Several years ago, before many people knew who Todd Bentley was, I ordered his teaching set "Open Heavens" (this was so long ago, it was a set of cassette tapes!). I listened to these teachings intently. I actually remember having an awkward feeling in my gut as I began to listen, but I ignored it because I was so hungry for what Todd had to say. To be honest, much of what he said was perfectly accurate to the Word of God. And I will also say that the possibility of entering into Heaven is certainly real, biblically supported, and able to happen today. In fact, it was because of the truth in these teachings that I was able to understand the visions the Lord was giving me and why He was giving them.

Then some music started on the tape. I began to feel as though the Lord was raising me up, and in my spirit I could see all sorts of brilliant, bright light. But suddenly, Todd Bentley chimed in and tried to verbally guide the experience. I felt like I had dropped out of bed and landed harshly on the floor. Nevertheless, in trust I kept listening, believing that Todd was a man of God and wouldn't lead me astray. I began to feel a darkness coming over me, and I knew this was an evil spirit, but I wrote it off as if it was the devil trying to distract me from what God was doing. Little did I know at the time that God was not in it at all!

The year that followed was one of the darkest times for me emotionally. I constantly felt distant from the Lord. I suffered from depression. I would weep at the slightest onset of emotional discomfort. I had no self-control. This condition didn't go away until finally my girlfriend, Robin (young though she was), discerned that I had an evil spirit and cast it out of me in the name of Jesus. I've actually come across several testimonies online of people who had encounters almost identical to mine, and they also suffered from spiritual defilement after engaging in Todd's guided visualization.

Guided visualization is when a human being or an evil spirit tries to induce an experience that God is not authorizing. Satan tried things like this with Jesus. As our Lord fasted and prayed in the wilderness for 40 days, the devil approached Him three times. Each time, the devil used scripture to entice Jesus into performing a miracle, gaining authority, or having a spiritual experience with angels that Father God had not authorized. Jesus didn't resist the devil in those matters because the Scriptures being quoted weren't true--He resisted the devil because He only wanted to do what He saw His Father in Heaven doing; and He only wanted to do it according to His Father's plan.

By practicing guided visualization in his conferences, seminars, teachings, and ministry, Todd Bentley has been usurping God's sovereignty. Many of the people involved are actually having encounters in heaven, but many others are being deceived by lying spirits!

A few months ago, I was invited out to a prayer meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by a man who knows Todd Bentley. This man taught for an hour on Heavenly encounters, and I really didn't have much of a check in my spirit as he did so. Then he said, "Who wants to go?" He invited me up to play piano while he went to each of the seventy people in the room and "guided them" into a vision. He would take them by the hand and start sharing things that he was seeing, and then they would take over.

At the end, he asked, "How many of you saw something?" Most of the room raised their hands. "Okay," he continued, "that's a little hard to count. How many of you would be willing to say that all you saw was the back of your eyelids?" About five of the seventy people raised their hands. Then he began to ask people what they saw. Many of them shared visions of things that resonated with me in my spirit--in fact, some of them had visions of places in heaven that I had personally encountered in previous years. Like I said, this sort of thing is real! But there were also those who were making things up, and there were also those who were being outright deceived by demons.

In my heart, though, I struggled to rejoice about even the true experiences people had as I drove 3 hours back to my house. Actually, I felt a little grieved. It took me a while to figure out why, but it finally occured to me that these were not all authorized experiences. God did not initiate them. He allowed them, yes; but He did not approve. Rather than God getting all the glory for the encounter, people raved about how this man had led them into it. This is one of the pitfalls of guided visualization.

Feel free to seek the Lord and allow Him to carry you into visions, dreams, and trances. Allow Him to give you genuine encounters in the spiritual realm! But don't try to induce it yourself, and don't rely on someone else to guide you there. Let's be like Christ and ONLY do what our Father is doing. If He initiates the encounter, you can be certain that you are in the right place at the right time! If not, you are opening yourself up to demons and spiritual defilement.

Be discerning, friends!
--Art--

I've had some recent e-mails and comments sent my way about the lack of documentation for the "healings" taking place in Lakeland, and I want to address them. Again, this is not a cut-and-dry issue that can be taken "all or nothing." Rather, spiritual discernment needs to be applied, and critical thinking should be engaged to realize that the presence of the false does not necessarily indicate the absence of the true.

One person recently commented:

Hi, I agree with a lot of what you post. You seem to have a commitment to Word and Spirit, praise God for this.

I wonder about one thing though, you believe that Bentley's healing gift is from the Holy Spirit. As far as I can see through what I have researched, there have been no documented healings as of yet except the xray thing which you have noted doesn't show anything clearly.

I have some freinds over in Lakeland just now, one has tongue cancer and has been prayed for on the stage. Todd declared it a demon. I am hoping my freind comes back healed and delivered.

This is not the first person to bring this to my attention. In some recent e-mails, one of my readers shared this:

...I read a letter from a Lakeland resident who said all of the other Charismatic churches in the area are keeping out of this saying it isn't revival. Normally, I'd question whether or not that was jealousy, but as I watch this on TV, I can't help but feel creepy the entire time. After watching a few dozen testimonies to healing last night, it was remarkable how all of them were "no more pain", a side effect of endorphins and self-hypnosis, but none were able to say they were healed and most still seemed to have their problem. One letter I read was from a woman who was convinced she was healed because the pain went away, but 24 hours later, it was back and she felt spiritually violated and had to seek God to get rid of the oppression she was under. That's what I'm suspecting is much of what we are seeing. They were standing there claiming someone was raised from the dead after being clinically dead for 15 minutes . . . no mention of the fact that they were in the hospital and the doctors continued to work on them giving oxygen and shocking and all that, just that one of the relatives was watching God TV and prayed for the "dead" person and then they woke up as if that's what healed them. Is it possible? Sure, but it's more or just as likely it was the efforts of the doctors rather than Todd's anointing...

