International College of Ministry

Archive for the ‘ABC – Armor All Boot Camp’ Category

 

Warning! – This article contains commentary some may find insensitive. If you prefer your truth watered down by euphemisms, then please…do not read this.

 

Recently, a friend directed my attention to a tragedy – Pastor David Loveless of Discovery Church resigned his position as head pastor because of an affair.

Yes, I called it a tragedy. I also called the Boston bombing a tragedy. I call the shootouts at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook Elementary tragedies. I call the loss of American life fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan a tragedy, as I call all loss of life at the hands of Islamic terrorists a tragedy. I tend to call death and destruction at the hand of evil tragedies, and while you may be inclined to look at this new tragedy at Discovery Church as weakness in a church leader, what you are actually seeing is collateral damage – destruction and division targeted against the body of Christ.

Collateral damage is a term most commonly used when referencing civilian damage in the wake of a military engagement and so my use of this phrase begs the question, “How can this be collateral damage? This is about an unfaithful man not an act of war.”

Wrong!

Jesus warned us in Mat 10:10 that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy and God’s word tell us very clearly in Rev 12:17 that Satan as the Great Dragon, has declared “war”  on all who follow Jesus. This is God’s word, not mine – whether you choose to be a Sunday-morning-only church goer or a believer who fully embraces God’s word, the fact is the church is in a state of war with the kingdom of darkness and leadership members in the church are primary targets for attack. That is why the loss of another pastor is collateral damage.

Discovery Church is not the first tragedy. In fact, blogs across the Internet sport enticing titles like Orlando Mega Churches Love the Ladies and Men of the Cloth prefer Lingerie. As a matter of record, three church leaders in the Central Florida area have resigned due to affairs and one pastor is in jail on child pornography charges – and all of this in the past six months.

Late last year, Pastor Isaac Hunter of Summit Church resigned after admitting to an affair. A statement published on the Summit Church blog by John Parker, the newly appointed lead pastor, reads “Monday morning, Isaac Hunter offered his immediate resignation, citing as his reason an affair with someone previously on staff at Summit,”

Another tragedy came when pastor and author Sam Hinn, bother of Benny Hinn, resigned over an affair. In a statement he said, “I take full responsibility for the place we now find ourselves. As painful as this is to confess, I have allowed myself to be drawn into a relationship that has caused much hurt and pain to my wife and family. I have repented and asked for and received their forgiveness. Scripture states that I must bring forth the fruit of repentance if I expect to be restored…”

Third and most recent is a statement offered on behalf of Discovery Church which reads, “While David indicates that the relationship [with another woman] was ended approximately three years ago, we were only made aware of it when he informed us in recent days,” the statement said. “David offered his resignation and the elders prayerfully and unanimously accepted it.”

For me, the tragedy at Discovery Church hits home because I attended Discovery Church – in fact, what I am writing and sharing with you today, began at Discovery Church.

Between 2007 and 2010, I considered Discovery Church my spiritual family. I knew Pastor Loveless as much as any member of a 4,000 member church is able.

At the time I was attending Discovery, the Holy Spirit burdened me with a hunger for knowledge of spiritual warfare, and most specifically the Holy Armor of God that Paul writes about in Ephesians 6:12.

I attended bible studies and connection groups at Discovery Church, and I frequently turned to Discovery’s pastors, assistant pastors, and spiritual leaders for counsel. Unfortunately, there was very little knowledge of spiritual warfare or the armor of God available from those leaders.

In retrospect, I am moved by the accuracy of God’s word that warns us in Hosea 4:6 that His people perish for lack of knowledge. Does this imply that Discovery’s tragedy was avoidable? Of course it does! God has provided for our spiritual protection but failing to use in faith what God has provided leaves us exposed to evil.

Now, let’s get back to my story. One Sunday morning back in ‘09, Pastor Loveless announced he was starting a new series. Each Sunday morning for the following six weeks, he would teach on the book of Ephesians.

I was ecstatic! Finally, the burning hunger in me would be satisfied. I couldn’t wait but also knew it would be six weeks before Pastor Loveless got to chapter six of Ephesians.

Week after week, I sat on the edge of my seat, absorbing every word like a dry sponge to water while trying my best to be patient for the teaching on the Armor of God.

Finally, week six arrived. I entered the sanctuary early that morning for Sunday service. I had a great view as I waited for the worship to begin. In due time, Pastor Loveless began delivering his message. I held my breath not wanting even the soft sound of my own breathing to interfere with understanding a single word.

Pastor Loveless said, “The sword of the Spirit is the word of God.” I’m thinking, “Yeah, yeah, go on, go on…” Pastor Loveless briefly mentioned the shield of faith and then an hour goes by and I’m still waiting for his teaching on the armor of God. Then the service ended and people began standing up and heading home. I continued to sit there like a victim in shock – seeing but not fully comprehending the events going on all around me.

