness, the Lord used me to win the lost, soul by precious soul. Today, He uses me to win both the one and the many!

Why do I share this with you? For two primary reasons. First, when the Lord calls you to do something, I guarantee that you will feel unqualified for the task. You will feel insufficient, unprepared and unable. This is completely natural, dear friend. Our God wants you to step out upon the waters. He wants you to be completely reliant and utterly dependent on Him. He wants you to cling to Him fervently and draw from Him desperately. Why? He wants you to achieve the impossible—and the impossible is only possible if attempted hand-in-hand with Him! In my case, He called a young woman who had not yet won one soul for Jesus to win the masses for Jesus. How typical of the Lord! After all, He called uneducated fishermen to lead the early church and teach ceiling-shattering doctrine. He called a murderer and church-hater to pen the gospel of peace and write a prolific portion of the New Testament. He called a herder of sheep to be the king of His people. In short, He calls us to become what we most certainly are not and then makes us to be what we could never dream of becoming. This is the delight of the master of the universe and the prerogative of the architect of all creation! And so, embrace the uncertainty, push past the fear and take that first step of faith. This leads me to my second point.

Dear friend, whatever dream the Lord has laid upon your heart, whatever purpose He has called you to accomplish, the important thing is for you to get going. Take the first step, regardless of how small it may seem or how poorly you take it. The Lord will grow you, advance you and, when the time in right and your character is steadfastly grounded in Him, He will raise you up! Take the first step … and then the next … and then the next. For me, starting to evangelize one-on-one was the first step. Perhaps your first step is registering that dream business, applying for an online course, volunteering at your local church or simply spending more time with the Lord in prayer and His Word on a regular basis. You know what that first step is, and if you are unsure, take the most logical one. God loves action. If you take an action step with a sincere heart, doing your best to follow His leading, He will use it for His glory and redirect if necessary. The Lord works with workers and moves with movers. Go forward, and go for it! The Lord is with you.

Listen to the first episode of In His Name on the Charisma Podcast Network, Getting to Know Tamryn and learn more about how the Lord called me to crusade evangelism and how I went about taking that first step of faith. I know it will be a great encouragement to you in your own walk with the Lord. {eoa}

Tamryn Klintworth is an evangelist and the founder of In His Name Ministries, an organization winning Africa for Jesus through mass crusades and empowering believers around the world to be used by God. Connect with @tamrynklintworth on Instagram and Facebook.

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You may know him from the No.1 hit film, War Room, but you’re about to learn transferable lessons about success, perseverance and what it means to live with courage in this special episode featuring T.C. Stallings. He’s an actor, author, speaker and producer who will inspire you to reach your greatest potential!

Watch this exclusive interview on YouTube here or listen to the audio version of this special podcast episode of Courageous Nation on the Charisma Podcast Network.

Michael Anthony is a speaker, author and the host of the Courageous Nation Podcast. With a life full of adversity, he survived multiple brushes with death and several kidnapping/luring attempts as a child. He or his works have been featured in major news outlets like the New York Times, CNN, Charisma and more. His debut book, A Call for Courage: Living with Power, Truth, and Love in an Age of Intolerance and Fear, can be found wherever books are sold. His web sites are and .

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What would you tell your younger self? What wisdom have you gained over the last five, 10 or 20 years that has changed your perspective on life?

One of the things I learned is not to sweat the small stuff—and most things are small stuff.

Join me on this journey of looking back to move ahead in which I share life lessons I wish I’d known 20 years ago.

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This morning while in the middle of an encounter with the Lord, I heard very clearly “I am redeeming every part of your being” and “no longer will you remember the shame of your youth.”

I physically felt the Lord’s passionate fire manifesting on my body, with waves of laugher following, and throughout the encounter intimate, great depths of joy vibrated over my being. Truly the Lord’s words are pure, living and active.

I immediately knew this was not only a personal encounter, but symbolically He is removing shame off His bride in this hour in its deepest layer that she may experience a greater depth of attachment to His heart.

The Spirit of the Lord is saying there is a new level of healing for all in the body of Christ, even “the healed.” As I sat with the Spirit on this, I saw many who had been healed in the sense of there was no sign of reaction or trauma. You had done the work on your end in the Spirit and in the natural.

But in the Spirit, the Lord said, “I am redeeming you, every part, the places that have left you with questions, lack of understanding and wonderment.” His blood has bought every place of you, even covering your experiences and that which you have not understood about yourself for the purpose of trusting His touch, that He may remain in you and you in Him; oneness. “Do not fear, for your shame is no more. Do not be embarrassed, for you will not be disgraced. You will forget the inadequacy you felt in your youth and will no longer remember the shame of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband; his name is Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies! Your Kinsman-Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel! He has the title Mighty God of All the Earth!” (Isa. 54:4-5, TPT).

