Archive for April, 2016
Posted by appolus on April 30, 2016
Are we Unleashing a Monster?-Donald Trump
I would argue that this current political cycle is a perfect example of form triumphing over substance. The rise of Donald Trump is the rise of form over substance. He merely taps into the mood of the people and says what he needs to say to get elected. He is an amalgam of our personality cult culture and business and now politics. This is the end result of a long process that could only truly find its successful conclusion with the rise of media and especially social media.
Now there have been notable people from the previous century that gives us clues as to how we got here. If we look at Hitler we see a man who could never have arisen without the aid of radio and the camera and of course circumstances. The circumstances are obvious. There was social unrest caused by a financial meltdown. This of course was severely aggravated with the rise of socialism and communism throughout the world. Given these fears and others, the people turned to someone who promised to make Germany great again. Someone who would face the problems of the day head on. Now they knew that he held extreme views but their fears for their present situation overcame any misgivings they may have had for him. The basic premise throughout the ruling classes was ” he would at least sort out the Communists,” which of course he did yet they had unleashed a monster.
Along with all those reasons, Hitler could still not have come to power without the aid of media. Radio of course was the social media of the day. People gathered in their living rooms and listened to his captivating speeches. They also went to the movies and saw such productions as ” Triumph of the Will.” A movie about the rise of the Nazi party that combined music and clippings of speeches and rallies. It is purported to be the greatest propaganda movie of all time and truly shows the power of media, form over substance, to move a whole nation. And of course that power has only increased exponentially over the last 80 years.
The first ever televised interview of two politicians debating was in 1960 and was between Nixon and Kennedy. Unbeknownst to Nixon, Kennedy had the heat turned way up in the studio because he knew Nixon had a tendency to sweat. When they both sat down to debate, Kennedy looked cool and collected while Nixon sweated badly. This had a great effect on the viewing audience. No matter what one of these men you liked, it could easily be argued that Kennedy knew the value of form over substance, it was less about what they were saying and more about how they were coming across to the audience.
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Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, Donald Trump, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, politics, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 28 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 27, 2016
I think it is hard for many people to separate what victory means and what victory looks like.
Look at Jesus on the cross. Nailed up there, rejected, tortured, stripped naked, taken outside the city to the garbage dump, and killed there. A notorious and ignominious death. This is victory, this is what the defeat of Satan looks like. The world and the spirit of the world hates this. This physical death looks like anything but victory, but it is and He made an open shame of Satan, by this death, according to Scripture.
” Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” Can you hear the chains falling brothers and sisters? The chains of hell and sin and death. Foolishness to those that are perishing, victory and glory to the saints. Satan will soon be loosed once more only this time will be his end. Satan himself will come in the anti-christ and he will get what he has always wanted. Every tribe, every tongue, every nation will bow down to him. This is what, in the very beginning, caused his fall, pride. He thought he could take Gods place! And now here he is, every living being bowing down to him.
But wait, what will darkness do with the light of the saints? What will he do with the bearers of the truth? What did he do to Jesus? He will try and kill every voice that stands against him. But that’s okay, for the saints overcome him as Jesus overcame him. Not by avoiding death, but by embracing it and crying out like Jesus did, not rendering evil for evil. This is how evil is defeated. This is the victory, Satan may destroy our bodies, like he did with the Apostles, but victory reigns eternally in the spirit of the saints. Praise God Satan was defeated at Calvary and millions of saints after Him were able to follow His example and even after the great falling away, God’s remnant saints in these last days will follow His leading and we will take up our crosses willingly by the power of the Spirit that burns inside of us…………bro Frank
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Posted by appolus on April 25, 2016
Tozer writes………..
Allowing yourself to be out in such a position that God is exalted is the goal of living the crucified life. When you allow God to be exalted in your difficulties, you will be in the perfect position to smell the sweet fragrance of His presence (Tozer)
Have you found that to be true in your own life? The depths of His presence is no more deeply felt than in the depths of the valleys of our lives. The crucified life runs counter to every human emotion that we have. It is not natural at all it is supernatural. Brothers and sisters, if we can understand this, if we can desire this, if our chief end is truly to glorify God, then we will discover a depth of His presence that we have never known before.
How many of us say that we want the Lord to bless us? What does that actually mean? If the ultimate blessing is to know God in the depths of who He is and the only door that will lead us to that blessing is a door that says above it ” crucified,” will you walk though that door? Now please do not rush to answer that question. It’s an all or nothing question. There is no connection to be had between the mediocre Christian life and the crucified Christian life, they are worlds apart.
If we want to enter into a place of rest and I am sure that you do, then we must come through the crucified door. Think about the children of Israel entering into a place flowing with milk and honey, the promised land, praise the Lord the promised land. They had wandered all those years in the wilderness and now, the promised land. Before they could even start there was a river swollen by spring time waters. It took faith and a mighty miracle just to cross over. Battle over? Not so. Then they came to the most formidable walls you could imagine. It was beyond their ability to conquer. More faith more miracles required. Now, surely, with this huge obstacle removed it is finally plain sailing? No. Then came defeat at Ai. Lessons learned, now Ai is defeated, now we can finally settle down to a peaceful existence? No. More battles, more tests, more faith more miracles.
