Volume 4 Issue 37

for War and victory over satan and his agents. It Enlists soldiers in the Army. Trains the soldiers to proclaim the Word of God which is sharper than two edged sword powerful to shatter rocks into pieces and burn forests. It trains and forms evangelists .

Trains them to pray and wait upon the Lord to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and to proclaim the Good News with signs and   wonders. Offers fields of apostolate. Functions in cells of ten each.

Hireling does not care about the sheep

A mother, very much devoted and attached to the congregation she attends,  was seen possessed by a ferocious devil. It manifested in the training class and tormented her for a long time.  In the process of casting it out,  it threatened others saying, “This is my kingdom. Who can cast me out? I will never go” . After tormenting her for about 1 hour, it left her.

When her husband came to know about this, he was ashamed and said, “How could this demon remain inside her while herself being the leader of the prayer group?” I used to ask this question to myself years ago. Now I have an  answer.   

"The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep”. John 10:13  

In many of the Christian Congregations believers are not taught the power of the Word of God, neither are they  empowered in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are kept  like dummy spectators in the Church. Satan, knowing this, enters into the Congregation, attacks the believers, their families, children, steals, destroys and even kill them.  Since the believers  are not trained  in spiritual warfare, they are not able to identify the enemy, withstand him or counter attack him. One who is supposed to protect and safeguard them, are not bothered about it. Since they are hirelings, (one who gets salary for the work) they do not care about the sheep. They are not bothered about the wolf attacking,  destroying or killing the sheep.

Are you bothered about the spiritual condition of the sheep entrusted to you? 

There is an earnest search among the believers across the world for a real Church where a person can commune with God and relate to his fellow brethren. After trials and experiments the Indian Church is forming “Troop Church”.

The Army of Jesus was experimenting with the “Troop Church” for the past 17 years. Started in the year 1998. The experiment with Troop Church has been successful.

1. It has independent first line second and third line Troop Churches

2. It has raised many leaders, prophets, counselors and other ministers and gospel workers.

3. It has no visible leader or hierarchical structure

4. It has no office, no full timer, no paid worker etc.

5. No organizational (hierarchical) set up.

6. No money collection or transaction.

7. No election, board, Committee etc.

8. Every Troop Church trains up believers in their gifts like worshipping, preaching, prophecy etc.

9. Since the mother troop disperses and starts new troops after 2 months, there is no stagnancy.

10. No pollution or corruption with money or power. 

11. 11.The two wings of Troop Church are Decentralisation and Multiplication.

Divine word touch ministries was converted to in troop church and all experience something different and all testify about their healing and self-deliverance

School of worship

O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with Psalms. For the Lord is a great God,And a great king above all gods. Psalm95:1-3

The school of worship was held at Palavakkam on 10 &11 of September,2016

Idolatry is abomination for Jesus.

     Kissing a doll to signify kissing Jesus is a kid stuff to say the least. If someone wants to kiss the creator God Jesus, then he/she needs to follow His commandments. That is what the Lord Jesus says in John 14:15 and 23-24.

     John 14:15 (NKJV) “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

     John 14:23 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

     One can kiss a man made doll, calling it child Jesus. The act of kissing such a doll is pure idolatry. Hell fire is assured without any doubt or competition for idolaters (Rev.21:8 and 22:15). I do not find any reason why one should choose death/hell even after knowing the name of Jesus (truth) and His gospel.

     Hell has no outer limit. Jesus has said, only a few would make it to Heaven in Matthew 7:14. But when it comes to hell there is no restriction. Satan freely leads people there, deceiving them cool. People who expect to inherit Heaven without meditating the word of God (Jesus) but just follow the man made traditions of the churches are thoroughly deceived. Their destination is hell fire.

     The devil has shut their heart and mind. Let us pray for them so that the Lord would open their heart, mind, eyes and ears.

     Isaiah 44:18 (NKJV) They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand.

     2 Corinthians 4:4 (NKJV) whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

 THE PAST HANDLING OF BLINDNESS:

     Last time, when the men were blind to the dictates of the Lord, He said, you remain blind. And they remain blind till date.

     Isaiah 6:10 (NKJV) “Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy,  and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”

     Jesus confirmed it in Matthew 13:12-15.

 

(D) WHERE WAS JESUS BEFORE HE CAME DOWN TO THE EARTH?

ANALYSIS OF JESUS STATEMENT, “MOST ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM.”

    In the earlier sections we have seen Jesus telling His disciples that He had come down from Heaven (John 6:38,51). Jesus also had told the Jews that He was there even before Abraham was born (John 8:56-58).

     If He had come down from Heaven, where was He before coming down?

     If He had preceded Abraham, where was He before Abraham?

     Is there any Biblical evidence for this claim?

     The answer is yes, not one but many evidences, which we are going to meditate now.

 REVELATION: (John 1:18 and Exodus 33:20)

APOSTLE JOHN PROVIDES THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE MYSTERY:

     Apostle John was very close to Jesus. The Lord has revealed more about Himself through him only. In John 1:18, the Lord revealed His whereabouts.

