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Celebrating Indestructible Life

This year as we come up to Resurrection Sunday, April 20, we will once again celebrate the power of indestructible life.

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, brought death into the human family by following Satan into rebellion against God. People became slaves to Satan because of their fear of death, and Satan ruled the world by the time Jesus came. But Jesus came to destroy Satan and death, itself, and bring abundant life to His followers. Satan thought he could kill Jesus, but the empty tomb of Easter morning proved the life of Jesus to be indestructible. Jesus is alive!

 And not only Jesus. The indestructible life He had, He passed on to His followers. Infused with that life, they turned from quivering cowards into bold evangelists, turning the world upside down. Satan could kill their bodies, but the fear of death was gone, as the indestructible life given by Jesus continues forever. The indestructible life made an indestructible army to advance the Kingdom of God. And, from Roman Emperor Constantine’s surrender to Christ to the survival of the Church in Communist China, the power of indestructible life has prevailed over God’s enemies.

 Satan’s only success have come when he lured Christians into forgetting the indestructible life by focusing on the destructible fleshly life and the corresponding fear of death. Such Christians find themselves trapped in a joyless existence. Often they are tempted into joining Satan’s rebellion, believing that the world can bring back the life they have abandoned. History is littered with failed Kings, clerics, nations, and people who have lost their way.

 And yet, despite the many failures, the Church still stands as a testimony to the indestructible life of Jesus and the indestructible life He gave to His people.

 This Easter, let us give thanks for the indestructible life of Jesus who bought indestructible life for us. God knows our genetic code. He knows our thoughts and memories. When this fleshly body ceases to function, He has prepared an indestructible body for us.

Thank you Lord, for our indestructible life.

 And may we bless others who can find God and join us in our indestructible life.

Publisher

Blood Moon Rising

blood_moon_03_05_151  

            The Blood Moon, or Lunar Eclipse, which will happen on the night of April 14-15 is drawing much attention after Pastor John Hagee’s book Four Blood Moons showcased Lunar Eclipses as a sign of Christ’s Return in the Sun, Moon, and Stars.

 

            During a Lunar Eclipse the Moon turns red as the sunlight is reflected through the Earth’s atmosphere. It is as if the Moon, called the “Faithful Witness in the Sky” (Ps 89:37) and representing the believers, was covered in the Blood of Christ. We are also reminded that we overcome Satan by our witness and the Blood of the Lamb (Rev 12:11). (See Today’s Blog of our Sister organization, the Star Bible Society, “The Overcomers Moon”).  Thus, the Lunar Eclipse is  not a sign of Judgment but is instead a picture of God’s grace and mercy extended to believers.

 

            To illustrate this grace aspect, there are two outstanding Lunar Eclipses which we can point to in Biblical times. The first occurred on the night of the First Passover in Egypt in 1446 BC, when the Blood covering kept out the Angel of Death. The second occurred on Passover night of 5 BC, when the Star of Bethlehem appeared and our research indicates that Christ was born. These Blood Moons happened as God was pouring out His grace and mercy on His people.

 

            In the modern era, Pastor John Hagee’s book “Four Blood Moons” has identified groupings of Four Blood Moons on Jewish Feast days of Passover and Tabernacles in 1493-94, 1949-50, and 1967-68. History tells us that the Evangelization of the New World began when Christopher Columbus set sail back to the Americas during a Blood Moon on the Feast of Tabernacles in 1493. It was during a Blood Moon on the Feast of Tabernacles in 1949 that Billy Graham became a household name, launching a revival in conjunction with the healing revival of those years. The Blood Moon year 1967 saw the start of the great Charismatic Revival, which has produced 600 million believers, and also the beginning of the Messianic Jewish movement which many believe is preparing the way for Christ’s Return.

 

            Looking forward to the Blood Moons of 2014-15, we can join Pastor Hagee in his expectation that God will do something historic. In fact, we have already seen a historic reconciliation event in Pope Francis’s video of blessing sent to his Protestant brothers (See our Blog of 3/5/14 “Pope’s Unity Message Goes Viral”). Since Church unity is cause for the world to believe our message (See John 17:23), we can hope that the Lord will pour out His Spirit in revival during this time.

