Terence wrote-
“Thank you Andrew for highlighting this problem. It is not an easy
one. So many churches in GB today have got away from being
Word-centred. They are either superficial, into error or compromise
and paddle in the ecumenical pool. This leaves a lot of truth
seeking believers out on the limb.”

Judith wrote-
“I am one who has to admit to being “guilty as charged” Yes I
am an individual. I remember the pastor of my last Church talking
about this problem and he blamed the US mindset. He wanted
“community” but then he was… pastoring a PCA Church and I
became conflicted by scripture twisting, TULIP etc. and eventually
had to leave to stay sane. Before this it was Charismatic flights
of fancy which eventually jelled into the massive deception we
see today which you Andrew Strom wrote a book about.

I long for a body of believers where Jesus, the Word reigns
supreme but I can not see it happening until we all as individuals
do our own homework and agree as we gather around God’s
Word. Right now the adversary has made so many inroads with
doctrines of men and demons that speaking the truth in love
engenders strife.

I can remember a day in the past when everyone carried Bibles
and visiting teachers would encourage checking their words by
The Word. Not so today, believers must ‘follow the leader’ and
this I can not in good conscience do.”

Frank wrote:
“Good word brother. This individualism seems to burn at the heart
of the American culture and makes it very difficult to form
community around chosen leaders. Rebellion against authority
is another trait so ingrained… Yet, putting that aside, you still
have to deal with the legitimate fact that much of the church in
the West is in full blown apostacy.

The great falling away has undoubtedly begun and saints all over
the west are feeling compelled to “come out of her”… The remnant
saints, people who are not individualistic, but who find themselves
isolated, are desperately seeking genuine fellowship. Indeed the
word of God must be preached by the power of the Spirit of God
and this is truly lacking, but the greater need seems to be genuine
fellowship centered upon an all consuming passion for the Lord
Jesus and His felt presence in gatherings.”

So there we have the other side of the coin. What are your
thoughts on this issue, my friends? Please post your comments
below-

Blessings to all! – Andrew Strom ( prophetic@revivalschool.com )

But all of this, of course, is the exact opposite of “Body”. It is
the exact opposite of ‘Community’. And thus the exact opposite
of the true Church. And yet millions upon millions of Christians
today (especially in the West) are just as “individualistic” as
the next man. Sometimes even more so.

As noted previously, the very first sentence used to describe the
early church says: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’
doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
(Acts 2:42).

That is the very picture of a BODY – not a pile of “individualists”.
They have GIVEN themselves to a group and a cause – a group
with real LEADERS who are anointed preachers from God. But
it is almost anathema for a modern person to give themselves
to any group in such a way. We are far too suspicious and
individualistic and untrusting to ever do such a thing. And thus
the question must be asked: Is it even possible to have true
“BODY” in our day? Is “CHURCH” (in the true sense) even a
concept that we can understand? Or have the media and our
entire culture so “individualized” us that true ‘Body’ is no longer
possible?

You know, Christianity is not designed to be lived out by a pack
of “individualists”. And half-committed “building-attenders” on
Sunday mornings are not it either. Christianity is designed to be
lived out CORPORATELY – the “Body of Christ” – an entity that
can be seen and observed by people – full of the glory of Jesus.
A Body that corporately carries all the words and power and love
and miracles of the King.

So how on earth can such a “gathering” take place? How can
the scattered remnant of today come together to form such a
Body? Well, it all starts with the anointed “word”. You notice
in the above verse that these people gathered around a very
specific thing – “The apostles’ doctrine and fellowship”. It is
an anointed apostolic “word” being preached that is a crucial
element in all this. From such a ‘word’ everything else follows
and comes into alignment.

But the big question is- Could today’s “individualistic” types
bring themselves to form a real ‘Body’ – even if such a word
was being preached? Or is individualism so ingrained that
even ‘apostolic’ preaching might not bring this about?

