Category: Resource Notes

We have been praying though the 40 day Jewish season of repentance, Teshuvah, and are entering the final days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.

This year’s final Teshuvah Prayer time is also the beginning of the Shemitah, the Jewish year of Sabbath rest for the land and release of debts, which begins on the Feast of Trumpets. It is the Year of the Lord’s Favor.

During the Shemitah Years, Hebrews were forgiven from all debts. The land was also to lie fallow as the Hebrews lived off of the prior year crops and the “volunteer” produce. After 7 Shemitahs, or 49 years, the first year of the new 7 year Sabbath (the 50th year) was the Year of Jubilee when slaves were freed, debt was forgiven, and the land was returned to its original owners.

According to Alfred Edersheim’s authoritative book The Temple, the Rabbis held that the first Shemitah Year began 21 years after the Hebrews entered into the land, or 1385 BC. Following through on the math, the next Jubilee year is 2040, but this year, 2018, is the next Shemitah Year. The Shemitah year begins with the Feast of Trumpets, and the Jubilee begins with the Day of Atonement.

There are a number of significant ancient Shemitah Years which seem to share the Teshuvah theme of returning to God’s presence. His presence came to Solomon’s Temple in 958 BC and to the Second Temple in 516 BC, miraculously aided its rededication at Hanukkah in 167 BC, and moved on Herod to renovate the Temple in preparation for the coming of the Messiah in 20 BC. Gabriel visited Mary in 6 BC , bringing God’s presence , Christ, to the land. The promised Holy Spirit came to the land, and the believers, in 30 AD, bringing the permanent presence of God indwelling all believers thereafter.

The Shemitah is a time to worship God with our land (or Finances) and receive freedom from financial, personal and other bondage. The Shemitah and the Year of Jubilee were used by Jesus to describe His ministry (See Luke 4:18-19 quoting Isaiah 61:1-2). Shemitah Years remind us of our freedom in Christ and the “Year of the Lord’s Favor”.

So join us in praying in the Year of the Lord’s Favor.

• September 10: Feast of Trumpets until sunset, Isaiah 61:1-4 and Luke 4:19 – The Year of the Lord’s Favor begins.
• September 11: Proverbs 3:3-4 – Love and faithfulness bring favor with God and man.
• September 12: Leviticus 25:1-13 – The 7 year Sabbath and the Jubilee.
• September 13: Deuteronomy 15:1-18 – The 7 year release from debt and slavery.
• September 14: Deuteronomy 31:10-11 – Reading God’s word in Shemitah years
• September 15: Psalm 69:13-16 and Jeremiah 26:19 –God’s favor for protection
• September 16: 2 Chronicles 33:10-17 – God’s favor after repentance.
• September 17: Psalm 90:17 and 106:4-6 – God’s favor for success, prosperity, and joy.
• September 18: Nehemiah 1:11 and 2:5, Luke 1:30 – God’s favor for Destiny
• September 19: The Day of Atonement until sunset. Isaiah 49:89 and 2 Corinthians 6:1-3 – Now is the time of God’s Favor.

Let us continue to pray for God’s Favor throughout this Year of God’s Favor as we continue the Teshuvah journey of returning to God’s presence and seeking God’s face for unity and revival.

This week marks the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s monumental 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington DC.

In his speech, Dr. King reached back to the basic values of Americans, calling on the Nation to honor the promise of “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” made in our Declaration of Independence. He looked forward to the day when segregation evaporated and people of different races could unite together as friends. And he expressed his vision of equality, where a person would be judged by the content of his character rather than his skin color.

Dr. King’s speech electrified the Nation. Within a few years the Civil Rights laws passed ending legal segregation. More importantly, people began to see the ugliness of racism and the atmosphere of the country began to change. For most Americans, hatred and bigotry have been replaced by acceptance and tolerance. Opportunity opened up for minorities and a black man was finally elected president of the U.S. While pockets of bigotry remain in both black and white communities, we are closing in on Dr. King’s dream of a color blind society.

