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I know where you are coming from! “ The Peace That Surpasses Understanding”......I once had an experience that was so amazing and I hold it so Precious I have never shared it with anyone.....not even my wife or daughter.Let’s just say when people say “ I saw the Light”, I know what they mean- literally! Little bits of things to come? I believe that to be true.....Heaven is going to be beyond words! Come, Lord Jesus!

Oh, there's nothing like the Presence of the LORD! One time His Presence came over me like a God bear hug and just stayed there. It was all I could do to keep from going Home right there.

Only your heart can tell you if it was the presence of God. But it sure does sound like how He works. For I had an experience like that in Worship service once. He so filled my heart with Himself, I thought I was going to explode. I had to ask Him to stop. I will always remember that experience..... So only the heart can bear witness. But be not surprised, for He does awesome things. Many blessings, Not me

What seems so amazing to me was that I never asked for it. I did not do anything to deserve such a blessing. All I did was open my Bible and read the first verse I came to. I always thought you had to cry and plead to God in order for him to fill you in such a way. But I did nothing. Nothing more then reading a Bible verse. And he was there for me, and he filled me. That it is really for me what seems to be most amazing about this encounter.

Mr. Gandalf, you're a very wise man. Dear Worthy famiky: I've taken some time away and I'm just back to update a prayer request for Uncle David's daughter. But also people here might have noticed a lot of my dad's brothers in Christ registering here lately. These are some of the men who are like fathers to me, who watch over me offline and keep me well protected. I love them very much and they are my family. We share meals together, laugh together, work together, pray together, go to church together. We share life and I always feel very safe offline. Anyone who wants to harm me would have to get through them first, and they're not get-through-able. I was having some issues here online at Worthy, so some of these same Uncles haved joined the Worthy family to extend that same protection over to the internet. Whenever I make a posting in here, one or more of them will be sitting next to me to monitor what I'm saying. Some young women wouldn't like that. Me? I'm overflowing with thankfukness and I feel very loved and very safe. They will all click the follow button on my profile so that even when someone looks at my profile, they'll see all these "scarecrows" hovering around me (hahaha! That's how they described it. I would never call them scarecrows.) So this is their way of reminding me they love me and that I'm not alone. I have a bunch of things to take care of yet for school and morning ministry, but I'll be here again soon. I love this Worthy family. Hugs and Prayers Noël Kaih

This happen a few years ago. It was something I have never experienced before. I was home one evening and I had just loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. I hadn't had my Bible reading time that day so I thought, well the dishes are loaded the family has been feed; this is a good time to go do my Bible reading. I went to the bedroom and closed the door. I sat down on the bed and just open up my Bible to a verse( I don't remember what it was) . I just read a verse my Bible open to and all of a sudden it was like this warm, feeling of peace came over me! It was like a presence that filled up the whole room! I just wanted to stay there. In that presence I had not even prayed yet. All I had down was read a Bible verse. And it was like I was in the presence of pure peace and love like I have never felt before! That was God right? God's presence?

Amen! Listening to one of my favorite gospel songs the other day and I literally had to ask God to stop. I couldn’t gather my composure as tears were just streaming. I really believe the incredible feeling we are gonna have when we see our Lord face to face is going to be amazing. This old flesh we have now simply can’t handle it. It just melts when he gives us just a fraction of his presence.

The first time I cried out to God I had that exact same feeling. Such peace and it felt like I was literally melting like butter. Tears rolling, my skin felt like electricity was running through it. It was wonderful. I definitely believe that is from God. Funny thing my actual conversion was so quiet and laid back. No explosions of emotion, just a quiet belief in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I can't speak as a prophet, but it sounds like a God experience. Those times are precious. Wish they happened more often.

Today please.

