Senin, 19 Desember 2016

More GREAT QUOTES

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More GREAT QUOTES

"A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual
man is easy on others and hard on himself."
-A.W. Tozer

"Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire
must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ..."
-A.W. Tozer

"Nowhere can we get to know the holiness of God, and come
under His influence and power, except in the inner chamber. It
has been well said: "No man can expect to make progress in
holiness who is not often and long alone with God."
-Andrew Murray

"Do not strive in your own strength; cast yourself at the feet of
the Lord Jesus, and wait upon Him in the sure confidence that
He is with you, and works in you. Strive in prayer; let faith fill
your heart-so will you be strong in the Lord, and in the power
of His might."
-Andrew Murray

"Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou
mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty."
-Augustine

Food For Thought

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Food For Thought 
by George Davis 

In 1949 the communist revolution marked the end of all missionary efforts in 
China. All foreign missionaries were expelled. After the communist takeover 
the Chinese government bitterly attacked the Church in China, driving  it 
underground. 

For 25 years China was closed to any outside "Christian" influences. Little 
information filtered through the tight-knit bamboo curtain. All remaining 
Christian leaders were rounded up wholesale and were either imprisoned or 
killed outright. Everything that was considered "Christian" was destroyed, 
church building, bibles, hymnals, everything. For 25 years a holocaust far 
exceeding that, inflicted on the Jews by Nazi Germany, ensued. It is 
estimated that about 27 million died during this purging. 

In 1978 Deng Xiaoping came into power and China opened her borders once 
again. The western world stood in breathless anticipation. What would they 
find in the aftermath of such a horrible slaughter? Missionaries from around 
the world stood ready, poised in anxious intrepidity. Would there even be 
one surviving believer? Nothing could have possibly prepared them for what 
they were about to see! 

After 25 years of horrendous persecution the missionaries returned to find 
that the church in China had not been obliterated, as many had feared, but 
that they had grown in number from the estimated one million believers 
before the 1949 revolution, to about 30 million. The contrast was amazing! 
What had caused such unprecedented growth? How could this be? Not only  had
they grown numerically but they had grown spiritually. The tales of their 
devotion to Christ are nothing short of inspirational. Most bewildering is 
the fact that this unparalleled growth occurred without the aid of any of 
those things that are thought to be essential in denominational  churches 
today. Without the aid of professional pastors/priests, church buildings, 
bibles, Sunday-school materials, homilies, hymnals and mass gatherings,  the
Church in China has grown numerically and spiritually to be the most 
victorious expression of Christ's Church on the earth today. By all 
accounts, nothing like it has existed since the early Church. The very gates 
of hell could not prevail against her! 

Makes you think doesn't it? 

-Source-

awildernessvoice.com/  

Follow Your Hunger

Follow Your Hunger
(En Español)

Today too many Christians have lost their hunger for God. Instead of coming into the Lord's presence hungry for more of His fullness, our thoughts are held hostage to worldly pursuits and fleshly distractions. At best, we are merely curious about spiritual realities, but not truly hungry.
Let me tell you a story that illustrates what I mean. We had a little dog named Sophie. Sophie loved people food. To her, eating people food was the culinary equivalent of entering the Kingdom of God. She loved our food. She even had a Bible verse that she claimed in faith: "Even the dogs feed on the crumbs" (Matt. 15:27).
When my wife and I shared a meal, Sophie would sit at our feet, squint her eyes, and stare at us (she thought squinting made her cuter). Any food that fell to the floor instantly vanished into her mouth. No matter how much of her food she had already eaten, she was always hungry for ours.
Our home had a small, fenced-in yard outside our porch where Sophie played. Although the fence surrounded the area, there were gaps where the pickets didn't quite reach to the ground. If Sophie wanted, she actually could squeeze under the fence and get out, but she normally had no reason to try. Occasionally she would get curious and go as far as the gate and stand there a while and look out, but she didn't leave the yard.
One day, though, my wife decided to feed a few slices of stale bread to the birds that nested on the other side of the fence. When Sophie went out an hour later, she immediately noticed a human food smell in the air, which she tracked to the bread. In less than a heartbeat she found a little gap under the picket fence, flattened herself to the ground, and then shimmied through the fence to the bread on the other side. It was gone in less than a minute.
My point is this: hunger will take you where mere curiosity would never go.
My friend, God is looking for hungry people. Blessed are they who hunger. He is seeking people who are truly seeking Him. Indeed, He has bread from Heaven for us, and it is eternally satisfying. We cannot afford to settle into the routine of a fenced-in reality, not when God has eternal food prepared for us. Let us, therefore, follow our hunger as we pursue the presence of God.
 
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ON THE BRINK of JUDGMENT


ON THE BRINK of JUDGMENT
by Gary Wilkerson
(Nov 21, 2016)

Judgment - I am not accustomed to writing messages on this
subject, and you may be surprised by this one. I prepared it with
great reservations; in fact, it took me far beyond my comfort zone,
even though I am dedicated to preaching the whole counsel of God.

Right now I am compelled to speak because of something I see
happening in our culture. I have grown convinced that America
now stands on the brink of one of the most extreme judgments it
has ever faced. And in this bleak hour God has something to say
to His Church that may begin to turn the tide.

When I grew up, it wasn´t unusual to hear this kind of difficult
message in the denomination my family was part of. Occasionally
I heard my father preach on the subject of judgment. What I´m
talking about is a prophetic message (although my dad was
adamant about not being called a prophet). He said he was a "watchman."

LOVE to HEAR HIS VOICE

These days I better appreciate the messages my dad preached
and the anguish they caused him. I know he spent hours
wrestling with God over the difficult sermons he delivered. As a
pastor, I appreciate A. W. Tozer´s lesson that God loves to speak
to the man or woman who loves to listen. Yet I fear the church
has lost that practice. God wants to speak to us about our family,
our marriage, our life´s direction, but our ear is inclined less and
less to His voice and more to the world´s.

