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                This year Pentecost Sunday, the time when we remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church, comes on May 15. However, throughout the history of the Church there has always been a period of prayer in preparation for Pentecost.

                Jesus told the believers to return to Jerusalem to be baptized with the Holy Spirit when He ascended to Heaven after appearing to them for 40 days. About 120 believers prayed for nine days in the Upper Room, and on the tenth day, the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came on them. That day 3000 members were added to their number, and the Church was born.

                Toward the end of the ninetieth century Christians began to seek God for a new Pentecost to regain the passion and power of the early Church. On May 4, 1897, Pope Leo XIII declared that the Catholic Church would spend nine days in prayer prior to Pentecost every year, seeking the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Unity in Christianity. This nine day period, known as a Novena, begins on May 6 this year.

The initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit fell on Protestants soon afterward, but in 1967 the Pope’s desired outpouring fell on the Catholic Church, bringing the Charismatic revival. This 1967 revival was accompanied by signs in the Heavens, a series of Lunar Eclipses on the Hebrew Feast Days Passover and Tabernacles in1967 and 1968 known as a Blood Moon Tetrads (See our Blog 9/23/15 “Blood Moon Revival”).

The latest Blood Moon Tetrad, in 2014-2015, was also the sign of a revival. We believe that this revival of the 2014-15 Blood Moons will be based on Christian unity in Christ (See our Blog of 3/30/16 “Blood Moon Revival Gains Momentum”).

                Let us then join with the Catholic Church to pray for a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the nine days prior to Pentecost, May 6-14. Pray for the visible unity of the Church, which will let the world know that God sent Christ, as Christ prayed in John 17.

                This year, let us pray in preparation for a historic new Pentecost.       

            This week, on May 1, we mark a pagan holiday which has been celebrated from the most ancient of times until the present.

            The European Druids celebrated May 1 as “Beltane”, a holiday named after their god “Bel” and the word for fire, “Tane.” On Beltane all fires were extinguished except for the sacred fires of the Druids, which were then used to start new fires. The ritual actually traces back to Babylon, as does the name of the pagan god “Bel.”

            Another ritual of Beltane was celebrated by gathering around the “May Pole.” The pole actually represented the Cosmic Axis, or North Pole, and this type of celebration has been found as far away as the North American Indians. The pole is also a Phallic symbol, similar to the Egyptian obelisk, echoing the pagan claim that their god is the “Seed of Woman” (See Gen 3:15), a title which belongs only to Jesus Christ.

            Another feature of the May 1 celebration is its position 52 days, or one seventh of a year, from the Summer Solstice, an important pagan worship date and the focal point of the ancient Stonehenge monument. The day 52 days after the Summer Solstice, August 15, is also a Druid holiday known as Lughnasa. Interestingly, these dates are also celebrated by the Mayans, and form the structure of their 260 day, or five sevenths of a year, calendar. The Egyptians also built a 52 day period into the Great Pyramid, although their periods are tied to the Winter, not summer, Solstice.

            These amazing connections between Babylon, Egypt, the Druids, and the American Indians are merely one of many examples worldwide of common cultural practices. For those who understand that the Bible presents an accurate history of humanity, it is a simple matter to trace those beliefs back to the time when all humanity was gathered into one place: Babylon. It was the event we call the Tower of Babel, actually a civil war, which scattered the people and their practices across the earth. And it was God who sent Jesus to save humanity from the false religion born in Babylon.

            Next week we can celebrate a Christian May Day where we recognize the goodness and mercy of God as He has poured out his grace on our societies. The National Day of Prayer, May 5, gives us the opportunity to thank God for His mercies and humble ourselves to pray for our nation.

            The lesson of May Day is the provable reality of God’s word. Let us learn our lesson and pray that our nation will not go the way of the Babylonians, Egyptians, Druids, and Mayans who turned away from God on May Day.        

This week, on April 22, we recognize “Earth Day”. You will hear a lot of talk about climate change and how its horrible consequences must be avoided at all costs. Here are some things you won’t hear:

1.       The Earth was warmer by about 1.5*F 1,000 years ago, a time known as the Medieval Warm Period. Instead of causing damage, the Medieval Warm Period brought about a flowering of European culture. The population boomed and people led more prosperous and better likes, just live in the current warm period.

2.       Despite the warnings about increased deaths from Global Warming alarmists, in the U.S. 16 people die from cold for every 1 who dies from heat.     

3.       The only source of warming for the Earth is the sun. Variations in energy output from the sun are strongly linked to temperature changes on the Earth over the past several thousand years.

4.       The Sun’s energy output is tied to the number of sun spots, which are darker areas on the sun’s surface caused by intense magnetic activity. Sun spots occur in 11 year cycles with climate warming during the maxima and cooling during the minima. Sunspot numbers also vary over longer periods, creating centuries of warming and cooling.

5.       Since 1700, there have been eight periods of extreme sunspot activity, with over 150 sunspots per year. Seven of these eight occurred in the last 50 years of the 20^th century when global temperatures had their greatest recent increase.

