The Marriage of Faith and Humility

The Marriage of Faith and Humility
(En Español)

We cannot advance spiritually without both faith and humility. Indeed, faith without humility inevitably becomes presumption, while humility without faith never ascends above oppression.

Consider: faith's nature, in part, is to possess the promises of God. Israel was commanded by the Almighty to possess the Promised Land. Scriptures tell us that without faith it is impossible to please God and that whatever is done without faith is sin (Heb. 11:6; Rom. 14:23). Thus, faith unites the human heart to God. As a result, the sinful appropriate God's righteousness, and those who were dead gain access to God's life. Christianity without faith is like a computer without electricity: the circuits of "proper knowledge" may be in place, but there is no light, no power nor functionality.
Yet where faith possesses, humility surrenders. Consider Christ as our example. There will be a time when every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11); the kingdoms of this world will finally become the kingdom of our Lord (Rev. 11:15). However, Christ's reaction to subduing the world is He then "hands over the kingdom to the . . . Father" (1 Cor. 15:24). This is the humility of Christ: what He conquers, He then surrenders. In America we want the first part, having faith to conquer, but we're not sure we want the second part, giving it back to God. Yet this is the pattern of those who have followed God: Abraham believes God and a son is born; humility takes Isaac and offers him back to God. David conquers Jerusalem then dedicates it to the Lord, calling it the "city of God."
You see, the motive behind the exercise of our faith must mature until what we've appropriated through faith becomes an offering we now surrender back to God. Our goal is not only to create a better life here but, through surrender, to extend the Kingdom of God to earth. Faith brings to earth Heaven's provisions; surrender brings God's presence into those provisions.

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All of us serving here thank you for your prayers and support. May this new year see breakthroughs into the Lord's presence like never before!
Tax deductible donations for 2015 can still be given online through tomorrow, the 31st. If sent by mail, they must be postmarked no later than the 31st. www.frangipane.org/support.html

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GREAT QUOTES on EVANGELISM

GREAT QUOTES on EVANGELISM

"If your Gospel isn't touching others, it hasn't touched  you!"
--Curry R. Blake

"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it
out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light"
-- John Keith Falconer

"We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first."
-- Oswald J. Smith

"The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get
to Him, the more intensely missionary we become."
-- Henry Martyn

"Use your ministry to build people, not people to build your ministry."
--Jacquelyn K. Heasley

"We Christians are debtors to all men at all times in all places,
but we are so smug to the lostness of men. We've been "living
in Laodicea ", lax, loose, lustful, and lazy. Why is there this
criminal indifference to the lostness of men? Our condemnation
is that we know how to live better than we are living."
--Leonard Ravenhill

