In our own humanity, we struggle when we are hurt (offended). Our first reaction is to defend ourselves. Many times the path we take because of the offense is one of ultimate destruction and condemnation for us. It is said that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die. If we are honest about it, when we defend ourselves against false accusation, we often turn that accusation against the offender and develop a hatred that wants to murder the other person with our tongues (words). READ MORE
Offenses Shall Come (Pt. 1)
Matthew 24:10 (NKJ)
And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
Many things have been written about bitterness and unforgiveness which are good and true. But this writing focuses on the times we live in and the need for complete humility of heart, unconditional surrender to the purifying fires of God, and uncompromised obedience to the Lord who taught forgiveness in the most profound way possible – as He was dying upon the Cross. READ MORE
The Passover Celebration with Rabbi Cahn
This week, we are airing the Passover Celebration that Rabbi Cahn conducted here at Morningside. This is a deeply spiritual event that is very timely with where we are in these Revelation Days in which we live. There are so many things that are coming together right now – believers are coming back together, and Jew and Gentile are uniting in their recognition of Jesus’ soon return and the eternal drama that is reaching a crescendo in the earth.
We are seeing all of the signs of Jesus’ return in our world right now and they are increasing! Just this week, we have seen even more meteors in the sky! These are signs in the heavens and we must not miss them!
In all of the excitement, we are reminded of an ancient ordinance that God instructed over 3,000 years ago. This is a permanent ordinance to remember Christ, our Passover Lamb and to prepare our hearts to receive Him when He comes again. READ MORE
A Critical Time
This is a critical time. Any time after this, we will have done all we could do and our time is over. Then the seals will open and the trumpets will blow and nothing we do or say will affect anything when that begins.
I’m struck with a sense of profoundness for this very small window of time. God uses vessels like us to discern and alert and inform. We cannot err in discerning the Times – and after we discern, we must alert and inform others. These are truly the days we were born for… for this, the grand finale.
One of the dangers of the End Times is hearing so much and understanding so little. Even the church fails to discern the meaning of End Time events because they have heard it so much and so often, it has lost its impact. We can’t become desensitized to End Times events!
We are bombarded every day with information from every direction. So much information, so many words coming at us from everywhere; our televisions, smart phones, ipads, and even our proximity to others is constantly feeding us information. I know that the plan of the enemy includes distractions and confusion caused by so much ‘noise’ that it makes it hard to hear the important things!
In all this information (knowledge), the greatest thing we must be listening for is the voice of our Lord.
Many times, in the Bible, when men of God received a special message from God, it was after withdrawing themselves to a time of solitude to be able to hear from Him alone. If ever we needed to hear from God, it’s now.
We have a supreme challenge in the days we live in to not only discern the Times, but to find the time to be still before the Lord in order to hear His voice.
A few Sundays ago, my son Ricky ministered a profound word that we all need to hear. He said, “There’s a time to stop speaking and listen. Sometimes we just need to be quiet before the Lord, and now is God’s time to speak to us.”
Sometimes, a constant flow of information is just a distraction from the greater thing.
I learned about distractions years ago when I was trying to spend quality time with the Lord and a honey bee began buzzing around me. I heard the Lord say, “even the buzzing bee distracts you!”
Even when life demands our time and attention, we must find the time to spend alone so that God can speak to us. That’s why I often get up in the middle of the night and sit quietly before the Lord. That’s the only time I can be without distractions!
Wouldn’t it be a tragedy if, after we have studied, talked about, and generally saturated ourselves with information about the End Times, that we become so busy, busy, busy in our thoughts and activities that we miss the voice of the Lord instructing us in every move we make in our own strategic mission?
Only after we have “been with Jesus” can we hear Him and His instructions for these amazing final days.
Proud of My Kids
Can I just brag a little? I am so excited about what has been happening with the Generation NOW network and our kids in the Master’s Media. Not only are the kids in the school excelling and finding favor with God and man, but our own kids are moving in the gifts of the Spirit with power and anointing!
It’s time to be filled with the Holy Spirit! We need some Holy Ghost ministers! We have to have the Holy Spirit Who gives you power to make it in these Last Days! Ricky and Marie are prophesying and laying hands on people and praying powerful Holy Ghost prayers! God is anointing our children! READ MORE
Time Has Come (Pt. 8)
Get ready! I am coming soon.
One of the most frightening passages in the Bible is, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13–14, nkjv). I fear there are many on the broad way, even in our churches, and they do not know it. They are not focused on the Bridegroom; they are not prepared for the wedding.
In prison, whenever we went to the prison yard, there were grave restrictions on what we could do, including how long we could be out there. I still tremble in fear knowing that if I was in the yard a minute too long or disobeyed a rule, I could have been shot. When I was in the yard, I looked up above the spirals of razor wire on the compound walls, and I could see an image of heaven. I kept my eyes fixed on that heavenly city that God said He had prepared for everyone who loves Him, and peace came to my soul.
