THE TEACHER'S (IN TH USA)


GOOD MESSAGE........AT THE END........A   
Subject: The teacher's lot (in the USA)

[] 
NOMINATED FOR --- BEST E MAIL OF THE YEAR 
After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:
'Let me see if I've got this right. 
'You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behaviour, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning. 
'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self-esteem and personal pride. 
'You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a cheque-book, and apply for a job. 
'You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behaviour, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.
'You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card. 
'You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.
'You want me to do all this, and then you tell me......
I CAN'T PRAY?'

INTERVIEW WITH 85 YEAR YOUNG DICK MILLS


Tuesday, September 25, 2007

    A Life of Ministry
    Gifted Bible teacher and preacher, the Rev. Dick Mills, has passed away, aged 90 
    By Aubrey Beauchamp, R.N.
    Special to ASSIST News Service
ANZA, CA (ANS) -- The Christian world recently lost one of its most unique and gifted Bible teachers and preacher: the Rev. Dick Mills who passed away at his home in Anza, CA on May 25th. He was 90 years old.
Dick Mills


Thousands of people still carry Scripture verses in their Bibles being given by Dick and written down by his wife, Betty. These prophetic scriptures, Dick always stressed were not just for a particular individual but for everyone. However, often a specific word was needed for one person for a particular need. Dick had memorized a huge number of scriptures which he easily recalled at any given moment. His knowledge of root words and their meaning was phenomena.
Dick grew up in Stockton, California and enlisted in the US Air Force, serving during WWII. After the war he enrolled in L.I.F.E. Bible College and graduated in 1949. In the 1950’s he pastured churches in Saugus and Oceanside, CA, then became an evangelist, eventually preaching to churches throughout the USA and Canada as well as mission work in Central America and Cuba.
In the mid-60s, he began to be in demand as a quest speaker and teacher the world over. Rev. Mills was also known as a prolific writer, authoring books such as “He Spoke and I Was Strengthened”, his daily Devotional in two Volumes, the Greek word studies and the Spirit-filled Life Bible and co-authored with his son, David, “Messiah and the Hebrew Alphabet”.
In the 1970, Dick was as Adjunct Professor at the Melodyland Bible School in Anaheim, CA and served for the next two decades as guest lecturer at Christian Colleges and Training Centers throughout the USA and Canada. He was also an occasionally guest on TBN and the 700 Club.

Over the course of a lifetime, he completed a vast personal library of Bible translations, commentaries, and Bible dictionaries, books from antiquity, lexicons, and devotional books.
Betty and Dick Mills












Dick Mills is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Betty, his son David Michael, daughter, Deborah, seven grandchildren and three great-grand children. Dick’s memorial service was held on Friday, June 1, at The Dwelling Place Church in Hemet, California. It was attended by pastors and leaders from across the nation, including Pastor Jack Hayford of Church-on-the-Way and singer/pastor Chico Holliday who sang “On the Wings of a Dove". Dick’s late mother, Pauline Mills, who composed the well-known song, “Thou Art Worthy” was sung at the close of the Memorial Service.
The Body of Christ has lost a powerful prophet of God who spent his life seeking the Lord and serving Him in a pure and upright way. He will be missed by a vast number of people worldwide to whom he ministered personally in his 62 years of active traveling. He is greatly loved by many people, as the volume of expressions of appreciation currently coming in attest to. His devotion to the Lord and to people has been a hallmark of his life for many decades.
    Dick, you are one of the all-time great Christian evangelists with one of the strongest prophetic gifting in the 20th Century. How did God call you into all this?

God called me when I was 15. I was in high school. He called me to go to Life Bible College in Los Angeles. But I was a kid. What did I know? I wanted to have fun. It wasn’t until I was 22 on April 15, 1943, that He asked me a second time. I still think of Jonah when I share that because God gave him a second chance, too. I can only wonder what would’ve happened in my life that would have added to His use of me throughout the rest of my life if I'd obeyed Him on His first call. By the time God gave me a second chance I was in the Air Force and had to take my first year of Bible College by correspondence. But I went to Life as a sophomore and graduated from there in 1949.

  1. How does your gift of being quickened to verses for people take place in your mind?

Herbert Lockyer said in one of his books that there were 7700 promises God made to man. When I read that as a young person it totally intrigued me. I can’t say that I had a visitation by the Holy Spirit that called me to do what I did next, but it certainly happened as I studied God’s Word. In 1950 I found in the back of the Thompson Chain Bible something called “menemics.” Menemics is a way to color code all of the various categories of God’s promises. I used different colors for each category of promises. Then I got up sometime between 4:30 and 5 a.m. every morning to spend an hour memorizing God's various promises – all 7700 of them. On New Year’s Eve 1950 I was teaching at a church meeting and began giving three or four verses to a number of people as I felt quickened to give them a word from the Lord. That never stopped.

  1. When you think of the Charismatic Movement, who comes to mind first? Who, to you, are the greatest Generals?

Three names come quickly to mind – Father Dennis Bennett who was used by God to release the entire movement from his pulpit at an Episcopalian Church in Van Nuys, California. Single-handedly, Dennis led more than 300,000 people into the same baptism with tongues that he had received; Harald Bredesen, who led over 300,000 people of every denomination into the baptism in the Holy Spirit; and Dr. David DuPlessis, who stood the Catholics on their ears as he brought multitudes of priests into speaking in tongues. The gifts of the Holy Spirit poured powerfully through these three men. I’d definitely add Iverna Tompkins to that list. She still has a ministry in Phoenix.