Protected From the Accuser

Protected From the Accuser
(En Español)
How do you handle criticism? How does one protect himself from the "scourge of the tongue" (Job 5:21)? If you are going to be successful in the Lord's work, you must find God's hiding place from one of the most painful weapons in Satan's arsenal: the critical tongue.
The fact is, for better or for worse, people are going to talk about you. You cannot do the will of God without causing changes, and changes will always cause some to stumble. In fact, Jesus said we were to beware when all men speak well of us. He said we cannot serve two masters; if we are to truly please Him, we cannot be distracted by trying to please everyone else.
At the same time, there is a demonic strategy that is set against those who teach God's Word and minister to His people. The enemy's campaign is not only aimed at destroying the shepherd; he also seeks to scatter the sheep. If Satan's attack is successful, everyone involved will come out of the battle with less love and a hardened heart.
I find it amazing that individuals can react so differently to the same teaching. One will be uplifted and encouraged while another may not only miss the Lord's blessing, but also actually be offended by an isolated statement.
It seems that for every person who takes the hammer and chisel to make an idol of a preacher, there is someone else with a hammer and spikes ready to crucify him. Unless that man is sustained by the Lord, the pressures against him can be overwhelming.
Most people fail to remember that a minister is just like any other Christian. He or she is not Superman; bullets (and words) do not bounce off his chest. He is not invulnerable to cruel and malicious talk. He is an imperfect person called to serve the living God in the body of Christ; but he is nonetheless just a person.
For most, church is a place where people go to express their worship of God, to be taught, and to have fellowship. But to the man or woman of God, the church is God's garden. Most of the real work a pastor does is not in the pulpit but in the unheralded service of cultivating love and trust in personal relationships.
In God's eyes, the church is much more than a meeting place of casual acquaintances or doctrinally united believers. To the Father, the church is a living temple, a human house for the Spirit of His Son. The Bible says that when He placed us in our particular church it actually gave Him pleasure (1 Cor. 12:18). Together with the Holy Spirit, the pastor and elders work to bring the church into a right relationship with God's love and then to spread that love throughout the entire citywide church.
God has provided honorable ways for people to transfer from one church to another. If someone wants to leave a church to start their own, there are proper ways to receive God's anointing and be sent. (See Acts 13:1-3.) It is not necessary to find fault and cause a church split. When things are done correctly and in order, people are edified.
But when relationships are severed and destroyed through malicious gossip, or when a developing trust is turned into mistrust through backbiting and criticism, God Himself is angered (Prov. 6:16-19). And if God is offended, how much more difficult is it for His servants to remain aloof from the conflict that sin causes.
The Answer
So how does a man or woman of God find the balance between his basic need to survive and his responsibility to please God? The answer is to put on Christ's love.
A number of years ago I went through a difficult time during which a handful of people made me the target of ongoing criticism. There is a type of constructive criticism coming through people who love you that teaches and helps you to prosper, and there is a different type of criticism that comes through an embittered spirit that is not meant to correct you but to destroy you. It was the latter relationship that I had with these people.
To be honest, I am sure that there were areas in my life that were out of balance; some of their complaints were justified. Much of what they had to say, however, was said to others behind my back. Our congregation was being destabilized by these individuals. Try as I did, nothing I could say or repent of would silence them.
For three years I sought the Lord, yet He would not vindicate me of their accusations. Instead, He dealt with me. He reached deep into the very substructure of my soul and began to touch hidden areas of my life.
At issue with the Lord was not my sin, but my "self." The Bible says our sins are ever before us (Ps. 51:3); these I could see. But I had no perspective on my own soul. The Lord allowed this criticism to continue until it unearthed something deeper and more fundamentally wrong than any of my doctrinal interpretations or sins. It unearthed me.
The Holy Spirit began to show me how easily I was manipulated by people's criticisms, and especially how much my sense of peace was governed by the acceptance or rejection of man. As much as I prayed, God would not deliver me from my enemy. He saved me by killing that part of me that was vulnerable to the devil, and He did it with the accusations themselves.
I will never forget the day it dawned on me that both God and the devil wanted me to die, but for different reasons. Satan wanted to destroy me through slander and then drain me with the unceasing activity of explaining "my side" to people. At the same time, God wanted to crucify that part of my soul that was so easily exploited by the devil in the first place!
It was a pivotal day when I realized that this battle was not going to be over until I died to what people said about me. It was probably at this point that I finally and truly became a servant of God.
Today I stand in awe of what the Lord did during those terrible yet wonderful months. He knew a time would come when the things I wrote would touch the lives of millions of people. To inoculate me from the praise of man, He baptized me in the criticism of man until I died to the control of man.
Do not misunderstand me: I still honestly pray about things submitted to me by others, and I am accountable to other leaders. I even have staff people whose assignment is to give me a critical analysis of my life and work. But I am no longer ruled by man. I live for God's pleasure, and if I happen to please man, that is His business, not mine.

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The preceding excerpt is adapted from the book The Shelter of the Most High by Pastor Frangipane. This book with associated audio resources are currently on sale at www.arrowbookstore.com.

