LGBT and the Colors of the Rainbow

by Rand K Walden

When I see the letters "LGBT" in the colors of the rainbow, I do not get offended for they belong to me for I am a believer. Those colors represent the rainbow which God gave to Noah who was a heterosexual, a believer and a preacher of righteousness. Those colors declare to me as they did to Noah, the faithfulness of God and that He will never go back on his promises. The letters "LGBT" stand for the greatest decree of faith that could ever come out of a believer's mouth, and that is, "Let God Be True! and every man a liar."(Romans 3:4) In other words, it doesn't matter what science says or how many degrees you have behind your name. God's word is final. The greatest slap in the face of God is any other definition. 

To the homosexual, "LGBT" means, "If there is a God, He mistakenly put my female spirit inside a man's body or my male spirit inside a woman's body. But the Bible says in Mark 12:25, "When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven." That means the spirit of man or a woman has no gender outside the body but we are as the angels in heaven. I have great respect for those men and women of God who are not married because they have given themselves to Him and the ministry 100%. They recognize their "life choice" as a gift from God. I am telling you, there is no greater devotion to God than that. And I say this because there are those who are supposed to be Christians who have ridiculed different ones in the past for making that choice. But regarding those who would come together with others who are of the same sex, to do those things that are not natural, there is no greater sin in the eyes of God and man. 

Quite a few years ago, I had a friend who had some confusion in the area of his identity. We never really talked about it at great length but he told me that he was abused sexually by his uncle when he was very young and this abuse continued throughout his childhood. He dealt with it by losing himself in his studies (he had a very high IQ) and he continued his education and eventually he

earned his doctorate. He was an accomplished musician and he played the piano for the church my dad was pastoring. I was single at the time and I was just starting in the ministry and when I wasn't ministering elsewhere, I helped my father in his church and my friend and I would occasionally go to Denny's for coffee after church and we would talk about the things of God. Soon he gave his life to Christ and he was baptized in the Holy Ghost. It wasn't too long after that, he felt the call of God on his life to be a minister and he began to teach the word of God and he had such a powerful prophetic anointing on his life. 

God began to use him in such a wonderful way but after a few years I met Bettie, my future wife and we got married and moved away. A couple of years or so after we left the area, my friend met a young lady and they married but she left him after only a year of marriage. He then started going to a non-denominational church where he became friends with the pastor there who had some strange and not so biblical ideas about the single life and the subject of self-gratification. I remember talking to my friend on the phone about this and he was pretty defensive so we stopped talking about it and it wasn't very long after that, my friend started slipping back into the world from which he came. 

He now lives in Seattle, Washington and he teaches at a university there and the last I heard, he was living a homosexual lifestyle. So, forgive me if all this seems to be a little personal or I appear to be less than tolerant. But nowhere in the Bible does it say that I am supposed to be tolerant of sin. We are to love the sinner but hate the sin and we are supposed to flee the very appearance of evil. 

Listen, homosexuality is not a life choice and if you are a homosexual, you were not born that way. But if you continue down this path, you will most certainly die that way. Let God be true in your life and come to Jesus just as you are and give him your heart for today is the day of salvation. He can save you and he can heal you and give you a hope and a future if you will only let him. God bless you! 

The Triumph of Evil and Agenda 21

by Rand K. Walden

We are living in the last days where the Bible says men will be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,... and evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived (2 Timothy 3:3). Isaiah 5:20 reads, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness..."

We are seeing today the words of Isaiah, chapter five and verse twenty jump off the rice paper pages of the Bible in real time. 

All you have to do is turn on the news or look around at those in our communities who are in positions of authority and influence as they support groups like LGBT and others who are  activists for the homosexual lifestyle, or as they like to call it, a viable life choice. Why would the liberal elites support the homosexual lifestyle? It isn't too hard to figure out if you would stop listening to what they say long enough to watch what they do. It's all about population control. 

Homosexuals are not able to procreate and the liberal elites love that about them for they are all about decreasing the world's population. But they will tell you it's because of a study that was done in 2014, in Africa, where researchers say they came up with some solid evidence to support that homosexuals were found to have a "gay gene" which means, in their estimation, that homosexuals were actually born that way. But this is what their study tells me because I choose to believe the Bible first and foremost. And if I believe the Bible, and just say secondly, I also believe that they found an anomalous gene which is only found, according to them, in gays, then it leads me to believe only one thing, and that is, homosexuality is such a severe sin against God and man, that their unnatural affections, when left unrepented of, have the potential to affect the homosexual's physicality to the point of actually altering their DNA strand.  At which point, I am led to believe that there would be no hope of return or repentance toward God, for that life of sin has now become hard-wired into their actual physical makeup.

