When asked about new prophetic revelations, Mike Bickle says, “Anything that’s not in the written Word of God, I’d reject.” But he’s quick to clarify that many authentic encounters with God are not actually anti-biblical. Watch his nuanced take on the subject in this video. Do you agree with him?
Kim Walker-Smith and Jesus Culture give one of the longest, most passionate performances of the year. The title track of their new album, Love Has a Name, is an 11-minute worship opus. They perform the full song live before a massive crowd in this video.
Martin Luther spent two hours a day in prayer during the majority of his fruitful life, a little-known fact. That type of commitment to God from His children, prolific writer Dr. R.T. Kendall says, is what it will take for America to experience a much-needed third Great Awakening.
Tomorrow, we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, sparked by Luther’s nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on Oct. 31, 1517. Luther did not realize his actions on that day would change the world forever, which I will write about tomorrow.
In his new Charisma House book, Whatever Happened to the Gospel? (releasing in February 2018), my good friend Dr. Kendall chronicles how Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, lived his life against the consensus of his day. In a podcast I recorded with him recently, Dr. Kendall poses a poignant question Luther often asked: “Are you willing to die for your beliefs?”
Dr. Kendall has become somewhat of an expert on Luther’s life and admires him for the humble way in which lived.
“Why do I like Luther? Partly for his personality, but also for his quest for truth, his willingness to stand alone and his willingness to be misunderstood,” Dr. Kendall says. “He was not intimidated by the church.
“He became so convinced that the Bible should be the sole authority of what we believe that he was willing to die for it. I don’t know how many Luthers there are out there today. I don’t believe many people today have convictions like he had.”
Dr. Kendall said his friend, the late John Paul Jackson, believed the next great move of God would include a rediscovery of the book of Romans, where Luther received his teaching of the gospel. Inspired by Luther, Jonathan Edwards preached for four years on the subject of justification by faith alone, helping to spark the first Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s.
Romans 1:17b says, “The just shall live by faith,” one of the reasons Dr. Kendall wrote Whatever Happened to the Gospel?
“In my small way, I’ve written this book and hope that it will have a little bit of impact,” Dr. Kendall says. … “If Jesus tarries, we must pray that God will raise up another Martin Luther or the equivalent of someone who will help us rediscover the gospel.”
As we commemorate this most important day, I ask you to please share this with your social media followers and leave any comments below, and be sure to read tomorrow’s Strang Report. {eoa}
How many times could you ask your boss to do your job before he’d just fire you? Bill Johnson believes it’s the same way with God. We keep praying for God to cast out demons or do mighty works—but Christ has already given us that power and responsibility.
Some 20 years ago on a parade ground in central Israel, a class of graduating junior officers marched proudly to accept their lieutenant bars. The parents of those graduating watched proudly from a reviewing stand as the new commanders were sworn in. There were also quite a lot of journalists in attendance, for this wasn’t the routine ceremony. One of the officer’s candidates being commissioned that sunny spring day was Caroline Kharman, a resident of a village in the hills of northern Israel who just happened to be the first Christian woman to become an officer in the Israel Defense Forces. Kharman, who wore a shiny gold cross around her neck, proudly proclaimed, “I feel I can’t fight for my rights without fulfilling my obligations. It’s my moral duty to serve my country.”
There are approximately 170,000 Christian citizens in Israel—roughly 2 percent of the country’s population—and they encompass a multitude of different church affiliations, including Greek Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Maronites, Armenians, Copts, Assyrians and Protestants. Christians are not conscripted into the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), but increasingly army-age Christian 18-year-old men and women have found themselves determined to fulfill their national responsibilities and to serve. All are fluent Arabic speakers and these highly-motivated volunteers serve in combat units, as liaison officers and in the Border Guards.
The Christian community in Israel is thriving. Democracy, freedom of religion and speech, as well as a booming economy, has provided this minority with a sense of belonging inside the Jewish State. And that sense of being integrated into Israeli society has been threatened by conflict inside Israel’s borders and outside. The violence of the last 20 years, including a bloody Palestinian suicide bombing offensive and a war with the terrorist Hezbollah organization in Lebanon, prompted a sharp increase in the number of Christians volunteering for military service. In 2012, a Greek-Orthodox priest named Father Gabriel Nadaf founded a group that works toward more young Christian Israelis joining the IDF.