I asked this person for links to these letters, and he replied graciously; but after much prayer on the matter, I feel that I should not publicize these sites because they could cause people to stumble in their faith. I can, however, vouch for this writer and say that the letters they came across were credible.

So what are we supposed to do with this? Is anybody actually getting healed as a result of the Lakeland meetings?

Here is how I responded to that first writer:

In answer to your question, I persnally know a small handful of people who have been healed by God through Todd Bentley in the past and are still fully healed.

Also, regarding this current movement in Florida, a pastor I know was watching one of the early meetings online with a friend when Todd Bentley had a "Word of Knowledge" about "right shoulder rotator cuff surgery." Instantly the guy's shoulder popped into place and he could move it properly without pain. He had the surgery several years prior. It's still healed.

I know a lot of the so-called healings coming out of Lakeland are the temporary results of adrenaline and emotion, and I also know that most of what Todd is doing is not healing but rather praying for the sick.

In short, I know God has healded people through him due to personal experience, but I too have found the documentation sadly lacking.

As I said in the beginning of this post, the presence of the false does not necessarily indicate the absense of the true. Just because there are many false reports and temporary healings rising out of these meetings does not mean that they are completely devoid of the true healing power of God.

It doesn't surprise me, though, with all the false teaching and pride littering these meetings, that the Hand of God is not moving in as much power as one would expect from something getting such national coverage. I certainly believe in the healing power of God (as you could see from my last blog post), but I am also aware of counterfeits. I believe our response to these people "caught up in the moment" should be to follow the advice of Scripture and "rejoice with those who rejoice." If they feel that they are healed, then praise God with them. To rob them of their reason for praising God is to rob God of praise from one of His children.

Again, let us strive for unity and purity in the church without divisiveness, quarrels, and fruitless disputes. It's one thing to point out false teaching and warn our brothers and sisters to "beware of wolves in sheep's clothing" and to avoid false prophets; but it is another thing to slander fellow Christians and view with contempt those who are passionate about Jesus Christ. We need to pray for the Church in this hour that we will not all fall victim to deception and ruin. And we especially need to pray that God will purify this activity in Lakeland and shatter the operation of the enemy.

God bless!
--Art--

With all the writing I've been doing about the Lakeland meetings with Todd Bentley, I wanted to take a moment to exalt the name of Jesus Christ for His true healing power!

In the first two pictures to the right, you can see various scars I used to have on my face. The most obvious ones are there on my chin. It's a little hard to tell, but there are also big scars on my cheeks, nose, and forehead--they're just sunburned, so they show up pink (click the images for a larger picture).

I received these scars from borderline third-degree burns (technically classified as second-degree) when I was 16 years old. The doctor said they would never go away, and my dermitologist said that in the slim chance that they would disappear, it would take 7 years because that's how long it takes a skin cell to replace itself. In the first picture, I was 17, and in the second picture, I was 18. Shortly after that, though, was the healing I'm about to share with you, which resulted in the third picture, taken when I was 19.

Three years into having the scars, I got upset with God--I don't recommend that, but it's just where I was at the time. I said, "God, what's the point? You're not getting any glory from these scars! Children are afraid of me. It's embarassing. Why would you make me live with these scars?"

Suddenly, a picture popped into my mind of Jesus after the resurrection when he told Thomas to put his fingers where the nails were and touch where the spear entered His side. I sensed the Lord saying, "I didn't just take the punishment for your sin so that you wouldn't have to face it, but I also--even now--bear the scars so that you don't have to!"

I quickly put my hands on my face and said, "Jesus, take the scars!" Nothing happened.

But I held onto that word from God and did the same thing every morning. Within three weeks, they disappeared completely--four years before the dermitologist said it was humanly possible! To this day, the only evidence I have of those scars is a little patch of white hair that grows in my beard (and I technically shouldn't be able to grow a beard because of the dead cells that once formed the scars!). And any time someone points out the white, I get to share this testimony with them! God is so awesome!

That's not the only time I've been healed, though. As a baby, I was diagnosed with a heart murmer, but my parents had our church pray for me and I was miraculously healed. As a matter of fact, my medical record still shows the heart murmer even though the doctors agree that I no longer have one!

Then there was my broken back that was healed about six months ago. Long story short, I dislocated some vertebrae and pinched some discs, which rendered me unable to walk or even move without excruciating pain. I spent two weeks sleeping on a mattress on the floor of our living room before I begged to be taken to my church. There, during the morning prayer time, I was laying on the floor in pain. My pastor prayed one of the simplest prayers: "Father, I hate seeing Art hurt like this! Would You please do something?" Immediately, I felt and heard a series of pops as my spine went perfectly into place! I returned to the physical therapist on Monday walking perfectly upright (only a slight limp from a pulled muscle in my hip). I got to share the Gospel with the therapist and his assistant, and the assistant rededicated her life to the Lord! She had not been to church since she was married about a decade prior, but now she could see the power of God!

I could go on for hours with these stories. I've been healed of tendonitis in my right shoulder, Attention Deficit Disorder, a degenerative tooth disease that was making my teeth fall apart, stomach ulcers, chronic sinusitis, and more. I KNOW God's healing power and the TRUTH that by the lashings Christ endured, we are healed! I can say with confidence that you too can be healed supernaturally in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

Jesus Christ has all power and authority in heaven and on earth, and I feel it is important to testify to it--especially in the midst of so much speculation surrounding the physical healings taking place in Lakeland, Florida with Todd Bentley. I still do not endorse those meetings (you can read the other articles here at www.SupernaturalTruth.com to find out why), but I certainly do not deny the power of God to heal people physically!