The key to understanding Dr. King’s astonishing accomplishment is to understand who Dr. King really was. Dr. King lived his life as a Christian Pastor, committed to Christ and the Biblical way of living. While many called for violent revolution, Dr. King told his followers to take the non violent path and turn the other cheek like Christ did. He understood the power of blessing and not cursing his enemies, and in the end he won many of them over. By following his Christian principles, Dr. King changed the atmosphere of the Nation and won a great victory not only for his people, but for all people.

Today it is the Bible believing Christians who are becoming an oppressed minority. Christian institutions like marriage are being degraded as the sexual revolution reaches its “Anything Goes” conclusion. The resulting fatherlessness has created poverty, despair, and violence in our communities as godless generations come of age. Christianity is banished from the public square in many places, and its values are attacked as ignorant and outdated. Our spiritual atmosphere is becoming toxic, and we are desperately in need of another Christian like Dr. King to change our atmosphere.

Instead of cursing the darkness, as many do, we should follow the path laid out by Christ and followed by Dr. King. Let us bless and not curse our enemies, seeking reconciliation and unity, and winning them over by love.

We can change our atmosphere if we do it God’s way.

The week we are in the midst of praying through the 40 day Jewish season of repentance, Teshuvah.

The word Teshuvah literally means to return to the presence of God. It is a season of introspection and repentance for Christians to come into unity with God, as Jesus prayed in John 17:21. However, as Jesus prayed, unity with God requires unity with each other in Christ. (John 17:20-23).

Yet, almost since the beginning of Christianity, believers have quarreled about Christian doctrine and church government. The first Jerusalem Council served as an example of a favorably resolved dispute (Acts 15). However, other disputes resulted in division and treatment of opponents as non-Christians. As Ralph Martin famously said, “The Body of Christ is broken”

Today there are many denominations and doctrines which create a great diversity within the body of Christ. Yet, we can still be United in Christ. Lutheran theologian Oscar Cullmann said, “Unity in the church . . . is unity in diversity . . . recognizing others in all their variety as true Christians.” Pope Francis has said, “Unity brought by the Spirit can harmonize every diversity.” Unity in diversity recognizes the contributions of other streams of Christianity and blends them together in a symphony of harmony. It is a unity of the Spirit, not in doctrine or church government.

During the second ten days of Teshuvah, from August 21 to August 30, we will be praying for God’s people and the healing of the broken Body of Christ as God’s people come together united in Christ.

• August 21: The blessings of unity (Ps. 133)
• August 22: Unity in Christ (John 17:20–22)
• August 23: Accepting our brothers (Rom. 15:5–7)
• August 24: Do not judge (Rom. 14:13; Luke 6:37–38)
• August 25: Divisions (1 Cor. 3:1–9)
• August 26: Evangelism through unity (John 17:23)
• August 27: Watchmen warnings (Ezek. 33)
• August 28: Appealing to all (1 Cor. 9:27)
• August 29: Salvation for Israel (Rom. 11:11–32)
• August 30: Messianic Jews and the Toward
Jerusalem Council II movement (Acts 15)

The Unity Revival has already begun. The Pope’s historic outreach to Kenneth Copeland in 2014 produced a flood of Christian leaders who traveled to Rome for international reconciliation meetings. There have also been national-level events like Kairos 2017 where 40 national Christian leaders ranging from Cardinal Di Nardo, President of U.S. Bishops, to Kenneth Copeland met to dialogue, pray, and worship in unity. Much has happened, but much more needs to happen to heal the broken Body of Christ.
The urgent need to heal the Body of Christ must be communicated from the national leadership of movements and denominations to the local churches. The city fathers must become champions of unity, bringing the Body of Christ together to impact their communities. The prayer of Jesus in John 17 is not only about unity. It is for unity with a purpose, “So that the world may believe” (John 17:21).