These are questions that every one of us should be asking
ourselves if we ever hope to be part of a true movement of
God in these Last Days.

Blessing to all! – Andrew Strom ( prophetic@revivalschool.com )

“WHEN ROCK-STAR PREACHERS SPEW A FALSE GOSPEL”
-extracts by Jennifer LeClaire

When preachers tour like rock stars, it´s no wonder sinners flock
to stadiums. Of course, preachers holding stadium-sized events
packed out with lost souls is awesome – unless those preachers
present a hyped-up, watered-down, seeker-friendly gospel that´s
giving the assurance of heaven while sending people to hell.

I am convinced that too many people who claim to be Christ-
followers are not really saved because too many false teachers
and false prophets are propagating a “different gospel” centered
on “another Jesus” (see 2 Cor. 11:3-4). I am convinced that
many self-professing saints are going to sit right next to sinners
in hell when it´s all said and done – thanks, in part, to rock-star
preachers presenting a hyped-up, watered-down, seeker-friendly gospel.

Especially in America, it´s easy to say, “I believe in Jesus.” It´s
called mental assent. I believed in Jesus before I got saved, too,
but I was still on my way to hell. Many who have “accepted Jesus
into their hearts” have responded to a “different gospel” centered
on a false Christ. This gospel is mixed with compromise. This
gospel is impure and defiled religion. This gospel offers a
humanistic, self-help message that taps New Age principles.
Indeed, these false teachers and false prophets are moving in
a false anointing and presenting a false Christ. And it´s deadly.

Church, why are we putting up with this false gospel? Why are
we spending millions of dollars on books filled with heresy penned
by false teachers? Why are people flocking to stadiums to worship
another Jesus?

They have been deceived by the serpent´s craftiness. Their minds
have been corrupted from the simplicity of Christ. The gospel is
not difficult to understand, and it´s not difficult to recognize false
doctrine if you are a student of the Word. But members of the
lukewarm, apathetic, bless-me-only church are too lazy to open
their Bibles and read Scripture for themselves. Members of the
lukewarm, apathetic, bless-me-only church want to be spoon-fed
a feel-good 20-minute sermonette rather than be challenged to
die to self, pick up their cross and walk the narrow road. They’ve
turned away from the real Jesus to another Jesus. Paul felt the
same angst in his spirit that I feel in mine…

Some of those “gospels” insist there is no hell.
Some of those “gospels” say we´re all going to heaven
in the end. Some of those “gospels” give you a license to sin
without penalty. False teachers are using familiar Scriptures to
justify their stance, but they´ve essentially turned the Bible into
a book of fables and fairy tales.

I don´t care who doesn´t like it. I´m taking the apostle Paul´s advice:
“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince,
rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time
will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according
to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will
heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away
from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:2-4).

Does He Know You?

Here´s the rub. Jesus is come back to separate the sheep from
the goats (Matt. 25:32). And I´m seeing too many goats sitting in
the church saying amen to a false gospel centered on a false Christ.

Jesus put it this way: “Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,´
shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of
My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, `Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your
name, and done many wonders in Your name?´ And then I will
declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who
practice lawlessness!´” (Matt. 7:21-23)

They never knew Jesus, and Jesus never knew them. They were
following another Jesus based on a different gospel that was more
convenient to their humanistic lifestyle, tickled their ears and
promised peace when there is no peace (Jer. 6:14).

I shudder to think of the horror on that day, when masses who
rushed to the stadiums and megachurches to hear rock-star
preachers (or even no-name preachers in small congregations)
present a hyped-up, watered-down, seeker-friendly gospel realize
they´ve been duped. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And there will be suffering for eternity. God forbid. Let us pray
that these false teachers and false prophets will be exposed and
that discernment will rise among believers and non-believers
searching for the true hope of the real gospel. Amen.

-READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE LINK BELOW-

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/39350

I love the Holy Spirit’s gifts. But some of our “Spirit-filled” practices are questionable…

Anybody who has read this column before knows I’m unapologetic-
ally charismatic in my theology. I love the Holy Spirit, and I believe
the New Testament calls us to make room for manifestations of
the Spirit. The apostle Paul gave guidelines for the gift of prophecy;
he saw dramatic healings; he experienced supernatural visions;
and he told church leaders not to forbid speaking in tongues (see
1 Cor. 14:39). Paul was the epitome of charismatic spirituality.

But not everything we do today in the name of the Holy Spirit is
a valid expression of His power. Over the past four decades, we
charismatics have invented some lame practices that not only
make us look silly but actually turn people off to our message.
I figure we started these behaviors because of immaturity—and
I can laugh about them because I’ve done some of them myself.
But it’s 2013, and I think God expects more of us…

- The body slam. There are times when people feel woozy or
weak-kneed when the Holy Spirit touches them. I leave room for
that. But can we please stop pushing people to the floor? Any
minister who hits, shoves or slaps people at a church altar is
being extremely rude. He is also relying on his own swagger to
demonstrate he has the power to “slay” people in the Spirit. If
you pushed someone to the floor, God had nothing to do with it…

- The song that never ends. I used to love the chorus “Let It Rain”
until some churches drove this tune into the ground by playing it
159 times in a row. After the first 30 go-rounds, I want to scream,
“Change the channel!” God doesn’t listen to us more intently if
we are repetitive, as if we were doing a rain dance to make Him
hear us. It’s OK to end the song and start a new one!

- The amateur flag corp. Banners and flags became a hot worship
trend in the 1980s, and pageantry can still be effective when
practiced and performed for an audience. But where did we get
the idea that waving flags, sticks or other sharp objects within
two feet of people’s faces was a smart idea?

- The wannabe telethon offering. I have been in meetings where
the preacher gave a 25-minute offering sermon (before the main
message) and then asked everyone in the audience to parade
to the front for the next 15 minutes. Yes, giving money to God
is worship. But when the offering takes longer than any other
part of the service, I start to wonder if we are being taken for a ride…

- The praise-a-go-go dancers. I love to dance in church—and
it’s normal in many of the ethnic congregations I visit. But I fear
we unleashed a monster when we encouraged amateur dance
teams to hop around on stage in unitards—in front of visitors!
It’s not unspiritual to ask: “Will this look goofy?”

- The ear-shattering amp. When the early church prayed, the
buildings shook. Today we shake our buildings by turning up the
volume of our sound systems. You know they are too loud when
church members pop in earplugs during worship. “Charismatic”
does not mean “loud,” and our spirituality is not measured in decibels.

The apostle Paul, in laying down guidelines for charismatic gifts,
told the Corinthians, “When I became a man, I put away childish
things” (1 Cor. 13:11). As we embrace the Spirit’s work, let’s
allow Him to guide us into maturity so we don’t foolishly squander
His power.

-READ THE FULL ARTICLE-
http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones/17503

THE 5 KEYS to DISCERNMENT
by Andrew Strom

Practical tips for the End-time church.

Some people say that knowing Scripture is the only real key to
discernment that we need. And yes – Scripture is very important –
especially in exposing false doctrine. But it is not only doctrines
or teachings that are the greatest danger today. It is just as likely
to be false `anointings´ or spirits – perhaps even “lying signs and
wonders”. And we may need more than just a good understanding
of Scripture to spot these things. Remember, a lot of the people
caught up in today’s “manifestations mania” actually know their
Bible quite well. And yet they could still be deceived. So what
are the things that can help us avoid deception in similar situations?