The Bible calls this condition a famine of the Word of God (see
Amos 8:11) - a lack of knowledge of God and His ways. In times
of chaos He will use the famine to get our attention and He has
my full attention right now! And if He is speaking hard messages
about society to grace-oriented pastors such as I am, it tells me
He is up to something.

-Source-

http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com

© 2016 World Challenge. All rights reserved. PO Box 260,
Lindale, TX 75771-0260, (903) 963-8626

"This Time I Will Praise the Lord"

"This Time I Will Praise the Lord"
(En Español)

We cannot pass through life without getting hurt. Pain and disappointment in this world are inevitable. How we handle our setbacks, though, shapes our character and prepares us for eternity. Our attitude is the pivotal factor determining the level of our protection from strife. Regardless of the hardships we have faced, and in spite of the mistakes we have made, the end of our lives can either be full of praise and thanksgiving or full of misery and complaint. In the final analysis, what we have experienced in life will be as rich as the desires we have had fulfilled or as painful as the things we regret.
The Bible tells us, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Prov. 13:12). Deep disappointments in life have a way of never leaving us; they enter our hearts like fire and then harden into our nature like lava. Setbacks can leave us cautious about new ventures and suspicious of new friends.
Our woundedness restrains our openness. We are fearful that we will be hurt again by new relationships. Gradually, unless we learn to handle heartache correctly, we can become embittered and resentful cynics. We lose the joy of being alive.
The Source of Fulfillment
It is our own desires and the degree of their fulfillment that produce either joy or sorrow in our lives. Even basic desires for marriage or friends can enslave us if they consume our attention. Are these desires evil? No, but if having our desires fulfilled is the main reason we have come to Christ, it is possible our lives simply will not improve until our priorities change.

Have no doubt, the Lord is concerned about fulfilling our desires, but to do so He must turn our hearts toward His grace. Indeed, the reason we are alive is not to fulfill our desires but to become His worshipers.
The quest for personal fulfillment can become an idol; it can develop into such an obsession that we are living for happiness more than living for God. Thus, part of our salvation includes having our desires prioritized by Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount, He put it this way: "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself" (Matt. 6:33-34). God wants to, and will, satisfy us beyond our dreams, but not before He is first in our hearts.
A wonderful example of this can be seen in the life of Leah, Jacob's first wife. Leah was unattractive, unwanted, and unloved by her husband. Jacob had served Laban, Leah's father, seven years for Rachel, who was Leah's younger sister. On their wedding night, however, Laban put Leah in the nuptial tent instead of Rachel. Although Jacob actually did marry Rachel a week later, he had to work another seven years for her. So Jacob had two wives who were sisters.
The Scriptures tell us that Rachel was loved by Jacob, but Leah was hated. Yet we also read that "the Lord saw that Leah was hated . . ." (Gen. 29:31 KJV). We must understand this about the nature of God: the Lord is drawn to those who hurt. "The Lord saw . . . Leah." What wonderful words! In the same way water descends and fills that which is lowest, so Christ reaches first to the afflicted, to fill the lowliest and comfort them.
The Lord saw that Leah was unloved. He saw her pain, loneliness and heartache. Leah, though unloved by Jacob, was deeply loved by the Lord, and He gave her a son. Leah's reaction was predictable. She said, "Surely now my husband will love me" (v. 32).
Worse than living your life alone is to be married to someone who hates you, as was Leah. How Leah wished that Jacob would share the love he had for Rachel with her. Who could blame her? Leah's desires were justified. She had given Jacob a firstborn son. In her mind, if the Lord could open her womb, He could also open Jacob's heart. But the time was not yet; Jacob still did not love her.
Twice more Leah gave birth to sons, and each time her desire was for her husband. She said, "Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons" (v. 34). Yet Jacob's heart still did not desire her.
For Leah, as well as for us, there is a lesson here: you cannot make another person love you. In fact, the more pressure you place upon others to accept you, the more likely they are to reject you instead. Leah's concept of fulfillment was based on attaining Jacob's love, and now her problem was worsening. Not only was she unattractive to Jacob, but also her jealousies were adding to her lack of loveliness.
Three times we read in this text that the Lord saw and heard that Leah was unloved. He saw her affliction. Through all her striving for Jacob and her disappointment with her marital relationship, the Lord was tenderly wooing Leah to Himself.
As Leah became pregnant a fourth time, a miracle of grace occurred within her. She gradually became aware that, while she had not been the focus of her husband's love, she was loved by God. And as this fourth pregnancy drew near to completion, she drew nearer and nearer to God. She became a worshiper of the Almighty.
As she gave birth to another son, she said, "This time I will praise the Lord" (v. 35). She named that child Judah, which means, "praise." It was from the tribe of Judah that Christ was born.
Leah had been seeking self-fulfillment and found only heartache and pain. But as she became a worshiper of God, she entered life's highest fulfillment: she began to please God.
It is right here that the human soul truly begins to change and enter God's stronghold. As Leah found fulfillment in God, He began to remove from her the jealousies, insecurities, and heartaches that life had conveyed to her. A true inner beauty started growing in Leah; she became a woman at rest.
Likewise, we each have character defects that we are reluctant or unable to face. Others have seen these things in us, but they have lacked the courage to tell us. Both physically and personally, these flaws in our nature are what leave us feeling anxious and threatened.
It is not counsel or classes on success or self-esteem that we need; we simply need to discover God's love for us. As we begin to praise Him in all things, we simultaneously put on the garments of salvation. We are actually being saved from that which would otherwise have destroyed us!
Disappointments and heartaches cannot cling to us, for we are worshipers of God! And "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God" (Rom. 8:28). If we continue to love God, nothing we experience can ultimately turn out harmful since God takes all we pass through and, in His redemptive power, works it for our good

The Tree of Life
You will remember the verse we quoted, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Prov. 13:12). The verse concludes with, "But desire fulfillment is a tree of life." As our desires are fulfilled, we are fulfilled. Since it is the fulfillment of our desires that fills us with satisfaction, the secret to a rewarding life is to commit our desires to God.

