I felt I should post this report today. It took place almost three and one half years ago but something about it is prophetic to our future.

Alan Smith

(Revival Christian Church)

Join us on our new podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

In China, some 30,000 people a day are turning to Christ. Is this historic move of the Holy Spirit changing how the communist state treats Christians?

Dorothy Sun was attending a house church meeting in China last spring when four police officers started to pound on the door and shout for those inside to open up. Upon entering, they immediately demanded to see everyone’s identification cards. A female church leader quickly stepped forward and rebuffed the order—telling the policemen that everyone in the room lived in the building, had forgotten their IDs and were gathered to celebrate the nation’s Labor Day. After back-and-forth shouting with the leader over her dubious answer, the officers left.

Such exchanges are what many outside China’s borders believe is the norm for the Chinese church—and what Sun says is part of the ongoing secreted crackdown on Christians that Chinese authorities have practiced for decades. A native of China, Sun has personally felt the sting of government persecution, having spent six years in prison and 14 more working in a forced-labor factory as penalties for her faith. She has since become a U.S. citizen but returns to China annually with her husband, Freddie, who also has been jailed there for his faith, to work with house churches that refuse to register with the government. These indigenous believers, the Suns say, are spiritually alive and spreading the gospel despite the government’s opposition.

“China is thriving,” says Freddie Sun of the nation’s faithful. He estimates there are 150 million Protestants and Catholics, compared with 60 million communist party members. “Every day, 30,000 people believe in Jesus—even communist party members. It’s the greatest revival in church history.”

By all accounts, the Holy Spirit is moving in unprecedented ways in the world’s most populous nation. But not everyone agrees that this move comes in the face of government opposition. In fact, American missionaries who have lived in China for decades believe the Chinese government has drastically shifted in recent years, which has ushered in an era of greater religious freedom today that’s contributed to this remarkable revival.

Amazing Changes
Dennis Balcombe, a charismatic missionary from California who moved to Hong Kong in the late 1960s, says the situation for Christians in mainland China is more nuanced than many observers describe it.

“It’s not like there isn’t persecution, but it’s isolated,” says Balcombe, who knows the Suns and doesn’t discount the reality of their experiences. He too emphatically believes the nation he now considers his home to be spiritually alive.

“I’m very optimistic about what I see in China,” he says. Balcombe has visited modern coastal cities with churches numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and even rural congregations in which thousands gather to worship throughout the week. He describes one church that even maintains a 24-hour prayer center with volunteers from 400 congregations and has a seminary of 500 students.

Balcombe was banned from visiting the country’s mainland for seven years—something he attributed to his refusal to pay a bribe—but today he sees a new openness toward the church on the part of many government officials, who recognize that Christians have played a major role in China’s economic rise.

Balcombe calls stories of ongoing persecution “outdated” and no longer truly descriptive of Christianity in China. In many parts of the country, he adds, house churches are even encouraged. Because thousands of such churches exist in many cities, government officials are hard-pressed to register them all.

However, the government does restrict churches—in three primary ways: (1) size (megachurches are frowned upon); (2) political matters (these must be avoided); (3) orthodoxy (orthodox Christianity must be preached). Pentecostal and charismatic beliefs are now considered orthodox. While Balcombe can’t imagine democratic government coming to China soon, he says his goal isn’t to change government policies anyway, but to lead as many people to Christ as possible.

Now that he is no longer involved in the day-to-day pastoral duties of the Hong Kong church he founded, Revival Christian Church, Balcombe travels regularly to the mainland. After recent visits, he says he’s been “amazed” by the changes taking place across the country and the explosive growth of the church.

In particular, he’s encouraged to see spiritual revival spreading to the government-approved Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) churches as well. Balcombe says this is prompting a historic union between TSPM and house church leaders—the latter who were often persecuted by their “government-sanctioned” brothers and sisters.

Balcombe recently accepted an invitation from a TSPM pastor to preach in his church, and the missionary conducted a daylong teaching session during which nearly everyone was filled with the Spirit, spoke in tongues and prophesied.

“I’ve never seen this in America,” he says. “I saw hungry people, people getting healed, and heard of stories of revival. It’s like the book of Acts. Living here we have a completely different perspective [than Westerners have].”

Keep the Peace
James Carpenter, an American missionary who oversees a house church in Shanghai, is witnessing the same revival fervor Balcombe sees. “When I lived in America, if you could lead somebody to the Lord once a year that was good,” he says. “Here I can lead somebody to the Lord once a week. People are so hungry for God.”

Carpenter (who asked Charisma not to use his real name) prefers as a pastor to maintain a low profile with the government. However, he says this is due to his American heritage (officials don’t like Westerners mixing with Chinese citizens in religious services) and to ever-shifting government policies about social or religious conduct across the nation.

“What is OK today might get you in trouble tomorrow,” he explains. “China is all about keeping social unrest off its shores. Every decision is driven by a desire to keep the peace. What appears to be religious intolerance is motivated most of the time by religious fanatics making trouble.”