Some of the most basic keys to discernment that God has shown
me are as follows:
(1) Know your HOLY GOD intimately. (-When you have seen His
glory, His holiness and His love – by drawing close to Him in prayer -
then you can usually see through any “counterfeits” because you
know the ‘real thing’ so well).
(2) Know your Bible. It is very important to be able to spot teachings
that are either extra-biblical or directly opposed to what the
Scriptures
teach. However, it is important to remember that the Scribes and
Pharisees were extremely learned in the Scriptures and yet they
missed the very Messiah that was prophesied! So knowing the
Bible is important – especially for doctrinal issues – but we need
to be able to “discern the spirits” also.
(3) Be a “lover of truth”. This is very crucial. Are you someone who
will actually stand up for TRUTH – even against the crowd? Or do
you remain silent even when you feel something is very wrong?
(4) Purity of heart and Humility. Many deceptions only appeal to
us because there is something inside us that “wants” to believe
them. They are seductive because of darkness and wrong motives
in our own lives. We must search our hearts and root these out.
(5) The ‘inner witness’ of the Holy Spirit. We must learn to NEVER
over-ride this “still small voice”, as it will save us from deception
again and again. (-More on this below).

Did you know that even an unbeliever can often spot a ‘con-man’
or a snake-oil salesman? They get a kind-of “gut feeling” about
such things. And they are often right! In fact, they are often less
gullible than the Christians! (-Because we are told in the church-
“Do not judge”, ‘Touch not the Lord’s anointed’, “You have a critical
spirit if you do not join in”, etc, etc. This is the very reason why
Christians are often the most gullible and easily deceived). We
need to realize that the Bible says to “Test the spirits” and warns
very strongly that the Last Days will be a time of “seducing spirits”
and great deception. So how can we become more alert to these things?

I believe that God has placed within every human being at least a
measure of an inner “warning system” to protect us from being
easily deceived – just as He has given us all a conscience. It is
something that He has built into every one of us, in His mercy. (I
guess a lot of it is simply `common sense´). However, Christians
should have an even greater advantage in this area, because we
have the “inner witness” of the Holy Spirit, and the `still small
voice´ of the Lord speaking to us every day.

But what I have found again and again with people who give
themselves over to some form of deception is that they often
“override” these alarm bells. They go against their ‘better
judgement’. They ignore the little voice deep inside them that is
telling them that there is something wrong. Christians do this all
the time. That is how they get themselves involved in such foolish
deceptions.

This may all sound very obvious, but I am telling you, this one
basic area alone could wipe out half the deception in the church
right now. If only people would listen to these internal ‘alarm bells’
and act with common sense, half of it would be gone overnight.

The Bible is very clear that the Last Days are a time of such
widespread deception that it would “deceive if possible the very
elect”. It also shows that much of this deception will arise from
WITHIN the church – luring believers with “itching ears”. Do we see
evidence of this kind of thing taking place today? Certainly! In fact,
some of it is at a level that is truly shocking. And yet it is all
accepted as perfectly “normal” by many Christians.

One of the problems, of course, is that those who bring in these
deceptions are ‘trusted’ by the congregation. They have a reputation
and they put across some very convincing-sounding arguments
and surround the whole thing with Biblical terminology. And thus
the deception is harder to spot. (After all, if it were not “deceptive”
then it would not be called ‘deception’!) People see spiritual power
operating and assume that it “must be God”. But this is a very
dangerous assumption to make in these days.

As I said in a previous article, there is also a lot of “peer pressure”
involved as well. For if everyone in the church is getting into
something, then shouldn’t you just ignore those little ‘alarm bells’
and jump right in? This is what is happening all the time in the
church right now. And some preachers are very good at making
people feel that they are ‘hindering the Spirit’ if they do not get
involved.

So how do you avoid being deceived in this way?

Very simply, you do not go along to these meetings in a “gullible”
frame of mind. And you do not allow yourself to be carried along
with the crowd. You listen carefully to the preaching and make
sure that it truly is Biblical. Then you watch the ministry happening
down the front of the meeting and discern whether it really is of
God or not. You do not “override” any feelings of unease or any
‘alarm bells’ going off inside you. And you do not allow yourself to
be swayed by ‘peer pressure’. Even if the whole church is getting
into something, it does not mean that you have to. If you do not
feel quite “right” about it then DO NOT GET INVOLVED. If you
need to, make some excuse and get out of there! You do not have
to get involved in things that do not feel spiritually “right” to you.

