Taking Back the Culture!

With assaults upon our culture coming upon us with increased regularity, it's a wonderful sign to see people of integrity banding together to fight the onslaught of anti-Christian bigotry.

I reported on my facebook wall some weeks ago that Comedy Central was preparing an animated series on Jesus Christ. And I stated that we Christians need to band together to push back the anti-Christian, culture-bashing bastions of evildoers that have taken control of our culture.

I have said that Christians have been silent for far too long and have let circumstances (ie, Satan) run roughshod over this nation.

Enter a group of concerned Christians, Jews and Catholics to form the Coalition Against Religious Bigotry (CARB): Brent Bozell (president, Media Research Center), Tony Perkins (president, Family Research Council), Michael Medved (talk radio host), Bill Donohue (president, Catholic League), Rabbi Daniel Lapin (American Alliance of Jews and Christians) and Tim Winter (president, Parents Television Council).

Quoting from the internet article here: Comedy Central's "JC" is currently in development, which means it's still a couple steps away from becoming a Go project. The show is about Jesus trying to live as a regular guy in New York City and wanting to escape the shadow of his "powerful but apathetic father." With Comedy Central having recently censored "South Park" for trying to portray the Prophet Muhammad, some Christian leaders see the development of a Jesus cartoon as exhibiting an offensive double standard.

CARB will hold its first press conference on Thursday to urge advertisers not to support the project, should it ever hit the air.

“After we reveal the vile and offensive nature of Comedy Central’s previous characterizations of Jesus Christ and God the Father, we expect these advertisers to agree wholeheartedly to end their advertising on Comedy Central and discontinue their support for unabashed, anti-Christian discrimination," Bozell said in a statement. "Why should they be supporting a business that makes a habit of attacking Christianity and yet has a formal policy to censor anything considered offensive to followers of Islam? This double standard is pure bigotry, one from which advertisers should quickly shy away.”

("Taking Back the Culture!" will regularly feature news items on "taking back the culture.")

WHY I SPEAK OUT!

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, quote attributed to Edmund Burke.

I want to take this opportunity to explain why I’m so conscious of what’s going on in the nation.

When I speak about the things of the world, and how wrong things are, it’s a matter of waking up, what seems to be, a sleeping church, unconcerned as freedom and righteousness is slowly being taken away from them and evil is tolerated.

It’s not a matter of “loving this present world” – but like God, it’s a matter of loving the people -- "God so loved this world..."! This nation, more so than any other, was founded upon Godly principles. The United States has produced more missionaries for the world, contributed more dollars to charitable organizations than any other, and has been a beacon of light for the world for centuries.

But now, as I see America losing its way, when I see a generation that doesn’t know right from wrong, it’s not love for the world’s system that I voice my opinion, but love for the people. And like Wisdom from Proverbs cries out (I paraphrase), “How long will you tolerate evil and self-destruction?”

There is no guarantee that Jesus is coming within ten years. I wish He does, but He may not come for another hundred.

Yet, in the meantime, is it not incumbent upon us Christians to be the salt and light of the earth? If we see evil or danger approaching, is it not wise to sound the alarm?

In the 1960s, very few Christians spoke out against God being expelled from our schools. Yet, look at what our incriminating silence produced for the nation. You can see a direct correlation between expelling God from school to the national, cultural erosion that began at that time and continues to this day: in sexual promiscuity, intolerance of morals and Christianity, drug use, profanity, and just about every other evil. Today’s generation knows nothing about, and in fact mocks, the moralistic pre-60s culture.

So when Comedy Central wants to malign my Savior, you bet I’m going to say something! It has been our silence that has allowed so much of the evil we presently see.

When I see a government run amuck in debt spending, which my children will inherit and couldn’t possibly pay back, you bet I’m going to say something.

When I see a large part of the church vote for change rather than righteousness, you bet I’m going to sound the alarm – lest we repeat our mistakes in the next election.

When the news media, to support its anti-American mindset, calls certain voices for righteousness racist or homophobic – I'll be there to defend righteousness.

