City of Refuge Ministries

Blogspot Message #9

2007-09-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

The Need To Be Sober

Our topic is the need for spiritual sobriety. We begin our examination of the topic with reviewing two scenarios.

In the first scenario, which is found in Daniel Chapter 5, Belshazzar is the king of Babylon. He “made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand (v.1).” The Bible goes on to tell us that “Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives and his concubines, might drink therein. (v.2)” Belshazzar and his party took the golden and silver vessels, which had been dedicated to the service of the Lord, and used them for a profane purpose, that is, a drunken party. In their drunken stupor, they praised heathen idols (v.4). While we do not worship goblets or cups, the fact is that these vessels had been dedicated to the service of the Lord, and Belshazzar’s profane use of the temple vessels constituted an extreme disrespect for the God to whom the vessels had been dedicated.

Belshazzar undoubtedly knew of Nebuchadnezzar’s encounter with the God of the Israelites and should have taken cognizance that (see Daniel Chapter 4), this Almighty God had taken Nebuchadnezzar’s mind and his sanity from him for a period of time, until Nebuchadnezzar learned his place in the universe, i.e., Jehovah is God, Nebuchadnezzar is just a man, and therefore, infinitely inferior to and lesser than Almighty God. Belshazzar was without even the remotest of excuses for his drunken orgy and affront to the God of the Israelites. In verses 16-23 Daniel reminded Belshazzar of how the Lord had dealt with Nebuchadnezzar and that king’s sin of pride, and proceeded to indict Belshazzar for failing to heed the example of how God had dealt with Nebuchadnezzar’s pride.

At core, it was Belshazzar’s pride that led to his contempt of the Lord and consequently, Belshazzar’s drunkenness.

So many people in our society are familiar with the phrase “the handwriting on the wall,” but few grasp its dire importance and meaning. In the same hour that Belshazzar got drunk on wine poured into the temple vessels, “…came forth fingers of man’s hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.” (vv.5-6). This is polite 1611 Elizabethan English expression of the fact that Belshazzar was so terrified by the hand visibly writing on the wall that he urinated on himself.

Later in the chapter the handwriting is translated for Belshazzar to explain that God had numbered his kingdom, Belshazzar himself had been weighed and was found lacking in the balance, and his kingdom would be taken from him and given to the Medes and the Persians (vv.25-28). The same night, Belshazzar was slain and Darius the Median captured the Babylonian kingdom’s capitol city.

Our second scenario is early 21^st century America. We live in a nation that has been blessed like no other. When we needed chastening and correction to lead us back to God, He sent it. The 1920’s roared with homemade bathtub gin, “flappers” dancing the night away, clad in indecently short skirts, increase in sexual immorality, and the turning of our society toward the secular, toward materialism and away from the Lord. The October 1929 stock market crash and resulting economic depression lasted until December 1941, when the advent of WWII required American industry to produce the considerable needs of a nation at war.

World War Two ended in 1945 and our economy turned from satisfying the needs of the war machine to the wants and needs of the civilian populace. For the first time in almost five years, civilians could buy new cars and other consumer goods that had to be delayed to accommodate military war production. Sugar and gasoline rationing ceased. Five years of working, earning and saving ended in a spending spree that continues to this day, 62 years later.

The 1950s saw the American military and America’s civilian economy growing and flourishing like never before. America became the undisputed pre-eminent military and economic power in the entire world. Having at least one automobile in the driveway and a television set in the den or living room became the norm for middle America. Economic prosperity to a level never seen before in this country became not only a common experience, but a driving, consuming passion and goal. Americans tasted riches and like sharks tasting blood, wanted more.

All the while, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ was in steady decline. In love with the world and the things of the world, forgetting the Lord’s command to be salt and light. Forgetting the command to be in the world, but not of the world. Just like the world, seeking a bigger better family car, then two cars, better clothes, flashier clothes, bigger houses, higher paying jobs, more and better vacations, and every other comfort that the world sought. We were experiencing our own wine-tasting orgy, just like Belshazzar, only this time, we did so under the guise of “being blessed” and “enjoying the blessings of God.” We were intoxicated with materialism and prosperity. By 1960 at latest, Americans, including the church, were drunk with this world and the things of this world. All the while, we thought that we were alright because we still went to Sunday School and Church, put money in the plate, and had “Leave It To Beaver” haircuts, clothes, furniture and lifestyles.

We forgot the God who made us, instead, opting for keeping up with the Joneses.

The 1960s saw the church sound asleep, allowing: the United States Supreme Court to take prayer out of school; doing absolutely nothing about healing the wounds and scars of racism and its American past, not to mention the need for “being your brother’s keeper”; forgetting holiness and the fear of the Lord; At most quacking a little bit like a duck over the God-hating, atheistic tirades of Madelyn Murray O’Hare but not knuckling down in prayer and fasting to rise up as a standard of righteousness against the flood of evil; the Bible being cast by heretics who called themselves Christians, pastors and theologians, on an ever-increasing basis, as not literal and completely factual, but instead, allegorical and flawed--supposedly the work of men and philosophers rather than the utterance of a Holy God through His Holy Spirit, as dictated by the Spirit to men of God.

1960s youth culture recognized the hypocrisy and vapid futility of the materialistic American quest for more and greater things, and consequently, we felt the backlash: Rock and pop music, in its various forms; The Beatles (John Lennon proclaiming that he and the other three Beatles were “more popular than Jesus,” this spoken in a sacrilegious spirit, but unfortunately reflecting the fact of the decline of worship of Jesus and rise of worship of the Beatles and other secular musicians); Woodstock; Rampant drug abuse; Youthful rebellion; Riots; “Flower power.”

Meanwhile, the church is still in a drunken stupor.

The 1970s saw our situation in America go from bad to worse. Hedonism flourished. Civil and governmental authority no longer was viewed as respectable or legitimate. The 1960s youth culture infatuation with rebellion became institutionalized. The military was no longer respected but was treated like some sort of heinous monster, rather than our protector. “Free love,” i.e., sexual promiscuity, was now rampant, flagrant and open. America and Americans had become cynical, jaded, thoroughly secular and materialistic. Hedonism was a god, and it had many followers in America, as it does today—yes, even in the church. A church that proclaims wealth and prosperity and how to get it, rather than the need for repentance, the new birth, the fear of the Lord, and the need to be converted or processed into a form that is useable for ministry.

Yet, the church was still drunk.

The 1980s and 1990s saw this situation continue to progressively degenerate. The same is still true in the first decade of the 21^st century. An occasional lone, faint voice can be heard from a few isolated men and women of God, calling America to repent and turn back to the Lord. But for the most part, what we want is to fatten our 401 (k) retirement plans like Thanksgiving Day turkeys, make a greater profit on our stocks and other investments, and lose ourselves in selfish pleasures and pursuits. We want to store up acorns and chestnuts—and lots of them—for retirement, so that we can drive around America in an RV, towing the car, golfing, having cocktails at the country clubs and resorts, seeing the sights and generally catering to our flesh, while we wait for our bodies to break down and die. Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. But in the meantime, we will eat the goodies at the next buffet and tranquilize ourselves, while we wait for the inevitable last heartbeat.

Today, September 3, 2007, we—and this includes not only secular American society, but also the church—are almost too drunk with our decades of self-indulgence and wretched excess to see the handwriting on the wall. America, and indeed, the Lord’s church, have been weighed and found lacking in the balance.

II Chronicles 7:14 is still true and America is still the land that has not been healed, because the church did not do what this scripture commanded us to do: “If my people, which are called by my name [Christians], shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land [emphasis added]. The present pitiful, rebellious, sinful state of America is the result of the church neglecting this scripture FOR DECADES!

Lack of sobriety destroyed Belshazzar.

Lack of sobriety is doing the same to America, and the church.

But what is sobriety?

Sobriety is not gloom, pessimism or negativity.

Ecclesiates 3 tells us that there is a “time to every purpose under the heaven” (see v.1), and this includes times of loving, embracing, healing, building up, laughing, dancing, getting, speaking, keeping and peace, but also times of the opposite of each one of those happy conditions or experiences. Sobriety is not contrary to laughing, dancing, loving and embracing, but without sobriety, we will never experience those happy conditions to the full. Sobriety keeps these happy experiences and conditions in proper, eternal perspective.

Sobriety, according to Webster’s Dictionary, involves not being intoxicated or drunk, but instead, being habitually (i.e., as a matter of regular, steady, continuous habit) temperate (self-controlled, moderate), quiet or sedate in demeanor, marked by seriousness, gravity or solemnity, subdued in color or tone, not extravagant or excessive.

Daniel was sober-minded.

So was Elijah, when he was not giving in to his emotions.

Prophets of the Lord, like Samuel and Nathan, exhibited extremely high degrees of sobriety.

The Old Testament prophets were sober men of God. At times they gave in to their emotions, but fundamentally and essentially, they were sober-minded.

Ezekiel 3 and Ezekiel 33, both of which involve the concept of the watchman on the wall, involve extreme degrees of sobriety. We cannot discharge our ministry duties effectively and capably without exercising high degrees of sobriety.

Lack of proper sobriety clouds the picture and dulls our focus, perception and discernment. Quite to the opposite, having and exercising—notice we said “exercising,” not just having or possessing—sobriety will sharpen and enhance our focus, perception and discernment. In the natural, your senses are sharper when you are sober, but dulled by intoxication. The same holds true in the spiritual life.

I Peter 5:8 admonishes us: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Sobriety is essential to not only the success, but the survival of Christians.

II Thessalonians 5:1-8 bears quoting in its entirety: “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night: and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.” The word “sober” in v.6 is #3525, nepho, in Strong’s Dictionary, and it means circumspect, sober and vigilant. We need to be sober, but also paying close attention to our walk with the Lord, our lifestyle and its details, and also be very vigilant and watchful for the attack of the devil and all other dangers.

I Timothy 3:1-5 requires bishops (ministry overseers, pastors) to possess a number of positive attributes, among them, sobriety. V.8 of that chapter requires the deacons to be grave, which is #4586 in Strong’s Dictionary, which means grave, honest, honorable or venerable. In v. 11, wives are also instructed to be grave. Christians and Christian ministers who lack this required sobriety and gravity are lacking in basic equipment. Sobriety is not an option for Christians, but is instead a basic requirement.

Consider that operating a motor vehicle, watercraft or aircraft, while intoxicated, is illegal and results in criminal penalties. Repeat offenders can be fined, loose their operator’s license and/or go to prison. Know that there are spiritual applications and parallels to this natural legal principle.

Amos 5:18-20 describes how dangerous and perilous is “the day of the Lord.” While one may have an opinion as to where exactly we are on God’s time line in the last days, there is no doubt that we are in “the day of the Lord.” Understanding this to be a fact, we also understand that a higher degree of sobriety is needed.

Malachi 3:1-4 describes the second coming of Jesus Christ and asks us, “But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap.” Obviously this also requires sobriety of us.

II Timothy 3:1-5 describes negative attributes and perilous conditions of the last days, and v.4 tells us that many people will be more focused on pleasure seeking than on loving the Lord. We live in a society marked by over-indulgence. Again, sobriety is God’s counsel to us.

In the church and in society there are, unfortunately, an abundance of manifestations of riotous living. Remember: riotous living is how the prodigal son spent his inheritance and became impoverished—see Luke 15:11-24.

Titus 1:8 again reminds us that bishops (pastors, ministers) must be sober, but also lovers of “good men, just, holy and temperate (#1468—self-controlled).

Titus 2:2-6 instructs that the “aged men” must be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.” However, most aged men in the church and in American society as a whole are very deficient in these qualities. The aged women are to teach young women to be sober, love their husbands, love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men are to be exhorted to be sober minded. To exhort (3870) means to produce a particular effect, comfort, exhort, call to one’s side, beseech with a stronger force, to appeal.

I Peter 1:13 states, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Our need for sobriety is summed up in this way. I Peter 4:7 declares: “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer.”

URGENT WARNING!

2006-12-01T16:41:00.000-08:00

The Lord has disturbed my usual routine and my spirit is at somewhere between DEFCON ONE and DEFCON TWO. For several weeks now, He has been regularly drawing me aside at a moment’s notice, telling me to drop everything else, go into my prayer closet (which for me is simply my bedroom) and PRAY!!! For several mornings now, the Lord has awakened me about two hours early, and this morning is one of those. As this is being typed, it is cold and dark outside. The urgency of the hour and what is fast approaching the United States of America requires our full and immediate attention.