Let Him choose the times and means of our fulfillment, allowing the Lord to prepare us for Himself along the way. The truth is that in ourselves we are incomplete; but in Christ we have been made complete (Col. 2:10).
You say, "That's easy for you to say. You have a wonderful wife and family. You are blessed. But you don't understand my problems." Yes, I do. My wonderful marriage was very difficult for the first few years. We struggled with many things in our relationship. My wife and I both came to the place where we were unfulfilled in each other. But, like Leah, we both looked to God and said, "This time I will praise the Lord." In fact, we named our second child the very name Leah gave to her fourth -- Judah.
For us, as for Leah, our lives were turned around as we chose to delight in God. As we became His worshipers, He began to work on our hearts until we were not only more pleasing to Him, we were also pleasing to each other! What I am relating to you is the very thing that saved and blessed our marriage!
Psalm 37:4 reads, "Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart." As you delight in God, you change. The negative effects of disappointment and grief fall off. As love and joy from God begin to fulfill us, our very souls are restored and beautified. Yes, delight yourself with Jesus and your self-destructive tendencies will actually begin to vanish. Christ will beautify your life from the inside out.
The Outcome of Leah's Life
What happened with Leah? Well, the long years came and went. In time, Rachel and then Leah died. Jacob, on his deathbed, spoke to his sons: "I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave . . . which Abraham bought . . . for a burial site. There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah" (Gen. 49:29-31).

Jacob had buried Leah in the ancestral place of honor! Oh how those words, though few, imply so much! They tell us that God had, in some marvelous inner way, beautified this afflicted one with salvation. After Leah found fulfillment in God, God gave her fulfillment in Jacob. We can imagine that over the years inner peace and spiritual beauty shone forth from Leah; Jacob was knit to her in love. It is not hard to imagine that when Leah died, she left smiling, with the praises of God upon her lips.
Become a worshiper of God! As you surrender your desires to Him, as you put Him first, He will take what you give Him and make it beautiful in its time. He will take what has been bent and imbalanced within you and make you stand upright in His light and glory.
Therefore, this day speak to your soul. Tell the areas of unfulfillment within you that this time you will praise the Lord!

Lord, I am a Leah, unlovely and always seeking the love of those who have rejected me. How foolish I have been. How blind. There is no love, no fulfillment in this life apart from You. You are the tree of life that satisfies all desires; You are the healer of my heart. I love You, Lord Jesus. Amen.

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Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, I Will Be Found by You, available at www.arrowbookstore.com.
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TROUBLEMAKERS in the CHURCH

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TROUBLEMAKERS in the CHURCH
by David Wilkerson

We need more troublemakers in the church! I pray that every
member of the body of Christ would become a troublemaker! We
need an army of troublemakers who have become so full of the
Holy Ghost they will stir up and trouble New York City and every
other city around the world; trouble their wicked institutions -
challenge the established dead churches - trouble the leaders,
the mayors, the city councils, the community leadership! In other
words, we need Holy Ghost troublemakers moving in the Spirit,
proclaiming the kingship of Christ so effectively that whole cities
are stirred!

Paul and Silas were two the world's biggest troublemakers! The
Bible speaks of "men that have risked their lives for the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 15:26, NAS). Paul, Barnabas, Silas,
and Timothy were such men, walking in the power of the Spirit.
As seen in Acts 16, when the Holy Ghost forbid them to speak
the Word in Asia, they obeyed. When they tried to go to Bithynia,
but the Spirit would not permit them, they went instead to Troas,
under the Spirit's direction. Paul then had a vision of a man
calling them to Macedonia, so they set out immediately to
Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia. When they arrived, a fortune
teller followed them about, crying, "...These men are the servants
of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation"
(Acts 16:17). After enduring it for many days, Paul turned and
"...said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ
to come out of her. And he came out the same hour" (Acts 16:18).
Suddenly the whole city was in an uproar: this fortune teller was
apparently a big tourist attraction, but now she was healed and
praising the Lord!

Paul had upset the status quo. He had challenged the devil who
had been having his way for years. The slave-owners of the
delivered woman then dragged Paul and Silas into the market-
place to stand trial before the city magistrates. The charge was,
"...These men... do exceedingly trouble our city" (Acts 16:20).
"And the multitude rose up together against them: and the
magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them
into prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks" (Acts 16:22-24).
It looked as though Satan had won. The new converts must have
been stunned! But all the power of God is with Holy Ghost
troublemakers! "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and
sang praises unto God... and suddenly there was a great earth-
quake, so that the foundations of the prison was shaken: and
immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands
were loosed" (Acts 16:25-26). The jailer, seeing what had
happened, even fell down before Paul and Silas, saying "...Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30). Those city officials
and religious leaders went to bed thinking, "We did it to them!
That's the last we will hear of those vagabond troublemakers. We
really shut them up and scared them!" But what a commotion the
next day! I can imagine sergeants knocking on the doors of the
mayor, city council members, and the religio us leaders, telling
them, "Quick! Get down to city hall - we've got a big problem!"

In a state of shock, the officials probably responded, "What? An
earthquake? The prison doors opened? Their chains all fell off?
They didn't even try to escape? The jailer joined their faith?
They're Romans?!?" Now, they were really afraid. It was a crime
to beat Roman citizens (Paul and Silas were both Romans).
"What do you mean they won't budge from our jail? They demand
what? For us to come down and apologize and escort them out
of jail? " And they came... and brought them out... begging them
to leave the city" (Acts 16:39).