Author: Theodore Epp Source: Strength for the Journey Scripture Reference Ephesians 1:3 Psalms 19:9-11 Genesis 15:1-6 The Believer's Reward Genesis 15:1-6 God assured Abraham that He was Abraham's "exceeding great reward" (Gen. 15:1). The king of Sodom had offered Abraham all the riches that Abraham and his servants had brought back, but he turned them down. Notice that the tense is not past or future, but present. Not "I was" or "I will be" but "I am"--"I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" (v. 1). We see from God's promise to be Abraham's reward that God never permits His children to lose when they honor Him and seek His glory. God never leaves His child without spiritual blessings after His child has taken a stand for the glory of God. Although Abraham had no children at this time, his faith in the Lord is recorded in verse 6: "He believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Because of Abraham's faith in God, he was able to look into the future and trust God for everything. Ephesians 1:3 tells us that present-day believers have been blessed with "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." But we, too, must set our eyes on the future. We must be those who look to their reward for glorifying God, rather than looking at the temporal satisfactions of the present. "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.... And in keeping of them there is great reward" (Ps. 19:9,11). ____________________ This devotional is freely distributed by Back To The Bible.

As they say, “ Been There, Done That”..........ain’t it neat? Lol......We ain’t seen Nuthin’ yet!

I have had this experience a few times in different contexts. I definitely believe this is from God. And no other experience compares with this and once you have felt it no one can take it away from you. It often happens at times of transition for me.

This is NOT the first time hinn has done this. He renounced of this back in the 80's, the 90's, 2018. time will tell. There are articles that report that very shortly after his public renouncing on Monday, there was a live broadcast of him asking for people to donate 120 dollars to pay off debt. That broadcast has quickly become unavailable at this time. His nephew in articles and interviews, since his uncle's recent renouncing does not think that his uncle's public repentance is genuine. There was an article I recently read that his nephew said that the “healing crusades” are not truthful in and of themselves. There have been numerous articles alleging benny hinn preaching some really grievous doctrines. And saying stuff that that was very bad in the past. If he has truly repented of the prosperity stuff, one would think he would also be renouncing other grievous doctrines and belief's as well. Not just the prosperity stuff. His nephew at this time has doubts that the recent repentance is genuine given that the previous ones were due to benny receiving heavy criticism and bad pr. His nephew is hoping and praying that there is genuine change this time around. Only time and actions will tell. You can't blame people for having doubts about this, since the previous renouncement's sounded sincere, but did not last long.

First of all, it is true that to worship in Latin is to venerate. It's the same thing. Secondly, do you realize how common it was for ancient Israelite people to worship both God and other gods, especially Baal and Moloch. This is why Israel & Judah were eventually taken into captivity by Babylon. Thirdly, mankind has had this desire for a female motherly deity for a long time. Psychology can probably explain this best but my point is making Mary into a god-type of saint is just mankind's latest attempt to make God a mother. God is a spirit and if anything He likens Himself to a father. But I doubt He has a gender. So what I'm saying is when Catholics worship both God and their saints they are doing the same sin that caused the ancient Jews to go into captivity. They really need to stop doing this especially the sincere Catholics, and I have known many of them. These folks genuinely love God and don't know they are committing the most grievous sin these is, idolatry. To God nothing is worse than that because some of those other gods are the same evil angels that made war in heaven. Prior to the Internet almost no one could have found out about this but now it's going to become well known. The Catholic saints are not the spirits of dead humans they are bad angels tricking good humans into worshiping them. This is what evil angels have always done.

HAHAHA! I just read the title of this thread after a rather large lunch.

LadyKay, What a blessing to feel God’s presence so acutely and yes I believe it was His Spirit you felt. The last time I felt this extraordinary peaceful and joyful feeling come over me was at a church service. That morning I just wanted to sit there basking in the Lord’s light. I also remember thinking that whatever I was feeling would pale in comparison to how it will be to actually be in the Lord’s presence for eternity. Psalms 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

That is one way we know it is from Him, we know all too well that we don't deserve it. We recognize that it is because of His Love alone. "When strivings cease"

Can't help thinking about this song. I can only imagine What my eyes will see when Your face is before me

Loved it! He is such a awesome God! Be blessed as we pursue Him in all things. Not me

I removed about 10 posts from this thread ... personal in nature and banned someone from the thread. Please, stay on topic and no personal attacks. It's just not needed.