For me, this season of urgency and prayer probably started about October 24, 2006. I seldom read USA Today, but had occasion to buy that day’s issue at the convenience store a couple of blocks from where the borrowed car I was driving stalled. I had borrowed my wife’s mother’s 1985 Buick because all of the cars in my household were in the shop being repaired simultaneously. Since then, the Lord has moved miraculously (this is no exaggeration!) and suddenly provided funding to replace my wife’s vehicle and my son’s vehicle (he is away at college). But the borrowed, stalled 1985 Buick (apparently the carburetor simply flooded temporarily—a little while later it started with no difficulty) was used by the Lord to steer me in the direction of getting a copy of the October 24th USA Today, which contained a one-page advertisement by James Robison, in essence telling the nation that we can humble ourselves, or alternatively, God Almighty can bring us to our knees. Our choice is voluntary humility, or imposed humiliation. You may wish to log on to www.WeHaveaChoice.org. Pastor Robison is close to the heart of the Lord, and I would strongly suggest taking what he has to say seriously.

The situation progressed from there. In the past several weeks, the Lord has on several occasions suddenly pulled me aside in the evening to go into my room, close the door and earnestly seek Him in prayer. What I get out of this is Him calling me to get closer to Him and become more dependent upon Him. He is strengthening and deepening my relationship with Him. It was in such a time of prayer earlier this week that the Lord conveyed the following to me:

1) He plainly said, “I will strike at the heart of America.” He did not say where, when or how, but my sense was that this will happen soon. Remember that “soon” is seldom definitely or expressly defined by the Lord, but I am assuming that “soon” is anywhere from almost immediately to some time within the next few months.

2) The Lord also plainly told me, “Wash your garments in the blood of Jesus.” and “Chasten and humble yourself.” No longer can we afford to think that the call to repentance is for someone else and not for us. I know for a fact that the Lord is dealing with me about attitudes of the heart that go way back in my life and even to childhood. I cannot rest on the fact that I do not do heroin, rob banks or cheat on my wife and point to this as righteousness and right standing with God. I do not know about you, but I still have evil and unkind thoughts about other people, and this is not pleasing to Him. I still think myself better than others, and this sort of evil residing in me has to go!

3) I was led to Hebrews 12:18-29, and especially verses 25 and 26, which state, “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” A companion scripture to this is Haggai 2:6, which states, “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth and the sea, and the dry land;”

4) I was also led to Joel 2:2: “A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains…”

The point of all of this is not that I heard from God and am proclaiming some unique message that no one else heard. I am only one of many to whom the Lord is speaking about impending judgment. Remember what the Lord said to James Robison. Know also that the Lord is speaking to David Wilkerson about such things. You will want to carefully consider the messages that Pastor Wilkerson shares with us, and I strongly suggest review of www.davidwilkerson.org/sermons. His current message on the need to receive the peace of Jesus Christ elaborates on our need to draw much closer to Him, or we will not make it through what is to come.

Consider also the following, please. I know a pastor from Jacksonville, Florida, Bob Martin. He comes to the LaQuinta Inn on Williams Boulevard in Kenner, Louisiana (suburb of New Orleans) typically every Tuesday and holds a prayer and Bible teaching meeting at 7:00 p.m. If you live in the New Orleans area or within reasonable driving distance, I highly recommend that you go to the meeting sometime and meet Pastor Bob. He has a real heart for the Lord and the Lord’s people. Pastor Bob has been warning the New Orleans area for years of God’s coming judgment and our need to repent, fast and pray with all of our hearts. Yesterday evening I came out of the barber shop in Slidell about 5:00 p.m. after getting a haircut. I got in the truck, turned on the radio, felt led to tune in to Pastor Martin’s daily 5:00 p.m. radio broadcast on WVOG 600 a.m., and this is what I heard. The Lord is impressing on Pastor Martin that some event is coming to America soon that is part of the Lord’s judgment. He knows of several other Christians who recently have been given the same message by the Lord, including a lady in Hawaii who indicates that the Lord has impressed on her that such an event is coming to the mainland soon. You may want to take a look at www.challengeministries.com. Sound teaching and instruction in the word of God can be found there.

Consider the Biblical principle that the Lord confirms His word, and that Amos 3:7 reminds us, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” The fact that judgment is soon coming to America is not hidden, but is in fact revealed and confirmed repeatedly. The Lord speaks to nobodies like me and you. The challenge and the question then becomes this: who will listen to the word of the Lord and obey? We know that He places his heavenly treasure in earthly vessels (people), …that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” II Corinthians 4:7. Will you let Him use you? Will you let Him flow through you? Will you let Him speak to you, then speak through you? Will you stand up in this hour and be counted among those who fear, love and trust in the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength? Will you let Him be the consuming fire in your life that He wants to be—consuming everything that is not like Him or His Son Jesus?

There are a number of excellent ministries that are both close to the heart of God and speaking prophetically. It is strongly recommended that you find some like Agape Harvest Ministries, whose website is www.propheticwatchman.com and receive what the Lord speaks to you through them. Their main pastor and overseer is Pastor Daniel Bohler. On the website there are specific prophecies for specific cities. You will notice that some of what was prophecied by Pastor Bohler on November 12, 1997 has already come to pass, like the killer hurricane (Katrina) and its flooding. I was at the November 12, 1997 meeting when Pastor Bohler gave the prophecies concerning New Orleans and remember the meeting clearly.

This is what we need to do:

1) Read and pray over Isaiah 58

2) Do the same with Amos 3:1-8

3) Read Psalm 51 as a prayer of confession and repentance to the Lord. Doing so while on your knees is highly recommended

4) Rededicate our lives to the Lord and His service

5) Seek the Lord diligently through prayer, fasting (as we are led by the Holy Spirit) and seeking His face (relationship), not just His hand (provision of earthly needs)

Great times in the Lord are ahead for each of His children IF we will hearken to His voice and obey his commands and instructions to us. The coming judgment will invariably produce revival and spiritual awakening. Before true revival can come, something has to die, whether it is our flesh, our pride or even “Uzziahs” (see Isaiah 6:1-8; Uzziah symbolizes anything that stands between us and seeing the Lord as He really is; Uzziah symbolizes pride, because he was “marvelously helped” until he got lifted up in pride, according to II Chronicles 26:15-21). Consider that in Acts 5, the death of Ananias and Saphira resulted in this: “And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.”

I will be praying for you, your family and friends, that you may climb all the way up the spiritual mountain that the Lord has for you and that in the days to come, He will be able to use you in mighty ways, to do exploits for Him.

Yours in Jesus Christ, the mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords,

Pastor Ben

THE CHURCH (SAY, “THAT’S ME”) ISN’T READY

2006-10-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

The signs of the times are evident. It is obvious to those who know and understand by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are in the “last days” spoken of in Scripture. Conditions upon planet Earth are deteriorating. We have had an increase in natural disasters—earthquakes, hurricanes, extreme weather, tsunamis, heat waves. The behaviors of mankind have become increasing wicked and extreme. That which read of in Matthew 24 and 2 Timothy 3 is certainly happening before our eyes. The situation in the Middle East is certainly volatile, which is another indication that the end of this age is rapidly approaching. However, I have found myself agitated lately as I behold what is happening on planet Earth, that the inhabitants of the land don’t seem to be learning righteousness. Here in the Greater New Orleans area, very few people seem to be “connecting the dots” and understanding what Katrina was about. Murder is on the increase and people are turning to drugs and alcohol instead of turning to the Lord. All we hear about on secular radio is how badly FEMA is performing and other complaints about the system not taking care of people’s “needs.” There is no sense that we should be turning to God Almighty for help and restoration. On the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, the casinos are being rebuilt, despite the fact that God destroyed them to show His extreme displeasure with them. Nothing seems to have changed, and I, for one, have struggled with the self-righteous emotions that Jonah had, wanting God to “whack” the area again, this time so that there would be no mistaking that He is angry with mankind. I have been impatient in wanting God to go ahead and deal with sin and unrighteousness on a massive scale.

As I was wrestling with my thoughts and feelings on these issues I felt that the Lord was telling me that the reason He cannot deal with planet Earth on the grand scale prophesied in the Scriptures is that His people are not ready. “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first being at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17). The Church of Jesus Christ is to be the “salt of the earth.” But we are now in the state that the Lord Jesus prophesied of when He said, “But if the salt has lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” (Matthew 5:13). The Church has in large part become useless. There is as much sin and bondage in the Church as there is in the world. Christians lives’ are in disrepair and ruin. Men and women of God, in positions of leading the flock of God, are divorcing. Their children are often lukewarm, backslidden or downright unsaved. The Scripture in 1 Tim. 3:5 is being fulfilled in “living color” in today’s Church, “For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” And if the leadership of the Church is confronted with this Scripture, the response is similar to this, “Well, if the pastor’s children all have to be serving God in order to be a pastor, then we wouldn’t have enough pastors to lead churches.” This is a very sad day for God’s people. The leadership cannot lead in righteousness, because it is not walking in righteousness. And we want God to judge the heathen. How can He, when His own people are not walking uprightly before Him? He must deal with us first. He must honor His own Word. He must purify His people first before He deals with those that are not His people.

There is another reason why God must deal with His people before He deals with the world, and it has to do with His love and mercy. Years ago Prophetess Linda Morton shared with us at the City of Refuge that the Lord had told her that when He judged the world in the last days that those of His people who were not walking in obedience would be judged right along with the heathen. The message was clear, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4) Now the Lord does not enjoy having to chastise and scourge His people. The Scripture says that He does not “afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men” (Lamentations 3:33) God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 33:11) He is longsuffering, His mercy endures forever and His mercy rejoices over judgment (James 2:13). He dealt with Jonah when Jonah wanted Ninevah destroyed and let him know that He had compassion on the people of Ninevah and wanted them to repent. Romans 2:4 asks, “Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” In our desire to see sin and iniquity dealt with we cannot forget the higher desire of God to reconcile men unto Himself. So He is patient and longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should be saved. And He wants His people to “get it right” with Him, because He does not desire to have to judge them along with the wicked. That is why He calls out to His children to “come out” of the world system and be separate (holy) so that He can receive us (2 Cor. 6:17).

Recently, I opened my Bible to the book of Zephaniah. In Chapter 1, verse 14, the Lord says, “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.” He goes on to let us know that this is a day of wrath, trouble, distress, desolation, darkness, and that the “whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” God is saying that the day when He judges this planet and all of the wickedness in it is very near and it will be a day of great distress and extreme suffering. He was speaking to my heart personally, “Don’t worry, I am going to deal with this planet.”

However, there is another point that He wanted to make to me, that being the subject of this message. That point is, “Lisa you are not ready for me to come and mete out this judgment. There are things in your life that must be made right so that you won’t be a part of this judgment.”

You see the Lord was showing me that I recognize the evil of the world and I can readily spot the wickedness in the Church, but do I really see, understand and abhor the evil in my own life? The answer is no, and not yet, but I need to get there. The Word of God says that “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts. (Proverbs 21:2). There are things in my life that I know are not holy and pure before God, but I have not come to the place that Job did where I truly abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:6)

God wants His people to get real with Him and seek His face and ask Him to show us the evil in our own hearts in such a way that we can come to true, Godly sorrow and repentance. We need to have God appear to us out of the whirlwind and speak the Word of rebuke to us to chasten and correct us in His divine love. “The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.” (Proverbs 20:30). Just as the blood rushing to the site of a wound cleanses away the germs and bacteria that would get in the wound, so the chastening wounds of God to His people cleanse us of all filthiness of soul and spirit. We need God’s chastening hand in our lives, so that we can be made into those righteous vessels that will be the salt of the world and the light of the world. God must have a righteous voice in the earth in these last days to proclaim His Word to this planet, but it must come forth out of those in whom the enemy can find nothing with which to accuse or condemn. We must allow God to continue to take us through the cleansing and purifying fires of adversity, where His Holy Spirit is allowed to have access to those hidden sins of the heart. He will not be satisfied until He sees His reflection in us. We must not be satisfied until we “awake with His likeness.” (Psalm 17:5).

Let us “glorify the Lord in the fires,” (Isaiah 24:15). Let us say to Him, “Lord, don’t stop purging me and processing me until I am a completed work.” Let us not be complacent and be satisfied with being “half-baked,” but instead let us allow the zeal for our Father’s House (which is you and me as temples of the Holy Ghost) to consume us, until there is nothing left but Jesus Christ in us, the “Hope of Glory.”