The opposite, though, is happening inside the Palestinian Authority. For centuries, ever since Mohammed’s armies brought Islam to the entire region, the Christians in Levant were subjected to Muslim rule. The Christians were known as dhimmis, or protected persons, under Ottoman Rule, although in most cases that meant that the Christians were nothing more than second-class citizens. Christian Palestinians, primarily Greek Orthodox community, were prominent leaders of the various terrorist organizations that fought Israel since the 1970s. Many claimed that these Christians felt a need to display they were every bit as dedicated to the Palestinian cause, and its war against Israel, as the Muslims. But when the Oslo Peace Accords ushered in the autonomous Palestinian Authority in 1994, there was hope that Christians would be considered equals inside the newly established entity and could possibly serve as a bridge toward rapprochement.
Dreams soon evaporated, especially as Palestinian Authority Chairman, Yasser Arafat consolidated his power turning the areas under his control into nothing more than a mafia-like fiefdom. Islamist fundamentalist groups like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, supported by Iran and the Gulf Arab states, have waged a holy war defined by suicide bombing and stabbing attacks in order to create an Islamic State in Palestine. There was no room for a Christian minority in this Jihad-inspired campaign. To many Christians inside the Palestinian Authority, their future is grim. Many have migrated to the European Union, to Canada and the United States, and as far away as Australia. Today, according to sources, there are only 40,000 Christians remaining inside the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Christians were once the majority in Bethlehem. It is believed now that they constitute no more than 20 percent of the population. The same is true for Ramallah, once a thriving city for Christians that is now the seat of the Palestinian Authority.
One reason for the dwindling Christian population is a Palestinian campaign of unadulterated abuse and discrimination. According to the Gatestone Institute, the policy of human rights violations against the Christian minority is institutionalized. The Palestinian Authority’s constitution has declared that Sharia, or Islamic law, will rule all legislation; Christian land owners are not protected in local courts or in business disputes, and taxation discrimination severely hampers Christian-run businesses. More than a dozen different Palestinian Authority security services enforce these policies, which do not protect the civil rights of these supposedly safeguarded minority communities. As such, money has been extorted, land and property confiscated and many hesitate to complain out of fear and intimation.
The official campaign of harassment has escalated into state-sanctioned assault. There are reports of sexual abuse and even rape targeting Christian women, and many more incidents that are never reported at all. Christian girls have been subjected to forced marriages and even ordered to wear the hijab. Christian gravestones have been overturned. Churches have been vandalized.
Remarkably, the enforcers of these abominable efforts targeting Christians, the Palestinian security services, have received billions of dollars in United States and European Union aid. There have already been calls in the congress to cut off all funding until the Palestinian Authority cuts any and all ties to terrorist organizations that infest their communities. Half of the money donated to the Palestinian Authority in 2016, close to $344 million, paid for the salaries of terrorists behind bars in Israel, as well as to the surviving family members of suicide bombers. The Taylor Force Act, named for a young American student who was stabbed to death in a terrorist attack in Israel, has been gaining support in Congress and will likely be signed into law in December. The Act seeks to deduct the amounts that the Palestinian Authority pays to its imprisoned terrorists from any American foreign aid to the Palestinians.
Accordingly, it is imperative that any measure to limit or end aid to the Palestinian Authority must also demand that the senseless policies of discrimination against the Christian population come to an immediate end. It is inconceivable and unacceptable that Christians are being systematically abused and forced out of the land that is the very birthplace of the Bible.
Until lawmakers in the United States and Europe realign their moral compasses and leverage their generous bundles of aid money to the Palestinian Authority to safeguard the Christian population, the young volunteers to the Israel Defense Forces who proudly and openly wear crosses around their necks alongside their dog tags will be the only ones fighting to preserve the history of Christianity in the region, as well as its hope for survival. {eoa}
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner is an Israeli activist and civil rights attorney. She is the president of Shurat HaDin, an Israeli law center based in Tel Aviv that has represented hundreds of terror victims in lawsuits around the world. She is the co-author of Harpoon: Inside the Covert War Against Terrorism’s Money Masters to be published on November 7, 2017, by Hachette Books.