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Is there a spiritual place, a shelter, where God actually keeps us, "and the evil one does not touch" us (1 John 5:18)? Yes, there is a place in the heart of God where we can find immunity and protection, where we are literally surrounded by the Lord's presence. Once we enter this place, nothing can defeat us. Twenty-one profound chapters, each highlighting a different dimension of our Father's love and protection, each well able to escort you into the warmth and safety of the shelter of the Most High.

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Possessing the Redeemer's Mind

Possessing the Redeemer's Mind
(En Español)

As Christians, we spend too much time battling basic, elementary battles: "Am I truly saved?" "Am I really forgiven?" The fact is, God has so much more for us. He seeks to conform our thought-life to the actual thought-life of Christ. Indeed, the Holy Spirit comes not just to give us goose bumps and chills but to restructure our attitudes and perceptions until we think the thoughts of Jesus.

Consider Paul's remarkable insights. He wrote,

"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:14-16).

This revelation is stunning: we have the mind of Christ. God wants us to have Christ's very discernment.

Or consider again what Paul wrote to the Galatians. He said, "My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you" (Gal. 4:19).

Critics will call the revelation of Christ in us a heresy, as though all we were to have was the name but not the nature of Jesus Christ.

You see, God's goal is not only to see us saved and go to Heaven but for Christ to be functionally formed and living through us on earth. We are not just to have a religion about what Jesus did; we are called to possess the very substance of who Jesus is.

Yes, it means we indeed will go to Heaven; but it is more. Through our knowledge of Christ's word and our yieldedness to the Holy Spirit, the actual person of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, gains living access to the needs of man. As His body, we give Him flesh and blood contact with this world. True, we face conflicts, but these difficulties are staged by God so He can showcase His Son through us. Indeed, we face persecution, but it's only so Christ, in the midst of injustice, will reveal how His life overcomes death.

Again, Paul wrote,

"For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11).

Isn't this exactly what you desire, the "life of Jesus . . . manifested in [your] mortal flesh"? Aren't you tired of the cycle of judging people, and then, because of pride, being judged by God in return?

What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? Does that mean we walk on the water or do great signs? Miracles are indeed a part of Christ's life, yet there is something greater than miracles to attain: our hearts can be filled with the redemptive, creative thought-life of God! (See 1 Cor. 2.)

Lord, deliver us of our fleshly motives! Free us from our human instincts and fallen passions. Grant us, Lord, the motives of Jesus. Teach us to think, not as a prosecutor whose quest is to condemn, but as the Savior whose heart is to redeem.

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In Christ's Image Training

Level I classes begin January 8, 2016

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 starting January 8. Registration closes Dec. 31, 2015. 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 44 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.

Student testimonies   |   Francis presenting the course

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.

     4) Submit the registration form - registration closes Dec. 31. Class          begins January 8, 2016.

For more info, please see www.icitc.org.

Training also available in Spanish / Español

NUKES OVER AMERICA??

NUKES OVER AMERICA?? - Andrew Strom

During the days of the cold war, of course it was not uncommon
for people to prophesy nuclear bombs hitting America. Nowadays
it is not common at all. But a friend of mine from Texas - a man
I know personally to be a balanced and well-grounded Christian -
reminded me of this topic not long ago. He (and other believers)
have seen visions of nuclear devastation on American soil that
have so shaken him that he moved his family right out of Dallas
and right out of Texas. Just another crackpot, you say?

Below is an excerpt from David Wilkerson in 1985 on this very
topic. After that we will hear from my Texas friend. And after
that I would love your comments, my friends.

DAVID WILKERSON wrote: "America is going to be destroyed
by fire! Sudden destruction is coming and few will escape.
Unexpectedly, and in one hour, a hydrogen holocaust will engulf
America -- and this nation will be no more.