Finally, let us be faithful to pray for one another and “exhort one another daily” (Heb. 3:13) and travail with one another until Christ be formed in us (Gal. 4:19). And, please let us not be self-righteously angry with others who are not walking uprightly, but let us cast the beam out of our own eyes. Then, and only then will we be able to see clearly with the eyes of the Spirit, in order to cast out the speck that is in our brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5).

Blogspot Message #7

2006-07-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Blow The Trumpet In Zion (Sound The Alarm)

“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand: A day of darkness, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong: there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.” Joel 2: 1-3

In the Holy Bible, “Zion” is often synonymous with the church. When I say “the church,” I mean that body of believers in Jesus Christ of Nazareth who have actually become born again according to Jesus instructions found in John 3, whether they happen to be Presbyterian, Baptist, Charismatic, Anglican, Episcopal, Methodist, Pentecostal, non-denominational, etc. I am not speaking of those who simply belong to a church, attend a church or have some sort of church or denominational identification or connection. Jesus told Nicodemus, “…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

In the above-quoted passage from Joel, the Lord is addressing His church, the born again ones. The word for His church today, in all parts of the globe, is one of urgent alarm, and it is this: Judgment is coming, it is even here, and let each person examine his or her own heart. Where do you stand with Me, says the Lord? What condition are your heart, mind and soul in? Will you be accounted worthy by the grace of God to escape those terrible things that are coming upon earth, and which are already here on an ever-increasing frequency and quantity? Do you know what time it is in the history of Planet Earth? Can you wisely and correctly discern the signs of the times? Are you serving faithfully as a watchman on the wall (see Ezekiel 33) or are you sound asleep, slumbering like the five foolish virgins? Are you preparing yourself for my coming? Are you dying to yourself so that my Son can be born in your heart in a greater measure, or are you in love with the world and the things of the world?

These are the days that the prophet Joel spoke of. The fire of adversity is here to burn out everything in the church that is not like Jesus. You can forget silly, foolish and even wicked buzz words and phrases like, “money cometh,” “the purpose driven life” and “if you can dream it, you can achieve it.” Jesus is coming into His temple (you and me—His church) with a whip or scourge to clean up. No more money changers, hucksters and snake oil salesmen. His clean up process will not be pretty and will surely inflict pain on those being cleansed. You can continue to let lying “prophets” tell you that “money cometh” and that you are about to become the next president of General Motors or whatever outlandish lie they are telling these days. Surely the Lord can bless with finances, healing, job promotion and many other earthly blessings. But are you heavenly minded or earthly minded? You will not take your new car or job promotion into heaven or the New Jerusalem.

This is a prophetic message in the sense that God has purposed for it to be spoken to those who read it and to geographic regions. The City of Refuge is going to resume post-Hurricane Katrina public meetings tomorrow evening and this message is a prophecy to the region where it is given (Slidell, Louisiana USA and its vicinity). It is being loosed now in your life as you read it, and if you can hear and obey what the Lord is saying through it, your life will be prospered and bettered, not necessarily according to your definition of “prospered and bettered,” but according to the definition of the Lord. His definition is that He gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. So, if it is deliverance from a bondage that you are needing, it is yours IN HIM. Don’t go claiming a new Lexus right now. The Lord wants to deal with your spirit and the condition of your life. We can talk some other time about your car, your wardrobe and your pocket book. Surely He can improve those things too, but the focus at this particular moment in time is on your spirit, soul and body. Your being. God wants to deliver you from bondage, worse than you want to be delivered from it, but will you cooperate with the process?

In Malachi 2:17 the Lord says to us, HIS CHURCH, “Ye have wearied the Lord with your words, Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or Where is the God of Judgment (justice, judicial decree) ?” He hears our complaints and griping, even if it is only on the inside, not necessarily finding external expression through our speech. He hears us saying things like, “why did so-and-so get that pay raise and job promotion and I did not?” He hears our unfounded inner complaint that He is, in our estimation, unfair. Like Job, we need to get ready to give an account of our complaints and charges against Him. Oh yes, He will send you an Elihu like he sent to Job, to tell you:

“Elihu spake moreover, and said, Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidest, My righteousness is more than God’s? For thou saidist, What advantage will it be unto thee? and What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?” Job 35:1-2

This is our core problem: we think that we KNOW better than God and that we ARE better them Him. We are self-righteous to the core. We need deliverance if we think that we are going into His heaven. We cannot bring self-righteousness there. He will have to purge it out of us, through the fire of affliction.

You may not be accustomed to hearing such stout words from a preacher. Most of them will coddle you, pacify you and tell you a lot about God’s love and mercy, but little or nothing of His “tough love.” They will teach you in the ways of some man-made doctrine about the “purpose driven life” without ever telling you that you must repent and be converted. Although kindness, generosity and mercy are truly attributes of His, I am not concerned with tickling your ears, picking your pocket (churches call it “tithes and offerings” or “sow your good seed in our good ground for a bountiful harvest”) or currying favor with you. I am not running a popularity contest. If I am pleasing the Lord, that is good enough.

You need to eat off of the entire spiritual menu, not just from what you think tastes good. Consider this also about the Lord:

· “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 4:24

· If we afflict the widow or orphan and they cry out to the Lord, He will KILL those who have afflicted the widows and orphans. See Exodus 22:22-24

· Ananias and Saphira lied to God and He KILLED them. See Acts 5:11. The result of this Divine judgment was an tremendous increase in the fear of and respect for the Lord (see verse 11). Something has to die before there can be revival. In this case it was the death of deception, insincerity and lying. Notice that this happened in New Testament times. Some say that we live in the age of grace and that God does not operate as He did in the Old Testament times, in other words, that we are no longer under the law and we now experience abundant grace. Well then, how do you explain God KILLING Ananias and Saphira during New Testament times? We often say that we want a “New Testament church.” O.K. No problem. Does that mean that we want the Ananias and Saphira experience? Or the many afflictions of the Apostle Paul, like being beaten up and left for dead, shipwrecked, imprisoned and so forth (look in the Book of Acts—it is all there). So much for the modern portrayal of God a some sort of Celestial or Cosmic Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy.

· In Isaiah 6:1-13 it was King Uzziah that died. He symbolized pride and everything that stands between us and seeing the Lord as He is. When our false concepts of who God is and what He is like die, we get delivered, changed, sanctified and converted into a usable condition, fit for doing the work of the ministry, according to the plans and specifications of the Master. 2 Chronicles 26:15-16 says, And he [ King Uzziah] made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up [with pride] to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.” Uzziah’s job assignment was that of king, not priest. When he got out of place and insisted on doing someone else’s job, Uzziah stepped into a position that he was not equipped for and which belonged to someone else, hence the Lord had to judge him for his pride. This was especially so because Uzziah was invading the office or position of the priest—a position for which he was neither qualified nor appointed.

· In Deuteronomy 32:39, the Lord says, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.”

This is plain: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, [again, you and me, for He dwells in temples not made of stone] even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.” Malachi 3:1-4

Church (read, “you and I”), we need the fire of affliction to cleanse sin out of us. And that is exactly what He is sending to us, His church. In America we think that we are immune to the woes that beset so much of the rest of the world, but take a look at Revelation 18 for a prophetic word about America. We are the evil nation that has defiled and corrupted the entire Earth with our carnality and decadence. You may want to get on the internet and see what the men of God like Dumitru Duduman, Daniel Bohler and Henry Gruver have been shown about God’s punishment that is coming to America:

· Drought

· Famine

· Earthquakes

· Volcanic eruptions

· Civil unrest and violence

· Financial collapse

· Invasion by a coalition of several nations, including, but not limited to China, Russia, Cuba, Mexico and Nicaragua. The initial attack will be NUCLEAR! You may think this to be far fetched, but if you are current on world news and events, you will notice that China is on an ever-increasing basis augmenting its presence in the western hemisphere, including business ventures in South America (there are many ethnic Chinese in Peru) and Hutchison Wampoa Ltd. (Chinese Hong Kong corporation fronting for the People’s Liberation Army) managing the Panama Canal Zone. Consider that China has ICBMs that can reach at least the West Coast of the USA and it is in the midst of considerable build up in military power. China now has submarines and aircraft carriers. Those are naval vessels that are most typically employed in the projection of power, rather than purely defensively. The Western Hemisphere is steadily becoming socialist (read “communist” or “leftist”), with Venezuela led by Mr. Chavez, a Fidel Castro “wannabe” and Bolivia now led by Mr. Morales, another Castro “wannabe.” Today Mexico is electing a new president and the projected outcome is too close to call. Mexico’s new president will either be quite conservative or quite socialist (leftist). Do you now see what is forming up?

The inescapable conclusion is that the Day of the Lord is here. It is not approaching, it is here right now.

So then, what are you to do as one of God’s servants? I am glad that you asked. Here is just some of what we need to do:

· Consider Isaiah 26:9, which states, With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” Pray for an increase in your devotion to and heart for the Lord. Seek Him first thing every day, in prayer and Bible reading. Know that He is sending judgment to the earth to bring repentance and revival, and to punish sin.

· Pray for an increase in the fear (holy respect, awe and reverence) of the Lord. See 2 Corinthians 7:1) Pray for an increase in the fear of the Lord, so that wisdom can be birthed in you (see Proverbs 1:7).

· Pray many passages from the Psalms, such as Psalm 51, especially, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me (verse 10).

· Confess the Word of God (Bible scriptures), not so that you can get a new Buick or Lexus, but so that you will get delivered, changed, transformed and sanctified. There are Bible verses for every occasion, purpose and need and if you get into the Word and dig deeply, you will find those scriptures to pray and confess so that needed change will come into your life.

Consider Gideon and his army (see Judges 6-8). Many were called, but few were chosen. The total force started out with 32,000, but on the day of battle, 31,700 had been weeded out. Only 300 remained! The fighting elite force of God on that day was a little bit less than one percent (1%) of the total force! In these last days it is a very, very small number of Christians who will be in the modern day equivalent of the “Gideon’s 300.” The various military special forces, commandos and elite troops of the world are a splendid natural representation of the spiritual Gideon’s 300, whether we speak of the British Ghurkas and SAS, Russian Spetsnaz, French Foreign Legion, United States Navy SEALs, United States Army Rangers, United States Marines Force Recon, etc.

The point is indeed, many are called, but few are chosen. Where do each of us fall in the order of battle? Am I just a rank and file basic infantryman, or am I an elite commando? How ready for spiritual war am I?

How much oil do we have in our lamps?

PASTOR BEN

Blogspot Message #6

2006-05-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

The Necessity of Reconciliation

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosever shall say to his brother, Raca [thou worthless], shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” Matthew 5:21-24

There are negative consequences for not reconciling with those whom we have offended or who have offended us. Much of the church today needs to take a time out from its busyness and its supposed pursuit of God’s business. I use the word “supposed” deliberately. Much of what is being done supposedly in the name of the Lord and to build His kingdom was not commissioned by him. The scripture quoted above from Matthew advises us that unresolved conflict and offense with other people renders your sacrifice or gift to the Lord ineffective and unacceptable. If our relationships with others are out of order, it may be that our alleged service to God is also out of order.

There is a mistaken notion prevalent in the church today that we must be busy doing the Father’s work. While it is true that we must serve Him, this service must be in Spirit and in truth (i.e., prompted or led by the Holy Spirit and it must be based on true scriptural principles). However, we as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ still have too much of Martha in us (see Luke 10:38-42—Martha “encumbered about much serving,” whereas she needed instead to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from Him, like Mary was doing).

We have gotten away from the principle of the saints of God being trained and equipped for doing the work of the Lord. So much of what passes for ministry is actually self-promotion, entertainment (not worshipping in Spirit and in truth—see John 4:23) and busy work. The attitude of “just do something” is far too prevalent. It has been all but forgotten that before Moses could effectively lead Israel out of Egypt (i.e., bondage), he first had to spend 40 years on the back side of the desert being prepared. Jesus spent approximately 30 of His 33 years in preparation before entering into a public ministry of approximately 3 years. Think about it: Jesus Himself spent ten times as much time in preparation for ministry as He did in ministering. When Paul was born again on the road to Damascus, he thereafter went to Arabia for a period of time to learn directly from the Lord before launching out into ministry (please see Galatians 1:15-17).