I was devastated. I felt like a hot air balloon whose top was ripped off – deflated and crashing to the ground. The hunger in me for God’s truth burned – I depended upon my spiritual leaders for nourishment in God’s word, but there I sat, empty and hungry with an insatiable burning for knowledge of the armor of God. I was so troubled by my experience – I tracked down one of the assistant pastors for answers.

After patiently listening to my diatribe, the assistant pastor told me in a round-about way that Discovery Church doesn’t teach spiritual warfare or the armor of God. The assistant pastor offered me a handful of reasons to justify the church’s decision to refrain from teaching that aspect of God’s word.

I didn’t know what to say. I was a member of this church. The Holy Spirit had given me a burden and a hunger for understanding spiritual warfare and spiritual protection, and then my spiritual leaders tell me they won’t teach spiritual warfare or the Armor of God. Looking back, I cannot dismiss the similarities between this most recent tragedy at Discovery Church and 1Sa 6:14. Like Saul, was Discovery Church exposing itself to torment by evil spirits of the LORD? By rejecting God’s warning to be ready and alert against a prowling enemy seeking to devour, did Discovery Church leave its leadership exposed to attack?

God’s word includes knowledge on spiritual warfare and the armor of God because God determined that we, believers in the body of Christ, have a valid need to know, understand, and practice spiritual protection over the church. Churches that reject or choose not to use the spiritual authority and spiritual protection given to the Church by God the Father through Jesus, leave themselves vulnerable to attack by the kingdom of darkness.

It’s time believers in the church stop being victims of spiritual attacks. The world tells the church, “Don’t fight back. Turn the other cheek. That’s what Jesus would do,” but that’s a lie! Jesus does not let evil run rampant over the church. Consider what He did with the moneychangers in the temple. There was no cheek-turning there! Jesus made a whip, used His authority and drove evil out of the temple. The idea that Christians are supposed to be doormats and offer no resistance to evil is propaganda from the kingdom of darkness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ – Wake up! Stand up! Fight back! We are joint heirs with Jesus. We are royal priests representing the Kingdom of God. There is no reason – no reason at all, that leader after leader in the body of Christ must fall to evil.

My experience at Discovery Church showed me how unprepared the church is to fulfill her role in the battle between good and evil – between light and darkness – between truth and deception, and to that end, the Holy Spirit keeps urging me to teach all who will listen how to stand up and fight back – how to take the battle to the enemy and how to proclaim victory in the name of Jesus.

I urge you to keep these fallen men of God in your prayers. Also pray for healing and restoration of the churches that have been wounded, but don’t stop at prayer. Draw a line in the sand and say, “This far and no farther! Greater is He who is in us and we will not be victims of evil!”

As a place to start, I offer you the full and complete lesson two of our most recent ICM course in spiritual warfare titled Unchained & Under Cover. In this lesson, you will learn about the chain of authority from God the Father down to each family member. You will see how the government structure of the church functions in the flow of God’s Spirit to each member. You will also see how leaders in the church are targeted for attack by evil desiring to starve and divide the church. If after watching this video lesson, you hear the Holy Spirit urging you to dig deeper, then consider the full six-lesson course available through ICM College.

But don’t stop there! We also have our boot camp course Foundations in Spiritual Warfare that will guide you from the very basics of spiritual warfare and train you to be a fully empowered warrior for the Kingdom of God!

Then go on and complete your training with a degree from the International College of Ministry so when you testify about Jesus and the Kingdom of God, people will receive your words as credible testimony.

We hope you enjoy this free lesson from ICM College. May the Spirit of Truth speak to your heart that you may return to your own church empowered with God’s Spirit to stand firm against an enemy who comes to kill, destroy, divide, and take down the spiritual leaders of God’s people.

Free Full 1-Hour ICM Spiritual Warfare Lesson

Unchained & Under Cover Lesson 2

A few weeks ago, ICM’s home church, Freedom Fellowship Church, hosted the annual convention for the Network of Related Pastors or as its better known, the NRP. For three days, attendees heard messages from pastoral leaders from across the Eastern and Central US.

Sometime during the second day, I began to notice a common underlying theme across many of those messages. Time and again, pastor after pastor spoke of identity.

Knowing your identity in Christ is very powerful. It emboldens you with God’s Spirit as you become aware of who you are and what purpose God created you to fulfill, however there is an unclean spirit that rebels and denies your identity. This spirit is the spirit of illegitimacy.

Our head pastor, Joe Warner, has spent a lifetime guiding people through personal ministry and freeing them from the spirit of illegitimacy, but what exactly is illegitimacy?

