Monday week on Earth Day, April 22, we can expect to be hit with a hysterical dose of gloom and doom as climate extremists tell us that we are nearing climate Armageddon.

We thought that this might be a good time to revisit a true scientific study of climate change, Climate of Extremes (Patrick J Michaels and Robert C. Bulling Jr.), published in 2009 by Cato Institute, and a follow up column in the Wall Street Journal last year.

The big news in 2009 was that there had been zero global warming since 1998. The peak warming of 1998 was, in fact, related to a Pacific Ocean weather cycle known as EL Nino. In their book the authors, both climate scientists, projected another temperature peak during the next El Nino cycle, and it came to pass six years later in 2015-16. The 2018 follow up article reported that there has been no Global Warming since 1998.

Michaels and Bulling also exposed a number of climate myths which have been widely circulated by climate alarmists. For example, there was the big scare that Greenland’s ice was melting and would drive up sea levels to drown costal cities. In fact, the actual loss of ice cover has been about 0.008% per year, an insignificant amount. Other studies have found that the ocean levels stopped rising in 2015, the largest glacier in Greenland began growing in 2017, and the number of polar bears is increasing. Another myth concerned a supposed increase in strength of hurricanes, when, in fact, historical data showed that the most powerful hurricanes occurred during a period of global cooling known as the Little Ice Age. Satellite data since 1970 confirms the fact that hurricanes have not gotten stronger.

So why are so many scientists and politicians so committed to the Global Warming catastrophe theory? To start with, there actually was Global Warming in the last half of the Twentieth Century. Our research indicates that the sun put out the highest level of energy since records were kept over the last 300 years, and even climate scientists admit that the Sun is at least partly to blame. In addition, Michaels and Bulling attribute about 25% of recorded temperature increases to the “Heat Island” effect, where urbanization has encompassed previously rural recording sites. The truth is that climate is not fully understood and many of the computer simulations substantially overstate actual observed changes. But scientists, politicians, and crony capitalists are so committed to the Global Warming theory that they persecute scientists and others who present a more balanced scientific view. And now we have politicians proclaiming that the world will end in twelve years.

These climate zealots are demanding a “Green New Deal” returning to the pre industrial world of 200 years ago, at the end of the Little Ice Age. No fossil fuels, no cars, no airplanes, no trucks of bring food to cities, and no cow flatulence. And a totalitarian government to enforce the impoverishment of humanity.

This is an urgent hour for prayer. We must begin by praying that the truth will be revealed, eliminating the unfounded fear which is driving climate hysteria. We need to pray that God will protect us against those who are creating the climate of fear to advance their ambitions. But we also need to ask God for wisdom to respond to the changing climate. There is even evidence that the heat output of the sun is decreasing, perhaps bringing a new Global Cooling Cycle which would be far more harmful than Global Warming.

Only God knows how the climate will change, whether by warming or cooling, in the years ahead. As people of prayer, we know the Master of the Climate (Psalms 135:7). Let us humble ourselves and seek His face, and ask Him to relent from sending climate catastrophe (Joel 2:13).

And let us remember on Earth Day that “The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1)

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.”
Beyond his importance as an Asian missionary, Francis Xavier pioneered a return of Christian missions to its gospel roots. The Medieval model of missions called for conquest and forced conversion, as exemplified by the Spanish conquests and failed conversations in the New World. Francis Xavier showed that heartfelt conversion won by the love of God was not only more scriptural, it was more effective. In that sense he is the father of all modern Christian missions.
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 God’s love 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.

The verdict form the Mueller investigation is in, and it looks like President Trump has been vindicated from charges that he colluded with the Russians during the 2016 election. Yet the inquisition lives on as Trump’s political opponents plan to keep digging in hopes of finding something to bring down his Presidency, even as we have learned that Trump was targeted to be falsely accused, even before the election, by a cabal of government officials. But he is only the most visible victim of the Inquisition Spirit which has been loosed on America.

Over the past decade it has become clear that FBI, the Justice Department, the IRS and other Government agencies have been persecuting people for their political and religious views. Our courts have trampled on the religious definition of marriage and the so called “Progressives” want to use the power of government to force us to participate in gay marriage. This targeting of “incorrect” viewpoints is not “progressive” at all, as it contradicts our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and in fact takes us back to the Spirit of the infamous Spanish Inquisition.

The Inquisition was the prototype of totalitarian systems designed to eliminate all belief contrary to the Politically Correct beliefs of the authorities. In the case of the Inquisition, the Politically Correct belief was a form of Roman Catholicism. Later emulators of the Inquisition Spirit tried to force compliance with the French Revolution, Nazism, and Communism. Today the Spirit of Inquisition is rising in places like Venezuela, Turkey, and Russia where Democracies are being converted into authoritarian Governments. And the same trend is beginning to appear in the U.S., where the Politically Correct “Progressive” beliefs in Big Government, sexual “freedom”, and secularism are targeting those who believe in limited Government and who hold Christian views.