We have just obtained a resounding victory in our legal challenge to the IRS’ political targeting of conservative organizations.
In an unprecedented victorious conclusion to our years-long legal battle against the IRS, the bureaucratic agency has just admitted in federal court that it wrongfully targeted Tea Party and conservative groups during the Obama administration and issued an apology to our clients for doing so. In addition, the IRS is consenting to a court order that would prohibit it from ever engaging in this form of unconstitutional discrimination in the future.
In a proposed Consent Order filed with the Court yesterday, the IRS has apologized for its treatment of our clients [36 Tea Party and other conservative organizations from 20 states that applied for 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) tax-exempt status with the IRS between 2009 and 2012] during the tax-exempt determinations process. Crucially, following years of denial by the IRS and blame-shifting by IRS officials, the agency now expressly admits that its treatment of our clients was wrong.
As set forth in the proposed Order:
The IRS admits that its treatment of Plaintiffs during the tax-exempt determinations process, including screening their applications based on their names or policy positions, subjecting those applications to heightened scrutiny and inordinate delays, and demanding of some Plaintiffs’ information that TIGTA determined was unnecessary to the agency’s determination of their tax-exempt status, was wrong. For such treatment, the IRS expresses its sincere apology.
Upon approval by the court, entry of the Order will mark the end of a four-year legal battle initiated by the ACLJ on behalf of 41 conservative organizations targeted by the IRS for their political viewpoints.
Throughout litigation of this case, we have remained committed to protecting the rights of our clients who faced unlawful and discriminatory action by the IRS. Our objective from the very beginning has been to hold the IRS accountable for its corrupt practices.
This Consent Order represents a historic victory for our clients and sends the unequivocal message that a government agency’s targeting of conservative organizations, or any organization, on the basis of political viewpoints, will never be tolerated.
This Order will put an end, once and for all, to the abhorrent practices utilized against our clients, as the agreement includes the IRS’ express acknowledgment of—and apology for—its wrongful treatment of our clients. While this agreement is designed to prevent any such practices from occurring again, rest assured that we will remain vigilant to ensure that the IRS does not resort to such tactics in the future.
As we have previously detailed, in March of 2012 we began being contacted by literally dozens of Tea Party and conservative groups who were being harassed by the Obama IRS after submitting applications for tax-exempt status. Their tax-exempt applications were held up for years (over seven years in some cases), and they began receiving obtrusive and unconstitutional requests for donor and member information. That began a now more than 5-1/2-year fight with the burgeoning bureaucracy at the IRS. Then on May 10, 2013, Lois Lerner, head of the IRS Tax Exempt Organizations Division at that time, publicly implicated the IRS in one of the worst political targeting scandals of the century.
Days later, the ACLJ filed a massive lawsuit against the IRS for implementation of an unlawful targeting scheme whereby the IRS singled out the applications of conservative organizations, delayed processing those applications, then made harassing, probing and unnecessary requests for additional information that often required applicants to disclose, among other things, donor lists, communications with members of legislative bodies, internet passwords and usernames, and political and charitable activities of officers and their family members.
In October 2014, the district court dismissed our claims and concluded that the IRS had voluntarily ceased all unlawful conduct. We appealed that decision, and in August 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed the district court’s decision, specifically finding that the IRS had failed to provide sufficient evidence demonstrating that either the targeting scheme, or its effects on our clients in the case, had actually ended. Since that time, the ACLJ has been successful in obtaining discovery in the case—requiring the IRS to give an account for its conduct.
Documents released earlier this year in our lawsuit revealed that the IRS, under the Obama administration, constructed a special group to review “all applications associated with the Tea Party.” The group was apparently designed to snare targeted organizations’ tax exemption applications to limit their impact during the 2012 elections. Many conservative organizations, including our clients, were placed on “Be-on-the-Lookout” (BOLO) lists if their names or policy positions gave the appearance they were affiliated with the Tea Party. The IRS was able to protect its politically targeted scheme by hiding its operations and activity behind the layers of bureaucracy festering within the IRS and with the cooperation of other government agencies under the Obama administration. The IRS even colluded with Obama’s FBI and DOJ in an attempt to “piece together” false criminal charges against the Tea Party groups it was wrongfully targeting.
