One of the couples from my small group who attended the Encounter Retreat this weekend got to experience the delivering power of God. They're completely free from a long-time addiction to smoking!

The wife stopped smoking on Friday--as I understand it, this was mostly due to some chest and throat pain she was experiencing. That evening they went outside to smoke, but she found it hurt too much. All day Saturday, she stayed away from cigarettes because of the pain, but she was grateful for her condition and felt it was God's way of making her not even like smoking. That night, she got her cigarettes from her car and threw them in the bon fire...but her husband refused.

He had tried quitting many times before and thought he knew what a waste it would be to get rid of his current pack of cigarettes...that's a lot of money to waste if you're not really quitting! But as he laid in bed that night, he prayed, "God, if you really want me to quit, then I don't want any symptoms whatsoever--no headaches, nervousness, or even oral fixations like gum chewing or pen biting. Nothing!"

Guess who took him up on his bargain? You guessed it! The next day brought no withdrawal symptoms at all. Neither did Monday. Or Tuesday! He said this is the first time he's ever been able to quit without horrible side effects.

Part of the solution was the supernatural power of God that appears to have brought healing to his lungs and nervous system; another aspect is that at the Encounter Retreat we deal with matters of the heart and healing inner wounds from past experiences.

Addictions like smoking tend to stem from inner voids that need to be filled. Often they are a way of simulating peace and giving temporary relief from anxieties or stress. But such methods are entirely artificial. When the inner void is filled with the Spirit of God, however, and we actively choose to rely on Him for peace, we begin to find complete freedom!

Now, here's how to stay free: Temptation to return to an addiction will inevitably arise when we find ourselves facing the same stress or anxiety that we used to manage with our addiction. We then have a choice: either we can suppress our desires or confess them to the Lord. Suppression only serves to pressurize these desires so that they erupt later on in a flurry of anger or an addictive binge. Confession, however, allows the desire to be released in a healthy way. We can then confess our anxiety and stress to Christ, ask Him to handle all our concerns, and choose to trust Him.

Addictions are not solved "cold-turkey." They are solved by the love of Father God, trust in Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Allow God to heal your heart and teach you to trust Him. Ask Him to heal you. And rely on Him to keep you free! He will do it!

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24--May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it (NIV).

What can I say? Our Encounter Retreat was awesome! God showed up in powerful ways and ministered His love and power to everyone present in one form or another. Some had a deep inner revelation of our heavenly Father and experienced His love in a whole new way. Some had a God-given realization of their guilt and came to encounter the work of Jesus Christ deeper than ever before. Many of us had dreams, visions, and supernatural experiences. Many people were released from long-time bitterness that they didn't even know they had. Strongholds were demolished. Chains were broken. The all-consuming Fire of God set people dramatically free this weekend!

On top of all this, on our drive home, we called one of the ladies from our small group and found out she had been horribly sick all weekend. We invited ourselves over to pray for her (which she welcomed). Before we had even arrived at her house, her fever lifted for the first time in days!

From there we went to the little city park in downtown Plymouth to have our Wildfire School of Supernatural Ministry and play worship music by the big fountain in the middle. We had fifteen people from our group show up, and we worshipped God for about an hour together in the park.

Before long, it started getting too cold to stay out there, so we went to a local coffee shop called "The Bean" to continue. Within a matter of minutes after we started playing music, a man walked in and looked at us. My girlfriend Robin flagged him over, and he listened as my friends Sara and Katie sang a song they wrote that said, "I want to wake up and find that I've already died and it's not I but Christ who lives in me."

"Hi, how are you?" I asked.

"Have you got a half-hour?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" came the collective reply of all the people in our group.