Presently we see an administration turning it’s back on the National Day of Prayer – so why aren't the pastors of this nation speaking out?

While we are ambassadors for a heavenly kingdom, we still live here. If evil reigns, we suffer under it. So let our lights and influence shine, lest we allow evil to be at the helm of this spiraling-downward nation. Let us not be relegated to the back of the bus any longer.

God gave us a voice, let’s use it without apology. If God’s people don’t speak out for righteousness, who will?

The Power of the Name

Is Jesus Talking about Offerings?

UNDERSTANDING SCRIPTURE

Give and it shall be given onto you…

Is Jesus Talking About

OFFERINGS?

Most Christians today are familiar with the following scripture: “Give and it shall be given onto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” Luke 6:38.

The common teaching for this scripture is usually reserved for church offerings. It will surprise many, however, that Jesus is not talking about church offerings at all.

The following should in no way be used as an excuse not to contribute to churches or ministries – there are other scriptures that can be used legitimately for that reason. But we want to be accurate in understanding scripture and in what is being taught.

We need to have a bit more of the Berean spirit. The Bereans were Jews that were eager to hear what the Apostle Paul had to say about the Lord, but they “examined the scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11) whether what he preached was so or not.

When one is looking to buy a house, the common refrain is “location, location, location.” It’s not just the house, but what are its surroundings? Where is it located? That’s the same with understanding scripture – where is the scripture located and what is surrounding it. It’s all about location, or more accurately context.

Context, context, context: The context of the scripture is everything. Now, with this in mind, let’s understand the context of Jesus’ statement.

Let’s begin in Luke 6:12:

And it happened in those days that He (Jesus) went out into a mountain to pray, and He was spending the night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples. And He chose twelve of them, whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alpheus, and Simon who was called Zelotes; Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also became the betrayer.

(Luk 6:12-16 MKJV)

At this point, we find that Jesus, after praying all night for guidance, has selected his disciples, who will become the pillars of His church. The word church means “called out ones.” They are being called out of the world and placed into His kingdom, with all the privileges that sonship affords – including the ability to walk like Jesus walked, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Seeing that this is a new concept – unprecedented since Adam’s fall – Jesus began teaching what this new life of being a Christian was going to be like.

Jesus was real with them! There were wonderful blessings associated with being a Christian, but there were also difficulties:

And lifting up His eyes to His disciples, He said, Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall cut you off, and when they shall reproach you and shall cast out your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in Heaven. For so their fathers did according to these things to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full! For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you! For so their fathers did to the false prophets.

(Luk 6:20-26 MKJV)

Here Jesus is already showing his disciples that if they follow Christ, the world will hate them and seek to hurt them. But Jesus then goes on to explain how we should react to those who would seek us harm:

But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you. And to him who strikes you on the one cheek, also offer the other. And to him who takes away your garment, do not forbid your tunic also. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them again. And as you desire that men should do to you, you do also to them likewise. For if you love those who love you, what thanks do you have? For sinners also love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you have? For sinners also do the same. And if you lend to those of whom you hope to receive, what thanks do you have? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And your reward shall be great, and you shall be the sons of the Highest. For He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil.

(Luk 6:27-35 MKJV)

Here Jesus ups the ante in our character – stressing the need to go above and beyond what normal people do. Normal people love those that love them and hate those who hate them. But Jesus tells us no, don’t follow that pattern!

Instead, love those who don’t love you. Give to those that are persecuting you. The bottom line is that Jesus died for these very same persecutors and that God is still seeking to bring them into His fold. Therefore, Jesus is saying, present yourselves to them as Jesus would: “for He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil.”

The carnal mind would scorn those and refuse to forgive those that have hurt us; which is why Jesus continues:

Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.

(Luk 6:36-37 MKJV)

Jesus is stressing the way we as Christians need to look upon those who have not yet given themselves over to Christ: merciful, nonjudgmental, non-condemning, & forgiving.

With this context in mind, we now come to the pivotal scripture:

Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over, they shall give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you measure, it shall be measured to you again.