When we hear the term illegitimacy, we often think of the phrase “illegitimate child” meaning a child born out of wedlock. This implies that an illegitimate child is not a rightful heir of its parents. In essence, this is what the spirit of illegitimacy does – it denies our inheritance through the blood of Christ and denies us as new creations.

As Lucifer, Satan once knew the riches of heaven, for he was made perfect in beauty and full of wisdom. He was awarded great honor in heaven as the keeper of God’s temple but all that was lost when sin was discovered in his heart and he was thrown out of heaven. (Please see the ICM course Foundations in Spiritual Warfare for a full study on this topic)

Satan still believes that he is due all that he lost. When those same riches, glories, honors, and adoption were given to man by way of Jesus’ blood, Satan developed an intense hatred for man – seeing man as a wrongful and illegitimate heir to what he still considers as his own.

Satan continues to deny who we are in Christ, our identity, and he does this through the voice of the accuser and the spirit of illegitimacy. The spirit of illegitimacy denies you as a new creation in Christ. It denies your purpose, your identity and all your inheritance as an adopted child of God – as a member of God’s royal family.

I recently came across a wonderful list of identity verses published by Crossing Church in Louisville, KY that is phrased as a proclamation of God’s word – meaning that you may speak these over yourself and proclaim the truth of God’s word against the spirit of illegitimacy.

Try speaking these words of proclamation every day and watch what happens as you begin activating God’s spoken word into your life.

 

The Word of God Says in Jesus Christ…

I am faithful (Ephesians 1:1)

I am God’s child (John 1:12)

I have been justified (Romans 5:1)

I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15)

I belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20)

I am a member of Christ’s Body (1 Corinthians 12:27)

I am assured all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)

I have been established, anointed and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

I am confident that God will perfect the work He has begun in me (Philippians 1:6)

I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)

I am hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)

I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7)

I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18)

I am blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)

I am chosen before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, 11)

I am holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4)

I am adopted as his child (Ephesians 1:5)

I am given God’s glorious grace lavishly and without restriction (Ephesians 1:5,8)

I am in Him (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:30)

I have redemption (Ephesians 1:8)

I am forgiven (Ephesians 1:8; Colossians 1:14)

I have purpose (Ephesians 1:9 & 3:11)

I have hope (Ephesians 1:12)

I am included (Ephesians 1:13)

I am sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)

I am a saint (Ephesians 1:18)

I am salt and light of the earth (Matfthew 5:13-14)

I have been chosen and God desires me to bear fruit (John 15:1,5)

I am a personal witness of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8)

I am God’s coworker (2 Corinthians 6:1)

I am a minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

I am raised up with Christ (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:12)

I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6)

I have been shown the incomparable riches of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:7)

God has expressed His kindness to me (Ephesians 2:7)

I am God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)

I have been brought near to God through Christ’s blood (Ephesians 2:13)

I have peace (Ephesians 2:14)

I have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18)

I am a member of God’s household (Ephesians 2:19)

I am secure (Ephesians 2:20)

I am a holy temple (Ephesians 2:21; 1 Corinthians 6:19)

I am a dwelling for the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:22)

I share in the promise of Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6)

God’s power works through me (Ephesians 3:7)

I can approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12)

I know there is a purpose for my sufferings (Ephesians 3:13)

I can grasp how wide, long, high and deep Christ’s love is (Ephesians 3:18)

I am completed by God (Ephesians 3:19)

I can bring glory to God (Ephesians 3:21)

I have been called (Ephesians 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:9)

I can be humble, gentle, patient and lovingly tolerant of others (Ephesians 4:2)

I can mature spiritually (Ephesians 4:15)

I can be certain of God’s truths and the lifestyle which He has called me to (Ephesians 4:17)

I can have a new attitude and a new lifestyle (Ephesians 4:21-32)

I can be kind and compassionate to others (Ephesians 4:32)

I can forgive others (Ephesians 4:32)

I am a light to others, and can exhibit goodness, righteousness and truth (Ephesians 5:8-9)

I can understand what God’s will is (Ephesians 5:17)

I can give thanks for everything (Ephesians 5:20)

I don’t have to always have my own agenda (Ephesians 5:21)

I can honor God through marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33)

I can parent my children with composure (Ephesians 6:4)

I can be strong (Ephesians 6:10)

I have God’s power (Ephesians 6:10)

I can stand firm in the day of evil (Ephesians 6:13)

I am dead to sin (Romans 1:12)

I am not alone (Hebrews 13:5)

I am growing (Colossians 2:7)

I am His disciple (John 13:15)

I am prayed for by Jesus Christ (John 17:20-23)

I am united with other believers (John 17:20-23)

I am not in want (Philippians 4:19)

I possess the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16)

I am promised eternal life (John 6:47)

I am promised a full life (John 10:10)

I am victorious (I John 5:4)

My heart and mind is protected with God’s peace (Philippians 4:7)

