"The LORD Brought Up and Led The Descendants of...Israel"

"Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.  And they shall dwell in their own land.'" (Jeremiah 23:7, 8)

I sent to our blog at:  www.apf327.blogspot.com

a three part article in Der Spiegel about the search, capture, and trial in Israel of Adolph Eichmann 50 years ago.  One of the most moving stories I ever heard was from a Jewish witness at the Eichmann trial in 1961, when a father "described the moment he saw his three-year-old daughter in Auschwitz for the last time.  As she was standing in line in front of the gas chamber, he said, he watched her red coat become smaller and smaller."  As a father who once had two "three-year-old daughter[s]," I cannot imagine watching that scene.  

If anyone thinks for one moment, however, that this is over and done with, they just need to get away from their soap operas and fantasy football.  The same "spirit" which created, "Satan's Throne," is creating other "thrones" before which they will force all they can to bow.  The command to be, "strong in the Lord and power of His might," is just as relevant to the Followers of Jesus Christ today as it was in the first century.  Only those who are such will be victorious in these closing days of this present age.  The purpose of discipleship is to make Followers of Jesus Christ "into razors, fanatics."  In case you haven't noticed, these are the people presently taking countries in the Middle East.

I was playing and listening to Jeremiah today while at the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp just outside Berlin.  On the grounds where thousands upon thousands died at the hands of the Germans, and in the particular section reserved for dealing with the Jews, our text was playing.  As one American diplomat said during the latter stages of WWII, "If this war goes on another two years, there won't be one Jew left alive in Europe."  Well, today there are over 10,000,000 Jews just in the United States and Israel.

Father, in Jesus' Name, "Forever...Your Word is settled in heaven."  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"

Hebrews 12:2

Combined Devotional and Report

"When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man and He placed His right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last....Therefore write the things which you have seen....'" 

(Revelation 1:17, 19a--NASB)

I was out 8 hours on the streets of Berlin today.  As you know, I have been playing the Bible on my ipod for the entire duration of our service here in Berlin.  Today, just as I was coming up out of U55, right between Merkle's "house" and the Reichstag, Psalm 145:13 was playing, "Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endures throughout all generations."  Germany has a very militaristic history, as does Japan.  The only way to defeat them was to destroy that militaristic culture.  The problem is that there are cultures in the world today with the same violent history, only older.  The battle never ceases.  I then spent time around the Reichstag (German Capitol Building) and took particular note of Proverbs 1 & 2 playing.  If you read those passages, perhaps you can see some things similar to what I saw.  

I then went past the US and British Embassies.  While I was in front of the US Embassy, I learned that there is a meeting today and tomorrow of various German ministries in the adjacent Hotel Adlon.  Here is what was playing, "The one who despises the word will be in debt to it, but the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded."  It is interesting how the number 13 cropped up today.

I went on to the Pergamum Museum.  I went inside the area where you don' have to pay and played the whole Book of Revelation.  Revelation has a number of prophecies concerning the destruction of Babylon, and Babylon plays a very significant role in the museum complex.  Here is a mosaic from "The Processional Way of Babylon with the Ishtar Gate, dating from 580 BC.  

Of course there is then the altar pictured below which is referred to in Revelation 2:13, "I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells."  I believe there is very good evidence that Antipas, 

because of his refusal to worship the Emperor, was offered on this very altar.  Much of what you see pictured here is from the original first century altar, which Jesus calls, "Satan's Throne."  For a great prophetic video which shares more on this, go to:  www.antipasprayerforce2.blogspot.com

Sarah and I then rode the Berlin Ring, surrounding the city with the, "God-Breathed," Scriptures.

My dear friend in Jesus' Name, we are living in exciting prophetic times.  These examples today are just a few.

Father, in Jesus' Name, keep me ever vigilant and listening.  Amen.

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* I saw in the Jerusalem Post today that the Quartet Meeting has been cancelled.  I am thankful.  I prayed as David did against his enemies, that the Lord would, "confuse the counsel of Ahithophel." 

* New Articles at:  www.apf327.blogspot.com    

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"

Hebrews 12:2

"Please No Discussion About Christianity"

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"....to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you." (Galatians 2:5)

In one of the articles which I sent today to our Blog at:  www.apf327.blogspot.com

there is a "reply" from a Jew which includes a rant against Jesus.  I couldn't help myself, so I replied to him.  "Hey, Mark, why is it so difficult to believe that God would reveal Himself in human flesh.  Would that disturb your comfortable belief about God?"  After I pressed the "comment" icon, the site on which I posted my comment said, "awaiting moderation."  Now I know that most sites do this, and the intention.  I note, however, my comment was not posted and probably won't be because of the author's earlier response to someone else's comment---------  "Please no discussion about Christianity."  

"Awaiting moderation."  This is what most people want out of life, and this is what most politicians and media pundits love to call, "mainstream"------ and, this is why Followers of Jesus Christ are pariahs in their respective cultures.  The reality is that for citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven/God there is no place for a "moderate" religious person, because there is no "moderation" in Jesus Christ, nor any of the Biblical writers who, as Peter says, "spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit," ore, as one translation says, "spoke from God."  The only reason we have, and most people want, "moderation" is that nobody then has to really believe anything, no one has to really, in the depths of the sense, sacrifice one's comfortableness and acceptance in society or life in general.  It is why democracy is so popular; everyone can believe what he wishes.  As the interviewee once put it, "I'm my own church."

Charles Finney, in his lectures on Revival, said that people who don't want to be thought of as fanatical forget "a first principle in religion, that all the world is wrong!" (emphasis his).  If you and I do not maintain this most striking, most unacceptable, most politically incorrect statement, we will never be victorious in life.  The war against the Church, or Israel, or any nation is not being waged by moderates.  Only radicals, fanatics win wars.  "I'm going to turn these men into razors, fanatics.  They'll lose their fear of the Germans.  I just hope to God they never lose their of me." (Patton)

Father, in Jesus' Name, "I hope to [You I] never lose [my] fear of [You].  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"

Hebrews 12:2

"I Miss the House Church"

"But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:3)

This morning Sarah and I had communion.  We read various Scriptures; I commented, not some preachy/teachy, really just commented; she prayed.  It was one of the best church services I have ever attended.  It brought back great memories of house churches I used to be a part of, singing with an auto-harp or just no instrument at all, praying, sharing from some Scripture passages, some testimonies (none trying to outdo the other, nor attempting to reveal just how spiritual they were), in other words, purity of heart.  This is Church as it was during the first three centuries of the Church, a persecuted Church, a Church filled with people who were just thankful to be in the "Fellowship of the Redeemed," members of the Body of Christ, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Oh, there were those, and still are today, who attempted to use the gathering of Believers for their own end, attention, admiration of others, "look how great I am," but in the days of struggle those were not the significant number.  Pardon my saying so, but too many gatherings of modern Christendom are performance.

I said to Sarah, "I would like to be a part of such a group again."  She said, "Well, that's something to pray about."

In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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