(Luk 6:38 MKJV)

This whole time, Jesus is talking about the way Christians are supposed to conduct themselves with the world – without intolerance, without condemnation, but with love and forgiveness.

Jesus is continuing that refrain with verse 38: the way you treat people will be the way people ultimately will treat you. Some of these people who have been persecuting Christians will have a hard time responding in anger to those who continue to show them love at all costs. Paul says, Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head. (Rom 12:20 MKJV)

Also notice there is no mention of church services in verse 38; no mention of money at all. The return here is “in your bosom” – not your wallet! Bosom denotes relationship, in the same way that Lazarus was carried off into Abraham’s bosom; or the way John leaned on Jesus’ bosom.

You can continue reading through the context after verse 38 and you will find that Jesus is again contrasting the saved with the unsaved (or pre-saved, as I like to term it), and how the saved need to react to the unsaved.

Verse 39-40: And He spoke a parable to them: Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master, but everyone who is perfect shall be like his master. (Luk 6:39-40 MKJV)

Jesus here reminds us that if you want to lead the blind into salvation? Set the right example yourself.

Verse 46: And why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? (Luk 6:46 MKJV)

And if we’re serious about the commitment to our Lord, then we need to hear what He tells us.

So the context shows us that Jesus is talking about the way we deal with those in the world and not how much we put into offerings.

Faith of Whose Fathers?

May 7th of this year, President Barack Obama refused to participate in the National Day of Prayer, which had been a staple in the Bush Administration. Oh, and I seem to recall that when President Obama gave a speech at Catholic Notre Dame University, he insisted on covering up the name of Jesus (ie, the "INS" Catholic monogram for Jesus).

However, the President found time to give every Muslim in the world a heartfelt Ramadan greeting.



Happy Ramadan everyone!

God Invades Hollywood

We've always known that God would be invading Hollywood and that some well-known celebrities would be coming out of hiding and make vocal declarations about their faith; thereby bringing in many other converts.

Hollywood is an interesting town. You can promote the most extreme new age or third world faith, and they'll make converts. Oh for the day! Oh, for the day when those that are Christian in Hollywood will have the unction to declare their faith boldly and bring in souls to God's Kingdom.

Here comedian Steve Harvey gives an inspired introduction to the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.

Turn Passivity into Prophecy

My friends and I had a great time last night at a Graham Cooke meeting at Calvary Tabernacle Church in Cranford, New Jersey.

Cooke, a prophet-teacher who wrote the book Developing Your Prophetic Gifting, gave an extraordinary message on turning passivity into prophecy, about turning problems into destiny, about taking possession of what God has promised in your life -- and to do that not as a one-time deal, but as a way of life -- forever!

That message can be downloaded here.

The Plight of Single Women in the Church

Arthur Burk, a pastor from Anaheim, CA, came out with an intriguing article about "why many single Christian women can't get married." He sees it as a demonic strategy.

Arthur Burk released this on Father's day.

Arthur asks if the desire for marriage is from God, why hasn't there been any fulfillment? Why aren't dreams, visions, prophetic words coming to pass?

This article doesn't give the answer, instead it's a call to BIND THE MESMERIZING SPIRIT CORPORATELY for the next 3 MONTHS and to receive the answer from God. Here's his article:


The Surface Problem

For the last five years, I have been talking to women across the Western world who are of marriageable age but who have not been able to find a husband. What has drawn my attention is the fact that there are so many of them. Women who could not marry have always existed, but there have generally been only a very few of them in any culture, unless it was in a post-war situation where there were no men available.

The present situation represents a massive number of women compared to any historical baseline I can find. This clearly is abnormal and spiritual, not a natural function of social upheaval.

The Deeper Problem

We do not generally get involved in issues just because there is pain. Rather, we are called to speak into the vacant niches in the theology of the Church. It became very evident that the Church as a whole is militantly ignoring this issue. The denial factor of church leadership is simply astounding. By and large, church leaders are treating the single women as though it is their issue, just an individual matter, and not part of a massive pattern in the Body of Christ.