I am chosen and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12)

I am blameless (I Corinthians 1:8)

I am set free (Romans 8:2; John 8:32)

I am crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20)

I am a light in the world (Matthew 5:14)

I am more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)

I am the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)

I am safe (I John 5:18)

I am part of God’s kingdom (Revelation 1:6)

I am healed from sin (I Peter 2:24)

I am no longer condemned (Romans 8:1, 2)

I am not helpless (Philippians 4:13)

I am overcoming (I John 4:4)

I am persevering (Philippians 3:14)

I am protected (John 10:28)

I am born again (I Peter 1:23)

I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I am delivered (Colossians 1:13)

I am redeemed from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13)

I am qualified to share in His inheritance (Colossians 1:12)

I am victorious (1 Corinthians 15:57)

December 24, 2012

 

According to sources at the Good News Service, the Royal Family is set to launch a rescue mission to free the groom’s kidnapped bride.

 

As previously reported, the kidnapper, a well known underworld kingpin who’s known by several names including The Great Dragon, The Serpent, and The Accuser of the Brethren, tricked the Royal Family’s bride through a clever ruse involving immortality and knowledge of good and evil.

 

Says lead investigator, “We have not received a ransom demand – we believe ransom is not this perpetrator’s objective. This perpetrator is evil. It appears his objective is to kill and destroy.”

 

The investigation team has been working around the clock since the abduction, but so far has yielded no results. No attempt at fulfilling the law has helped free the bride.

 

Now in a desperate move, but one that shows great promise, the groom Himself is leaving on a mission to rescue His bride from the clutches of The Great Dragon.

 

According to sources, the Groom will fulfill the law and redeem His bride from bondage by sacrificing Himself in her place.

 

The groom is expected to arrive later tonight in the small desert town of Bethlehem, on Israel’s West Bank.

 

Stay tuned for updates as this story unfolds.

 

After a year and a half in development, this eight-lesson video course is now available to all ICM students. This course was built upon the ICM principle of equipping the saints through knowledge of God’s word, and from lesson one through the concluding virtual simulation, this course arms God’s people to fight in His war against the dark kingdom.

Foundations in Spiritual Warfare guides each student though a training program for Kingdom warriors. This course begins by laying its foundation with a lesson called Blueprint of the Heavens. Building upon that foundation, the course goes on to explore the rise and fall of Lucifer, the character of God’s enemy, the creation of Man, the character of God’s warriors, the five different battlefields of spiritual warfare, and the weapons, strategies, and techniques available to the Kingdom warrior.

This course concludes with a virtual simulation of spiritual warfare to give students the feeling of a “hands-on” experience.

This course is for every born-again believer and every church in the body of Christ. This course will empower you to answer your God given mandate to expose evil deeds of darkness in the light of God’s truth and continue in the works of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lesson Topics Include:

• Blueprint of the Heavens – An Overview of the Spiritual Realms
• The Cherub that Covers – The Rise & Fall of Lucifer the Morning Star
• Adamah – Apple of the Father’s Eye – An Earthy Race Destined to Rule
• The Christian Warrior – The Character of a Kingdom Warrior
• The Five Theaters of Spiritual Warfare – There’s More than One Battlefield
• Techniques & Strategies – Using Spiritual Weapons
• Additional Spiritual Weapons – More Weapons for the Kingdom Warrior
• Spiritual Warfare Simulation – Training through a Virtual Simulation

 

I was riding back from church a few days ago with a friend when somehow we got to talking about the divorce rate in the church. He said that he thought the biggest contributor to divorce was failure of communication. I replied that I thought the biggest cause of divorce was a misunderstanding of the essence of covenant. My friend asked me what I meant, and I said that people don’t understand that covenant is a binding agreement upon death and that each person dies to their own self upon entering into covenant. To that he replied, “Well sure, I think vows are important…”

Suddenly, I realized that my friend did not understand the essence of covenant and sadly, I think that can be said for many Christians today.

The first thing to understand about covenant is that it was created by God to be holy. It is not to be taken lightly and should only be entered into with the full understanding of its sacred requirements.

God holds the sanctity of covenant above nearly all other things. It is covenant that is at the center of our salvation through Christ. It is covenant that defines Christ’s death on the cross. It is it the fulfillment of covenant that has redeemed mankind and brought him back to his creator.

The English language fails us in many ways when we use it to understand scriptures. Our understanding of covenant is a good example. In Hebrew, the word for covenant means both covenant and testament. This means for us, that we may freely exchange those two English words. For example, the Old Testament and the New Testament are the old covenant and the new covenant and vice-versa.

If we are to understand the essence of covenant, we need an English phrase to encompass its true meaning. The phrase binding-agreement-upon-death comes fairly close.