The Bible supports this in Romans 1:27-32. It reads...

"And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

The liberal elites also support the right to kill unborn babies (abortion). Why do they support abortion? You guessed it, population control. And then they turn the deaths of those unborn babies into a lucrative industry that enables women everywhere to make themselves beautiful, fatten their lips and rub on their bodies the parts of the unborn fetus that goes into beauty oils, creams, makeup, soap and research, lots of research.. And what you may not know is, in many cases, the aborted baby is then kept alive for experimentation, the same kind of experimentation that was used on animals but it is now considered to be wrong and just "bad science" by the same people who consider abortion to be good science and morally right.

The third and final thing I'm going to talk about is "assisted suicide". Why do the liberal elites support assisted suicide? You are getting good at this. Yes. Population control. You know, it wasn't that long ago when doctors like Jack Kevorkian were arrested and put in jail for assisting those who wanted to die. 

Now we have states like Colorado, where I live, California, Washington D.C., Oregon, Vermont and Washington State that now support assisted suicide, and all you need is the signature of your primary physician and your local pharmacist to legally aid you, or anyone else for that matter, in ending your own life. And in states like Georgia where my father lived, it is more like euthanasia (assisted homicide) where those who were in charge of my father's medical care, his doctors and his insurance companies, made the decision, against his will and against the will of my step mother, to cease giving him medical care that would prolong his life because it was no longer financially viable (it was a waste of good money) to keep him alive when he was clearly, in their estimation, not getting any better. And then he was placed in hospice, as many are, who are a waste of good money, where they then can be subtly overdosed with morphine until they expire.

This is the world in which we live and it has come to the point where if God does not judge the world for it's sins, He will have to raise up Sodom and Gomorrah and apologize for destroying them for the same offence. It is time to get busy for God. The only reason God has not brought eternal judgement on the earth, as yet, is because He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and every man will give an account for what he has done in this life. What are you doing for God?

Edmund Burke made a statement that we should all give heed to and truly examine our own lives for the day of the Lord is at hand...

What about Ghosts?

by Rand K Walden

What about these paranormal investigative shows that have gained so much attention in recent years?

I have been watching shows like Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, and others for a while now and one thing I have taken note of is this: In their pursuit of other world entities, they quite frequently come across things that can only be explained as malevolent. As a minister, I have seen malevolence up close. As a Christian, I acknowledge the spiritual war that has been waged against us who are believers by the rulers, by the authorities and by the powers of this dark world.

Based on my experience but more importantly, on the word of God, I am of the opinion that a lot of what has been called a field of study or experimentation in the unexplained or the paranormal has more to do with the dark side than what the ghost hunters or investigators in the paranormal would like to call "the other side". In short, I believe houses, people, and even objects can have the potential to be possessed, or at the very least, demonized.

I believe many of the encounters where the investigator communicates with a spirit, through an EVP recorder, ghost box, or God forbid, an Ouija board, they are in fact, communicating with a demonic entity who has taken on human form or dialect in order to deceive the paranormal participant. I have no doubt that certain demonic entities can, at times, take on human form. I have no doubt that they can take on the identity of someone Satan may have assigned them to, and who they probably tormented over the years, and they can answer just about any question for you concerning that person's life.

Do I believe in ghosts? Yes. In fact, there's one instance in the Bible where  King Saul consulted with the spirit, or ghost if you will, of the prophet Samuel. And because of that, King Saul lost his throne and, not too long after that, his life. For you see, the Bible strictly forbids consulting with (seeking advice from) the dead. That's not to say I believe everyone who is a ghost hunter or who investigates the paranormal, consults with the dead. However, it can easily be one more step in that direction if you're not careful. As harmless as this seems to the average person, it can be very dangerous. In fact, people can lose their lives.

Remember Mark and Debbie Constantino? They were found dead after they helped to investigate what has been called "The Portal to Hell" Bob Mackey's Tavern in Kentucky. The Authorities called it a murder/suicide but there is no doubt in my mind they took a little extra home with them that night after the investigation.