A time of preparation is necessary before we can be truly useful and effective in service of the Lord. Consider that the military does not take raw recruits and send them immediately into battle. The haircut, outfitting with military clothing, basic training complete with its indoctrination in military attitudes, procedures and mindsets is pumped into the new recruit, training on basic small arms like rifles and pistols, physical conditioning, and much more, is necessary to turn a new recruit into a warrior. The kingdom of God is no different.

CONSIDER THAT PART OF YOUR PREPARATION TO SERVE THE LORD IS IN RECONCILIATION WITH OTHERS WHOM YOU HAVE OFFENDED OR WHO HAVE OFFENDED YOU:

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18

The primary mission of Jesus Christ was and is to reconcile us to the Father. Without his work of atonement for our sins, we would never have been reconciled to the Father and would have been lost for eternity. If you are a born-again Christian, you are called to the ministry of reconciliation. This involves you doing the following:

1) Being reconciled first to The Father, through His son Jesus Christ. This involves not only receiving the new birth, but is an ongoing process of continuously coming before Him in humility and repentance, to insure that you are cleaned spiritually and in right standing with Him. Repentance and salvation are not a one time thing. Self-examination to find sin to be repented of is a continuous process on our part and we should view it in that light;

2) Once we have reconciled with God the Father, we are then to set out to reconcile with others whom we have offended or who have offended us. As we will see in a few moments, lack of reconciliation is a dangerous thing, with potentially fatal and eternal consequences;

3) When we have our own house in order, the Lord can then use us to minister reconciliation of persons to each other and persons to the Lord.

Take a look at I Timothy 1:1-5. Focus on the requirements for being a proper “bishop” (that is, overseer, watcher or what we commonly call a “pastor”). Those in the ministry must first have their own family (“house”) in order, and this includes one’s own children “in subjection with all gravity (seriousness, sobriety).” I say this with all humility, If you are in the ministry and your own house is not in order, if your children are not in subjection to the Lord and serving him, GET OUT OF THE MINISTRY UNTIL THIS AREA OF YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN CORRECTED AND HEALED! You may think that what I am saying is pompous, impractical and unfounded, but consider the consequences of not having your own house in order first:

1) In I Samuel 2:12, we see are told “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial [ the devil, worthless]; they knew not the Lord.” The scripture goes on to inform that these two evil sons of Eli, who was the priest at the tabernacle (a special tent used as the temple at that time), stole the meat offerings from the boiling pot at the tabernacle and thereby caused the people to abhor the offering to the Lord. PASTORS, IF YOUR CHILDREN ARE UNRULY, REBELLIOUS OR OTHERWISE NOT IN SUBJECTION TO THE WILL OF GOD, THEY ARE AN OFFENSE TO THE CONGREGATION AND THE WORLD AND THEY ARE PUSHING PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE LORD, NOT DRAWING THE PEOPLE TO THE LORD! Do not assume that your grown children who are not serving the Lord are not your ministry responsibility. You could take the attitude that “well, they’re grown up now and there’s nothing I can do about it.” WRONG! You need to get on your face, repent of not raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and seek Him for His strategy for reconciling your adult children to the Lord. In the meantime, stop pastoring and make it secure in your family first, whether your children are 3, 33 or 53. To do otherwise is nothing but selfishness and irresponsibility.

We see later in the chapter that Eli’s sons were seducing and fornicating with women at the front door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Eli made a feeble attempt at correcting Phineas and Hophni, not surprisingly, to no avail. We see in Chapter 4 that eventually both sons died in battle in one day, and when Eli got the news, he fell backward and broke his neck and died. Verse 18 says that Eli was “an old man, and heavy.” His corpulent body is symbolic of being very carnal and fleshly. He was fat with sin and carnality, so, he was not especially concerned with rescuing his sons from sin.

Are you too preoccupied with yourself and your concerns to see that your children, whether they are 3, 33 or 53 need your prayer, admonition and intercession? Come out of yourself, before it is too late. Isn’t your family’s temporal and eternal welfare more important to you than anything other than the will of God? However, know that the will of God is for you to minister to your family first. If your family’s spiritual condition is lacking, ministry to the rest of the world can wait.

2) You will need to review and consider the situation with David and his son Absalom. In 2 Samuel 13, Amnon plays sick, gets his sister Tamar to bring him a meal, and he rapes her. Absalom learns of his sister’s rape and gets “pay back” on Amnon, eventually having some folks execute a contract (a hit, an execution) on Amnon. This was the result of David’s inattention to the matter. Had David adequately addressed the issue of the rape of Tamar, he would have defused the explosive situation with Absalom. Eventually, Absalom went into full-scale rebellion, which had to be crushed militarily. The end result of this situation was Absalom’s death in 2 Samuel 18:14 and David’s tragic, heart-rending statement:

“ And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son! 2 Samuel 18:33

Please, I beg you; do not let this happen in your family. If things are not right between you and any of your children, start taking substantial steps today to correct that condition. Fall on your face, repent to the Lord for how you have wronged your children and not been what they needed, then seek the Lord for his wisdom on how to make things right. If things need healing between you and your spouse, your parents, your siblings, your friends, other Christians or anyone, take similar steps. Reconciliation is necessary so that curses will not come:

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Malachi 4:5-6.

I am praying for each who reads this. It is well (in the Lord)

Pastor Ben

Blogspot Message #5

2006-03-04T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Battle of the Bulge: Satan’s Last Push

Note: The Lord originally gave me this message on July 5, 1997 and I filed it away, awaiting the appointed time of its release or delivery. The time is now. This was confirmed recently when I saw another minister writing on the topic, and this recalled to mind the message given to me in 1997. The enemy (Satan and the hordes of hell) is coming in like a flood, but the Lord is raising up a standard of righteousness in opposition to that flood of evil. Will you and I be part of that righteous standard? Our choices and actions in this hour will answer that question.

The original 1997 message has been re-worked some to improve it and to reflect realities manifesting subsequent to 1997, like the current world-wide fear of the spread of “bird flu.”

Revelation 12:12 says, Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Satan knows that his time is short. He is not ignorant of the fact that we are in the last days of planet earth and its inhabitants. He plans and is now implementing his last and most intense and desperate push to take the universe away from its sole Creator and Owner, Jehovah God, the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

However, the outcome is certain and predetermined. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Contrary to the opinion of some, Jesus was not telling Peter that he was the first pope or first human leader of the church,. Take a look at verse 16 of Matthew 16. It says, And Simon Peter answered and said [in response to Jesus’ question to him as to whom Peter said Jesus was] Thou art the Christ [anointed one], the Son of the living God. Peter was merely confessing that Jesus was the Messiah, anointed by God as the Savior of the world, rather than just a prophet, as some were saying that Jesus was. The Bedrock foundation of the building of the Church of Jesus Christ, against which the gates of hell will not and cannot prevail, is that Jesus is the Messiah.

SO, WHAT IS OR WAS THE “BATTLE OF THE BULGE”? Late in 1944, Nazi Germany threw everything that it had against the allies in one final, massive, desperate onslaught at Bastogne, Belgium. Germany pulled out all the stops, using forces it had been holding back. This came to be known as “The Battle of the Bulge” and was exceedingly bloody. Casualties on both sides were high. It appeared at one point that the Germans would be successful in pushing the allied forces of England, America, France, Canada and other countries back across Normandy to the English Channel. It looked grim. Many American soldiers were surrounded by the Germans, and some were taken prisoner. In one instance the German Waffen SS (elite, special black-uniformed soldiers who were loyal to Adolph Hitler and were often charged with doing Hitler’s most heinous “dirty work”) executed American POWs, an atrocity which led to 10 SS members being tried and convicted after the war at Nuremburg and being executed by hanging.

The weather was very poor. Snow and overcast skies kept allied airpower on the ground. But when the skies cleared, thousands of Allied aircraft appeared over the battlefield, dropping badly needed supplies to the Allied troops on the ground and ferociously ripping the German troop and tank formations apart. The situation was completely turned around, the Wehrmacht (German Army) was put to flight, and they never recovered. A few months later, the war ended, as Soviet troops from the east and American, English, Canadian, Free French and Free Polish troops approaching from the west pushed toward and into Germany itself. The Allies found that in Germany, the Wehrmacht had been so decimated, that the defenders of the Fatherland were largely old men and boys from age 12 or so into their teens. Much of the Wehrmacht had been destroyed in battle.

This is a picture of what the church can expect from the forces of hell in the coming days. The Battle of the Bulge was in a sense prophetic. Satan is now mounting a counteroffensive against our God and His forces of righteousness. Satan has knowledge of the Bible. The devils believe in God’s existence and power, but they tremble at the very thought of that, because they know that their final end is torment in the lake of fire, forever. James 2:19 says, Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

The devils understand enough of the Lord’s plans (hint: they are written down in plain language in the Holy Bible) to know what His plans are for them. However, the same pride and arrogance that led Satan (formerly known as Lucifer) to rebel against the Lord in the first place causes Satan to resist the King of Kings and Lord of Lords today. Satan is like a hungry dog having a piece of juicy, red meat dangled in front of him. He cannot say no to his own impulses and lusts.

WHO IS THIS ENTITY KNOWN AS “SATAN,” “LUCIFER,” “THE DEVIL,” OR “THE DRAGON” ? I’m glad that you asked. Let’s see:

Luke 10:18-19; Jesus saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. However, He now gives us authority OVER Satan

Isaiah 14:12-20; The fall of Lucifer and his final end is described in this passage. Lucifer, in the Hebrew, means “morning star,” or “the shining one”

Satan Has Certain Traits. He is permitted by God to afflict the righteous. See Job 1:12

He is a usurper, a pretender to the throne of God, claiming to have authority over the entire world. See Luke 4:6

He blinds the minds of unbelievers. See 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

He wrestles with the saints of God. Ephesians 6:12

He performs false miracles, lying signs and wonders. 2 Thessalonians 2:9. Not all manifestations of the “miraculous” or supernatural are of God. Here is an example. in Medjugorge (formerly part of Yugoslavia, in Eastern Europe), apparitions or appearances of the Virgin Mary have been reported. However, whatever it is that represents itself to be Mary (it’s actually one or more demons) has promulgated the message that ALL religions are to be respected. This is heresy. Jesus claimed to be and in fact is the only way to salvation.

Satan is the tempter. Genesis 3:4-5

He inflicts disease. Job 1:9-11

He plants counterfeit Christians in the church. Decoys. See Matthew 13:38-39

Above all, Satan is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

He provokes and instigates me to sin. John 13:2

Satan stalks and preys upon men. I Peter 5:8

WHAT IS SATAN’S GAME PLAN FOR THE END TIMES?

He is still the thief who came to kill, steal and destroy. He still lies and deceives as he did in the Garden of Eden. He still wants to rule the universe.

We can become preoccupied with and worried about the end times prophecies, but instead, the Lord wants us to receive them for what they are worth—divine guidance. In Matthew 24:32-33, Jesus is telling us that the events of the last days, described in Matthew 24, are told to us in advance so that when they come to pass, we can know and understand that we are in the last days and so that we can act and plan in accordance with His will for us and for our benefit.

I have been present when each one of our five children was born. Since my wife Lisa is the one who actually had the babies, she is in a better position to describe the process first hand. She has told me that when she went into labor, the first stage labor pains are relatively minor, but become progressively more severe and frequent until delivery is achieved. They start off being mild and irregular, sometimes so mild that you wonder if you are even in labor. Then they become more intense, regular and frequent, so much so that you can even time them. Then, transitional labor begins—pains come so fast, one on top of another, that you cannot tell when one ends and another begins. That is when a woman is most likely to say that she cannot take anymore and asks for an epidural if she has not had one yet, but it’s too late for the shot. Suddenly, the phase known as transition ends, the woman feels the urge to push, and out comes the baby.

So, now that you know what labor pains are like, get ready to experience their spiritual counterpart. The “baby” is the return of Jesus Chris over the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, and all the world will see that and know that it is indeed Him.

Isaiah 59:19 says, “…When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a Standard against him.” He wants us to be that standard. Will we prepare ourselves by daily, focused study of the word (Holy Bible), daily prayer, ardent pursuit of Him and His purpose for our lives and seeking His face, not just His hand (knowing Him for the mere sake, pleasure and joy of relating to and fellowshipping with Him, rather than hanging out with Him just for the loaves and fishes)? In Hebrew, “standard” means “escape, deliverance, hide, put to flight.” He wants to use you as the means of someone’s deliverance and escape from evil. Will you be one of the five wise virgins, with a lamp (that symbolizes you) filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit? We had best be filling our lamps (selves) NOW with that oil, because when the situations come that require the use of that oil, we will not have time to go out and get some more. Prepare for the battle NOW. You will not have time to prepare when the enemy shows up on your radar or at your doorstep. Successful warfare involves advance planning and preparation.

