The name “Tebow” is quickly becoming more than just the name of the Denver Broncos quarterback; it’s becoming a verb, an action verb. Whether you follow football, or even like the sport, watching Tim Tebow play the game offers more than simple entertainment; he offers lessons on how to do life. The world is stunned and amazed at his success on the field in spite of the fact that he has yet to show the kind of talent we are used to seeing at the quarterback position in the NFL. What is it about him that causes his “unbelievers” to believe in him, or at least stop voicing their doubts so strongly? The answer is will-power: the display of the awesome power of the human will to achieve anything.

Jesus declares in Mark 9:23 that “[e]verything is possible for one who believes”. But, the apostle James cautions us that “belief” requires something else in order to come alive, action. He says “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”. James 2:17 (NIV). Many of us are “believing” for things but we are not acting out our beliefs. Belief that is not acted upon is as dead as Lazarus in the tomb. It’s there but it’s not moving, it’s not alive, and it can’t do anything.

Another way of looking at this is the concept of “will-power”. To “will” something is to decide to bring about, or attempt to effect or bring about, something by an act of the will. Dictionary.com. The will is the power of control the mind has over our actions. See Dictionary.com. Thus, will-power is the use of the mind to effectuate actions we have decided to take in order to make something happen. It encompasses both decision, i.e., “belief”, and action. Both are required for change, and the combination is powerful, making “everything possible”!

This is what it means to “Tebow”: To make a decision in the mind to bring something to pass and then act on it. This is what Tim Tebow displays every time he gets on the field. It doesn’t matter what the score is; whether he is winning or losing. It doesn’t seem to matter that he has not yet learned how to throw the ball well. In fact, he seems to do best when he’s down by at least two touchdowns and only has five minutes left to play. All that matters to him is that he has decided to win and he is willing to go out on the field and act like he’s going to win each time he takes a snap. Tebow’s life seems to be about showing his faith by what he does.

What about you? Are you believing and not acting? Or were you acting on your beliefs at one time only to stop acting because the “score” was not going in your favor? True faith could care less what the score is. Whether it’s the first quarter or the fourth quarter, or whether the fans are singing its praises, doesn’t matter. All true faith cares about is doing what it believes, and doing it until the timer runs out. To Tebow or not to Tebow, that is the question!

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Pulpit Pimps!

by Apostle Phil

A pimp is “a person . . . who solicits customers for a prostitute or a brothel, usually in return for a share of the earnings”. Dictionary.com. A prostitute, in addition to being defined as someone who has sex for money, is defined as “a person who willingly uses his or her talent or ability in a base and unworthy way, usually for money”. Dictionary.com. The word of the Lord came to me today and He said: “My house is full of pimps and prostitutes! My glory has been exchanged for strange fire and my people have left their first love”.

Back in the day we called them “jackleg” preachers, unscrupulous pulpiteers who operated outside of generally accepted Biblical standards of practice for those who called themselves clergy. See Dictionary.com. They usually came dressed in slick suits, fur coats, and drove Cadillacs. Today they wear business suits, run mega-church corporations and drive European! There’s nothing wrong with prosperity and wealth; God is concerned about how you get it.

God says: “My pulpits are full of those who prostitute the sheep. They seduce my people with flattering words, selling them cheap grace and empty promises of ‘favor’ I will not give. They adorn themselves with religious garb to hide the fact that they have no anointing from me and are self-sent. I did not send them! They are wolves in sheep’s clothes and I am against them. As I declared to Ezekiel, ‘I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves’. Ezekiel 34:10 (NIV). I am against the shepherd who plunders the sheep, who feeds himself at the expense of my house. If they don’t repent, I will strike the shepherds of the land who have exploited my house and brought shame to my name.”

Today’s “pulpit pimps” carry the same spirit the prophet Ezekiel spoke against years ago. These are vile men and women who may have started out right, but got off track, and exchanged the authentic call of God for the pursuit of wealth at the expense of God’s people. They have exchanged a true anointing birthed in prayer and true holiness for the “strange fire” of celebrity and fame. They, like true pimps, allow God’s people to be exploited by those who prostitute their gifts in the church. They open their doors to anyone who can draw a crowd in exchange for a “share of the earnings”. Today, many churches are nothing more than high-class brothels, spiritual whorehouses, run by pimps who exploit their gifts, and the gifts of others, for a price. God is against them!

Pimps and prostitutes dress to get attention, to lure and seduce the vulnerable and unwitting “customer”. “So it is in my church”, says the Lord. “Only in the church they don’t wear fake furs and cheap jewelry, they wear the fake anointing of celebrity and cheap grace. And, when the fake anointing of celebrity doesn’t work, or begins to fade, they draw on others who are running the same game. ‘Look at who I know, look at who I hang with’, they brag! ‘Come follow me and I will give you all the wealth and splendor of the world’. Satan brought this temptation to Jesus (Luke 4:6) and he is now bringing it to my sheep in my house! They are gathering my sheep under an anointing that is not mine. They are seducing my holy ones with lust and the promise of fame and fortune, leaving them to become food for every wild beast of the field. My house has become a den of robbers! I am against them!”, says the Lord.