  1. In your vast library, what books on the moves of the Holy
Spirit stand out in your mind?

Two books are by women: Maria Etter’s Life, Work And Experience of Maria Beulah Etter, Evangelist; and Aimee Semple McPherson’s classic,This Is That. But I have a vast Holy Spirit library that would make any Christian professor or pastor drool. I’ve spent a large portion of my life in bookstores all over the planet in order to find great books to add to my collection. It is a collection gathered over 57 years. To name one book is to leave another out. I’ve read them all and afterwards eliminated only the ones that I felt weren’t worthy of my collection

  1. As you look at America in the next several years, what do
you see happening to this country?
America will be brought to its knees for its materialism. It has become a vast wasteland of parties and stupidity Friday nights till Monday morning. However, I believe the people, without needing nuclear bombs to wake them up are suddenly going to become saturated and totally disgusted with their wasted lives. Then I believe churches all over America will fill to the brim with people seeking Christ. The Holy Spirit remains the joy all humans are looking for.

  1. How do you compare the Charismatic Movement with what is
happening in the move called “the River” right now?

The River originated with Rodney Howard Brown. I was in Johannesburg, South Africa, and prophesied to Rodney while he pastored there that he would come to America and release the Holy Spirit with powerful manifestations that would spread throughout the world. The Toronto Blessing came shortly after Rodney came to America and began doing that. The River is the name today of Rodney’s church in Florida. The powerful manifestations of the Holy Spirit that he released are everywhere.

  1. What affect did the success of Melodyland have on the
Charismatic Movement?

Just as John the Baptist was the forerunner to Jesus, so Melodyland was the forerunner to a great deal that went on through the Holy Spirit during the Charismatic Movement. Reverend Ralph Wilkerson was the catalyst as today Bethel Church in Redding is the catalyst. David Wilkerson’s powerful book, The Cross And The Switchblade, brought the Catholics into deeply desiring the Holy Spirit. Multitudes of priests came to Melodyland, or were introduced to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, through teachers who frequented there. Melodyland was the “Who’s Who In The Holy Spirit.”

  1. What effect did the sad fall of Melodyland's pastor, Ralph Wilkerson, have on the Charismatic Movement?

I, of course, could say a lot about that. I prefer instead to simply say the cloud moved and Ralph didn’t follow.

  1. What is the greatest miracle or what are the greatest miracles you have ever seen?

A woman with an Ms sat in a wheelchair in Pasadena and was literally dying eight different ways. She was SO sick. Betty (Dick’s wife) and I laid hands on her and prayed. She was instantly healed. I could go on and on like that, but I’d rather talk about what other people are doing. Years ago when the first two million dollar 747 airplane was rolled out on the red carpet at Boeing in Seattle all kinds of media hoopla greeted it. But everyone on the Boeing team was humiliated because no one could get the airplane to start. The situation appeared hopeless. Then a Christian junior executive went into a private room and prayed. God gave him a vision of the control panel on the 747 and two switches that had each been put in the wrong place. They only needed to switch the wires with each other. He went to the flight manager and asked him if he would look and see whether those switches were incorrectly placed. The flight manager did and found that was the exact problem. Boeing saved face because God saved it for them. I’ve been blessed to watch God do that kind of thing, healing physically and performing miracles, all through my lifetime.

  1. When you finally go home to be with the Lord, how would
you like to be remembered?

When people speak of me I hope they will say that I was “an encourager” not a prophet. I never predict anything. But I have been blessed to bless others wherever I have gone. Also, I was privileged to write three pages in the Foursquare book on systematic theology, edited by Guy Duffield. I’d love to know after I’m gone that people are still reading that. It’s some of the best writing the Lord ever worked through me.
  1. What message would you like to leave this world when you go home?

I would urge them with my dying breath, “Be filled with the
Holy Spirit and with God’s Word.” That is the only way in this world that a human being can have life and that more
abundantly.

WHAT ANGELS CAN DO by Ray Mossholder


WHAT ANGELS CAN DO TODAY
by Ray Mossholder

When you are born again (Romans 10:8-9) angels surround you night and day (Read Psalm 91 and focus on Verse 11). They can:

- Find people whom you need and deliver a message to them for you; even motivate them to come see you (Genesis 16:7-12) 

-  Tell you when to scoot (Genesis 19:15)

- Speak directly to you from Heaven and deliver you from doing the wrong
thing (Genesis 22:11-12)

- Get your attention (Genesis 31:11; Acts 12:7)

- Direct your path and keep you safe (Genesis 24:7; Exodus 23:20; Numbers
20:16; Zechariah 6-7; Acts 8:26; )

- Keep you from evil (Genesis 48:16; II Kings 1:3)

- Give you absolute orders from God that MUST be followed (Exodus 23:20
-22; Numbers 22:35)

- Lead you into war (Exodus 23:23)

- Block your way if you start to go the wrong way (Numbers 22:23)