In English, we separate the words covenant and testament with two separate meanings. The English definition for a covenant is an agreement. The English definition for testament is a document or a statement which commonly comes into effect upon death.

This is how we come to the phrase, last will and testament. At the reading of a will, the final wishes of a deceased person is read aloud and carried out. The testament therefore becomes effective only after the person’s death. This is the critical component of a covenant – to enter into covenant, a death is required! There is no way around this. If you do not have a death, you cannot enter into covenant.

When we combine these two English definitions, we come close to the essence of God’s covenant – a binding agreement that becomes effective upon death.

The first time we see covenant in scripture is when God enters into covenant with Abram in Genesis Chapter 15.

Gen 15:9  And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
Gen 15:10  And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

In verse nine, God tells Abram to gather together a heifer, a goat, and a ram. He then has Abram sacrifice the animals and cut their carcasses into two halves by dividing them.

Later in verses 17-18 we see the Spirit of God pass between the animal carcass halves and enter into a covenant with Abram.

Gen 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Gen 15:18  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

What we’re seeing in these verses is the creation of covenant. By passing between the halves of the sacrificed animals, God has “sealed” His agreement with Abram with death. That is the essence of covenant – a binding agreement upon death.

We see this act of covenant again when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Though God stays Abraham’s hand at the last second, in his heart Abraham fulfilled his responsibility to God by sacrificing his son. Upon this act, Abraham entered into a new covenant with God.

God fulfills His responsibility to this new covenant with Abraham by sacrificing His son Jesus on the cross. Upon Jesus’ death, the new covenant or New Testament goes into effect. Again, we see that a covenant is a binding agreement upon death.

The application of a covenant is a solemn and holy act in which God places great importance. Throughout the history of the nation of Israel, God holds the sanctity of covenant above all other agreements and considers the breaking of covenant one of the greatest sins. When did God unleash His wrath upon Israel? When she broke her covenant with God and worshiped false gods and idols.

The covenant between God and Israel was like a spiritual marriage. The new covenant is like a marriage too with Jesus as the bride groom and the church as the bride. A marriage between a man and woman is a mirror image of God’s covenant and so, marriage is much more than just vows. It is a holy commitment that binds two people in a covenant that becomes effective upon death, but what death? – the death of self.

The essence of covenant in marriage is to give up your life, or to die to yourself, so that your life becomes your spouses’. From the moment you enter into a covenant of marriage, your life is no longer yours but now belongs to your spouse for you have died to yourself. This is the death that seals a marriage in covenant.

While I agree with my friend that communication is important to a marriage, I believe a failure to understand the essence of covenant is at the heart of divorce.

I was talking with my friend Bob the other day, when I nonchalantly suggested that telling someone “I forgive you,” could be exercising power over another person, which constitutes a manifestation of witchcraft. Bob reminded me that God’s word tells us to forgive one another and he’s right about that, for God’s word definitely tells us to forgive, but I wasn’t talking about a pure forgiveness – I was talking a counterfeit forgiveness – about how, through pride, power, and control, forgiveness is corrupted.

To begin with, let me say that in my opinion, anything God says twice has got to be doubly important, and when Jesus repeats Himself both forward and backward, well, you’d do well to pay close attention.

In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus teaches us about forgiveness. He not only tells us to forgive others, but He warns us to forgive others before seeking forgiveness for ourselves.

Mat 6:14  “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Mat 6:15  “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

What I’ve discovered about unforgiveness is that if you have it, you own it. It’s as simple as that. The only place it exists is in your heart, and if you have it, beware…for it’s like an acid that corrodes from the inside out.

If you own it, that is, if you’re holding onto some kind of ill will, contempt, animosity, revenge, or just plain old everyday unforgiveness, you don’t need the other person around to get rid of it. The fact is, you can get rid of it all by yourself by simply saying something like, “Harold, I choose to forgive you.”

Harold doesn’t have to be around to hear this because he’s got nothing to do with it. You own it and it’s all about your heart.

Now sometimes, you won’t feel like forgiving someone. That’s okay, because forgiveness is not about a feeling – it’s about a choice. The fact is, you probably won’t feel like forgiving, but do it anyway.

Now, let’s talk about how forgiveness gets corrupted.

Let’s say I walk up to Harold and say, “Harold, I forgive you.” Consider this carefully. Why could that be corrupted forgiveness? What could make that a manifestation of witchcraft?

Remember, you don’t need Harold to deal with unforgiveness in your own heart, so what happens when you proclaim your forgiveness over Harold? In your attitude, you are saying that you recognize that Harold has done something wrong and in your eyes, he is guilty. Your attitude is pronouncing a judgment over Harold, even if that judgment is grace in the form of your forgiveness. You have placed yourself in a position of superiority over Harold and exercised power over Harold – and that is witchcraft.