     John 1:18 (NKJV) No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

     This means, the Son of God had always been in the bosom of the Father. After Jesus gave His life on the Cross and resurrected, He occupied the thrown.

     Mark 16:19 (NKJV) So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

     From the above verse we know His current status. But before He came down to the earth, He (the son of God)was in the bosom of the Father, as per John 1:18.

 ANALYSIS OF JOHN 1:18

     John 1:18 provides keys to the following:

1. a) No one has seen (Father) God at any time.

2. b) The Son of God alone has access to the Father and He alone reveals the Father to man.

 “NO ONE HAS SEEN (FATHER) GOD AT ANY TIME”.

Revelation about the difference between Father and the Son of God

     The above statement is the key to understand the difference between Father God and the Son of God.

     The key that unravels the mystery is, “if no one has seen the Father God, then whoever had seen God and survived must have seen ONLY the Son of Man”.

     We all know that the Son of Man, Jesus was seen by human beings. Men have crucified Him on the Cross. They did not die.

      It is thus clear from the word of God that no one will live after seeing Father God's face but one can live even after seeing the Son of Man's face. Amen.

      With this key in mind, when we explore the Old Testament, we get surprising results.

      Before we enumerate the appearance of the word Son of Man in the Old Testament, let us mediate another verse.

     Exodus 33:20 (NKJV) But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”

      This is the famous statement issued by the Father God to Moses when he demanded to see the Father God. Finally Moses saw the back of the Father God.

      Exodus 33:20 is the basis for John 1:18 part 1.

     Now, to discover the Son of Man in the Old Testament, if we adopt this principle, we come across the following instances of appearances of Son of Man. This is only an illustrative list.

To be continued

 

Persecution Of Christians In China Intensifies

With one additional twist: the Chinese government is actually going so far as to control the use of tithes and offerings and to demand that permission is requested from it with regards to how church finances are administered. Veronica Neffinger of Christian Headlines.com recently described how this process is happening as part of a crackdown on Christianity by Chinese authorities that seems to have originated in China's province of Zheijiang.

"The government officials will interfere with church affairs, managing our donations and some large-scale projects. We have to obtain their (the government's) permission if we would like to buy equipment or decorate the church. We will have to ask for permission for any expenses more than a few thousand yuan," a source told China Aid, which has been described as a watchdog for Christian persecution in China.  China has been increasing its persecution of Christians and crackdown against Christianity in the last few years. Neffinger points out that such incidents were triggered in 2014 when China's president Xi Jinping began a "Beautification" campaign called the "Three Rectifications and One Demolition" campaign.

 

Authorities have since used this campaign as an excuse to demolish hundreds of churches and crosses. A number of Christians, pastors, and human rights lawyers have also been arrested for refusing to comply with the authorities' demands. Chinaaid.org notes that this year's annual report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom ranked China among the "countries of particular concern" where "the governments either engaged in or tolerated 'particularly severe' violations of religious freedom."

Chiqui Guyjoco for the ChristianTimes.com gave some troubling details of how some of these severe violations are occurring in China. The communist state reportedly has a command and control center dedicated to persecuting Christian churches, according to a Christian member of a targeted house church in the country. The Christian interviewed, who is also a member of the Houshi church - the largest house church in Guiyang - revealed that there is a special government office with the unique task of targeting their church as well as other Christian churches. Speaking in anonymity for security reasons, the member shared that their church currently has six separate cases facing trial, including five church members of who two are pastors and one a non-Christian.

Two of the five members, Yu Lei and Wang Yao, were the ones who exposed a confidential document that tells of the existence of the state body created for church persecution. Yao personally considered the expose of the leaked confidential document as most unexpected. He thought that the document only revealed that the government has a big plan under wraps and that targeting their church is just part of this big plan.

He said, "I knew [the government was] going to do something about the church, but I didn't expect it to be so serious. If they have a [command and control center] they can mobilize all their resources. At the beginning, I just thought it was just at the city-level, but this document suggests that there must be some provincial level [government body] or an even higher on the operation."

Guyjoco noted that early in May, an annual report published by China Aid indicated that 20,000 Chinese Christians were persecuted for their faith in 2015 alone. To combat the persecution, Yao revealed that their church is currently meeting in small groups and in private residences. However, he worried that some of the leaders of these small groups still need proper training. On the upside, the man believes that the persecution only strengthens the rise of Christianity in the country.

"According to the Bible, the church grows even faster under persecution," he said. "In China, even though there is so much persecution, the church still grows." This echoes what Bob Fu, China Aid president, had previously stated that the communist state fears a growing population among Christians, their public presence, and social influence. According to Christian Post reporter Stoyan Zaimov, government officials have been persecuting minority religious people on an increasing basis. Not surprisingly, many churches have therefore opted to operate underground

Revival Breaks Out in Iran

When we think of Iran, scenes of mobs shouting "death to America," blindfolded hostages, and radical leaders demanding nuclear technology come to mind. But there's another side of the country: Iranians who love America, Israel, and Jesus Christ.