- Remain invisible, or make themself visible at any time (Numbers 22:31)

- Bring you to tears (Judges 2:4)

- Tell you to curse those who won’t help you (Judges 5:23)

- Perform miracles to prove who he is (Judges 6:20-21)

- Prophesy to you (Judges 13:3; Zechariah 1:14; Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:13-17,
30-35; Luke 2:10-12; John 12:28; Acts 8:26, 10:4-6. 27:21-26; Revelation
1:1, 22:16)

- Exalt not himself, but the Lord (Judges 13:16; Galatians 1:8)

- DESTROY a city (II Samuel 24:16; I Chronicles 21:15)

- Carry a dangerous sword (I Chronicles 21:27,30)

- Wake you up literally or spiritually (I Kings 19:5, 7; Zechariah 4:1; Acts 12:
7)

-  DESTROY your enemies (II Kings 19:35; II Chronicles 32:21; Psalms 78:49;
Isaiah 37:36; Acts 12:23)

- Rescue you (Psalm 34:7; Daniel 3:28; Acts 12:7-11)

-  Guard you (Psalms 91:11);

- Keep you safe all the days of your life (Isaiah 63:9)

- Stop satan’s roar and false accusations (Daniel 6:22)

- Answer your questions (Zechariah 1:19, 4:1-7, 6:4-5; Luke 1:35)

- Give you directions in your dreams (Matthew 1:20, 2:13,19)

-  Minister to your physical needs (Matthew 4:11);

-  Help you do a last minute harvest of souls (Matthew 13:39);

Weed out everything around you that causes sin, and all who do evil (Matthew 13:41);

-  Reward you (Matthew 16:27);

- Set you free (Matthew 28:2)

- Bring your friends to you (Matthew 28:5)
    Become a part of 12 legions of angels if you ask God for them
(Matthew 26:53);

- Keep you from saying the wrong thing (Luke 1:20)

-  Tell you wonderful things (Luke 1:24:23); 
   
- Scare you at first sight (Luke 2:9)

- Strengthen you (Luke 22:43)

- Prepare a place for healing (John 5:4)

- Render attempts to put you in prison totally ineffective (Acts 5:23-25; 12:
4-11)

- Give you directions when you’re awake (Acts 8:26, 10:8, 11:13)

- Make you wonder if you’re seeing a vision (Acts 12:9)

- Comfort you (Acts 27:23-24)

- Minister to you (Hebrews 1:14);  

- Join myriads of angels who surround you (Hebrews 12:22)

- Can take human form (Hebrews 13:2)

- Give you directions in a vision (Revelation 10:9-10)

- Preach the gospel (Revelation 14:6-7)

  • Explain (Revelation 14:8, 17:7-13)

  • Warn (Revelation 14:9-11)

  • Motivate Evangelism (Revelation 14:15)


HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!  OUR CREATOR AND REDEEMER.....
AND DO WE THINK ABOUT IT?

God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.....for example:
-  the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days;
-  those of the canary in 14 days;
-  those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;
-  the eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;
-  those of the mallard in 35 days;
-  the eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.
(Notice, they are all divisible by seven, the number of days in a week!)
God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant.  The four legs of this great beast all bend forward in the same direction.  No other quadruped is so made. God planned that this animal would have a huge body, too large to live on two legs.  For this reason, he gave it four fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily.

The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first.  A cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first.  How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!

God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as in the number of grains.
-  Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind.
-  Each orange has an even number of segments.
-  Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.
-  Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.
-  Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and the next row an odd number.
-  The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute in all kinds of weather.
-  All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundred fold, all even numbers.

God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day.  Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that were open and those that were closed!

The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life.  If you try to regulate your own life, it will only be a mess and a failure.  Only The One Who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them to a profitable end.

May God Bless you in ways you never even dreamed.

When you carry your Bible", Satan has a headache.  When you open it, he collapses.  When he sees you reading it, he loses his strength, AND when you stand on the Word of God, he has nowhere to stand.        

DAVID GREEN:
FOUNDER AND CEO OF HOBBY LOBBY STORES, INC
March 2013

When my family & I started our company 40 yrs ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames.   Our first retail store wasn't much bigger than most people's living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived & worked according to God's word.   From there, Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation's largest arts & crafts retailers, w/more than 500 locations in 41 states.   Our children grew up into fine business leaders, & today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.
We're Christians, & we run our business on Christian principles.  I've always said that the first 2 goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony w/God's laws, & (2) to focus on people more than money.   And that's what we've tried to do.   We close early so our employees can see their families at night.   We keep our stores closed on Sundays, (one of the week's biggest shopping days), so that our workers & their families can enjoy a day of rest.   We believe that it is by God's grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us & our employees.   We've not only added jobs in a weak economy, we've raised wages for the past 4 yrs in a row.   Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.
But now, our government threatens to change all of that...A new government healthcare mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs, as part of our health insurance.   Being Christians, we don't pay for drugs that might cause abortions (Ps.139:13-16; Prov.6:17), which means that we don't cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill, or the week-after pill.   We believe doing so might end a life, after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs.   It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one.   If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in government fines.
Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy.   Our government threatens to fine a company that's raised wages 4 yrs running.   Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs.  It's not right!   I know people will say we ought to follow the rules; that it's the same for everybody.   But that's not true.   The government has exempted thousands of companies from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost.   But it won't exempt them for reasons of religious belief...
So, Hobby Lobby & my family are forced to make a choice.   W/great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts our business.   We don't like to go running into court, but we no longer have a choice.   We believe people are more important than the bottom line & that honoring God is more important than turning a profit.
My family has lived the American dream.   We want to continue growing our company & providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but the government is going to make that much more difficult.   The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith & following the law.   I say, that's a choice no American & no American business should have to make.
The government cannot force you to follow laws that go against your fundamental religious belief.   They have exempted thousands of companies but will not except Christian organizations including the Catholic church.
Since you will not see this in the liberal media, please pass this on to all your contacts.
Sincerely,
David Green
CEO & Founder of
Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER



WHAT THE SOUND OF MUSIC NEVER SHOWED US

What the Sound of Music Never Showed Us VIDEO

KING HEROD'S TOMB DISCOVERED


King Herod the Great's Tomb Unearthed
May 6, 1907
JERUSALEM -- An ancient staircase used in a royal funeral procession led an Israeli archaeologist to solve a 2,000-year-old mystery, the location of the tomb of the Roman-anointed "King of the Jews," Herod the Great.
Hebrew University archaeologist Ehud Netzer said on Tuesday he had found the sarcophagus of the king, who ruled Judea from about 37 BC until his death in 4 BC, had been smashed, most likely by Jews who rebelled against Rome from 66 to 72 AD.
Speaking at a news conference a day after the university announced the discovery, Netzer said the monarch's remains most likely disappeared when the rebels raided the tomb at Herodium, where Herod's fortress palace once stood, near Jerusalem.
Herod has a special place in biblical history.
He rebuilt the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and the Gospel of Matthew says he ordered the "Massacre of the Innocents", the killing of male infants in Jesus's birthplace of Bethlehem out of fear of losing his throne to a new "king of the Jews".
Netzer had searched for Herod's tomb at Herodium for about 30 years. Herod, born in around 74 BC, had chosen to be buried at the desert fortress he built around 23 BC and which he used as a summer palace.
The burial site, in what is now the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was found more than a month ago at the end of an ancient staircase leading up to the hilltop, Netzer said.

"The monumental stairs were built specifically for the funeral," Netzer said.
Ancient Jewish historian Falavius Josephus had written that Herod's funeral procession began from the city of Jericho and was attended by hundreds of his guards and servants.
Earlier digs had focused on other parts of Herodium, including a "tomb estate", remnants of two buildings and a large ritual bath, that originally had been chosen as a burial site.
Netzer and his team concluded the tomb they unearthed, estimated to have been about 2.5 meters (8 feet) long, was Herod's because of its lavish design. One of the limestone remnants possessed a flower-like pattern. No bones were found.
"It was not a sarcophagus that rolled around on the streets, was common or which anyone could afford during the era," Netzer said. "There are only one or two of its kind."

A second article on this discovery:

The archaeologist who located King Herod's tomb at Herodium said Tuesday that the grave had been desecrated, apparently shortly after his death, but called the discovery a "high point."
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced Monday night that it has uncovered the grave and tomb of Herod, who ruled Judea for the Roman empire from circa 37 BCE.
Professor Ehud Netzer of the university's Institute of Archaeology told reporters Tuesday that the tomb was discovered when a team of researchers found pieces of a limestone sarcophagus believed to belong to the ancient king.
Although there were no bones in the container, he said the sarcophagus' location and ornate appearance indicated it was Herod's.
"It's a sarcophagus we don't just see anywhere," Netzer said. "It is something very special."
Netzer led the team, though he said he was not on the site when the sarcophagus was found.
He said the sarcophagus had been smashed into pieces, most likely by someone seeking revenge on Herod during the great Jewish rebellion of 66-72 CE.
"The discovery of the grave is the high point in the excavation at the site," said Netzer.
The professor, who is considered one of the leading experts on King Herod, has conducted archeological digs at Herodium since 1972 in an attempt to locate the grave and tomb.
The discovery solves one of Israel's greatest archeological mysteries.
The majority of researchers had believed that Herod was in fact buried at Herodium, based on the writings of the ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, but multiple excavations at the site failed to locate the grave.
Netzer's successful dig focused on a different part of the site than previous excavations, between the upper part of Herodium and the site's two palaces.
Herodium, a fortified palace built by Herod some 12 kilometers south of Jerusalem, was destroyed by the Romans in 71 CE.
Herod, whose father and grandfather converted to Judaism, was appointed governor of Galilee at the age of 25 and was made "King of the Jews" by the Roman senate in approximately 40 BCE. He remained king for around 34 years.
Herod, also known as Herod the Great, is credited with expanding the Second Temple and building Caesarea, Masada, and many other monumental construction projects. He died in the year 4 BCE in Jericho after a long illness.
Herod decided to construct his tomb at Herodium because the site played a role in two dramatic events in his life. In the year 43 BCE, when Herod was still governor of the Galilee, he was forced to flee Jerusalem along with his family after his enemies the Parthians laid siege to the city.
His mother's chariot flipped over near Herodium, and Herod became hysterical until he realized she was only lightly wounded. A short while later, the Parthians caught up to Herod and his entourage, although Herod and his men emerged victorious in the ensuing battle.
At Herodium, Herod built one of the largest monarchical complexes in the Roman Empire, which served as a residential palace, a sanctuary, an administrative center and a mausoleum. Herod first built an artificial cone-shaped hill that could be seen from Jerusalem, on which he constructed a fortified palace surrounded by watchtowers that he used solely in wartime.
At the base of the hill, he built an additional palace, which was the size of a small town and known as "Lower Herodium." The palace included many buildings, fancy gardens, pools, stables, and storage areas.
Herod spared no expense in an attempt to turn the site into a regional gem, bringing water from Solomon's Pools and special soil to allow his gardens to blossom in the heart of the desert.
Following Herod's death, his son and heir Archilaus continued to reside and Herodium. After Judea became a Roman province, the site served as a center for Roman prefects.
With the outbreak of the Great Revolt, Herodium was seized by the rebels, but then handed over without resistance to the Romans following the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Fifty years later, Herodium was also used by the rebels during the Bar Kokhva revolt, but was abandoned thereafter.
In the 5th century CE, the site was settled by Byzantine monks, and then served as a leper colony before being finally abandoned in the 7th century CE.
The first archeological dig at the site, between the years 1956 and 1962, was conducted by a Franciscan monk and revealed most of the currently-known remains. Israel began excavations at the site in 1972, several years after its capture during the Six-Day War.