Brothers and sisters this is our lives as children of the living God. The crucified life is a series of battles, it is a life of overcoming. It is a life of subduing and persevering. Who will endure to the end? To whom are the promises made in the first three chapters of Revelations? To the overcomers, to those who endure to the end. It is to those who live the crucified life that all the promises are made. I want you to take heart today. Perhaps you have been discouraged by a life full of trials. My encouragement today is not to tell you that your trials are behind you or that there are no battles left ahead of you. This I know, there are battles ahead, all along the narrow path that leads to life.
Yet this I know also, that our God goes ahead of us. Our God loves us with an everlasting love and He is well pleased with His children who have laid down their lives and taken up their crosses. He is with us in the midst of our battles, He is with us as we walk through our trials. He is with you right now brothers and sisters. Can you smell His fragrant beauty? It flows down from heaven above when He is exalted in love. When we exalt Him in the midst of our trials then the light that dwells within us shines out through our brokenness to a lost and dark world. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, God's love, Jesus, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 4 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 21, 2016
Have you been subdued by the Majesty?
Has your head hung low in the glory?
Has your darkness been shattered by the light from up above?
Have you found yourself adrift in an ocean of love?
Oh God in heaven rend the skies and come down
May I fall to my knees with your glory all around
May the waters rise from the tears of a million saints
Let us enter into this place where no one ever faints
Brighter than the light of a thousand suns
Where time has no place and eternity’s just begun
Where every part of me is one with every part of you
And the glory falls and covers me like the morning dew
I am whole and complete, here before the mercy-seat
I am refreshed and restored where my mercies are replete
Oh God in heaven take me to this place
Where I forever look unto your face
Tears of joy and wholeness rise in me
Waters from the saints that are deeper than the sea
Only in this place do I truly belong
Forever singing heaven’s Holy song
Suddenly I am back from whence I came
But this I know, I shall never be the same
And the memory of His presence lingers on
My heart is full, tis food to dwell upon
This hunger and this thirst is part of me
Longing to be adrift once more, in that eternal sea
Oh take me to that place that is my home
Where I shall dwell eternally before thy throne
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 18, 2016
If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not. (Jer 14:18)
Famine and drought plague the land. The spiritually dead are everywhere. And where they are not dead they are sick with the famine. And yet in the midst of this the prophets and the priests cry out to a willingly blind people that peace and prosperity lie just ahead of them. They say that they are enriched yet the very riches they have gathered to themselves have shut up the skies.
Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart…….. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem.(Jer 14:14-16)
Those who follow the blind prophets, who willingly have forsaken spiritual eyes for worldly treasure will suffer the same fate as these blind leaders of the blind. Pray now that the Lord will give you eyes to see that your gold is actually brass. Your peace based on circumstances is an allusion, it is the peace of the world that will be shaken to and fro. The people of the world rely on the rain that falls from the sky and the grass of the field to feed their livestock. How feeble is that peace? How dim is the light from the sparks of a fire of their own making?
Seek now, while it can yet be found, living waters. Let the food of your soul be the Word of God to you. These alone will sustain you. The full effects of the drought and the famine is gripping the necks of the willfully blind like a lion grips the neck of its prey after the chase , just prior to its demise.
Jer 15:11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant;
Even in the midst of great turmoil God’s hand shall remain upon His people. As spiritual darkness falls on every nation, there is a light that dwells in the chests of His children. Even as the world is spiritually ravished and morally bankrupted, the saints of God will fall deeper into the heart of God and will shine like true heavenly gold amidst a wicked and perverse generation.
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Posted by appolus on April 14, 2016
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, poetry, praise, revival, spiritual poetry, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, worship, worship music | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on April 12, 2016
The fire in the furnace reveals Christ in the midst of His people…………….The revelation of God is the fruit of the flame.How many times have we missed the fragrance of God’s presence because we resist the furnace and the tribulation and the suffering before us……We want to be coddled on our way to heaven and have the easy life. We want to make sure that we are going to go to heaven when we die but in the meantime we want to enjoy the pleasures of this world.
There is no revelation of God in following that path. There is no experiencing the fragrance of God’s presence. There is no burning of the bonds that the world has imposed upon us, setting us free to follow the Lord. Yes we walk by faith. But occasionally there are some glorious moments in which God reveals Himself to us. I tell you, this is holy ground. This is an area of sacredness incomparable to anything else this side of glory. (A.W.Tozer)
Has this been your experience? Have you experienced incomparable sacredness and the beauty of Gods holiness as you stood there on Holy ground, or lay there on Holy ground? You see, holy ground is to be found in the midst of the fire. Moses was told to kick of his shoes for he stood on holy ground, the presence of God being right there in the fire. It’s in the fire that Christ comes gloriously to His people in a way that is beyond all comparison. He reaches into the very depths of who you are and He changes everything.
Now not all fires produce this. The fires that produce this kind of change is the fire that is yielded to. In the yielding and submitting to God in the midst of the furnace of our afflictions, the bonds of this world are burned off and we are freed to fly to the throne room of God. It is in the depths of this experience that we are truly changed in the most dramatic of ways. Sanctification, being separated from this world is a yielding voluntary process. When the flesh screams out for justification only yielding to the revealed will of our Lord brings us deeper into sanctification.