I love it! Here they were, not flaunting their spiritual authority, but
merely acting as ambassadors of King Jesus. As they had
witnessed Christ's power being mocked, Paul and Silas now
wanted that little riverside prayer group to see how God manifests
His power to those who stand up against the forces of hell. They
went directly to the house of Lydia - and what a meeting that
must have been! I would think Paul told that house group, "See!
The devil can rage, the powers that be may threaten - but God
has all the power! God will stand by you if you take a stand!"

I preach a great deal on prayer and I believe in the effectual,
fervent prayer of the righteous. But praying alone, praying by two's
and three's, or even in a large prayer meeting will not alone shake
a city! Elijah was a man of powerful prayer, but it was more than
his prayers that shook Ahab's kingdom and enraged Jezebel: He
called the false prophets to Mount Carmel and challenged them.
Jezebel had slain God's prophets and led Israel into apostasy
and the horrible idolatry of Baal worship - and no one had
challenged her! Seven thousand believers had not bowed, but they
were silent, unknown, and afraid. So along comes Elijah, the
troublemaker! Ahab called him "the troubler of Israel!" (1 Kings
18:17). Elijah ended up at the Brook Kishon with a sword in his
hand, slaying hundreds of Baal's false prophets "in the name of Jehovah."

Elijah was not a polite gentlemen with the devil and his crowd.
While "...they leaped upon the alter... Elijah mocked them
[derided them]" (1 Kings 18:26-27).

The church of late has cowered before the powers of darkness
due to the lack of holiness, for the Scripture tells us, "...The
righteous are bold as a lion" (Proverbs 28:1). Some will say, "But
Jesus was meek - He never opened His mouth or resisted when
they took Him to be crucified!" But that was because the hour
of darkness had come, the hour He was to be given into the hands
of the enemy. He was not silent in the temple when driving out
the money-changers. He was not silent when calling religious
leaders serpents - blind guides - whited sepulchers - a brood of
vipers (see Matthew 23). He even told some boldly that Satan
was their father!

Many churches today are full of silent, gentlemanly diplomats,
not wanting to make waves! Nobody wants trouble! So the devil's
kingdom goes unchallenged. We have more than enough smiling,
mousy Christians!......

~SOURCE:  http://www.tscnyc.org/

GREAT QUOTES on SIN

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GREAT QUOTES on SIN

"The recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation."
- Martin Luther

"Many mourn for their sins that do not truly repent of them, weep
bitterly for them, and yet continue in love and league with them."
- Matthew Henry

"Have you ever stood on the same plot of ground with the publican,
crying--God be merciful to me a sinner?"
- William Tiptaft

"Repentance is as much a mark of a Christian, as faith is. A very
little sin, as the world calls it, is a very great sin to a true Christian."
- Charles Spurgeon


"To do so no more is the truest repentance."
- Martin Luther

"Repentance is more than just sorrow for the past; repentance is
a change of mind and heart, a new life of denying self and serving
the Savior as king in self's place."
- J.I. Packer

"Tell Francis I Miss Him"

"Tell Francis I Miss Him"
(En Español)

If Satan cannot distract you with worldliness, He will overwhelm you with weariness. Indeed, how easy it is to wear ourselves out; even good works done without recharging ourselves in God can drain us of life and energy. Daniel speaks of a time at the end of the age when the enemy will attempt to "wear down the saints of the Highest One" (Dan. 7:25). God never intended for us to do His will without His presence. The power to accomplish God's purpose comes from prayer and intimacy with Christ. It is here, closed in with God, where we find an ever-replenishing flow of spiritual virtue.
Weary in Well-Doing
In the early 1970s, during the beginning of my ministry, the Lord called me to consecrate to Him the time from dawn until noon. I spent these hours in prayer, worship, and the study of His Word. I would often worship God for hours, writing songs to Him that came from this wonderful sanctuary of love. The presence of the Lord was my delight, and I know my time with Him was not only well spent but also well pleasing to us both.

However, as my life began to bear the fruit of Christ's influence, the Holy Spirit brought people to me for ministry. In time, as more people came, I found myself cutting off forty-five minutes from the end of my devotional time. On occasion, ministry to people extended into the night, and I stopped rising as early as I had.
Church growth problems began to eat at the quality of my remaining time; ministerial expansion, training younger ministries, and more counseling and deliverance crowded the already limited time I had left. Of course, these changes did not happen overnight, but the months and years of increasing "success" were steadily eroding my devotional life. In time I found myself in a growing ministry but with a shrinking anointing to sustain it.
One day an intercessor called who prayed regularly for me. He told me that during the night the Lord spoke to him in a dream concerning me. I was eager to hear what the Lord had revealed to my friend, thinking perhaps He was going to increase our outreach or maybe supply some needed finances. I asked him to tell me the dream.
What the Lord said had nothing directly to do with the projects and priorities that were consuming my time. He simply said, "Tell Francis I miss him."
Oh, what burdens we carry -- what weariness accumulates -- when we neglect the privilege of daily spending time with Jesus. I cried as I repented before the Lord, and I readjusted my priorities. No longer would I counsel people in the mornings. I would spend this time again with God.
I was sure I would lose some of the people who had recently joined the church. These were people who had come specifically for personal ministry. I knew I would not have the same time for them as before, but I had to make my decision for God.
The next Sunday morning I announced to the congregation that my mornings were off limits, consecrated to God. "Please," I said, "no calls or counseling. I need to spend time with the Lord." What happened next shocked me. The entire church rose and applauded! They wanted a leader who spent more time with God! They were tired of a tired pastor.
As we enter the coming days, our primary activity will be to minister to Christ. Certainly there will be increased pressures. There will also be times of great harvest and spiritual activity. No matter what circumstances surround us, we must position ourselves first and continually in the presence of God. For to miss our time with Jesus is to miss His glory in the day of His presence.
Father, it is the fragrance of Jesus, cultivated in secret, that manifests through us the knowledge of Him in every place. Forgive me for being anxious and troubled about many things, when to sit at Your feet was the only necessary thing. I choose now that better part, and gratefully receive from Your intimacy the better things which shall never be taken away.
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Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, The Days of His Presence, available at www.arrowbookstore.com.
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While we should be mindful of end-time events, we must not become fearful of them. Indeed, to become overly focused upon the signs of the end can be a distraction. Signs point to something bigger than themselves. Rising before us is a glorious sunrise. Let us not become so absorbed with the movement of fleeing shadows that we miss the awe of the One who is dawning upon us. Many have written about the shadows; this book is primarily about the increasing light.
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Days of His Glory | Christ in You | Behind Our Walls
Priority of His Passion | In God's Tabernacle
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In the Days Ahead: A Prophetic Overview
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In this series, Pastor Frangipane shares two visions the Lord gave him nearly forty-five years ago. And while he touches on such things as the shaking of the nations, the antichrist, earthquakes and other end-time events, his focus is primarily upon the greatest reality awaiting us in the last days: the "sign of the Son of Man."
Pastor Francis has said, "Let us not be so absorbed with the dark movement of end-time shadows that we miss the One whose day is simultaneously dawning upon us. Many have written about the shadows; my goal is to prepare us for the baptism of light."
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The Glory of Christ | The Currency of Heaven