As the Lord was speaking, I could feel warm oil in my right ear. Two days prior, He was speaking to me about oneness when I felt this same warm oil in my ear. I was driving on the highway when I heard and felt an acceleration in the Spirit; I could feel a brief moment of gripping, almost a resistance, but in the next moment, there was a thrusting forward.

There has been a “shifting back to go forward” for many, and it is for the building of momentum for acceleration. I was experiencing this while looking up at an exit that I was passing, exit 111. Immediately I knew this meant the Spirit was accelerating oneness with Him. I felt the Lord speaking so specifically that I voice texted to document, and the exact time was 12:58 p.m.

When I asked the Lord about the time stamp, He showed me that it was two minutes before 1; in other words, “the two becoming one.” “Marriage is the beautiful design of the Almighty, a great mystery of Christ and his church” (Eph. 5:32).

On my return home on the same highway, at 3:16 p.m. I felt the hot oil in my right ear, I looked over and saw exit 99. The Holy Spirit reminded me of the parable of the lost sheep, leaving the 99 to go after the 1 found in Matthew 18 and Luke 15. He then highlighted the time stamp again with John 3:16 (AMPC), “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trust in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.”

I saw a new side of the parable: the begotten one going after the one to be one. The Holy Spirit then highlighted that shepherds will anoint their sheep with oil. This oil acts as a protective barrier and will even prevent death.

I believe the Lord is saying that He is redeeming all of His bride; He is anointing her ears for deeper trust as a protective barrier, while the oil also guards what He is depositing in the secret place, and in the secret place He is anointing her with His oil of gladness (Isa. 61:1-3).

Psalm 133 likens oil with unity. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:10 that we are to be empowered through our union with Christ. Our intimate union with Christ is not only experienced at the marriage supper of the Lamb, though can be accessed now as the Lord is inviting us into His inner chamber where the Lamb is pouring out His oil to prepare, restore and redeem His bride.

This is the beginning of the restoration of bridal love. A couple of months ago I had a dream where I was a married to a minister. I knew this was symbolic as the Lord has often used me symbolically as a picture of “His bride,” and I didn’t recognize the woman as looking like myself in the dream. We were standing on a slightly raised platform with our congregation, worshippers all surrounding us in a crowd. I leaned in to kiss him, and it was if I had forgotten how sweet it was so I kissed him again, and then a third time.

Typically, this is not the kiss you see in church “on display”; however, it was not inappropriate. Again, the number three representing the Spirit, this was a dream representing the reawakening of bridal love, so that in unity, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come” (Rev. 22:17a, MEV).

The Lord is saying, this is the return of public displays of affection. The bride will affectionately show her love for her husband in renewed covenant. The church is becoming aware of the missing affection in the relationship, and pure public displays are going to be demonstrated by the leading of the Spirit.

She will fall in love with her husband again and will recognize and call Him her beloved. “Let him soother me with kisses—His Spirit-kiss divine. So kind are your caresses, I drink them in like the sweetest wine! Your presence releases a fragrance so pleasing—over and over poured out. For your lovely name is ‘Flowing Oil.’ No wonder the brides-to-be adore you. Draw me into your heart. We will run away together into the king’s cloud-filled chamber.” (Song 1:2-4, TPT).

Amy Sutherland is the founder of Ablaze Global Productions, a production company formed from her dual call to minister to the church and the unreached around the globe. Investing years in ministry and the entertainment industry, she has had the opportunity to develop her gifts in a unique way for such as time as this, from award-winning actress and producer to speaking and ministering prophetically worldwide, she desires to awaken and make ready a fiery bride for her King. Amy is a graduate of Marilyn Hickey Bible College and Iris Harvest School of Missions (Africa).

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David Rubin, former mayor of Shiloh, Israel, located in Samaria in the area known as the West Bank, says the U.S. has much to learn from Israel—from both its successes and failures.

Rubin’s new book, Confronting Radicals, deals extensively with this topic. Born and reared in the U.S. and still a dual citizen of both countries who has lived in Israel for more than 30 years, Rubin sees striking parallels between the extensive violence and riots that have occurred in the U.S. and recent events in Israel. In fact, he says the fact that proponents of the violence in the U.S. have come out in favor of the Palestinians and the anti-Israel attacks does not surprise him at all.