Mr. Gandalf, Sir, I was trying to find the words, and you said it perfectly. I'm Noel's temporary guardian in her father's absence. I just want to assure you that at no time day or night is she ever alone. Noel and her dad, and my wife and I, our homes are in close proximity to the firehouse in one direction and our church in the other direction, so our homes are always spilling over with brothers and sisters in service, along with brothers and sisters in the Lord. It's a 24/7 type of situation. Noel's got 5+ firefighters within 10 feet of her pretty much 24/7. But that doesn't mean we should advertise who's home and who's away. I'm pretty stupid when it comes to the internet, and Noel's interest in this church on-line came on suddenly. So we're adapting. Her father is registered here too but isn't able to be in here right now to monitor things. Sir, you've given some excellent advice above, and I think Noel and I need to go back and do some editing. Noel was reminded early on to be careful how much she shares in this place, and she was holding back a lot of information, but obviously not enough. Thank you again for your input. It's entirely appreciated! David

@Noël I've got 3 daughters (now adults) and a few grandkids. I'm going to give you the same speech I'd give them if they had just posted this. To some degree, this is being overly cautious, but there is a reason to buckle your seatbelt whenever you are in a car and to not text while driving and to avoid walking alone in sketchy places in some cities. These are minor precautions that reduce the chances of something bad happening. The way to think of online sharing is like speaking very loudly about private matters in a public place where a number of strangers can hear it. Assume that someone with bad intentions can hear it. Speaking very loudly in public that your house is empty is potentially announcing to a burglar there will be no one there. Most people overhearing you won't care, but someone might use that information. The majority of people on here reading this are likely trustworthy, but there are potentially a few who are not. The majority of people here are who they claim to be and what they say is likely true. However, there are people who will pretend for nefarious purposes. To be blunt, some sexual predator could pretend to be a young Christian woman (or a friendly helpful grandfatherly figure like I might appear to be right now) and try to make friends with you and get more personal information about your full name, phone number, address, e-mail, and things like that. Do NOT exchange private messages with anyone without your dad knowing about it. Do NOT make a connection with *anyone* from this site via e-mail, phone, Facebook, etc. without your dad approving it first even if they send you their personal information. I'm a man in my mid 50s, in the two years I've been on here I've only shared my real name and e-mail with a few people. I intentionally did not quote your post so if you make some changes, the original form will not be sitting in this post for someone to read. I'd recommend dropping names from your post. Simply saying "at my friend's house" instead of including her name. Simply saying "my uncle" or "my friend's dad" rather than including his name. Including references to names of places like what a particular ministry place is called can potentially allow people to use internet searches to find more information about you. A determined person can use your history of posts over months and years to glean information about you. Even an innocuous post saying something like "We ate at my favorite ribs restaurant since they had a $6.99 all you can eat special and my favorite band ABC was playing" could allow someone to do an internet search with a good chance of figuring out the location you were at (which would likely be at or near your home town). I'd strongly recommend changing your avatar picture from a personal photo to some type of picture or image that has meaning to you. It is possible to use internet search techniques to search photos which could lead to finding actual pictures of you posted online via school or family photos. It's not likely, but it is possible. Overall, I'd recommend editing your original post down to drop names and the information that you are potentially alone at times and that your dad is out of town. If your main concern is a prayer request for this time, just a simple prayer request in the prayer request thread for your dad without giving away information might be good. For example: My dad is volunteering for disaster relief work. We'd appreciate prayers for him and the family during this time. Thanks.