It’s almost as if you said something like, “Harold, I know that you’re guilty and I know you can’t help it because you are a sinner but because I am faithful, and righteous, and forgiving, I will have mercy on you and forgive you.”

In this example, you can see how this person’s attitude is all about self-righteousness and superiority over Harold. That is how power and intimidation come into play.

Witchcraft has three main divisions, Power, Sorcery, and Divination. The power leg uses domination, control, and intimidation to force one’s will over another.

There is a healthy way to exchange forgiveness with another person without corrupting it and that is through invitation. If Harold came to me and said, “Brother, forgive me for what I’ve done,” and I replied, “I forgive you, Harold,” then power and intimidation never come into play and therefore neither does witchcraft or the corruption of forgiveness.

 

Caryl is a well-known expert on ancient and modern world religions, contemporary cults, paganism and the occult
including Hinduism, Eastern Mysticism, Yoga, and the New Age Movement. She currently teaches on topics such as The Emergent Church Movement, the Emerging New Christianity, and even exposing the occult roots of Halloween and the Harry Potter phenomenon.

About a month ago, on Feb 19th, 2012, Caryl was a guest speaker on Firefall Talk Radio where she spoke on the Kundalini serpent spirit and its false teachings in the church.

For those not already familiar with the name, Kundalini literally means “coiled” and it is the serpent spirit at the heart of yoga.

In the months ahead, this Armor All blog will take a closer look at Caryl’s book Out of India and her DVD documentary, Yoga Uncoiled, but for now, click the play button in the player below, then sit back and listen to Caryl Matrisciana talk about the Kundalini serpent spirit and the emergent church movement in this streamed re-broadcast from Firefall Talk Radio.

 

Reflections In The Dark – the Emergent Church Movement
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/firefall-talk-radio/2012/02/20/reflections-in-the-dark–the-emergent-church-movement

 

 

Proclamation is a powerful weapon used in spiritual warfare.

In his book, War in Heaven, Derek Prince writes, “Making proclamation is a form of spiritual warfare that is unfortunately, very little understood in most Christian circles today. Its effect is to release the authority of God’s Word into a situation”

According to the dictionary, a proclamation is a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts; or a formal or authoritative proclamation.

The most common form of proclamation is speaking a condition over someone or something. God’s word directs us to proclaim from day to day. Psa 96:2 says “Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.”

Scripture also tells us of the good and evil nature of proclamations. Pro 18:21 warns us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proclamation is a two-edged sword that can be used for both good and evil.

 

Unintentional Proclamations:

Have you ever wished someone “Good Luck?” or perhaps said, “I haven’t had much luck…”

Wishing someone “good luck” is proclaiming the authority of the spirits of luck and fate over someone.

Isa 65:11-12 tells us, “But it will be different for you that forsake me, who ignore Zion, my sacred hill, and worship Gad and Meni, the gods of luck and fate. It will be your fate to die a violent death, because you did not answer when I called you to listen when I spoke. You chose to disobey me and do evil.” (GNB)

 

Religions Around the World Use Proclamations:

The Jewish say “shalom” as a greeting which translates to “peace be with you,” as a proclamation of peace over an other. (Note: If you dig deeper into the roots of this phrase, you find it means “A price must be paid for peace.” I find it ironic that while Jesus, the Prince of Peace, paid the price for peace, the Jewish nation, God’s chosen people, who do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, remind each other in daily comings and goings that a price must be paid for peace.)

Muslims proclaim “Allahu Akbar” which literally means, “Allah is Greater” with the comparative mode, and “In shaa’Allah” which means “God willing” or “If it is God’s will” – to invoke God’s blessing.

Around the outside of the Muslim temple, Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, there is an inscription written in Arabic that reads, “God has no need of a son.” This is a proclamation by the spirit of anti-Christ.

Muslims pray five times a day and in those prayers are proclamations. If you ran the numbers you’d find there are about 2.1 billion Muslims in the world and if each were praying their five prayers per day, it would total 10.5 billion proclamations per day – and what is the proclamation? “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.”

This is one of the reasons the spirit of anti-Christ is so strong in Muslim nations.

 

God’s Word Directs us to Proclaim Liberty:

Isa 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;”

 

There are Different Kinds of Proclamations for Different Uses:

In keeping with the two-edged sword metaphor, the sword of proclamation may be handled in several different ways depending on the desired outcome or need.

When Jesus was tempted in the desert, He used a proclamation called the Sword of the Spirit by quoting scripture back at Satan.

When I think of sword fighting, I always imagine a scene from the motion picture Pirates of the Caribbean in which Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow and Orlando Bloom as Will Turner fight each other in the blacksmith’s shop. Sometimes on the ground and sometimes in the rafters, they execute a variety of swordsmanship techniques.