Feel free to e-mail these pictures and testimony to your friends to show proof of God's healing power. I would like to open up the "comments" section of this blog post to people who have testimonies of their own healing or prayer requests for physical healing; and then I would like for us to praise God, rejoice with one another, and pray for the afflicted in Jesus' name. Let's get a true online "healing revival" going, and let's do it in the name of Jesus Christ with a clear presentation of the Gospel!

Blessings,
--Art--

Why do we call shaking, rocking, jumping, laughing, and shouting "revival"? For that matter, why do we automatically suppose that the evidence of spiritual activity is somehow synonymous with "revival"? I'll admit, many of these things may indeed happen in the midst of a true revival, but they are not necessarily evidence that God is moving. As a matter of fact, they can just as easily be evidence of demons (there are plenty of cases of this in the Bible).

The things we're seeing in Lakeland, although exciting and emotionally gripping, are not true revival. Real revival takes place when the Spirit of God grips the hearts and souls of both the churched and the unchurched with repentance. It starts in the house of God (meaning "Christians") and spreads to the lost. Real revival takes a fiery boldness on the part of its leaders to preach the unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ--exposing sin for what it is and bringing people to realize their desperation for our Father in heaven.

If that makes you shake, cry, laugh, or shout, then I'm all for it. And if healing, miracles, "words of knowledge," prophecy, and the like are happening in the midst of such a movement, then clearly they are from God.

But what we see happening in Lakeland are all the signs, wonders, and manifestations without much of the repentance. Yes, people are responding to "salvation calls," but the prayers they're led in have a sad lack of a "repentance" theme. So let me ask you: is this "revival?"

Now I have to be careful here, though, because I don't want to fall into the trap that I've seen on so many sites recently. It's very easy to speak out against the meetings and spout opinions of what I think about them, but Proverbs says that "a fool delights in airing his own opinions." The Internet is littered with opinions, and I want to make sure that I'm remaining in the realm of discernment. The popular opinions right now seem to be polarized--either people are head-over-heels for what's happening in Lakeland, or they have condemned the whole thing; but I feel from the Lord that it's more complex than that.

As I shared yesterday, I sense that Todd Bentley's healing gift is from God, but he has unfortunately stepped outside his gifting and been led astray in regards to his ministry methods, teachings, and many of his "revelations." We need to pray for our brother and believe God to bring transformation into his life. Please keep in mind that it would be wrong for us to slander our brother in Christ--these blog posts are meant to bring clarity, maturity, and true revival to the Church--not more divisions.

I honestly believe that out of this movement in Lakeland, Florida, God can raise up a TRUE revival of repentance in America and ultimately the World! But it will require a few things. First, something will need to happen that ensures Jesus Christ gets the glory and not Todd Bentley--either Todd will repent, or his sin will be exposed. Second, we need to make sure the Church is not shooting flaming arrows at each other--I hope everyone can see that my intent in these last three articles has been to promote the truth and encourage prayer for our brother Todd--not to slander him or his ministry. Thirdly, we the church need to start repenting for our own sins and cry out to God in desperation. We need to "hunger and thirst for righteousness." And we need to get out in our own spheres of influence and share the True Gospel with anyone we can.

I say, let Lakeland be what it is; but let the Church be what it is! If the events in Lakeland stir people up and cause the world to hunger for spiritual things, then I praise God for it! But if people get stirred up for spiritual things and the Church is not ready to meet that need with the Truth, then we will be just as guilty for missing the opportunity God has opened up. We must be a people actively pursuing true revival!

So here is my challenge to you: Pray for Todd, pray for America, pray for the whole world, and look actively for the slightest spark of spiritual hunger in every person you meet--then point them to Christ. I've been saying for years that the next "great revival" will be a grassroots movement that can't be pinned on any one person or ministry. Now is the time for the Church to rise up and bring true revival to the world!

A notable event has stirred up in the little town of Lakeland, Florida. On April 2, Todd Bentley began a series of meetings that have now lasted nearly a month due to the intense spiritual activity taking place. I usually prefer not to write lengthy blog posts, but I believe this is a topic that warrants it.

I have scoured the Internet for credible information on these events, and I find that people seem to be either gung-ho for it or dead-set against it. As you are all aware, I believe very much in the supernatural, but I am also a strong proponent of what is actually true rather than what is counterfeit. Therefore, I want to present both sides of the coin, and then offer what I believe the Word of God has to say about such debatable matters.

So far, the most objective information I've found (although largely supportive of the event) came from Charisma Magazine, which presented this report:

Thousands of people longing for a physical or spiritual touch from God are flocking to central Florida for ongoing revival meetings that some have dubbed the "Lakeland Healing Outpouring."

The services, which are being broadcast live daily on GOD TV to millions of potential viewers, reveal the excitement radiating from this area of the Sunshine State, prompting some people to jump on planes and fly in from across the country and even from abroad.

Todd Bentley, the 32-year-old Canadian healing evangelist with a boyish grin responsible for the meetings, reported on Friday that people’s faith alone has healed them even while they were booking their flights online or boarding planes bound for Lakeland, a city of about 90,000 between Orlando and Tampa along Interstate 4.

The 700-seat sanctuary of host pastor Stephen Strader’s Ignited Church can no longer contain the crowds. More than 1,000 worshipers stood inches apart at Friday night’s service, jamming every aisle and altar area. Their bodies rocked back and forth, and their faces wore peace-filled, lovesick and euphoric expressions.