Long story short, we spent the next several hours listening to him pour out all his struggles and life experiences. During the first hour, our statements were careful to gently point him toward Christ and set the stage for a presentation of the Gospel. During our second hour, though, we spoke of Jesus Christ and His power to save and set us free from guilt and shame. Everyone listened couteously to his stories, and those who spoke always seemed to say just the right thing as the Holy Spirit led us. People shared prophetic words and supernatural "words of knowledge" in practical, loving ways and pointed this man to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Eventually it was closing time and we had to return home. We invited him to our Monday night group, so hopefully he'll be there tonight as the seven of us who attended the Encounter Retreat share testimonies about our experiences!

God is so awesome! If you are willing to welcome His presence in the streets, I can guarantee that He'll show up with power!

When we read about Jesus in the Gospels or about His apostles in the book of Acts, we find several places where they were involved in casting out demons. We even find places that say "many demons" were cast out! In fact, some people had multiple demons opressing them. And Jesus told His disciples (which includes you and me) that we have authority over all the power of the enemy. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of Jesus Christ, we can heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper, and cast out demons.

Such activities were so common in Bible days, but these days it seems like we pretend demons are nothing but figments of an uneducated person's imagination. And yet, all over the world we see dramatic evidence of their existance.

I'm reminded of the many cases in Africa and South America where people are inhabited by spirits that make them behave like animals--eating grass, crawling on all fours, slithering like a snake, clawing at people, and making bizarre noises. When the spirit is cast out in Jesus' name, these people come to their senses and testify to the power of God.

This isn't the only way demons work in other countries, but it is very common. And yet we rarely see such things in America. Demons try to be more clever here. Instead of dramatically demonstrating their influence over a person, they do so sneakily and subtly. And here's how:

In Genesis, we are told that God formed man from the dust of the ground (body), breathed into him the breath (Hebrew: "spirit") of life, and man became a living soul. Body, spirit, soul. From this description, we learn that the soul is the product of the body and spirit coming together. As a result, our soul (which consists of our mind, will, and emotions) can be directly affected by the condition of our body or spirit at any given moment.

In a healthy Christian, our spirit is fully alive in Christ and supercedes the condition of our body so that our soul obeys our spirit. But if our spirit is not alert and drifts off to sleep, our body takes over and our souls become slaves to our impulses and physical condition.

Now, if our soul is the result of our body and spirit coming together, what do you suppose happens when an evil spirit comes into the mix? Well, for one thing, we get confused on a spiritual level. For another thing our soul gets affected, causing us to have tainted emotions, evil thoughts, and unwise choices. Furthermore, our body can be effected. Just as our human body is given life by our human spirit, it can also be adversely affected by an evil spirit.

Demonic activity is no less common today than it was 2000 years ago in the Bible. If anything, it is more prevalent because the end is approaching and Satan knows his time is short. In America, demons produce mental disorders, clinical depression, strife, envy, and other things that seem like they're just natural parts of who we are. We try to physically suppress their effect on the soul by taking pills and changing our diet, but we often end up in worse shape than we were in before.

In the past three weeks I've had the opportunity to see four people instantly set free from clinical depression as I took gentle authority over the evil spirit, cast it out, and prayed for the Holy Spirit to fill that void in the person's life. In fact, I too went through a few hours of unexplainable depression on Sunday until my girlfriend Robin took authority in Jesus' name and cast the evil spirit away (this may have been one of the spirits that was cast out of the others, which should remind us that we need to stay clothed in the armor of God).

My encouragement to all of you is not that you would go out looking for depressed people and casting out demons. Jesus said we need to be careful about that because if the person does not also get their life filled up with God and repent, the evil spirit will vome back with seven more demons worse than himself. I've seen this happen in the past too, so I'm very careful about this.

Another word of caution is that we need not tell the person, "You have a demon." This could be just the thing that demon needs to make the person leave or put up walls. Instead, offer to pray for them and then take authority during your prayer. Tell the spirit to leave in Jesus' name and invite the Holy Spirit to bring healing and transformation to the person. By the way, "taking authority" does not mean yelling, or being angry, or jumping, or doing anything else dramatic. In a confrontation, the person with the most authority is often the one who is most calm. Tell the spirit to leave and not come back. Speak on behalf of Jesus Christ, and make that point known. It's that simple. No hype, just authority.