Others who were there during that same investigation admitted, "there was something there that was truly dark". Listen, you never know what you're going to come up against when you perform these kinds of investigations and there is a strong possibility you may leave an investigation physically or emotionally damaged, demonized or even possessed yourself. Recently I've watched various investigations where Kinect devices were used to hunt for spirits. It amazed me to see these short stick figures appear on the screen, and they would invariably be kicking and beating the investigators all about their bodies. The investigators that were being kicked and beaten could not see these stick figures but they could actually feel the pain where the stick figures were kicking and beating them.

What really amazed me was, how other investigators would say, "Oh yeah, that must be a young boy or girl" ghost. What? This thing is maliciously kicking you and beating you, and you call it a young boy or girl ghost? What you are seeing and experiencing is a harmful interaction with a demonic entity.

Those who are interested in the paranormal, especially those of us who say we are born again, should not trifle with or try to consult with human spirits. Neither should we try to carry on a dialog with a demonic entity. Remember Eve in the garden? But rather, we are told to cast out devils, whether they happen to be attached to a person, place or thing. If you want to talk with something invisible, try talking to your Heavenly Father. It's much more rewarding. Jesus told his disciples, "Go into your room and close the door and pray to your Heavenly Father who is unseen and He will reward you openly." (Matthew 6:6) Let me say this, and you can believe it or not but it's true, "If you are not a born again believer, you have absolutely NO DEFENSE against demonic entities.

On the other hand, born again believers have been given a God given mandate by the Lord Jesus himself to: pull down strongholds, cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and that includes demonic entities. In fact, he said it point blank in Mark, chapter 16, "these signs shall follow them that believe,... they shall cast out devils." So, if you want to pursue ghosts, as it were, I suggest you first pursue the Holy Ghost and come to Jesus. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and let him be the Lord of your life and you can chase all the devils you want. I believe that, however, we must first learn to equip ourselves spiritually before storming the gates of hell and we must know who we are in Christ before we take on the powers of darkness. Listen, God doesn't want you to be ignorant. He doesn't want you to be ignorant of the devil's devices. Jesus said, "The thief has come to steal, to kill and to destroy" (John 10:10). If the devil can't coax you off your altar of sacrifice to God, he will try and mess you up in your doctrine. But thank God, we have the Spirit of truth who will lead us into all truth. And we have this promise from Jesus Christ himself, found in Matthew 16:18. He said, "Upon this rock (our faith) I will build my church and the gates of hell (the powers of darkness) shall not prevail (hold out) against it".

Ghosts and Demonic Entities

by Rand K. Walden

Call it a mild fascination. I am a 3rd generation minister and being a minister and having been raised in a Christian home my whole life, you would think I would have no interest at all in the subject of ghosts, however, something happened when I was in the 3rd grade at a time when our family was financially and geographically displaced that would stay with me until, well, until now. This was the year 1966 and my parents just lost the nice ranch-style home they were building for us because the State of Missouri decided to build a highway through the middle of it instead.

Needless to say, this really turned things upside down for our family so my parents decided to move us away from that area and it would take a couple of moves before we would finally settle down. The first place we moved to was in the town of Merriam, Kansas where we rented an old 3 story stone home. I don't remember a lot about this house except, looking back, I remember it didn't feel anything like a home. Being three stories high of old native stone, it looked more like a castle than it did a home. It was big and old, and it never seemed to have enough light on the inside. 

At the top of this house was an attic which looked more like a belfry. It was just one small room, yet instead of bells, it had an assortment of bats and pigeons living inside of it. It was just the sort of place a young boy could use his imagination in yet I could sense that something was just not right about this place and it wasn't until several years later after we moved away, that my parents finally told us about an experience they had one particular night, well past midnight, in that old stone house.

They said they were lying in bed one night, tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable so they could get to sleep when something in an otherwise quiet night caught their attention. They both looked toward their bedroom door and they saw what looked like a young boy in PJs, walking, almost gliding down the hallway. My parents, somewhat startled, and thinking that all three of their boys had been fast asleep since they last checked and remembering their oldest son was having trouble lately walking in his sleep, and then worrying that he might fall down the stairs, they quickly but very quietly got up to see what in the world was going on. 

As they made their way to the door, they came to realize this was not their oldest for the figure of this boy was much smaller. Still, they both just stood there and watched as he turned and entered into my younger brother's room. As he went in he stopped at the foot of the bed as if to stare at whoever was sleeping there then he turned around and he went back out into the hallway and then he disappeared into the wall.