The cars parked outside were also inches apart, with every grassy parcel of land on bordering properties used for overflow. During worship, song lyrics on PowerPoint were replaced with a warning to drivers parked at a nearby store that their cars would be "towed immediately."

"We are all shocked that each night a minimum of 60 percent [are] first time [visitors]," Strader said yesterday.

Fire marshals locked the church doors at last night’s meeting, forcing 400 people to remain in front of the church. The crowd watched the service on a large TV, and more than 200 waited until midnight for Bentley to come out and pray for them, Strader said....

At Friday night’s meeting, the mother of a 6-year-old girl said her daughter broke her elbow about two weeks ago and was healed after a word of knowledge from Bentley. The little girl told the crowd: “Jesus came out of heaven and touched my elbow.” The girl’s before-and-after X-rays are posted on YouTube [Art: I should interject here that I've seen this video, and there is nothing visible to the poor quality camera--all you can see is a lot of excitement among the people viewing the X-rays. That doesn't mean they're not real; it just means it's not worth looking up].

Amber, a thin 15-year-old girl born with scoliosis, said she was healed and could now carry her schoolbooks as well as bend over and touch the floor, which she did publicly during the meeting. One man said he was healed of Hepatitis C. An elderly woman said she went to the doctor for confirmation first before telling the crowd she was healed of glaucoma.

Others on Friday night said they were healed of rheumatoid arthritis, panic attacks, ruptured discs, deafness, post traumatic stress disorder, cancer, leukemia and emphysema.

After a half hour of testimonials Bentley asked the crowd “to give the Lord the glory.” For at least 40 minutes people continually cried the words “holy” and “glory” in a chorus.

Some worshipers fell to the floor weeping. From behind his keyboard, a blonde-locked worship leader named Roy Fields led the procession, his face beaming heavenward.

“What is happening is so much bigger than anyone in this building,” Bentley said from the stage where he was kneeling. “I hear the angels joining in. … The Holy Spirit is taking over.”....

The meetings have been extended due to swelling crowds. Bentley announced Friday the revival would continue daily through at least May 4. He also said he believes the same revival will hit Kansas City, Mo., next.

—Paul Steven Ghiringhelli in Lakeland, Fla.

Charisma Magazine's perspective on the revival appears to be rather positive. It even had quotes from John Arnott and John Kilpatrick from Toronto, Canada, and Pensecola, Florida respectively. These men were instrumental in big "outpouring" events of their own--and they too were highly criticized and scrutinized for their meetings and the strange things taking place.

As it turns out, there was a well-documented prophecy given to Todd Bentley before the Lakeland events at a meeting in Australia. A pastor from New Zealand, Rob DeLuca, foretold the "healing revival" that would break out in Florida and spread around the globe (the picture to the right was taken while this prophecy was being given). Whether or not this prophecy was actually from God has yet to be seen; but as you'll see in a moment, there is a healthy way we should respond until it is either fulfilled or proven false.

I've also found people, like Andrew Strom, who are sharply against what is happening--although this does not surprise me because Andrew Strom has been pointing out fallacies and heresies in the prophetic movement for some time (many of them valid, admittedly, but some of them overblown). Strom asked in a recent e-mail regarding this movement in Florida, "Have we completely forgotten the warnings of 'Lying signs and wonders' in the Last Days?" I believe this is a fair warning, and we would be wise to stay on our guard about such matters, but we have yet to see if this is actually the case in Lakeland.

Strom has a lot of criticisms about Todd Bentley's ministry, but I do not believe this necesarily means God has not been using Todd to perform genuine miracles (see my article titled Spiritual Power and the Nature of Christ). As much as Andrew Strom is doing well to keep our eyes focused on Christ and free from false teachings, he also has issues in his life that could be criticized (though I do not believe it is my place to share these things in a public forum like this without addressing him personally first). The point I'm making is that no one is perfect, and we need to be discerning of what God may or may not be doing rather than judgmental of the individual(s) He might be using to carry out the work.

Finally, as promised, I want to present how I believe we should resond to this activity in Florida.

In Jeremiah 28, we learn about a false prophet named Hananiah who proclaimed, "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the LORD's house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,' declares the LORD, 'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'" (Jer. 28:2-4).

So the false prophet Hananiah prophesied peace in a time when the true prophet Jeremiah knew better. But what was Jeremiah's response? Did he condemn Hananiah? Did he rebuke the false prophet's words? Nope.

Jeremiah 28:5-17--Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD. He said, "Amen! May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the LORD's house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the LORD only if his prediction comes true."

Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, and he said before all the people, "This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years.'" At this, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.

Shortly after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "Go and tell Hananiah, 'This is what the LORD says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.' "

Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, "Listen, Hananiah! The LORD has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.' "

In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died. (NIV)

Three things stand out to me in this passage. First, Jeremiah shouted, "Amen!" to the prophecy of peace and affirmed that he too wanted the word to come to pass. Second of all, Jeremiah makes the point that if a person prophesies war and disaster, that's nothing special; but if they prophesy peace, then they are only recognized as true if their prediction comes to pass. And thirdly, God brought judgment on the false prophet as foretold through the true prophet.

Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 13:6,7 tells us, "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (NIV). If we are truly a people of love, then we should rejoice with the truth...but we should also always trust and hope. In love, I believe we should trust Todd Bentley and hope that this truly is a move of God.