As soon as my feet touched the yard, I often thought of a song my dear pastor’s wife, an amazing evangelist and singer, Fern Olson, used to sing: “I’ve Had a Vision of Jesus.” I found that if I lived in that vision, and kept my eyes on Jesus, the reality of my present existence seemed tolerable.
I’ve had a vision of Jesus,
I’ve caught a glimpse of my Lord,
Down through the clouds He is coming,
Just as He said in His word;
See the bright light in the heavens,
Shining from east to the west,
I’ve had a vision of Jesus,
Bringing that glad day of rest.
As on the wings of an eagle,
We shall go soaring away,
Over the mountains and valleys,
Past all the cares of the day;
If we but live in the vision,
Just a short time it will be,
Soon the vision will have vanished,
Swallowed in reality.32
No matter what circumstances you find yourself in today, look above the situation and keep your eyes on Jesus. Now is the time to get ready. Keep your lamp trimmed and burning. Stay ready and keep watching. The Bridegroom is about to appear. The wedding will take place soon. I want to be there, and I know you do too!
Time Has Come (Pt. 7)
John reported that the stars fell (Revelation 6:13). The word for “stars” that John used is the word aster, from which we get the word asteroid. I believe what John saw was most likely a massive asteroid shower. The phrase implies that the stars not only fall but are strewn all over the sky. To the Jews, this was especially bad news, because the order in the heavens was a clear sign of God’s unchanging attitude. Take away the heavens and there’s nothing left! To the Jews, the ultimate chaos would be for the stars to fall from their place in the heavens—but John said that’s exactly what is going to happen. Before he described the fall of the stars, it was prophesied centuries before by Isaiah (“All the host of heaven will wear away, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll,” Isaiah 34:4). Jesus concurred, quoting Isaiah: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Matthew 24:29).
I sincerely believe that the stars in the heavens will not fall from the sky, because one star alone would literally decimate the entire planet. I always go to the Greek for complete clarity of New Testament scripture. In my studies, I have come to believe these stars John saw were in fact an asteroid shower.
Something like John described has happened many times before. One of the greatest of these occurred on October 8, 1871, when legend tells us that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern. Within minutes, the O’Leary farm was fully engulfed in a raging fire, with the entire city of Chicago, Illinois, soon to follow.
What many don’t know is that, on the same night as the Chicago fire, there was another deadly fire about 250 miles north of the city in a Wisconsin town named Peshtigo. In Peshtigo, fire literally fell from the sky and quickly consumed the entire city, burning it to the ground. Over 1,000 people perished in the fire. To this day, Peshtigo holds the title of the deadliest fire in American history.
Several cities in Michigan burned that same night, including Holland, Muskegan, Manistee, and Port Huron. Scientists believe that great fire was started by an asteroid shower, as indicated by the fragments found near Port Huron, Michigan, not long after the fires had gone out.
John saw the sky split and fold up like a scroll that has been stretched open and then suddenly sliced down the middle. After the opening of the sixth seal, John saw the repositioning of mountains and islands (Revelation 6:14). The most unshakable things on earth will be shattered when Jesus opens the sixth seal.
Excerpt from Time Has Come
Time Has Come (Pt. 6)
I am a builder. I have always enjoyed planning and working on new building projects and seeing them come together step by step. I learned early on that in reading blueprints, if I wanted to get the entire picture, I had to view each individual overlay of the master plan – an overlay for the foundation, one for the infrastructure, another for the plumbing and wiring, another for the interior walls, roofing, exterior surfaces, even an overlay for the landscaping and parking lots – and then lay them on top of each other. Only after studying the individual overlays together could I get an accurate picture of what ws going to come into existence.
To truly understand the book of Revelation, you must review the prophecies of Daniel, ponder the words of Jesus from the Gospels, and then consider Paul’s writings to the Thessalonians. As you add each of these layers to the book of Revelation, you can begin to see the entire picture as the Lord intended it to be seen.
One of the most important overlays to understanding Revelation is the Second Coming discourse given by Jesus to His disciples and recorded in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Many of the “signs of the times” mentioned by Jesus are similar to those in the vision John received and recorded in Revelation 6.
John Kilpatrick is the former pastor of Brownsville Assembly of God Church in Pensacola, Florida, a place where a genuine revival broke out on Father’s Day 1995 and continued unabated with spontaneous services every night for five years, with more than four and a half million people going through the doors during that time. For years John studied the passages relating to the Second Coming. In regard to the words of the prophets and the predictions of Jesus, he said, “These days are not coming they are here.” John added, “Every major sign of the Second Coming is in motion right now.”
You don’t need to be a Bible scholar to know that the planet is groaning. Populations are increasing while the resources needed to sustain them are decreasing. The oceans are dying, clean air and water are becoming scarce, natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, floods, crop failures, bacterial mutations, and shifting weather patterns), conflicts (terrorism and wars), false religions (cults and pseudo religions), and a worldwide economic meltdown are reported daily in the news.