Regarding interference or persecution by the authorities, Carpenter says government spies have attended his church meetings and he has been the subject of clandestine eavesdropping. But he says these realities don’t represent constant oppression. He insists that as long as a house church remains under 100 people, it doesn’t encounter trouble with the government, generally. If it does, the conflict usually is rooted in complaints from neighbors, particularly in urban areas when services get too loud, he says.

The Suns have had a different experience, however, in their involvement with China’s house churches. Dorothy Sun serves as the co-director of the China division of Christian Aid Mission (CAM), a Virginia agency that trains missionaries in 122 nations and operates 146 Bible schools throughout every province of China and Tibet. She says the Chinese government’s persecution of believers is just as commonplace today but has become masked to the outside world by the nation’s economic growth.

“A lot of people are deceived by the five-story buildings and modern hotels they see pictures of,” says Dorothy, referring to the architectural makeover of Beijing done in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympics. “They never know about the suffering churches and the oppression people suffer from the government.”

Practicing in the Open
Though opinions differ on the degree of that suffering and the extent of the church’s growth—Balcombe places the number of current believers between 80 million and 110 million—the spiritual fruit of this shift is undeniable.

Carpenter has noticed that as churches grow beyond the small-group size, they also seek to be more grounded in biblical doctrine, which opens a door to opportunities for deeper ministry. “They say, ‘Will you talk about the Holy Spirit?’ and I talk about the Spirit for three days,” he says. “I will even get into the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I’ll ask and everyone in the room wants it, whether it’s 15 or 150.”

Balcombe says another trend is for believers to leave houses in favor of meeting in church buildings, or to rent hotel rooms and other places in which to gather. In any large city on any Sunday, he says, hundreds of thousands of these congregations meet in hotels, restaurants and other public places. In areas such as Wenzhou, a large port city in the southeast, congregations build their own buildings that can seat 1,000 or more. He notes: “This is great for evangelism, as they attract many [people].”

Due to this new openness, Balcombe advises against using the term underground church, saying it has negative connotations of a government trying to wipe out Christianity.

“Many still use the term house church in China, but it needs to be defined. To a Chinese Christian it is any church not under the Three-Self Patriotic Association,” he says. “Some meet in buildings with a cross, but as they are not TSPM they are considered house churches. We might use other terms, like nonregistered, local or independent churches.”

Regardless of the term used to describe the vehicle in which the Holy Spirit is moving, the central focus for locals and missionaries alike is how God continues to bring hope to a people once oppressed.

“It is revival,” Dorothy Sun says. “In 1949 the communists took over and there were less than 40 million Christians. Going through all kinds of persecution, we doubled it to more than 80 million. Like the Bible says, when a kernel [of wheat] dies, later you will see a harvest. This is what is happening.”

It’s also a harvest especially noteworthy for American believers, who, as Balcombe and the Suns point out, have much to learn from their Chinese counterparts. Dorothy Sun stresses that revival can only come to the U.S. if people turn back to God: “If you think you are strong and rich, there will be no miracles around you.”

West Virginia Outpouring Sees Thousands of Conversions, Healings and Holy Ghost Baptisms

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

Pentecostals are closely involved in a sudden spiritual awakening across southern West Virginia that has produced hundreds of conversions, healings and baptisms in the Holy Spirit.

Billy Carrico of Bethel Temple Assembly in Nolan says the spiritual atmosphere in his region is so ripe doors are opening naturally.

"We walk into a restaurant and people are talking about God," says Carrico, whose church is located about five miles north of Williamson. The Williamson Field House has hosted a number of nightly meetings that have drawn upwards of 2,000 people in a county with only 27,000 residents.

"People who aren't necessarily going to church are talking about it," says Carrico, who has baptized several recent converts at Bethel Temple. "Every church is being affected."

Among the miracles he has observed in recent weeks is a person with poor vision whose eyesight improved after prayer and a woman who had been unable to bear children who is now pregnant. There is such excitement that Carrico says youth pastors have been gathering before revival meetings to plan ways to disciple the flock of converts.

Katie Endicott, the Prayer Club sponsor at Mingo Central High School, says the move originated with impromptu preaching by Logan High student Skyler Miller at his school in late March.

Then, on April 10, Pentecostal evangelist Matt Hartley preached at Regional Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) in Delbarton, prompting an invitation to speak to Mingo Central's Prayer Club.

Of the 400 students who attended, 150 responded to Hartley's invitation to receive Christ as Savior, Endicott says. She estimates more than 2,000 people have accepted Jesus as their Savior since late March.

And although Miller—who gave God the glory for his healing from leukemia—helped light the spark, the credit for this wave belongs to God, Endicott says. She says this awakening is larger than any one person, school, church or denomination and reflects decades of prayer and sowing seed.

"When Miller started preaching in the hallways it inspired students to rise up and be bold in their faith," Endicott says. "We had never seen that many souls come to the Lord in such a quick time," she says of the 150 who responded to Hartley's invitation.