 

            Some are planning prayer vigils to accompany the Eclipse, which will be visible in the U.S. from 3:00 A.M. to 4:30 (EDT) or 2:00 to 3:30 (CDT).

 

            Pray for revival and get ready for something special to happen.

 

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Standing By in Prayer………………….

Tracy Bartalos
4-2-14
Standing By in Prayer…
Today, as I drove my daughter to school, I saw a backhoe digging a hole beside the road. There was a man with a shovel standing by the hole. I thought to myself – there always seems to be a man standing by the work when a big machine is really doing the job… Then the Lord spoke to me, “So it is in heaven… I always have a man (or men) standing by to intercede when I am moving. I will not move unless there is at least one standing beside…”
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Another Unity Message

Another Unity Message

            Recently we wrote about the historic video blessing sent by Pope Francis to the Protestant/Evangelical Christians (See Our Blog of March 5, 2014 “Pope’s Unity Blessing Goes Viral”).

We have been given permission to share a Papal blessing sent to Matteo Calisi, one of the leaders of the reconciliation movement, for a reconciliation meeting he held earlier this year. The message:

“ Dear Brother,

You have kindly informed me that from 20 to 22 February next a Meeting of Reconciliation will be held in Phoenix between Evangelicals and Catholics, in which you will take part. This news gave me great joy and made me more conscious of the need for reconciliation in this week in which we pray for Christian unity.

I hope that this meeting will draw down the Lord’s blessings so that we can persevere along the path to unity. We who have received the one baptism long for full communion; this is a grace of the Lord which we must fervently implore. In some parts of the world Christians are being attacked and rejected, at times violently. Those who attack us do not distinguish between Orthodox, Luterhans, Evangelicals or Catholics; they know only that these brethren are Christians. As far as they are concerned, we are all the same. And in these attacks many of our brothers and sisters have given their lives in witness to Jesus Christ. In such places they are experiencing the ecumenism of bloodshed, the ecumenism of martyrdom. This should compel us all the more to seek paths of unity in our daily lives.

Dear brother, I will accompany you with my prayers in these days of the Meeting, asking God’s blessings up all taking part. By praying for one another, we exercise that spiritual ecumenism which accompanies all our actions. I ask you and all those taking part in the Meeting kindly to pray for me as well.

May the Lord bless all of you.

Fraternally,

s / Francis

From the Vatican, 22 January 2014 “

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The Bear Bathes in the Black Sea Again

The Bear Bathes in the Black Sea Again

            The Black Sea and the Turkish Bosporus have been targets of Russian expansion for centuries.

In 1774 the Russians under Catherine the Great conquered the Northern Black Sea coast and the Crimean Peninsula, which juts strategically out into the Black Sea. In an almost 21st Century move, Crimea was left as an independent state and then absorbed into Russia nine years later. This illegal annexation brought about another war with Turkey which allowed the Russians to gain more territory and be legitimized as the ruler of Crimea.

In 1833 it appeared that the Russians had gained their objective of controlling the Bosporus when the Turks gave them exclusive rights to send warships through the Bosporus and into the Mediterranean. However, this action threatened the English and the Russians were forced to give up their protectorate. Then the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856 with England and France was fought over the same issues. A Russian attempt to achieve its objective in 1908 laid the groundwork for hostiles between Austria – Hungry and Russia which led to the First World War.

So Vladmir Platin, following in the footsteps of the Czars, has once again brought Crimea into the Russian Empire. Using a strategy of “Protecting” ethnic Russians first perfected by Adolph Hitler in the Czech Sudetenland, Putin seized Crimea and threatens Eastern Ukraine. And feckless Western leaders, like their counterparts who gave Hitler the Sudetenland in the infamous Munich Summit, seem to have left the Ukrainians on their own.

There is no danger of a general war over Crimea or the Ukraine because only the Ukraine would fight. The real danger is that Putin will overplay his hand and force the dithering Western powers to do something.  It could be in Turkey, now surrounded by Russia to the North and allied Syria to the South, where Russian overreach led to wars in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Or it could come in recently liberated countries of Eastern Europe.

