Prophecy fulfilled: Word for the Province of Alberta, Canada

I have a word for Alberta, the province in which I did my high school education. When I was a boy growing up in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, after living my first four years in British Colombia (BC), my parents had an old cabinet radio. They would strain to listen to the news broadcast in the years after Israel became a nation. They were sure Jesus was coming back really soon because Israel was back in their land in 1948. But on Sunday morning they would listen to Christian broadcast from Alberta. It was Premier Earnest Manning, preaching the gospel on a program carried across the country. For many years, Alberta's government was run by godly leaders who governed with integrity and justice, and also shared the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Because they sought first the Kingdom of God in those days and sent out many missionaries around the world from well known Bible Schools like Prairie Bible Institute at Three Hills, God blessed Alberta like no other province. Rich oil deposits were discovered and many wells were dug, giving Albertans great jobs and the government excellent revenue. But Albertans became complacent in their prosperity and eventually opted for more secular leadership. I'm sure many were embarrassed to have their premier (like America's governors) preaching the Bible every Sunday. At any rate, little by little, the leadership changed and little by little Alberta began to lose its financial advantage. Other provinces were able to siphon off some of Alberta's wealth, as the federal government passed laws that demanded that the more prosperous provinces share their blessings with the poorer ones. In recent years with the uncertainty of the oil and gas pipeline projects and other factors affecting oil production and prices, many oil sands jobs and other oil industry jobs have been eliminated. At the same time unfair electoral districting gave Alberta fewer seats in parliament than they should have been awarded when compared to some of the other provinces. This brought about a situation in which Alberta's voice was stifled because, although they voted very Conservative, their votes didn't give them enough seats in parliament to outvote the Liberals. Here's what I heard the Lord say about Alberta: The wells of salvation that were dug in Alberta in the early and mid-1900's will be re-dug again. God remembers the seeds that were planted from Alberta to the other provinces in Canada. Instead of natural oil, God will cause the oil of the Holy Spirit to flow. God has allowed some seasons of difficulty to remind His people that they still need His help. It was He that gave them the power to get wealth. The image of the preacher in handcuffs on the streets has given Alberta a bad rap around the world and the dictatorial methods of the government in handling the Covid crisis have shocked many in different lands, but God is not finished with Alberta yet. Instead, He is raising up many prayer warriors and worshippers that will once again seek first His Kingdom. He is going to replace the old wineskins and raise up a younger generation with passion and a desperation to know Him and experience His awesome power. God is going to allow Alberta to once again become a gospel-sending province. He will uproot and expose evil and corruption in Canada's national government as well as provincial and city governments. I see a vision of Canadian patriots picking up Canadian flags that had fallen to the ground because people have been embarrassed by the direction their leaders were taking them. But now they're picking them up, cleaning them off and proudly waving them again. And then I see the people who are waving the flags looking for Americans with US flags and then waving their flags together in unity and friendship. These patriots will seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and also seek the good of their earthly country. I also see a book and pages are being turned backwards to get back to an earlier time. Then the pages recorded in more recent days are being ripped out of the book. The person or angel ripping them out said that we would pick up where we left off many years ago and write new chapters. That's all for now. Hope to add more later and include other states and provinces. God bless you and love to all!!!!

(Released by Ben Peters a year ago).

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The Sword In Your Mouth

What I’m about to share might seem a little radical or revolutionary, depending on your perspective, but I believe God wants us to understand who we are as His children, His disciples and His army.  For the sake of His Kingdom and its expansion, I want to convince you that you are called to a powerful ministry of swordsmanship.  This revelation came, I believe, for such a time as this.  God is teaching us and preparing us for the battles and victories ahead.

 First, let’s look at the picture given us of Jesus in the book of Revelation.  Revelation 1:13-16 describes our Lord Jesus as he was seen by John the Beloved.  Each aspect of John’s description could merit a message or sermon, but we want to focus on just one aspect found in verse 16. 

 “Out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.”

 Chapter 2, verse 12, says the following:

 “And to the church in Pergamus, write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword.’”

 Chapter 2, verse 16, says:

 “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.”

 Chapter 19, verse 21 says:

 “And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse.”

 Now, let’s look at two passages that deal with the two-edged sword that God puts in our mouths.

 Ephesians 6:17 declares:

 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

 Hebrews 4:12 gives us some great insight.

 “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

 Let’s see if we can connect the dots between these very interesting passages.  But first, let me clearly state two things:

1. As individuals, we are not in any way equal or as powerful as Jesus, nor can we personally accomplish what He accomplished. However, as His body on this earth, we have a high and holy calling to represent Him well and as a team (each doing what we are gifted to do), we are to do what He did and even greater things, (see John 14:12) because we can be filled with His Holy Spirit, just as He was, when He called Himself the Son of Man.

2. The Bible is and always will be the clearly inspired and never-failing written Word of God. We do not add to Scripture or subtract from it. It is the gold-standard of truth and theology. That being said, God has given us a mandate to speak His words as He reveals them to us, just as He gave to the prophets of old. He commanded us twice in I Corinthians 14 to desire, with passion, to prophesy. That’s speaking His words to people who need encouragement, etc. When we do so, we’re not adding to Scripture – we’re obeying Scripture and building up or edifying His body. Read I Corinthians 14:12 in the context of the whole chapter.

 Now, let’s look again at these verses.  In Revelation, our Savior and Lord is extremely majestic and incredibly powerful to the extent that out of His mouth comes a sharp double-edged sword.  This, undeniably refers to His speaking – His words that pierce all those who resist Him.  His words have always been powerful.  Remember how He created all things by the Word of His mouth.

 And now, let’s look again at the passage in Ephesians 6:17.  After putting on all our armor to keep us protected, we put on the helmet of salvation and pick up “The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”  This should always apply first to the written (the Logos), Word of God.  But countless examples in Scripture itself point to the fact that God speaks through other human vessels, besides those who wrote Scripture.  And we are commanded to speak as oracles of God in I Peter 4:11.  The previous verse commands us to use the gifts God has given to each one in order to serve each other and be good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  

 So, here’s what I’m saying, and what I firmly believe.  The sword has two edges.  One edge is the written Word – our Bible.  The other edge is the more spontaneous or prophetic word, like the ones that Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would give them when they needed it, as in when they were hauled before judges and magistrates.  We really need to employ both God’s eternal written Word and Holy Spirit inspired spontaneous words He gives to us for others.

 And now, let’s look at what the author of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 4:12.  Let’s read it again:

 “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

 From Ephesians 6:17, we have already established that the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit.  When Hebrews says it’s sharper than any two-edged sword, he is saying that the Word of God sword is sharper than any natural two-edged sword. 

 And next, the writer of Hebrews tells us why it’s sharper than a natural sword.  The Word of God, unlike a natural sword, can separate the soul and the spirit of man.  No natural sword can do that.  But what does that mean?  God gave me a very practical answer to that question.

 When we speak the Word of God to an individual in an anointed personal prophecy, we are speaking by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit connects with the spirit of the man, woman or child.  Normally, human beings are dominated by their soul, which we believe is their mind, their will and their emotions.  They live and make decisions based on what they think, what they feel or what goals they have.  Their spirit is overpowered and not much involved.  When we reason with them with our intellectual logic or our passionate emotions, we may or may not change their minds, but when the Holy Spirit speaks directly into their life, the Holy Spirit separates their spirit and their minds, pushing the mind, will and emotions into the background and engages directly with their spirit.  The result is not what they expected.  Instead of interacting with their soul, their spirit responds to the Holy Spirit and transformation takes place.  

 My wife, Brenda, and I have seen this scenario play out many thousands of times, but we were never aware of the process that had taken place.  We’ve seen, for example, in one night, two tough, hardened bikers shed tears in response to a prophetic word and change their plans, the one from committing homicide, and the other from committing suicide.   We’ve also seen amazing transforming results in hundreds or even thousands of Christians, who had been taught the hellish doctrine of cessationism.  It’s a doctrine which says that God doesn’t talk to or through people anymore outside of the Bible, and He doesn’t do miracles or signs and wonders anymore.  But when they were confronted by an anointed word from Heaven that discerned the thoughts and intents of their hearts, they suddenly become believers in a living, powerful supernatural God, who could still talk to people and give them supernatural spiritual gifts.  

 To get a better understanding of the separation of joints and marrow, I sought the help of some commentaries on the internet.  The word used for joints could also mean the hard outside of the bone, and the word used for sword here could also refer to a sharp butcher’s or fisherman’s knife, which could cut through the bone and into the marrow.

 The application now is pretty apparent.  The sharp knife can cut through the hard surface of the bone and penetrate into the soft heart of the bone.  People put on a hard front so many times, but the prophetic word gets right down to the tender part of them.  In other words, like the separation of soul and spirit, where the spirit is isolated and addressed, it’s the penetration of the Word of God through the hard shell into the soft part of their heart, or their own spirit.  

 Let’s now make it personal and practical.  Have you obeyed I Corinthians 14, where you are commanded to desire earnestly to prophesy?  If not, you’re free to repent and go for it.  Are you just as willing to pick up the Sword of the Spirit – the Word of God as you are to put on the Helmet of Salvation?  It’s kind of a package deal.  God wants you to obey the whole verse, not just the first half.

WHY?  He wants to speak to people like never before.  People are open because of all the crises.  He wants you to penetrate through the soul and get to the spirit and also cut through the hard shell and get to the soft marrow of their hearts.  You can do it.  Paul said, “You may all prophesy.”  Let’s do it and help Jesus expand His Kingdom into many more hearts in these troubled times.  

Falling Leaves, Falling Leaders

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a thick ground cover of fallen leaves as I’ve seen in recent days in north central California.  The stormy winds and rain, from what they called a bomb cyclone, have brought the colorful autumn leaves down in massive numbers.  I believe that God is reaffirming that many, many leaders that seemed so secure in their high and lofty positions are going to fall to the ground in great numbers because of a monster political and judicial storm that has just begun.  

 I know that many prophets have been saying similar things for weeks and months, but the Holy Spirit unwrapped a special revelation as I was reading Scripture.  I knew He wanted to show me something special and He surely did.  After a few minutes meditating on the truths of a previous Psalm, I landed on Psalm 45.  It didn’t notice the number of the chapter at first, but God started to highlight some of the verses.

 Psalm 45 is a Psalm that is considered by theologians to be a Messianic Psalm, and it certainly is.  The NKJV translators of this Psalm have capitalized all the pronouns, indicating they believe the Psalm is all about Jesus.  However, I had never paid much attention to the introduction to the Psalm or the information in the first verse.  The introduction says it was written by the Sons of Korah, who were worship leaders in the Tabernacle of David.  The first verse says, “I recite my composition concerning the King.”

 Prophetic Scripture is often clothed in mystery, as to where it stops talking about a living person or a current situation, and when it starts talking about the Messiah or other future people or events.  Many times, it’s talking about both at the same time.  This song written by the Sons of Korah is like that.  

 At any rate, I suddenly realized that the primary person being talked about and praised in this psalm is King David.  I could see clearly how that would apply, while at the same time it was prophetic of King Jesus.  But then I felt the Holy Spirit saying that it was also applicable to a current American leader with the initials DJT.  Some prophets had already compared him to David.  It was then that I noticed the number of the chapter.  It was the number of DJT’s presidency.  And just as Isaiah 45 talks about Cyrus, but not every verse applies to DJT, so Psalm 45 talks about King David, but not every verse there applies to Trump either.  

 A few days after receiving the revelation that Psalm 45 could apply to Donald Trump, I heard the Holy Spirit give me the following revelation:  Donald Trump will have two terms.  In his first term he was a Cyrus, encouraging God’s people to reclaim their God-given possessions – the biblical foundations of our nation.  His second term, he will rule as a David.  He will have an intimate relationship with God, defeat all his enemies, and will help usher in a new era of worship of our awesome Father in Heaven.  

 There are many relevant verses in Psalm 45, and I encourage every reader to study this Psalm, but let me focus on verses 3-5.  Here they are:

 “Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your glory and Majesty.  And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.  Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; THE PEOPLES FALL UNDER YOU.”

 “GIRD YOUR SWORD UPON YOUR THIGH.”  A few weeks ago, a Canadian prophet, Barry Wunsch, spoke on Elijah Streams.  His prophetic word was entitled, “DJT - Draw Your Sword!”  This Psalm 45 verse confirms his message from Heaven.  

 “O MIGHTY ONE.”  If the Sons of Korah could call David, “O Mighty One,” then I believe we can also apply it to our true president.  It’s been a long time since we’ve had a president that was as fearless and powerful as Donald Trump.  

 “RIDE PROSPEROUSLY.”  David was encouraged by this Psalm 45 to ride prosperously.  President Trump had an incredibly prosperous ride for three years and he will continue after the current hurdles and obstacles are overcome.  

Psalm 45 also talks about truth, humility, and righteousness.  

 TRUTH:  While some would debate whether these traits all apply to DJT, we have observed that he likes to say whatever he thinks rather than being politically correct and saying what people want to hear.  

 A politician one told me that “It only takes two things to succeed in politics – honesty and integrity.  And when you’ve learned to fake those, you’ve got it made.”

 HUMILITY:  DJT also actually manifests more humility in small groups and individual encounters than other leaders who appear honest and righteous in public appearances.  He listens with patience and concern when people talk to him.  His 

 RIGHTEOUSNESS:  Furthermore, Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime that promised to “Drain the Swamp.” He also has stood up for freedom of speech for pastors and encouraged us to say, “Merry Christmas!” after progressives had tried to change our greetings to “Happy Holidays!” etc.  He has also repeatedly said, “We don’t worship government, we worship God.”  

 Trump’s right hand has taught him many things.  The root meaning of the word for “teach” is Yaw-Raw, which has to do with a flow or the shooting of an arrow.  This goes along with the next line, which says, 

 “YOUR ARROWS ARE SHARP IN THE HEART OF THE KING’S ENEMIES.”  There is no doubt DJT’s words have pierced the hearts of those who inhabit the swamp that he is trying to drain.  

 But it’s the last part of verse 5 that really got my attention.  

 “THE PEOPLES FALL UNDER YOU.”  

 In the past several weeks, we have seen the popularity of Joe Biden fall from fairly positive to very negative.  A very insulting chant was reinterpreted to say, “Let’s go Brandon,” which has become a top ranked rap song.  It was followed up by three other songs by the same title, all of which hit the top 10 songs on the popularity charts.  