"We knew there was something unique going on."

Social media has helped spread the word in rapid fashion, with students announcing preaching plans at their schools on Facebook, Twitter and other sites. Many are sharing praise reports and answers to prayer.

Youth pastor Jacob Robinette of Misfit Ministries says he has been in contact with personnel from six high schools in the region that want the gospel preached to students.

"During this movement of God, don't look at man," said Robinette on the Twitter site #JesusIsBetter. "Man didn't start this. (God's) breath blew over the region and awakened us." Among the many meetings that sprang up after Hartley's talk at Mingo Central was a rally at the school's football stadium in mid-April. The meeting ran for nearly four hours, concluding with a baptismal service in a portable tank.

A few days later, organizers moved meetings to the Williamson Field House to accommodate the crowds.

This move couldn't have come at a better time, says Carrico, who works at the Mingo County Day Report Center for probationers doing community service. Economic conditions are tough in the county, where unemployment is around 14 percent, nearly double West Virginia's rate and almost three times the national average.

"I see the effects economics has on drug use and crime," Carrico says. "But it's when I'm pressed and have turmoil in my life that I look and say, 'I need to focus on my prayer life, fasting and my relationship with God.' "

Not only are people who lack hope finding it through this revival, the youth pastor says attendees of Bethel Temple's youth group are excited to see the kind of activity that confirms their faith. "It lets them know that Jesus is Lord and He is who He says He is," Carrico says. "We're moving into a time when He's going to pour out His Spirit on all people. God's coming to show His power." 

Join us on our new podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

We are living in the greatest times the world has ever seen. God, by His divine plan, chose for us to be alive right now in this time—not in the days of the Welsh Revival, or in the days of Azusa or any other time in church history.

That means that God sees something in us. He sees the potential that we have to bring heaven to Earth and a mass harvest of souls come to the knowledge of God. The exciting part is He wants to use you and me to do it.

I was recently reading some statistics about church growth in other parts of the world, and I was astonished at how different they are compared to the church in the U.S. in the past. The article stated that, in China, there is a person born again every three seconds, which comes to 28,800 people every 24 hours! I minister in Brazil often, and that country is seeing a revival sweep across it that is bringing societal transformation. 

At a service I recently ministered at in Brazil, the service didn't start until around 10 p.m. My thoughts were, "Who is going to show up to a service that starts that late?" To my surprise, when I arrived, the place was packed with 2,000 young adults who were 18 years of age and under. They were there to seek God and worship. I was blown away. Try calling a service at 10 p.m. in most places in America and see how many show. 

What is the key to this type of move in these other places? As I have sought the Lord over this question, He keeps taking me back to this one key—hunger. Those who are hungry for God will be filled. It's kingdom economics; where there is a demand there will be a supply. God will always pour Himself out on those that are desperate for Him.

What about the church in America? Aren't we desperate? My answer to that question is we are beginning to be. For years, I would say no, the church hasn't been hungry for God. However, I am seeing that change in our nation rapidly. There are places I know of that are starting to experience real revival and transformation as a result of seeking hearts that are committed to devotion with the Father. 

I can take you to Batesburg, South Carolina, and show you what hunger looks like. Damon Thompson, a powerful voice to this generation, has been leading a revival there for two years now that has not stopped. It's not just good services, but it is spilling into the community. The town was once had one of the highest crime rates per capita in South Carolina, but since the revival there it was just named one of the safest cities in South Carolina in the local paper.

A couple years ago, we started to experience the winds of revival blow through our region again. Myself and several other leaders gathered weekly to pray and seek God to come.

The Lord was faithful to answer our cry of hunger, and several leaders started to experience unusual moves of the Spirit in their meetings. One friend of mine, Rick Curry, saw the Lord walk through the back of His church one Sunday morning and Rick was out in the Spirit for several hours after that encounter. He held meetings at his church nightly after that with several senior leaders, which quickly became known as the Gulf Stream Revival and spread all over the gulf coast. We were seeing hundreds come to the Lord every weekend as it moved throughout the panhandle of Florida.

There are many other places where this is happening in America. I know of a move of God in the hills of West Virginia where a young youth pastor named Kaleb Hanshaw moved to take a position at a church just a couple years ago. I remember talking with Kaleb as he made this move to West Virginia from Bartow, Florida. His purpose for moving was to see a generation in that community experience revival fire.

Recently his labor has paid off, as he and several other youth pastors have come together for extended meetings because God is pouring Himself out among the youth in the schools. They are filling the local high school stadium as students are coming out and getting saved and baptized—1,500 so far. It is revolutionizing their community.

These are just a couple of places I know of. We can't lose hope for our nation! God is doing something that is unique and the dead stale religion of yesterday is not the inheritance for our future. Our inheritance is revival, awakening and a nation on its knees bowing to a holy God!

Continue to pray for hunger in your community and believe that if God can do it in Florida, South Carolina and West Virginia, then He can do it where you live also! 

Chris Mathis serves as the lead pastor of the multi-racial, multi-generational Summit Crestview in Crestview, Florida.