Back in the sixties, we had no idea what a full-bodied apparition was and up until the disappearing act into the wall, my parents just thought somebody else's child must have found their way into our home. But did this make them believers in ghosts? You would think so but it didn't stop them from going on with life. It just became a story they would tell friends or family when someone brought up the subject of ghosts or other unexplainable things in life. It was at the same time we heard about this little boy in the hallway that our parents told us of an earlier time when my oldest brother and I got the chicken pox.

We were living in Belton, Missouri and my brother and I were both running very high fevers and we were staying down the hall in our parent's bedroom laying on their bed. This was when doctors still made house calls and the doctor had already come and he said that he was concerned for us because we were very sick and our fevers were too high.

Anyway, later that evening when our parents were by themselves in the living room reading the newspaper, one of them looked up and saw this black human form glide down the hallway toward where we were staying. This gained the attention of both of them and they quickly began to pray and ask God to intervene. As they started praying, a white human form quickly followed after the black form and the black form disappeared. Soon after that incident, our fevers began to break. There is no doubt in my mind, had our parents not prayed, one or both of us could or would have died. That black form was a spirit of infirmity that was sent to do us great harm. The white form was an angel of God who was an answer to my parent's prayer. He was sent to dispell the spirit of darkness that had visited our home that night. 

*The picture above is an illustration not an image of the actual event.

Weaponize Your Faith

The time for "Mamby-Pamby" faith has come to an end. God once winked at ignorance but no more.

You say you have faith? You say you believe in God? James tells us in the book of James, chapter two and verse nineteen, "You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder." Are you shuddering? or are you just hiding your head in the sand? It's time for an upgrade and it's time for a  change in your faith. Because God isn't Santa Claus and he's definitely not the Tooth Fairy, and the devil's not some body with blue eyes and blue jeans. Jesus called the devil a thief and he's come to steal, kill and destroy whatever or whoever he can while he has the time, and his time is getting short.

In Revelation 12:12, the Spirit says, "Woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short."

Never before have we seen evil so rampant throughout the whole earth. 2 Timothy 3:13 tells us, "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" and Matthew 24:12 reads, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." 

You've heard of "wax off, wax on"? Well, this is "WAX WORSE, WAX COLD!". As we just read, the Bible talks of "evil men and seducers". How do you know if someone is a seducer? Matthew 7:16 tells us. It reads, "By their fruit, you shall know them." Now, just because your friends or neighbors are hard to get along with, that doesn't make them your enemies. And even if they were, the Bible tells us, "bless your enemies" and to "love your neighbor as yourself." The only way you can win the war against evil is to fight against the "source" of evil itself, and that is, the devil. Some teachers teach, if you just ignore the devil, he will go away.

They say the way to overcome evil is to clear your head, contort your body into a pretzel and "think happy thoughts".

"Awwwmmm", you know that's not right!

Some hold to the belief that "ignorance is bliss" and that we are responsible for every word we hear, so, they choose to be ignorant rather than to be responsible.

What does the word "responsible" mean? It means that you have the ability to respond. Listen, God doesn't tell you to do anything in his Word without first giving you the ability to respond to his Word.

But you must be willing to do so. God does not want you to be ignorant. Ignorance, willing or otherwise, is darkness and darkness is ruled by the rulers of the darkness of this world, and that is, the devil.

Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is destruction for Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. What is ignorance? It is a lack of knowledge concerning God's word. We need to weaponize our faith in God. Why? Because we are in the greatest spiritual battle of our lives. It is a battle of good versus evil, right versus wrong and the outcome of this battle can determine whether you live a life of blessing on earth or a life of cursing and it can determine whether you spend an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell.

How do we weaponize our faith? The first way to weaponize your faith is "to be forewarned". There are many places in the Word where God is trying to warn his people of things that are to come on the earth. There is a saying and even though it is not found in scripture, it is no less true, and that is "To be forewarned is to be forearmed." In order for us to live a life of victory and blessing in God, we must be forewarned. 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 11 reads, "we are not ignorant of his devices (speaking of the devil). The devil has been around for thousands upon thousands of years and he has had plenty of time to hone his skills and to perfect his weapons against us, but Thank God!, we have a promise found in Isaiah 54:17, that "No weapon being formed against us shall prosper".

God has given us everything we need to fight this battle, and fight we must if we want to win the war.

Ephesians 6:11-13 reads in the Amplified Bible, "be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. 11 Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places. 13 Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]."