 

India: Man beaten for defending Christian cemetery

Last month in Punjab state, India, a Christian was severely beaten after he protested the desecration of a Christian graveyard by local Hindus.According to Barnabas Aid, Anoop Masih, an auto-rickshaw driver, was ambushed by seven men when he tried to pick up a fare. "They hit me all over my body with many blows using their fists and legs, and then started to hit me in my private parts. One of them was wearing boots and his boot repeatedly hit one of my testicles so hard that I collapsed with the intensity of pain and I almost thought I’ll soon be dead," said Masih. The attackers fled, leaving Masih lying on the street. Earlier that day, Masih had admonished a group of Hindus who were throwing garbage on a graveyard reserved for Christians. "I told them not to demean the Christian land and reminded them that the sentiments of the Christians are with their dead buried here," said Masih. Later that day Masih was violently reminded that Christians have no say in Punjab.

 

Christians in India want the government to speak out against religious persecution. (Reuters)

The latest extremist attacks against Christians in 2016 thus far have come from an unlikely source.As Christianity has seemingly been under attack in places like Iraq, Syria, and Africa for over a decade from extremist groups like ISIS and Al Shabaab, the first six weeks of 2016 have seen a fresh outbreak of anti-Christian violence in India with nearly 30 incidents of religiously motivated violence against Christians reported in just over two months.

While it follows a global trend, it’s Hindu nationalists leading efforts of persecution and attacks. "His silence is tacit approval...He needs to come out again and reign in his party. According to various news reports, there have been 26 documented incidents of religiously motivated violence against Christians spread across the subcontinent since Jan. 1. Incidents of violence against Christians have always existed in one form or another, but were usually limited to a particular region or issue. Just two weeks earlier, in the Nizamabad District of Telangana State, a local pastor and members of his congregation were savagely beaten by a mob of 40 Hindu radicals after they falsely accused him of trying to convert Hindus to Christianity. According to locals, the attack occurred during a Christian prayer gathering and resulted in the hospitalization of six, including a four-year-old girl whose leg was broken during the attack.

Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, EXPOSE them” Ephesians 5:11

 Section 1 - The Old Testament - The Desert Years

Take Molech who was the form of Marduk/Nimrod worshipped by the Ammonites. We read in Leviticus that part of their rituals involved child sacrifice and cannibalism. God warned Moses about this repeatedly.

“Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed; to be passed through the fire, to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.” –Leviticus 18:21

Human sacrifices in fire were part of Nimrod's worship from the very earliest days of course because fire was seen to be the earthly representation of the sun. Later in Jeremiah 32:35 we read:

“They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters, causing them to pass through fire, to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.”

In the same way God's priests in the Tabernacle used the meat of the animal sacrifices for food, so the priests of Baal did also eat of their human sacrifices. In fact this is where we get the word “cannibal” from. The Chaldean "Cahna-Bal," means, "Priest of Baal."

Don’t let anyone attempt to portray God as a murderous villain slaughtering innocent women and children. We are talking about the defeat of depravity from the pit of hell. People who sacrificed their own children and ate their flesh. The camp had to be kept holy. A concept our world understands little about. We should also see in this episode the burning hatred God has for sin and remember how vital it is for us to remain righteous in his sight today. Because of Jesus, there is now no need for bloodshed when we sin and this has perhaps diminished our understanding of its severity. We should remember however that  the punishment for sin is as severe today as it always has been. It’s just that Jesus already spilled his blood so that we don’t have to. When we sin we deserve death just as those Israelites did who turned away from God. Thank Jesus he has taken the punishment on our behalf.

Perhaps as further punishment for that generation, perhaps to build character, perhaps to continue the purging process, perhaps because we develop a deeper relationship with God in times of trial, almost certainly a mixture of all four, God decided to keep them in the desert for 40 more years. God needed to get these people to trust him and to build a relationship with him and the wilderness, a place where they had to rely on him, even for food and water, served that purpose.

One final thing I’d like to highlight about the desert years. Notice how God chose to reveal himself to Moses. He chose to reveal Himself to Moses at the top of Mount Sinai; a mountain. Remember that Babylonian ziggurats were built to represent mountains and the apexes were said to be where the gods lived. Remember this is as a result of Satan’s desire to be the ‘most high’. Because all ancient mythologies and false religions stem from Babylon you’ll find parallels of this in many cultures. Mount Olympus for example is famously where the Greek gods were supposed to have lived. The fact that God revealed himself to Moses at the top of a mountain clearly echoes this idea. It is likely God did this so the Israelites could understand what was going on when Moses ascended Sinai. They were used to the idea that deities lived at the top of mountains. This appears to be God using what they already knew to communicate that he was their God. Talking to them in a symbolic language they could understand. And since ziggurats were built by man to glorify man and their gods were said to reside there, God was showing his superiority again by revealing himself atop a mountain that he’d made – a real one - and on ground that was so much higher than any ziggurat. What God
was saying to his people is that He is the real ‘Most High’. Just to connect some more dots, remember that Jesus’ most famous sermon is the ‘sermon on the mount’. That wasn’t an accident. By choosing that location, he was subtly revealing himself to be God.

To be continued

Praise God for the successful completion of   10619 slots in National Worship Centre with a Non Stop   Worship (24/7)