Environment of Servanthood

It may be hard to believe but we were created out of the loneliness God felt. God wanted to create Himself a companion; a being that would reflect His love back to Him that He might experience true, pure love Himself. Out of the earth, He created man. Then man fell into temptation which drew the love away God had created. He would later go down to earth and buy back what He had created for it is in choosing to follow Jesus that we are given a pathway back to the Creator God. In that choosing, we are volunteering ourselves to be in a true spiritual relationship. But why is that so important? What does that look like? In this teaching I try to uncover the spiritual impact of volunteerism and its power in bringing about revival.

http://alansmithpodcasts.podbean.com/?source=pb

Things still do not feel right to me. It seems to me that the spiritual atmosphere of our country is so negative that it is creating a dark greenhouse effect that is breeding and growing every horde of hell. With the negative comments and attitudes that our elections are creating to the moral decay of our country hell seems to be on the move.  It is with this in mind that I summit the following article on what I believe is one of the major unholy perceptions that hell is using which is crippling our churches, our nation and even the world. With this in mind I also believe that the Church of the Kingdom has the power of the cross and the anointing of heaven to combat, destroy and then deploy God's Kingdom perceptions of hope and victory to this dying world.  

Alan

 Cynicism: A Deceptive Perception of Witchcraft

By: Alan Smith

• Gal. 6:2-4: Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  Each one should test his own actions.

Cynicism, what a word!  How could this possibly be a problem, you might ask?  I thought being “cynical” was just a word for people who are not like me?  Let’s take a closer look at this word, because in my studies, I am finding that this is a spiritual disease.  A person who has allowed “cynicism” to be part of his/her “perceptions” is a person that will soon be divided from church, family, and friends.  Pretty strong statement, huh?  I believe when this spiritual disease invades a person’s mind that his/her spiritual man becomes sick and will eventually die!  Did you know that when “cynicism” has been introduced into your thoughts, your perceptions have been invaded by the powers of darkness?  Here is the definition of the word “cynicism”.

• Cynicism: An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others.

Have you ever let your thoughts run wild, seeing only what is wrong with every thing?  Perhaps it has been more subtle than this for you.  Maybe you started out just trying to help some one in trouble, but then began to see yourself as the “great, wise one”.  Or maybe you have told yourself that your gift of discernment is kicking in when you have seen “hidden motives” in other people.  Remember, there is a very fine line between having “discernment” and being “cynical”.  Again, I believe being cynical is the worst thing that can ever happen to anyone.  The danger and destruction of this spiritual disease is staggering; and spiritually, it is deadly.  Most of the time, you do not even know you are doing it.  One of the problems with this deadly “perception” is that you believe it is the Holy Spirit giving you this internal prophetic information; when actually it is a projection from the dark side of your own heart.

Let’s do a brief history lesson on the origin of this word, cynical.  In ancient Greece there was a group founded by Antisthenes called Cynics, and cynicism was their philosophy.  Their belief system was built around the “perception” of neglecting anything that was not furthering their perfection of virtue.  Therefore, they considered themselves the chief judges in the matters of human behavior.  These Cynics were very intelligent and were even sought out for judgment about certain matters.  They perfected the art of “criticism” and used “sarcasm” as part of their language of communicating their beliefs.  One of their trademarks was that of ridiculing the behavior and motives of others.  As time progressed the Cynics sold their homes and all of their possessions.  Their “perception” was that all of these “things” were against “virtue” and were ultimately bad.  They believed in their philosophy of religion, which was cynicism, to the extent of neglecting personal hygiene, family obligations, and society.  Ultimately, they believed they were “happy” because every thing around them was bad, except for their perfect way of thinking.  Their “perceptions” of cynicism caused them to become isolated from every one around them, and therefore, singled them out of society.  The term “Cynics” is actually derived from the Greek word “kuon”.  In English the word is “dog”.  This word was given to Cynics because they ultimately lived like dogs in the outskirts of Rome.  Nearly 2000 years later, writers such as Shakespeare and Swift used heavy sarcasm and satire to ridicule human behavior, thus reviving cynicism into human culture.

I’m sure you may be wondering at this point how you can know if you have been infected by this spiritual disease?  First of all, you must understand that this disease or “spiritual destroyer” must have a place where it attaches itself and grows.  This place within you is “pride”, and pride is the fertile ground of this “fatal disease”.  Cynicism will take root and grow at a rapid pace in a perfect environment of pride.  It is a spiritual disease that must first seduce and then deceive its carrier.  How can you know if you have allowed this to happen?  You can know if you stop carrying each others burdens and start thinking too highly of yourself.  This disease is “pride” on steroids.  Christ has called us to help, and not to condemn one another.  Let’s explore cynicism further to see how it evolves within our thinking.

I believe there are 4 stages to the disease of cynicism.  Below, I have listed these stages of development.