This disconnect from reality on the part of spiritual leaders is cause for deep concern. Further, the overwhelming response of church leaders is to distance themselves from any responsibility for the problem. I know there must be some churches out there that have overtly owned their responsibility to find answers for the single women in their midst, but I have not found them yet. Most of the time, pastors are overt in shoving all the responsibility for singleness back on the women, while they loudly pursue answers for all sorts of other issues in the church body.

This is not right.

A Bigger Perspective

It is my opinion that both the singleness and the denial by leaders is part of a demonic strategy. The church has broadly been willing to address rampant adultery, pornography, divorce, marital abuse, child abuse, child abandonment, and fatherlessness in general as part of the devil’s assault on the institution of marriage. There are hundreds of voices that are speaking to those issues.

I believe that the issue of single women is just another facet of the devil’s assault on godly marriages, and that the church’s silence on the issue is also part of the devil’s premeditated strategy. This issue deserves just as much prominence as any of the other demonic strategies against marriage.

What about the Men?

From time to time a single man will write and ask why I focus all my work on the women, when there are in fact single men who have not been able to find a bride.

My answer is simple: the shame factor. While I acknowledge that there are single men, by and large in the church today there is no stigma attached to a single man of any age. It is considered his choice. On the other hand, the shame factor that women feel -- and that many believers project viciously onto single women -- suggests strongly to me that the women are the major spiritual battlefield. Hence my focus there.

What Has Been Done?

The short answer is, “a whole lot of everything.” Individually, many of the ladies I have talked to have invested deeply in personal healing, deliverance, growth in maturity, serving God, waiting in faith, seeing godly counsel, staying under authority, hearing from the prophetic movement, fasting and prayer, praying for their future spouses by faith, making proclamation, etc.

I personally pulled together a group of single women and walked with them for a couple of years, using all of the tools I have and we had no movement with them. They benefitted from the exercises we did, but it did not produce marriages.

The Double Bind

Historically the advice for single women has been to accept that as being from the hand of God and to learn to live a full life in relationship with Jesus, without an earthly husband. Historically, this advice has been embraced by many women, and they have indeed experienced deep fulfillment.

This grace is still available today. I know some women who would very much like to be married, but they have a deep relationship with God, and are finding fulfillment in the work He has called them to do.

The reality, however, is that you cannot go down to Wal-Mart and by three units of that grace and go home to fix the problem of your desires. Today, there are a huge number of women who are caught in a vicious double bind.

On the one hand, they have a craving for marriage and family that is beyond intense – it is consuming. And the longer they go without marriage, the more driven they become with this focus. It becomes a toxic passion which erodes spirit, soul and body all at the same time.

In light of the fact that hope deferred makes the heart sick, many of the ladies have made the decision to lay down their vision, only to find out they cannot. Some have gone through personal exercises in renouncing their right to marriage and making deep proclamations about Jesus being their utter fulfillment. Others have gone so far as to attempt deliverance and inner healing with all of the different flavors of tools out there.

The result is uniformly, no change. They are in anguish if they hold the dream and in double anguish if they try to renounce the dream and go forward.

What About the Prophetic?

The data is indisputable: the prophetic has been hugely discredited in this situation. There have been globally circulated prophecies about “this” (a few years ago) being THE year when the bondage would be broken and thousands of women would be married. There have been endless individual prophecies from the big name prophets and from low profile individuals about this man or that one being absolutely THE man who would propose marriage, this date or that date would bring about an engagement, and they have, almost entirely, been utterly wrong. Measurably, verifiably, wrong!

What About Dreams and Visions?

They too have been discredited. Many women have had clear pictures of the man they would marry. The pictures are so detailed that they would recognize the person on the street in a heartbeat. Others have had visions of a place, or event, or conference where the connection would happen. Again, there have been wholesale verifiable failures of those dreams and visions.

My Conclusion

The short version: this cannot be simply women who can’t get it together. The pattern is consistent in dozens of different streams of faith and different cultures in the Western world. The drive is too intense and too alike from lady to lady to simply be an individual issue. The fact that the demonic realm has co-opted the prophetic movement so massively in this area is another reason to say it is not an individual issue. Given the torment involved, I simply cannot believe this is the way God intended it to be.