The Consent Order filed by the Parties is designed to prevent such events from occurring again and contains declarations to that effect. In addition to the IRS’ admissions of and apology for its wrongful conduct, the Consent Order would specifically award Plaintiffs the following:
In the Order, the IRS has also agreed that (unless expressly required by law) certain actions against the Plaintiffs—i.e. the sharing, dissemination or other use of information unnecessarily obtained by the IRS during the determinations process (such as donor names, the names of volunteers, political affiliations of an organization’s officers, etc.)—would be unlawful. In addition, the IRS promises not to take any retaliatory action against our clients for exposing the targeting scheme.
Finally, and of crucial significance, the IRS admits it targeted conservative and Tea Party groups based on their viewpoints (i.e., “policy positions”) and that such viewpoint discrimination violates fundamental First Amendment rights. This is the first time the IRS has admitted that its targeting scheme was not just “inappropriate”—as TIGTA found—but, as our clients alleged and we have vigorously and persistently argued for years, blatantly unconstitutional.
To ensure consistency and uniformity within the agency’s operations going forward, the IRS is required, pursuant to the Order, to inform all employees within the Exempt Organizations Division, as well as the Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners within other divisions, of the Order’s terms.
This Order not only validates our clients’ allegations about their treatment at the hands of the corrupt Obama-era IRS but also provides important assurances to the American public that the agency understands its obligation to refrain from further such discriminatory conduct. As Attorney General Sessions acknowledged in this regard, “[t]here is no excuse for [the IRS’s] conduct,” as it is “without question” that the First Amendment prohibits the conduct that occurred here, i.e., subjecting American citizens to disparate treatment “based solely on their viewpoint or ideology.” Sessions further confirmed his Department’s commitment to ensuring that the “abuse of power” in which the IRS engaged here “will not be tolerated.”
It is impossible to overstate the importance of this victory. This marks the end of a years-long fight for justice in defense of the constitutional rights of our clients. This is an extraordinary victory against the IRS. And it sends a powerful warning to the deep state bureaucracy that it will not be allowed to violate the Constitution in order to silence and shut down the conservative agenda.
For the original article, visit . {eoa}
In this special Viewpoint Segment, We will discuss the current Black Death Plague that is spreading in Madagascar that has now resulted in over a hundred dead and over a thousand infected and putting nine countries on high alert.
Vice President Mike Pence delivered the keynote address Wednesday night at the In Defense of Christians (IDC) annual summit, and brought a message of solidarity and hope for the persecuted Christians of the Middle East.
“The Bible tells us that all who desire to live a godly life through Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” Pence said. “Sadly, today, Christianity is under unprecedented assault in the ancient land where it first grew.”
“Tonight, I came to tell you help is on the way. President Trump and I and our entire administration are working tirelessly to protect these ancient communities,” he added.
Calling Evil by Name
Christians and religious minorities have endured ongoing torture in the Middle East, actions the Trump administration calls by name: genocide.
“They are genocide. They are crimes against humanity and we will call them what they are,” Pence said.
The vice president also didn’t shy away calling the force behind the violence by name.
“President Trump and I see these crimes for what they are: vile acts of persecution animated by hatred for Christians and the gospel of Christ. And so too does this president know who and what has perpetrated these crimes and he calls them by name: radical Islamic terrorism,” Pence said.
Defeating the Caliphate
Pence also brought some good news, saying ISIS has troubled days ahead.
“Thanks to the courage of the American armed forces and the resolve of the commander in chief, I’m pleased to report that ISIS is on the run,” he said. “Three years ago, those barbarians celebrated in the streets in their self-declared capital of Raqqa. They proclaimed the start of a thousand-year caliphate and they raised their black flags against the region. But those black flags no longer fly in Raqqa.”
Last week forces helped liberate Raqqa, taking back one of the last strongholds of the crumbling caliphate.
A New Path to Rebuild
While many applaud the near destruction of the Islamic State, Pence says it is time to help the victims of genocide rebuild.
“As we begin to see the tides of terror recede, I can assure you that President Trump is committed to help persecuted peoples reclaim their land, return to their homes, rebuild the lives, and replant the roots in their ancient home,” he said.