Stage one of this fatal disease is “hopelessness”.  Cynicism starts taking over when “hope” begins to diminish.  Diminishing hope is “bate” on a spiritual hook.  Satan’s attack is to discourage you, because he knows when you are discouraged you are a candidate for his religion and philosophy of “cynicism”.  In this stage you will lose hope in your friends, family, and the church of Jesus Christ.  As imperfect as we all are, we are still to love each other in our imperfections, for we are looking unto that day that we will all be like Him.

• 1 John 3:2-3: Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him , for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Hope in Him, and not in every thing that is wrong with every one, purifies your “thoughts” and helps create fresh perceptions that are full of fresh ideas of life and not of death.

Stage two of this false religion is “criticism”.  When you become better at “criticizing” than loving the unlovable, you know that you have started this journey of deceiving yourself.  This deceptive road is a very lonely road.  The further down this path you go, the less people you see traveling with you; thus creating a spirit of fear and loneliness.  For some reason you will say to yourself, “I feel the best I have ever felt in my entire life and I have never thought more clearly”.  However, deep inside, you feel alone, scared, tired, and very unhappy.  What a deception!  This “criticism” will cause you to bear a false witness in your heart against the ones you once loved and respected.  You have now not only taken the bait, but you have begun to swallow the hook.

• Exodus 20:16: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Stage three of this deadly spiritual disease is feeling very “intellectual”.  The further from the Spirit of God you get, the smarter you think you have become; only making it harder for the truth of God to invade your thoughts and change your perceptions.  This deceptive, lonely road has been paved with stones of pride laid by your very own intelligence.

• Gal. 6:3: If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Stage four is the stage of death.  The bait has been taken, swallowed, and now the hook has been set.  Your thoughts have been taken captive by the evil one.  When you have been fully captured by this false religion, you have lost “faith” in the things that once had tremendous spiritual value to you.  You can be certain that your “faith” has been robbed from you when this evil perception starts living in you.  This is the weapon of Satan to stop spiritual revival within you.  This type of thinking seems right, but it brings death to your soul and spirit.  This capturing of your thoughts is the most deceiving weapon upon the Christian church.  It is a subtle spiritual virus that will invade your perceptions, thus changing your realities into ones of dividing you from the Body of Jesus Christ and others.  It also prevents any harmony in your life.  Let’s once again consider this scripture.

• Gal. 6:2-4: Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  Each one should test his own actions.

My prayer is for each one of us to identify this scheme of the dark side and to not participate in any of its activity.  Each one of us must test our own actions to see if they are truly in harmony with the Kingdom of God.

Blessings,

Alan

How to Test Prophecy

By: Alan Smith

Many have asked me, “How do I know if a prophecy is from God?”  Also I have been asked about the prophesy and prayer in LA, the AzusaNow.  My reply is as follows: we must first consider scripture.

1 Corinthians 14:3-4: But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

      1-Edification—improvement, instruction, or enlightenment, esp. when morally or spiritually            uplifting.

      2-Exhortation—A speech or discourse that encourages, incites, or earnestly advises.

      3-Comfort—To soothe in time of affliction or distress.                                                                To  ease physically; relieve: comforted the feverish patient with a cool cloth.

In the New Testament scripture, we see that prophesying does include edification, exhortation, and comfort. It is interesting to note that it does not include “future telling”. Here is where we need to be very careful. New Testament prophecy is to be divinely inspired edification, exhortation, and comfort. New Testament prophecy is to be prayed-in. By this I mean when someone gives me a prophecy, it means that it is a possibility to be prayed-in. It also means that the prophecy is a spiritual possibility and through prayer, sometimes much prayer, the prophetic word will come true. A true word of prophecy is the Lord letting me know what is possible in my life through prayer.  When I apply faith through prayer, it means that I am praying for what I cannot see to become real. Our faith and belief is what calls the prophetic word into being. Therefore, we see that a true prophetic word should be divinely inspired and the content should be something that I can agree with through prayer. Let me give you an example.

      a-I am at church and someone comes up to me and says, “The Lord told me to tell you that He loves you very much, and that He is here to heal your pain of the loss of your husband.”

      b-To agree with this prophecy, my response would be, “Dear Lord, thank you for seeing me here and loving me. I pray and receive your loving kindness and I pray that you would begin to heal my pain, in Jesus name. Amen.”

To test the prophecy, the prophecy should be of a nature that I would want to pray it into my life. If you do not feel you can pray it in, it is probably a false prophecy. Remember, it is the nature of the prophecy you are testing. Let me give you another example.

      a-I am at church and someone comes up to me and says, “The Lord told me to tell you that He is going to bring judgment on your house because of your husband’s drinking.”

      b-To test the prophecy, we use prayer. Can you feel good about praying-in judgment upon your house? Of course not. I don’t feel good about agreeing with this prophecy. Therefore, the prophecy fails the test.

Azusa Now was and is trying to agree with a prophecy and pray it in. Into our lives, our country and our churches. The goal is to keep praying until we see it come in.

Always remember, you can judge prophecy with the prayer test. Also, if it is “future telling”, we are warned in the Bible against this.