The question was once posed: "Can persecution make a stone of the heart"? We know that a diamond is nothing more than a lump of coal under intense pressure. Once a beautiful, eighteen year-old Christian woman was to be married in the Communist Country of Romania. The Secret Police discovered her good fortune and decided to arrest her on her wedding day. The day came, and while all of the festivities and celebration were convening at her humble place, the Police burst into her home, came to her, and placed steel cuffs upon her wrists for believing in Jesus. As they were leading her out of the house, she turned abruptly to face her guests, raised her cuffed wrists high into the air and said, "May I be worthy of this beautiful wedding gift," and then turned to face the arresting officers. For five years she was to do hard labor in the bitter winters and grueling, hot summers. When she was finally released, she all but looked like the same woman. Her skin was wrinkled, her teeth were all broken, she was frail, and she looked much older than she was. But when, through her mud-caked face, she began to smile, the radiant smile of Jesus broke through. Once again, the question was, "Can persecution make a stone of the heart"? "Yes, sometimes a very precious stone!"

They can't withstand God's called out ones, that's for sure. Revelation 7:14 “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Sounds about right. Proverbs 30:7-9 7Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. KJV Matthew 6:11 11Give us this day our daily bread. KJV

That's about $226,000,000,000 a year. Roll the printing presses.

I agree with jade. Either Hinn is sincere and will change his ways, or he won't. Only time will reveal if his repentance is real. Let's not forget that God can change the hardest heart for His Glory -- take Saul/Paul for example. Should people be cautious about watching and believing what Benny Hinn teaches after this? Absolutely. But the only One who knows Hinn's heart, let alone judge him, is the Lord God. And we know that He will be true in His judgment. As for us mere mortals here on the forums, I offer up the words of Jesus as written in the Book of John 8:7 as a reminder... “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone [at her].”

Shalom All, Here's a webpage devoted to providing people with information in the Name of God, Yahweh. I hope it blesses someone out there. The questions it tackles are: The meaning Lost pronunciation Other versions (Jehovah, Yahovah, Yahuah) Should we use it today It's importance www.faithandtheword.com/yahweh May the Name of God, Yahweh, continually be praised always! Love & Shalom

That was a really interesting read. Thank you for that!

Amen brother!

I moderated for 13 years at a site which was hacked and destroyed. Of course, that owner of that site was an absentee owner....later found out he didn't update any security. I'm glad George cares about this site and does all of this work. Thanks George!

I am sure. Everything comes from God and that includes your prosperity and money.

Wow, that's almost 18,000 years in the future. I guess the technology for time travel got delivered on cue and now they're coming back to adjust things, or something, LOL BeauJangles...???

Some guy was trying to convince people that God had a wife named Ashtoreth. You know, yet another deity the ancient Israelites worshipped? He believed this because ancient Israelites had written of it, and said it was denied by the church as a means of oppressing women. I was like, the Bible clearly mentions how often and how much the ancient Israelites turned to idolatry. Just cause ol' Gershom the idolator wrote about it doesn't make it truth.

Who do you know who MEDITATES day and night on TORAH as Yahuweh Says ? Christ said this to EVIL MEN. Those EVIL MEN thought that by doing what you say, they could find eternal life. (they could not, as Jesus told them). Jesus again said "the word of faith is already near you (Ekklesia, born again ones following Jesus), even in your mouth...." and that even if you have only the faith the size of a mustard seed, you will speak to a mountain to be cast into the sea, and it will be ... I don't think Jesus then told them to ask for more faith. Apparently not. Not only generally missing, but altogether missing in most places. This is just as Scripture says clearly today, and yesterday , and forever. Do you really truly believe the followers of Jesus no longer have "that power" ? If so, keep seeking Yahuweh's Kingdom, and He Will Reveal the Truth as He Promises in His Word.

Dear sister, First, I am terribly sorry to hear of such disturbing details. You have a right to be angry. We want justice, not revenge. May I suggest you see a counselor so that you may come to an understanding of the underlying dynamics in your situation. Jesus does not mind we find appropriate measures to deal with our pain; He is, after all, the Great Physician. We need to go to one when we have a situation that is beyond our understanding. You are not alone, and many who have experienced what you are describing not only find help, but are transformed. Jesus knows from personal experience what real pain is like and knows what you are going through. We must not flee from him, but run to him. He loves you more than we know. Praying for you.