As far as I can see, there are only two options.

1) The whole thing is a demonic delusion and we need to find the strategy to break through this and set women free to be able to go on with life, without this consuming, destructive drive gnawing at them day and night.

2) The whole thing is from God since He wants to raise up a new generation of spectacular marriages to defy the devil, and we need to find the strategy to break through the barriers that the devil has erected to keep those marriages from happening.

Either way, the bottom line is that our strategies so far have not worked. I have worked very hard to release some women from the drive for marriage and been totally ineffective. I have worked equally hard with some women to bring about courtship and commitment and I have equally failed there.

As someone once said, “There HAS to be a better way.”

The Visible Culprit

While I am sure that this issue has layers and layers and layers of dynamics, the obvious problem is the mesmerizing spirit.

1. This entity has completely bamboozled the prophetic and corrupted the other revelatory gifts.
2. If the whole thing is a delusion, then this too points to the mesmerizing spirit.
3. And finally, if it is just a demonic strategy to block us, the mesmerizing spirit is being effective at keeping us from seeing what we need to do differently than we have already done.

Again, I don’t think this is the sole culprit, but I do believe it is the beginning place.

A Call to Arms

Therefore, since everything we know how to do has not worked yet, it is time to pursue new strategy. I am inviting all of you who have a vested interest in this battle to join me in a unified prayer strategy for the months of July, August and September, crying out to God to bind the mesmerizing spirit and to shine His light on the truths He wants us to see. God absolutely knows the way out of this double bind.

If you are not familiar with my teaching on the mesmerizing spirit and how it comes into our lives, I suggest you get the album “Life, Dominion and Honor. ” Also, there are more recent discoveries about the mesmerizing spirit in the video library including information about how we can be controlled by this entity. It will do little good to pray about this demon if you are controlled by it because you have not closed the open door.

So join me in daily crying out to God for His light to shine. We absolutely have to have clarity on which way to go with the battle, and what tools to use. There is no demonic strategy that is greater than God’s dominion. We simply need to see a bigger picture.

Arthur Burk
June 21, 2009

Here's Lou's two cents here:

I feel that Satan has intensified his attack on marriages and on prospective marriages, if only to thwart the work that two joined together as one will have against the kingdom of darkness.

I believe that God desires to have end-time marriages so powerful in anointing that they do major damage to Satan's kingdom. And that knowledge is causing Satan to tremble and to bring an all-out-war against the church. But as the church today comes to better understand that Jesus has given all authority and power to his bride (but still Jesus is the Head in this relationship); so should Spirit-filled women come to their rightful place alongside Spirit-filled men in a marriage-ministry that will be the absolute physical pattern of Christ and the Church.

These end-time marriages will not be like what we see patterned after the world’s ways. These Holy-Spirit-filled marriages will openly represent the physical pattern of the love and respect between Jesus and the church. Even secular people will marvel over the way these spouses treat each other and they will declare, "I want what you have. I want a relationship like that!"

And, we’ll be able to say, “Let Jesus take part in your relationships. Let Him be the one who directs you to him or her. And, when God finds him or her, get yourself out of the way. Treat him or her at least equal or better than yourselves and you’ll have a heavenly relationship – one that everyone has always wanted but we’ve gotten ourselves too much in the way to make it work.”

But again, I say that the potential is great in this hour for true Christians to stop patterning their ways after the world (divorce is as bad in the church today as out!) and to become as Jesus would have us become. The onus is on the church now to really cultivate relationships the way Jesus intended: husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church; and wives, respect your husbands as you do the Lord.

DRAMATIC HEALING

This particular video needs a wider audience. It's one of those videos that you wish you had for every healing that takes place -- just so the unbelieving public can embrace the fact that Jesus stills heals today.

Enjoy!

VOTE FOR PALIN: REASON # 1

This is why we need to vote for McCain-Palin and to pray for this important election. This video will show you where Gov Sarah's heart is...it's for Jesus! and for Revival!