There you have it: my understanding on how to test prophecy.

Blessings,

Alan

Today is the day that God invades LA. If you would like to watch this historic event you made do so by clicking the link below. It begins this morning at 7 am and continues until tonight at 10:30 pm. Let us be in much prayer for this event.   Alan

http://www.god.tv/azusanow

WHAT IS AZUSA NOW?

There are times which Scripture describes as "full" — periods of unusual ripeness in which God unleashes His prophetic purpose across the earth.  Such days of faith and expectation often come during periods of crisis or widespread uncertainty. For 15 years, amidst massive cultural decay, Lou Engle and TheCall have sought to proclaim the bold, uncompromising message of consecration to Jesus. Like John the Baptist, we have cried out, "Prepare the way of the Lord!"

Yet the last statement of John was not "Prepare the way," but "Behold the Lamb!" If there was truly a John Movement, then a Jesus Movement is surely coming! Believing that decades of globe-spanning prayer have saturated the heavens, we will boldly ask God for the rain of revival on April 9th, 2016. We will consecrate an entire day — 15 hours — for the purpose of unity, miracles, healing, and the proclamation of the gospel. Our rally cry: Come, Holy Spirit! Instead of 120 in the Upper Room, we seek to gather as many as 120,000 in one place and one accord to simply exalt Jesus. And for inspiration, we turn to the most powerful expression of revival in modern times: the historic Azusa Street Revival of 1906.

http://www.god.tv/azusanow

For about a month now I have had this feeling that everything just does not feel right. I am not sure what I am really trying to say but things are just crazy. People everywhere it seems are disconnected with reality. Society is in an upheaval of discontentment, entitlement mentality, selfishness at an all time high. I am praying for God to come and shake us all up. Shake us upside down, sideways and in and out.  I believe and pray that when our praise goes up perhaps His rain will come down and drown us all in His presence and shake us up. Let our praise be "turned up" in all of us and may His glory fill this new temple with His greater glory.

Alan 

Greater Glory in New Temple

1In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying, 2Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, 3Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? 4Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:5According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. 6For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. 8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.9The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

A Gift Giver

By: Alan Smith

• Luke 2:8-12: Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.  Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” (NKJV)

It was at this time that God wanted to give His greatest Gift to mankind.  This Gift would be a living example of the Spirit of God in human form, and God would be giving all that He had in and through this Gift.  It is God’s nature to give all of the time, and when He gives, a supernatural element is released.  He has given us life, opportunities, food, jobs, the air we breathe, and as noted in the scripture above, even the Gift of a Savior.  Just think, every day that is experienced is a day which has been created and given as a gift by the Father.  Would you like to give to others as the Father gives to each of us?  Would you like to know the secret of the Spirit of giving?  Let’s look at the life of Jesus to gain more spiritual understanding of this giving.

Jesus, God’s greatest Gift to the world, has given more to mankind than anyone who has ever been born.  He has given us the instructions for how we begin this secret journey of gift giving.  First of all, He knew He had to go to the source of all things if He was going to be a Gift Giver.  Jesus knew that within Himself He had nothing to give, but when He cooperated and worked with the Father all of a sudden everything the Father owned became “substance” which He could give away.  His “faith” in the Father made Him whole in everything He did.  What a perception Jesus had in being our example of a Gift Giver!  Jesus had “faith” that the Father would show Him what He should give each and every day, and His faith became “substance”.

Jesus was also a thinker.  He didn’t walk around in a lifeless form.  On the contrary, He was always praying; which being interpreted means, He was talking to God.  Jesus knew the Father wanted to create and give something new and fresh each day so therefore, Jesus would talk and then think with the Father every day.  If we want to be a Gift Giver, we must talk to the Father and then we must think in a certain and a different way.  We must understand that how we do things is a direct result of the way we think.  If we want to do things in life in a “certain way”, then we must learn to think in a “way” that will be in harmony with the “certain way” we want life to be.  Jesus wanted to give so He would “think” in a way which was conducive to giving.

Jesus also wanted to set “free” the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven and He knew that only the “truth” could accomplish this heavenly task.  So we see we must “think” in a certain way in order to be in harmony with the “truth”.  To think and live life in “truth” for the future requires much more of us than allowing our present surroundings to tell us how to think and live.  We must “think” and live in “truth” regardless of our surroundings.  This type of “thinking” is creative in nature.

So how will we be able to give out of what we now have?  Jesus did not think according to His surroundings; no, not at all.  Our surroundings are only the truth of the past and not the truth of the future.  Our surroundings are proof of past “thinking”.  This type of past thinking is very easy and requires no effort, and it will not bring new and fresh things to give away.

If we are going to be Gift Givers and give out of the treasures of Heaven, we must start thinking and living for the future and not thinking and living out of the past.  We must start doing as Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.”  Remember that God is creating a new day every day and He wants us to create it with Him.  To do this we must have a creative type of thinking and not a competitive type of thinking.  It is very hard to maintain this type of creative thinking, especially when our surroundings contradict the “truth” and our “thinking”.  But this is where “faith” comes in.