6.       There has been a period of slight global cooling since 2000 which corresponds to a decrease in sun spot activity.

7.       There are no practical means to lower global temperatures, even though global warming alarmists would drive up the cost of energy and impoverish billions in a futile effort to control the climate.

Surely God is bemused by our proud and foolish efforts. To those who would impoverish a whole world He would say like He did to Job “Who is this that darkness my counsel with words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2) or “Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?” (Job 38:34). Let us pray that God will protect us from the arrogant schemes of the climate extremists and the crony capitalists and politicians who profit from the fear they promote.

Let us change the atmosphere this “Earth Day” by humbly acknowledging that God controls our weather and praying for God’s wisdom to steward the Earth He has given us.

And let us offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the bounty of the Earth and God’s climate control that makes it possible.            

                A lot of attention has been focused on St Francis of Assisi after Cardinal  Bergoglio took the name of Francis upon his election as Pope. As well we should, because St Francis taught his followers to share the Gospel more by what they do than what they say.

                But this week, on April 8, we mark the life of another Francis who, it is believed, is also a role model for the new Pope. On that date in 1541 Francis Xavier began his extraordinary missionary journey to the East. Over the next ten years he traveled through 50 kingdoms and baptized over 1,000,000 people. He founded churches from India to Japan, earning the title “Apostle to the Indies.”

                Francis Xavier lived in an age of upheaval, when Europeans had begun challenging the Pagan kingdoms of the East for commerce and, later, military supremacy.  The European traders were interested in gold, not God, but they undermined the power of the Pagan Kings and the Pagan Gods they claimed to represent. The traders also curtailed the power of the Islamic merchants and stopped the Islamic expansion into the Far East. As a result, societies which had been closed to Christianity became more open, and Christian missionaries were able to present the Gospel. For Francis Xavier, a million baptisms followed.

                These European powers eventually spread their empires throughout the world, replacing pagan kingdoms in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. While these nations were seldom, if ever, interested in spreading Christianity, many missionaries followed in the footsteps of Francis Xavier and brought Christianity to the colonized peoples. Today there are thriving Christian communities in the Americas, Africa, and Asia because of these missionary efforts.

                Also, today, we find that it is Europe which has abandoned  its Christian roots and fallen into darkness. So it seems somehow to be fitting that the new Pope taking the name Francis would come from a place which was Christianized by missionaries like Francis Xavier, and would now return to Europe to preach a new evangelism to the lost Europeans.

                We pray for Pope Francis, a man of the Spirit and a uniter Christians, that he will help lead the whole Church to challenge the European societies and open them to the Gospel like the Europeans did to the Pagan world 500 years ago. We pray also for the unity of the Church and a spiritual awakening of the Church to enable it to be faithful in our generation as Francis Xavier was in his.

                While many commentators saw the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-15 as a fearful event, our research indicates that the Blood Moon Tetrads actually were signs of revival and growth in the Church (See our Blog of 9/23/15 “Blood Moon Revival”). Our Sister organization, the International Star Bible Society, has sponsored a book The Mystery of the Blood Moons (Creation House) which traces the hope filled signs of the Blood Moons back over 3,000 years.

The prior Blood Moon Revival of 1967-68 saw the Charismatic revival grow from its small beginnings in 1967 to encompass 600 million believers today. Similarly, we believe that the Blood Moon Revival of 2014 began with a small act of reconciliation when Pope Francis sent a video to Kenneth Copeland, which may lead to a revival based on unity in the Church. Already we have seen a first wave of reconciliation as Christian leaders including Kenneth Copeland, James Robinson, John Arnott, and Joel Osteen have dialogued with Pope Francis in Rome.

The new unity movement is not based on denominational merger on doctrinal uniformity, but rather on a spiritual unity which recognizes that those who trust in Jesus as their Savior are brothers united in Christ. We believe that each stream of Christianity has gifts to benefit the whole Body of Christ, producing a beautiful harmony in our diversity. This diversity expressed in unity and love will draw unbelievers to the Church in revival, as Jesus prayed in John 17.

A second wave of reconciliation and unity is now emerging with national and local leaders. There have been meetings in Canada, Arizona, and Texas bringing Catholics and Evangelicals together. Charisma magazine reports that national ministries led by Nick Hail and Lewis Hogan are targeting Christian unity in 2016. There is also a significant unity meeting scheduled in Augusta Georgia by United in Christ in July, 2016 (See their website revivalandunity.com).

The largest meeting scheduled so far is Lou Engle’s The Call Azusa Now, calling for prayer and fasting. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 Christians of all denominations will assemble at the Los Angeles colosseum on April 9, 2016. Lou says “Only a united Church can heal a divided nation.”

And wait until you see what is being planned for 2017.

Prayer is the basis of revival, as Lou Engle and the other leaders of the unity revival know. Do not be discouraged. Keep on praying that God will send revival and heal our land.

As that great theologian Carmen sang about Easter, “It may seem like Friday night, but Sunday is on the way.”    

            This year as we come up to Resurrection Sunday, March 27, 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.

            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 worlds’ 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 between Catholic and Protestant.   

And may it be so.