Satan has been coming in like a flood for some time now. The 20^th century saw a massive increase in bloodshed, with two world wars, Korean Conflict (War), Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War (1991), numerous other wars and revolutions, genocide (examples: Nazis killing 6 million Jews, Japanese slaughter of various peoples in China and Asia, Hutus vs. Tutsis in Africa, ethnic “cleansing” in the nations of former Yugoslavia, genocide in Cambodia, etc.). Look at Revelation 6:4 and see if you don’t think that the “Red Horse of the Apocalypse” is loose and running rampant on planet Earth.

Consider also that I Thessalonians 5:1-9 describes a time when a false sense of peace and safety would precede “sudden destruction.” Before September 11, 2001, America thought itself to be immune to attack on its own land. The boast was that we were the most powerful country in the world. A few demented, Satan-possessed hijackers turned airliners into “cruise missiles” and brought a nation to its knees in fear. Now you cannot bring a pair of fingernail clippers on an airliner for fear that they may be used as a weapon.

Know also that sickness and disease is part of Satan’s plan for attack in the last days. The late 20^th century and early 21^st have seen a terrifying collection of plagues marching across the earth, like AIDS, ebola virus, “bird flu” (which scientists fear will mutate and become easily transmissible to humans from animals) and rampant venereal diseases (sexually transmitted diseases). Past outbreaks of various strains of influenza (flu) viruses have killed from thousands to millions. This will happen again, but on a larger scale.

Abortion, which is murder of unborn children, is rampant in America and the West. If the blood of Abel cried out from the ground for vengeance, what does the blood of tens of millions of aborted babies cry out for? In the spirit, their cry is deafening and we as a nation that tolerates “choice” to kill unborn babies are approaching the full cup of iniquity. When the cup is full—and only the Lord himself knows and judges when this is—judgment comes. America is living on borrowed time. When judgment for abortion and the other heinous, atrocious sins of America comes, it will be truly horrifying and of a magnitude not even comprehended by our worst nightmares. If you want to survive this process, you must take the steps necessary to be hidden in Him. See Psalm 91.

In the end, Satan and the False Prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire, forever. Revelation 19:20.

My prayer for each who read this, and for my family, friends and self, is that we will bow down in worship and surrender to the Lord and find the grace to pick up our crosses, deny ourselves and follow Him. The final victory of the Kingdom of God will be glorious beyond description and unprecedented, but will we pay the price (self-denial and surrender to ALL of His will) to be part of that army?

Until we meet and speak again, His richest blessings to you and yours,

Pastor Ben

Blogspot Message #4

2006-01-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

THE DAY OF THE LORD IS HERE

Amos 5:18-20 says, “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?”

What is the purpose of “The Day of The Lord?” Simply stated, it is when the Lord shows up in judgment to set things straight. At present we will not discuss the “Great Tribulation” or “The Tribulation,” commonly understood by Bible scholars to be a seven year period at the end of this present age, when the Earth and its inhabitants go through seven years of unprecedented suffering and the judgment of God, immediately in advance of and in preparation for the return or Jesus Christ, the “Last Coming of the Lord.” Some think that we are in the last seven years, some think that we are on the brink of entering into the last seven years. It matters not to me whether we are in the last seven years or are about to enter the last seven years—we are in “The Day of the Lord,” which is surely part of the “Last Days.”

If we are in “The Day of the Lord,” we need to know why we are and what our response is to be to the fact that we are in that time period. Scripture tells us why “The Day of the Lord” is necessary:

“For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time: for it is an evil time. Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing. And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord…I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment [justice] run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun [these were heathen idols that the Israelites adopted from among the heathen people in the area] your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.” Amos 5:12-17, 21-27

It is the unrelenting, long-term “manifold transgressions” of the Church that have prompted the Lord to bring us into “The Day of the Lord.” He tolerated a lot of foolishness out of His Church for a long time, waiting for it to chasten and correct itself, giving it every chance to repent and correct itself, but He can no longer wait patiently for us to get right with Him. The clock is ticking. Time marches on. He is going to help us with the repentance process by bringing severe affliction to His Church. Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.

It is a good time to “keep silence” (v.13) and watch our mouths and our conduct.

In verse 21-23 the Lord is telling His Church that He is tired of us vainly going through the motions of worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth. He wants us to do these things for real, not in pretense, not just going through the motions. He is actually and deeply offended by all of the “play church” that passes for true worship. Many prayers, much lavish praise and worship, many large offerings and everything else that pass for worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth are tainted by insincerity, hidden sins in the heart that need to be openly confessed and repented of (examples: secret illicit sexual desires, greed, lust, materialism, malice, grudges, self-righteousness, materialism, pride, etc.) and it is time to stop and take stock of our own lives. Where do I stand in all of this? Am I guilty of “playing church,” and not worshipping in Spirit and in truth? Do I harbor secret sins and evil desires in my own heart? What idols in my life need to be cast down and destroyed—forever? Am I just going through the motions of being a true worshipper?

The phrase “the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light” (v.19) is a key here to identifying the time that we are in. Consider the following partial list of significant events from the past year or so. Bear in mind the fact that this is just a partial list, merely illustrative or representative of what has been happening on Earth:

1) December 26, 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean area, killing somewhere in excess of 200,000 people, we are told, with some estimates approaching 300,000.

2) Our 2003 invasion of Iraq and overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime has resulted in over 2,000 of our own troops killed, with thousands more wounded and no end to the chaos and killing there in sight.

3) We experienced a record number of hurricanes in 2005. Hurricane Katrina killed over a thousand people for sure in the metropolitan New Orleans area and several hundred more were killed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. There are reportedly over 3,000 people still missing, though admittedly some of these may just be persons who relocated to other areas and have not been heard from by friends, relatives or former neighbors. The economic cost of repairing the damage is in the billions of dollars, and is more than the dollar amount of damage caused by any previous hurricane in the United States. Suicide among Katrina survivors is on the increase, says the news media, and the mental and emotional health of many Katrina survivors is suffering terribly. Entire fishing villages in St. Bernard Parish, such as Yscloskey, Reggio, Shell Beach and Hopedale were wiped off of the map.

4) Last fall there was a devastating earthquake in the Pakistan/Afghanistan area, killing 85,000+. Many of the survivors now live in cold, mountainous regions and are trying to survive the harsh winter while living in improvised shelters and tents. There are reports of heavy snowfall, collapsing tents of survivors.

5) The new leader of Iran has openly stated that the destruction of Israel is one of his goals. Consider also that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Remember that Israel took pre-emptive action previously by destroying the Iraqi nuclear reactor and nuclear weapons program at Osirak, when it became clear that the Iraqis intended to nuke Israel. Do you think that if Iran develops nuclear weapons Israel will just stand by and watch? You may want to get on the internet and look up the “Samson Option,” which is simply this: Israel will use nuclear weapons to kill as many Arabs a possible in the event of an all out war with the Arabs, if the situation looks grave enough. Many of not most Israelis are committed to never letting another Holocaust happen. They will never again allow attempted genocide against the Jewish race. Can you blame them? (No!).

6) North Korea is developing or already has nuclear weapons and has a mentally unstable mad man for a leader. When I was young I heard a saying, “like giving matches to a pyromaniac.” The principle applies here.

7) There are several reported cases of Bird Flu in Turkey at this moment. For some time now health officials have nervously watched and waited for the next world-wide flu epidemic, expected to kill millions. A recent issue of National Geographic magazine gives a thorough, detailed report on the topic.

8) As I write this message, Israel’s leader, Ariel Sharon, is hospitalized, having experienced several strokes in the past few weeks, and he is critically ill. PRAY FOR HIS SALVATION! If Mr. Sharon dies or is so incapacitated as to be unable to return to his leadership position, new leaders will take over in Israel, and this may bring on unspecified changes. Pray also for the peace of Jerusalem and the Lord’s protection for Israel. I believe that there are Arabs and Muslims who would like to take advantage of the situation and threaten Israel’s security.

9) This morning there is a report of Greece experiencing a major 6.9 magnitude earthquake, felt as far away as Amman, Jordan and Cairo, Egypt. Consider that Matthew 24:7 speaks of “earthquakes in diverse [various] places.” Earthquake activity, both in terms of frequency and severity, has been on the increase on Earth in the recent past.

For a companion scripture to Amos 5, take a look at Malachi 2:17 (The Lord is tired of play church), Malachi 3 and Malachi 4.

In short, we need to be conducting a check of our own lives and seeking the Lord for a repentant heart. Those who will do so in truth and sincerity will qualify for His mercy and to be hidden in the secret place of the most High, described in Psalm 91.

Keep looking up, your redemption is drawing nigh!

Pastor Ben

Blogspot Message #3

2005-12-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

A MESSAGE TO THE WORLD

December 7, 2005

Today is “Pearl Harbor Day,” on which Americans remember the 7:55 a.m. Sunday morning December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. My point is not that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor or to stir up xenophobia (fear and/or loathing of foreigners), but to instead point out that America was sound asleep when death and destruction arrived.

So it is for the church in America and much of the world today—sound asleep and oblivious to the fact that the events foretold by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24 are happening on an ever increasing and more frequent basis every day.

The attack came to Pearl Harbor on Sunday morning, when people should have been preparing to go into the house of the Lord to give Him worship, glory, praise and honor and to hear His word. Some people undoubtedly were, but many were either still asleep, preparing to play a game of golf, hung over from drunken debauchery the night before, or something of the like.

The warning signs of impending war had been going forth at least since the Nazi blitzkrieg (lightning war) against Poland on September 1, 1939, not to mention the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Mussolini’s aggressive expansion into Africa and other tell-tale signs that world war was about to erupt. However, Americans to a large extent had retreated into “splendid isolationism.” They did not want a repeat of WWI and their involvement in what many thought was someone else’s war. The America of late 1941 wanted primarily to recover from the Great Depression, buy a new Ford, Chevrolet or Plymouth and dance to big band swing music.

Recall that Belashazzar, the king of Babylon, a successor to Nebuchadnezzar, was found having a drunken spree when judgment showed up. Take a look at Daniel chapter 5. Belshazzar knew better than to have a drunken party. He surely must have known what God Almighty did to humble his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. The story of Nebuchadnezzar, who thought that he was sitting on top of the world, is well-chronicled in Daniel 4. Not realizing that the Lord had allowed him to reach the stunning heights of regional empire that he had, he took personal credit for the grace and favor that God had shown him. The cure for that delusion was to have his mind taken from him for 7 years, during which time he acted as though he were a beast of the field.

Should not the fearful words of Daniel 5:24-28 bring us sobriety: “Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances , and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Americans, yes, even American Christians, do not seem to be able to read the “handwriting on the wall.” For that matter, many other inhabitants of planet earth cannot or will not, either. Let’s briefly review the events of the 20^th century and the first few years of the 21^st:

War was a central feature of the 20th century, like never before. Earth had two world wars—slaughter on a grand scale not seen previously. The advent of machine guns and automatic small arms in the early part of the century heralded a progression in lethal killing power not previously seen in the age of single-shot and after that, bolt-action rifles holding typically at most 5 to 10 rounds. Mechanized warfare then took slaughter to a new level with the arrival of tanks, armored cars and other armored fighting vehicles. The airplane and helicopter further increased the efficiency of slaughter, as did many other weapons. Man even learned to harness the dreadful power of the atom. Now tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of people can be incinerated in nuclear fireballs and their aftermath in just seconds.

To make matters worse, the “genie” is out of the bottle in the sense that Earth no longer enjoys the relative “stability” of the US and USSR having but not using nuclear weapons because of the doctrine of “Mutually Assured Destruction” (MAD). In other words, though these two super powers had nukes, it was implied that if one of them attacked the other with nukes, the nuclear retaliation would be on such a grand scale that life on earth would be annihilated. If we face grim reality soberly, we must conclude that the proliferation of nuclear weapons in other countries outside the super powers will inevitably lead to nuclear war somewhere on earth before it’s all over.

It is a little publicized fact that in 1992, Pakistan and India almost had a nuclear war with each other. Diplomacy and the grace of God prevented that, but the tension between those two countries continues.