• Heb 11:1: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (NIV)

Every action in the world which is seen will produce an image in the mind that will start a conflict of “past” versus “future”.  Only the “truth” sustained by “faith” will change the future.  When we walk in this, we will flee from all fear and doubt and walk with the Father into a new day of created abundance from the Kingdom of God.  It is from the abundance of this Kingdom that we can give gifts to God and man.  God sent His Son to this earth as an eternal gift to mankind.  God is the Creator of all things, but this is a minor gift.  His major gift is that of giving: giving freely; giving when there is no appreciation; giving when He is not recognized; giving not expecting anything in return; giving because He first loved us.  God gives because He sees into the future.  He knows that giving freely is pure spirit and pure spirit will last forever.  It transcends time and space and will last for eternity.  The life of Jesus was given freely and God expects nothing in return from us.  All we need to do is receive this wonderful gift from our Father.

Receive this One called Jesus today and receive the true gift of Christmas.  When we have done this, we may live and walk through life asking the Father each and every day what we can give.  Giving is not just one day a year, but instead, the lifestyle of heaven.  Let’s build a fire within our souls today and allow our hearts to be warmed with the Spirit of Christmas.  Let’s give what the Father says He wants us to give.  Let’s not give out of necessity, but out of hearing our heavenly Father say to us: “Help that mother with food for her children this week.  Or, give that homeless man a hug and tell him that Jesus loves him just the same”.  Giving comes from a heart that is in harmony with the Kingdom of Heaven.  Let’s give out of the riches of the Heavenly Kingdom those gifts which have eternal value.

• 1 Corinthians 13:13:  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  (NIV)

Blessings,

Alan

There is a confidence we have when walking with God that things seem to get better when we just "stick with it". Just "stick with it" in trusting God for your life, for your health, for your job and for your happiness.  Just "stick with it" in doing what is right when you have been wronged. When you feel like you will not live through it just "stick with it". Just "stick with it" for God is "sticking with it" for you. 

Click on the image below for more understanding. 

Well it is a brand new day. Don't let others rob you of it. Have courage instead of fear. Laugh instead of cry. Lead instead of follow.  Soar instead of falling. Except this challenge and live.

Alan

The Supreme Court and the Mark of the Beast

Benjamin Netanyahu Prophecy

Have a great day for it is just one more day spent. Spend it well.

Psalm 118:24

24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

A Gift Giver

By: Alan Smith

• Luke 2:8-12: Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.  Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” (NKJV)

It was at this time that God wanted to give His greatest Gift to mankind.  This Gift would be a living example of the Spirit of God in human form, and God would be giving all that He had in and through this Gift.  It is God’s nature to give all of the time, and when He gives, a supernatural element is released.  He has given us life, opportunities, food, jobs, the air we breathe, and as noted in the scripture above, even the Gift of a Savior.  Just think, every day that is experienced is a day which has been created and given as a gift by the Father.  Would you like to give to others as the Father gives to each of us?  Would you like to know the secret of the Spirit of giving?  Let’s look at the life of Jesus to gain more spiritual understanding of this giving.

Jesus, God’s greatest Gift to the world, has given more to mankind than anyone who has ever been born.  He has given us the instructions for how we begin this secret journey of gift giving.  First of all, He knew He had to go to the source of all things if He was going to be a Gift Giver.  Jesus knew that within Himself He had nothing to give, but when He cooperated and worked with the Father all of a sudden everything the Father owned became “substance” which He could give away.  His “faith” in the Father made Him whole in everything He did.  What a perception Jesus had in being our example of a Gift Giver!  Jesus had “faith” that the Father would show Him what He should give each and every day, and His faith became “substance”.

Jesus was also a thinker.  He didn’t walk around in a lifeless form.  On the contrary, He was always praying; which being interpreted means, He was talking to God.  Jesus knew the Father wanted to create and give something new and fresh each day so therefore, Jesus would talk and then think with the Father every day.  If we want to be a Gift Giver, we must talk to the Father and then we must think in a certain and a different way.  We must understand that how we do things is a direct result of the way we think.  If we want to do things in life in a “certain way”, then we must learn to think in a “way” that will be in harmony with the “certain way” we want life to be.  Jesus wanted to give so He would “think” in a way which was conducive to giving.

Jesus also wanted to set “free” the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven and He knew that only the “truth” could accomplish this heavenly task.  So we see we must “think” in a certain way in order to be in harmony with the “truth”.  To think and live life in “truth” for the future requires much more of us than allowing our present surroundings to tell us how to think and live.  We must “think” and live in “truth” regardless of our surroundings.  This type of “thinking” is creative in nature.

So how will we be able to give out of what we now have?  Jesus did not think according to His surroundings; no, not at all.  Our surroundings are only the truth of the past and not the truth of the future.  Our surroundings are proof of past “thinking”.  This type of past thinking is very easy and requires no effort, and it will not bring new and fresh things to give away.