 The top-ranked virus pandemic guru, meanwhile, has fallen from a very high and lofty place in the minds of Americans to a position of shame and contempt after some of his heartless lab experiments with Beagle puppies have been publicized.  “Arrest Fauci!” was the trending slogan on social media.  

 A number of left-wing political leaders find their positions are not as secure as they thought.  Some are resigning, rather than running again, including a Republican from Illinois, Adam Kinzinger, who voted to impeach DJT.  Those who made themselves his enemies are finding his arrows are sharper than they expected.  Those he endorses find themselves growing quickly in popularity and favor with the people.  

 The November 2, 2021, elections in Virginia and New Jersey shocked the nation as more leaders fell from their lofty perches.  The New Jersey race was supposed to be a “walk in the park” for the liberal Democrat, but turned out to be a nail-biter.  The Virginia race featured the dramatic awakening of parents reacting to the big government mentality of the leftist Democratic Party leaders.  It clearly exposed to the whole country that our education system has been taken over by radical atheistic socialists and globalists, who are intentionally indoctrinating our children.  This awakening will affect future elections across the nation.  It will certainly precipitate the fall from power of many more political leaders.

 Part of the devilish, leftist strategy is to distract us from the one thing the left fear the most.  It’s not failure to pass their social programs, or bad publicity from disasters like Afghanistan or the southern border.  The one thing they fear more than any other thing is the return of the leader who does not fear them and has threatened to drain their swamp.  They will do everything in their power to keep him out of the White House.  Knowing the nation can’t easily focus its attention on many different issues, they are choosing their poison by allowing all kinds of other crises to keep the media from talking about the fact that there is a huge pile of evidence that our 2020 election was stolen.  

 However, the seemingly invincible coalition of evil is beginning to unravel, and our enemies have begun to destroy each other.  Atheist, Bill Maher, is chastising the left for its nonsensical policies regarding the vaccine mandates.  He doesn’t seem to realize that there could be a much more sinister purpose for these mandates.  The truth will come out soon.  

 Truth and freedom seekers and a variety of red-blooded patriots are rising up and taking their stands.  It’s a beautiful thing to see.  But the most beautiful of all is to connect with the early signs of a spiritual awakening in America and in the rest of the world.  This Great Awakening will be the most glorious that the world has ever seen.  It is being coordinated with all the crises and conflicts that have caused us to call on God like never before in our lifetimes.  It will result in the greatest spiritual harvest ever and will be funded by a miraculous and overwhelming transfer of wealth from the wicked to the righteous.  

 We’re not talking about years from now.  It is here and it has begun.  Keep your ears to the wind and your eyes on the skies.  Jesus is going to visit this planet by a powerful move of the Holy Spirit, which will prepare the way for the other end time events prophesied in Scripture.  It’s in His most capable hands, and He will reveal more when we need to know more.  For today, His focus is on the harvest, and we will be blessed to participate in that. 

 We live in very exciting times.  They are very painful times for many, but we will see the body of Christ coming together and helping one another.  We will become a powerful force for God to use in this most glorious harvest season.  Let’s be alert and ready for action.  God will not waste these many crises.  He knew what was coming and He is very ready for His response.  We’re going to see His glory and the knowledge of that glory will cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea.

The Perfect Storm in the 7-Mountain Takeover

The Perfect Storm

Recently, God spoke to me regarding a great convergence of Heaven and Earth that He has been preparing. This convergence will produce His perfect storm, totally overpowering and obliterating the results of the current 'perfect storm' with which the enemy has assaulted us. This storm will involve both what happens on the ground and what happens in the heavenly realm.

Isaiah 64:1-3 (NKJV) was the chief Scriptural inspiration for this word and vision God gave me:

"Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence—as fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence! When you did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, the mountains shook at Your presence."

The 7 Mountains, a Shaking and a Downpour

For those of you who are not familiar with the 7 Mountains of Culture, they have most often been categorized as the following:

1. FAMILY
2. RELIGION
3. EDUCATION
4. GOVERNMENT
5. ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
6. MEDIA
7. BUSINESS

I was teaching on the shaking of these seven mountains, when the Holy Spirit spoke to me: "I won't only shake the mountains...I will also open the heavens and pour out the mighty rain of My Spirit. The mountains will shake and quake, but at the same time, the rain will come down from Heaven and loose the dirt and mud covering My mountains."

At that point, the revelation jumped out at me—THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS OF CULTURE ARE HIS MOUNTAINS. He created every single one of them for our benefit. These mountains, perfectly beautiful and majestic, were created to bring order and structure to His people. However, sin and sinful men and women have covered God's beautiful mountains with the dirt of this world, camouflaging them with artificial greenery. 

Then I got the picture of these mountains shaking from underneath, while being washed with great revival rains from above. The result was a powerful mudslide that cascaded down the mountain like an avalanche, followed by more and more cleansing rain—thus revealing the original beauty of God's majestic mountains.

Next, God reminded me of Isaiah 2:2:

"Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established at the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it."

God spoke to me, then, about the connection between the phrase "latter days" and the discussion of the mountains. It wasn't until recent decades, within these 'latter days,' that anyone talked about the Seven Mountains of Society. I felt the Holy Spirit was saying that this Scripture was specifically prophetic of these seven mountains, and that His mountain—His majesty and presence—would rest on the top of each mountain.

This passage in Isaiah 64:1-3 is talking about His presence shaking the mountains, and at the same time, it is also talking about His presence being at the top of these mountains. Thus, my understanding is that these are both latter day prophecies, and are both talking about the same event. The first one we discussed was a prophetic prayer, and the second one was a beautiful, prophetic declaration.

How the Five-Fold Will Impact All 7 Mountains

The verse which follows, which is Isaiah 2:3, gives us an early prophetic picture of the five-fold ministries in the Old Testament, revealing to us how each ministry is to impact culture...I find this fascinating:

"Many people shall come and say, 'Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob...'" (This is the role of the EVANGELIST. He invites people to come to experience God's presence. God is calling for MANY evangelists in these "latter days.")

"...He will teach us His ways..." (God teaches us His ways through His anointed TEACHERS. This 'teacher's anointing' will go to new heights with an ever-increasing anointing.) 

"...and we shall walk in His paths..." (The SHEPHERDS [PASTORS] lead us in paths of righteousness [Psalm 23]. They are anointed to guide, provide and protect.)

"...For out of Zion shall go forth the law..." (It's the APOSTLES who administrate the law or the government of the Kingdom. Apostles will realize more of their responsibilities and authority to empower the other gifts/ministries.)

"...and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (It's the PROPHETS who speak the word of the Lord. The prophets will actually speak more powerful words than ever before, and will help to bring about the 'shaking and the waking.')

It's so important to realize that all of this will take place on every mountain of culture.

A Great Awakening and Shaking in America

It has been said that whoever controls the top of these mountains, controls the direction of the culture. When America was young, especially after her great awakenings, God's people ruled all of these mountains, to some significant extent. Today, we rule none of them. However, God has His plans, and a great convergence of Heaven and Earth will soon manifest, shaking everything that can be shaken. At the same time, a powerful and unprecedented Great Awakening will cause a cleansing of these crucial mountains of culture.

God will not be outdone by His enemy's storm of global evil. God's perfect storm will decimate the fragile structures of wickedness, replacing them with His glorious structures of faith and righteousness in our culture and society.

The Blessings of Being 'In Him'

If you've ever led people to salvation in Jesus Christ, you've probably invited them to ask Jesus to come into their heart. As Paul wrote in Colossians 1:27, Christ IN US is the hope of glory. Thus, it is perfectly appropriate to pray for Jesus to come into our hearts. But today, God is saying that He also wants to invite us into HIS HEART. It's an incredible invitation!

In His heart are the secrets of the universe and the plans and strategies He has for our future and His Kingdom. It's where we learn about what He loves and what He hates. But, not only that, the Scriptures inform us that there are many incredible and powerful blessings when we find ourselves IN HIM. The fact that He wants to invite us into His heart should overwhelm us with both great gratitude and off-the-charts excitement.

In John 17, Jesus prayed that His disciples would be one. In verse 21, Jesus prayed, "[T]hat they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one IN US, so that the world may believe that You sent Me." This is the first incredible promise for those who are in unity because they are together IN GOD. The promise here is that we will have the power to enable the world to believe that Jesus was sent to Earth by His Father God. In other words, we will have the power of God flowing through us in such a way that unbelievers will become Believers; cursers will become worshipers; the hopeless will find hope in Him.

Blessings in Him

What, then, are some of the other blessings that caused Paul to declare in Philippians 3:8-9 that he considered everything he had ever achieved before knowing Jesus to be rubbish or dung, and a total loss, in order to gain Christ and be found IN HIM? The first thing Paul mentions is that he would gain the righteousness of God by faith in exchange for his own righteousness. He knew this was a total win for him and worth every possible sacrifice and earthly loss. That's exchanging filthy, stinking robes of the flesh for glorious and beautiful robes of royalty. Come on now, that's truly the deal of a lifetime!

In verse 10, Paul adds several more benefits of being found in Him. The first is the privilege of knowing Him. We often like to brag, or name drop, that we know a famous person or two. Paul desired to know the Creator and Savior of the world. He knew that being found IN HIM was the way to get to know Him. Paul then adds that being IN HIM would help him know or experience the "power of His resurrection." That's more than a little power. I believe it's not only the power that raised Jesus from the dead, but also the power He received from His Father when He was raised.

Finally, Paul added a privilege only those who know Jesus in deep intimacy will appreciate. He declares that being IN JESUS would enable him to know or experience the "...fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" (Philippians 3:10). Paul knew that the greater the death to self he experienced, the greater the resurrection power he could be trusted with. 

Even today, we have observed that most people, who are being powerfully used by God, have experienced times of extreme suffering, where they had to die to their own desires and ambitions and embrace the cross that they had been called to bear. But today, people like Heidi and Rolland Baker, and so many others, are doing incredible things for God through the power of His resurrection, because they have experienced the "fellowship of His sufferings."

Let's now visualize the two concepts:

1) Christ IN ME.
2) Me IN CHRIST.

If Christ is just IN ME

A. He goes with me wherever I go.
B. He is hidden, while I am seen.
C. He is dependent on me to listen to His advice while I make the decisions.

If I am IN CHRIST

A. I go wherever He goes.
B. I am hidden, while He is seen.
C. He is in charge and makes the decisions.

Now think of this picture. If I am inside my house, I am protected from storms, heat, cold and intruders. I also have provisions stored up, available at any time. Outside, I am vulnerable.

Here is another picture: David often talked about God being his High Tower – a place of protection and safety. You have to be IN HIM to be protected.

And here is one more picture: An unborn baby in the womb. The babe is not only protected, but it is also nourished by the mother. In Christ, we are both protected and nourished.

Now here are two very familiar verses:

Romans 8:1. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are IN CHRIST JESUS, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Paul knew that to be hidden in Christ Jesus meant that the arrows of condemnation from the evil one could not reach him, hidden inside his great Commander-in-Chief. He adds that those who are hidden in Christ Jesus will walk according to the Spirit, rather than the flesh, because they are IN HIM and walk where He walks as He leads by His Spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is IN CHRIST, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold all things have become new." Notice it's not those who just have CHRIST IN THEM, their hope of glory, but those who are IN CHRIST. If we find ourselves still doing the undesirable things we used to do, it's time to pursue being IN CHRIST.

In summary, I am making the point that I am missing out on incredible blessings if I am content with having CHRIST IN ME, and not pursuing being IN CHRIST, like Paul did.

All Things Are in Him

We've just scratched the surface when it comes to passages talking about being in Christ. Ephesians, for instance, is full of rich expressions of the blessings of being in Christ. But let's just highlight Ephesians 1:10, a powerful verse that reveals God's eternal purpose for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. 

"[T]hat in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things IN CHRIST, both which are in Heaven and which are on Earth – IN HIM." (Emphasis mine.)

The Father, in order to fully honor His Son, Jesus Christ, made plans for everything in Heaven and Earth to be contained in Him. That's a huge WOW! And we get to be in Him now.

This is what I'm hearing from the Father: "The hour has come in which I will open wide My arms and My heart to all who are weary and frustrated with the warfare they face, trying to overcome the enemy and his tests, trials and temptations. My arms and My heart will be open wide, and My Spirit will draw you like a powerful magnet deep into the secret places of My heart. Truly, you can never exhaust the depths of My heart, but I am inviting you to try. It will become your greatest adventure, and in it you will discover the richest treasures in the secret chambers of My heart, and a place of complete rest in your soul.

"I will fight your battles for you, and you will rejoice in My victories over your enemies. If you count the cost and compare it with the reward, the cost will seem like nothing and the reward will overwhelm your heart with joy. For you in Me and I in you is the secret of love and joy and power."

How Do You Pursue Being in Him?

So how do you pursue being in Him? Like Paul said, he was willing to forsake his entire resume in order to know God. Simply seek Him with all your heart and say "YES, LORD!" to His every request. It's asking forgiveness when we fail and determining that the pearl of great price is worth any cost. Yes, it's pretty much that simple. If you want to make it more official, write out a simple covenant with God and sign it. Then keep it in a place where you'll see it often.

Remember that God knows your frailty, but His Holy Spirit will empower you to do exploits for Him. I hope to see you IN HIM!

God Is Saying: Rebuild My Temple

The Burden of Having No Burden

The most decisive moment in my life came just weeks before my nineteenth birthday. The setting was my dorm room at Canadian Bible College in Regina, Saskatchewan. Eight students had gathered for a monthly prayer meeting. The college had scheduled these dorm room gatherings to give us the opportunity to encourage and pray for each other. I remember only two details of that meeting.

The first thing I remember is that one of the upperclassmen was in charge. He went around the room asking us if we had any burdens. That was short for, "We need some prayer requests to pray for."

The second thing I remember was that the Holy Spirit convicted me, showing me that I really didn't have any burdens. I loved Bible college. My family were all healthy and on their way to Heaven. I was pretty much carefree and only thinking about the next activity on the calendar. I knew God cared about people who were broken, lost, sick and dying, and I knew I should care more about other people and not just my own happiness.