Israel possesses nuclear weapons and has for some time. The Israelis have the mindset, and understandably so, that there will be no more Holocausts. There will be no more Dachau’s or Auschwitz’s. You should read up on what the Israelis call the “Samson Option,” which is simply this. In the event of an attack by the Arabs that threatens to annihilate Israel, the Israeli military would nuke as many Arabs as possible, akin to Samson pulling the temple down on top of the Philistines in Judges chapter 16. Consider that many Arabs are dedicated to the total destruction of Israel. This is a bad idea. Please see Genesis 12:1-3. God’s promise of blessing the Jews is for all time, and any who bless the Jews will be blessed. Conversely, those who curse them will be cursed. Trying to commit genocide against the Jews is sure enough a good way to get yourself put at the top of God’s list of those to be cursed.

It is reported that in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when things were going badly for Israel, some A-4 Sky Hawk strike fighters of the Israeli Air Force were nuclear-armed, fueled and sitting on the tarmac, waiting to launch on short notice, to implement the Samson Option. We may never know how close we came to WW III in October, 1973. The US and USSR were waiting in the wings during that brief Middle-Eastern war, apparently ready to jump into the fight. This is commonly reported by historians of the event.

Consider also that in Ezekiel 38 the prophet speaks of a time in which a number of nations will come together in a coalition against Israel, in an effort to annihilate that nation. Many Bible scholars think that this coalition consists of Russia and various Muslim and Arabic nations. Many also believe that the fire that rains down on the coalition in verse 22 is the use of nuclear weapons

In short, the history of the 20^th century was one of increased and multiplied wars and armed conflicts, including, but not limited to:

Japanese-Russian War

WWI

Spanish Civil War (Russia and Germany used the competing factions within Spain as their surrogates, with Russian and German aircraft utilized and even Russian and German pilots participating)

Italy’s incursions into Africa

Various outbreaks of war in Central America and the Caribbean, at times involving US intervention by such forces as the United States Marine Corps

Pancho Villa’s incursions across the border from Mexico into the Southwestern US

The various “brush wars” in Africa and Southeast Asia

WWII

Korean “Conflict” (i.e., war, which technically still has not ended, but is instead at an armistice or cease-fire, with no formal declaration of peace)

Viet Minh revolution against French rule in French Indochina, culminating in the siege of Dien Bien Phu, the “swan song” for French colonial rule in SE Asia

Vietnam War

US invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989

Persian Gulf War of 1991

U.S. Invasion of Iraq in 2003

U.S. “War on Terrorism,” with invasion of Afghanistan, etc.

Arab—Israeli Middle Eastern Wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982

I am sure that the list goes on and I have forgotten some. Perhaps the Red Horse of the Apocalypse, spoken of in Revelation 6:4, was set loose in the 20^th century. To me, it surely looks that way. The 20^th century witnessed many of the “wars and rumors of wars” spoken of in Matthew 24:6, with still more to come in the 21^st.

The 20^th century saw dramatic increases in famine, drought, earthquakes, tsunamis and other “natural disasters,” all referred to in Matthew 24 or in Revelation.

Immorality and ungodliness in America and Europe is pandemic. Abortions in America are numbered in the tens of millions. The number that I frequently hear is over 40,000,000. If the blood of one slain innocent (Abel) cried out from the Earth for revenge, what does the blood of tens of millions cry out for? Americans are the most prolific users of illicit narcotics in the world. They create the demand for heroin, cocaine and marijuana from places like Mexico, Columbia, Afghanistan, Turkey and Thailand. They glorify illicit sex. They glorify and consume evil music, whether in the form of rap, heavy metal, jazz, country, or other forms. Americans have a fascination with the Harry Potter series of magical books and movies and other manifestations of the occult. The Lord says in His book the Holy Bible that magic is strictly forbidden and an abomination. In the Old Testament, witches were executed. Americans flock to Brittany Spears concerts and other forms of evil entertainment. Americans are entertained and laugh at that which God calls accursed and freely indulge in those sins which Jesus died on the cross to forgive. The riotous laughter in America will soon subside in the wake of God’s judgment on this nation.

European governments and societies are openly hostile to Christianity and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only a small percentage of Europeans even claim to be Christians anymore. Prostitution and illicit narcotic drug use have been legal in Amsterdam for decades. Europe has turned its back on Jesus Christ. Consequently, it will suffer unimaginable horrors. The recent waive of violence by Muslims in France, burning, rioting and the like, is part of this. Recall that a few years ago there was an unusual heat wave in Europe, killing thousands, especially in France. Europeans, especially the French, have mocked the Lord for a long time. Their pay day is at hand. Europe is under the judgment of God.

American parents are delinquent, sound asleep, allowing their children from the mid-20^th century on to emulate evil entertainers and singers such as:

Little Richard --admitted homosexual

James Dean-- cinematic icon and symbol of restless, youthful rebellion, died in an automobile accident while speeding along in his sports car in 1955

Marlon Brando ; Last Tango In Paris—have we forgotten the scandal of his x-rated sex movie from the 1970’s? Many thought that his portrayal of a mafia kingpin in The Godfather was something noble and to be imitated, especially those who are members of street gangs—“gangstas.” This is a people whose shame is their pride.

The Beatles--introduced our youth to drug use, eastern pagan religion, rebellion, etc. Consider that one of its members, John Lennon, was an open God-hater, calling for the abolition of all religion in his song Imagine. He was killed by a mad assassin’s bullet in 1980. His fellow band member, George Harrison, died three years ago of cancer, still professing adherence to eastern religion. The Beatle’s drummer, Ringo Starr (actual name: Richard Starkey) is famed for his prolific alcoholism

Elton John (real name: Reginald Dwight)—a generation has idolized this open homosexual’s musical musings, ignoring the fact that he wears hats and earrings more typically seen on women

Jimi Hendrix—gifted guitarist, but sadly, yielded his God-given gift to Satan, singing about drug related experiences and the dark side of life (“purple haze is through my mind…Manic depression, taking my soul…I’m going down town to shoot my old lady, I caught her messin’ around with another man…). He died in 1970 of a drug overdose

Madonna—pop icon involved in music and film. Sexually immoral, both heterosexually and as a lesbian.

Brittany Spears—scantily clad musical pop star from Kentwood, Louisiana (what formerly was thought of as a “Bible Belt” town—what happened?) , openly sexually immoral, kissed Madonna passionately on the lips (overt lesbianism) on national television. American parents frequently let their daughters emulate her in immodest dress and mannerisms.

Rap “music artists” routinely spew forth lyrics laced with the vilest and most profane language, demeaning women as sex toys and labeling them as “f_ _ _ ing b _ _ _ _ es,” while also glorifying violence, especially with firearms, and every form of self-indulgence.

Most country music, while masquerading as a patriotic American art form for the common man, is really about illicit sexual fantasies, fornication, adultery, drunkenness and violence. Country music is, by and large, sin trying to hide behind the Stars and Stripes, pick up trucks and the county fair.

Racial hatred and bigotry have run rampant on planet Earth, despite man-made efforts to curb it. Any human solution to racism or any sin is doomed to failure. Sin is a spiritual problem, needing a spiritual remedy.

This leads us into the current issue: New Orleans, Louisiana and its message to America and the world. Thank you for being so patient in reading this inordinately long letter, but the nature of the problem requires thorough treatment.

Consider this: WHAT HAPPENED TO NEW ORLEANS AND THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST IS A MESSAGE FROM GOD ALMIGHTY TO AMERICA AND THE ENTIRE WORLD! IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOUR TOWN, CITY OR COUNTRY! Carefully consider this scripture, Isaiah 9:10-21:

The bricks are fallen down, but still we will build with hewn stones: the sycaomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars (v. 10). This speaks of a people who have experienced God’s chastening hand of correction and judgment, but they are proud, stubborn and rebellious. Instead of falling on their faces in repentance, they proudly proclaim that not only will they clean away the destruction, but they will make things bigger and better than they were before. That is what many people in the New Orleans/Mississippi Gulf Coast areas are saying and thinking. It was no coincidence that Hurricane Katrina struck one of the most wicked cities on earth—New Orleans—a place that openly welcomes every sin and abomination in the book. Consider that New Orleans is home of the French Quarter, known around the world for its wanton debauchery, prostitution, homosexual festival known as “Southern Decadence,” and drunkenness. The Mississippi Gulf Coast was fat with numerous gambling casinos. Instead of turning from its sin, Mississippi has purposed to rebuild and reopen its casinos as quickly as possible, now allowing them to come on shore from their former moorings, where they floated just off shore. I have been to Waveland and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi a few days ago. Practically everything south of the east-west railroad tracks (which sit atop an earthen berm about 15 feet high) was demolished. This devastation extends from Pearlington, at the extreme western end of Mississippi, to Pascagoula, at the state’s east end. Someone in Mississippi does not understand or accept that because of fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence and covetousness (one of the prime motivating factors behind gambling!), “…the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.” Colossians 3:5-6.

Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together (v.11). The Lord Himself takes notice of the lack of repentance and change in New Orleans and coastal Mississippi and will arrange for additional adversity to come to those areas, in order to break stubborn wills and reinforce the message of God’s call to repentance.

The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still (v. 12). This is similar to verse 11, but provides more specific detail. God has appointed further specific and severe judgments to New Orleans and Mississippi in the event that the message of Hurricane Katrina is not heeded.

By the way, “Katrina” means “cleansing.” Think about it. That is what the storm did! The murder, crime and drug use rates in New Orleans have plummeted since Katrina. Why? The criminals almost all left or were driven out by the storm and flooding afterwards. Interestingly, crime rates in large cities like Atlanta and Houston are up. These are places where many New Orleanians evacuated to after Katrina.

For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts (v. 13). Further judgment, chastening and correction will result from lack of repentance. People need to see that God’s supernatural hand operates frequently through natural means, both to bless and to curse, to reward and to punish. Storms, floods, earthquakes, famines and diseases can only go where He causes or allows them to. Pay raises from your employer, increased income, gifts from people to you, and the like, can also be expressions of God’s love, favor and rewards for faithfulness and obedience. The Lord can instruct people to bless you. Please see Luke 6:38.

Therefore the Lord will cut off Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed (vv.14-16). No one, I repeat, no one, is immune to chastening and correction. The Lord chastens his own children. He loves them. See Hebrews 12:6 and Deuteronomy 8:5. Don’t think that you can hide behind your age, social status, ministry position, or anything else. The Lord will hold accountable all who were supposed to provide spiritual leadership but did a poor job of it. Sadly, those who follow deficient spiritual leaders often suffer for it, but many of them want to follow such leaders, so, they are really getting what they want.

Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hyporcrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still (vv. 17-21). This describes the current situation in New Orleans and coastal Mississippi, but also its future if there is not adequate repentance. New Orleans is still largely dark at night. It has a small fraction of its pre-hurricane population. Focus on the repeated phrase, For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. The Lord’s hand of judgment, correction and chastening is still stretched out over coastal Mississippi and the New Orleans area. Whether or not His hand must strike again depends upon the people, especially those who are “born again” (see 2 Chronicles 7:14) turning to repentance.

SO, WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE REST OF AMERICA AND THE WORLD? I am glad that you asked. Know and understand this. What happened to the New Orleans area and coastal Mississippi from August 29, 2005 on (when Katrina struck, and its aftermath) was God’s chastening, correction and judgment. Instead of crying out to the Lord, New Orleanians are looking to FEMA, insurance companies and the government to make things right. They lack humility, meekness or repentance, and instead are angrily blaming the government, etc. for their plight, rather than considering that if they cry out to the Lord in sincere repentance, He will hear and send healing and deliverance. I hear very little of acknowledgement that the Lord sent or allowed Katrina. I hear very little of a turning to the Lord for help. I hear many angry voices bringing accusations against others and demanding help. People in the storm-ravaged areas are, for the most part, not getting the message.

Judgment will come again to the New Orleans and coastal Mississippi areas. The next time, as the prophet Isaiah illustrates, it will be much greater. God will not allow pride to stand unchallenged.

What of America and the rest of the world? Recall that a devastating tsunami struck the Indian Ocean area last December 26^th, killing, I understand, approximately 300,000. The terrible earthquake in Pakistan of a short time ago reportedly killed somewhere in the vicinity of 100,000 and many survivors are trying to determine how not to starve or freeze to death in this harsh winter. There is no area or place on earth that is immune to the judgment of the Lord.