A lot of people today will go down the front to get something
“imparted” to them by almost every visiting speaker – almost as a
matter of course. I tell you, in today’s climate this can be a very
dangerous thing to do. In fact, some of this ‘impartation’ business
has very flimsy backing in Scripture. Who knows what on earth
these preachers are imparting? And who knows where they picked
it up? I tell you, deceiving spirits are commonplace today, and
I believe they are being imparted to Christians on a large scale.

Let me give you an example. I received the following account from
a preacher in England recently:
“There were about 20 fellow ministers all gathered together in one
large room at a local minister’s house. We were introduced to the
special guest… The next 3 hours were the weirdest three hours I
have ever had to endure, we started listening to [her] testimony
which seemed very powerful, next she spoke of the times that she
meets with the Angel Gabriel and other spiritual beings, next we
moved on to portals between this world and the next and then finally
to how she was going to open up a portal to Heaven in the room that
we were all in. Now things started to happen, really crazy things
and strange noises… As [she] moved around the room ministering
to individual people they were crashing to the ground, bouncing up
and down, running around as if on fire and making all sorts of sounds.
When she came to me she had no prophetic words for me and nothing
happened to me so she just moved on. My Vineyard friend was the
first to crash to the floor. Since that day his church has taken on a
different guise, it is not the same church any more.”

Now, you should know that this ‘guest speaker’ was one of the very
people I mentioned in my “Naming Names” article. I believe that
this is a true account, because it is very similar to what I myself
observed happening under the same ministry. In fact, what I saw
was people making involuntary “bat”-like movements all over the
building and an eery ‘wailing’ noise filling the air. It was truly
awful.

Now, it should not surprise us that there are strong deceptions or
“powerful delusions” around today, for this is exactly what the
Scriptures predict will happen. All the way through the New
Testament we are warned of these days – over and over again.

However, one of the problems we have is that God actually does
‘strange and unusual’ things Himself. (-Think of the Book of Acts,
for instance). So we cannot simply throw out everything “unusual”.
Angelic visitations DO HAPPEN. Strange prophetic signs DO
OCCUR. And being a strong Charismatic Christian myself, I expect
to see believers speaking in tongues and moving in the gifts of the
Holy Spirit as well. Now, there is no doubt that many of these
things could be termed ‘unusual’ phenomena. So how do we tell
the difference?

Well, God never goes against His own holy character. Or against
Scripture. And as I often say, we may see Him do ‘unusual’ things
but I believe we need to draw the line at “weird” or ‘ugly’. Some of
the deception that is around right now has a ‘touchy-feely’ New Age
sense about it. Remember that the New Age movement majors on
“inner healing” and unusual spiritual experiences. I do not believe
in ‘guided visualisation’ or anything of that kind. And neither am I
very fond of the writings of Catholic mystics or the like.

However, I have personally found it very helpful to immerse myself
in the writings of past Revivalists and the accounts of great moves
of God. A lot of the men and women involved in these Revivals lived
very close to God and knew Him intimately. They knew His holiness,
they knew His glory, and they knew His love. And it is enormously
helpful to one’s discernment to immerse oneself in these writings,
I have found. I would recommend this to all Christians everywhere.

If you have been touched or involved in any way with manifestations
or experiences that you think may not have been from God, then
I urge you to utterly RENOUNCE (with your mouth, but also from
the depths of your heart and soul) any links or involvement with
that experience or ‘anointing’. Please do not put this off, my friends.
Some of this stuff is extremely dangerous. RENOUNCE IT today.

Blessings from – Andrew Strom ( prophetic@revivalschool.com ).

