Tag Archives: jesus

Pastor Andrew Brunson – Prepare to Stand

Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Important Takeaways:

  • Prepare To Stand: The Unexpected Blessings From Persecution
  • Four dangers that can knock us out if we’re not prepared for persecution: the danger of acting according to fear; the danger of the heart becoming offended toward God; the danger of pursuing pleasure as an escape; and the danger of being derailed by deception.
  • I’ve also suggested six steps that prepare our hearts to stand.
    • Step one is to talk about persecution so we’re not caught by surprise.
    • Two, develop fear of God, in the right perspective.
    • Three, pursue the heart of God.
    • Four, build perseverance. This is how we persist under pressure.
    • Five, build community.
    • And six, guard the Word. These last two are safeguards for us, our families and our churches against sliding into deception.
  • So what can we expect if we practice these steps and remain faithful under pressure? Blessings!
    • Persecution can draw us closer to Jesus.
    • Intimacy, one that comes from being tested. The testing and proving of our love brings us into a more confident intimacy with God
    • The truth is that pressure can push us to run after God in a way that we don’t normally do.
    • Experiencing the hardships that Jesus experienced draws us closer to His heart.
  • What we do here really does matter for eternity. Jesus will honor those who prove their faithfulness in difficulty.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Mom and kids pray as Tornado passes over

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • ‘Please, Jesus, Don’t Let Us Die’: Mom with 2 Kids Prays After Taking Cover During Louisiana Tornado
  • A mother and her two daughters survived a tornado that barreled through the small town of Paradis, Louisiana Saturday after listening to what she said was an inner voice telling her to “pull over.”
  • As tornado sirens sounded and the building shook from the storm’s high winds, Guidry told WWL she did the only thing she could do. She prayed.
  • “I had my arms around my babies and I was just praying, ‘God, don’t let us die. Don’t let us die in here. Please, Jesus, don’t let us die in here,” she said.
  • The outlet reported most of the damage was in the area around Highway 90 and 306. There were no injuries reported.
  • But Guidry credited an even higher power for her and her children’s deliverance from the storm.

Read the original article by clicking here.

A good question: What would Jesus do in a culture affecting church leaders?

  • 48% of Evangelical Leaders Are Getting Punished by Cancel Culture – What Would Jesus Do?
  • Worship leader Sean Feucht said he was a victim of cancel culture after his digital distributor blocked and banned his new album.
  • He told CBN News, then, that cancel culture was “coming for the church.”
  • Meanwhile, Phil Robertson told CBN’s Faithwire that his show, Duck Dynasty, was put on hiatus by A&E after he was asked his opinion on homosexuality in an interview with G.Q. magazine.
  • In August, Texas Pastor Ed Young said he was canceled by Meta, the media arm of Facebook and Instagram, after a paid advertisement for their sermon series “Woke or Awake” was removed from Facebook.
  • “As a society, we need to find a way to hold individuals and organizations accountable for their actions, but not punish people for holding beliefs that may be different. We need to encourage conversations across differences. Let us open our doors and ask those with differences to pull up a seat to the table. After all, that was the way of Jesus.”
  • Matthew 5:38-45

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Queen Elizabeth II ‘Teachings of Christ provide a framework in which I try to live by’

Important Takeaways:

  • Faith Was Foundational for Queen Elizabeth II: ‘I Have Drawn Great Comfort in Difficult Times from Christ’s Words’
  • Queen Elizabeth died at the age of 96 in her Scottish estate, Balmoral Castle, Thursday. She ruled for 70-years, longer than any other monarch, and saw 15 Prime Ministers lead Britain during her reign.
  • Great Britain will observe 10 days of mourning as the constitutional monarchy begins its formal process and transfer of power to her eldest son, King Charles III.
  • Thursday, a double rainbow appeared in the sky over Buckingham Palace, shortly before the announcement of the Queen’s death – news that broke the hearts of many Brits.
  • In The Queen’s Christmas Message from 2000, she said, “For me, the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life… I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.”

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One of the little girls killed in Uvalde, Texas is being remembered for sharing the gospel on social media

Mark 13:13 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Ellie Garcia, a 9-year-old victim of Tuesday’s massacre, had posted a short video to TikTok about Jesus before she died.
  • “Jesus. He died for us. So when we die, we’ll be up there with Him,” she said.
  • “Her faith is inspiring, seeing these posts makes me realize how much I have to learn from such a young soul who was wise beyond her years”

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Benham Brothers: Our nation has a heart problem — not a gun problem

Matthew 24:10  At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other

Important Takeaways:

  • Twin brothers Jason and David Behman said this week that culture, and men in particular, need Jesus, not more “gun laws.”
  • There’s not enough ‘gun laws’ on earth to turn a young man from a predator to a protector
  • Our nation glorifies everything that stands against King Jesus and His Kingdom fruit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. As a result, we’re losing our young men and have lost the soul of our nation.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Study by Barna group: If the statistics are correct then a biblical worldview in America is dying

Galatians 1:6-9 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Death of a Biblical Worldview in America: Most Parents of Young Children Don’t Believe in Jesus for Salvation
  • Millennial moms and dads aren’t passing on a biblical worldview to their children, according to research conducted by Dr. George Barna at Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center.
  • Which is why Dr. Barna is concerned and stressing the importance of sharing a Christian worldview with children. The study found while 67% of American parents with pre-teens identify as Christian, only 2% possess a biblical worldview.
  • “One of the most important things we learned about parents with pre-teens, is that they don’t believe the Bible is reliable or true, or relevant to their lives,” said Dr. Barna. “They don’t have the same view of God as given to us in the Bible. Five out of 6 of them are not born-again Christians, meaning they believe when they die and go to heaven – but only because they confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.”
  • “Most of the parents of young children in America, if they were to die today – probably would not wind up in heaven,” said Dr. Barna.
  • “Most people die with the same worldview in essence that they had at the age of 13,” Dr. Barna said.
  • “Does that mean that Christianity is going to go away in American culture?” asked Dr. Barna. “And to make that argument, you would have to believe that God has given up on America. And yet the reality is we have a remnant of about 15 million adults across the country who possess a biblical worldview, and that’s a huge remnant, so God could certainly use them to turn around this culture.”