Many Americans do not consider that there are dormant volcanoes in the west that will erupt, kill and bring much destruction. They have forgotten the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, a sneak preview of things to come. They do not consider what happened to San Francisco in its great earthquakes or the fact that California and much of the Pacific Northwest is precariously perched on geologic fault lines that will shake mightily again and kill many, bringing destruction of property and economic ruin. They have forgotten the existence of the New Madrid fault and the fact that when it last quaked mightily, it caused church bells in the Northeast to peal and the Mississippi River to both alter its course and temporarily flow backward.

The citizens of America and Planet Earth should consider what Hurricane Katrina did to be illustrative of what the Lord can do anywhere, at any time. However, encouragement comes to us in this scripture: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. I John 1:8-10.

The choice is ours. Now what will we do?

Yours in Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord and Savior,

Pastor Ben

Blogspot Message #2

2005-10-30T19:29:00.000-08:00

MY NAME IS PETER

In high school, one of my teachers told us something that really stuck with me, “people need religion, because it gives them hope. Without hope, you can’t go on.” This was her explanation for the existence of religion. Although she was unsaved and in error, in part, she was right. For those who are born-again, our “religion,” or faith in God, gives us hope or encouragement to go on with life and not give up.

True “religion” gives true hope.

The church is full of slogans and mottos, and they are not entirely wrong. Here are some examples:

“God knew my end from the beginning”

“There’s no challenge too big for Jesus and me to face together”

“Man proposes, but God disposes”

“God is going to finish what he started in my life”

“It’s all good”

And so forth.

While each one of those churchy sayings has a scriptural basis to support it, we need something more than slogans. We need faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (see Hebrews 11:6). Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” While it is true that we are to walk by faith, and not by sight, sometimes evidence will strengthen our faith. Hebrews 11 is full of examples or evidence and provides a lengthy list of concrete, factual examples upon which one can base his or her faith in God:

God’s very spoken word itself created the universe and everything in it

Enoch’s strong faith in God and close walk in obedience to Him resulted in his “rapture” because Enoch’s life was so pleasing to God that the brother came to a point in his walk with the Lord that there was no need to keep him on earth any longer to go through the perfecting process

Based upon nothing more than faith in the Lord and a heart of obedience, Noah set out to build the Ark, when at that time no one even knew what rain or a world-wide flood was, not even as an abstract concept. The brother must have looked like a Looney-Tune to the wicked, unsaved world, as it observed his decades of seemingly unnecessary Ark-building. Then one day, it began to rain…

Abraham left his very prosperous, comfortable home and life situation where he lived to obey God and set out for a land of promise, without seeing any glossy real estate photos or brochures or even having an address or location on the map to go to, just knowing that it’s out there somewhere and God’s going to lead me to it.

Sarah, long after menopause and well into what most of us would call senior citizen status received the faith to conceive and bear Isaac. That would be like your granny having an baby long after she goes to the old folks home. God has a sense of humour, I think.

The list goes on, but I think that you get the point. Simply stated, the Lord gives us illustrated examples of actual, factual situations and experiences so that we can believe Him. “Now all these things happened [examples in the Bible] unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.” I Corinthians 10:11.

Think about it: the Bible is full of examples of dos and don’ts, good and bad, right and wrong, success and failure. The word “admonition” in this scripture means that He is trying to warn us, give us the “heads-up,’ the “word-up,” or whatever you want to call it. Judas is in the Bible to warn us how not to be—merely remorseful without being actually repentant, hanging out around Jesus without being intimate with Him. Moses is there to show us that we can forego pleasures and status of this world, humble ourselves and receive a greater kingdom (of the Lord) than anything that Pharoh (type of Satan) or Egypt (type of the world or the flesh) can give us. Moses is also an example of the often lengthy process of dying to self and spending time on the “back side of the desert” in preparation for serving the Lord and ministering to His people. Without the back side of the desert, ministry would go to our head and we would think that we are stars of stage, screen and film. We would get the “Hollywood syndrome” and think that we are performers or stars. We would crave the lime-light, fame and fortune, rather than the simple presence of God in our lives and the simple enjoyment of a life that is spent relating to and walking with Him. Sampson is a sobering reminder that just because you are “called by God” doesn’t mean you can substitute the call itself for obedience. Sampson pursued wine, women and song rather than the Lord Himself and consequently only performed a fraction of what he COULD HAVE DONE FOR THE LORD. The book of Judges tells us that Sampson’s God-ordained purpose was to be a deliverer for Israel—to deliver them from the oppression of the Philistines (an ungodly, heathen people who were enemies of the Lord). In the end, Sampson did some work for God, but it paled in comparison to what he was actually called to do. In eternity, the brother will find his envelope to be a little lighter on “pay day” than he would have hoped.

One of the most relevant examples or character studies in the Bible which Christians need to take note of today is that of the Apostle Peter. Peter is an example of someone who had many shortcomings, failures and character flaws, but the Lord eventually processed him to the point of being able to use him like few other men or women of God. Today, right now, the Almighty wants to encourage you with a brief review of some significant points in Peter’s life. He wants you to see yourself in Peter and see the great potential for being transformed, just like Peter was! The Apostle Peter of Acts 2 who preached a mighty sermon on the day of Pentecost, resulting in the salvation of 3,000 people, was not the same Peter who denied Christ in Matthew 26:71-75/Mark 14:69-72/Luke 23:1-5/John 18:25-27 (these are multiple accounts of the same event).

We start here. One day, Jesus is assembling His ministry team of disciples, as the Father instructed Him to do. He walks by the Sea of Galilee and sees two brothers, “…Simon called Peter, and Andrew…And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:18-19. Now, consider this. Jesus had infinite foreknowledge. He knew all about Peter and everything that Peter would ever say or do in the future, including the dreadful mistakes, like one night cursing and denying that he even knew Christ. NONETHELESS, Jesus said to Peter, “I WANT YOU!”

Do you remember the old recruiting posters for the United States military, featuring Uncle Sam? He pointed his finger out and said to the potential military service members, “I WANT YOU!” This the Uncle said, despite the fact that those whom he called did not yet have proper military haircuts, military demeanor or even know the first thing about BEING a soldier, sailor, marine or airman. The Uncle gets you in the door and the process thereafter makes you into a WARRIOR, if you don’t drop out. We will reap in due season, if we faint not.

If it had been you or me and we knew that Peter would deny us, we’d most likely say, “forget about it! That man is a traitor! When the going gets tough, the tough get going—right out the door with his tail between his legs like a scalded dog! You must be kidding. That man has failure written all over him. He’s a disaster waiting to happen. Yap, yap, yap…” But not Jesus! He also knew that one day Peter would be converted. Jesus knew that one day Peter would be transformed and converted into one of the faithful ones. He knew Peter’s final end, that of a stalwart for the Kingdom of God. Simon Peter’s very name meant “rock.” It was no accident that Jesus gave Simon the name of “Cephas,” or “Peter”, which means “a stone or rock:

“And he brought him to Jesus, And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” John 1:42

“Conversion” means changing something from one form to another. Examples:

From good to bad
From dark to light
From depressed and oppressed to free and joyous
From selfish to selfless

There are two “conversions” in the Christian life. The first is conversion into the Kingdom of God. This is the salvation or “new birth” experience spoken of by the Master in John 3 and elsewhere. The second “conversion” is what Peter eventually experienced after his initial salvation. This conversion, which is what you and I need, is the transformation from a selfish, self-centered, fleshly Christian to one who no longer thinks that he is better than God or knows better than Him (see Job 35:1-2: Elihu spake moreover, and said, Thinkest thou this to be right, that thoud saidest, My righteousness is more than God’s?”) Here is the ugly truth about us (that should read, “you and me”): We want to sit on the throne of the universe and rule our own lives, rather than letting Him have His way at all times in our lives. Look at the chapters in the Book of Job previous to Elihu showing up to set the record straight. Job came unraveled. He started off composed and dignified, but as the “Job experience” progressed and things went from bad to worse, he started to whine and justify himself. Job talked about what he did for poor people and how he made a covenant with his eyes to not look on a maid (see Job 31:1). Helping people in need and not lusting after a woman who is not your wife is basic Christianity. I suppose that we want a medal for doing the basics. In the military, medals are for performing extraordinarily well, not for doing what is supposed to be your usual, routine duty.

Peter started off very carnal and overly emotional, just like the typical Christian. Nothing unusual here. On the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1-13) the brother was privileged to go up with Jesus, James and John and have an encounter with Moses and Elijah. This was Jesus’ “inner circle,” His closest friends and followers on earth. Despite his carnality and flaws, Peter loved Jesus and was admitted to the inner circle. Peter had favor with Jesus. Peter had close relationship with Jesus. Jesus looked beyond the faults that Peter had at that time and kept on preparing the brother for what was to be—the state of transformation and conversion.

Peter did not really understand what he was seeing up on the Mount of Transfiguration, but Jesus brought Peter along anyway, because this experience was necessary for Peter’s spiritual development and spiritual future. The Lord sometimes gives us revelations of Himself and experiences with Him while we are still quite rough around the edges because those revelations are necessary for our further and future development. He does not deny us access to His throne of grace just because we are a mess. He does what is necessary when it is necessary so that we will be transformed and converted. We may think that His work in our lives is sometimes delayed, out of sequence or irrational, but this is because we are still carnal and do not have the big picture. We don’t understand our trips to the potters house and getting put back on the Potter’s wheel (see Jeremiah 18) because we do not have His perspective (i.e., divine, eternal, perfect, all-knowing, all-loving). We are bewildered by the process because we are still often like the pre-conversion Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration, who saw what God was doing, heard what God and His men were saying, but did not quite understand yet what it all meant. So, we get confused. We get discouraged. We get perplexed. We do not understand God’s processing of us, its necessary sequences and nuances, and consequently, we panic and freak out, not remembering or acknowledging that IT’S ALL GOOD (see Romans 8:28).

The post-Hurricane Katrina world of Southeast Louisiana may look like a disaster, and at one level (the natural), it is. We don’t understand that the hurricane’s very name signified that it did what it was supposed to, clean up. Katrina was God’s “clean up lady.” Lisa, the children and I visited one of Lisa’s friends in Prarieville, LA (suburb of Baton Rouge) last night, and I felt impressed to drive home to Slidell via U.S. Hwy. 61 (Airline Hwy.), I-10 and I-610. What I saw in New Orleans was sobering. While the high rise buildings of the Central Business District were lit up, most of the rest of the city was dark. As we drove on I-610 through City Park, it was BLACK, except for a few street lights. Lisa pointed out that we could look up and see many stars, just like being out in the country. Typically one only sees the brightest of stars in the city because of all of the lights. Driving through City Park, Gentilly and The East was like driving through the country! It was dark and quiet! There were no people visible anywhere. This experience, coupled with the great volume of news to the effect that most of New Orleans needs its sheetrock, insulation and carpet ripped out and replaced and mold eradicated would make you think that New Orleans cannot come back. While it is true that New Orleans will not likely ever be as large as it was before the hurricane, it is also true that Katrina, the “clean up lady,” did this:

chased out a large portion of the criminal element, and with that…
crime is down to a very minimal level as compared to before the storm
drug traffic is no longer a pressing issue
neither are street gangs
Southern Decadence, the homosexual “Mardi Gras,” could not happen in the French Quarter this year, because the Lord said “STOP!”

Why? Because the “clean up lady” really cleaned up. She got out the big broom and pushed hard. New Orleans can and will receive revival, because of the “sweep.” But if we listen to the scared, angry voices of the public, we will conclude that there is no hope. We will conclude that New Orleans is permanently wasted and we had better move to Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Memphis, etc. Our job now is to PRAY that New Orleans will receive revival and that it will be filled with the presence of God, otherwise, the demons who were cast out by the storm will be back with their buds, and the final result will be 7 times worse, resulting in the need for the Lord to destroy the city once and for always, a la Sodom & Gomorrah.

But let’s get back to talking about brother Peter. In Matthew 14:22-33, Peter sees Jesus out on the water at night and musters up enough faith to walk on the water (this is miraculous and supernatural, I think that you will agree), and Peter does well, until he takes his eyes off of Jesus and puts them on the circumstances of life—wind and waves. I think you get the point. We have a problem with consistently, continuously putting our faith in Him. We walk on water one day and go glub, glub the next. Nonetheless, the Lord sees what you and I will be. If we continue on with His processing of us, we will eventually get beyond catastrophic, terrible failures (see Matthew 26:31-35, in which Peter vehemently denies that he will ever deny Jesus, and Matthew 26:69-75, in which Peter a few hours later vehemently denies Jesus) and become what God said we could be.