Once we have been forewarned, we must then be forearmed with the authority that Christ alone has given, over all the power of the enemy. Jesus told his disciples, which we are, in Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." The devil wants to hurt you. And not only that. He wants to destroy your life. That is why 1 Peter 5:8 warns, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." He wants to devour you. The word "devour" means: to gorge on, to eat quickly, and to consume destructively. Listen, he's not playing around. He means business and he is enraged for he knows his time is short. And guess what? You don't have time to play around either and you must mean business, where it comes to the things of God for our time, is short as well. The next thing we need to be armed with is the baptism and the subsequent gifts of the Holy Spirit. Just as the different branches of the military have special forces, we who are baptized in the Holy Spirit have been given special gifts, severally as God wills to perform the work of Christ on the earth.

What is the work of Christ? It is to bring the message of salvation to the whole world. It is to reconcile man back to God and to restore us back to a place of fellowship with Him. Jesus told his disciples in Mark 16:15 just before he ascended into heaven, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved and he that doesn't believe shall be damned." And he goes on in the next verse and says, "These signs shall follow those who believe: In my name, they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover."

Friend, it is my prayer that this message will begin to build your faith so you too can be an overcomer in every area of your life. I have one more verse to share with you and I encourage you to read as you have the time, this whole chapter and it is found in James, chapter 4 and verse 7, "Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you."

A Sign the End is Near...

by Rand K. Walden

"Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” Matthew 24:1,2

A few years ago, the Lord spoke to me in a dream and he said the time of the traditional church is coming to an end; and I saw a pastor standing in the middle of a store-front church and he was distraught because the church was empty. Those who are going to follow the cloud, so to speak, are going to open their homes and have they will have "church" in their homes or something less conspicuous. Much of this is because of persecution that will come on the Church and many of the churches will be boarded up.

This looks like a bleak day for the church but no so. This will cause the Church of God to become more intimate with Him and each other and many souls will be saved and lives will be transformed as a result. And this is crucial to the plan of God because things will only get worse. But for the saints of God, the body of Christ will grow to be that Church the Apostle Paul talked about in Ephesians 5:27, where the Lord presents "her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless."

Yes, this will be a time of persecution as the dragon does his best to destroy the man-child of God but for the world, it will truly be unbearable to those who do not have this hope, this glory, which is, Christ in you. Just think, Apocalypse. Every movie you ever saw about the "End of Days" or the Apocalypse will pale in comparison for you will be living it. But for the child of God, there will be divine help for those who have abandoned all and followed Christ. In the coming days, you will see if you choose to, the end is very near. Give your life to Christ while you can and start learning to trust in him. God bless you! Have a great day!

The Sun Clothed Woman

by Rand K. Walden

On September the 23rd, 2017, we were told by experts in the field of astronomy and other related studies that the sun was entering the constellation Virgo. "Virgo" is the Latin word for "Virgin". The moon also was being positioned at Virgo's feet and the 'nine' stars of the constellation Leo, plus three planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars), twelve in all, were being positioned at Virgo's head. The planet Jupiter was being positioned in the center of Virgo. Some refer to this as the belly of the virgin and as the days would progress, Jupiter would then come out of the virgin to the east, past her feet as if a wonderful cosmic birth were taking place. Let me ask you, is this a divine sign or is this a physical manifestation of that which is taking place at the same exact time in the Spirit?

This, friends, was foretold long ago by John, the beloved, also known as the Revelator who in his book, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, described a life and death drama that would play out in the sky that would result in the birth of a king. He wrote in chapter 12 and starting with verse one, "1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God..."

It has been said that the only time in history where these stars were aligned exactly in the same way as they were on this day, September 23rd, 2017 was when Jesus was born approximately 2020 years before. In fact, some are saying that this repeat of events is the sign of the Second Coming of Christ that many call the rapture of the church. Whether it is or not, we should never leave anything to chance for 2 Peter 3:9 reminds us, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Forty days after the resurrection of Christ, he was received into heaven and many of his disciples who saw him ascend just stood there gazing into the heavens. Then two men in white raiment appeared before them and spoke to them saying “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

My friend, Jesus is coming back. He made us a promise but he doesn't want to lose one soul. So, will you be ready? Will you give your life to him? He is knocking on your heart's door. Won't you let him in?

The Great Sign

Today, September 23rd marks the anniversary of the birth of Christ. It also marks the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of believers. I am speaking about the birth of the man-child of God in Revelation 12, the body of Christ. 

The devil and his minions are hot on the heels of believers because it is the heel of the body of Christ that will crush the serpent's head. 