Perhaps there was just frustration that the thread was getting off topic. I know the responses here helped me. So it would be good if others visiting Worthy could find this thread and read through the advice and find help and healing if they have been in very abusive relationships with Christian leaders. I know of four recent threats of suicide over things discussed in this topic. So there is real grieving out there. Once a thread goes off topic, people stop giving advice on the original topic. And I think people struggling need all the input and advice they can get. I know this thread was discussing temporal problems, but the Lord cares about those too. Remember Paul said grieve with those who grieve and rejoice with those who rejoice. I don’t think anyone has a problem with you. We all get frustrated. In any case, I’m sorry for butting in.

@Worship Warriors Your explanation and post so blessed me. If you feel led to bring forth more that God has revealed in you concerning the Song of Songs I would most welcome the reading of such a post... Be blessed in Christ, Not me

Very very nice explanation, the Song of Songs is a book God has never really used in my life for whatever reason. It just never interested me though I have gone through it a few times. But I just loved your explanation on the above verse(s). The implications are just so far reaching that it will take me a bit to comprehend and digest.... But my heart rejoiced at your words, for in them was life.... Many blessings and may God continue to magnify Himself in you, Not me

I had stated in a different thread and think it is well worth repeating. “Satan has no problem mixing enough truth to make a teaching seem right with just enough error to send people to hell.” The following quotes came from wikipedia and from an online religious magazine. When you put all the quotes together, Certainly sounds like yoga mixed with new age belief's. Interesting that the wikipedia article said I agree with you that this is a doctrine to be avoided big time. Instead of a person relying on God's word and the Holy Spirits leading; It puts the focus and attention on some chart. Bad idea.

The GOOD LORD in HIS MERCY healed me BB. Even by grace I knew healed or not GOD IS GOOD . But I got healed . When this happened to my twin brother and one of my friends years ago . THEY had to had those appendixes removed . PRAISE THE LORD mine recoverd . I had no insurance so I was holding out as long as I could , and it never got real bad . Finally this morning I did go to a clinic and had a doctor check me out . I was not looking forward to him poking and pushing that area . Because the other day I had bumped it with my hand and IT HURT . But it recoverd . Because he was pushing in areas and asking does this hurt . THEN he said okay now I am going to push RIGHT where the appendix is and I braced because I had done that and man it had hurt . BUT BB, there was no pain at all . YEP . They took some urine tests and etc . The nodes were still slightly swelled , but that is from fighting off infection . He said watch it close and if it does flare up and get worse , TO GO to the EMERGENCY ROOM asap not to wait . BUT It has zero pain now bb. THE LORD HEALED IT . PRAISE THE HOLY LORD .

I saw this clip and was encouraged by it. He seemed sincere. It will take time to see if he's really turned from it but we can hope he's seen the truth will continue preaching truth now.

@DavidGrainger @Noël It's usually fine to share things and interact publicly. It's just a matter of learning to do it with generic words and descriptions. Over the years, I've shared a number of family stories and other things about myself, but always in generic terms. I use such phrases as my wife or my kids rather than names. I don't mention where I went to school except that it was in the Midwest or where I live except that it is somewhere in Wisconsin. I refer to my career as an applied scientist without mentioning my specialty or what companies I worked for. I'll just say something like "my daughter and grandkids visited this weekend" rather than "my daughter Amy with her children Amelia Ann and Amos Andrew drove over from Amery to visit us". As I said in the beginning of my first post, this type of thing is more like buckling your seatbelt and driving defensively or having good batteries in a smoke detector. It doesn't mean being scared each time you get into a car or not driving anywhere or worrying each night when you go to bed that your house will burn down. It just means take some common sense precautions to make the unlikely event of an accident even less likely. It's just a matter of getting in the habit of using generic language instead of details. Most of us just hop on here and interact with each other publicly either in the forums or the public chat area (which is monitored by volunteers). Even though I've tried to keep my anonymity intact on here, I make the assumption that someday my actual identity might be revealed and everything I've written here will be attributed to me. There are many things I do not share about myself or friends or family. There are some opinions I keep to myself. I treat what I write here as if it would be something I'd be happy giving as a public testimony in front of the church.