"America has sinned against the greatest light. Other nations are
just as sinful, but none are as flooded with gospel light as ours.
God is going to judge America for its violence, its crimes, its
backsliding, its murdering of millions of babies, its flaunting of
homosexuality and sadomasochism, its corruption, its drunkenness
and drug abuse, its form of godliness without power, its lukewarm-
ness toward Christ, its rampant divorce and adultery, its lewd
pornography, its child molestations, its cheatings, its robbings,
its dirty movies, and its occult practices. In one hour it will all be
over. To the natural mind it is insanity to come against a prosperous,
powerful nation and cry out, 'It's all over! Judgment is at the door!
Our days are numbered!' The Church is asleep, the congregations
are at ease, and the shepherds slumber. How they will scoff and
laugh at this message. Theologians will reject it because they can't
fit it into their doctrine. The pillow prophets of peace and prosperity
will publicly denounce it...

"Let the whole world and all the church call me crazy, but I must
blow the trumpet and awaken God's people. Believe it or not,
America is about to be shaken and set aside by swift and horrible
judgments. Many other praying believers who have been shut in
with God are hearing the very same message - 'Judgment is at
the door! Prepare, awaken!'"  (-Wilkerson - ''Set the Trumpet to
Thy Mouth', 1985).

JEFF FROM TEXAS wrote: "A few years ago now (3-4?), when I
had slid into a great discouragement (before I fully understood
the depth of God's love for me & a full rest in His complete &
total sovereignty) & had backslid, hiding in my new 5 bedroom
home with my fancy home theater system, The Lord stopped me
walking up the stairs and spoke to me: "There is something big
coming, & you are not ready". In my minds eye, I could see a
mushroom cloud and much devastation. I knew what The Lord
meant, & I was touched He still loved me and came and got me
after all I had done in hardening my heart.

"I've never been the same since. The Lord led us shortly after to
sell all we had and move (we had no idea where at first, for quite
some time). Anyways, we ended up here in the perfect will of
God in fellowship in Albuquerque, NM, with brethren we have
known for many years (some of which we met at the John the
Baptist conference in Dallas years and years ago).

"I still have had dreams of Texas & destruction to this day... I
take no joy in it (all of our natural family still lives in the Dallas
metro area), but I know something is coming there nonetheless...

"War is definitely coming, as is great destruction... Many in our
fellowship (particularly those with prophetic giftings, but not just
limited to them either, but to many in our local Body), have had
prophetic dreams of such. We all came originally from Texas
(though some had lived at times in California, Mexico, India, etc.),
but God sovereignly moved all of us (at different times) out of
Texas and together here in New Mexico.

"Several of us have had dreams of the outright annihilation of Texas.
Stuff like bombs going off in the major cities (particularly Dallas
& Houston, but maybe San Antonio & Austin also?). Dreams of
mushroom clouds over Dallas..."

ANDREW AGAIN:  I am only sending this out because I have
read many similar warnings over the years - so I believe it is
something the Body of Christ needs to discuss. We would be
very interested to hear the comments of other Christians, since
I know many American believers read this newsletter. Has God
been speaking to any of you to perhaps get out of some of the
larger US cities? Does this warning ring true or not?

PLEASE COMMENT at the following website, my friends-

http://www.revivalschool.com/


God bless you all.

THE END of THE WEST

THE END of THE WEST
-Andrew Strom

For some time now I have been convinced that this century will
see the collapse of our civilization - whether Jesus returns in that
time or not. Western civilization has taken literally centuries to
build. But by the end of this century I believe it will be in a state
of ruin and collapse that few can imagine.

Recently there were a couple of posts by others on our website
that I thought were pretty insightful in regard to all this. Here they
are below-

Therese wrote:
"Someone I know had a dream of the western hemisphere being
picked up like a paper map by a huge hand and rolled into a ball
in His hand and tossed away... It is His grace that warns and why
would He not, He is not a dumb idol that cannot speak, He is the
Living God. The Spirit of prophesy is the testimony of Jesus...