If this current movement is truly from God, then no one will be able to stop it. And if Todd Bentley is a false prophet, then I can guarantee that God will expose him for what he is. But unless this happens, I have to say, "Amen! So be it! May this be the beginning of the revival we've been crying out for! May the healing power of God be poured forth from heaven on a global scale!" If God reveals differently to me, then I will certainly speak out against these meetings, but I will not do so apart from genuine revelation. For now, let's pray that God would reveal the truth of Jesus Christ and save thousands of souls in the midst of what is happening with Todd Bentley in Lakeland.

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to alert you to a brand new e-store I've started putting together. This will probably be the only time I ever announce it, so don't think my web site is going all "commercial" on you.

I've always been a huge fan of T-shirts with clever graphics and sayings--especially ones that start conversations about God. And then I found a nifty little company called CafePress.com that would allow me to make custom designs for apparel and products for online sale.

I've got a ton of ideas already, but I threw this one together just to get started. Most of my time is spent in ministry, so I don't know how often I'll be able to add new designs. Nevertheless, check back often and see if there's anything new!

100% of the profit from these sales goes directly toward the costs of running this web site. Simple little items like these are only meant to keep the ministry running--not to distract from it in any way.

Take a look at the new e-store, and see if any of the products would appeal to you as gifts or as personal items.

I especially want to point out the Prayer Journal, which is always a great idea to have around. It's just a blank notebook, but sometimes having a fancy cover helps us remember that it's not just any ordinary notebook! I have three prayer journals: one for writing down focused prayers; one for journaling visions, dreams, and insights from Scripture; and a third for chronicling all the miracles and answered prayers I've experienced from God. These are great things to look back on--especially when you're discouraged or going through a dry spot spiritually.

By the way, I'll definitely continue adding free content to the site, but just so you know, there will be some very special teaching CDs coming out in the near future, which I will announce along with a targeted mini-teaching (for free). The first one, which should be available within the next month, is titled, "Giving Freely: The Truth about Tithing and the Supernatural Power in Spirit-Led Giving." It's an eye-opening teaching that comes straight from Scripture and shatters some of the false teachings we've all unwittingly believed. Enough about that for now, though...just giving you a heads-up about what's coming soon!

Well, thanks for taking time to read my little commercial! Again, I'll try not to do that too much :-) The URL for the new e-store is:

http://www.cafepress.com/artthomas

Thanks!
--Art--

Why do you suppose we complicate God so much? We think that hearing His voice is somehow something strange and mystical that rarely happens. We don't realize that we were created for relationship with God! Why would He make that a difficult thing?

I'm asking these questions because the Lord just put me in my place a couple hours ago. I develop web sites for a living (Michigan Network Solutions, LLC.), and today I came accross a severely frustrating problem. My client wanted a change made to one little thing, and I spent three fruitless hours trying to fix it with every trick I knew. My girlfriend, Robin, who is a computer programming major and will be graduating in December also couldn't figure out what was going on. It was a mess.

Then I had a novel idea: Why don't I ask God what to do?

I dove off my swivel chair and fell down on the floor in desperation. "God!" I cried out, "You've got to help me here!"

Instantly--and I mean instantly--a simple, three-word sentence popped into my mind. Funny, I didn't want to accept it because it seemed too simple! But then the Holy Spirit said, "What kind of friend do you think I am? Why should I make you beg? Now go do what I showed you!"

I made the change--it was something I had never done before, but it worked!

God wants to be your friend, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ made that possible. To think we have to beg, plead, and somehow work for an answer is to imply that Christ's sacrifice wasn't enough!

Listen for the voice of God even when it doesn't seem like you're doing something for the Kingdom. He will direct your path even as it relates to your career. The next time you run into a problem at work or a question about what turn to make, cry out to God, and He will answer!

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!

Good Friday. Today we celebrate the most profound turning point in history. The epic story of all creation pivots at this one defining weekend, starting with the crucifixion of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I was actually a little hesitant to write anything today because it almost seems cliche--like it's the good "Christian blogger" thing to do (and if anyone knows me, I'm not one to do things "just because"). Nevertheless, we are celebrating Easter earlier than we ever will again in our lifetime. And as I look out my window, I see that it has started to snow here in Plymouth, Michigan. There's a thin covering on the neighbor's yard, and everything is getting whiter as I write. We're expecting several inches tonight.

From this physical reality, the Lord began to speak to me out of Isaiah 1:18:

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

Good Friday is borne out of this theme. The blood of Christ is the truest scarlet there ever was in the eyes of God--so true, in fact, that the redness of our own shame and sin pales to the purest white in comparison. And as we see in the above verse, Jesus didn't wash our sins away without reason--He did it so that we could have a relationship with our Father in heaven! "Come now, let us reason together," He says!

The death of Christ is an invitation to intimacy. With Jesus died everything in us that separates us from God--but only if we have truly given our old lives over to Him.

So today, I want to encourage you not simply to remember the death of our Lord this Good Friday, but to give Him the reward of His suffering. Spend some time with Him. Reason together. Have a conversation. He's dying to talk to you...wait, scratch that...He already died; and now He lives, so start talking.

Yet another person raised from the dead in America--and this time the secular news picked up the story!

Below is a link to Channel 7 News in Miami / Ft. Lauderdale. This is an official newscast from February 1, 2008 that a friend of mine forwarded to me. In it, a Florida cardiologist, who is also a Christian, shares about how he prays for his patients and how the Lord led him to pray for this man even after he was verifiably dead! The cardiology team had worked on him for 40 minutes, his face and limbs were "pitch black with death," and then the Christian doctor prayed for him in Jesus' name!

The link below will take you to a text-based page containing a manuscript, but at the top of the article is a button that says "watch the video." Here's the link:

http://www1.wsvn.com/features/articles/specialreport/MI75423

Enjoy!