AUTHORITY OF CHRISTIANS BY DAVID CRISSMAN


WHERE IN GODS WORD IS THE AUTHORITY OF EVERY
CHRISTIAN OVER SATAN & DEMONS?

Do believers have the authority over Satan and
demons?  The answer is unequivocally, YES!  Through the
shed blood of Jesus, we have victory over all the powers of
darkness.

The Assemblies of God has a great article on their
website that helps us understand much about spiritual
warfare:
 http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/topics/
sptlissues_spiritual_warfare.cfm

Here is a list of Scriptures that I found that relate
directly to this issue: Matthew 10:1, Matthew 10:8, Luke
10:19, Mark 16:17-18, Ephesians 6:10-18, 2 Corinthians
10:3-5, Revelation 12:11, James 4:7, Matthew 4:1-11, 1
Peter 5:8-9, Luke 9:1, Matthew 18:18, Ephesians 4:27

As you may have read from the AG article, there are
many people who take spiritual warfare to an extreme and
create fear in people about Satan's works.  There is no need
for a believer to fear the powers of darkness.  We are
already victorious over Satan and all the powers of
darkness.  We have to educate our minds to what the Word
of God says, and then live our lives in the authority that the
Word provides us.  I firmly believe that the only power that
Satan has over us is the power we give him by not living
according to the truth of God's Word.  The Word tells us to
STAND against the powers of darkness (Eph. 6:11, 13, 14).
This is what we are commanded to do when we feel

attacked by the enemy.  When we stand on the Word of
God, God fights for us!

This passage in Ephesians talks about praying also, but
we pray to God, not to Satan.  Our prayers are to be
directed toward God.  We can speak truth to Satan and his
demons and they will flee, but we don't need to let our lives
be consumed by speaking to demons.  Paul spoke to a
demon (Acts 16:18) in the name of Jesus.  He told the
demon to come out of a girl and the demon left her at that
moment.  Demons cannot possess Christians so we don't
need to speak to Satan or demons in our personal Christian
walk because they have no power or authority over us.  The
only thing we would need to say to them is, "The Word of
God says, [quote a passage of Scripture]."  There is nothing
else that we are commanded to say in Scripture other than
this.  Jesus modeled this for us in Matthew 4:1-11.  He did
exactly what the Bible says to do in James 4:7, "Submit
yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee
from you."

We have complete spiritual authority because of our
position as Christians.  We have been bought by God with
the blood of Jesus.  We are His and He will protect us.

IF CHRIST HEALS THE SICK TODAY WHY DOES ANY CHRISTIAN DIE?


Hi!

Ever hear the saying, “Everybody wants to get to Heaven, but nobody wants to die!” I've laughed over it, but that statement is true. Few people in their right mind ever want to die, and they'll go to extreme lengths to keep on ticking.

Jesus Christ isn't dead, but he has left us His will. And His will is for you NEVER to fear death: “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to death all their lives” (Hebrews 2:14).

This leads to a question I received by e-mail this week from a totally sincere non-charismatic friend of mine:

If healing is so available through the Holy Spirit today, why do
those who believe Christ still heals, ever die?

Two passages of Scripture tell us why some wonderful Christians have gone home at a time both you and I would say was far too early, and yet some demonic monsters – Adolph Hitler, Beverly Allit, Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Idi Amin, Mao Tse'Tung, Karl and Ilse Koch, Pol Pot,, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. - lived or are living FAR too long.

First, Hebrews 9:27: "It is appointed for men (human males and females) to die once, and after this comes judgment."

The Greek word for "appointed" here refers to an "appointment." If you and I had a lunch appointment together for a certain date and hour, we would both expect the other one of us to keep that appointment. In just that same way, an individual's “death appointment” is set in Heaven BEFORE THEY ARE BORN. “God's ways aren't our ways” (Isaiah 55:8), and we Christians have no idea in the world how He does that. Only by knowing the character of God can we trust His system is right.