Going around the room, the leader finally got to me, and asked me. I had to quickly decide if I was going to save face and think of something to pray for, or if I was going to be honest with my peers. With God's help, these words popped out of my mouth: "My burden is that I don't have one."

I don't remember a single thing said after that, or how they reacted. My heart was broken and under conviction, and all I wanted to do was go somewhere where I could be alone and pray. One thing I do know, however, is that my life has never been the same.

A Deep Burden for Revival

What followed that event was a thousand times more than I anticipated or even asked for. God began to wake me up well before the dorm bells rang at 6:00 AM. In case this sounds strange – this was back in 1965. Bible colleges were deeply committed to training disciples and not just supplying an education. We had thirty minutes to use the washrooms, followed by thirty minutes in our dorms to have our private devotions with our roommates. Student monitors were empowered to report us if we were out of our rooms during devotion time. Breakfast was served at 7:00 AM.

I quickly discovered that this schedule would not work for me. My heart was craving time alone with God. My roommate was not Pentecostal, and I needed to pray out loud and let my emotions get involved. I started getting up well before 6:00 AM. As quickly as I could get ready, I walked over to the administration building, which housed our cafeteria, chapel, classrooms and offices. Beneath the chapel were several small piano practice rooms for voice and piano students. One of these little rooms became my prayer closet for many weeks and months.

I had asked God for a burden, but never anticipated the power of the burden to radically change my life. The piano bench became my altar, and the Book of Acts became my daily bread. I normally read through the twenty-eight chapters every two days. I can't even write about it now without tears, just remembering how tears poured down on my Bible as I wept for God to do again what He had done in that wonderful manifestation recorded in His holy Word. 

Yes, God gave me a burden, but not just for a few individuals. It was an enormous and deep burden for revival. I saw the Church as a powerful sleeping giant, unaware of the power God had given it. Morning after morning, tears stained my Bible as I knelt at that piano bench, pouring out my soul under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I know there were a number of times that I could hear the students' lively chatter as they arrived in the cafeteria for breakfast while I was still in deep intercession, weeping for revival.

I'd never fasted or even studied the subject, nor had I ever skipped breakfast, but the thought of leaving that sweet place of intimacy for mere physical food was not a bit appetizing to me. I would spend another forty-five minutes before classes, reading and praying and crying out to God to bring revival. I wanted to see that Book of Acts happen again in my day.

God heard my prayer and granted me to see a partial fulfillment of it. A few years later, an amazing revival hit our city, although not like the Book of Acts. However, in 1973, I was privileged to visit Argentina with an older man of God. We saw hundreds of incredible miracles and about a thousand souls saved in six glorious weeks. They that sow in tears do reap in joy. Praise God!

Back to my personal revival. When my burden would finally lift, an overwhelming joy would flood my soul and carry me through the day of classes and activities. I found all the fruit of the Holy Spirit manifesting like I'd never experienced before. Even the attitude of an angry roommate couldn't take away my joy. Instead, I had compassion and pity for him. He was going to graduate that year and was still carrying a lot of baggage.

It was during these months of revival that God also connected me with a beautiful girl named Brenda Pinkerton, who was hungry for more of God. I was overflowing with the need to share what God was doing in my life. We were a great fit, and have been now for almost fifty-five years.

It was decades later that God highlighted an amazing passage to me that encapsulated the burden that God had given me. Here it is:

"Now David said, 'Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord MUST BE EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT, FAMOUS AND GLORIOUS throughout all countries. I will now make preparation for it.' So, David made abundant preparations before his death." (1 Chronicles 22:5 emphasis mine)

David, the "man after God's own heart," had a passion to build a temple for God's presence, as described in verse 19 in his instructions to Solomon, his son.

"Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy articles of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lord." (1 Chronicles 22:19) 

Building God's Temple

Watching a recent Christian TV program, I heard a lady testify that without any history of a walk with God, she heard the audible voice of God saying, "Rebuild My temple." This happened a number of times to her until she became a radical minister of the good news of Jesus Christ. She is now fulfilling that calling.

The first physical temple, built by Solomon, was indeed exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all nations. The Bible tells us all about it in 2 Chronicles 9. But it was destroyed and later rebuilt and then destroyed again. Many believe it will be rebuilt once more for Jesus' reign on the earth. However, the natural temple is just the pattern or type of the spiritual temple not made with hands. The Church must remember that Paul said that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

The early Church, described in the Book of Acts, was the FIRST MANIFESTATION OF THE HOUSE OF GOD that was exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout the whole earth. We are now coming to those glorious days that I prayed for fifty-five years ago, where once again, God's true and living temple will be EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT, FAMOUS and GLORIOUS throughout the WHOLE EARTH.

The truly magnificent Church is a Church where God's presence manifests in power, with signs, wonders and miracles. It's a Church where nobody leaves the way they came in. It's a Church that doesn't tolerate sin...remember Ananias and Sapphira? It's a Church filled with love for God and for each other. It's a Church which attracts the crowds of curiosity seekers, the addicts, the prostitutes, the homeless, the politicians and entertainers. Every hungry heart will be fed, and the temple of the Lord will be famous for its power and glory, not for its dead religion. Let's be the Davids and the Solomons working together to build that glorious temple for our God!

David (representing my older generation) made abundant preparation for Solomon (representing today's younger generation) by gathering great quantities of building materials. We ought to be very excited about preparing our natural and spiritual sons and daughters, who will be building this magnificent edifice (God's temple) to the glory of God.

How do we prepare for the building of this temple? We should start by supporting the youth in our lives and spheres of influence – praying earnestly for them to hear God's voice and become builders of this temple, and helping them get the training they need with every kind of practical and spiritual help we can give them.

We can prophesy to them their value and potential. We can support the current revival movement leaders such as Sean Feucht, Mario Murillo and many others, who are reaching the lost and waking up the Church. And we can do so much more...all we need is the vision of a Church that is truly MAGNIFICENT, FAMOUS AND GLORIOUS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH. Let's declare and decree it today!

Exchanging Your Wilderness for His Glorious Garden

A Desolate Desert

I sat down at my computer desk, knowing God wanted me to write, but not knowing exactly what. I opened my Bible to Isaiah 35. I've taught and preached and written book chapters on this passage for many years, but God suddenly opened my eyes to an application that's so needed today. In a nutshell, here's what God was speaking to me.

Verses 1 and 2 of Isaiah 35 talk about the wilderness and the desert blossoming like a rose, etc., and verses 5-7 talk about the miracles that will occur when we obey the commands of verses 3 and 4. These two verses command us to encourage one another, especially the weak and fearful, which we often do through anointed and love-filled prophetic ministry. I've taught that for decades. My focus has been on how true biblical prophecy precedes the miracles throughout Scripture. And, yes, I still believe that with all my heart.

In these turbulent days, weeks and months, my focus has been on our pressing need to stand in unity against the ferocious and demonic political and cultural storms we've been going through. We know that our enemy is trying to break us down so that he can take over our culture completely and usher in his agenda. Yes, God is calling His people, His remnant, His Ekklesia, together as the one army of God, ready to fight His battles to help save our nation and the nations of our world. 

In this passage what I see now is that both as individuals and as a society as a whole, we have been living in a spiritual wilderness – a desolate desert. But here's the hot-off-the-press, fresh revelation that I'm hearing for the Church of the living God!

"I Am Turning Your Wilderness Into a Garden"

"I am about to turn your wilderness into the Garden of the Lord, with both beauty and great fruitfulness. I will reattach every thirsty branch to the Vine. I will surely allow My Spirit to flow into you and through you. YOU WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT!

"It will be the natural result of being attached to My Heart, where you can feel the rhythm of My heartbeat. The fruit will feed the hungry souls around you. It will all feel so natural, and you won't feel proud and eager to draw people to yourself, because you will know that you were just the vessel that I flowed through.

"I am about to reveal Myself to the world until 'the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth, as the waters cover the sea.' I am going to do unprecedented miracles, especially in places that have not known My name or My power. 

"I Have Chosen You"

"Don't put Me in a box! Don't say it can't be done! Have I not declared that I would do a new thing, and that it would suddenly spring forth? Therefore, search My Word, and ask Me to do again what I have done before, and then to do even more than that, because I promised this to My disciples, before they became apostles (John 14:12).

"Now, I ask you, are you are not also My disciples? For I desire to also send you, as I sent My chosen ones before I returned to My Father in Heaven. They turned the spiritual desert of Jerusalem into a spiritually beautiful garden, where My name was exalted and My Ekklesia prospered, even under the persecution of religious rulers. But, like them, you will have no fear, for My perfect love will surely cast away all fear from your hearts, and you will truly blossom like a beautiful rose in My glorious garden.

"You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you. Simply rejoice in what I have done for you and allow Me to graft you deep into My heart. I will use you, and I will save America and use her to nurture and nourish My Bride around the world. I love you!"

THE REST by Ben Peters

THE REST

The Spirit of God is hovering over His church, powerfully and graciously wooing her and leading her into the place of rest, which Hebrews 4 declares is available to all of His children.  This invitation to this seemingly mystical rest is increasing in its intensity.

The phrase, “The Rest,” has two different meanings.  One meaning is: “that which remains,” as in “The Rest of the Story.”   The other meaning is “stopping our work and getting refreshed.”  But “The Rest” of Hebrews 4 involves both.  Hebrews 4:9 declares, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.”  Thus, Scripture is telling us that there is more – the rest – of what God has given us that we need to possess.  In other words, WE NEED TO POSSESS THE REST OF WHAT GOD HAS FOR US, WHICH IS THE REST.

Israel had some amazing blessings in the wilderness, which followed an amazing victory over Egypt, but the greatest blessings had not yet been claimed and “The Rest” of their blessings were still waiting for them.

The word, “REST,” in both Hebrew and Greek actually means, “ABODE,” which, I believe, has huge significance for the church today.  This rest is more than just stopping work, but also being able to fully enjoy possessions.  Israel did not enter into their “Abode” because of unbelief.   The Promised Land was their “Abode.”   

It’s like getting to go home when you’ve been on a long trip.  You don’t really rest until you get to your own house and your own bed, etc.  We’ve stayed in some nice motels and hotels, as well as some very nice homes on the road, but we don’t really completely rest until we get home to what is our own, as humble as it may be.  Our soul longs for that complete emotional rest that only comes when we are where we feel we can be totally ourselves.

Our rest in God is something like that.  We may know we have eternal life, but not fully possessing what He has provided for us.  He wants us to be led into the fullness of His promises and go in to possess the land that has been waiting for us. 

The King James Version translates Hebrews 4:11 this way:  “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

The word, “labor,” actually means “do it quickly and diligently.”  Israel’s sin of unbelief caused them to delay action, which led them to wander in the wilderness without entering their rest for forty years.  When God is ready to bless you, take quick action and trust Him completely. 

Israel had possession of their freedom from slavery.  It was much better than slavery, but God wanted to give them the fullness of His blessing in their own land. They missed out because of fear and unbelief.  Fear and unbelief always partner to rob us and to rob God.

What we may miss when we read Hebrews 4 is the application for the church.  Even as Israel, under Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had possessed the land of Canaan for three generations, so the church was in possession of its territory in the early days of their history.  Whereas “Natural Israel” was given a natural piece of land to possess, “Spiritual Israel,” the church, was given a spiritual territory to possess.  That wonderful gift was the fulness of the manifested presence of God, which produced incredible fruit and power, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.  The spiritual fruit was the amazing level of unselfishness and generosity.  The power was miracles of healing, deliverance and raising the dead, resulting in thousands of souls saved. 

This was the Promised Land of the early church.  Jesus gave them the promise repeatedly in John 14-17 and then again in Acts 1:8, when He told them they would receive power after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, causing them to be witnesses at home and abroad. 

Israel had lost their possessions for over 400 years before they were able to reclaim it through many battles in their Promised Land.  In like manner, the church had lost its possessions for over a thousand years, and it has taken several hundred years, beginning with the Reformation to get to where we are today in reclaiming our spiritual possessions.  Like Joshua, before his death, I believe Jesus, whose Hebrew name is actually Joshua, is calling the church to finish taking back their possessions from the enemy.  He wants to strike a death blow to false doctrines, such as Cessationism, which claims that miracles are not for today, by demonstrating His power and might to the nations.

Are we, His church, ready to go in and possess our inherited “Abode?”

I hear the voice of God exhorting us:  “Go in and possess the land.  I gave it to you 2000 years ago.  Don’t fear the giants in the land, whether they be religious, political or leaders from any mountain of society.  I have given them into your hands.  Just listen and obey.  When I tell you to march around Jericho seven times, do it.  Trust me and I will show you my right hand of power.  Did I not instruct Joshua to be strong and of a good courage?   So now, I am instructing My church.  Rise up and possess your possessions, so you can truly enter into your perfect rest.  Only then, can I demonstrate to the lost, how much I love them and how mighty a God I AM.  Listen and obey, and I will use you to build My Kingdom.

Ben Peters

ohmint@gmail.com

GETTING GOD'S ATTENTION AND FAVOR IN 2018 by Ben & Brenda Peters

Greetings Friends,

It’s been too long since my last letter.  I’ve posted a lot on Facebook, but realize that not everyone is on Facebook.  Please forgive me.  Life, as usual, has been a bit crazy.

For those who haven’t heard, Brenda slipped on an unseen curb coming out of church, going into the parking lot.  She fell and twisted her foot and ankle.  X-rays showed a couple of small bone chips or fractures in her foot in two different places, plus the ankle was sprained.  We’ve had hundreds of people praying for her and she is walking, or limping on it.  She got through some last minute shopping and all the Christmas gatherings.  She’s not without pain or discomfort and the foot has turned black and blue, but she’s thankful that she can still function and didn’t have to have a hard cast.  We do appreciate continued prayer for her.

We are expecting twin boys to be born in the next few days, now that they are over 37 weeks old in the womb.  I call them womb-mates.  We’re looking forward to seeing them and Kimberley is looking forward to carrying them outside the womb.

Our schedule keeps us busy with personal ministry, writing, babysitting, etc.  We have a few meetings scheduled in early 2018, but we’re wanting to stay pretty close to home most of the time to help with these twins.

Here’s my New Years Message, which will also go on Facebook.

HOW TO GET GOD’S ATTENTION AND FAVOR

Brenda and I just watched an episode of Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural, with guest James Maloney.  We were impacted heavily by his testimony and message. 