So if you know someone who is struggling with an evil spirit in any way, I tell you on behalf of Jesus Christ that you have been given the authority in Him to cast out demons. But also seek the overflowing power of the Holy Spirit, and put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6) so that you may remain protected and not vulnerable (otherwise you might wind up affected by the same demon like I was in the story earlier).

God bless!

I used to be really cynical about church retreats. We go, we cry, we decide to change our lives forever, everyone hugs, and then we go right back to the way things were. After attending more retreats than I can count and seeing the same temporary results, I had grown rather disenchanted with the whole idea.

But that's when we planted our church in Fowlerville (www.ffcag.org), and our pastor invited the staff to attend an Encounter Retreat with another church. Long story short, none of our lives have been the same since!

At the Encounter, we deal with matters of personal transformation, freedom in Christ, and deliverance from habits, addictions, bitterness, wrong thoughts, and past mistakes. Furthermore, we focus on the foundations of Christian life and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. At this year's retreat, I'll be leading worship and presenting three lessons:

• "What Do You Desire?" - All about who we are and how much more important the God-given desires of our personal spirit are than the desires of our flesh or soul.
• "Others and You" - Forgiveness and freedom from bitterness and resentment.
• "Knowing your New Best Friend: the Holy Spirit" - All about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, how to be led by the Spirit, and how to deepen your relationship with Him.

This year's retreat will be held in the lodge of Youth Haven Ranch, which is a beautiful facility in the little town of Rives Junction, Michigan (about halfway between Jackson and Lansing).

I've posted an informational flyer on the Documents page in case you're interested. We would love to have you join us! I know I have readers all over the world; but if you happen to be in the area, we would love to have you (we've had people come from as far away as Pennsylvania and Texas to past retreats).

This will be the fourth retreat I've helped staff, and each one seems better than the last! Also, we have limited space, so please contact me soon if you're interested.

God bless!
--Art--

This last Wednesday, my friend Tony (who leads our men's Bible Study) pointed out that the devil tends to attack those areas of our lives that God wants to use most. Then Sunday came along and I believe the Holy Spirit revealed something to me allong those lines during a time of prayer.

The thought occurred to me (I believe it was from God, but judge for yourself) that the enemy has been around for a while and understands how to read the human genetic code. He looks for things God meant for good, and he perverts them so that we never become who we were created to be.

For instance, suppose God created one person to be a fiery, passionate, bold Christian who is not afraid to speak the truth in the face of opposition. Then the enemy comes along, sees the God-given potential that has been written into that person's DNA, and attacks it. Later in life, the circumstances the enemy has brought against that person have wounded their soul and spirit to such an extent that instead of being a bold proclaimer of the Truth, they become a person with an anger and rage problem.

And here's the hard part--Does God hold that person accountable for their actions? You bet. Why? Because that's not who they were created to be. Yes, they have some DNA that makes it very easy for them to have anger and rage problems, but the fact remains that this was not God's reason for writing that DNA!

Yesterday I met someone (who will remain anonymous) who God is calling out of a homosexual relationship and into His Kingdom. This person's response was to respond to the Holy Spirit and leave the house where they were living. We got to pray together for salvation and new life, and this person stated that they genuinely felt different than before. Sure, there will be a process of spiritual and emotional transformation involved--I've experienced this first hand in my own battle with lust and sensuality. But I think one of the most important things that came up was this matter of DNA and how modern scientists claim to have found "the gay gene" (I apologize if that term is offensive to any of you).

You see, God created this person to have a tender, caring heart through which the Holy Spirit can reveal His power and love in awesome ways. The enemy came along and attacked that DNA early in their life through circumstances and lies spoken into their thoughts. And now, years later, this person has finally accepted that Jesus Christ has something better in store!