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"The APOSTLES Were LAYMEN"

Hasil gambar untuk apostles
"The APOSTLES Were LAYMEN"
-Extracts by Philip Lancaster.

The world and the church agree about how you should address me.
My proper name and title, by unanimous consent, is: The Reverend
Mister Philip H. Lancaster.

I am one of the elite cadre of persons who has the right to be
addressed as Reverend" ("Worthy of reverence; revered. A member
of the clergy.") This distinction is mine because I successfully
completed a three-year graduate program in theology (I'm also a
"Master of Divinity") and passed a theological exam before a body
of ministers and elders. Upon passing that examination I was
ordained and granted the privilege of being addressed as Reverend.
This distinction also entitled me to be the pastor of a church: its
preacher, the one who oversees the church ordinances, and the
one privileged to "pronounce the benediction."

According to the church and the world, I am one set apart. I am a
member of the clergy, and my title distinguishes me as such.
Sounds pretty good, huh?

Yes, it sounds good to modern ears. But there is a little problem:
the title and what it implies is an affront to Jesus Christ and an
insult to every other man in the church.

As an expression of my submission to my Lord I renounce the
title and resist its implications.

Jesus said, "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only
one Master and you are all brothers" (Matt. 23). Our Lord goes on
to forbid other honorific titles among his people, the church, and
then concludes, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and
whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (v. 12).

Jesus explicitly forbade setting any man apart in the church by
means of a special title-and yet the church has done it since not
long after the apostolic age. Why is such a practice such an
affront to Christ? Because he alone is Head and Master of his church.

The concept of a professional clergy, which corrupted the church
within a few centuries of the apostles, was a direct expression of
worldly concepts of leadership and power. Whereas Jesus had
adorned himself with a towel and became a servant to his followers
(John 13), "clergymen" began to adorn themselves with special
robes and collars and assumed a place of superiority over the
congregation of the church. Although later the Reformation removed
some of the worst abuses of this clerical system, it retained the
distinction between the "clergy" and the "laity", a distinction which
survives to this day.

Do we see any evidence of a clergy/laity distinction in the New
Testament? None whatsoever. We see quite the opposite: the
church leaders were ordinary men who humbly served the flock
and who neither sought nor accepted any special status, title or
dress that set them apart from the rest of the brothers.
Unschooled, Ordinary Men.

Consider the Apostles. These men were hand-picked by Jesus
himself to be the foundation of his church, the human agents
through whom he would establish the household of God on earth
(Eph. 2:20). These were the very agents of divine revelation, the
human authorities by which the church received its order and
direction. Certainly the Apostles were the most important leaders
the church has ever had. Surely if any men deserved special title,
position and rank it was these men. But were the Apostles clergymen?

To the contrary, we find clear evidence that the Apostles, though
exercising their leadership role and its attendant authority, were
not a special class among Christians, a professional spiritual elite.
Let's look at just some of the evidence.

In Acts 4:13 we read of the reaction of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish
clergy) to Peter and John: "When they saw the courage of Peter
and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,
they were astonished and they took note that these men had
been with Jesus." What distinguished the Apostles was not their
training and credentials; it was that they had spiritual power
because they had been with Jesus and he was with them still by the Spirit.

My interlinear Greek-English New Testament suggests these
words for those translated "unschooled" and "ordinary" above:
"unlettered" and "laymen". The Apostles were perceived by the
clergy of their day as "uneducated laymen"! How could these men
count for anything? Who could take them seriously? The Lord
Jesus could, and did; and he built his church on the work of these
ordinary men.

Nor do we find the Apostles claiming any special rank and
recognition for themselves. Paul called himself the "least of all
God's people" (Eph. 3: and refused even the honor to which he
was due by virtue of his role (1 Cor. 9:12). Peter, when addressing
the church leaders, referred to himself simply as "a fellow elder"
(1 Pet. 5:1). When the Apostles and elders gathered in Jerusalem
for a critical doctrinal debate, the Apostles submitted to one
another, and the letter which the council sent to the churches went
out in the name of "the apostles and elders, your brothers" (Acts 15:23).

A Brotherhood

The church is a brotherhood, a family, in which there are no classes
of people... The New Testament prescription for leadership in the
local church is a body of elders, a plurality of leaders who function
as brothers, submitting to one another, with no one man in a superior
position to another. (You can study these passages and meditate
on their implications in regard to leadership structure: Acts 14:23;
20:17-31; Phil. 1:1; 1 Thess. 5:12,13; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-9;
Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 5:1-4.)