Like the watchmen on the wall in the Teshuvah scripture of Ezekiel 33, the church must warn the unbelievers of the judgment to come and bring as many as possible to salvation.

The Body of Christ must be healed to do its work for Christ.

Last year on August 21 Teshuvah, the 40 day Jewish season of repentance, began with the Great American Eclipse. You can receive a free download of our book about this sign in the Heavens, Teshuvah Eclipses, at https://www.dropbox.com/s/835gr2gnzg1labn/Teshuvah%20Eclipses.pdf?dl=0.

Teshuvah is a compound word consisting of the Hebrew Tashan, meaning “return,” and hey, the last letter of the JHVH name for God. The hey in JHVH represents the Shekinah, or manifest presence of God. Thus, Teshuvah is a time to return to the presence of God. It is also understood that returning to God is accompanied by repentance.

Teshuvah occurs during the forty days beginning the first day of the sixth month of the Jewish religious calendar and ending on the Day of Atonement, on the tenth day of the seventh month. Observant Jews have an understanding that this forty day period, and especially the last ten days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, represents an opportunity to repent and avoid the judgment of God. For Christians, these forty days are an invitation to repent and enter into unity with God through the blood of Christ. However, for unbelievers, Teshuvah is a solemn warning of the judgment to come.

This duality of Teshuvah—as an invitation and a warning— is illustrated in two of the scriptures that are associated with it. Psalm 27 speaks to the benefits of living in God’s presence
and seeking His face. He will keep us in time of trouble and allow us to see His goodness while we live. In Ezekiel 33 the Lord commands us to warn the unbelievers to repent and save themselves from the judgment to come. We are also told that we must warn the righteous of their folly so they can repent, lest they suffer judgment. Thus, Teshuvah calls believers to
repent and come into God’s presence and also calls on us to evangelize a lost and dying world.

This year Teshuvah begins on August 11 and we are again asking you to join in praying through Teshuvah.

During the first to ten days of Teshuvah, from August 11 to August 21, we invite you to join with us in praying for personal repentance:

August 11 – Deuteronomy 30:19-20: Choose Life.
August 12 – Mathew 4:1-11 and John 14:30: The victorious 40-day Teshuvah Journey of Jesus.
August 13– Romans 8:12-15: We are Children of God
August 14 – Deuteronomy 8:1-5: Faith
August 15 – Romans 8:1, 2: No Condemnation for those in Christ
August 16 – Deuteronomy 6:17-26: Obedience
August 17 – 1 John 1:9 Forgiveness
August 18 – Deuteronomy 6:4-15: Love God
August 19 – John 14:23 Love brings obedience and peace
August 20 – Ephesians 2:8-10: Make sure you have received salvation by grace to achieve your destiny.
August 21- Acts 1:7-8 and Acts 2: 38:39: Receive the Holy Spirit to empower your Christian walk.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life. –Deuteronomy 31:19-20

This week marks the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, when Germany declared war on France.

Before the war, the ten European colonial powers effectively ruled the world. They stood at the pinnacle of an era of incredible technological innovation. Trains, autos, steamships, radio, gasoline, steel, electricity, and many other inventions of the industrial revolution transformed the lives of First World citizens. Trade and prosperity reached record highs and most imagined that the human progress would climb ever upward. It all came crashing down in August of 1914.

This week also marks the anniversary of the final stage of the world wars which began in 1914, when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. The short span of 31 years from 1914 to 1945 had seen the overthrow of the European hegemony and the emergence of only two powers, the U.S. and Russia. Third world colonies of the great powers gained independence, and the nation of Israel was reborn. After 1945 prosperity finally returned to the First World and those new nations which had avoided the traps of socialism and communism. We have seen great technological advances and now, as in 1914, most imagine that human progress will continue its upward climb.