The methods of the Inquisition Spirit have varied little down through History. First, the authorities gain control of the Law Enforcement mechanisms of society either directly, as in the case of the Anti-Trump cabal, or indirectly, as in the Spanish Inquisition. Secondly, the power of Government is used to find those who may have opposing views. Those who come to the attention of the Government, whether “Guilty” or not, are then made into an example to terrorize the population into compliance. As Stalin’s KGB Chief said, “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime”. Trump and others like Judge Kavanaugh are just the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, even in the U.S., with its legacy of freedom, the Inquisition Spirit is growing strong. The current American manifestation began on college campuses, where “Progressives” have ended academic freedom and used the Inquisition Spirit to eliminate all politically incorrect speech, as is evidenced by riots when Conservatives are invited to be speakers. The media’s longstanding bias against Conservatives is spreading to businesses, as seen in the case of a man fired by Google for expressing his beliefs. Now people with religious convictions against abortion have been targeted by Obamacare, those who believe in traditional marriage have been penalized for refusing to participate in gay marriage ceremonies, and schools were told they cannot protect the privacy of their female students from “transgender” boys. Persecution has come to America.

As intercessors, we must realize that we do not struggle against the individuals, but against the Inquisition Spirit itself. This Spirit comes directly from Satan, who is the accuser of the Brethren (Revelation 12:10). We must pray that the Lord will bless our enemies with the knowledge of the Lord and a desire for freedom. We pray that the Spirit of Inquisition will be turned back in our Government and business, and we pray for a revival of Christianity and freedom on the college campuses where the Inquisition Spirit began.

Above all we pray that America will remain a free country where we can worship God without Government persecution.

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.

On March 10, 1528 Martin Luther published a book which changed the course of history. And not for the better.

His book, “The Book of Vagabonds and Beggars,” proposed that the State should establish a social welfare system to replace the Church in caring for the poor. Up until that time the Church had made care of the poor a centerpiece of its ministry. Giving to the poor was seen as a sign of Christian virtue and a sign of spiritual vitality in the Church.

Luther’s proposal was based on the idea of the State Religion, which had been a fixture of Christian life since the days of the Roman Empire. In his view the Religious State should meet personal needs while the State-Sponsored Church should restrict itself to spiritual activities. This idea took hold throughout Protestant Northern Europe as the State began taxing citizens to pay for relief for the poor. It was the beginning of the modern Welfare state.

Luther failed to take into account the possibility that the Religious State would quit being religious, pushing the Church out of community life. Beginning with the French Revolution, the State began to see itself as the source of Welfare not just for the poor, but for the whole society. With Godliness marginalized in secular States, the State itself became a substitute for God in the socialist, national socialist, and communist philosophies. Leaders like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao gained power by promising to use the godlike power of the State to bring prosperity to the masses. What came instead was poverty and death.

The ghost of Luther’s bad idea still haunts the world today. The Welfare States of Greece, Italy, and Spain are facing financial collapse, and their European neighbors are not far behind. In countries like Venezuela ruthless leaders destroyed their national economies to buy power from the masses. Even the rich United States is marching toward a crisis as its national debt and Welfare State become unsustainable. No one knows what will happen when these nations become unable to keep their Welfare promises.

What Luther and the modern Welfare States have forgotten is that God will not share His Glory with usurpers. Like the gods of Egypt humbled in the Exodus, God has shown that the socialist, communist, and Welfare states are not the gods of provision they claim to be. It is not a question of if, but when, failure will occur. The real question remaining is what the Church will do about it.

We must pray that the Church will rise up to the crisis and the opportunity coming from the collapse of the Welfare State. The crisis will come as people’s needs are no longer met by Government, and social order breaks down. The opportunity comes if the Church follows God’s admonition to care for the poor, revitalizes Church institutions for the poor, and creates a Godly order in the midst of chaos. The crisis could lead to revival.

Let us pray that the people will once again look to God as their source as they one did before Luther’s bad idea led us astray.

On February 27TH in 380 AD Roman Emperor Theodosius made Christianity into the official state
religion. It was one of the most catastrophic events in Church history.

Up until the time Constantine legalized the Church in 313 AD, the great strength of the Church was the fact that the Kingdom of God resided within the believers. Under Constantine the Church became
“Respectable” and began to attract the ambitious and worldly who would make a show of outward piety without an inward transformation. After 380 AD, the Church was swamped with unconverted Pagans and the outward rituals replaced the inner power for most Church members.

The first to clothe themselves in the new mantle of the State religion were the emperors themselves. The Bishop of Rome was eventually forced to trade Church recognition for military protection in Western Europe, beginning with Frankish King Clovis, in order to remain independent of the Eastern Roman Emperor. When the European Church split between Protestants and Catholics the local Kings and rulers forced their own views to be followed in their realms and millions of Christians were martyred. The marriage between Church and State meant that religious questions would be solved with the sword instead of the Spirit.

The religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries left much devastation and little change, and the idea of religious toleration, espoused by Paul in the 14th chapter of Romans, began to take hold. The idea that Christians with different doctrines could be united in their diversity appeared in the 18th century with The First and Second Great Awakenings and the interdenominational missionary societies. The United States, itself a patchwork of states with Catholic, Anglican, Quaker, Methodist and
Congregational backgrounds, became a symbol of unity in diversity and its religious freedom is still a
Light to the world. The sword, which brought division, had begun to give way to the spirit which brings
Unity.

The Pentecostal and Charismatic movements which swept the world in the 20th century brought a Holy Spirit awakening in much of the Church. However the Spirit movements also cried out that “The
Body of Christ is Broken”, praying that the divisions of the sword would be healed by the Spirit. We believe that God is launching a great revival based on unity in diversity within the Church which will show the world that God sent Jesus, just as Jesus prayed in John 17.

Let us pray for reconciliation of the Church and focus on expanding the whole Kingdom of God.
Pray that the world will know us not by our swords, but by our love and unity in the Spirit.