What stood out the most was the fact that having already had an amazing miracle ministry, God brought him to a place of greater brokenness and humility, where he now has more compassion and more faith for the impossible.  He has found that he also has instant access to the heavenly realm and the manifested presence of God and angelic assistance.

The important point I want to make, which is confirmed all throughout Scripture is this:  God isn’t looking to see how great our accomplishments are, how big our ministries are, how skillful we are in interpreting Scripture, etc.  What He is looking for is a broken and contrite heart. 

Isaiah 57 tells us He dwells in a high and loft place with the person who has a contrite and humble spirit. 

Psalm 51 tells us that a broken and contrite heart He will not despise. 

Isaiah 66 says that God will notice and pay attention to “him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,” rather than someone who has built Him a beautiful temple or palace. 

James 4 tells us God resists the proud but gives grace (or favor) to the humble. 

Jesus taught us that the sinner asking for mercy would have more favor than the Pharisee who had meticulously kept the letter of the law. 

MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

I can think of no greater New Year’s Resolution than to resolve to seek His face and ask Him to give us that place of brokenness and humility before Him.  The promises and rewards of brokenness and humility are so incredible that any sacrifice would be worth it to receive the benefits that are promised to us.  After all, David told us in Psalm 103 not to forget all His benefits.

Both Brenda and I have experienced these benefits following times of deep brokenness before God.  We share these experiences in some of our books.  Without these intense and exhilarating experiences, we would not have the ministry we have today.  But how easy it is to forget the true source of God’s favor and blessings, and begin to think in terms of a performance mentality.  We begin to look at our accomplishments and giftings and compare ourselves with others, which God says is not wise. 

The good news is that we don’t have to go through major pain and suffering to humble ourselves and find that place of brokenness.  We can ask for a revelation of Jesus through His Word and the Holy Spirit.  He can show us where we fall short and yet how great His love is for us.  We can ask for His heart and confess our own selfishness and pride.  His Holy Spirit will convict us if we ask Him to. 

More good news:  Being humble and broken before the Lord doesn’t mean we go around sad and mournful.  Just the opposite.  My experience is that immediately after an hour or two of carrying the burden or heart of the Lord in intercessory prayer, the joy of the Lord would flood my soul and His love and peace carried me through the day with victory and vigor for life.  The fruit of the Holy Spirit flowed out of my life like a river, and I knew it wasn’t me.  I was living in a supernatural realm I had never known before.  For more details, read “Humility and How I Almost Achieved it.”  E-book downloads are free on many e-readers.  Write me if you want more information. 

My personal and glorious revival followed one simple act of humility and obedience, and the long-term result is over 50 years of ministry, where God has provided all our needs, over 20 revelatory books written, over 20 international ministry trips and tens of thousands of hearts touched with the love of the Father.  Brenda’s testimony is similar, but different as yours probably is as well.

Let’s believe for God’s grace to empower us to keep our New Years Resolution throughout 2018 and the rest of our lives.  God isn’t looking at our performance record.  His eyes are searching for humble and broken hearts who feel His pain for souls without Christ and kids without food or clean water to drink, etc., not to mention those that are slaughtered in the womb.  May God take us lower so that He can lift us up and powerfully use us without our pride and selfishness getting in the way and messing things up.

There is so much more we could say, but this is getting too long.

Have a very blessed New Year with family, friends and with souls you will have impacted for eternity.

Much love,

Ben and Brenda Peters

DEFINING HOLINESS by Ben & Brenda Peters

Dear Friends,

There has been a certain amount of discussion on the subject of holiness recently in some circles we are involved with.  I'm going to share my thoughts below if you want to know my understanding and definition of holiness.  As mentioned below, I've written a book called, Holy How, on Holiness, The Sabbath, Communion, and Baptism.  Downloads can be made for free on several e-readers.

Here's the article:  DEFINING HOLINESS

The word, “holiness,” is used frequently by many streams of Christianity.  Most preachers and Bible teachers assume everyone pretty much knows what the word means.  Of course, we know that there are a variety of Christian groups and denominations that have set their own standards for their people, which, if kept, their people can be called holy.

Growing up in a “Holiness” minded family, Holiness meant being different or separate from the world, and not doing anything the world did that we didn’t basically do in church or our Christian homes.  That included: smoking or chewing tobacco, drinking alcohol, dancing, going to movies, gambling (including with marbles), secular music, and of course all moral indecency or inappropriate dress.  My parents even had convictions about going to doctors and trusting Jesus for all healing.  I told my teacher that my family doctor was Jesus.  The school was sure we were Jehovah’s Witnesses, but we were not.  But other religious groups forbid women from cutting their hair, wearing makeup or jewelry, or men from wearing ties.

As a pastor, I preached on holiness, without ever questioning what holiness really meant.  I preached against a number of things, including all rock music, which of course applied to Christian rock.  I assumed all secular music was “unholy.”  Through various situations and the softening of my heart, I began to accept the concept of stronger rhythm in Christian music.

As I grew older, I began to ask the question:  What makes an activity a “worldly” activity that Christians should avoid.  Was it our religious tradition, or was there a real Biblical and spiritual reason to not do certain things.  For instance, the consumption of alcohol or tobacco.  I always knew there were social and physical dangers of these activities, but overeating and poor food choices could be just as dangerous.   But I had a much deeper and a more intense hatred for the first two activities than I did for the latter. 

I do believe I had inherited some religious spirits from my natural and spiritual ancestors.  I still have to fight those spirits, which make me want to judge and criticize those who practice or are bound by habits of alcohol or tobacco.  There were, of course, plenty of Bible verses warning against strong drink and drunkenness, but there are also verses that seem to indicate that Jesus and his disciples and Timothy drank real wine for various reasons.  Tobacco was not discussed in Scripture, but we could use the Scripture which talked about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit.  

Today, I am more focused on trying to discern what actually grieves the Holy Spirit and what pleases Him.  I know He wants a clean vessel to use, but I also know that God looks first on the heart.  I want my heart to be full of Him and empty of my flesh. 

The greatest leader of what we call the “Holiness Movement” was John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church.  Wesley did give us a very clear and concise definition of holiness.

Definition of Holiness – John Wesley

It is that habitual disposition of soul which directly implies, the being cleansed from sin `from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit;' and, by consequence the being endued with those virtues which were in Christ Jesus, thus being so `renewed in the image of our mind,' as to be `perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect."

What I like about Wesley’s definition:

1. It’s about the habitual disposition of the soul.  That means we can position our soul to desire and pursue holiness.  It could also mean that God looks at the heart and its desires, more than our sins and failures if we confess our sins and truly desire to please Him.
2. The consequence of that disposition of the soul is being endued with the same virtues that were in Christ Jesus.  That clearly refers to the fruit of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus promised that the same Holy Spirit which was in Him would be in us.

To sum up what Wesley is saying:  Holiness is about seeking to be clean and pure before God so He can fill us with His nature and we can be like Him on the earth and demonstrate His nature to others on the earth.

Wesley, of course, has volumes more to say about holiness, loving God with all our hearts and many related subjects.  His insights were way ahead of his time and he truly introduced to the church world the concept of sanctification and separation from the world.  He was truly a pioneer and a trailblazer for many others who came after him.  He and a few contemporaries led a powerful move of God, which helped to fuel the first Great Awakening.

My personal definition of holiness would include Wesley’s main thoughts, but would also include some additional insights, which I believe God wants to reveal to us today to further empower us to bring in His harvest.

As I shared in my book, “Holy How,” there are some very wonderful and powerful aspects of holiness, which we have missed because of an overriding aura of tradition regarding the concept of holiness.  Since writing the book, I have done some additional research on the words, “Holy” and “Holiness.”  I began studying the various words used in the Hebrew and Greek, and then the way those various Hebrew and Greek words were translated in various other passages.  I’d like to share the insights I have gained through this study.

Here are a few conclusions, based totally on Scriptural research.  I believe the following points are extremely important and powerfully transformative if we will accept and embrace them. 

1. Purity of heart and life is NOT THE PRIMARY MEANING of the words, “Holy” and “Holiness.”
2. The PRIMARY MEANING of “Holy” is special or set apart, chosen or consecrated for a special purpose.  The word, Holy, is used hundreds of times to describe articles and days set aside or consecrated for special purposes in serving God.
3. Purity is a normal consequence and pursuit chosen by those who understand the fact that they have been called and chosen to be called “Holy” by God.  The “Holy” articles were kept clean, not to make them “Holy,” but because they were Holy.
4. The opposite of “Holy” according to Leviticus 10:10 is “common” or “not special, consecrated or set apart.”  Look up the Hebrew meaning of “Unholy” in Leviticus 10:10.
5. Our pursuit of “Holiness” should not be so we find greater acceptance with God.  We are accepted, “In the Beloved.”  Our pursuit of “Holiness” should be because we know He wants our intimate fellowship, which gets hindered by guilt, shame and feelings of failure, as well as pride, rebellion and stubbornness.  We love Him and express that love “because He first loved us.”
6. “Holiness” is not a heavy or burdensome concept in Scripture.  A “Holy Day” is a holiday, a special day.  In Nehemiah 8, Ezra, the priest, and the Levites told the people more than once not to mourn or weep, but to celebrate, have a feast, and give gifts, because the day was a “Holy” day. 
7. Paul addresses Christians as “Holy Ones.”  The Greek word he used for saints was the same as the word usually translated “Holy.” 
8. Peter exhorted Christians (I Peter 1:13-16) to fulfill their callings and live their lives with pure conduct like Jesus did, but later (I Peter 2:9) gives insights into the meaning of “Holy” by using it as a synonym with “Special, Royal, and Chosen.”
9. Peter said they should be Holy like God, who was Holy.  But we forget to think about what that could mean.  What makes God Holy?  Yes, he does not sin.  He keeps His promises.  He executes justice and mercy, etc.  But if “Holy” means set apart, and special, how is God special.
10. PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE’VE MISSED ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF HOLINESS IS THIS:

God is not “set apart” or “special” because He doesn’t smoke, drink, chew, do drugs, wear indecent clothing, cut His hair, go to movies, etc. etc.

What makes God different than all other “gods” is the fact that He is not only pure, but also powerful and full of love.  No other religion can claim a “god” who is both all-powerful and full of love.  No other “god” has demonstrated both of these things in any way, shape or form.  That’s because other “gods” are actually from the source of all evil, and they are full of lies and deceit, abuse and bondage.  Only the Holy God, which we serve is full of love and powerful at the same time.

HERE’S MY HUMBLE ATTEMPT TO DEFINE HOLINESS:

Holiness is an amazing and wonderful gift of GRACE:

1. FROM our HEAVENLY FATHER,
2. THROUGH FAITH in JESUS CHRIST, His Son, and
3. DELIVERED to us by His precious Holy Spirit. 

The benefits of HIS Holiness, which we should not forget (Psalm 103:1,2), include:

1.  God’s divine nature (II Peter 1:4).
2.  God’s love and other spiritual fruit.  (Galatians 5:22)
3.  God’s power, especially as expressed through spiritual gifts of all kinds.  (Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, 14, Ephesians 4)

REMEMBER:  We are talking about HOLINESS.  We would have no HOLINESS unless it was delivered to us by the HOLY SPIRIT.  When the Holy Spirit inhabits us, He will manifest His Holy nature, His spiritual fruit and His powerful gifts. 

According to Peter, God made us a HOLY NATION so that we “may proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  (I Peter 2:9)  In other words.  He has chosen us and made us HOLY, to EMPOWER US TO SHARE THE GOSPEL EFFECTIVELY LIKE THE EARLY CHURCH DID.  In my own research throughout the whole Bible, for my book on Signs and Wonders, I discovered that over 90% of all conversions of non-believers resulted from a demonstration of God’s power. 

I don’t want to say this in a critical or judgmental way, but let me ask the question:

If we leave out the aspect of God’s miracle power when we talk about HOLINESS, are we not limiting our own ability to share the gospel effectively?  If we make HOLINESS about just our ability to please God or find favor with Him, are we not making it about our own personal advantage and reward, rather than about bringing in His harvest and filling Heaven with His children?

Thus, with all due respect to John Wesley, who called the church into a new dimension of Christian life, I would add to His definition the concept of the blessings and benefits of the gift of holiness, which include not only a clean and pure heart, but a life of supernatural power to effectively share the good news of God’s amazing grace, His awesome love and supernatural power to the non-believers everywhere.  When the early church was flowing in the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were the most effective in winning the lost. 

Let me close with two very simple illustrations.

1. A wedding dress is not a wedding dress because it has been washed over and over again.  It is a wedding dress because it was created for a special purpose.  Because of its special purpose, special care is taken to keep it clean and pure.  It is holy – set apart and carefully kept clean for its purpose and design of its creator. 
2. A prince, who is being raised to become the next king of a nation, has a high and holy calling.  He is raised with great privileges, but also great responsibilities.  He can do many things that others cannot do, but there are things that others do that he cannot do.  The prince IS NOT a prince because he does what a prince should do.  He does what he should do because he IS a prince.

BE HOLY AS GOD IS HOLY

Be filled and continuously refilled with the Holy Spirit.  Embrace His nature, His spiritual fruit and His spiritual gifts – not so you can say you are holy or sinlessly perfect, but so that you can build His Kingdom and reveal who He is the most effective way possible.

In His Amazing Grace, Love and Power,

Ben and Brenda Peters

A MASSIVE RETURN TO THE "HOUSE OF BREAD"

A MASSIVE RETURN TO THE “HOUSE OF BREAD”

A VISION

I saw many angels scurrying around, excitedly building a new platform.  They were building it out in the public square, where people came daily to do business and to meet with others. This platform had a high sign at the back of it that read, “JESUS IS LORD.”   The platform was being built for a new wave of Christian leaders that loved God passionately, and were not into ministry for personal gain or favor.  They were the young and the old, including former rebels and misfits, who had found purpose and belonging in the family of God.

Right now, I hear the Holy Spirit saying,

“Do not despise the testimony of former drug addicts, those formerly entangled with sexual sin or entertainers. 

Do not ignore political enemies who have come to know My love and power. 

I have promised that I would show you things that you’ve never known before, if you called on Me. 

I am about to release a wave of new things and your hearts will be overwhelmed with the changes that are coming.  I will not stop with changes and new things, however."

