During all the drama of my first marriage, I can still remember the times when the Spirit of God had wooed me. He never left me, even in the midst of my rebellion. There were times I would be high on drugs, and I could feel the Holy Spirit hovering over me, protecting me and shielding me from the agenda of the enemy – to steel, kill and destroy my life. That may fly in the face of some religious thought out there, but it was true never-the-less. READ MORE
U.S. is Hated Among the Nations
Have you ever wondered why the U.S. is hated among other nations? We all see news items almost every day where someone is burning a U.S. flag or blaming the U.S. for the woes of the world. The Iranian president recently said, “May the undertaker bury you, your table and your body, which has soiled the world,” using language reserved for hated enemies. Bin Laden is said to be involved with a plot to cover the U.S. and Europe with terrorism. Mass transit systems are said to be targeted for attack.
The U.S. has always been a leader in warning of terrorist threats around the world. That’s one reason we are hated.
But probably the greatest reason the U.S. is hated is that we are largely followers of Jesus. People that do not believe in Jesus, hate Jesus followers. Haters of Jesus want to cause problems all over the world.
We have a “sure warning” of the signs of the times and we don’t need to make up anything new! It is the Word of God! And the Word tells us that as Disciples of Christ, we will be hated for His Name’s sake!
Matthew 24:9,10 “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.”
Matthew 10:22 “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
John 15:18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
John 15:21 “They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.”
We have nothing to fear from the world if we just leave Jesus out. The devil doesn’t fight you when the love of money is your goal. “Happy Church” is so much easier. It poses no threat to the evil present in the world.
But if we preach Christ, and Him crucified, we pose a threat to the devil’s kingdom – and we can expect to be hated by those who hate Him. If we keep telling people about Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, those who do not receive Him as such will continue to hate us and to gnash their teeth at us in anger and fury.
The anti-christ spirit is arising in the world because the time is short, and it will try its best to kill those who know Jesus as the one and only true Christ.
But Jesus is still Lord over all that is against Him and His Church! And in the end, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!
Be sure to check the “Breaking Revelation News” section of the Jim Bakker Show website to keep up to date on world news that is describing prophetic events daily.
Marriage (Pt. 1)
Part 1
In my book, “More Than I Could Ever Ask”, I tell all the details about my first husband whom I chose for all the wrong reasons, none of which had anything to do with God. When I met him, I was very young and naïve and my ability to make good decisions was not yet mature. Add to that the influence of drugs and you have a recipe for disaster and that is what happened. The choices I made as a young woman led to 10 years of hell and heartache.
Remember the old Frank Sinatra song “I Did It My Way”? It sounded really great to the generation that was being raised to indulge in the world and all of its pleasure. We heard things like “go for the gusto” and “you only live once” and we bought it. We bought the lie that we had a right to sinful lusts and worldly living that the Bible says brings pleasure for a season, but eventually brings death. We bought the world’s philosophy of “self fulfillment”. Remember the rock song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”? Boy, did we ever go after self-satisfaction! When “self” rules in the heart, you will see everything that really means anything turned exactly upside down. You will see the principles of the Bible destroyed and you will believe that destruction of Christian values is a “good thing” as you enjoy the temporary self-satisfaction. We exchange the truth for a lie and call good evil, and evil good.
In the fifties, sixties and seventies, the world had begun to turn the Christian values of generations past into a lie, permeating every part of the family and God’s design for the family. Everything in the world, all of its pleasures and all of its temporal thinking, values, and all of its best efforts to put life into order and to meet the needs and wants of mankind, has only perverted real truth and sent a tidal wave of disastrous proportions throughout our families.
I have often asked why the generation before me did not stand up for what was right. I’ve wondered why the Christians and religious leaders sat by while prayer was taken out of schools and abortion was legalized and divorce was normalized – and did very little to stop the insanity. As I look back, I’m almost angry. But I now understand that each generation bears the responsibility for either honoring God or turning further from Him, and my generation doesn’t get a pass either.
Many times, out of the carnage of lives lived in pursuit of “self”, the eventual pain led us to search for something, anything, that could help! But we went to the world for answers. We read “self-help” and “psychology” books written by those who have a measure of understanding – as much as can be understood without spiritual revelation. We watched television get crazier every day and we pulled our values from writers who do not know God – therefore, every thought is corrupt and gets worse continually.
I now understand that it was the mercy of God, and the prayers of those who went before us in our families, in our churches, in our messed up world, that showed us the way back to Him.