The clergy system is a direct attack upon the very nature of the
body of Christ. It introduces a false concept of a special spiritual
class, with the accompanying temptation to pride and abuse of
power that comes when one man is exalted positionally over
others. It also leads to passivity on the part of those who are, by
implication at least, "second class" in the church. Members of the
body do not use their gifts to carry on ministry since the
professional "minister" is doing the work.

Perhaps the worst result of the clergy system is that it stifles the
spiritual development of the men of the congregation. God's plan is
that ordinary, unschooled men can become elders, overseers and
shepherds (pastors) of God's flock. They can grow in grace, can
learn their Bibles, can develop leadership in their families-to the
point that they can be recognized and set apart to pastor the
church as a part of the body of elders. They do not have to go to
Bible college or seminary. They can strive through on-the-job
training to be leaders in the congregation. However, the clergy
system removes this possibility from most men and smothers the
godly ambition to servant-leadership. So men are unchallenged,
and the congregation is weakened-not mention its families whose
leaders are given no practical incentive for spiritual growth.

Can you see how all this fits with a return to what we have called
"the family-based church"? We must get away from the single
pastor model in which he inevitably becomes a program manager,
an executive in a bureaucracy. We must return to the concept of
brotherhood where the church is seem as a family and no one
man has a position by which he dominates others. We must
abandon the model that burns out one man and leaves the rest
unchallenged.

Starting A Church

Now here is what encourages me about all this. This non-clerical,
family-based model of the church is one that can be reproduced
by the hundreds and thousand around the nation (and the world).
Any group of godly men who are committed to each other as
brothers, who share the same scriptural understanding of the
church, who are prepared to submit themselves to one another in
the Lord-any such handful of men can constitute themselves a
church and begin this adventure of seeing a family-based church
in their community.

You see, they do not need "a pastor" (meaning a clergy-type
professional preacher) to start a church. Better that they do not
have such a man, unless he is willing to function by the
brotherhood model endorsed by the Apostles.

"You mean you can just up and start a church with a few families?"
Yes, you can....

The critical ingredient for successfully shaping a biblical church is
the attitude of the men of the group. They must be absolutely
committed to the Lord Jesus and his Word, ready to submit their
own minds and wills to Scripture. They must also be committed to
one another, ready to yield to one another in love. They must not
seek a place of prominence over the others. They must cultivate
an attitude of sacrifice and service on behalf of the whole group.

The men of the forming church can meet regularly to pray for the
body, to discuss the spiritual and physical needs of the member
families, to study the Bible, to oversee and shepherd the little flock
of God. (In time they will need to recognize elders from among
themselves and appoint deacons to assist the elders.) If several
men are able to so devote themselves to the Lord and to one
another, there is no reason they cannot see a solid church
established in their midst.

Forget the "Reverend" business. The Lord chooses ordinary,
working men and makes them extraordinary. That could be you!


-Source:

patriarch.com/article.php?sid=70

GREAT QUOTES About CHRIST

Hasil gambar untuk christ
GREAT QUOTES About CHRIST

"I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a
historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is
irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the
most dominant figure in all history."
--H.G. Wells

"God may thunder His commands from Mount Sinai and men may
fear, yet remain at heart exactly as they were before. But let a man
once see his God down in the arena as a Man--suffering, tempted,
sweating, and agonized, finally dying a criminal's death--and he is
a hard man indeed who is untouched."
- J.B. Phillips

"I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man.
Between Him and every other person in the world there is no
possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne,
and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation
of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon
love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."
-Napoleon

"As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that,
measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential
life ever lived on this planet."
-- Historian Kenneth Scott Latourette

"Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more
millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and
Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on
things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars
combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such
words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced
effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without
writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished
themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned
volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army
of great men of ancient and modern times."
-Philip Schaff

To Behold the Face of God

To Behold the Face of God
(En Español)