The supernatural love of God knows no limits! The Bible says, "God is love," and, "Love covers a multitude of sins!" God is not shocked when the devil attacks us in the areas God meant for good--He is grieved. Why? Because it hurts to watch someone you love getting dragged away from you. Not only that, but the things we often get "dragged away by" are the things God meant to be used for good--like the firey boldness of the one who was dragged into rage or the sensitivity, creativity, and personality of the one who was dragged into homosexuality.

We need to stop explaining away our sin by saying, "Well, that's just the way I was made; so God must want me to be like this." The truth is, he made you just the way He wanted to so He could reveal something about Himself through you that no one else could. He created you with a purpose and a destiny. He has a reason for every gene in your genetic code. But He did not create you to live a life of sin.

Christianity is not about "denying who we are"--it's about becoming who we are! God created us each with His plan and purpose in mind, and the Christian life is one of glorifying our Father in Heaven. That means we do His will. That means we become who He created us to be! And this can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit!

In our own strength and will-power, we are helpless when it comes to getting out of the mess the enemy has dragged us into. We've been attacked right down to our DNA, and so it seems that this is just "who we are." Do not be fooled. When we allow the transformational power of the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with God's love and show us who we are meant to be, He begins to change us from the inside-out. Our DNA doesn't change, but the way we apply it does! We become who we were created to be! And God, our Father, gets all the glory for our freedom from sin!

My prayer for each and every reader today is that you would not be swayed by the enemy to believe that your sinful nature is "just the way you were made." I pray in the name of Jesus that you would instead realize the purity and purpose that were intended by God before you were even conceived in your mother's womb. I pray that you may come to grasp how long and high and deep and wide is the love of God and how great is His kindness toward us expressed in Christ Jesus. Today is the day for you to leave your old ways of life at the cross (considering the "old you" as being dead) so that the blood of Jesus Christ can purify you and the Holy Spirit can give you a brand new life of intimacy with our Father in Heaven.

I invite and welcome you to join our family!

As January 1 approaches, a lot of us start making all sorts of promises for the next year. And yet, the running gag year after year seems to be that no one ever succeeds at a "new year's resolution." The will-power seems to last for a week or two (if that) and then we're right back in the same old rut we were in.

And this doesn't just happen at the onset of a calendar year. We've all tried--on any given day--to change something about ourselves and failed. We try to break habits, addictions, sinful thoughts, and more...but guess what? In no time at all, everything comes crashing back down.

So what's the deal? If the cards are stacked so violently against our success, why do we bother to continue making New Year's Resolutions year after year? If we're doomed to failure, why do we keep believing it's so possible?

Because it is...just not the way we would expect.

You see, God is very clear on the fact that we are meant to change and be more like Christ. But He is also very clear on the fact that "will power" is not the answer. Actually, it's the opposite: We must abandon our own will and start serving the will of God. We must come to terms with the cross of Christ and put our sinful nature to death so that the Holy Spirit can birth new life within us.

Want to be free from addictions? Start by asking the Holy Spirit what issues in your past might be the root issue. He'll likely show you one or more instances in which your subconscious came to believe something that was not true. He'll show you inner wounds. He'll show you bitterness.

And when He reveals these things, it's your job to respond. A good friend of mine recently came to Christ and a few weeks later was set free from her addiction to smoking. Completely, 100% FREE! How? The Holy Spirit showed her some areas in her life in which she was holding bitterness and resentment against her dad. And as soon as she forgave him, the addiction lifted. She was occasionally tempted in her mind for a while, but she was no longer ruled by it. She even had a friend smoking near her who offered her a cigarrette, and she was able to refuse without any struggle.

Jesus is the answer! It's not about how much you "make up your mind" to change--that will never amount to anything! But the power and presence of God are transformational and revolutionary! It's time to stop making meaningless New Year's Resolutions, and start jumping into the New Life Revolution!

Ask God for the ability to repent and put your old life to death with Christ. Then ask Him to give you new life by raising you up with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then start walking in victory by fostering your relationship with Father God, which Jesus made possible through His ascension into heaven.