“What I have seen over the years is that organizations of the far left, like Black Lives Matter and antifa, these are organizations are very anti-Israel,” Rubin says. “These are organizations that align themselves with what they call liberation movements—any liberation movement other than the liberation movement of the state of Israel.”

Rubin has personal knowledge of terrorism, having experienced an attack on his car some years ago from representatives of the Palestinian Liberation Army, injuring both Rubin and his 3-year-old son. To hear more from David Rubin on the intriguing topic of what the U.S. can learn from Israel, watch the entire interview here or listen to the Charisma News podcast at this link. Find Confronting Radicals wherever fine books are sold.

To find out more about David, visit .

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One of the most amazing attributes of God is His willingness to communicate. He loves to talk to His people. As soon as He created Adam and Eve at the beginning of time, He blessed them and gave them detailed instructions. God talked to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He gave detailed instructions to Moses, David, Elijah and many other prophets. And today, because we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, He speaks to us.

Yet I meet so many Christians who struggle when it comes to guidance. When they pray, they strain to hear anything. They know God speaks, but either they don’t believe He wants to talk to them, or they don’t want to obey what He says. Many believers have never known the thrill of hearing God’s gentle voice in their spirits.

There are Christians who teach that God doesn’t speak to people personally. They believe the only guidance you need comes from the Bible. That’s actually a strange doctrine, since the Bible itself says God speaks to individuals. The phrases, “And God said … ” or “the word of the Lord came to so-and-so,” appear more than 2,000 times in the Old Testament.

Do you want to hear God’s voice more clearly? I believe there are four primary ways He communicates with us:

1. You can hear God’s voice by reading the Bible. People sometimes complain: “I just never hear God speaking.” Yet when I ask if they read the Bible regularly, they say they’re too busy. They might hurriedly read a chapter while getting dressed, or listen to their Bible app while driving. But serious Bible study is rare for them.

God inspired 40 authors over a period of 1,600 years to compile the Bible. After it was written in Hebrew and Greek, many people were martyred because they translated it in a modern language. God went to a lot of trouble to give us His book. Yet today Bibles collect dust because people are too busy to read His personalized love letter to us.

When you read Scripture with a prayerful heart, God can cause a verse to jump off the page as a direct message to you. Expect Him to speak directly to you from Scripture.

2. You can hear God’s voice through the supernatural inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not an eerie presence that just hovers around us. He lives in every born-again Christian, and He comforts us and actively speaks to us. He can do this in many ways: through dreams, visions, warnings, a sense of conviction, or—most often—through what we know as the “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:12b) of the Spirit.

I have had prophetic dreams and visions, but the most common way the Spirit speaks to me is through a deep sense of inward knowing. I will never forget a time in 1985 when God spoke to me while I was driving my car in Florida. A message came to me, not audibly but in my spirit: “You will move to Washington, D.C.” It seemed to come out of the blue, and I knew it did not originate with me. Four years later I was offered a job in the Washington, D.C., area, and I worked there for three years.

The ability to hear the Spirit’s voice is developed over years as we grow in Christ. If you really want to hear Him, you should ask God to fill you with His Spirit. As you allow more of the Spirit’s presence and power in your life, you will set aside your selfish agendas and sinful habits so God can communicate without hindrance.

3. You can hear God’s voice through people. We are members of His body, the church, and you will hear God better when you are in fellowship with His people. God can speak to you through a pastor’s sermon, a friend’s wise counsel, a mother’s rebuke, a mentor’s phone call or a prophetic word given to you by one of God’s Spirit-filled servants. If you live in isolation, you probably won’t hear much from God.

God uses the gift of prophecy, but you should never chase after prophecies. I know Christians who will travel across the country to attend a prophetic conference to get a word from God, yet they have not read the Bible in months or sat still long enough to hear from God on their own. Never treat the holy gift of prophecy like fortune telling. When God needs to speak to you in an unusual way, He has faithful messengers who will deliver it to you at the exact time you need it.

4. You can hear God’s voice through circumstances. My oldest daughter wanted to attend a college in Tennessee, and we were praying about her decision. Right after we prayed, I got a call from the president of a college in Georgia. He was inviting me to speak at the school, but in our conversation I learned that this school was willing to offer my daughter a scholarship. She ended up enrolling in that school, meeting her future husband there and graduating four years later. God was totally involved in that phone call from Georgia!

God is sovereign. He opens doors that no man can shut. If you have been praying about getting a job at one company, and suddenly you get an offer at a different company, this may be God’s sign that He has a better place for you to work. Listen carefully. Tune into His frequency. Be willing to obey Him. He promises to guide your steps. {eoa}

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