JOEL 2 GENERATION

Pentecost Sunday was last weekend for Western Churches (It will be on June 3rd for the Eastern Churches).  Many Christians don't even mark Pentecost as part of the Church calendar; ironically many Pentecostals don't even know when their namesake is! Those who claim to care less about the Church calendar won't make that claim at Christmas or Easter.  Dates have always been important for Jews and Christians and Pentecost was, after Easter, the most important day to commemorate for the Early Christians. Many Christians today argue over the significance and modern relevance of the day of Pentecost.  Evangelicals are far more concerned about being "born again" and focus their attention largely upon the work of the Holy Spirit in the initial conversion experience of the believer.  In other words their primary interest in the Holy Spirit's work has been soteriological.  Pentecostals have been known to focus their attention upon a "second blessing" whic...

here in the Middle East, last night we had 3 former muslims and a former hindu encountering the Lord in our home.  it was powerful to hear some of their testimonies - one of the Iranian believers shared the recent testimony of her father coming to Christ.  another one shared a massive breakthrough she had when the Lord gave her the ability to forgive her abusive (and I inferred lecherous) husband. during the meeting we received the news that another muslim man had just come to Christ. these are days when followers of false religions are meeting Jesus more and more frequently.  hearing their testimonies is like reading something out of the Book of Acts. this is truly the greatest time in history to be alive!

where we are living they are putting greater and greater restrictions on Christian worship. obviously the enemy isn't happy with how many "stealings" are taking place out of his demonic kingdom! muslims and hindus are coming to Christ and he is pissed (can I say that?). anyway, I was struck yesterday as my wife and I were leading the youth group meeting (in a new, temporary location because the  fundamentalists have essentially empowered a move towards restricting Christians from renting and using villas for their meetings) that some muslims are coming to "watch" the Christians worship. talk about a plan backfiring on the fundys! they are trying to shut us down and MORE muslims are coming to Church. Anyway, what struck me was the fact as we were ending our service, the mosques were all in the middle of their Friday sermons (most Christians meet on Fridays in this part of the Middle East) and I was wondering what the "difference" was between the two se...

in some ways the Middle East is a deteriorating mess, but then we are seeing THE KINGDOM increasing! in a Kingdom atmosphere last night there were some fun healings - the words of knowledge starting coming and partial deafness was healed. one word came about a glad issue and one of our community was sick at home with swollen glands in the neck. we prayed for her over the phone and all the pain left her! headaches in particular areas were called out - healed. shoulder pain called out and healed. such an atmosphere of encounter. many prophetic dreams were shared that had been received in the previous week. others had visions. one encountered an angel in the meeting.

while looking at watches in a store, I got a word of knowledge for a foot/ankle problem that was for a Moroccan muslim employee.  he said he had an injury there, but that it wasn't hurting and didn't need prayer.  his co-worker, a muslim woman from Syria, however was extremely interested in how I knew that he had the problem.  I explained that it was one of the ways God speaks.  I knew the Lord had really gotten her attention and I asked Him if He would give me a word for her.  Then I got another word of knowledge about a shoulder/neck issue and asked her about it.  She had the problem and was absolutely shocked.  as is often the case, muslims are often most amazed that God has spoken than about the healing miracle that follows. thankfully my wife was nearby and so I waited for her to arrive.  she prayed for the woman and the Lord completely healed her.  she was so thankful and so hungry.  her reaction was exactly what you want to see...

we've all heard the expression - "hate the sin, but love the sinner".  I think we must also be able to apply that to false religions.  just this week a friend of ours who came to Christ out of Islam is being threatened with death.  The "Law of Apostasy" in Islam requires that if someone abandons the religion of Islam and doesn't recant, they are to be killed.  This isn't some "misinterpretation" or some marginal belief held by fringe groups of radicals (although they are the ones who often carry out the order).  This is what Islam teaches.  I've had dozens of muslims (including good friends) confirm that this is in fact the case.  I can quote the accepted traditions and the Qu'ran if someone needs further evidence. this week we were faced with this situation.  A Gulf Arab women who left Islam to follow Christ is being threatened BY HER FAMILY with death.  Such a wicked thing!  And to think that they believe that by doing so they are ...

while in one supermarket, Isaac got a word of knowledge for an employee - a tooth problem.  we prayed for him and he told us all the pain left. late one night we offered to pray for any and all of the employees in this one restaurant.  we got to minister to one guy who was healed of a couple of conditions.  we also got to pray for a muslim employees whose headache didn't seem to want to go.  finally when one of our Lebanese friends prayed with him, he actually began to cry.  Don't know if the headache left, but know that the Kingdom touched him. in another restaurant, while with a Maronite priest, the Lord gave us a word of knowledge for a women's neck problem.  we prayed and she was healed. in an appliance store, many things happened.  words of knowledge and prophetic words began coming which always seem to open doors.  we got to pray for 6-8 different people, and saw some significant healings - a wrist that had been broken three times was...