Firstly, we know that some ‘Hebrew Roots’ people proclaim that
the New Covenant is simply a “continuation” of the Old. This is
absolutely NOT the case. We in the New Covenant live by the
SPIRIT – not by the old law. It is a completely different covenant.
It is the WALK OF THE SPIRIT that makes it so different. It is a
BETTER covenant for that reason. The very Spirit of God living
and guiding us from within – not mere rules and regulations
from without. What a difference!

The Bible also tells us that the Old Testament is a “shadow” of
the new. For example, most of us would agree that the OT
Passover is a “type” or shadow of the reality which occurred at
Christ’s death. But then people object when we say that Israel
in the OT is clearly a “type” of the church. Surely this is as
clear as day? In fact, if Israel is not a “type” of the church, then
large chunks of the Bible make absolutely no sense.

Israel in the physical. The Church in the spiritual.

Makes perfect sense, does it not?

As I said, if this is not so, then large chunks of Scripture become
utterly incomprehensible.

But it is still important to remember that Israel is a unique entity
and has not been “replaced” by the church. So it is vital that
Christians love and support God’s “first people”.

However, a rather severe `divorce´ seemed to occur in 70 AD when
Jerusalem was surrounded by armies and destroyed (1.1 million
dead) – exactly as Jesus foretold. Jerusalem and Israel were
scattered to the winds for almost 2000 years.

Thus I do NOT believe in “replacement” but I do believe it is the
CHURCH that is the `apple of God´s eye´ in the New Covenant
era – not Israel.

The “remnant” of Jews can only come back to God properly through
CHRIST – and no other way. And we fervently pray that they do.

Sadly though, there seems to be a kind of “Israel-mania” in the
church today which I believe is very distorted. I do support the
nation of Israel strongly, but for the Christian I believe it is the
CHURCH that should be the focus, far more than the physical
state of Israel.

We “mix” covenants at out peril. And this is a cause of huge
confusion amongst Christians today. We are “New Covenant”
people – not Old. So why do some act as though physical
Israel is our focus? It is one thing to love and support Israel. But
quite another to get caught up in this “mania” that tries to ‘mix’
the two Covenants together. This has actually become a strong
deception – and is leading many astray.

It would be good to hear your comments, my friends.

Blessings from- Andrew Strom. ( prophetic@revivalschool.com )

The controversial author says evangelical Christians are too narrow. But didn’t Jesus tell us to follow the narrow path?

When former evangelical pastor Rob Bell published his bombshell
book Love Wins in 2011, his Michigan megachurch reportedly lost
3,000 members. They scattered quickly because Bell questioned
the existence of a literal hell. His point was that Christians need
to develop a nicer message with a lot less judgment. But his
solution was to throw out 2,000 years of Christian theological tradition.

Then last month, Bell made a more stunning announcement from
a pulpit in California. He told people gathered at Grace Cathedral,
an Episcopal church in San Francisco, that he supports same-
sex marriage. His primary reason, he said, was that culture has
changed and we need to adapt.

Describing evangelicals, Bell predicted our doom in his March 17
remarks: “We are witnessing the death of a particular subculture
that doesn’t work. I think there is a very narrow, politically
intertwined, culturally ghettoized, evangelical subculture that was
told, ‘We’re gonna change the thing,’ and they haven’t. And they
actually have turned away lots of people.”

If Bell wants to come off as affirming and non-judgmental, he should
use kinder words when describing a group of Christians who make
up an estimated 30 percent of the U.S. population. Bell seems to
be saying: “I’m right, and you evangelicals are irrelevant.” He’s
ready to officiate at our funeral.

In response, I offer three points:

1. It’s actually OK to be narrow. Bell accuses us of being narrow.
But wasn’t it Jesus who told us the way to salvation is narrow? He
said: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the
way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who
enter through it” (Matt. 7:13, NASB). Besides the fact that Jesus
refers to hell in that passage, He also says we have to be narrow
to avoid it.

