All posts filed under: z158

Does God still speak through dreams: A warning about Turkey?

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Throughout the Bible God used dreams to communicate messages with people. The Pharaoh of Egypt received a dream warning of a coming drought, that Joseph successfully interpreted. Pontius Pilate’s wife received a dream warning her husband about his treatment of Jesus at the Lord’s trial. God used dreams in both the Old and New Testament to communicate with people, so should we be surprised that God might warn Christians today through dreams. If so maybe we need to take heed of a dream received by American Pastor Andrew Brunson while imprisoned in a Turkish prison after being accused of terrorism by the government. Andrew and his wife had served for 25 years prior as missionaries in Turkey working largely among the Kurds along the Syrian Turkish border. Brunson was eventually released from prison in October 2018 and returned to the US. Brunson received this dream in December 2016 while in prison. In an interview with Fox News, Brunson said: “In the dream, Turkey, Iran and Russia began to move together in a very dark alliance.” …

Bread or Bruises?

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Yesterday afternoon I drove around a rougher area of town giving out bread. It’s just something my wife and I do whenever Lighthouse Ministries has more bread donated than we need. Usually people are happy to see me and only take what they need. No trouble, just happy faces. Yesterday, this streak of beauty came to a screeching halt. While a woman with three kids was choosing her bread, a big man came strolling the street. I asked him if he wanted bread. He said “I’m a bad guy.” Now I am somewhat familiar with bad guys, I even taught a group of federal parolees once and I worked at a federal penitentiary.  Not to mention living in one of the most violent neighborhoods in Canada. Most bad guys don’t have to say they are bad. Maybe I should have been nervous. ‘I don’t care if you’re a bad guy,” I responded, “Do you want some bread?” His response was not what I expected. He stopped and started towards me and threatened that he was …

What is Wrong With Those Radical Demonstrators?

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Did you know, we have a new normal? People are demonstrating in the streets, and disrupting our lives; and this gets them into the news. I remember the seventies, when demonstrations were common, but now they seem to be making a comeback. Someone must think this is a good idea. For me, and people from my generation, these kids are amateurs. I remember when every high school assembly was interrupted by radical students. I can’t remember one assembly that worked out according to the plan. One of our classmates liked to shout about “Acheemitka.” We eventually realized that some nuclear devices had been exploded under an island called Amchitka, and our classmate probably had dyslexia. It was all fun, and then we graduated and got jobs. Today, it’s all forgotten, except I can clearly remember someone shouting “Acheemitka, Acheemitka.” It’s like a song I can’t forget. And now we have the new wave of demonstrators: RELATED: Walterdale bridge blocked as part of climate protest: Global News We are used to living our lives without these …

Tearing down the hostile walls

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At times, my soft spot for a particular person shows up when I should be offended, as they unexpectedly direct their anger at me. Because I am starting to realize that behind the angry words is a hurting, wounded person. And through this, I am learning to find my soft spot that overlooks and pushes through their angry energy that pops up out of nowhere directed at me or more often past me, when they’re actually angry at someone else, but I was in the way.   I am learning not to take it personally, because it is not me they are furious at. And, as I peek around my shield I try to reveal my heart for them and be sensitive to what might be the root cause of their anger, that often they can’t explain. This happened to me recently. And in this situation involving a young woman, I turned and faced her trying to understand the reason for her pain. I pushed back the offense and judgement that was rising up in me and …

Is the Holy Spirit working in Kanye West’s life?

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Pop superstar Kanye West’s conversion to Christ has certainly caught everyone’s attention. Secular media are broadcasting stories about the church services he is holding and of course the religious media is doing the same. Some, both religious and secular, have questioned the sincerity of Kanye’s faith. But a recent interview with Adam Tyson, a California pastor, on Pure Flix has me increasingly convinced that the Holy Spirit is doing a work in the pop star’s life. Tyson made contact with Kanye, when the pop star attended the pastor’s Placerita Bible church in Santa Clarita, California, one Sunday morning. Of course, I immediately suspected Tyson must be one of those mega-pastors with thousands of people attending every Sunday. It wasn’t. Tyson’s church has 300 members. But through this initial visit, Tyson developed a relationship with Kanye and is now regularly preaching at Kanye’s services held around the US. But in his Pure Flix interview, Tyson recalled what Kanye said to him: “I was just under the weight of my sin, and I was being convicted that …

UPDATE: The Babylonian coincidence?

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Maybe it’s all just a coincidence, but one of the favorite Old Testament stories may have a strange link to the Book of Revelation and a case being brought before the US Supreme Court. The Bible story involves Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to bow and worship a giant idol. The Jews had been taken in captivity by the Babylonians and an edict was passed requiring people of all nations to bow and worship a massive idol set up in the city. Refusal to worship would result in death by burning (Daniel 3:4-6). Because of their faith in Jehovah, three Jewish boys Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused and were immediately sentenced to death. They stood for their faith and were thrown into a fiery furnace where their lives were miraculously spared. Babylon was one of the great enemies of Israel and was eventually destroyed. But as we look to the New Testament, Babylon makes a second appearance in the Book of Revelation, a written record of the …

Aw, Soot!

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Do you ever wonder if prayer works? Or how prayer works! I have experience praying for many people both directly and indirectly. There have been instant healings, healings over time, and no healings. I have no human explanation for this other than I am not God and it is up to him how he answers prayer. I do know at least two things about this. God always knows when we pray and prayers always make a difference. Prayers bring us closer to God as we talk with him and ask for his help. The people we pray for also have something spiritual happen when we pray. It may be something different from what they expect, but something happens nonetheless. I had a vision the other morning that explains the way in which prayers matter. I can’t recall if I saw them first or heard them first. They were about a block away. I heard distant crying and yelling. As they got closer, I could see that it was a woman and a child. The woman …

Human Evolution and Ugly Racism

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Morphogenesis: This scientific word describes a straight path. Until recently, the science of human evolution was dominated by the philosophy of Morphogenesis, ‘a linear path to a predetermined end,’ the idea that evolution was predictable and consistent, and that it changed living things from simple and primitive to sophisticated and more desirable. The most evolved life form was always the best, and the least evolved was undesirable and deserved extinction. So, newer is better. Fossils showed us the remains of organisms that went extinct, like the dinosaurs, and we were told that they died out because they were less fit. Extinction happens when something better comes along. Morphogenesis can look backward, to trace the trail of species that evolved and went extinct, up until now. It can tell us how we got here, and it can also look into the future, to show us how to guide the evolution of life to better, more desirable forms. Forward looking morphogenesis is scary, and it mostly ended with World War II. Did you know that Hitler was …

Denying yourself doesn’t mean depriving yourself

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It began in a very difficult season of my life several years back. My physical health was deteriorating and my emotional and mental well-being was in a dark, downward spiral.  Tough circumstances at work and hurtful accusations that sent me reeling kept me emotionally drained and teetering on despair. How could this be happening to me?  It was the worst of times but ended up being the best because out of those dark, depressing days came some extraordinary changes in my life. While people were beating me down, God started the process of changing the way I thought of myself as these difficulties revealed the fragile, wavering opinion I had of myself.  I believed that I wasn’t good at anything. The gift in these painful circumstances was my desperation and after saying no to several opportunities to get help during that difficult period, I finally said yes and took a course that woke me up. At this course, I heard things like you need to love and value yourself. People were telling me that the …