The Bible speaks of a time when the world would be ruled by “Ten Kings” (Revelation 17:12) “who would hate the prostitute” (Babylon Religion) and “bring her to ruin”(Revelation 17:16) Those ten nations, the European Colonial Powers, were used by God to break up the dominance of pagan religions in the world and create an opening for the Gospel to be preached. From this opening has come the powerful revivals we see in Africa, Asia, and South America today.

Sadly, the ten nations have not participated in the modern Christian revival. Instead, most embraced secularism and attacked or marginalized Christianity. Believing themselves to be wise, they left their Christian belief and values behind. The result was a descent into brutality, atrocity, genocide, and destruction in the two world wars. Because they lost their faith, the Ten Kings also lost their place.

The message for America today is to be on watch lest we lose our way and lose our place. Our faith is the foundation of our place, and without our faith we can fall backwards into depravation as the Ten Kings did.

Let us pray for Christian awakening and a realization that our foundations must be restored if our nation is to survive.

The week, as the world has focused on the meeting between Trump and Putin, it is a good time for intercessors to remember that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness. In this case we are dealing with a Nimrod Spirit.

Most Christians recognize Nimrod as the builder of the Tower of Babel, but few know the whole story and recognize his influence down through the ages.The historical Sumerian Kings list records him as “Enmer Kar”, a name which translates into vowelless Hebrew as “NMR” (Nimrod) with the name “Kar” meaning “The Hunter” (as Nimrod is known in the Bible). The Sumerians credit him with introducing the worship of the “Queen of Heaven,” a false pagan goddess which has come down the ages as Inana, Asherah, Isis, Venus, and numerous others. The Tower of Babel was a Ziggurrat, or a magical model of heaven, where the pagan “Gods” from heaven could be contacted. Josephus tells us that Nimrod rebelled against God because he hated God for judging mankind in Noah’s Flood. His name “The Hunter” indicates a violent disposition, and many believe that he was a Tyrant who hunted men.

Nimrod had set himself above the plans and purposes of God. After the flood God had commanded mankind to fill the Earth, but Nimrod kept them under his thumb in Mesopotamia. Nimrod went so far as to set himself up as the “Seed of Woman”, the Messiah promised in Gensis 3:15, to cement His political power.

But God sent the Tower of Babel judgment, producing a civil war which overthrew Nimrod and scattered humanity over the Earth. Sadly, however, many ambitious men had learned from Nimrod and took the Nimrod Spirit with them to enslave their fellow men.

So we see the Nimrod Spirit echoing through the ages in rulers like the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Kings of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler and Mao Tse Tung, to name a few, following Nimrod’s path to power. The Nimrod Spirit comes upon those who want to rule over other men, establishing tyrannical government and putting themselves above God and His purposes. The Nimrod Spirit deceives the followers of the Tyrant through a false religion such as Islam, or a false philosophy such as Communism, which legitimizes the power of the Tyrant. For those who are not deceived, the Hunter rules through fear and terror.

Even today, the Nimrod Spirit controls most of the nations of the Earth. Nimrod is constantly looking for ways to subvert those nations with shared power or democratic institutions, as in the African tragedies of “one man, one vote, one time” after Colonialism or the subversion of Russian democracy by Putin. Religious tyranny from the Nimrod Spirit can be seen in ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and in many Islamic nations such as Iran. Even in the United States individual liberties are being eroded by an increasingly powerful government bureaucrats. Outside of government the Nimrod Spirit is active in large businesses and social institutions. The Church is also plagued by the Nimrod Spirit as many pastors and leaders are more intent of building their own kingdoms than in building God’s Kingdom.