Hi everyone. As many of you have noticed, I've been AWOL for the past week. To be honest, I tried posting several times, but I kept noticing how prideful I was in what I was writing, so I just deleted those before posting. God has done many awesome things this week and opened many doors, but I still don't feel I can share all these things without getting puffed up, so I'll wait until I settle down a little :-)

I do, however, want to alert all of you to an organization that just welcomed my ministry on an official level. If you've visited any of the standard pages of SupernaturalTruth.com today, then you've probably noticed the new Awakening America Alliance link on the left-hand side.

I mentioned this organization back on January 8, 2008 when I brought up the national 21-day fast that was being encouraged and organized by the AAA. Well, that fast is over, but this organization is still contending for a spiritual awakening in America!

Each ministry involved is asked to set aside one day each week to fast and pray for those in America who do not know God. I--and any of you who wish to join me--will be officially setting aside each Monday. The objective is to have thousands of people fasting and praying for the lost on every day of the week.

You can read about the Awakening America Alliance's "Purpose and Objectives" on the Documents page of my site. See if you might be interested in joining. I don't receive anything for forwarding you--I just believe this is a worthwhile affiliation! Lets seek God together for a spiritual awakening in America!

"God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world without and the tumult of our passions within bewilder us and prevent us from listening to him." - Fenelon

How do we get to the point where we hear the voice of God even in the busy-ness of everyday life? Well, let me share an analogy with you.

Many of us can remember as children being at a big, busy party; and somehow--in another room--our ears would tune into the voice of our mother saying our name to someone else. We knew she was talking about us, and we raced into the room to figure out what was being said.

Why is this such a common experience? Because many children learn the voice of their mother in the quiteness of the womb, the crib, and her arms. Learn your mother's voice in the quiet times and you'll be able to recognize it in the busy times.

It's the same way with God. Get to know His voice in the quietness of devotion. Read His Word. Take time to pray. Seek to encounter Him and truly know Him on an intimate level. And the deeper you travel into the heart of God, the easier it will be to recognize and discern His voice in the midst of worldly noise.

It's at this stage that we find it easier and easier to be ambassadors of Christ in the circumstances of everyday life.

The pictures attached to this post are of a couple friends of mine who my girlfriend Robin and I got to baptize in bathtubs recently. Our small group has been blessed to be leading people to Christ on a regular basis. These pictures were taken a couple months ago (a few weeks apart), and the man and woman being baptized are today radical followers of Jesus who come every week to our small group and have seen multiple miracles happen in and through their lives since coming to Christ. In fact, the young woman who was baptized only a couple months ago got to help guide another girl to Christ last week as she drove her home from our small group meeting!

I want to encourage every reader--if you have not already--to be baptized. And not only that, but I want to encourage you to feel free to baptize others! Philip did it in a little pool of water (Acts 8:36-38); and John did it in the desert region--specifically the Jordan River (Mark 1:4). And you don't have to be a member of the clergy to perform a baptism:

John 4:1,2--The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples (NIV).

Jesus put the ministry of baptism in the hands of the disciples! And who are the disciples?

John 15:4-8—[Jesus said:] Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! My TRUE DISCIPLES produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father (NLT, emphasis added).

You are Christ's disciple if you remain in intimate relationship with Him as evidenced by the "fruit" in your life. "Fruit" is simply evidence of the life within. If you are demonstrating the power and nature of Christ through the Holy Spirit in your life, then you are His disciple!

Today's post is all about baptism--specifically the spiritual and supernatural dimension that's involved.

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Ever heard of "water baptism?" This tends to be a matter largely disputed among denominations--one group says you can baptize babies; another group says the person must be old enough to make a conscious decision to follow Christ. One group says all you need to do is sprinkle the person with water--another says they must be fully immersed.

While I personally favor the idea that you should be fully immersed in water (and only when you can make a decision based on personal conviction), I do not believe I have the right to dictate whether or not God honors other forms of baptism--actually, I think He does for the most part.

In the book The Heavenly Man, Brother Yun recounts one of the times he was in prison for his faith. Long story short, through a miraculous course of events, the Holy Spirit used Yun in such a way that his cellmates (there were many prisoners in a cell) started coming to Christ all at once--falling on their knees and repenting! And since their water was strictly rationed, they only had a few drops of water available to baptize each one. Yun reports that their lives dramatically changed that day, and for days they all walked around with tears in their eyes. From then on they shared the Gospel in the prison yard and many prisoners came to Christ! Can you rightly argue that their "sprinkle" baptism is any less valid than someone who was fully immersed in water? I can't!

The method of baptism is less important than the spiritual dynamic behind the ritual. However, the full symbolism is only seen in total immersion: dying with Christ, being laid in the grave, and then being raised back up in new life.

Baptism is all about new life. According to John the Baptist and Jesus, baptism with water is a baptism of repentance. "Repentance" means to utterly change direction--a 180 degree turn. It is to dramatically change your way of life, your way of thinking, and your way of acting. It is not just to "turn away" from sin; it is also (most importantly) to "turn toward" God. Baptism with water is often called "the baptism of repentance" (Mark 1:4).

But righteousness comes by faith, not by baptism; so why do we need to be baptized? Well, why do you need to pray? Why do you need to fast? Why do we need to do anything? It’s a matter of relationship with God. Peter seems to imply that baptism is a form of prayer—an appeal to God.

1 Peter 3:21b—Baptism is not a removal of dirt from your body; it is AN APPEAL TO GOD from a clean conscience (NLT, emphasis added).