You see, there is no life apart from God. There is no true fulfillment in relationships without His guidance and direction. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Marriage – Part 2
Marriage – Part 3
Marriage – Part 4
Famine & Economic Collapse Imminent
To Our Readers: Though the subject matter in my blogs and the book of Revelation is very serious and can appear to be dismal, never forget that the King of Glory is orchestrating every detail of these events with His Church in mind! He watches over those who are His own and He will never leave you nor forsake you when you belong to Him. We may experience some difficult times ahead, yet they are the most exciting times in the history of the world for we are about to see Him! Place your faith and your future in the One who loved you enough to die on that Cross to give you LIFE ETERNAL and trust Him! Prepare your heart, then prepare as well as you can in the natural and then leave the rest to Him!
The third horseman is ready to ride.
When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius…and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (6:5-6 NKJV)
The rider of the black horse carries with him famine and economic collapse, signified by the weighing scales and the exorbitant prices for food.
It is hard to imagine the impact a major famine might have in the economically developed nations of the world. The closest most of us get to famine is quickly changing the channel when images of starving children appear on our television sets.
We have grown all too accustomed to the poignant pictures of shriveled men, women, and even children whose bodies have been affected by famine in Third World countries. I believe that in the days ahead famine will be even more prevalent, and I am not alone in that opinion.
In 1997 and 1998 freak weather conditions brought on by El Nino, declared to be the worst this century by United Nations climate experts and U. S. government scientists alike, provided a graphic object lesson concerning the fragility of our world’s food supply.
On a one-to-five scale, “this El Nino is at least a five, if not completely off the scale,” said Joe Friday, director of research for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In the U.S. and Canada, El Nino wreaked havoc in the form of floods, mudslides, tornadoes, and other unusual weather-related phenomena.
Heavy rains washed away million-dollar homes in California and flooded towns in Georgia and Alabama. Unusually strong tornadoes struck in locations as diverse as Minneapolis, Minnesota; Nashville, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; Spencer, South Dakota; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A five-day ice storm in Canada caused a short-term loss of over one billion dollars and a 2 percent loss in the country’s gross domestic product.
But in Africa and Latin America, where living conditions are less developed and food, clothing, medicine, and other forms of humanitarian aid are less available, El Ninos effects put millions of people at risk of starvation.
Christine Berthiaume, spokesperson for the UN food agency, World Food Program, estimated that “27 million people in Africa and some 320,000 people in central America were at risk because of declining food stocks.”
The third horseman is ready to ride, and not just in Third World countries.
Remember, put your faith and your future in His Loving Hands!
The Red Horse of Terror!
The second horseman is about to ride:
“Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace form the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword” (6:4 NKJV)
This is no ordinary sword; this is an assassin’s sword, a terrorist’s sword. The result will be crime in the streets, people butchering one another. Blood red will be the color of the day.
One does not have to belabor the point in America today. Because of violent crime, in most cities it is unsafe to walk our streets at night, and in many places life feels unsafe even during daylight hours.
Senseless drive-by shootings occur frequently, not as acts of revenge or retribution, but often for no reason at all. We have so devalued human life in our society that for many people it is a small thing to kill another person. At first we were shocked when we heard of children and teachers being gunned down on school property. Although the tragic killings continue to wrench our stomachs, we are no longer surprised by them.
Even our slang in America reflects the appalling devaluation of human life. Recently I heard a man describe a fellow employee who had lost his temper over some minor issue at work.
“He just went postal on me,” the man said.
Sadly, “going postal” no longer has anything to do with how the mail gets delivered.
Outside the U.S., terrorist-spawned violence continues to escalate as well. Hardly a day goes by when our senses are not bludgeoned by some new outbreak of terrorism in the Middle East.
Despite our best efforts at making and keeping the peace, political, economic, and religious tensions often lead to unrest, violence, and riots. Ethnic cleansing, one group of people trying to exterminate another, continues in various locations around the world, often with terrorist backing.
In the United States we are painfully familiar with terrorist activities: the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, the bombing of the federal Building in Oklahoma City, numerous letter bombs by the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, and the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
In all of these cases, a sobering truth must be faced, namely that a relatively obscure person or group was able to destroy the lives of many. I am convinced that similar senseless killings will increase, as we get closer to the coming of Christ.
Our government is rightly concerned about the growing number of nations with nuclear capabilities. Atomic bomb detonations by India and Pakistan in May 1998 reminded us once again that if the technology is out there, someone will use it to create a weapon of mass destruction.
With nuclear power spreading to Third World nations, it becomes more and more likely that terrorists will eventually get access to weapons they could only dream about in the past.
Not long ago I was shocked when I heard a message by a man who has a prophetic gift.
This man has an incredibly accurate track record—in fact, I have never known him to be incorrect on a single prophecy.
For instance, he predicted the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles area, and the earthquake took place on the exact day the man predicted. But the message that shocked me did not concern earthquakes.
The man said God had shown him that a terrorist bomb the size of a football will be smuggled into the United States in a suitcase. One of our major cities will be destroyed this prophet declared.