We are in a time of great spiritual warfare and like any war, there will be casualties. But this will only serve to move the body of Christ closer together and to become more single-minded in the things of God. Through it all we must always remember that "glory only comes through sacrifice" and the Apostle Paul talks about that in this next portion of scripture.

Romans 8:14-19 reads, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God."

Paul is telling us here that there is going to be a time of persecution and suffering for the end-time believer yet he says the things we are to suffer are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. What kind of glory is Paul is talking about here?

He tells us in Colossians 1:27, "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." What is this glory? It is Christ living and reigning in your life.

Paul talks more about this in the book of Ephesians 5:25-27, where Jesus gives himself for the church as our Advocate Intercessor "That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

In John 13:1-17, It was just before Passover and Jesus knew his time had come to leave this world "So during the meal Jesus got up, removed his outer garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He put some water into a large bowl. Then he began washing his disciples' feet and drying them with the towel he was wearing. But when he came to Simon Peter, that disciple asked, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Jesus answered, You don’t really know what I am doing, but later you will understand. You will never wash my feet! Peter replied. If I don’t wash you, Jesus told him, you don’t really belong to me. Peter said, Lord, don’t wash just my feet. Wash my hands and my head. Jesus answered, People who have bathed and are clean all over need to wash just their feet. And you, my disciples, are clean, except for one of you. Jesus knew who would betray him. That is why he said, except for one of you."

Why did Jesus wash his disciples' feet? Because their feet signified their walk. In other words, you can be clean before the Lord because you believe in him and you accept by faith his sacrifice for sin but you can still be walking in sin. Paul tells us in Romans 14:23, "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." So Jesus is telling his disciples that their daily walk and their individual actions need to be cleaned up. 

1 John 3:2-4 reads, "Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.…"

Did you get that? It says "what we will be has not yet been revealed." It amazes me how we walk around as believers thinking we're all that and a bag of chips when we don't even have a clue as to what we will be when Christ appears. All we know is we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:12, speaking of this same subject, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." 

It amazes me how quickly we believers are to name a thing like a church for instance or a Christian organization, a move, movement or a denomination. Oh, I understand why we do it. I just don't believe it is God's way. The Bible account of creation gives us the pattern for things created. Genesis 1:2 says, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Do you see that? God didn't name anything yet. He's just getting warmed up. It says His Spirit moved upon the face of the waters. Then God said, in verse three, "Let there be light"; and there was light.…" It wasn't until verse five when, "God called the light day,..."

The Church does everything totally in reverse to how God does things. We want to give something a name and then pray for the Spirit of God to move. That's how we get man-made religion. We do a thing and then we pray for God to bless it. We want to give it definition and walls and boundaries and a mission statement. And after we're through with all the conceptualizing, we ask for God to prosper it. But God will not prosper a thing that He has not authored.

Why don't you get on your knees and pray. Let's find out what God wants and He probably won't tell you because He just wants you to obey like Abraham obeyed in Hebrews 11:8, "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going." Listen, God didn't name a thing until it was already done and over. 1. His Spirit moved, 2. He spoke His word and after all that, 3. He called it.

Some of us need to stand over "our" ministries and "call it"... Time of death, September 23rd, 2017 at 03 hundred hours and then we need to die to our will and say like Jesus did, "Lord, not my will but your's be done". It does not appear what we shall be. All we know is, "when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

This is God's process of sanctification. His word says, "Sanctify yourselves" We need to purify ourselves just as we are pure. Yes, you're a child of God. That's not in question here and you've been forgiven of all your sins, but you're just started and your walk leaves something to be desired. That's why we are to live in hope of Jesus' return. If we watch and wait for his return, this will put the process in motion to clean ourselves up. Jesus is coming for a "glorious church, without spot or wrinkle." 

This is what Paul was referring to when he wrote Ephesians 4:13-15, "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; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—"

This unity, this maturity among believers is the manifestation of the Sons of God and this is what Paul was referring to in Galatians 4:19 when he said, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,"

We have yet to see the glory of the church and we have yet to the greater works ministry. Jesus said, "greater works than these shall you do because I go to the Father". We have not seen the greater works ministry in the magnitude that Jesus intends for us to do it. But during this time of growing, knowing and great mutual sacrifice, we will see as never before, the greater works ministry of Christ on the earth. The lame will walk, the dumb will talk, the blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will be brought back to life again and there will be no big "I's" or little "U's", just one body and one head, which is Christ Jesus our Lord.