“I will double down on exposing wickedness wherever it exists, whether in government, business, entertainment or the church.  Be ready to cooperate with Me and listen to My voice.  

I will surprise even some of my most faithful friends with My wisdom and direction. 

I have not turned a deaf ear to any of your prayers. ( I have delayed some answers, in order to create a greater tidal wave of My glory that will come on the land, both in the United States of America, and in every other country, where people have been calling on My name for My intervention and mercy.”)

THE HOUSE OF BREAD

In reading the Book of Ruth again, the Holy Spirit highlighted the fact that Naomi and her family left Bethlehem because of famine.  Bethlehem simply means "The House of Bread". They left the House of Bread, because the supply of bread had ceased. Their stomachs were empty.  They had to go elsewhere to survive.

The Body of Christ is called to provide the Bread of Life to people. Sadly, many churches, denominations and ministries have forsaken the Bread of Life and offered nothing but artificial religious ingredients, or “Fake Bread.”  As a result, millions of people, especially young people, no longer participate. They have left the House of Bread.

The consequences of leaving the House of Bread have been devastating. Our social problems have multiplied exponentially since we took prayer and the Bible (the revelation of the Bread of Life) out of our schools and other public institutions.

BUT GOD!!!

Naomi got up and returned to Bethlehem, “For she had heard in the country of Moab, that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread.”  Ruth 1:6.  

Yay God!!!  The Body of Christ will return to offering the true “Bread of Life” to those who come to eat from God's table. Jesus is sovereignly visiting His people, many of whom have been desperately calling on His name.

I see in the Spirit, and do declare and decree that massive multitudes are heading back to the House of Bread, after spending time in a spiritually foreign country.

Crowds will gather wherever the angels have built a platform for these emerging voices,  for these ministers of God's grace, of His love and of His power to transform.  These platforms will be built on every mountain of society – Family, Religion, Government, Education, Media, Entertainment and Business. 

Perhaps you are called to cooperate behind the scenes to help place someone on a platform.  Some of you may be called to be the voice that is on the platform.

If you are currently being prepared for such a position, and once you are placed in that position, you need a faithful team of prayer warriors and a spiritually strong backbone "made of steel". Let God prepare you, and be prepared, since attacks will come. Know that God will always take care of His people. 

RUTH, THE MOABITESS

While Naomi is a prophetic symbol of former believers and partakers of the Bread of Life, Ruth is a prophetic picture of those who have never tasted His bread before. 

I believe God is going to reveal Himself to the people of many nations, people who have worshipped many other gods and have found their lives empty.  When they see Christians coming back to that place of intimacy with the Bread of Life, they will be overwhelmed by Holy Spirit and will be drawn to come and taste of that Bread as well. Believers will welcome spiritual foreigners and encourage them to come along and partake of His fresh bread. 

Because of Ruth’s love and devotion to Naomi, and her willingness to leave her homeland and her religious faith, God bestowed a huge blessing on her through a wonderful man named Boaz.  Ruth not only ended up with a book in the Bible named after her, but she also became the great grandmother to David, Israel’s greatest king, which put her in the lineage of Jesus.  I believe this too is prophetic.  God is going to greatly honor some of those who have come to the House of Bread to partake of the Bread of Life. Some, like Paul, will have persecuted Him, even some of those who have served ISIS or other terrorist groups.  God will give Kingdom leaders the wisdom and grace to empower these, like Barnabas did for Paul, and they will accomplish great things for God.

A CHALLENGE

I want to challenge you to ask God to show you how to cooperate with Him, and His ministering angels, in building platforms and in positioning His chosen voices to speak to the people of the Land. 

Ask Him to visit His people by bringing this Living Bread to them again.  Remember that the natural bread, that people ate in Jesus time, had many necessary nutrients to sustain life.  It wasn’t filled with artificial ingredients.  It wasn’t “Fake Bread.” 

Pray for the Body of Christ to actually function with incredible sacrificial love, and awesome displays of supernatural power, as Jesus did in His earthly body, and as the early church did as well.  May we, His body, be transformed into Living Bread for hungry people.

Delivered with a father's blessing,

Ben Peters,  Founder of Kingdom Sending Center

    Ohmint@gmail.com

A MASSIVE RETURN TO THE "HOUSE OF BREAD"

Dear Friends,

Just wrote this fresh revelation - Fresh Bread.  Keep praying for us.  We've been through some things and have seen some miracles.  Believing for many more on the way.  Praying also that God would hugely bless each person who has chosen to join us in any way in this ministry for His Kingdom.

A VISION

I saw many angels scurrying around, excitedly building a new platform.  They were building it out in the public square, where people came daily to do business and meet other people.  This platform had a high sign at the back of it that read, “JESUS IS LORD.”   The platform was being built for a new wave of Christian leaders that loved God passionately, and were not into ministry for personal gain or favor.  They were the young and the old, including former rebels and misfits, who had found purpose and belonging in the family of God.

Right now, I hear the Holy Spirit saying, “Do not despise the testimony of former drug addicts, sexual perverts and entertainers.  Do not discount political enemies who have come to know My love and power.  I have promised that I would show you things that you’ve never known before, if you called on Me.  I am about to release a wave of new things and your hearts will be overwhelmed with the changes that are coming.  I will not stop with changes and new things, however. 

“I will double down on exposing wickedness wherever it exists, whether in government, business, entertainment or even in the church.  Be ready to cooperate with Me and listen to My voice, for I will surprise even some of my most faithful friends with my wisdom and direction.  I have not turned a deaf ear to any of your prayers.  I have delayed some answers, in order to create a greater tidal wave of My glory that will come on the land, both in the United States of America, and in every other country, where people have been calling on My name for My intervention and mercy.”

THE HOUSE OF BREAD

In reading the Book of Ruth again, the Holy Spirit highlighted the fact that Naomi and her family left Bethlehem because of famine.  Bethlehem simply means the House of Bread.  They left the House of Bread because the supply of bread had ceased there.  Their stomachs were empty.  They had to go elsewhere to survive.

The church has always been called on to provide the Bread of Life to the members of the body of Christ.  Sadly, many churches, movements and denominations have forsaken the Bread of Life and offered nothing but artificial religious ingredients, or “Fake Bread.”  As a result, there has been an exodus from the church of millions of people, especially among our younger generations.

The consequences of leaving the House of Bread have been devastating.  As in the story of Naomi and Ruth, there has been a huge attack on the family and happy wives have become lonely widows, without husbands or sons to help them.  From single parents to pregnant teens and abortion, to drug dependency and suicide, our social problems have multiplied exponentially since we took prayer and the Bible (the revelation of the Bread of Life) out of our schools and other public institutions.

BUT GOD!!!

Naomi arose to return to Bethlehem, “For she had heard in the country of Moab, that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread.”  Ruth 1:6.  

Hallelujah!!!  The church will be increasingly offering the true “Bread of Life” to those who come to His table, because God is sovereignly visiting His people, many of whom have been desperately calling on His name in so many places, churches and houses of prayer.  And now, I can see in the Spirit, and do declare and decree that massive multitudes are heading back to the House of Bread after spending time in a spiritually foreign country. They will taste again the Bread of Life and realize what they have been missing.  I have a few relatives that I believe are part of that huge crowd. 

This crowd will gather wherever the angels have built a platform for the voices of the redeemed and all of God’s ministers of His grace, His love and His power to transform.  These platforms will be built on every mountain of society – Family, Religion, Government, Education, Media, Entertainment and Business.  Perhaps you are called to cooperate behind the scenes to help place someone on that platform.  Some of you may be called to be the voice on the platform, but don’t covet that position, unless you have a spiritually strong backbone of steel, because attacks will come, although God will take care of His people. 

RUTH, THE MOABITESS

While Naomi is prophetic of former believers and partakers of the Bread of Life, Ruth is prophetic of those who have never tasted of it before.  I believe God is going to move on the people of many nations, who have worshiped many other gods and have found their lives empty.  When they see Christians coming back to that place of intimacy with the Bread of Life, they will be overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit with the need to come along with them, and taste of that Bread as well.  Unlike Naomi, who couldn’t envision it being such a blessing for Ruth, spiritual foreigners will be encouraged to come along and taste of the fresh bread prepared in the House of Bread.

Because of Ruth’s love and devotion to Naomi, and her willingness to leave her homeland and her religious faith, God bestowed a huge blessing on her through a wonderful man named Boaz.  Ruth not only ended up with a book in the Bible named after her, but she also became the great grandmother to David, Israel’s greatest king, which put her in the lineage of Jesus.  I believe this too is prophetic.  God is going to greatly honor some of those who have come to the House of Bread to partake of the Bread of Life, who grew up not knowing or loving Him.  Some, like Paul, will have persecuted Him, even some of those who have served ISIS or other terrorist groups.  God will give church leaders the wisdom and grace to empower these, like Barnabas did for Paul, and they will accomplish great things for God.

A CHALLENGE

I want to challenge you to ask God to show you how to cooperate in the building of platforms for His chosen voices to speak to the people of the Land, who personally have tasted of the Bread of Life

Ask Him also to visit His people by bringing this Living Bread to them again.  Remember that the natural bread, that people ate in Jesus time, had many necessary nutrients to sustain life.  It wasn’t filled with artificial ingredients.  It wasn’t “Fake Bread.”  Pray for the Body of Christ to actually function with incredible sacrificial love, and awesome displays of supernatural power, as He did in His earthly body, and as the early church did as well.  Then we ourselves, as His body, can also be transformed into Living Bread for a hungry generation. 

So if you happen to see a lot of angels scurrying around with building materials, you know what they’re up to.  Ask God to hasten this word to come to pass, for it surely will come to pass.

Ben Peters, Ministry Founder

P.O. Box 25, Genoa, IL 60135

CUTTING OFF GOLIATH'S HEAD by Ben Peters

www.kingdomsendingcenter.org                         ohmint@gmail.com

June 7, 2017

Dear Friends,

Here's an article I just finished writing.  Would love your thoughts, and always welcome your prayers.

CUTTING OFF GOLIATH’S HEAD

I was recently given a word that God wanted me to go after Goliath’s head.  My understanding of what this means has been developing over the past few months.  Here is what I’m discerning at this point. 

MEANING OF “THE HEAD”

The head represents many things, but the primary meaning, I believe, is how we think about things.  To me it represents the thoughts that the enemy has placed in our own minds to keep us in bondage and defeat.  For Israel, they were convinced that they had no chance to defeat the Philistines, and they were filled with fear that they would become their slaves, because Goliath was too big a challenge for them. 

The “head” also represents the command center.  The way we think controls our actions.  The head dictates what we say, where we go, and what we do.  Thus, it’s so very important that we think God’s thoughts as opposed to the thoughts the enemy wants us to believe.

HEADS OF THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS

While meditating on this concept, it occurred to me that I could go after the chief lies perpetrated by our enemy on each of the seven mountains of society.  While that would be interesting and applicable for many, I know that God has clearly called me to three of these mountains and that’s the focus He has had me on for some time.  Let’s deal first with the biggest for me as a traveling minister and author of Christian books.  That would be the Religion (Church and Kingdom) Mountain.  After that, we’ll address the Big Lie on the Education Mountain and finally, the Big Lie on the Government Mountain.

I.        THE BIGGEST AND MOST DESTRUCTIVE LIE THE CHURCH BELIEVES

There is one lie that has two parts, which keeps the church from experiencing God’s victory and power.  Jesus prayed that we would all be one, so that the world would believe that the Father had sent Him.  Logically then, when we are not one, the world does not easily believe that Jesus is God’s Son, sent to the world to redeem them, and bring them into a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father. 

1.   The first part of the lie is that we must accept divisions and denominations as the normal.  They have been with us all our lives back through many generations.  It’s hopeless to think that we can ever be in unity again like the early church.
2. The second part of the lie is that we can pursue unity through compromising our doctrines and practices, so as to be less offensive.  Instead of producing true unity, this only weakens us and, although some practical benefits might occur, we’ll never have the true unity that God intended us to have.

God has given me a major charge since my youth (which was a few years back) to teach and preach on the importance of true and biblical unity.  This was confirmed when James Goll, not knowing anything about our ministry, spoke at the conference we hosted in Illinois.  While he was preaching, he came down to where I was sitting and began to pound my chest, saying, “John 17, John 17, John 17.  You’re called to bring unity in the body of Christ.”  After the meeting, I told him that I had already written two books on unity.  They were my first book and my seventh book.  Instantly, he responded. One, seven – seventeen – John 17.  It blew me away, but I know God had confirmed my calling. 

Thus, God has called me to decapitate the lie that says we can’t be in unity and the lie that says we must compromise truth and righteousness to achieve unity.  What then is the truth that can decapitate this lie?

First, we must recognize the source of disunity.  I discuss this in more detail in GOD’S FAVORITE NUMBER – my second book on unity, which replaced my first book – HEAL YOUR BODY, LORD.   Disunity is caused primarily not by a difference in our intellectual understanding of doctrine, but rather by pride in our doctrines and our incredible desire to be right, rather than to be one.  It’s man’s ego that most hinders unity, not his intellect.  So how then do we practically pursue true unity?

Jesus gave us the secret to unity in John 17, verse 22: “And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one.”  If we can understand what Jesus was saying here, we can properly pursue the path to the unity that He sought for us. 

Adam and Eve were clothed in God’s glory in the Garden of Eden.  Created in the image of God, they were clothed, like Him, in His glory.  With sin came their awareness of their nakedness, causing them to cover themselves with fig leaves.  Ever since that day, men and women have been trying to cover up their loss of God’s glory with earthly glory, such as fame, power and wealth.  However, there seems to never be enough to go around and we all look for ways to restore the glory that will cover the nakedness of our souls.  The subtle warfare and competition over the little available glory results in great disunity.

Jesus declared in John 17:22 that He was giving His disciples the same glory the Father had given Him so that they could experience the same kind of unity that He had with His Father in Heaven.  This is an incredible statement.  The way to access this unity then, is to fully access the glory that Jesus gave His disciples.  In His glory, we live in another dimension, where His heart and mind are imparted to us and we see one another with His eyes.  But most of all we all see Him, and our focus is not on ourselves but on Him.  This was the source of unity of the early church, right after Jesus departed, and it will be ours as well as we get closer and closer to His appearing. 