This is a dangerous hour, and we need to pray that Western leaders will find the backbone and wisdom to withstand Putin’s aggression. We also need to remember that many Russians and Eastern Europeans are our Brothers in Christ as members of the Orthodox Church.

Let us pray for peace for our Brothers and all people in Eastern Europe.

 

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Honoring St. Patrick

Honoring St. Patrick

            St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, is recognized as an Irish celebration, but in fact the whole Christian world owes a large debt to St Patrick.

Brought to pagan Ireland as a slave, Patrick escaped and returned to his home in Roman Christian Britain. However he was unable to forget the lost souls of Ireland and returned to evangelize the island. The Pagan wizards and priests were no match for the man of God, and the whole island was Christianized as the result of his efforts.  For this he is rightly honored as the evangelist of the Irish.

But his legacy of a Christian Ireland blessed far more people than just the Irish. Even before his death in 461 AD the Roman Christian Britain of his boyhood was being overrun by the Pagan Angles and Saxons. Soon the British and Irish switched roles: The newly Christian Irish sent missionaries to the newly Pagan Britain. And in about a century the Anglo-Saxons were Christianized. So the British saved the Irish so the Irish could save the British.

An even more remarkable turn about occurred as the European continent fell into chaos during the time known as the Dark Ages. The formerly barbarian, unlettered Irish were able to save countless manuscripts from destruction and became the custodians of the civilized Western World’s knowledge. They also expanded their evangelistic efforts into Europe, bringing about a revival of Christianity in France and Italy. Thus, Patrick’s Irish followers became a beacon of learning and hope in the Dark Ages, helping preserve the centers of European Christianity as well as its British and Irish outposts.

Alas, the Irish were not immune to the instability of their times, as they were first invaded by the Vikings and then colonized by the ungrateful English. After the Reformation they were persecuted for their Catholic faith and allowed to starve in the horrible famine of the 1840’s. The Island remains divided between the Catholic Republic in the South and the Protestant North.

It is ironic that these two peoples, still divided over religion, owe their Christian faith to the other: The Irish to the British Patrick, and the British to the Irish missionaries. Yet, there is progress being made to reconcile these peoples. Several years back we at Corporate Prayer Resources made a Prayer Journey to Ireland and saw our and many other prayers answered as a peace process began in Northern Ireland. There are also continuing reconciliation efforts underway between the Catholics and the Protestants to heal this terrible division.

As we look forward to this St Patrick’s day, the best way to honor St. Patrick would be to pray that there would be reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace between his British homeland and his beloved Ireland.

And may it be so.

 

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Pope’s Unity Blessing Goes Viral

 

Pope’s Unity Blessing Goes Viral

            A historic Unity Blessing sent from Pope Francis to a Kenneth Copeland  Ministries Pastor’s Conference and the Church at large has gone viral.

The roots of this unprecedented event go back to the days when the Charismatic renewal swept through the Catholic Church. One of the Italian Catholic Charismatic leaders, Matteo Calisi,  and Italian Evangelical pastor Giovanni Traettino reached across the divide and began a movement which has brought Catholics and Evangelicals together throughout Italy. Over the years the reconciliation movement has reached out from Italy to Evangelicals in North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. In addition, the Orthodox and Messianic Jewish churches have also become involved.

In Argentina  Cardinal Jorge Borgoglio, now Pope Francis, and Mattao Calisi brought in the reconciliation movement eleven years ago. Working with another key reconciler, Tony Palmer, Matteo Calisi began working with Kenneth Copeland, who paid his own way to hold a conference at Calisi’s Charismatic Community in Bari, Italy in 2006. It was Tony Palmer who brought the historic message from Pope Francis to the Kenneth Copeland Conference. You can see this message on the United In Christ Website at www.United-In-Christ.com

The reconciliation movement born in Italy seeks to bring Christians into genuine unity in our diversity. God realizes that we have different practices and beliefs, and we’re told to tolerate our brothers (see Ro14:1-4 and Ro 15:1-7). Our real unity is through Christ, for if we are each in Christ then we are also United in Christ. (see John 17:20-23).

So let us all join Christ in his prayer that we may be brought into complete unity, and let us work toward visible unity so the World will believe that God sent his Son to save us (John 17:23).

 

Amen.