However, the vice president said this administration isn’t helping persecuted Christians the same way the Obama administration did.
“The last administration devoted well over a billion dollars in humanitarian aid to the Middle East, but routed the lion’s share through programs run by the United Nations. Yet the U.N. has too often failed to help the most vulnerable communities, especially religious minorities,” Pence explained. “And while faith-based groups with proven track records and deep roots in the region are more than willing to assist, the United Nations continues to deny their funding requests.”
“Tonight, it is my privilege to announce the President Trump has ordered the State Department to stop funding the ineffective relief efforts of the United Nations and from this day forward, America will provide support directly to persecuted communities through USAID,” he said.
Faith in God
While the road towards safety and security may seem like a far way off, Pence has faith that God will do a great miracle in the Middle East.
“I have faith because I am a believer,” he told the audience. “And I believe that He who said, ‘that when you pass through the waters I will be with you.’ That He who said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ never will.”
“He will stand with his people wherever they are in this country and in all the countries that are in our hearts this night, the vice president said. “He himself will breathe new life in the community of Christ in that corner of the world where it all began.”
Reprinted with permission from . Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, all rights reserved. {eoa}
Iconic musician Little Richard is renouncing his past life of sexual immorality, saying he believes same-sex relationships are “unnatural affections.”
In previous interviews, the famous singer referred to himself as “omnisexual,” revealing in an interview with GQ five years ago that he lived a life of perversion, including orgies.
But in an extensive interview with Three Angels Broadcasting Network, an Illinois-based Christian and health-oriented television and radio network, Little Richard says he has repented and turned to Jesus Christ for salvation.
“When I first came in show business, they wanted you to look like everybody but yourself,” he recalled.
“And anybody [who] comes in show business, they gonna say you gay or straight,” he said. “God made men, men and women, women. You’ve got to live the way God wants you to live … He can save you,” the 84-year-old singer told the Christian broadcaster.
The singer admits he fell to the temptations of the entertainment industry.
In Charles White’s biography, The Life and Times of Little Richard, Richard, who’s given name is Richard Wayne Penniman, revealed that his marriage to Ernestine Campbell fell apart due to his sexuality and being neglectful.
“You know, all these things. So much unnatural affection,” the singer told the network. “So much of people just doing everything and don’t think about God. Don’t want no parts of Him.”
“I was talking to Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, and she said she believed in the Resurrection. I said I believed in the Resurrection too. But I believe you’ve got to live right now in Jesus. He’s a real Savior and the Prince of Life,” he added.
“Regardless of whatever you are, He loves you. I don’t care what you are. He loves you and He can save you. All you’ve got to do is say, ‘Lord, take me as I am. I’m a sinner.’ But we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The only holy, righteous person is Jesus and He wants us to be just like Him because, in order to go to Heaven, we’ve got to look like Him,” Richard continued.
Richard said he asked God to save him and the Lord spoke to him saying, “Richard, you’re singing ‘Tutti Fruity.’ You’re singing ‘Good Golly Miss Molly.’ You’re singing ‘Long Tall Sally.’ You’re singing ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ and ‘She’s Got It’ and all of these things.”
And Richard asked, “Lord, can I do this and still be saved?” And according to the singer, the Lord replied, “Richard, no man can serve two masters.”
Richard said he had to release everything after that, so he retired from performing and recording.
He related a recent incident where a producer came to him, offering millions of dollars for a new television series titled “Little Richard.”
The producer told him if he would allow the series to go forward, he would be the hottest thing on the planet.
“And I said, ‘I don’t want to be hot in the fire. I don’t want to be hot in the flames,” he told the producer. “I want to do what God wants me to do.”
Richard confessed the offer was tempting.
“I don’t want to sing rock and roll no more. … I want to be holy like Jesus,” he said. {eoa}
Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., All rights reserved.
Natural situations can sometimes unlock spiritual revelations. As I walked into my office, I saw my driver’s license facedown on the scanner, waiting to be duplicated.
At that moment, the Lord spoke to my heart. He showed me He was giving out new names and unlocking new identities in this season. The enemy tried to “dupe” many of you. He accused you and maligned your character. But God is giving you a new name for this season. A blessed name.
Check out this teaching and let it encourage your heart.