I find five times in John 17 that Jesus prayed for unity.  I find five times in the first five chapters of the fifth book of the New Testament that the disciples were in unity.  Five is the number for grace and without God’s grace we will never have unity.  God gives grace to the humble (James 4:7).  It was humility in the disciples, after their failure at the cross that brought them into unity in the Upper Room, even before the Day of Pentecost.  Humility is a very highly underrated Kingdom commodity.  I’d like to humbly (LOL) recommend our book, HUMILITY AND HOW I ALMOST ACHIEVED IT. 

God will give us the choice to humble ourselves or let Him humble us, but we will be humbled, because He wants to give us more grace and He will operate according to His own holy Word.  At times, He will sovereignly reveal His glory and bathe us in it to bring us into that unity, but I believe that He will do whatever it takes to bring us into unity because He loves us and He wants the world to believe in Him as a consequence of our unity.

How does that work?  People will believe in Jesus when we are in unity because we will once again have the power and authority of the early church, only at a greater level.  This will be the impetus or driving force of the coming great revival harvest. 

II.        THE BIG LIE ON THE EDUCATION MOUNTAIN

The Big Lie on the mountain of education is the Theory of Evolution, with all its diabolical and devastating implications.  God has been putting this strongly on my heart for some time now.  I haven’t written any books on this subject, but I’ve been getting the urge to do so in recent months. 

This humongous lie, taught as fact in most government schools, has contributed to so many evils in our society – the most destructive of which is the loss of faith in God by so many millions of younger adults and children.   The eternal consequences are beyond our ability to imagine. 

Another obvious evil which this lie has encouraged is that of abortion.  Without God in the picture, life has little or no value.  A woman and her doctor can decide whether that baby will be more of a problem than an asset.  If there is no God, there are no eternal consequences; the child has no eternal soul, and therefore it is not a big deal to kill it and perhaps have another one later when it’s more convenient.

Other evils advanced by this lie include teen pregnancies, suicides, drunkenness, drug abuse, crimes of all kinds and all kinds of corruption, including in government.

But how can we go for Goliath’s head when it comes to this gigantic deception that has such a stranglehold on our education system?  I believe God is giving us a two-fold approach to this.  David took out Goliath in two steps.  First the stone to the forehead and secondly the sword to the neck.

1. The forehead is a thin skeletal protection to the brain.  David used a small stone, but it had a powerful impact and knocked the giant down.  We have some wonderful resources put out by Creation Scientists, that can put doubts in the minds of people who believe in evolution.  I saw that happen in the community where I ran a Christian school in the church I pastored.  I published a critique of evolution in our local paper and a local high school science teacher lost a night of sleep because of it.  I’m sure it raised questions in the minds of others as well.  We need to make use of these resources, including some great documentary movies that have been produced.  In addition, we can raise the obvious questions about how unreasonable it is to believe that so much beauty and order and intricate design, such as DNA, atoms, elements, reproductive processes, etc., all came about by accidents, not to mention how the materials came into being that provided the resources for the original “Big Bang” to happen.
2. But how will we put the sword to the neck of this lie of evolution and really cut off its head?  The Sword of the Spirit is The Word of God.  Too many times we use God’s Word as a sword of the flesh to prove our points, but when we allow the Holy Spirit to inspire His Word and demonstrate His power and love through signs and wonders and gifts of the Holy Spirit, we can decapitate this terrible lie.  When people see the miracles, they will believe in their Creator and reject the lie of evolution.  I’ve seen non-believers become believers when they received a miracle in their own bodies.  I also did extensive biblical research for my book, “SIGNS AND WONDERS – TO SEEK OR NOT TO SEEK.”  In that research, I discovered that over 90% of all conversions in Scripture happened because of something supernatural taking place.  We must pursue God’s glory through humility, in order to receive God’s grace (Charis) to operate His gifts of grace (Charisma), so that people will believe in Jesus and reject the godless theory of evolution.

III.       THE BIG LIE ON THE GOVERNMENT MOUNTAIN

There is probably no bigger lie related to government than the lie that it is our ultimate source for everything we need.  It is our security and our daily bread.  This lie is called the Sennacherib spirit in my book, A MANDATE TO LAUGH.  This book exposes the subtle spirit of slavery creeping in, making us satisfied just to have a little security, versus the threat of losing everything.  We won’t go into detail with it here, but this lie is also so deeply entrenched in our culture that taking it on is a very dangerous and arduous task.  It makes one a target by people who have become very dependent on government help.  Naturally they fear the loss of income or medical care, etc., and who could blame them.  What then is the answer and how can we cut the head off this monstrous, gigantic Goliath.

This lie crept in little by little, as government grew and became more involved in the life and culture of its citizens, replacing the responsibilities of families and churches.  Taking care of the poor (welfare) and education are two primary examples.  These were responsibilities of churches in every early American community.  When government, with its deep pocket resources, offered to take them over from the churches, it seemed like a great deal to them.  And besides, the education and welfare were still being run by good people.  Christianity and patriotism were still taught in the early public schools, but over time, that all changed and today, we have a national disaster on our hands, with the loss of even our freedom of speech and religion on school campuses.

It took about two hundred years of gradual change to get to where we are today, but I believe restoration can come much more quickly.  I believe God will do a quick work, raising up the church to once again fulfill its earthly mandate.  Although we live for eternity, not for this earth, we are called to rule and reign here until He returns, and we have a responsibility to bring truth and justice to those who live on this earth.

My personal mandate is also two-fold in beheading this giant.  First, I want to live as much as possible by faith in God and as little as possible by dependence on our government and its various agencies.  As a ministry team, my wife and I keep our needs to ourselves, to keep the testimony that God does provide for us and we have never had to ask anyone for help to meet our personal needs.  God uses people, but they give when they feel led, and the timing has been miraculous on so many occasions.  Shedding our dependence on government takes faith and that is something that we, in western nations, have in very short supply.  I wrote the book, FAITH ON FIRE, to combat the structures of unbelief that have been built into us growing up in our western society.

Secondly, God has called me to make people aware of the dangers of allowing this giant to keep us in bondage to our own governments.  At the same time, I want to stir up the church to radically change the way it perceives its role regarding government dependency.  I’d like to see churches take on more and more responsibilities in the area of welfare and education, even where the government is duplicating these services.  I’ve helped to start three different Christian schools in churches and the long-term results have been very rewarding.

The big surge in overcoming government dependence will come with the coming great transfer of wealth to fund the great harvest of souls on the earth.  These are biblical promises and I believe we will see this coming at the same time as a great spiritual revival with signs, wonders and miracles, and hundreds of millions of souls saved in a short period of time.  I wrote a prophetic book regarding these events called, THE ULTIMATE CONVERGENCE. 

(Note:   All our books can be downloaded for free on several e-readers.)

FINALLY:

The three BIG LIES mentioned here are very interrelated, but all need to be tackled individually.  I don’t want to just knock these giants down to get up later and resume their activities.  I want to completely behead them through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  If anyone wants to join me, I would be so encouraged.  If you want to discuss any particular point, I’d be honored to interact with you.

God bless you, and love to all.  

Ben R Peters

A NEW LOOK AT THE PRAYER OF JABEZ by Ben Peters

Greetings Friends,

I just posted on FaceBook the following short word.  I believe this is from the Lord and we will be seeing some great things in the coming year.   Please accept this as my prediction and exhortation for 2017.

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE PRAYER OF JABEZ

I believe the Holy Spirit is saying, “It’s time to take a deeper look at Jabez’s prayer.

Jabez name meant pain, because his mother said, “I bore him in pain.” 

Obviously, his name bothered him because he “called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’  So, God granted him what he requested.”  I Chronicles 4:10.

Jabez made four requests, which were expounded on by Bruce Wilkerson.  They were:

1. Bless me indeed.
2. Enlarge my territory.
3. That Your hand may be with me.
4. Keep me from evil.

What I would have liked the author to pay more attention to was the declared motive for this prayer.  Motives are based on the condition of our heart, and that’s what God is always looking at.  I’m wondering how many who prayed these four requests failed to receive their answers, as Jabez did, because they didn’t have the purest motives.

The cry of Jabez’s heart, was, “that I might not cause pain.”  Somehow, Jabez connected his lack of blessing, territory, God’s hand and protection from evil with causing pain to others.  I don’t really know what his situation was, but this I do know.  The opposite of causing pain is being a blessing.  I can clearly see how the fulfillment of these requests would be helpful if he wanted to be a blessing to others. 

So simply put, he could have worded it more like this:  “Lord would you help me to be a blessing by showing me Your favor in blessings and enlarged territory.  Would you show that you are with me by doing miracles for me and by keeping me from sin and from trouble in my life.  Lord, I just want to be a blessing to others and a good testimony of your faithfulness, love and power.”

FRESH TIMELY APPLICATION

This prayer should now be prayed by the church, as the whole body of Christ.  I believe God wants us to pray this prayer with an intensity and with pure motives, so that we, as Christ’s physical body on this earth, do not bring unnecessary pain to the unbeliever, but, like the early church, bring great joy, love and healing to a lost and hurting world.  We are clearly in a time of Kingdom Advancement.  It’s time to seize the moment.  It’s a window of opportunity that the church hasn’t seen in a very long time.

1. LORD, BLESS US INDEED.  I believe there are huge material blessings coming very soon – a transfer of wealth – not for selfish reasons, but to help us fulfill the Great Commission.
2. ENLARGE OUR TERRITORY.  God wants to increase our sphere of influence and promote us to preach the gospel of Jesus’ love and power – the gospel of the Kingdom.
3. LET YOUR HAND BE WITH US.   God’s hand speaks of His power and healing anointing.  God will release a major healing anointing to activate faith in unbelievers, so He can reap His harvest.
4. LORD, KEEP US FROM EVIL.  This can mean keeping us from sinning, as well as keep us from disasters or troubles.

But, the most important part of our prayer is declaring boldly our motives.  “Lord, we are not asking these things for selfish reasons.  We want to see revival.  We want resources to send many harvesters into your harvest field.  We want a platform to preach your gospel.  We want your miracles to attract the unbeliever and encourage every weary warrior.  We want to walk in a way that’s pleasing to you and without the distractions of unnecessary attacks.  We want to seek first your Kingdom and see Your name greatly glorified.  We want to see the knowledge of the glory of the Lord cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

May God give us one heart and soul to love and serve our God with all our heart – our motives – and with our whole being.   Blessings to all!!!

Ben and Brenda Peters

HEADS UP by Ben Peters

Dear Friends,

Here's a message I'm sending to the Elijah List.  Trust it will bless you!!!

HEADS UP!

Ben R Peters

On the evening of February 8, 2016, God visited me with an unusual revelation regarding His plans to set free, empower, equip and beautify His warrior bride.  It started while I was reading a news article on my computer.  Next, I felt impressed to open my Bible and read what was in front of me from the book of Isaiah.  Finally, I felt nudged to open my phone app Bible and read where I had last left off reading in the book of Luke.  It was one news story, one Old Testament passage and one New Testament passage, and they were like a three-fold cord, speaking the same message, loud and clear.   

The news story was about Yazidi women, who had been captured and sold as sex slaves to ISIS fighters.  Many of them escaped, thanks partially to US airstrikes in the region, and have since chosen to train themselves to fight their former ISIS captors.  Here are a few quotes from the article:

Some 2,000 Yazidi women who were captured in the brutal August 2014 attack on their mountain stronghold have escaped and have taken up arms against their former tormentors. Driven by the fresh memories of unspeakable atrocities and the survival of their people, hundreds have signed up to fight the black-clad terrorist army.  ”Now we are defending ourselves from the evil; we are defending all the minorities in the region," Capt. Khatoon Khider told FoxNews.com. "We will do whatever is asked of us."

Of the number of Yazidi women who have been trained and are fighting alongside their male counterparts, Khider is one of 123. Their ages range from 17 to 37, and there are at least another 500 awaiting their training.

"Women were throwing their children from the mountains and then jumping themselves because it was a faster way to die," Khider said. "Our hands were all tied. We couldn't do anything about it.

"Our elite force is a model for other women in the region," she said. "We want to thank all the other countries who help us in this difficult time, we want everyone to take up weapons and know how to protect themselves from the evil."

After reading this story, I opened my Bible to Isaiah 52 and immediately read:

Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem!  Loose yourself from the bond of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! (Isaiah 52:2)

After a little meditation on this verse and the verses before and after, I felt nudged to read from my Bible app on my phone.  Here’s the story which followed where I had last left off reading;

And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.  But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”  And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  (Luke 13:11-13)

In verse 14, we are told the ruler of the synagogue objected to Jesus healing on the Sabbath day.  Jesus responds:

“Hypocrite!  Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?  So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound – think of it – for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”  (Luke 13:15,16)

I have been meditating on these three stories for several days, knowing that God was speaking a prophetic word to me for His Bride, His Church.  I don’t feel I have yet fully mined the prophetic treasure hidden in these stories, but this is what I know that God is speaking to us all.

1. We have a vicious enemy, who wants to victimize us, torment us and take away all hope of freedom or fulfillment of dreams or destinies.  He wants to put chains around our neck, keep us bent over with our heads down and fill us with feelings of shame and worthlessness.
2. We have a God who loves us and has the power to set us free and rebuke every physical, spiritual and emotional spirit of infirmity.
3. Those who have suffered most under the diabolical enslavement of our evil enemy, will become the most determined and fearless fighters against him, in order to free others still living under his insidious control.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few.  The reason for that is that so many potential laborers are all bent over, feeling unusable to God because of either secret or not-so-secret spiritual, physical or emotional bondages. 

When people are all bent over and cannot lift their heads up, they will always be looking down.  You don’t get a great perspective on the future, when you can see nothing but dirt.  Your eyes are not on the horizon or on the heavens.  You are seeing nothing but the same old dirt day after day.  The sex slaves in Iraq had been feeling like dirt every day that they were help captive.  We can’t imagine their anguish and sorrow, knowing family members had been murdered or tortured, etc, and that they have nothing to look forward to but being repeatedly raped by evil men. 

Like the Yazidi women, millions of Christians, and others who would become Christians, who would otherwise love to serve God and help bring in the harvest, are hopelessly held in chains of addiction to alcohol, drugs and sexual perversion.  Others suffer the torment of depression, fear and anxiety, as well as many other forms of addiction.  These bondages are real.  They are not easily cured by people preaching at them or quoting trite slogans.  They need a strong and anointed word and touch from Jesus, Himself, to break the chains that keep them in bondage.