Maybe that’s why Luke’s account of Christ’s baptism reads like this:

Luke 3:21—When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And AS HE WAS PRAYING, heaven was opened…(NIV, emphasis added).

I believe water baptism is a form of prayer designed by God as a prophetic declaration to the kingdom of darkness that "this person belongs to a different King!" Baptism is a form of spiritual warfare!

Do you need to be baptized in order to be saved? Well, the thief on the cross next to Jesus didn’t get baptized, yet Jesus responded to the man’s faith and conviction by saying, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Salvation comes by faith, not by baptism.

But if you’re going to start living as an ambassador of the Kingdom—helping "God’s will" happen on earth—then you should be baptized. Baptism gives you authority over Satan and his demons. Come to think of it, the Orthodox Church has an icon (picture) of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist and demons fleeing from the water. There is a very real spiritual dynamic to baptism--it's not just a symbol as many people believe.

Water baptism is a public confession of faith done in submission to the order of God. Not only is it a confession before man, but more importantly it is a confession of faith before the entire kingdom of darkness! We are often taught that baptism is for the church's sake and therefore must be performed with the church present. I don't see this anywhere in the Bible--in fact, I see the opposite. I see John baptizing in the desert (Mark 1:4) and Philip and the Ethipoian stopping at a pool of water by the side of the road (Acts 8:36-38)--who knows, it might have even been a puddle left over from the rainy season! Grated, there were always people present to witness the event, but there does not appear to be any requirement as to who those people were. The Ethiopian was baptized in front of the people in his procession, but it does not appear that any of these people were Christians! Nor do they appear to be repentant or else Philip might have baptized them too!

In a very real spiritual sense, a person does receive a certain grace from God when they are baptized.

On the other side of the coin, the more you question baptism and whether or not it’s necessary, the more you are questioning God’s order. The enemy will go to town on that one! They’ll know you’re not in line with the heavenly King or His authority.

The word "Kingdom" literally means "King’s domain," and the King’s domain is everywhere that His authority is expressed. Jesus told His disciples, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." And Jesus said that we should pray for God's Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth just like it is in Heaven. Water baptism is the first step of submission to God’s authority and is therefore the first stage of His Kingdom coming to the earth through you! The question is: Are you helping the process or hindering it? Are you submitted to His authority or arguing against it? Are you looking for every reason not to be "baptized" in the way we've discussed here, or are you excited about the opportunity to publicly demonstrate your love and obedience to Christ?

Are you like the rich young man (Mark 10:17-23) who counts the cost of repentance and decides it is too much trouble? Or are you like the Ethiopian Eunich (Acts 8:6-40) who was still in the process of hearing the Gospel when he said to Philip, "Look! There's some water! Why shouldn't I get baptized?!" Apparently the man didn't need to be taught any further because when he came up from the water, Philip disappeared as the Holy Spirit miraculously transported him to Azotus!

The emphasis the Bible places on baptism should give us a clue about how important it really is! So go get baptized and start to live in the authority you're given! And furthermore, look for opportunities to baptize others!

Matthew 28:18-20--Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"(NIV).

I was just reading Lou Engle's Blog (from "The Call" and Jhop), and I came across something that stirred my spirit:

I believe history books may well record that 2008 was a year of the great prayer reformation in America. We look back a hundred and fifty years, and 1857 is recorded as the year of the great prayer meeting revival. A million souls were converted, and four years later, the civil war began. The great harvest was swept in, preparing for 600,000 men to die on the battlefields of the civil war because of the shedding of innocent blood of the slaves. It was America’s day of reckoning. I believe that we could be headed into times like these again because of the shedding of innocent blood of 50 million babies. We are in a crisis. America is desperate for revival and righteous leaders to be raised up who will overthrow the covenant of death of Roe v. Wade.

I personally know several ministers who have shared with me in the past few weeks (at separate times) that the Lord has called them to a fast. For some, it's 21 days. For others it's 40 days. For some, it's "fruits and vegetables only." For others it's "water only." Come to find out, none of these people had heard about the article from J. Lee Grady that I posted on January 8.

And what's more, many of these men and women are calling their congregations, small groups, and ministry followings to join the fast that the Lord has proclaimed.

When so many people are hearing the same thing from God--even on a national level--it can only be attributed to God. Lou Engle also shared in that blog post about a pastor in Florida he met who has been called by God to a 21-day fast. God is doing something awesome here! People all accross America are fasting and praying right now for genuine revival!

But most exciting to me is that I can already see the spiritual climate of America shifting. I can feel it even now as I write. In my home church, every Sunday in 2008 has been marked with a more and more glorious demonstration of the fear of the Lord and the power of God. The same has been happening in my small group (as I've mentioned in previous posts). Our little group that took a year and a half to grow to 15 people suddenly doubled over the past two weeks! Tomorrow night we're going to discuss what we see God doing with our group and how to accommodate the sudden growth from the Holy Spirit. In short, I believe we're going to have the opportunity to multiply the Kingdom by starting more small groups in the area that will also grow and multiply.

There is a movement stirring up in America, and God Himself is doing it!

If you're interrested in joining the 21-day fast described in the post below, please visit:

http://www.awakeningamerica.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10&Itemid=6

I would recommend that you look into the site even if you're not interrested in the fast! God is moving, and we should all be made aware of what He is doing!

God is Answering the Cry of His People!

Wow! At last night's small group meeting, the 13 of us present encountered a powerful move of God! We started with someone saying how odd it was, while watching a TV documentary, that there was a white-collared Priest (denomination unknown) stating there is no Hell. My friend said, "I can't believe there are people in authority who would be so oblivious to the truth!"