Now, here's good news: That appointment can be changed if the reason is vital enough in God's mind. I'll get to that in a minute, but I'll give you a hint now: GOD ANSWERS MEANINGFUL PRAYER.

Here's more good news: No one will die BEFORE their appointed time. Idiotic as it might sound, you could go up to the top of the tallest building in your country and jump off. If it wasn't your “appointed time” yet, you wouldn't die. You would most likely be horribly crippled for life. Pain would stick closer to you than flies to flypaper. Your face might well look like a flat iron. But you wouldn't die. You couldn't if it wasn't your God-appointed time.

Think about awful moments in your own life that took you to the brink of death, only to be counted among the living. I've had “terminal illnesses” twice; was hit by a car and thrown into the air, landing on my back on the sidewalk; sitting in a car stopped at a red light and run into by a 16-year-old kid who had just got his driver's license and was driving more than 70 miles an hour and never applied his brakes; fallen down three flights of stairs; and thrown from horses three times. You might say I am “accident prone.” But in all my life I've never had a broken bone, and I've had no surgery since they promised me ice cream at the age of 5 if I'd have my tonsils out. Here I am at 76 feeling younger than I often felt in my younger years. My appointment with death has not yet arrived. It could come tomorrow, but it sure doesn't feel like it will. I mean, there are fatal accidents. An elephant could fall out of an airplane and squash me.

My mom lived with perfect health except for asthma to the age of 91. I had a
Granddad that I never got to meet who worked hard as a builder for more years than I've lived and, like me, seldom even had a cold. Then one day when he was 95, he came home sick, went to bed, and died three days later. I think I have Designer genes!

In Psalms 139:13-16, King David tells us about our appointed time to die. “For
you formed my inward parts, you wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of the Earth. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in Your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me when as yet there were none of them."

The Book mentioned in Verse 16 refers to the Book of Life, where every person ever born anywhere in this world throughout any time in history from Adam on, has had their name recorded in this Book - Exodus 32:32; Daniel 12:1; Luke 10:10; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15. Study these verses and you'll see that those who aren't born again in Christ - (Christ died for all Old Testament believers too) - have their name blotted out of this Book the exact second they die.

A vital question at this point is “What about babies who die still in their mother's womb or in their early formative years - the aborted, preemies, the starved, stillborns, SIDS, cot death, or children who die of anything before they really understand about Jesus Christ and the urgency to receive Him? The answers are clear. Study these verses: Matthew 18:3, 19:14; 1 Corinthians 7:14.

King David, who was wiser than most and that's why God chose him to write many of the Psalms, lost his first baby, the one he conceived in adultery with Bathsheba. David had fasted from the moment he knew his baby boy was sick, right up to the minute he discovered he had died. Here's what happened:

“But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that his child was dead; so David said to his servants, 'Is the child dead?' and they said, 'He is dead.' So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the House of the Lord and worshiped. Then he came to his own house and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate. Then his servants said to him, 'What is this thing that you have done? When the child was alive you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.'
He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said 'Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me that the child may live. But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.'” See what I mean about “wise?” David knew his baby went to Heaven and after his own death, he'd join his son there.

No age limit is given, but two verses in the Old Testament reveal that there is an age of accountability. Babies from the womb on and children too are too young to have reached that age. So are the mentally challenged - Down's Syndrome, Autism, Aspergers Syndrome and the like. Deuteronomy 1:39 and Isaiah 7:16 both say that in their formative years, a child does not know enough “to refuse evil and choose good.” Those are the years when each parent is promised in Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way they should go. Even when they are old they will not depart from it.”

I will stay on the subject of death, but I need to answer a question that will undoubtedly arise after what I've just written. The question is: “Aren't all babies born sinners?” The answer is no. However, there are two verses - Romans 5:12:21 and 1 Corinthians 15:22 - some Bible teachers wrongly attempt to use to teach that all newborn babies are sinners from birth. They quote Psalms 51:5, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” But in that verse, the iniquity and sin clearly belongs to David's dad or mom, perhaps both; but NOT to David at the time of his birth. In Psalms 51, David is repenting of adultery with Bathsheba (as well as murder). Adam had no earthly mother or father and was never “born” at all. Instead, Genesis 2:7 tells us God “formed” Adam as an adult. What that passage and single verse confirm is that sin is always a choice and all who grow past the age of accountability are held accountable for it. While they may appear to be sinning from their cradle to the age of accountability, God does not hold them accountable for any of that. They are under grace, just as all Christians are, until a humanly indeterminate age when they can recognize clearly the decision to receive Christ or not. All three of my children were born again by the age of five.

Some try to force 1 Corinthians 7:14 to mean that unclean children refers to "unsaved children." But that isn't the case at all. Nowhere in the Bible does "sanctified" mean "saved." The Greek word "sanctify" means "to set apart by God for His special attention." That verse clearly refers to a born again spouse married to an unsaved spouse, and declares that the born again spouse "sanctifies" the unbelieving spouse and their child or children by their Christian witness. And God is promising the believer that He is giving His very "special attention" to draw the unsaved spouse and their innocent child(ren) to know Him. Innocent babies and children born into homes where both the husband and wife are unsaved have far less of an advantage. But they are still innocent until they reach the humanly indeterminate age of accountability.