It was heart-breaking to hear the news during the New Hampshire primary season, about how many people were dying from drug overdoses in that state.  It was of more concern, for many people, than the economy or personal security.  Certainly, addictions are a powerful means of enslavement, both in the world and in the church. 

Probably, the greatest addictions in the church, especially among men, are the many forms of sexual addiction.  The evil spirit of seduction is so emboldened in western society today, that its victims must continually find more perverted ways of expression.  Like drug addiction, what was cutting edge before is now too mild to adequately stimulate.  The bondages of addictions are leading our culture into a death spiral.

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S POWERFUL AND AMAZING SOLUTION

Yes, our enemy is bad to the bone and has a lot of things working for him today.  BUT GOD!!!  What God was and is speaking to me about this situation is this:

“I AM RELEASING A FRESH ANOINTING ON ISAIAH 61 FOR MY CHURCH, MY BODY ON THE EARTH.” 

What Jesus read in his hometown synagogue about Himself, He is now proclaiming from Heaven and pouring out the anointing oil on His own body, His church.  Here is the passage the Holy Spirit is highlighting to me right now:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion.  To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.  And they shall rebuild the old ruins; They shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. (Isaiah 61:1-4)

This was the job description the Father gave to Jesus to fulfill on his mission to Planet Earth.  He faithfully fulfilled His Father’s assignment.  Today, Jesus is giving us, His Body on the earth, the same job description.  But He is not asking us to do it in our own giftings, or our own strength.  No, He is pouring out the same Holy Spirit on us today, that was poured into Him at His baptism. 

We, His Church, His Body and His Bride, will feel that surge of supernatural energy within our spirits to take down principalities, powers and spiritual wickedness in high places.  We will not do this in foolish presumption, but together with other members of His body, we will hear His voice, feel His anointing power, and proclaim, touch and break chains. 

As we begin to bring freedom to those both inside and outside the church, we will observe the fearless passion of those who have been liberated.  They will boldly enlist in the army of the Lord.  They will learn how to use spiritual weapons of warfare, which are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds (II Corinthians 10:4).   They will take the power of freedom to those still enslaved by the chains of bondage and there will be an incredible domino effect created.  We are about to see this unfold over the next couple of years.

The power of the testimony of delivered people cannot be overestimated.  Since satan has done such a thorough job of bringing people into captivity, it creates an amazing opportunity for those who bring keys to unlock their prison doors.  Captives will be crying out for their own freedom when they hear the testimony of others.  The result will be countless conversions to Christ.  Hope will arise and the excitement will spread like a prairie fire in dry stubble.  

OUR ASSIGNMENT

We must cooperate with God in this strategic plan to prepared His harvesters.  So what must we then do? 

1. Humble ourselves before God, confessing our need for His touch and His anointing.
2. Read the passages quoted in this article over and over, and if possible, memorizing them.
3. Pray earnestly for the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit to be empowered in our lives.
4. Pray for and diligently seek for unity in the body of Christ, for His sake.
5. Identify our own bondages, small or great, and present them before God.
6. For purposes of prayer, ask the Holy Spirit to identify bondages in others, whom you want to experience freedom.
7. Commit to obey God, no matter what He asks you to do, and listen to His still small voice.
8. Lift up your head and look forward to your future in His Kingdom!

I also hear God speaking to me now as I write: 

Fear not!  There is nothing that can separate you from My love and protection, as long as you abide under the shadow of My wing.  I don’t just want to use you to build my Kingdom, I want to know you intimately and for you to know Me, that I am a God who is full of compassion, love and mercy.  Your sins, which you have confessed to me, are hidden in the Sea of Forgetfulness, never to be remembered again.  I did this for you.  Now, I’m asking you to share this good news with others, so they too can know My goodness.

Isaiah 61:4 talks about restoring and rebuilding what was destroyed in former generations.  I believe we will see that both in the church and in the life of our society.   The church will be restored to the place of intimacy, unity and love that was so manifest in the early church.  For America and other nations, who once had a Biblical foundation, there is coming a reformation and restoration to Biblical values, which will change all mountains of society.  May God help us to cooperate fully with His plans and may we be blessed to see it fulfilled in our day.  Amen!

HEADS UP, EVERYONE!

THEY THOUGHT SHE WAS DRUNK by Ben Peters

Greetings Friends,

This Tuesday (1/19) we fly to Orlando for another conference with House of Hope.  We will be sharing a message on unity and encouraging some amazing people who have given their lives to help troubled teens and their families to appropriate the amazing grace and healing power of God.  We appreciate your prayers.

MOZAMBIQUE IS CALLING AGAIN

We still have room on this July's ministry team to Mozambique with Heidi Baker.  We especially welcome any men, young or old, who want to bless some of Heidi's children in a special way, and help assist and watch over the lovely ladies already planning on going.  We do have space for a few more ladies as well. I know you will have experiences you could probably never have anywhere else in the world.  It's worth any sacrifice you would have to make togo.  For more info, you can check our website or respond to this email.  We will supply you with the vital information to help you prepare.  It's not too soon to get started.

A SPECIAL REVELATION

While reading I Samuel I, I realized something I had missed before.  There are two places in the Bible where people were thought to be drunk when they weren't.  Instead they were just filled with emotion and passion about something very important to them.  In the story of Hannah and Eli, we find a barren young woman, who was desperate for a child, praying a passionate and emotional prayer to God.  Eli, the High Priest, saw her emotional response and assumed she was drunk.  Hannah responded by saying that she had not touched strong drink, but rather was of a broken heart.  Eli prophesied the answer to her prayer and she went home at peace with her promise.

In Acts 2, we read about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and Disciples of the early church.  Their response to the moving of the Holy Spirit led some to suggest they were drunk.  Peter responded by saying, "These men are not drunken as you suppose."  Rather, he declared, this is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy.

Hannah experienced the fruit of her intercessory prayer when Samuel was born.  The early church experienced the fruit of their joy and Holy Spirit fire, when three thousand souls came into the Kingdom that same day.  In both cases, the emotional responses to the various manifestations of the Holy Spirit were part of the process in which the destiny of the people of God was radically changed for the better.  Samuel became a great spiritual leader, who eventually anointed King David.  The outpouring at Pentecost changed the course of history as it kick-started the Church and transformed the face of the then-known world in a very short period of time.

EMOTIONS IN GENERAL GET A BAD RAP

In my book, Go Ahead, Be So Emotional, I described how our society and education system honor intellect, but do so very little to honor the more "emotional" gifts and talents, such as are used in music, drama, art and public speaking, not to mention the gifts of compassion, wisdom and understanding.  Christians are told, "You can't trust your emotions," implying that emotions and emotional people are of little value.  As we discuss in the book, it's the people with passionate emotions that are the leaders that motivate us and empower us the most. 

In both stories above, the subjects of the story were emotional or passionate under the influence of the Holy Spirit to the point that they were suspected of being drunk.  In both stories, God used their emotional responses to attract the attention of people, who would then become a positive part of what God wanted to do. 

IT'S TIME FOR PEOPLE WITH EMOTION AND PASSION TO RISE UP AND BE SEEN AND EMPOWERED

I'm not hoping that people will get weird and in the flesh to get attention.  I'm believing for people who will be so filled with the Holy Spirit, who only wants to exalt Jesus and the Father, to stop suppressing their passion out of fear that people will think they are overly emotional.  Let the fruit of the Holy Spirit manifest in purity and power. 

Hannah was passionate and broken about her barrenness.  It's time for the church of today to follow in her footsteps. 

The early church was filled with the fire and joy of the Lord.  It's time for the church of today to follow in her footsteps. 

I was pretty much a person who minimized the value of emotions, but I married a young lady who was quite emotionally expressive.  In fact, it was part of what attracted me to her.  Today, thousands of those who know her are very much attracted to her because of the feeling of value that she gives them.

But, what inspired me to write the book, Go Ahead, Be So Emotional, was when our daughter, Andrea, was growing up and I saw the same emotional tendencies as her mother possessed.  Today, our sweet Andrea is blossoming into her own amazing and fruitful ministry, because of her Holy Spirit anointed emotions of love, joy and peace, as well as her Holy Spirit anointed spiritual gifts.

Though my strongest gifts are wisdom and teaching, I believe those who are gifted to love, laugh and cry with people, will produce every bit as much fruit, if not more, as any preacher or theologian.  Every gift and ministry is needed, but we must begin to honor those who have been pushed back into the shadows and let them know how valuable they are to all of us in the Kingdom. 

God showed me long ago that He wants to express His emotions through us. When I broke down speaking to a crowd, I asked Him what that was all about. "Why was I so emotional about that point?" He said, "Because I am emotional about it."

I shared last week from a very short book called The Boaz Blessing and again got very emotional trying to speak that blessing over some women of God. I realized that God felt very deeply about that message as well. I'd like for you to receive that blessing and learn how to share it with others. It's free and you can also give it away for free to those who can read books on the internet. You can use smashwords.com, Ibooks.com, Kobo,com, B & N, etc.  Kindle charges .99/book. Go Ahead, Be so Emotional is also available for free. Just click on "name your own price" and write in 00.

God bless you!!!

Ben and Brenda Peters

2016 - GLORIOUS CHAOS by Ben Peters

Posted on January 7, 2016 (by KSC email & Facebook)

As I shared recently on Face Book, I finally figured out who is to blame for all the chaos in America and the world.  In case you haven’t followed the news (and I understand why some of you wouldn’t), America and much of the world is experiencing tremendous upheaval, turmoil and revolution.  We have been warning of shakings and storms for the past couple of years.  Not everything we expected has happened yet, but many other things have.

From terrorist attacks and war in France, California, Israel, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and various places in Africa, as well as dangerous aggression or provocation from Iran, China, Russia and North Korea, to America’s moral value freefall, supported by our Extreme (Supreme) Court, and legislated by trend-setting states like California and New York, not to mention crazy El Nino weather, following extreme droughts, America and the whole world seem to be descending into an abyss of chaos.

So who might be to blame?  Are you ready for the answer?  At least in part, I blame those crazy radical Christian intercessors, who prayed prayers like, “Oh God, please turn America back to you, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST.  Bring a world-wide revival and let the “knowledge of the glory of the Lord cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”

You see, God heard those prayers, and even though many American Christians are somewhat complacent and contented as long as their own lives are going okay, God chooses to respond to those who have hearts like His and answer their prayers (II Chronicles 16:9), giving them higher priority than our prayers for comfort and prosperity.  He surely wants to bless us, but not if it robs us of our relationship with Him, and robs Him of His relationship with us.

There’s another principle worthy of mentioning from Ezekiel 9:4-6.  An angel was dispatched to mark the foreheads of all those who “sigh and cry for all the abominations” done in Jerusalem.  Those who received this mark would be protected from the death angel.  This is a different situation, but reveals that God hears and honors those who are burdened by the encroachment of wickedness, and cry out to God for the restoration of righteousness and justice.  If judgment is coming, like some predict, I certainly would like that mark on my forehead.

Now, I certainly don’t welcome crisis after crisis or persecution of any kind at this stage of my life.  I’d like to stay more comfortable, hang out with friends and family and especially our amazing kids and grand kids, going to their games and performances, etc.  I’d like to write more books, teach some classes and see God do wonderful things in our meetings through the power of spiritual gifts and ministries. And those are all great things and I will do them as much as God allows. I’m just saying, I don’t welcome war or heavy demands on my time or energy.  I would rather be left in my comfort zone.

But this is a season when God is calling us to get off the couch and out of the easy chair, and declare war on our enemy, who has been following his devilish blueprint for our destruction for centuries, and for now, is seeing great success.  It’s time to become one of those crazy radical intercessors and cry out to God for His mercy and grace to revive and heal us and bring in the great harvest for His glory. 

INCREDIBLY GREAT NEWS

God lives in eternity and sees the end from the beginning.  He may allow us temporary discomfort to bring great prosperity and joy for the long haul.  God has not been caught by surprise.  He knows what His enemy is up to and He has His own far greater plan to overpower the evil empire. 

That plan is the greatest awakening the world has ever seen.  Like Pentecost, it will sweep over capital cities and spread like fire to every corner of every nation. There is nothing that can stop it and God’s harvest will be gathered, and Jesus will have the bride that He’s been waiting for. 

Do not fear or let your heart be troubled.  There will be incredible joy in the hearts of every true believer.  Any hardship or time of suffering will seem like nothing and be quickly forgotten because of the amazing and exciting events and changes in hearts and lives. 

OKAY, HOW IS THAT GOING TO HAPPEN???

I’m glad you asked that question!!!  As long as the destructive changes in our society are small and incremental, we don’t notice or protest too much.  But when our whole world is falling apart before our eyes, and our feelings of security are replaced by fear and anxiety; when our political and even our spiritual leaders are so corrupt, that they let it happen, at that point we finally realize what kind of trouble we are in and begin to cry out to God as instructed in II Chronicles 7:14.  When we, His people, humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from OUR wicked ways, then HE WILL surely  hear from Heaven, forgive our sins and heal our land. 

The truth is that many Christians in America and world-wide have already been doing this in tens of thousands of churches and houses of prayer, etc., and GOD IS ANSWERING THEIR PRAYERS. God is preparing His army to counteract the evil. 

 I just met another teaching apostle whose whole focus now is on empowering others to rise up and fulfill their destiny.  He travels around the country, raising up apostolic centers.  We minister in many different ministry schools, including our Kingdom Sending Center, and people of all ages are discovering their gifts and learning to use them.  Look out devil.  The army of God is rising up.  They will be empowered with the fire of God and spiritual gifts and ministries, and no Herod or Caesar will ever be able to quench that fire, even under persecution. 

Power and love evangelists will invade every mountain of society.  More and more powerful movies will be released.  More business leaders will give their businesses to God and use them for positive influence.  More athletes and movie stars will share their testimonies with the world.  New technology, given to Christians, will reveal the greatness and love of God.  And great new political leaders will be elected and appointed to the highest offices in the land and the nations of the world.  No, they may never be the majority in this sinful world, but their influence will be unprecedented for righteousness and justice.