Read the original article by clicking here.

China rewrites the Bible to include Buddhist principles and calling Jesus a sinner

Revelations –  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Important Takeaways:

  • China’s Communist Government Is Reportedly Rewriting the Bible and Calling Jesus a ‘Sinner.’ But That’s Not All…
  • “This is a project that the Chinese Communist Party announced in 2019. At the time, they said it would be about a 10-year process … to release a new translation of the Bible,” he said, noting it would include Confucian and Buddhist principles, among others. “This new translation … would really support the Communist Party.”
  • “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced plans to update the Bible to ‘keep pace with the times.’ The revisions will include adding ‘core socialist values’ and removing passages that do not reflect communist beliefs,”
  • The new Bible translation, it seems, is just another step toward anti-biblical anarchy within the Chinese Communist Party ranks.
  • “This new socialist translation of the Bible is just another step for the Chinese Communist Party as they try to control the church, and really co-opt Christianity as a means of controlling the people and helping them serve the Party’s interests,”

Read the original article by clicking here.

New piece of Dead Sea Scrolls jigsaw discovered after 60 years

By Ari Rabinovitch

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli archaeologists racing against treasure hunters to search caves near the Dead Sea have discovered a trove of artifacts, including fragments of a biblical text, the like of which has not been seen for decades.

The finds, preserved by the hot, dry air of the Judean desert, also include the 6,000-year-old partly mummified skeleton of a child, and a perfectly intact, finely woven basket dating back 10,500 years that the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Tuesday was likely to be the oldest in the world.

The Authority has overseen a survey of more than 100 km (65 miles) of cliffs and the caves carved or eroded into them.

The fragments of parchment, about 2,000 years old, bear biblical verse, written in Greek, and match a scroll discovered about 60 years ago called the “Book of the 12 Minor Prophets.”

That scroll is one of a trove of ancient Jewish texts called the Dead Sea Scrolls that were found in 1947 by local Bedouin in the caves of Qumran, about 20 km east of Jerusalem.

The collection, which has come to include texts discovered elsewhere along the western shore of the Dead Sea, provided a window into Jewish society and religion before and after the time of Jesus.

A flurry of exploration followed their discovery but the search eventually petered out – until recently, when new pieces of scrolls and parchment appeared on the black market.

The likelihood that antiquities robbers had found a new trove spurred the Authority into action.

Since 2017, crews have been abseiling down marl and limestone cliffs and using drones to map hundreds of caves and hollows.

Many were filled with centuries of sand and debris, and about a dozen thought to be likely hiding places were excavated fully.

The new fragments of manuscript were found in the “Cave of Horror,” which years ago yielded up the 1,900-year-old skeletons of Jewish rebels who had fought against the Roman Empire.

“These are new pieces of the puzzle and we can add them to our greater picture of the period and of the text,” said Oren Ableman of the Antiquities Authority’s Dead Sea Scrolls Unit.

“Even though these pieces are small, they did give us some new information that we did not know before.”

The fragments allowed the reconstruction of 11 lines of text, and provided insight into the parchment the text is written on.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

HE IS RISEN! With Joy and Hope, we worship together in our hearts! Happy Easter!

By Kami Klein~~

HE has RISEN! We Worship with JOY and HOPE today from our homes, our cars or even in our backyards! It does not matter where you are for it is in our hearts that we find Him! Whether we are with family, sheltered together or alone we have New Life through Jesus! No matter what happens here in the world, God gave us His promise through the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross. His message is clearer today than ever! YOU are special, YOU are a child of God, you are forgiven and He LOVES YOU!

This Easter, may you truly understand that the Church is not a building or tradition, the Church is not the creeds or statements of belief found in your faith or denomination. The Church is the bride of Jesus. We are a family built from the greatest Love that has ever been known on Earth. No building can hold us, no statement can ever be bigger than the one made on the cross.

Sing with Joy today! Leave your troubles in God’s hands and Celebrate our new lives! Let today bring you strength as we trust HIM and HIS purpose!

Matthew 28 (MEV)

The Resurrection
28 At the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

2 And then there was a great earthquake. For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his garments white as snow. 4 The soldiers shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid. For I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here. For He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and indeed, He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him. Listen, I have told you.”

8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 9 As they went to tell His disciples, suddenly Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings!” They came and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell My brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

The Report of the Guard
11 While they were going, indeed, some of the soldiers went into the city and described to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave much money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were sleeping.’ 14 If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you secure.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this saying has been commonly reported among the Jews to this day.

The Commissioning of the Disciples
16 Then the eleven disciples went away to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshipped Him. But some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

HE is ALWAYS with us!

Happy Easter!