Have you not deeply desired to see God, to know Him intimately and truly? Beloved, to see Jesus is to behold God. Let us not consider it heresy: we can surely see God! But first we must renounce every perception of the Almighty other than what we have found proven true in Christ.
Therefore study the life, the teachings, and deeds of Jesus Christ, and you will remove the veil of mystery surrounding the nature of God.
Jesus said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).
What truth could be more profound? Each time we read of what Jesus did, we are actually beholding the nature of God. Every time we listen to what Jesus taught, we are hearing the voice of the living God.
Jesus is the image of the invisible Father (Heb. 1:2-3). "In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form" (Col. 2:9). Jesus is God's form. He mirrored on earth those things He saw His Father doing in Heaven; He echoed the words the Father whispered to Him from eternity.
Do you truly desire to see God? Christ's words are windows through which the pure in heart behold the Almighty.
Certainly others can edify our souls greatly, but no prophet, apostle, or teacher excels the revelation of God in Christ. Ponder Christ, and you contemplate the nature of God. Eat His words and you assimilate into your spirit the substance of the Almighty.
"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son" (Heb. 1:1-2).
God spoke to the prophets "in many portions and in many ways." Indeed, all their words inspire, correct, and guide our souls; they are all profitable for reproof and correction, that we may be fully instructed. But "in these last days [God] has spoken to us in His Son."
Prophets will point the way; Christ is the way. Teachers will expound the truth; Jesus is the truth. Apostles will proclaim the life; Jesus is the life. Yes, all speak the word, but the Son of God is the Word.
The teachings of Jesus Christ are not to be blended into the Scriptures as though He were one of many equally important voices used by God. He is, in truth, the living revelation of God Himself, the sole expression of His invisible glory. When Christ speaks, we are listening to God unfiltered, unbiased, unveiled.
So, I ask again, would you see God? Would you pursue the glory of the Lord? Study Jesus. Ponder His words and deeds. For to steadfastly gaze upon Jesus is to behold "the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).
Father, I want to see Your glory and to dwell in Your presence. Answer Your Son's prayer in John 17:24 through me, that I might be with Christ where He is to behold Your glory. Make Your Word come alive to me, and let it transform my soul. Renew my mind that I might live in perpetual union with You.
~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, I Will Be Found by You, available at www.arrowbookstore.com.
~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
Accepting Level I Registrations
through December 29, 2016
In Christ's Image Training
Level I classes begin January 6, 2017
There are qualities of heart that actually attract the pleasure of God. If we possess unoffendable faith in our pursuit of Christ's likeness; if we walk humbly with our God; if we position ourselves in the intercessor's gap; and if we abide in Christ-centered unity with the local body of Christ -- we will attract the pleasure of God, and when we awaken His pleasure, His power soon follows. Sign up today for our next In Christ's Image Training course that begins January 6, 2017.
Registration closes December 29, 2016 www.icitc.org.
In Christ's Image Training is a six-month, online course developed by Pastor Frangipane. It is based on 45 years of seeking God, study and revelatory insights. These are proven truths that break chains and lead to power in our Christian walk.
ICIT provides focused training in four essential stages of spiritual development:
The vision of attaining Christ's likeness
Possessing Christ's humility
Developing a strong prayer life
Becoming one with other Christ believers
The course comes right to your home via email and audio messages and is designed to lift one's focus toward the actual presence of Jesus Christ. The full course not only includes 48 lessons and 39 audio messages (sample audio), but the discerning student will actually find the Lord using the weekly lessons to stage opportunities to deepen the truths found in the training.
For those with limited funds, the entire text is free by email. Just enroll in the Free Lesson Plan (new students only please).
Enrollment overview:
   1) Go to www.icitc.org and read through the Level I page, FAQ page, Level I Syllabus page, and Tuition page.

   2) Choose an enrollment plan.

   3) Next, complete the Level I Registration form before the end of the        day, Thursday, December 29.

   4) Submit the registration form - Class begins January 6, 2017.
For more info, please see www.icitc.org.
Training also available in Spanish / Español
~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
Save 25% off every resource in our bookstore
Use coupon code: BLESSING2016
Visit Arrow Bookstore to order

THE "CLEAN HEART" LIFE

THE "CLEAN HEART" LIFE - How to Experience it
by Andrew Strom

It was in my teen years that God totally revolutionized my life. I
was filled with the Holy Spirit when I was 17 - and that was really
the turning point. It was an overnight transformation. And after I
read a few 'Revival' books, that was all I cared about. -The glory
of God coming down and transforming people. I was hungry for
God to move.

Something happened to me when I was converted that I always
assumed was "normal" - and still believe it should be. God gave
me a true 'fear of the Lord' from the start, and a deep repentance
where I literally went right through my life and repented of everything
I could find that was not godly. So I was "clean" and newly filled
with the Spirit - filled with His love and power. And I found that I
could literally WALK in this 'clean' state before God - without any
"effort" or striving whatsoever. I just figured this was normal. It
became my 'natural' state - walking with a clean conscience and
clean heart before God.

Did I have to "strive" to maintain this constant "clean heart" state?
No, not at all. I simply avoided sin and kept walking in this inner
purity that God had given me. No effort at all, really. It just seemed
"natural". The Scripture, "There is no condemnation to them in
Christ Jesus" was very real to me. I could sense that indeed I walked
under a new "law" - the 'Law of the Spirit of LIFE in Christ Jesus'
which had made me free from the law of sin and death.

In the Bible I saw this was totally 'normal'. There didn't seem to
be anything "special" about it.

Whenever I discovered any 'darkness' in me that I had not seen
before, I instantly would repent of it because God had given me a
deep hatred of sin. This is one of the keys to this kind of walk. I
could not stand for anything to come in between me and God.
I simply walked before Him in this permanent state of communion
and fellowship.  If I inadvertently "tripped up" in such a way that I
noticed a kind of "spot" on my white robe, so to speak, I was very
quick to deal with it because I hated sin and loved walking in total
transparency before God. -But it was not common for me to have
to do that. Sometimes weeks would go by without me having to
seriously "repent" of anything. 'Clean' had become my natural state -
a wonderful gift from God.

This is not to say that temptation never came along. Of course it
did. I just had to choose not to entertain it. I hated sin and loved
God too much to indulge it. But did this mean that I was outwardly
"perfect"? No! -Just that I was inwardly walking with Him in
righteousness and "purifying myself as He is pure". And so the
years went by...

I read the book, "The Normal Christian Life" by Watchman Nee,
and along with some other Revival books, etc, - this helped me
to understand better the state I was in - and to assume it was
"normal". But I would often come across other Christians who
seemed surprised when I would share a little about what I was
experiencing. Many did not seem to live in any genuine "victory"
over sin - and seemed to be always 'repenting' with little real
result. They told me I needed to keep "short accounts with God"
which seemed to mean that I had to repent every half-hour or so.
What kind of "victory" this was, I could not discern.

Didn't Jesus die so that we could walk with God as ADAM
did before the fall - communing with Him in the "cool of the
evening"?  Isn't that the whole point?  -To give us a clean heart
and restore us to full communion with God - as an actual STATE
OF BEING?  Isn't it just that simple?

Another thing God taught me later on was to "RENOUNCE" things
that were serious temptations in my life.  This did not affect my
"righteousness of heart" before God one way or the other, but
it did affect my mind - and the clarity of it. I was no longer
bombarded with temptations anywhere near as much after
'RENOUNCING' those strongholds out of my life.

I have now been walking with God in this "clean-heart" way for many
years. It does not seem to be an "effort" or anything 'hard'. I have
been made a 'new creature' and I simply walk in it as a "natural"
state. My heart and my conscience are continually clean before
God - washed in the blood of the lamb.