Something big is about to happen. We need to prepare to see Jesus! Knowledge that we are living in what the Bible refers to as the “last days” should motivate Christians to live closer to Jesus than ever before and to more actively seek out opportunities to share the gospel with people who don’t yet know the Lord. The clock is ticking and time is running out. Yes, difficult days are upon us, but do not lose hope. Jesus Christ will return, and He will take you to live with Him eternally. Right now, however, we need to brace ourselves for some shocks.
How do I know this? Because Jesus Himself said so in Matthew 24.
(Excerpt from “Time Has Come”)
Time Has Come (Pt. 5)
Most Christians believe that Jesus will one day return in power, glory, and judgment to reward His followers and to punish those who have rejected God. But the question that divides the hearts and minds of many believers—and sometimes even divides Christians into separate camps and denominations—is whether believers will experience some or all of the tough times described in the book of Revelation and other prophetic scriptures.
For many years I preached that Christians would not have to endure the horrors of the Tribulation, that Jesus would return and take His people out of this world. Admittedly, most of my thoughts on the matter were not original, nor were my views based on years of studying the Scriptures and reaching valid biblically based conclusions. For the most part, I simply believed what I had heard sincere men and women of God teach, namely, that Jesus was coming back before the seven-year Tribulation in an event called the Rapture.
Although the word rapture does not appear in the Bible, we based our ideas on a passage from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. The apostle encouraged believers with these words:
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, nkjv).
Although this passage does indeed describe the Second Coming, we drew some unwarranted conclusions about when and how this event would occur. This “catching away” of the saints, which is what the word rapture means, was to take place secretly, as far as unbelievers were concerned. Only believers, it was thought, would be able to experience and witness the appearing of the Lord. Suddenly, Jesus was to appear in the air, and in the twinkling of an eye we would be gone, whisked off the ground to meet the Lord in the sky. The dead in Christ, believers who had died prior to His coming, would rise first, and together we would all meet Him in the air. From there He would take us to live with Him eternally. Later, Christ would return again, this time in power and glory to judge the world and set up His eternal kingdom. The Rapture was to happen, of course, before any events of the Tribulation began to pummel the earth.
One of my favorite prophetic Scripture verses is, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36, nkjv). I placed a heavy emphasis on the word escape, because I was convinced it went against God’s loving nature to allow His people to go through the horrors of the Tribulation.
My thinking on the subject changed when, in prison, I searched out the passages that described the Rapture that precedes the Tribulation. To my amazement, I could not find any. I found certain scriptures that other preachers .and I twisted and conveniently interpreted to fit my “prosperity” messages, but when I allowed the Bible to speak for itself, I realized that my notions of a pre-Tribulation Rapture were not based in scripture.
(Excerpt from “Time Has Come”)
Time Has Come (Pt. 4)
You are not in Darkness
Many sincere people are asleep at the wheel. Some are cavorting with the devil, veering increasingly off course toward destruction. Others see the dangerous direction we are heading, but they naively hope that Jesus will come and save us before we hit the rocks. Escaping the coming tribulation would be wonderful, but I’m convinced that we must go through some of these tribulation events. After years of studying the Scripture, I find little evidence that Jesus is going to return for Christians before the difficult times of Revelation begin to happen on earth. Although I’m certain Jesus is coming, we may indeed be here for what Jesus called the “beginnings of sorrows,” (Matthew 24:8, NKJV) and perhaps much more. We need to understand the signs of the times and recognize the events leading to the Lord’s return.
In churches all across America, I’ve asked congregations, “How many of you believe that Jesus is going to come for us like a thief in the night?” It’s a bit of a trick question, but I use it to make a point.
Most hands go up. Nearly everyone has a vague familiarity with the idea that Jesus will return when we least expect Him. Those who have made headlines in recent years for their foolish, unbiblical predictions of Christ’s return tend only to further convince us that we cannot know when Jesus is coming.
But if you look at the Scripture carefully, you may be surprised. The Word does not say that He is coming like a thief in the night for believers.
“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6 NASB).
Do you see that? You are not to be in darkness. You are not of the night. You are to be watching and waiting, already prepared for the coming of the Lord. You will have advance information, namely, signs you can recognize that His coming is near. You will not be caught unaware. Or at least you should not be.
Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice.” They recognize not just the sound of His voice, but the truth of His words. If you are a fan of John Grisham novels, you recognize the author’s voice in each of his books. If you’ve read the great writers from the past, such as Shakespeare, you recognize their style. Similarly, if you study the Scriptures, you can know the voice of Jesus and recognize the truth of His Word. By becoming familiar with His voice, you will be able to recognize when something is consistent with what Jesus said or whether it is an idea concocted by someone else, well intentioned though they may be. There is no reason for you to be caught off guard by the cataclysmic events that are about to happen. Revelation will help you to be ready.
(excerpt from Time Has Come)