There is a reason why the narrow path, the deeper walk is to be found in so few people. Yes,many will be saved but by fire in the end, but those who choose to yield to the fire in the here and now are those whom God truly uses. It is through them that the Lord shines His light which has illuminated the narrow path for 2000 years. Maybe you are a yielder and you have experienced the depths of Christ in your innermost being and it has changed you forever. Yet you look at your life and it seems you have achieved very little. You do not have a large ministry. You are not a preacher nor an evangelist. Your just little old you. You don’t have an easy life and you seem to go from one trial to another. Can I tell you something saint? Inside your broken vessel is the light that shines forth from the darkness of your trials. This is the light of the world and it illuminates the face of Christ to a lost and dying people. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Christian, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 6 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 8, 2016
The next word is that which is best translated, I think, into our English word with which we have become sadly familiar in recent days – a refugee; the essence of this word is that. It means one who has left a region of desolation and found refuge from desolation – a fine thought for Overcomers. It is possible to know spiritual desolation even amongst the people of God, to know desolation of heart even in the Christian Church. So many write to us and speak to us – ‘The place where I attend is a desolation, there is no food, there is no life, it is all barren and dead; what are we to do?’ And that is a Christian church, so called; a Christian circle. Yes, we say it quietly because we do not gloat over that; it is the opposite of that that is in our thought. We have to take note of facts, and these are facts, that there is spiritual desolation today in Christendom and often even in evangelical circles; starvation and death, and the Overcomer, the remnant, are those who have left that region of desolation spiritually and have found food, come into life, into wealth, into spiritual affluence, who have found the realm of heart satisfaction. That is how it was at the beginning.” (T.A.Sparks)
“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever
cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest
they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion
without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless
they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which
they first set out.” — John Wesley
“Preaching truth without the anointing of the Holy Ghost is helping
the devil to damn souls. There’s nothing on earth today so
deadening as preaching without heaven’s anointing. Refrain from
preaching unless you know that the dew of heaven is on your soul.”
— Duncan Campbell
I watched a nature program one time about an African country that had a very short rainy season. Long before the year was over, the rivers had dried up to a series of mere muddy pools. It showed that some of the animals set of in epic journeys to find life sustaining water, most stayed behind and died. God’s saints will find water, they are the few that will get up and seek Him where He shall be found. Those that stay behind slowly die as even the mud holes dry up and the land is scorched and the drought takes it’s toll.
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Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, prophecy, prophet, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 7, 2016
Oh glorious fourth man in the flame
Stand with Him and never be the same
Let the world gaze on and wonder at it all
Standing firm in the furnace, standing tall
There is gold in this refiners fire
In the world you’d be covered by the muck and the mire
Yet in this place of testing and refining
There is one like the Son of God gloriously shining
Do not fear when the enemy knocks upon your door
Nor in the darkened den when you hear the lion roar
The Son of God is coming with lightning in His hand
By His power and by His grace you shall forever stand
So stand amidst the flames and know you shall not fall
Stand upon the rising storm and hear the Master call
Lift your eyes and fix your gaze on Christ and Him alone
Rise up above all earthly fears and stand before His throne
A place where every storm is stilled
A place where every saint is filled
A place that casts out every fear
A place where Jesus Christ is near.
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Posted by appolus on April 5, 2016
Excerpts from David Wilkerson’s prophecy which is now 40 years old.
I see the rise of a super world church. I see the formation of a super world church council consisting of a union between liberal, ecumenical Protestants, and the Roman Catholic Church joining politically hand-in-hand to create one of the most powerful religious forces on earth. This union is going to start as a cooperative charity program and it will end in a political union. This visible super world church is going to be spiritual in name only, freely using the name of Jesus Christ, but will in fact be antichrist and political in many of its activities. This powerful church union will be deeply involved in social action, tremendous charity programs, and ministries of compassion. Its leaders will make statements about meeting human needs. They will send out a call for social action, political intervention, and a greater voice in world affairs.
There is going to be a sudden mysterious chain of events. Just when it appears the ecumenical movement is nearly dead, a rather mysterious chain of events will bring about the framework for this union. Rome is going to insist on and receive concessions from the Protestant ecumenical leaders. The Pope will be considered more of a political than a spiritual leader of this church union.
I see the rise of a super church, a supernatural invisible church, a union of deeply spiritual followers of Jesus Christ, bound together through the Holy Spirit and mutual confidence in Christ and in his word.
This supernatural church of true believers will become a kind of underground church.
While this visible super church(apostate) gains political power this invisible body of believers will grow tremendously in spiritual power.
This power will come from persecution. The persecution madness that is coming upon this earth will drive these Christians closer together and closer to Jesus Christ. They will be less concerned about denominational ties and more concerned and emphasis on the coming of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will bring together as one people in all walks of life.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Eschatology - Study of the 'End Times', Jesus, pentecostal, prophecy, prophet, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 20 Comments »
A Call To The Remnant 