Peter went from denying Jesus Christ and getting in his flesh (recall that he cut off Malchus’ ear in the Garden of Gethsemane—this was an emotional anger reaction, not under the leading of the Holy Spirit) to preaching a mighty sermon that led to conversion of 3000 people on Pentecost in Acts 2, and other demonstrations of the power of God in his life, like:

healing of a lame man in Acts 3—“…Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk…” (see verse 6).
Exposed the sin and deceit in the lives of Ananias and Sapphira and pronounced God’s judgment on them for it (see Acts 5:1-11), leading to “…great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.” Peter could not have been used by the Lord in this way unless he was right before the Lord. Our God will never use an unclean vessel to bring judgment or chastening into a situation in the manner in which Peter did. His heart had to be right first, otherwise, he would have been a hypocrite and subject to the same hypocrite’s reward that Ananias and Saphira received. God using Peter in this way is evidence of Peter’s conversion and transformation from the sword-swinging, cussing, Christ-denying flesh man into the mighty man of God and Holy Apostle.
Preached to Cornelius, a high-ranking Roman Army Centurion, and Cornelius’ family, and every last one of them immediately received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and was baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.

NOW, YOU THINK THAT YOU AND YOUR SITUATION ARE TOO MUCH FOR THE LORD? Consider the Apostle Peter before and after conversion. The Lord knows what you have need of in your conversion process and He is doing a custom-made piece of work in you and your life. Get your eyes off of what is going on in everyone else’s life and lie out before Him, seeking Him for your life and those of the ones whom the Lord has called you to intercede for, like family, friends, your brothers and sisters in Christ.

YOU”LL MAKE IT PETER! JUST KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

My name is “Peter.” I will, with the grace of God, continue with the process, and experience my full conversion and transformation. I’m praying that He will help you to do the same. We’re in this thing together. Let’s keep encouraging one another in the Lord.

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor Ben

Blogspot Message #1

2005-09-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

A MESSAGE FROM THE LORD: YOU WERE BORN FOR A TIME SUCH AS THIS!

I trust that this message finds you doing well in the Lord and working in His vineyard. The events of Hurricane Katrina and following have “rescheduled” and “reordered” everybody’s lives, but in a sense, not really. What do you mean, pastor? The twists and turns that we have made recently seem to us as though they were disruptions of our normal lives. However, all of that was scheduled by the Almighty in eternity past. Like Esther, you were born for a time such as this (see Esther 4:14). He knew a long time ago that you would be one of those sent out to do his will and minister to others in places like Baton Rouge, Kansas City, Dallas, and so forth. You have been stationed where you are right now to do His will and carry His anointing to a lost and hurting world. In a sense, if you are one of those displaced to another city, you are on a missionary trip. You need to see your present posting or assignment in that light.

The City of Refuge is not dead! Do not let circumstances deceive you. We walk by faith, and not by sight (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). You are a spiritual people. You do not live by the precepts and norms of the natural or carnal world. You were prepared for Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath before it ever showed up on weather radar or a WC-130 “hurricane hunter” ever flew out over the Atlantic Ocean to inspect it. You have an advantage over others in knowing that God has a purpose in the hurricane—the cleansing of New Orleans, Southeast Louisiana, the Gulf Coast, and ultimately, the U.S.A. You know that the hurricane was named “Katrina,” which means “cleansing” by the Lord himself, because that’s what He sent it to do.

Bearing this in mind, you will not be moved by $3.00 per gallon gasoline, Wal Mart only open part of the day, the National Guard patrolling our streets, pictures of corpses in the streets, politicians screaming their heads off at each other about who is to blame, etc. The Lord told us last year that when things start happening in the U.S.A. and he begins to judge and chasten it and HIS PEOPLE, we are not to get caught up in the emotional frenzy. While it is true that there are governmental leaders-- state, local and federal—who did not act as quickly or prudently as they could have in response to the hurricane, even that was “ordained” of God for His purposes. The hearts of all men will be revealed for what they are before it is all over. We will do well in this hour and the hours to come to stay in the Word, pray, fast as and when we are led to by His Holy Spirit and stay strong spiritually. Keep plenty oil in your lamp and be a wise virgin. “Virgin” means pure. Stay strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Keep a cool head. You are a king and a priest unto Him, says the Bible. You are one of the Lord’s Holy ministers. Now is the time to be a city on a hill whose light cannot be hidden. It’s time for you to shine. Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Isaiah 60:1. Do not doubt his power to keep and preserve you now in these challenging times, and do not doubt that He has raised you up in order to minister to the lost and hurting world that is all around you. If you will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, your physical needs will be met. Have we forgotten that he clothes birds and flowers and that we are worth more to Him that many birds or flowers? Let’s not forget the basics in this hour. Let’s live them!

Know that we are all standing in faith for the Lord to meet our needs, but know also that He is doing it. I do not have one report of anyone from the City of Refuge living out of a garbage can or sleeping in the street subsequent to Hurricane Katrina. There are no such destitute people in the City of Refuge. In fact, I am only getting good reports about what He is doing to provide for each of you. I am hearing of churches paying for your hotel rooms, jobs being acquired, donations of food, clothing, etc. David reminded us that he had never seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread. The key is to stay in that category—righteous before the Lord. Obedience to the Lord, combined with honesty and humility toward Him will keep you there. It is no time to go slack or backslide in the areas of seeking the Lord or walking in His integrity.

Lisa and I have been in touch with several of you or have heard indirectly from you. Know that you are in our prayers. I am working on getting the ministry up and running in Slidell, and will be having Sunday services soon in Slidell, probably at a motel meeting room or a similar location. We will keep you informed. Nonetheless, you are the City of Refuge Ministries wherever you are. The City of Refuge is not a building, but is a spiritual creation of the Almighty. It is people, because He does not live in physical buildings, but in His believers—you and me. During the reign of communism in the Soviet Union, there were officially tolerated state-approved churches, which were nothing but puppets of the communist government. God’s presence was not in them. They were whited sepulchers (graves) full of dead men’s bones. However, the true church went underground. What I mean by this is that true believers had to meet in secret. Often times they walked out into the forest and held church services amidst the trees. Today in Communist China the true church is also underground. It meets primarily in people’s homes and apartments. The state-registered, state-approved churches in China today are puppets of the government. They are forbidden to preach certain doctrines or portions of the Bible. For instance, the Chinese government will not let state-licensed ministries preach on the books of Daniel or Revelation. Why do you think that is? I’ll tell you. It’s because if those books are preached, the Holy Spirit will quicken the truth to someone and it will be revealed that communism is of Satan and that the Chinese Communist government is exposed and spoken of or described in portions of those prophetic books. Satan does not wish for people to know (that is, be intimate with) the truth, because it would make them free.

I sought the Lord for scripture to share with you. His answer was this:

Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction; for thy word hath quickened me. The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law. I remembered thy judgments of old, O lord; and have comforted myself. Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. I have remembered thy name, O lord, in the night, and have kept thy law. This I had, because I kept thy precepts. Psalm 119:49-56.

Let’s look this passage over a bit:

(v.49) It is time to come in humility and faith to remind the Lord of what He has promised you in the past. Your dreams, visions and prophecies are not dead, but you are sometimes traversing a rocky road on the way to their fulfillment. It was so for Joseph (see Psalm 105:16-24). Don’t forget that there was a space of several years between the prophet Samuel anointing David to become the next king of Israel and the actual ascension of David to the throne. Besides the waiting period, David was hunted like a dog by Saul and his forces before David ascended to the throne. However, all of a sudden one day, Saul was dead and David rode into Jerusalem to be installed in the position that the Lord had spoken of years before.

(v.50) It is time to remember what God has told you and promised you in the past and to receive comfort and strength from it. Recall that His word is forever settled in heaven.

(v.51) Don’t worry about the scoffers and mockers. You are privy to some information that they are not—the Truth, and His name is Jesus.

(v.52) It is also time to remember that our God is a just God, everything that He ever did was just, everything that He is doing now is just, and everything that He does in the future is just.

(v.53) Yes, we have witnessed terrible atrocities in the wake of the hurricane, but none of them harmed you or me. Let’s not get emotional about it. Stay in the Spirit. Soar above the circumstances of life, like an eagle. Yes, the government could have moved quicker. Yes, folks should not have burned, looted or raped. But as born-again believers, we need to be careful not to be “taking sides” and we need to see the situation with spiritual discernment. A tremendous amount of exposure of the hearts of men has taken place recently. Let us not forget to be prayerful about what we see, not critical. We are called to be intercessors, prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers and evangelists, not TV pundits or critics. You can watch TV news, read it in newspapers, hear it on the radio, etc., but learn how to pray about it. Like so much of life, we have to learn to eat the fish and spit out the bones. What you are hearing in the news media is a mixture of truth, lies, fact, fiction, opinion, hype, etc. If you seek the Lord, His Holy Spirit will show you what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong.

(v.54) We have definitely been on a pilgrimage. My family and I spent a little over two weeks in Tennessee after the storm. We had a number of divine appointments. For instance, led one young man in a salvation prayer. Prayed for Lisa’s cousin’s $5,000 repair bill from the automobile dealer to be reduced, and it was, to $3,800. Her cousin later said, “prayer really works!” We ministered with the Mortons in a church in Nashville after the Lord connected its prophet/pastor with Prophet Charles. It is time to remember what the Lord has taught you and poured into you and to tap into it, both for your benefit and that of other people.

(v.55) We must remember His faithfulness and His many names, each of which describes his various qualities and excellencies. Provider. Healer. Peace giver. Etc. He is what you need Him to be for you.

(v.56) If you will remain faithful to Him, He will see you through to the other side. Just don’t quit. If you keep going, you will get there eventually. In 1980, while I was working at the Boy Scout summer camp in Southern Mississippi, I was the aquatics director. I had the charge over a 120 acre spring-fed lake that had been excavated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. One afternoon I decided to swim solo across the lake. Young people sometimes over-estimate their abilities. While swimming back from the other side, I grew very tired and did not think that I could make it. The problem was that I was still in deep water, over my head. I was still over 12 years from receiving the new birth, but the Lord caused me to understand that if I would slow down, not panic, but keep going, even at a slower rate, I would make it. Get the idea?

I would encourage each of you to read Isaiah 61 to see what you are supposed to be doing now. It’s ministry time. Be a faithful steward who does not bury his gift in the ground—work it!

Finally, be sure to remember the Mortons. We spent some time with Pastor Charles and Pastor Linda up in Nashville, TN before we came back home. Keep them in your prayers for rest, strength, refreshing, financial provision and anything else that the Lord has put on your heart for them.

I anticipate that the Lord will have me to do additional messages and put them on this blogspot from time to time. Let’s stay in touch. Be sure to stay in touch with each other. Encourage each other. Pray with and for each other. You can call me at (985) 863-3065 (w), (985) 863-8727 (h) or (985) 640-0755 (cell). If I am not in, leave a message on the home or work number and we will call back as soon as possible. Our e-mail address is benclayt@bellsouth.net.

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!

Your brother in Christ,

PASTOR BEN

Announcement #2

2005-09-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

We need for everyone in the ministry to provide us with the following information so we can contact you and can find out how you are doing presently:

1) E-mail address, if available
2) Phone number, land line and/or cell phone
3) Current address
4) Other information on personal status, residence, employment, etc.

You can contact us by calling the following numbers:

1) (985)863-8727 (home)
2) (985)285-1947 (Pastor Lisa's cell)
3) (985)640-0755 (Pastor Ben's cell)

You can also contact us by e-mailing us at benclayt@bellsouth.net, or you can post the requested information on this page by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of this post.

Thank you for your cooperation, and God bless!

Announcement #1

2005-09-15T12:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and welcome in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Thank you for visiting the blog of City of Refuge Ministries.

The purpose of this blog is to allow those who are in City of Refuge Ministries to keep in touch during this time of separation due to the recent hurricane. We are in the process of collecting everyone's e-mail addresses, phone numbers and addresses in order that everyone in the ministry will be able to contact each other. Once we have collected this information, we will create a list of people's e-mail addresses and other contact information that will be located on the left of this screen.

In the next few weeks, Assistant Pastors Ben & Lisa Clayton plan to begin Sunday services in Slidell, Louisiana. Details on this are soon to follow...

Feel free to comment to any posts, including this one. There is a comment link below each post...

May God's blessings be on you all!