So what are the pre-requisites for this kind of walk? -Simply to have
a true "fear of the Lord", to have experienced "thorough repentance"
and also to have been baptized and Spirit-filled, I believe. -Simple
stuff, really. For most of us the door is wide open to walking in this.
Can you trust God for it, my friends? Will you enter in?

God bless you all. 

Andrew Strom.

GREAT QUOTES on HEART PURITY

GREAT QUOTES on HEART PURITY

"I do not preach any new truth. I do not have any new doctrine...
We must have a revival that will mean purity of heart as a normal
standard for everybody. We must be clean people, and not only
clean outside."
-A. W. Tozer

"God has guarded His Word so that only the pure in heart can
see its secrets. All other efforts will fail."
- Winkie Pratney

"A person who is not being purified from sin has no claim on
being saved from it."
- John MacArthur

"God would not rub so hard if it were not to fetch out the dirt that
is ingrained in our natures. God loves purity so well He had rather
see a hole than a spot in His child's garments."
- William Gurnall

"How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp;
every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember you are
God´s sword, His instrument... a chosen vessel unto Him to bear
His name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfection
of the instrument, will be the success."
-Robert Murray M´Cheyne

"When we shift from personal purity to personal happiness, we
lose biblical hope because we are not focusing on God´s agenda,
we are focusing on our own."
-N T Wright

The Nearness of Our God

The Ministries of Francis Frangipane
The Nearness of Our God
(En Español)

In the 73rd Psalm, the psalmist Asaph expressed a struggle we all might feel at times. He questioned why the wicked seem to prosper while the righteous are chastened. The whole idea was troublesome until he entered the sanctuary of God. Once in the presence of God, Asaph realized his error. As he compared himself to the unbeliever, he saw that, apart from the influence of God, he had nothing in which to boast. He said, "When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You" (vv. 21-22).
Finally his soul brightened as he considered that God alone was his salvation, and his relationship with God was his strength. He wrote, "Nevertheless I am continually with You. . . . You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. . . . God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (vv. 23-26).
The summary thought of Asaph's revelation, and the point of this message, is in verse 28. He wrote, "But as for me, the nearness of God is my good."
Let's settle this truth once and for all: it is the nearness of God that produces our good. Christianity was never designed by God to be sustained by nice people trying to appear good. We're not that good. We're not that clever. And we're not that nice. The only thing that can sustain true Christianity is true union with Jesus Christ. It is nearness to Him in all things that produces our spiritual fruit.
If we are honest, we will admit that, apart from the influence and work of God, there is nothing morally superior or remarkably virtuous about our lives. Our flesh has the same carnal passions as do people in the world; our soul carries within it the same insecurities and fears. Apart from the influence of Christ in us, there's no difference between Christians and non-Christians (except that Christians, when living separate from God's presence, can be more obnoxious). It's only our relationship with the Lord that keeps us from fulfilling the lusts and desires of the flesh, for apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).
Therefore the strength of our walk does not originate from within ourselves; rather it comes from our relationship with Christ. Our virtue, if it can be defined as such, is that we have learned to prioritize seeking God; our character is the offspring of our oneness with Jesus. By this I mean that not only is Jesus first on our list of priorities, but also His influence rules over all our priorities. He inspires love in our relationships; His voice becomes the conviction in our integrity. God has made "Christ Jesus" to be to us "wisdom . . . and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30).
Thus the God-seeker desires to find the Lord's pleasure drawn to every aspect of his soul. He also knows that, should an area of his heart exist in isolation from God, he will remain vulnerable to manipulation by the enemy in that area. So let me underscore the psalmist's truth, and let us say with our own voice of conviction: it is the nearness of our God that is our good.
Oh God, You are the lover of my soul. Faithfully, have You extended Your hands toward me. Yet I have been, at times, a drifter and distant. Master, this day I acknowledge my most wonderful times are those spent close to You. When my heart is near to You, I am partaking of the nectar of life.
~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, I Will Be Found by You, available at www.arrowbookstore.com.
~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
Accepting Level I Registrations
through December 29, 2016
In Christ's Image Training
Level I classes begin January 6, 2017
There are qualities of heart that actually attract the pleasure of God. If we possess unoffendable faith in our pursuit of Christ's likeness; if we walk humbly with our God; if we position ourselves in the intercessor's gap; and if we abide in Christ-centered unity with the local body of Christ -- we will attract the pleasure of God, and when we awaken His pleasure, His power soon follows. Sign up today for our next In Christ's Image Training course that begins January 6, 2017.
Registration closes December 29, 2016 www.icitc.org.
In Christ's Image Training is a six-month, online course developed by Pastor Frangipane. It is based on 45 years of seeking God, study and revelatory insights. These are proven truths that break chains and lead to power in our Christian walk.
ICIT provides focused training in four essential stages of spiritual development:
The vision of attaining Christ's likeness
Possessing Christ's humility
Developing a strong prayer life
Becoming one with other Christ believers
The course comes right to your home via email and audio messages and is designed to lift one's focus toward the actual presence of Jesus Christ. The full course not only includes 48 lessons and 39 audio messages (sample audio), but the discerning student will actually find the Lord using the weekly lessons to stage opportunities to deepen the truths found in the training.
For those with limited funds, the entire text is free by email. Just enroll in the Free Lesson Plan (new students only please).
Enrollment overview:
   1) Go to www.icitc.org and read through the Level I page, FAQ page, Level I Syllabus page, and Tuition page.

   2) Choose an enrollment plan.

   3) Next, complete the Level I Registration form before the end of the        day, Thursday, December 29.

   4) Submit the registration form - Class begins January 6, 2017.
For more info, please see www.icitc.org.
Training also available in Spanish / Español