Take away the celebrity, and who they claim to know, and all that’s left are thieving liars trying to make a name for themselves on the backs of unwitting, hard-working people. These pimps prey on the financially vulnerable and often not well-educated: folks who are sometimes so desperate to improve their situation, or move their ministry forward, that they are willing to believe anything and join the “brothel”. The Lord said in Ezekiel 34:4 (NIV) that these pimps “have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. [They] have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost”. Have you ever wondered why these so-called preachers rarely have altar-calls? They couldn’t care less whether people get saved or not, whether they go to heaven or hell. All they care about is whether they pony up a tithe or an offering on the way to wherever they are going! Healing the sick, delivering the bound and reaching the lost is a secondary consideration at best.

Hear the word of the Lord: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. . . . Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” 2 Peter 2:1-3 (NIV) (emphasis added). The King James version says: “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you“. 2 Peter 2:3 (emphasis added). God’s judgment of those who sit in American pulpits is no longer sleeping! “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household”. 1 Peter 4:17 (NIV). “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient [], not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV).

The Lord says: “Repent now, preacher! Your ways are ‘bring[ing] the way of truth into disrepute’. No longer will I tolerate your wickedness. Your ways have brought judgment, condemnation and destruction to your door. Do not test me in this. My delay in judgment is for your repentance. Take advantage of it. And for the sheep of your house I say, ‘come out of the house of ill repute’. Do not dance in its isles or sing in its pulpits lest you defile your priestly garments and suffer loss. In an instant my judgment upon these houses will come like a thief. In judging the sin of these houses I will uproot, tear down, destroy, and overthrow, so that I may build and plant. See Jeremiah 1:10 (NIV). And to my holy prophets, strike with the sword of my mouth! I am bringing a sword against my own house. Blow the trumpet and warn the people, ‘then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head’. Ezekiel 33:4 (NIV). Do not lead my people astray, saying, ‘peace’, when there is no peace. ‘[W]hen a flimsy wall is built, [don't] cover it with whitewash, [] tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down and violent winds will burst forth. When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, where is the whitewash you covered it with?’. Ezekiel 13:10-12 (NIV). No more whitewashing the sins of those in pulpits! Strike with the sword of my mouth! Strike! Strike! The time is now! Strike!

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Who Are You Living Through?

by Apostle Phil

The word vicarious is used to describe an experience that is “felt or enjoyed through imagined participation in the experience of others”. Dictionary.com (emphasis added). Thus, all entertainment, at some level, allows us to have vicarious experiences; moments enjoyed through imagining we are participating in the experiences of other people. Vicarious experiences are not per se bad. They become a problem, however, when (1) the experiences we are enjoying vicariously are sinful, and (2) our life becomes more vicarious than real.

Earlier this year the Lord instructed me to limit the amount of time I spend watching television. At first I thought the only reason was to allow me to have more time with Him in prayer. Eventually, however, He began to show me that television is a huge trap for people who, for one reason or another, have decided to live their lives through others. The occasional TV show, movie or play is not a problem. But, when we find ourselves spending large amounts of time doing things that amount to living our lives through the real or imagined experiences of other people, we are in the danger zone.

First of all, the desire to spend a lot of time living through others says something about what we think of our own lives. If we are so unhappy and unfulfilled that we have to escape into someone else’s reality show, we’ve got a problem. When entertainment becomes more than an occasional event and becomes a lifestyle, we are no longer living our own lives. We have traded our own experiences for those of others and are living life vicariously. In other words, our life is no longer ours, or even real! The other problem with too much vicarious living, especially through the TV, is that it allows us to slip into experiencing a sinful life God says we can’t actually live. While most of us won’t live blatantly sinful lives, some of us will nonetheless experience the sinful life by watching the sinful lives of others. We subconsciously excuse ourselves from guilt by saying “that’s them, not me”. However, experiencing sin through others is still sin; and it ought to concern us that we would ever entertain sin, even vicariously. The Bible says: “. . . do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure”. 1 Tim. 5:22 (NIV).

Living a substantial part of our life vicariously is just another way of escaping our own reality. It’s no different from escaping life through a bottle of liquor or a crack pipe. It’s all just running away. Jesus lived, died and rose again so that we could have an abundant life of our own. Constantly choosing someone else’s experiences over having your own is an indication that you haven’t yet found the life Jesus died to give you. The Bible says: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him“. 1 John 4:9 (NIV) (emphasis added). Being a Christian is learning to live your life through Jesus. That’s the only “reality show” that should have our undivided attention. And, it’s the only experience that will truly satisfy.

Ask yourself how much time you spend peeking, like a voyeur, into the lives of others through things like TV, Facebook or Pay-Per-View. How much of what you see is people living sinful lives? Why doesn’t it repulse you? You’re better than that, and God wants more for you! Stop cheating yourself and work on improving the quality of your own life. Disconnecting from all of this junk may be hard at first. You will have withdrawals. But after you “sober up” you will discover who you really are, and that your life is worth enjoying as opposed to trading it for someone else’s.