2. Our subculture is not dying. The denominations that are losing
the most members today are actually the mainline groups that
have lost their commitment to the Bible. I’m in a different church
almost every week in this country (mostly charismatic or
Pentecostal), and I see vibrant faith, growing congregations and
the emergence of multiethnic leaders.

3. We do need to change our attitude. I will agree with Bell that
there is a segment of evangelicalism that is too politicized. We
misrepresent Jesus when we label Him a Republican or a Democrat.
He is neither. And we alienate people from Jesus when all we do
is pontificate about what we are against.

It is very possible that gay marriage will become the law of the
land in this country, just as the Supreme Court sanctioned abortion
in 1973. Just because our government legalized the killing of an
unborn baby does not mean I have to support that choice personally.
But I do have to show love and extend Christ’s forgiveness to a
woman who has aborted her child. Yelling at her or condemning
her will not bring her to faith in Jesus.

In the same way, we are called to show love and respect to gay
people. I don’t have to agree with a person’s lifestyle to love them.
Jesus showed amazing compassion to the woman caught in
adultery—and He rebuked the religious bullies who wanted to
stone her. But when they put down their rocks and walked away,
He told her: “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin
no more” (John 8:11, emphasis added).

Jesus was totally comfortable using the word sin when He showed
love to a person. And that’s the part of Jesus’ gospel that Rob
Bell ignores.

-READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE-
http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones/17266

Recently the Holy Spirit gave me an unusual word, one that I did not want to hear! He said, “You are bound to a very limited vision of the Lord’s ocean of tender, loving mercies. You have endured much guilt, condemnation and fear because you have not allowed the Holy Spirit to reveal the vastness of My forgiving, healing, reconciling mercies. You do not know Me for My tenderness!”

God showed me that this is a root cause for many giving up and
falling away. When sin strikes—when Satan comes in like a flood,
when you fall into some old habit or sin—the devil creates a
bondage. First, the guilt comes flooding in, then fear fills your
heart. A sense of total failure and helplessness overwhelms your
soul. At this point, most believers run out of grace—because
their view of God’s mercy is so limited.

The devil does not want you to see God’s ocean of mercy; he
wants you to see only a trickle! Because of our ignorance of the
forgiving, restoring power of Christ’s love, we are destroyed. We
run out of mercy for ourselves because we are horribly bound
by a limited vision. Our eyes have not yet been opened to the
endless mercies of our tender Father! We are so bound by a
false, limited view of His mercies, we find it almost impossible
to believe or accept what James said: “[We] have seen the end
of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful (full of compassion), and
of tender mercy” (James 5:11).

This verse means, “God is easily crushed by our troubles and
hurts. He feels our pain and our failures, and He is kind and
compassionate to us. He loved us even when we were His
enemy. Even when we offend Him, He is quick to help, restore
and forgive us.”

-READ THE FULL ARTICLE- http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/22159

© 2013 World Challenge – a registered trademark of David Wilkerson

The most encouraging and amazing thing to me was the sheer
hunger and devotion of the Christians. My last weekend was
spent preaching at a large Pentecostal fellowship. Each Sunday
the first meeting is at 6:30 AM (!!) and 2000 people show up to it
week after week. Then they have another meeting at 9:30 AM
with another 2000 people! This is a state where there has been
real persecution of the Christians. If anything, it seems to make
them stronger. The preaching there is pretty good, too. And they
see God do amazing miracles.

Every month there is a 3-day fast for the entire church (thousands
of people fasting and praying). And every year there is a 21-day
fast for the entire church!! Can you imagine any of this taking
place in the West?

It seems to me that we need to be importing Indian preachers
into the Western nations, rather than the other way around!

And so, I came back pretty encouraged that although we see
apostasy growing all around us, there is still hope for the future in
places where spiritual hunger and persecution are very much a reality.

God is still building His Church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it.

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Blessings to all – Andrew Strom.