So, back to our subject - What can get God to extend the “death day” and give us more time to live? We see the answer in 2 Kings 20. In Verse 1, Hezekiah, a godly king, is pronounced mortally ill by none other than the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah directly tells him, "Get your house in order for you shall die and not live." Now, do you remember the penalty in the Old Testament for a prophet who gave a false prophecy? - DEATH! That's a vital fact. Isaiah would have never prophesied death to King Hezekiah on his own. GOD had spoken. And if GOD tells you you are going to die, you'd better have your will instantly ready.

Stunned by Isaiah's pronouncement, Hezekiah immediately turns his head toward the wall and literally falls apart. He sobs to God in prayer that he desperately wants a different verdict. He also reminds God, "in truth and with a whole heart, I've done what is good in Your sight" (Verses 2-3). And he begs God to give him a longer life so that he can keep on serving Him as king.

Now here's the most amazing part of what happened: God hears His prayer and grants him his request. God tells Isaiah to return and totally reverse his prophesy to Hezekiah. In obedience, Isaiah does. He speaks for God and tells Hezekiah, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I WILL HEAL YOU. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord." However, God still sets a “death appointment” with Hezekiah. We all have one unless we are going to be here when Christ comes back for His Bride. In Hezekiah's case, God extends it by having Isaiah prophesy again: "I WILL ADD FIFTEEN YEARS TO YOUR LIFE." … “ADD FIFTEEN YEARS” to what? "ADD FIFTEEN YEARS" to Hezekiah's original death day.

So, what should we learn from Hezekiah about praying for ourselves or others if a doctor pronounces a death sentence? And though I'm going to concentrate on you, these things are the same thing to do if you're praying for a terminally ill family member or friend. You should learn that as a Christian you should NOT wait patiently to die if you have a great desire to live in restored good health. Cry out to God passionately that you want to live and not die. Crying is fine, pleading is fine, and so is shouting or stomping your feet. God understands your innermost being and your outermost too, so don't try to hide your real feelings by being “nice.”(Hebrews 4:14-16). Don't just roll over and play dead. Passive people are seldom healed (Matthew 7:7, 23:37.) Tell the Great Physician that you want an extension of time in good health JUST LIKE HEZEKIAH RECEIVED (Isaiah 1:18.). Remind Him of anyone, or more than one, still on Earth who need you to be here for them. But that's only half of what to do.

Continue reasoning with Papa God. Prayer is communicating your heart with God through Christ, and God communicating with you. Remind Him clearly how you have served Christ with a whole heart. The devil will instantly try to remind you of any time you've failed to do that. Tell him to go to hell where he belongs. You are forgiven of your sins – past, present and future – and Jesus Christ, your “Lawyer," (1 John 2:1) knows that. You may be an intercessor here on Earth, or be serving Christ in a myriad of other ways that would make your service to others greatly missed.. The point is, explain with your own reasoning why you have great purpose in remaining alive. Then expect Him to heal you.

Reasoning like “I don't want to get my hopes up,” or “but I know others who were greater Christians than me and they died,” sets up the kind of doubt that will rob you of your miracle. You aren't anyone else. And as for your hopes, even if your symptoms become worse, keep your hope and faith in Christ to heal you. Believe Him to do the very best for you always, but NEVER assume His very best would be to take you Home. Rebuke pain or paralysis passionately too. Christ took ALL your pain and infirmities on the cross, as well as all your sin (1 Peter 2:24), and pain or infirmities have no more right to you than sin does.

Knowing the character of God and His great love for you, if He can see your reasoning (as He did with Hezekiah), He will re-set your death date to a later time and heal you.

If you study the healings in the New Testament where someone was dead or nearly dead, their walk with God, or the walk of their friend who interceded for them, seems to have been an intricate part of the determining factor in their healing (Luke 7:12-15, 8:40-42; John 11:1-3; Acts 9:36-41, 20:9-12; James 5:13-15). I have also found that to be true during years of praying for the terminally ill in hospitals as well as in meetings. He who is the Alpha and Omega infinitely knows what would happen in each person's life if He changed their appointment to a later date and hour.

Can I give you any other Scriptures to give you hope for healing? Yes: Isaiah 1:18a, Genesis 18:23-32; Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24; Luke 1:38; Acts 9:36-42 and there are more following this article.. At Bethel Church in Redding, California, ten people were raised from the dead at the church or through ministry teams away from the church while Georgia and I were there. I'll tell you about one of them.