• They knock the sword from the other’s hand to disarm.
• They jab at their opponent in an attacking move.
• Swing at their opponent in an attacking move.
• They block their opponent’s swing in a defensive move.
• They try and knock opponent off balance to loose their foundation

There are many different ways to use the same weapon.

Proclamation works the same way, both offensively and defensively. Here are some practical examples of how proclamation can be used.

 

Proclaim a Condition:

You have the heart of a warrior. You will know victory over your enemy.

Be at peace throughout the day.

May God’s Spirit give you strength.

You will ace that test.

 

Proclaim God’s Word:

You are made righteous and holy by the blood of the Lamb.

You are a blessed child of God.

You will face your enemies with boldness, for God has not given you a spirit of fear.

You can do all things through Christ.

 

Proclamation as Defense:

It is written that no weapon formed against you shall prosper.

It is written that by the blood of Christ, the enemy is disarmed.

It is written, resist the devil and he will flee.

 

Proclamation as an Attack:

By the blood of Christ, I proclaim poverty has no authority over you.

By the blood of Christ, I proclaim the assignment of sickness is broken.

 

Proclaim an Exchange – I proclaim health and healing over you for it is written, by His stripes we are healed.

 

Proclaim a Blessing – Regardless of this troubled economy, your business will prosper for by the blood of Jesus, the blessings of abundance are yours.

 

Avoid Proclamations that Conflict with God’s Word:

Recently, I heard someone proclaim “We are all sinners.” Is this a good or bad proclamation?

God’s word clearly tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Rom 3:23) so it’s easy to understand why someone would say this, but the question is, is that a good proclamation?

2Co 5:17 tell us, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Rom 6:18 says, “And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

So, according to scripture, we were sinners in the past, but now we are free from sin as new creatures in Christ and so proclaiming “We are all sinners” in the present tense is in conflict with the word of God making for a bad proclamation.

 

Proclaim from Day to Day:

As we saw at the beginning of this article, Psa 96:2 tell us to “Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.”

Practice working proclamations of God’s word into your everyday speech – it’s actually not hard to do. Your proclamations do not have to sound practiced or recited, in fact it’s better if they don’t. Just speak from your heart and you will do fine. Soon your life and the lives of those around you will see the power of proclamation working in their lives and you will be a blessing to all who know you.

You see? It’s not so hard.

 

I got up this morning excited about a lunch appointment. I was meeting with a pastor of a church in our area and I was going to have an opportunity to talk about ICM College.

It was a beautiful Florida-January day. The skies were clear and the temp was going to hit 74! It was a perfect day for a bike ride and since the lunch appointment was hardly two miles away, I hopped on the bicycle.

About half way to the lunch date, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye that caught my attention. I turned my head and saw an elderly woman waving at me.

My first thought was that she had mistaken me for someone else, but I slowed anyway. As I came to a stop, my pending lunch date flashed through my mind. It was important to me that I not be late. I couldn’t afford to get distracted or waylaid, but despite my mind-voices trying to keep me on time, I turned around and began riding toward the woman.

As I got closer, I could see her problem. Her Lincoln Town Car was sunk six inches in sugar sand. Now, for those of you who have no idea what sugar sand is, trust me when I say, avoid it.

Sugar sand is very fine sand found all over the state of Florida. It’s granular and not as fine as powder, and unlike its namesake, it’s not always white, but when you walk or drive on it, you quickly sink.

As I approached the stuck car on a bicycle, there was one and only one thought in my mind, “What can I do? I’m just a guy on a bike?”

I could easily see how a truck and a tow rope would come in handy right about now. I could see how a wrecker could be a good first phone call, but when I suggested calling a tow-truck, the look in this woman’s eyes spoke volumes. She didn’t have to say a word because her eyes were screaming, “I have no money for a tow truck.”

I asked her about friends and family. She was from out of town, actually a city about 3 hours away and her son was on a job in Tampa. She said she was on her way to pick up her grand-daughter from school when she made a wrong turn and got herself stuck in the sugar sand.

So, I recapped the situation in my mind. I got an elderly out-of-town woman stuck in sugar sand with no one to call for help and I’m on a bicycle and getting close to being late for my lunch date. It felt like a mountain of a problem.

Oddly enough, the property we were on was a church and the sugar sand lined either side of the entrance road.

I walked to the church to see if anyone was there but it was locked up tight. I walked around to the back side to see if there was a residence, but no such luck.

As I turned to head back to the stuck car, I noticed a shovel lying on the ground. I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s convenient,” and then I said aloud, “Lord, do you mind if I borrow this?”

I took the shovel back out to the car and began digging sugar sand out from under the wheels. I dug trenches behind each wheel leading toward the asphalt. I dug each trench with a slight slope so all four wheels would roll just a bit downhill.