If we are going to be Gift Givers and give out of the treasures of Heaven, we must start thinking and living for the future and not thinking and living out of the past.  We must start doing as Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.”  Remember that God is creating a new day every day and He wants us to create it with Him.  To do this we must have a creative type of thinking and not a competitive type of thinking.  It is very hard to maintain this type of creative thinking, especially when our surroundings contradict the “truth” and our “thinking”.  But this is where “faith” comes in.

• Heb 11:1: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (NIV)

Every action in the world which is seen will produce an image in the mind that will start a conflict of “past” versus “future”.  Only the “truth” sustained by “faith” will change the future.  When we walk in this, we will flee from all fear and doubt and walk with the Father into a new day of created abundance from the Kingdom of God.  It is from the abundance of this Kingdom that we can give gifts to God and man.  God sent His Son to this earth as an eternal gift to mankind.  God is the Creator of all things, but this is a minor gift.  His major gift is that of giving: giving freely; giving when there is no appreciation; giving when He is not recognized; giving not expecting anything in return; giving because He first loved us.  God gives because He sees into the future.  He knows that giving freely is pure spirit and pure spirit will last forever.  It transcends time and space and will last for eternity.  The life of Jesus was given freely and God expects nothing in return from us.  All we need to do is receive this wonderful gift from our Father.

Receive this One called Jesus today and receive the true gift of Christmas.  When we have done this, we may live and walk through life asking the Father each and every day what we can give.  Giving is not just one day a year, but instead, the lifestyle of heaven.  Let’s build a fire within our souls today and allow our hearts to be warmed with the Spirit of Christmas.  Let’s give what the Father says He wants us to give.  Let’s not give out of necessity, but out of hearing our heavenly Father say to us: “Help that mother with food for her children this week.  Or, give that homeless man a hug and tell him that Jesus loves him just the same”.  Giving comes from a heart that is in harmony with the Kingdom of Heaven.  Let’s give out of the riches of the Heavenly Kingdom those gifts which have eternal value.

• 1 Corinthians 13:13:  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  (NIV)

Merry Christmas,

Alan

 A Thankful Heart:

The Lifestyle of a People That Can See the Invisible God

By: Alan Smith

n  Psalm 100: Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!  Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.  Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; W e are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

Hmmm: to be a person that is really thankful; thankful for all things.  Is it possible for us to be transformed into this heavenly creature?  Does the condition of our hearts determine what we see?  Does the condition of our hearts help to focus our spiritual eyes?  How can we see this invisible God we love?  I mean, how can we really see Him?  But then we have to ask, is He really invisible or do we just need eyes that can see Him?  Let’s take a spiritual journey and explore a little of the invisible world.

Things we see can be a language.  The things we see around us do not come out of nowhere.  They were created according to something in the invisible realm.  What if we look at a “key” verse that unlocks this unseen world?

n  Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him. (KJV)

So we can see that the scripture above has given us a road map into the unseen world.  The Bible is teaching us that there are two worlds: one is visible and the other is invisible.  Both worlds were created by Him.  The created world, which is the visible, gives us the capacity to understand the unseen world, which is the invisible.  The created world is a reflection of the unseen world.  The unseen world has two speeds in which it moves.  It moves faster than the naked eye and it moves slower than the naked eye.  Let me give you an example.  Can we see a tree or a child grow?  I think not, but we can see a miracle of life.  It is just moving at a pace that is slower than we can see with the naked eye.

On the other hand, there are also things that move faster than we can see.  This means there is part of this creation that we just cannot see with the naked eye.  This part of creations makes up the unseen world.  God gives us revelations in which we can understand and see the unseen world.  One of these revelations is that of the “thankful heart”.  If God is in an unseen world, perhaps we need the capacity to go where He is.  It is becoming very evident that we cannot enter into this world with our own understanding.  The scriptures reveal to us a truth.  We see in Psalm 100 above that we are to Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.  If we are truly going to enter into this unseen world and into His presence, we first must do this with “thanksgiving”: thanksgiving unto Him.  Are we truly thankful to God?  I often find myself not very thankful at all.  On the contrary, I find myself very unthankful most of the time.  Why, we might ask ourselves?  Could it be that what we focus on determines what we see?  If what we see in the invisible world is determined by the condition of our hearts; then an “unthankful heart” sees that which is dark and depressing.  It is always seeing what is going wrong on the planet.  A “thankful heart”, however, can see dark as well as light, but chooses to focus on the light and the good.  It sees what could be on the planet if our hearts were truly thankful for the opportunity that God has given us.  I pray that we will consider our ways and become a thankful people unto our worthy God for all He has and is doing for us.  

Blessings,

Alan

I pray you will accomplish much this day and enjoy life. Keep your eyes on the path that will lead you. Circumstances of our lives do not have to define who we are for we are how we think and our thinking is a choice of who we want to become.

Alan

Visit Kingdom Prophetic Society at: http://www.kingdompropheticsociety.org/?xg_source=msg_mes_network