The difference between our nations that sin and the heathen nations
that sin, is that our nations have professed Christ and are known
around the world as Christian nations... we are blaspheming and
profaning His name before the whole world. It is for the honour of
His name that His longsuffering will have to come to an end if His
warnings have wrought no repentance. Judgment begins with His
house.... and then the world!"

Bill Fowler wrote:
"In the early nineties I saw in my spirit a hand with the fingers
splayed apart. Then the hand slowly began to close, but only a
partially before opening again, only it never opened fully. That
position became the "new normal." Soon, the hand began to close
again and then open again slightly, thus creating another new
normal. This happened several more times until the hand closed
into a fist and no longer opened.

"As I pondered this vision, I believed then as I do now, that the
Lord was warning me that America was going to go through a
series of judgments followed by some level of reprieve. But instead
of repenting, she would adapt and try to move ahead with a
business as usual attitude. Ultimately the country will be brought
to a place of absolute crisis with no remedy, no more options, no
more time to repent.

"Obviously these shakings became most noticeable during and
after 9/11, along with other convulsive judgments since that time,
but we have not reached the absolute crisis point that will inevitably
come sooner rather than later.

"Nevertheless, this is not a time to panic, but to repent, to pray,
to get serious about building up the body of Christ, particularly
the remnant that is paying attention, and to share the gospel
boldly with those who are lost, as well as those who are wandering
from the faith. This would be a depressing message indeed if not
for the hope we have in Jesus, His glory and the life to come. I
experienced some measure of depression for several years
contemplating the magnitude of destruction coming, but I am glad
to say the Lord has shown me the X factor in all this is His glory,
His power, and His grace that will carry those who trust and obey
Him through the greatest storms we will ever face in this life."

-PLEASE COMMENT on this topic at the following website-

http://www.revivalschool.com/


God bless you all.

THE VALUE OF a SINGLE BELIEVER

THE VALUE OF a SINGLE BELIEVER
by David Wilkerson

One Saturday evening, I walked down to Times Square as it bustled
with tourists and others doing holiday shopping. It is estimated that
at rush hour, nearly a quarter of a million people pass through that
area. As I stood there, I prayed while watching the masses of people.

At one point, the Holy Spirit whispered to me, "David, take a look
at these throngs. Multiply them several times, and that's how many
of my people died in the wilderness. Out of all those masses, only
two entered into my rest, Joshua and Caleb. Everyone else died
before their time, in despair and unbelief."

The thought was overwhelming to me.As I watched the crowds, I
realized they all had the gospel message available to them at
any time, through television, radio, literature, even free Bibles in
their hotel rooms. If only they wanted to know, they would be
told that the same God who performed miracles for ancient Israel
does the same for all who love Him today. Yet these don't want
to know Him. If they see someone handing out a gospel tract,
they race by and wave him away. They have no gods but pleasure,
money and possessions.

Suddenly, I began to see the value of a single believer in God's
eyes. And I hear Jesus asking the same question today: "When
I return, will I find faith in the earth?" (see Luke 18:8). I see Christ,
the searcher of men's hearts, scouring all these venues, and finding
few who truly love Him. I see Him searching college campuses,
asking, "Who here will believe Me?" I see Him searching
Washington, D.C., for those who would accept Him, and finding
few. I see Him searching entire nations, and finding only a remnant.

Finally, He searches His church, looking for servants with a true
faith. Yet, what He sees breaks His heart, grieving Him deeply. I
hear Him cry as He did over Israel, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . .
how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a
hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
(Matthew 23:37).

As a minister of the Lord, I bear my Shepherd's burden. And I feel
His grief. Right now, I hear Him saying, "Even in My house, I find
so few who have faith. Many of My own children, including My
shepherds, faint in their times of trial. They don't trust Me for their
families, their jobs, their futures. Indeed, many have made their
choice."

So, what about you? The Lord comes to all of us, asking, "Will
you believe Me? Do you trust Me? When I come, will I find faith
in you?" How will you respond?

-Source-

http://sermons.worldchallenge.org/en/node/33948

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