But the nuclear threat is not the only concern from terrorists. Think, for example, what damage terrorists could do it they could tinker with the nation’s water supply.
Just a small amount of lethal chemicals in the right place, and millions of people could die. Or think of the awful potential of germ warfare. With all sense of morality flung to the wind, what might happen if a terrorist were able to cast a lethal biohazard into those same winds?
The red horse is out of the barn.
On Marriage, Motherhood and Ministry
My readers often ask me how I do it – how I manage marriage, motherhood and ministry all at the same time. The short answer is “I don’t” and the long answer is “He gives me grace”. Though a book could be written on each aspect of my life and someday, probably will, today I want to start addressing these topics in little bites on my blog. You’ve heard the expression “How do you eat an elephant” and most of us know that the only way you can do that is “one bite at a time”. So, that’s how we’re going to start to cover these topics… a little at a time.
I will begin with a little background on where I came from and my thoughts about where I’m going. I will always be completely open and transparent about everything because I believe that people are looking for other REAL people, not people wearing masks or personas. The Lord knows we have enough of those kind of people! When I’ve opened up like this in the past, some have said that it’s just TMI (too much information) and I need not tell every little detail of my life!
But what I hear from my Heavenly Father is that my life is to be an open book because it is my testimony that will help many people to recover from lives that were train wrecks like mine, and to be restored to a place of right standing with God, and then to minister powerfully out of what He has done! Rick Joyner has said that your anointing is in direct proportion to the degree of your suffering. My decisions in my life before Jesus caused me much pain by my own rebellion. But after you become a Christian, your life is supposed to be simple, wonderful and pain-free. Well, isn’t it?
In my early years of ministry, I worked very hard to overcome rejection and shame. Even after you are born-again into the family of God, sometimes it’s hard for others to forgive and forget your past. Oh, they say you are accepted, but some will never view you in any other way than defective. It’s ok. You are not limited by what others may think or say. You are playing to an audience of ONE. You are free in God to do and say what He says. Words are powerful. They have the power to either heal or hinder. As for me, I will use my words to help others heal (Isaiah 61).
Today, I live to tell of His love, forgiveness, goodness, and restoration. I live to know Him and to make Him known. There were those who encouraged me in my testimony, and there were those who preferred I would just come to church, sit quietly and not cause any waves. Let those who are qualified to minister, minister! As I said in an earlier blog, God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
A religious spirit will always try to shut you up and sit you down or at the very least, minimize what you have to say. This is my story, my testimony, and I will tell it to the world in the way God has instructed! I am trusting that some of you need to hear it and will walk with me through this journey God has called Lori Beth Bakker’s life and testimony.
I will build with every new blog, so be sure to read my blogs regularly. But if you miss one, they will be archived and readily available so you can go back to pick up prior ones.
God Bless You!
Imposter on a White Horse
The first horse was white in color. John wrote, “And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer” (6:2 NKJV).
Some Christians believe that the rider of this white horse is Christ, moving among His church conquering evil, even in the midst of the Tribulation, and ultimately conquering over all. I view this rider as just the opposite; I believe he is the Antichrist
This imposter wants to look like Jesus, who also is pictured as a conquering hero on a white horse (Rev. 19:11).
Remember, the devil is the great deceiver and the great counterfeiter. He tries to give the impression that he is as powerful as Jesus, but the devil is a defeated foe.
The rider of Revelation 6 has no arrows, only a bow. Nevertheless, do not underestimate the power of the devil’s agent on earth, the Antichrist. This satanic emissary will rise to power on a platform of peace, prosperity, and miracles. He will not have to use weapons to conquer the world and evoke the worship of man.
The Antichrist will not use force; he will use his cunning words. His talk will be slick and enticing; he will promise peace and prosperity to a world that by that time will be ready to hand over the keys of authority to anyone who holds out hope of escaping the chaos that will have begun to plague the earth.
Notice also that the Antichrist doe not earn a crown, nor does he inherit a crown; it is not intrinsically his, it I given to him. This crown is not a symbol of royalty but is more the type worn in ancient times by winners of the public games. Indeed, the Antichrist will win over public opinion polls as our world willingly hands him the keys to the kingdoms.
And for about three and a half years, the Antichrist will deliver. He will provide peace and security and some measure of happiness.
This is what alarms me so much about the materialistic Christianity that millions of Christians have been taught to accept.
The church is unwittingly being prepared to accept the Antichrist. We are being taught o seek happiness rather than joy, to love things more than Jesus.
We are being taught to seek after miracles and signs and wonders rather than to develop trust and perseverance. When the Antichrist comes to power, he will offer security for our material things, as well as signs and wonders and miracles.