A ministry team of students from the School of the Supernatural had gone to do church and street meetings in Tijuana, Mexico. Upon arriving there, the pastor said, “I'm sorry you weren't here yesterday to do healing. One of the women in our congregation had a very sick baby, so sick it died.” One of the team members spoke up and asked where the baby was now. The pastor answered, “I think the baby is still at the woman's house. Or she may have taken it to the morgue by now. She was distraught yesterday and I knew her keeping her baby one more night would be alright.' The team asked for the lady's address and the pastor gave it to them. They were immediately on their way and soon were knocking at her door. One of the team described what happened after that. “A red-eyed lady who had obviously been crying a lot, opened the door. We knew it was the baby's mom. I speak Spanish and I told her we had just learned about her baby. I asked if we could see it. The lady was startled and confused about why we'd want to see her dead baby. I told her, 'Jesus Christ rose from the dead and He's ready to raise your baby from the dead.' She still looked confused but she led all of us to a room where we saw a rolled up rug. The baby was wrapped in it. She said that she was just about to take the baby to the morgue. I asked her if she'd unwrap the rug. She hesitated, then did. The baby wasn't breathing and her body was very pale. We didn't care how that little girl looked; we just wanted to bring her back to life. So a couple of us laid hands on her and the whole team prayed. For maybe five minutes, nothing happened. But all at once, that baby took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Her mother gasped and started crying again while she reached down and picking up her baby. We stayed at that house maybe fifteen more minutes just praising the Lord. That baby's mother was the loudest of us all!”

Bethel continually has people flying in from all over the world who have been pronounced by their doctors to be "terminally ill," and in MANY MANY cases these people are healed when they're prayed for. GOD ANSWERS PRAYER.

Jesus told His motley crew of apostles in Matthew 10:1 that without any hesitation they were to "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons" (Matthew 10:8). And remember that Judas was one of the twelve who went out and did what Christ gave him authority to do. Imagine! Judas Iscariot could raise the dead and cast out demons as long as He was under Christ's authority!

Memorize John 14:12-14 and keep it in your heart. Also Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
PRAY IN FAITH BELIEVING GOD WILL CANCEL THE TERMINAL ILLNESS. “But they must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that person ought not to expect anything from the Lord, being a double-minded person, unstable in all their ways.” It may sound harsh, but this is absolutely true: NEVER PRAY ABOUT ANYTHING THAT YOU DOUBT GOD WILL DO (Matthew 8:5-10, 9:2-7, 22, 28-29, 15-28, 21:22; Mark 1:15, 2:5, 5:34, 9:24, 10:52, 11:24, Luke 1:20, 5:20, 8:48, 50; John 1:7, 3:12, 4:42, 6:29, 10:38, 12:44, 17:21; Acts 3:16, 14:9, Romans 1:17-18, 4:19-21, 10:17, 15:13, 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, 13:2; Galatians 3:5;, 6:16; Ephesians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; 1 Timothy 6:11; Hebrews 4:2, 6:12, 11:1,6,11-12, 13:7-8; James 1:17-18, 23-25, 2:14-26.)

Jesus Christ LOVES to do miracles and heal people. Georgia and I stepped out of our “comfort zones” many times while we were at Bethel, ministering healing to people we saw who needed it in malls, the post office, restaurants, Wal-Mart, and even on the street. We still do that. But we had never prayed for someone to be raised from the dead until one morning I got a phone call from Graham, a security guard at Bethel whose wife had just died. She'd lived longer than a year with terminal cancer and I'd prayed for her healing several times. Our friend asked, “Would Georgia and you come as quickly as you can to my house? I want you to join me in raising her from the dead.” We were honored and excited to do it. When we arrived, Graham led us straight to their bedroom. She was lying in her bed where she had died. The three of us immediately laid hands and prayed for probably twenty minutes. There was no response. After a bit more time, Georgia and I went back home. But the next day Graham called us again from the funeral parlor. She had not yet been embalmed and Graham said, “Let's pray for her again.” We were there quickly. Again, the three of us laid hands on her corpse and prayed passionately for the Lord to return her to Graham. We had only prayed five minutes or so this time before I distinctly heard Graham's wife's very familiar voice. She said, “PLEASE don't pray me back. I'm in Heaven and I want to stay here.” The three of us stopped praying because we now knew her will.

As Kris Vallotton, the principal of our faith-building school, told our class, “It's tragic that so many Christians will practice everything from playing a musical instrument to hog-calling, but they won't practice using their gift of faith that our Lord has given them so that it will grow. King David first killed a lion and a bear before he knew he could topple Goliath (1 Samuel 17:36.) To start believing for something like raising the dead, lay hands on the sick and let Christ heal them with the power of the Holy Spirit within you. If cancer seems too big for your faith, start by laying hands on someone with a headache and praying for it to go. And if at first you don't succeed, try try again. In fact, unless you make at least three mistakes in ministering to people this year, we won't allow you to graduate!”

I echo this statement by Randy Clark, who often ministers healing along with our former pastor, Bill Johnson. “Lay hands on 200 people for healing and you'll be hooked for life.” When you start seeing people you love being healed because you dare to do that, you'll be preparing yourself to pray away the MUCH BIGGER CHALLENGES in life that come at you like Goliath came at David. If you don't do that, you can be assured that, the devil at some point will see that life absolutely overwhelms you. Start stepping out of your comfort zone TODAY and keep it up. You'll be eternally glad you did.

O.K. What if you do all the things I've mentioned and you still die? Then death will be “swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54.) “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8.) “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His believers” (Psalm 116:15). Those truths are why the apostle Paul wrote, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). A terminally ill Christian CAN'T lose. So follow the above instructions only if you have a deep desire to continue as a totally re-charged miracle who keeps on ticking.
In Christ's love, Ray Mossholder
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