This year, don't waste your time with another powerless New Year's Resolution. Rather, ask the Holy Spirit for a New Life Revolution! HE WILL ANSWER!

New Age Practices vs. Real Christianity

I recently heard a story about a local woman whose child was in the hospitol with an incurable disease. A friend of hers, who practices a form of New-Age beliefs called "Reiki," came for a visit; and after "channelling the powers of the universe," placed her hands on the boy. Guess what? He got healed, and now the mother is studying Reiki as well.

Now, when this story was shared in a roomfull of Christians, you could sense the thick uneasiness and displeasure among the group. Why? Because they knew that any miraculous work that is not done in the name of Jesus Christ distracts people from God instead of drawing them to Him. And speaking from experience (not just doctrine), such activities regularly open people up to be influenced by evil, lying spirits.

But the chief problem didn't exist in the Reiki-follower's actions. That's all she knew, and you can't blame her for having compassion on the boy. The problem is actually with us. Where were the Christians who could have gone into that room and laid their hands on the boy in the name of Jesus Christ? Where were the Christians walking in supernatural power and relationship with God? Where were the ambassadors of Christ?

Now, let me tell you another story: A few months ago, a couple friends of mine and Robin's had been experiencing some bazaar demonic manifestations. The young man had two boys (ages 3 and 5) from a previous marriage who kept seeing things; and his girlfriend was living with him. There were audible voices in the house, things moving when no one was in the room, and the boys were having nightmares. It even developed to the point where the man was quickly awakened in the night with a sharp pain in his arm, only to find a bite mark.

Long story short, five of us (all Christian young adults who meet in a weekly small group) were invited over to their house to deal with the matter. The Holy Spirit showed us that the spirits would not go away unless this couple stopped living in darkness. In the same way flies are attracted to manure, demons are attracted to spiritual darkness.

Anyhow, we told them not to make a haphazard decision right away, but rather to talk it over and make the choice together because they would both be affected. Then we prayed in the name of Jesus that the evil manifestations would stop so that the two little boys wouldn't be terrified to be in the house anymore. But we warned them firmly that if they continued to live in darkness, the results would only be temporary.

That night, in a house that had become peaceful for the first time in months, the two of them talked it over and decided they needed to take this step with Christ. The two young boys--ages 3 and 5--came back from their mom's house and also commented on the change of atmosphere. The youngest--who had been seeing one of the evil spirits--kept walking around the house saying, "Where's the little girl? I can't find the little girl..."

Since then, the two of them come every week to our small group and sometimes even host the meeting at their house. I got to baptize the young man in our friend's bathtub a few weeks ago, and then the young woman chose to get baptized a couple weeks later! They both repented of sexual imorality and totally changed the ways they related to each other. Guess what? Their relationship improved dramatically. In fact, the young lady reads her Bible every night, and a couple weeks ago her boyfriend tied a ring to the bookmark ribbon for her to find. They're getting married in June!

And it doesn't stop there: As a result of God's power and the work of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, the young man got dramatically set free from an addiction to pain killers when he received Christ, and the young woman has been free from smoking for the past month and a half since she forgave her dad for things he had done to her family. They're an awesome testimony of God's power!

So here's the scoop: there are two distinct differences between Christian works of power and New-Age works of power. First is the source. The Christian's power comes from the Holy Spirit and is limitless; the New-Age-follower's power comes either from their limited human abilities or from weak evil spirits. The second difference is that when someone gets healed by someone in New-Age, they and their family are more likely to drift away from the one true God and get more and more entrapped in separation from Him. On the other hand, when God's power is at work, people get utterly transformed inside and out. Their hearts change, their addictions evaporate, and their physical circumstances are even affected.

Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble; but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world!" Becoming a Christian doesn't mean the world suddenly becomes perfect. Rather it means that you have a relationship with the One who IS perfect! And He's the one for whom you get to be an ambassador. You too can have opportunities like my four friends and I--and you too can have a relationship with the One who is infinitely stronger than any demon, power, or circumstance!