When I finished digging, I asked the woman to sit behind the wheel and put the car in reverse while I braced myself to push. On command, she let off the brake and gave a little gas as I pushed. The car began to roll, a little at first but gradually faster as the wheels rolled down my tiny slopes. Suddenly, the rear tires bit in and grabbed the asphalt pulling the big Town Car free. The look in her eyes was a combination of relief, delight, and surprise all rolled into one.

What was it I had said earlier? “What can I do? I’m just a guy on a bike?” I looked at that big Town Car and all that sugar sand and felt so small and powerless against them. It would have been so easy to turn away. It would have been so easy to say, “Someone else can help,” “I have an appointment – I can’t be late.” It would have been so easy…but then God gave me a shovel and with it, we moved a mountain and set someone free.

I was five minutes early to my lunch appointment.

For those of you who do not already know, I am the director of IT services for the International College of Ministry, however, I wasn’t always working in this capacity, in fact, it may surprise many of you to learn that not too many years ago, I was homeless, living on the streets and in squatter’s camps.

It’s true, and one day I will share that testimony, but today I need to talk about prayer, petition, and proclamation.

I call my homeless years, the wilderness years, and when God began lifting me out of the wilderness, the first place he brought me was to a church. There in the sanctuary of a mega-church, He spoke to me and set me on the path I am still following today. That is part of the story of how I came to ICM College.

When I first emerged from the wilderness, I was in rough shape. I had spent seven years as a personal torture-toy for hundreds of demon spirits. Just like Paul wrote in Eph 6:12, I wrestled with these evil beings daily. I was slimed with them as ICM’s president, Dr. Self, is fond of saying, and as God guided me down a new path, many of those unclean spirits came with me.

Through God’s mercy and grace, He released me from the big controlling spirit. This was the strongman spirit, the one that literally took over control of my body, but there were others.

When I prayed and asked God to free me from the other spirits as well, He told me the most amazing thing. He said He had already given me everything I needed to be free of them. He told me to use what He had provided, and so I began a quest – a quest to find out what He had provided for me that would free me from the spiritual oppression.

The first place I went for help, was to the elders of the church. They listened, prayed, and anointed me with oil and sent me on my way. That was very nice of them; unfortunately it had no effect on the unclean spirits.

As time went on, I sought help from several different churches and I met with their elders and pastors. All of them were very nice and all of them prayed with me but in the end, I again went home oppressed. No one seemed able to tell me what it was God had provided for me.

Finally in desperation, I gave up and declared to God that mine was an impossible quest. I didn’t want to say anything He might not like, but the church was no help.

I was sort of sulking while wandering through the pages of the Bible, when I noticed the pages were opened to chapter six of Ephesians – the chapter on spiritual armor.

I’d read this before, but this time I noticed something peculiar. The first sentence of Ephesians 6:11 read, “Put on the full armor of God.”

I never noticed that before. It didn’t tell me to pray that God’s armor would protect me, it told me to put it on. It told me to do something rather than just to pray for it to happen. Suddenly, I understood what God had already given me – He had given me His authority and a command to use it. Instead of praying for His help, He expected me to proclaim the authority He had given me and seize my freedom from the oppressive spirits.

That was the first time God put that truth on my heart, now years later, He has shown me that this misunderstanding of prayer and proclamation is very common.

In a nutshell, a prayer is a petition or a request asking God and His kingdom to act on our behalf; whereas a proclamation is an act of exercising one’s authority in Christ. The difference is that in a prayer, you’re asking God to act and in a proclamation you’re the one who’s acting in accordance with God’s word.

Why is this important? If we begin asking God to do things that His word instructs us to do, then we are asking God to do something that is in conflict with His word. This is important, so let’s look at that again. If God’s word tells us to put on His spiritual armor and then we don’t do that and instead pray and ask God to protect us with His armor, then our prayers are in conflict with His word. The Kingdom of Heaven cannot act upon a prayer that is in conflict with the word of God.

I have heard discussions on why prayer sometimes goes unanswered, and often those persons in the discussion simply accept that the prayer wasn’t God’s will. While that certainly could be the case, it may also be possible that your prayer is in conflict with God’s word and therefore cannot be answered.

Have you been praying for things God has told you to proclaim? When Jesus said that we would do the same works and even greater works than He did, He was telling us to proclaim the word of God and act under His authority. Literally, He is telling us to do the works of the Kingdom of God and not to sit around asking that they be done for us.

When I went to the church seeking help from the elders and pastors, they prayed over me. They were asking God to do what God’s word had instructed them to do, and what was the result? It didn’t work and I left still under the oppression of unclean spirits.

When I finally stood against the oppressive spirits under the authority I was given, wearing the armor God provided, and proclaiming the truth of the word of God, the oppression was finally broken and I was freed.

Perhaps the reason some of your prayers go unanswered is because God is waiting for you to use the authority He’s given you – waiting for you to stop asking and start doing.