Of course, I saw right away the correlation between this statement and the blog post I made yesterday about true and false prophets. Not only that, but several other people I know have been sensing the Lord speaking about His judgments and the necessity for there to be a "Fear of God" in America today. God is thundering from heaven, and those whose ears are tuned have heard the warning.

But the move of God last night merely started there. Before long, one of the long-time members of our group openly confessed how distant she had been feeling from God. It seemed at first that it was just her problem, but suddenly you could see conviction settling in on the faces of several others of us present.

I said, "I hope this doesn't sound inconsiderate or like I'm just brushing you off, but I think what you're crying out for here is a group-wide issue. You're feeling this way--and many of us are feeling this way too--because we haven't truly been being the Church! We've let you down--we've let each other down. This cry of your heart for the fire of God and the presence of God is not your own--it's His!"

Another person chimed in, "I need to pray more. I haven't been praying at all."

I said, "Well, let's act on that right now and all of us pray...And I want to push you a little and ask if you'd open for us."

What followed was group-wide, passionate prayer and open repentance. People began crying out for God's presence and power. We openly confessed our sins and received the forgiveness of God. We got to watch as the Holy Spirit moved in every person's heart. Even the newest believers in our group were speaking prophetically and praying for the more seasoned Christians. The power of God moved in our midst and stirred us up to action. In fact, we all made a commitment to take action for God's Kingdom this week. We even planned some time when we could go out and minister as a group.

But I don't think this was all a coincidence. Yesterday--after writing yesterday's blog post--someone sent me the following article from Charisma Magazine's editor, J. Lee Grady. I steadfastly believe that the events of last night and the similar happenings at my church on Sunday are the direct result of the 21-day fast called for in this article. Read the article and see if you don't see the correlations. Hundreds, and perhaps even thousands of Christians are fasting and praying right now for revival in America, and I believe we're already reaping the benefits--even though we didn't know about the fast until a few days into it.

I want to encourage you to join me and the many others in entering into this special season of fasting and praying for America. It doesn't matter if you're late joining--what matters is that you care enough to join at all.

God bless you as you join us in seeking God for more movements like the one I shared above! I pray that His power will move in your own churches and small groups even more powerfully than He did in ours!
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A DESPERATE CRY for REVIVAL in 2008
-by J. Lee Grady.

...Never in my 15 years at Charisma have I known a time of such intense spiritual turbulence. God is shaking everything that can be shaken, including our Christian colleges, our megachurches and our most prominent ministries.

At a time when a U.S. senator is investigating the financial practices of six well-known preachers, I sense that God has taken out His holy plumb line to conduct His own detailed inspection of every church and ministry in this country. He wants to unleash a nationwide revival, but He must bring His correction first.

These are desperate times that require desperate measures. That is why I have joined with the Awakening America Alliance to call for a solemn 21-day fast that runs from January 1-21. Here’s a list of the things I’m praying for during the next three weeks:

1. The fear of God. Holiness was so tangible among early Christians that false prophets were blinded and greedy liars fell over dead. As a result of God’s judgment on Ananias and Sapphira, “great fear came over the whole church” (Acts 5:11, NASB).

Where is this sense of “shock and awe” today? How can Christians be so cavalier about divorce or so flippant about adultery? How can television preachers sleep at night after robbing God’s people with manipulative fundraising appeals?

We celebrate His mercy but ignore His severity. We need a thunderclap from heaven and a display of Elijah’s fire to remind a wayward church that God will not be mocked.

2. Integrity and purity in the church. Our movement hit rock-bottom in October when charismatic pastor Donnie Earl Paulk of Atlanta announced to his stunned congregation that a DNA test had proved he is not the nephew of Bishop Earl Paulk but is in fact his son.

That such unspeakable depravity was permitted to thrive for decades at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit is an indictment against the elder Paulk and all leaders who refused to challenge his behavior when they first learned about it years ago.

This and other recent religious scandals have so tarnished our credibility that we have become a curious freak show. Many unbelievers now associate ministers with wife-swapping, wife- beating, no-fault divorce, gay affairs and $10,000-a-night hotel rooms. We need a Holy Ghost housecleaning.

3. A return to evangelism. In the 1970s we were less sophisticated but so much more zealous for Jesus. We handed out tracts and witnessed to everyone. Sharing our faith was the priority. Yet most people in churches today have never led anyone to Christ.

We are no longer contagious. Spirit-filled believers spend more time chasing “financial breakthroughs” than lost souls. We have rejected sacrifice and compassion and embraced a counterfeit gospel that produces bored, selfish spectators.

4. Godly leadership. As we head into an election season it’s obvious that our nation is facing a leadership crisis. But this leadership vacuum is not just in the political arena. Many of our spiritual fathers have disappointed us, either by their own moral failures or by their refusal to confront sin.

I pray that God does not give us the president we deserve in 2008. If we cry out for mercy, perhaps He will upset the current slate of candidates and put someone in the White House who can model Christian integrity. May He also give us spiritual shepherds who care more for the flock than for the crowd’s applause.

5. A national spiritual awakening. There were seasons in America’s past when sinners became so convicted of their sins that they collapsed under the weight of their guilt. During the days of revivalists George Whitefield and Charles Finney, huge waves of conversions led to a widespread transformation of society. Drunks became sober, prison inmates sang hymns, stingy business owners stopped oppressing their workers, atheists surrendered their unbelief and rebellious children returned to faith.

Can such a movement happen again? It must or our country will descend into its darkest hour. I urge you to join me in this solemn fast. Pray with desperation for the five topics outlined here. We can’t settle for anything less than a heavenly visitation.

~J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.
SOURCE: http://www.charismanews.com/