The answer to the Kingdoms of the Nimrod Spirit is to move into the Kingdom of God. God’s Kingdom comes within the believers, giving them discernment to see through Nimrod’s deceptions and power to overcome the fear weapon of Nimrod. Christians should be on guard against the Nimrod Spirit in their churches, remembering that Jesus established a standard of Servant Leadership which is diametrically opposed to Nimrod. Churches are to be run by the mothers and fathers, called Elders in the Bible, who are interested in the outcome of their flock, rather than Nimrod Spirit leadership which is often interested only in the income from the flock.
Let us begin our prayer warfare against the Nimrod Spirit at home by praying that the Nimrod Spirit will be exposed and driven out of our churches. Pray for a revival of Servant Leadership and a spirit of Unity between church leaders which will bring them together to advance God’s Kingdom, not their own. Pray that the Church will come into unity so that the world will believe that God so loved the world that He sent his son Jesus.

Throughout the world the Nimrod spirit continues its bloody march through history, keeping billions of people in tyranny and the resulting poverty. The fields are ripe for harvest, and the only answer is the Kingdom of God, which has liberated some two billion of us from the Kingdom of Darkness ruled by Satan, the ultimate Nimrod.

We know that in the end Satan will rally the Nimrods of the Earth to fight against Jesus as He returns to establish the outward Kingdom of God, and then Nimrod Spirit will finally be broken.

Until then, let us use the spiritual weapons of our warfare to keep praying for the expansion of the Kingdom of God and freedom from the Nimrod Spirit.

Just ten days after the Americans celebrate their Revolution, the French celebrate theirs, on Bastille Day, July 14.

The two revolutions could not have been more different. The Americans honored God in their Declaration of independence. The French, on the other hand, adopted the atheistic, anti-Christian values of the French Enlightenment and set out to eradicate God from public life. Churches were closed, priests were persecuted, and the calendar was remade without any Christian holidays. To replace the Virgin Mary, the revolutionary leaders invented the atheistic “Goddess of Liberty”, which became the emblem of Godless Liberty.

The fruit of the revolutions was also very different. America became a beacon of hope for the world as it worked to make its dream of equality and God given rights become a reality. In France, the godless foundation of the revolution meant that all moral restraint on power evaporated, and the infamous Reign of Terror began. Neither life no liberty were safe, and even the revolutionary leaders were carried off one by one to the Terror. Finally order was restored but all hope of liberty vanished under the iron fisted rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. It turns out that Godless Liberty is no liberty at all.

Sad to say, the lesson of the French Revolution has been repeated over and over since then. The Communist revolutions in Russia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba, and elsewhere produced massive death and eliminated freedom. The same holds true for the Nazis in Germany and the Fascists in Italy who, like Napoleon, led the whole world into war. The post colonial socialists in Africa grabbed power after elections, giving rise to the famous statement of “One man, one vote, one time”. The same process has also occurred in countries like Venezuela, Argentina and Ecuador where authoritarians have used the promise of Godless Liberty to subvert Democratic intuitions.

Even in America our God given liberties have been eroded by the proponents of Godless Liberty. Beginning in the 1960’s, the Government has banned God from our public schools, allowed the murder of unborn, worked against Christian morality, and now mandated same sex “marriage.” At the same time, Big Government has increasingly limited the rights of Americans to exercise freedoms of religion, speech, and property. The fruit of the Godless Liberty in America has been fatherlessness, poverty, crime, and a Government which grows larger while the people grow poorer and smaller.

The success of Godless Liberty has come about because of failure by the Church to preach the gospel of love and truth. Misguided pastors confuse love with exploitation to condone sexual sin, even gay marriage, when they should be setting people free in the name of Christ. Churches have substituted failed social programs for the life changing gospel of Christ. And the love of Christ is often hidden behind condemnation, political agendas, and Church division. America is on the same path which led the great nation of Germany downward from Martin Luther to Adolph Hitler.

Let us pray that the Church will repent of its sins and return to the lifesaving work of spreading the gospel and the love of Christ. We must humble ourselves, come together, and repent if our land is to be healed.

Let us also pray that the precious gift of Godly Liberty, and especially religious liberty, can overcome the evil of Godless Liberty.