I believe the Antichrist is alive on Earth today. Somewhere in the world, probably in Western Europe or possibly in he Middle East, is a man more diabolical than any human being who has ever walked the face of the earth.
He is more evil than Adolf Hitler; more ruthless than Stalin; more murderous than Mao Tse-Tung, Pol Pot, and Idi Amin combined.
Within a few years he will rapidly rise to power, and he will dominate future events worldwide, until Jesus Christ comes back to destroy him.
I know it sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie, but Hollywood could not devise a plot this intricate.
If you are a connoisseur of horror movies about the Antichrist, you really ought to read the Book!
Crisis or Opportunity
Rick Joyner recently said that the Chinese word for “crisis” is the same word for “opportunity”. How very appropriate for the times we live in.
If you take Katrina as an example, the crisis certainly initiated emergencies of all types. People needed to be rescued, relocated and restored extensively with everything from material things to healing of the traumas caused by the crisis. Families were separated, loved ones were lost or missing – some injured and in hospitals, some injured and unable to get help, and some fatally wounded by the ferocious storm.
During this crisis, the government could not meet the needs of the people – not in the short term or the long term. There was mass-confusion in trying to organize and deploy food, water and medical help. The news media reported the deplorable and inadequate attempts of government to provide relief for the suffering.
I remember the pleas of those taken to the Superdome for water, diapers, baby formula, and food. It was heartbreaking.
As the hours and days wore on, the churches stepped in and attempted to help with food, water, clothing and other basic necessities. But it was clear from the beginning; neither the government nor the churches were prepared to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.
If we were to have a complete economic collapse, conditions in this country could become every bit as devastating as those we previewed in Katrina. Experts have said that the inner cities would be out of food and water within ONE day. This would not be a regional crisis, but a national and probably international crisis.
Are we, as the church, going to be prepared to help ourselves and others? An economic collapse will provide unprecedented opportunity for ministry. Those who understand it and are prepared for it, will have the opportunity to be Jesus to others. Biblical prophecy indicates that those prepared will be God’s people. We must address this with clarity to be prepared and to offer help, hope and healing for the hurting.
It’s time we all get ready.
Love,
The Beginning of the End
The book of Revelation opens with John announcing that the things God has shown him will “shortly take place” (1:1 NASB). Reading this, some people get confused right from the start. “If John was writing in A.D. 95, and the events he described were meant to happen soon, what relevance does this book have to us?”
But John was not saying that these things would necessarily happen in his lifetime or any time soon. The word translated shortly actually mean “quickly” in the original Greek. It can also mean, “when started, it will happen suddenly, within a brief space of time.” John was saying, “Once these things begin to happen, they will happen quickly.” In other words, when the prophecies begin to be fulfilled, they will proceed on an irrevocable, inexorable, unstoppable course, and we will feel as though we are riding a roller coaster that has gone out of control.
I believe we are about to enter that time, and it is going to be terrifying. What is even more frightening to me is that many Christians will be caught off guard, having been lulled into complacency, assuming that everything is going to get better. Yet the apostle Paul warned:
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (1 Thess. 5:1-3 NKJV).
One of the most intriguing visions John records is the account of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rev. 6:1-8). These horsemen are not Kentucky Derby winners. In fact, there is nothing sporting about these animals and their riders. They represent terrifying events. We’ll discuss these four horsemen in later blogs, but for now, please understand that they have begun to ride already and it’s time NOW to prepare! Get your heart right with God – and then listen to His warnings via His Word.
God Love You, He Really Does!
Jim
The Shaping of a Disciple
When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man, and skill a man,
When God wants to mold a man
To play for Him the noblest part,
When He yearns with all His heart
To build so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Then watch God’s methods, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects;
How He hammers him and hurts him
And with mighty blows converts him,
Making shapes and forms which only
God Himself can understand,
Even while His man is crying,
Lifting a beseeching hand…
Yet God bends but never breaks
When man’s good He undertakes;
When He uses whom He chooses,
And with every purpose fuses
Man to act, and act to man,
As it was when He began,
When God tries His splendor out,
Man will know what He’s about!
-Dale Martin Stone
Those who are passionate for the Lord have often prayed the prayer of consecration which usually includes a petition to “do what you need to do in me, Lord, to be used of You”. When you are called of the Lord to His ministry, the calling will require you to submit to His processes. We are all called to be His disciples, and as disciples, we must be molded into His image.
The processes of God are never easy, but they are worth it all. Most of us have heard the phrase “die to self”. Dying is not easy for a living being – but what we speak of is a death to the things we desire in our own natural way, and then life to the things God desires in a spiritual way.
Then, an amazing thing happens. As you die to your own natural desires, you find that what He requires from you spiritually becomes what you desire. In other words, God changes you from the inside into His disciple – one who can walk worthy of the calling.