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666

by Apostle Phil

The number 666 found in the book of Revelation has captured the imagination of the Church, Hollywood and the occult world. Many have tried to attach this number to historical figures or to organizations, such as the Catholic church, in an attempt to make sense of the number’s meaning. But the Bible is clear as to the meaning of this number. In Revelation 13:18 (NIV) (emphasis added) It says: “If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666″.

In chapters 12 and 13 of the Book of Revelation three creatures are included in God’s revelation of the culmination of all things (the apocalypse): a dragon, a beast emerging from the sea, and a beast coming out of the earth. The Dragon is Satan himself. “The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” Revelation 12:9 (NIV). The first of the two beasts represents governments, or nations. It is described as coming out of the sea and having ten horns and seven heads, “with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name”. Revelation 13:1 (NIV). This beast represents nations because: (1) it is described as “coming out of the sea” the way continents,which house nations, emerge from the sea; (2) the beast has “horns”, “heads”, and “crowns”, which are all symbols of authority, especially governmental authority; and (3) each of the heads on the beast carried a blasphemous name, as did Roman emperors who tended to assume titles of deity.

The second of the two beasts represents man. It is described as coming out of the earth and having “two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast . . . .” Revelation 13:11-12 (NIV). This beast represents man because: (1) he is described as coming out of the earth, as man did; (2) he “exercise[s] all the authority” of the first beast, the nations, as men do; and (2) the Bible says his “number” is 666, the number of man.

It should come as no surprise that his number is 666. The number seven is the number of perfection or wholeness. It’s God’s number. The number six is for man because it indicates man’s imperfection and incompleteness without God. Man is one short of perfection, and that “one” is God. Man can only achieve perfection or wholeness, “seven”, by adding God to the picture. Another number that represents God is the number three, which represents the trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The number 666, “man” three times, represents the “trinity” of man; man declaring himself complete without God, indeed, declaring himself to be God.

So what does all this mean? It means that we should recognize that the secularization of society and the progressive drift away from God in our culture is an indication of the end of all things. The Bible says this second beast, man putting himself up as God (666), will “[make] the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast”, government and governmental authority. Revelation 13:12 (NIV). This has already begun with governments progressively passing laws that are hostile to God, the Church and to Christians. Eventually, those who do not submit to, or “worship”, governmental authority will be put to death by those governments. Revelation 13:15 (NIV). And, those who are not killed will be required to “receive a mark on [their] right hand or on [their] forehead” in order to buy and sell. Revelation 13:16-17 (NIV). This mark is “the name of the beast or the number of his name”, 666. Revelation 13:17 (NIV).

Soon, everyone who does not put governmental authority above God will be persecuted. At best, they will not be permitted to participate in the world economy without first indicating their allegiance to man as God. At worst, they will be killed. Now is the time to determine how you will respond when faced with the decision of your life: who will you serve, God or man. Know now that the decision WILL cost you your life, and that decision is right around the corner. Practice NOW believing, living, and defending God’s word, way and will against all who oppose Him. The practice will come in handy when Government no longer defends your right to do so. Jesus said: “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent [him]. Night is coming, when no one can work”. John 9:4 (NIV).

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Cover Your Ears!

September 7, 2011

Comments voiced at a boisterous Labor Day rally in Detroit serve to remind us all not to listen to everything spoken over the airwaves during the upcoming presidential election. In an attempt to introduce the president of the United States a leader of the Detroit-area AFL-CIO used curse words to describe certain members of Congress he [...]

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Colorado “Prayer Accountability Challenge” (PAC) Is Finally Here!

August 23, 2011

Join hundreds of believers who have already decided to take the PAC, a dynamic challenge from God to transform lives by boosting prayer throughout the State of Colorado and beyond. You don’t want to miss this tremendous move of God! Simply click here for all the details. Share this:EmailFacebookPrint

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Caught In One’s Own Web

August 16, 2011

The Lord gave me this parable: An evil woman went out to find a husband to take care of her, only to discover that after the marriage, she would be taking care of him. This parable has a specific meaning having to do with the process and proper motive for getting married, as well as [...]

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Prayer Accountability Challenge!

July 26, 2011

Two weeks ago the Lord challenged me to increase the amount of time I spend in prayer each day and asked me if I was willing to be accountable for that time at the end of each day.  I have often felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit to spend more time in prayer, we [...]

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The Spirit Of The Antichrist

July 18, 2011

John the apostle said “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God“.  1 John 4:1 (NIV) (emphasis added).  John goes on to say: “Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is [...]

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Just Say No!

July 16, 2011

Back in the 1980′s, when Ronald Regan was president, his wife, Nancy Regan, coined the phrase “Just Say No” to spearhead her campaign against illicit drug use.  Her use of the phrase was controversial at the time because some felt it was too simplistic an approach to a sometimes complex problem.  Whether you agree with that [...]

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