POWERFUL OPPORTUNITIES IN 2016

Christians – PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, listen to my heart!!!   More importantly, listen to God’s heart.  We, in America, have both the power of prayer and the power of the vote.  Before our elections become completely corrupted by evil politicians, we must vote in those with character and true integrity.   PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don’t wait for the final election to vote.  The PRIMARIES ARE SOOOOOO IMPORTANT.  If you don’t want to vote for the lesser of two evils, vote and help others get out to vote in your state’s primary.

Those blessed to be in early voting states have a special opportunity and responsibility.  Here are a few pointers to help you choose.  I believe there are several great options this year.  Some who don’t win the presidency may be appointed to high positions later.

1. Look for someone who has a reputation of telling the truth.  That would eliminate at least one candidate for sure.
2. Look for someone who doesn’t spend time bragging, trusting in his own wisdom and rudely insulting his opponents.  That should eliminate at least one more candidate.  I know God can use any heathen for His purposes, but we have the blessing of voting for a David, instead of a Saul.  Too many similarities to mention here.
3. Look for someone who acknowledges that America’s greatness comes from the goodness of God and has a personal relationship with God.
4. Look for someone who knows how to listen to other people including military and spiritual leaders.
5. Look for someone with a quick mind, but one who does not lean on his or her own understanding.
6. Look for someone who is not part of the political establishment, who has been corrupted by power and money-making opportunities and temptations.
7. Above all, listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Ask Him to speak to you while you watch the debates or study candidate’s websites or Christian Voter’s guides.  Every state has these voter’s guides.

HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR, AND LET YOUR CHAOS TURN INTO HIS GLORY!!!

Ben and Brenda Peters (ohmint@gmail.com)

P.S.   I love your feedback and comments, and so appreciate knowing you took time to read this.  I know how hard it is to read everything you want to read.

YOUR FATHER HAS ANOTHER SPECIAL GIFT FOR YOU by Ben Peters

Greetings Friends,

God gave me a significant word for this Christmas and coming year.  I would love to get your response.

Here it is:

YOUR FATHER HAS ANOTHER SPECIAL GIFT FOR YOU

While the enemy of our souls uses his brainwashed and evil spirit-controlled captives to terrorize and to take away our freedoms, our peace of mind, and even our very lives, our ultimate gift-giving Father is using His renewed-minded, spirit-filled lovers of Jesus to bring comfort and to give freedom, the peace of God and eternal life to desperate souls everywhere.  The way that our Father in Heaven is able to accomplish this is through His incredible gift-giving generosity to His servants on earth, not just at Christmas, but all year long.

God began to download His heart concerning spiritual gifts and ministries in a very clear and strong way in the past two or three years.  It started when Brenda and I were ministering to an apostolic training center in Washington State.  There were several pastors attending and a strong anointing was flowing as we spoke and prophesied over them.  Then the Lord gave me a clear and instructive word for them all.  It went something like this:

GOD’S STRONG WORD TO MINISTRY LEADERS

It’s time to take a look at your team and make sure you don’t have any major weaknesses that the enemy can exploit.  Use the football analogy and see if you have a strong defensive line and backfield, as well as the offensive line, wisdom-filled quarterbacks and gifted ball carriers and receivers.  These positions can only be filled by those who have received and developed their spiritual gifts and ministries. 

The important point the Holy Spirit was making was that we need every single gift and gift-ministry properly functioning on our ministry teams, or the enemy will continue to mess with us and defeat us in our battles against him.  The positions on a football team can be easily compared with the five-fold ministry gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4, and their use of the spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12-14.  God was using American football as an object lesson that most of us could understand.  For more information, read Folding Five Ministries Into One Powerful Team.

Here are the gifts mentioned in I Corinthians 12:

“For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit.  To another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit.  To another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues.” (I Corinthians 12:8-10)

At that point, the Lord clearly highlighted the gift of discerning of spirits.  There had been very little focus on this gift, but the need for it was extremely obvious.  Church ministry teams everywhere had suffered incredibly from the enemy’s attacks.  These attacks were successful to such a large degree because nobody was discerning the enemy’s diabolical influence and subtle methods of warfare.  I began preaching and teaching the body of Christ everywhere I could, challenging people to ask God to increase this gift in its purest form in every ministry team to prevent the enemy from taking away what God had given.  Satan still comes to steal, kill and destroy.  His favorite target is your ministry team.  If he can bring misunderstanding, strife, selfish ambition and jealousy in your ministry team, he can steal, kill and destroy the effectiveness of your ministry or church.  Tragically, we’ve seen this scenario repeated over and over and over again.

GOD’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR 2014

Late last year well before Christmas 2014, I heard the Lord say that He wanted to give His people an increase in the gift of faith.  I shared this with as many as possible, both in writing and speaking as well as with impartation of laying on of hands.  I believe God said He was giving an increase in the gift of faith so people would walk through the doors that He was opening for them.  They would need faith, because they were going where they had never gone before, and were leaving their comfort zones behind them.  To enter a new place, you have to leave the old behind.

GOD’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR 2015

I actually wasn’t expecting God to highlight another gift for this Christmas and the New Year, but while I was ministering to someone on the telephone, the words flew out of my mouth and I knew it was a word for the body of Christ.  The Holy Spirit is going to especially empower people with gifts of healings (I Corinthians 12: 9). 

As I have meditated on this word, I can see the divine logic in this order.  First, we need to discern spirits, so we don’t allow false gifts to operate and deceive the church.  Next we need a stronger gift of faith, not only to walk through new doors, but to help us believe for the healings we are called to release through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

AN EXTREMELY NECESSARY GIFT FOR THE CHURCH AND FOR KINGDOM EXPANSION

1. IN THE CHURCH

The need for a greater healing anointing should be very obvious.  Churches are not only filled with people who are physically sick, but the majority of Christians are just beginning to become aware of the need for emotional healing, in order for them to function to their full potential.  Without the healing of their soul, they have real openings for the enemy to cause more pain to themselves and to others. 

Without that healing, we can never have real deep unity, which we desperately need in order to bring in God’s great harvest.  Unhealed emotional pain prevents us from seeing others through God’s loving eyes, because past pain invites the constant fear that the pain will be repeated again.  Fear causes defense mechanisms to be set up and opens the door for contention, anger and bitterness.

God certainly wants us healed physically, but His priority is the healing of our soul and spirit.  Our priorities are usually the physical healing, because we can bury the emotional pain easier than we can the physical pain or disability.  But God will always prioritize the eternal over the temporal.

2. OUTSIDE THE CHURCH

There is no doubt that God wants His people healthy in every way.  He loves us and does not wish pain upon us.  But God knows this life is short and eternity is forever.  Thus, there is no doubt that He is more concerned with the spiritual health of every person in the world that He created, than with their physical health.

The great and wonderful news is that the gifts (plural) of healing not only bless people with a better quality of life on earth, but God loves to use these gifts to transform the hearts and souls of men and connect them with the eternal source of Life Himself.  This is an overwhelmingly wonderful truth that should touch our hearts with deep gratitude to God.  He really does want us to have a full and joyful experience in this life and He also wants us to help others to experience it both here and in Heaven.

God is giving us His amazing spiritual gifts to use for both purposes, but the greatest blessing is that we can use these gifts to reveal God’s love and transform the hearts of people to give them eternal life.  Healing bodies is one of God’s preferred ways to reveal His love to the lost, and I believe He is asking us, “Do you want this gift?”

I’ve seen how this gift works in powerful ways to bring the lost to Christ.  I’ve seen it in Canada, Argentina, India, Africa, South Korea and America.  I’ve seen it under the ministry of other men and women of God as well as our own ministry.  A number of years ago, I did extensive research in Scripture and church history and discovered that over 90% of conversions have resulted from supernatural occurrences, of which most of them were physical healings.  At that time, I wrote the book entitled, Signs and Wonders – To Seek or Not to Seek.  It clearly reveals the power of miracles to bring people to faith in God. 

A PROPHETIC CHALLENGE

I believe God wants me to challenge people all over the world at this season – the season in which we remember the greatest gift ever given to the human race – the gift of a Savior, Jesus Christ, who was born in a humble stable, but has been highly exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords.

God is speaking to me that He is now inviting us to join His medical team.  He is preparing to send us out to do clinics, house calls and stadium healing events.  He will empower us as individuals, but even more powerfully when we form divinely orchestrated medical teams who will carry the various gifts of healings.  These gifts include pretty much every other spiritual gift God has given us. 

Sometimes words of knowledge and/or words of wisdom are released to bring healing.  The gift of faith is, of course, a very frequent contributor to the healing ministry.  Many times the healing comes through the gift of miracles.  Other times, a prophetic word can open the mind and heart to the fact that God knows and cares.  As Jesus demonstrated, the gift of discerning of spirits can also be frequently used to bring the miracle healing.  Tongues and interpretation of tongues can also be used like prophecy, so we can see why Paul wrote it was the “gifts of healings.”

Do you want to join God’s medical team?  Are you willing to leave your comfort zone and take up the Heavenly challenge to do house calls, clinics and/or stadium healing events?  If so, here are some practical ideas to prepare.

1. Educate yourself in the realm of healing.  The Bible is your chief textbook.  Read about the healings in the Old and New Testament.  Then read stories of more recent revivals and healing ministries.  Grow your faith in prayer and worship and deeper intimacy with Jesus.  Attend healing services and listen to the teachings offered live or on electronic media.   Learn about all the gifts, especially those you are the strongest in.  
2. Take the first steps as God opens doors for you.  Pray for everyone you can.  Learn about spiritual treasure hunts – asking God for words of knowledge about people He wants you to minister to.
3. Join a ministry team in your church or ministry or neighborhood.  Practice develops your gifts.
4. Give God all the glory and stay humble when you see people healed.

It’s time to get excited about the opportunities God is opening up to us.  We have been given the ability to give the gift of hope to people living in fear and anxiety over the threat of radical terrorists, who want to destroy us.  Instead, we have the supernatural power of God given through His Spirit-empowered gifts, with which we can expose and defeat every attack of our enemy.  It’s the church’s privilege and the church’s responsibility.  Will be take up the challenge, or will we cringe in fear?  It’s time to embrace our destiny and God’s amazing adventures prepared for us, His beloved children.  Shalom!!!

Ben & Brenda

ohmint@gmail.com

P.O. Box 25, Genoa, IL 60135

THANKSGIVING, BIRTHDAYS AND CHRISTMAS by Ben Peters

www.kingdomsendingcenter.org         ohmint@gmail.com

P.O. Box 25,  Genoa, IL 60135            November 29, 2015

Greetings Dear Friends

November and December are very eventful for Brenda and me.  Brenda's birthday is in November just before Thanksgiving and mine is in December, two weeks before Christmas.  It makes for a lot of special times with each other and family.  This Thanksgiving, we were with our firstborn son, Ken and his wife, Valencia, who pastor two churches in Washington State, plus four totally awesome grandkids.  Just before that we spent a little time at the assisted living center where Brenda's 93 year-old mom lives.  We don't know how long she'll be able to stay there with the level of memory loss, etc. she's experiencing, but we do appreciate your prayers for her.  Her name is Joyce Pinkerton.

Christmas is coming in less than four weeks and for Brenda, this is the greatest time of the year.  It's her excuse to give and give and give some more.  But, it's also our reminder of the Giver of Life, Himself, who gave His only Son, so that we could be forgiven and accepted into eternal life.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we should have no lack of reminders to be thankful for what God has given us. 

If you'd like a unique gift for someone, I have a great suggestion:  My dear friend and son in the faith, Jonathan Seiver, has written a wonderful book, based on a series of visions that God gave him.  It reads much like Pilgrim's Progress, and would be great for older children and adults.  It's called, THE PALACE.  I wrote the foreword and Randy Clark and others gave endorsements.  You can go online to smile.amazon.com and type in The Palace, Jonathan Seiver, and you'll find it for sale, both real book and Ebook versions.  If you haven't registered to support a charity like KSC, you can do that first and then we'll get a wee kickback from your purchase, which won't cost you a penny more. 

If you prefer, you can just click on this long link: 

http://www.amazon.com/Palace-Prophetic-Journey-through-Cultures/dp/1517048257/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448862599&sr=8-1&keywords=Jonathan+Seiver

ALSO, would anyone like a good deal for books for your pastor or leader, I'm working on a pastor's packet, that would be very inexpensive (basically our cost) and something they might really appreciate.  Please reply to this email if you are interested.

(Special Note:  KSC has now added the Pastor's Christmas Gift Pack to our Books section under the RESOURCES tab for only a $14.95 donation)

Stay thankful and watch and pray and God prepares this nation and the world for the greatest harvest we've ever seen.

Yours for the Kingdom,

Ben and Brenda Peters

SPECIAL INFORMATION by Ben Peters

November 19, 2015

Greetings Friends,

We so appreciate all the kind responses to our newsletters.  Here comes a different one with some important information.

NEW WEBSITE:

Our new website is taking us deeper into the 21st Century.  I hope it's not too high tech for us senior citizens!!!!   Actually, it is quite user friendly.

Our newsletters are now getting posted on the blog site.  You will be able to find back issues and easily share them with others.  Here's the link:

http://www.kingdomsendingcenter.org/blog/

MOZAMBIQUE ADVENTURE ANYONE???

We are taking applications for next summer's trip to Mozambique for those who want to experience the amazing revival and miracles in the "bush, bush."  There are so many ways to be a blessing and get blessed at the same time.  We've almost always had opportunities to experience close up times with Roland and Heidi Baker, and overall it is an amazing adventure for anyone who loves God and missions.  This is not yet on our new website, but you can click on the following link if you want to learn more or apply.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KSC2016AFRICATRIP

MINISTRY FOUNDATIONS 101 COURSE

I just got a report on our KSC group that's taking this course.  They all seem to be getting really blessed and I know it will certainly help them fulfill their destiny in a way that pleases Jesus.  This course is available for individuals as well as groups.  Please let us know if you are interested at all.

THE KINGDOM BUILDING CHURCH

I was encouraged this week with the fact that other authors are writing books with a similar emphasis.  It is time to eliminate competition, jealousy and strife in the Kingdom.  I believe this is high on God's priority list for this generation, breaking the religious traditions of centuries and refocusing on His Kingdom and not our own.  Remember:  All our books can be downloaded for free on several E-book providers, such as smashwords.com.  You get to name your own price and I'm not offended by those who write 0.00 in the blank. 

God bless and keep you in the center of His heart and His will,

Ben and Brenda Peters