I'll admit the audio on the first one wasn't the greatest, but then again neither was the video itself. It looked like multiple dub-down VHS tape. Betamax was superior by comparison. As a retired audio/visual tech, having to make duplications of lesser than quality projects were sometimes a nightmare. I did have a video enhancer that helped quite a bit. Audio could sometimes be 'sweetened' as it was termed, by patching the sound through an external mixer as well. A laborious process at times. This was also a saying pertaining to the overall film and sound quality, "Garbage in - garbage out."

This question suggests that you believe a fully-formed vertebrate organism one day did not have a heart or blood vessels, and then the next day had a fully functional cardiovascular system. It is a caricature that is far-removed from evolutionary theory. I don't know where you copied this series of "points disproving evolution", but the author repeatedly shows a level of scientific competence I would expect in a middle-school student, yet believes that they know more then experts in these specific fields. We can look at the variety of living organisms today and see simpler versions of all of these organ systems. It is no stretch to actually see how these organisms developed. Let's use the heart as an example. Fish have a two-chambered heart - a single atrium for receiving incoming blood and a single ventricle for sending blood out into the circulatory system. The hypothetical transition from an aquatic environment to terrestrial environment (remember the Tiktaalik) would require a greater efficiency in the cardiovascular system. Amphibians, which of course are partially aquatic. They can absorb some oxygen through the skin, but also have lungs (derived from the fish swim bladder, by the way). The heart gets a little more complicated than the fish heart, and typically has three chambers, instead of two. They still have a single ventricle, which pumps blood into both the pulmonary circuit and the systemic circuit, but have two atria - one for accepting blood from the pulmonary circuit and one accepting blood from the systemic circuit. Yes, the heart did require a transition, but there is no reason to believe that this could not happen by a slow, steady development of the heart into the more efficient version. Terrestrial turtles and tortoises have a three chambered heart with a partial septum in the single ventricle. You can see where this is going... Just a little bit more development, and then you have the classic four-chambered heart that we see in mammals and birds. A very similar progression can be inferred for all of our organ systems just by observing and studying other organisms on the planet today.

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver. A wise man once said, "There's nothing more powerful than the heart of a volunteer". Webster describes a volunteer this way -- one who renders a service or receives a conveyance or transfer of property without giving valuable consideration. It's so easy to get into the mindset that serving God is a chore, it's our job, our duty -- we give valuable consideration to our giving. The fact of the matter is that God loves a cheerful giver. He loves a volunteer. When I think of that verse, the first thing that comes to my mind is monetary giving, but God wants us to cheerfully volunteer every good thing He has so mercifully allowed us to have –- things we often take for granted -- our time, our energy, our abilities, our talents, our homes, our cars, our families –- all that we have – all that He has cheerfully given to us! Let's make a point to volunteer some of these things to the Lord this week. Let’s bless the Lord and those around us! The post It's Time to Volunteer! appeared first on Worthy Christian Devotional - Daily Devotions. Read the entire devotional.

2 Timothy 2:20-22 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. A grindstone is a revolving disk made of stone which is used for grinding, polishing or sharpening. It can commonly be seen grinding down wheat or sharpening and polishing metal for various purposes. At first glance, this information may not seem all that interesting to you. However, a wise man once compared life to a grindstone. He said -- whether life grinds us down or polishes us up depends on what we’re made of! So… here’s a question. What are we made of? Is life grinding us down to pieces? Or is it polishing us up to make us better equipped to do the work of the Lord? I can tell you this -- we are not called to crumble apart like chaff under the grindstone! We are called be tools in our Master’s hand -- sharpened and polished beautifully for His use!! Let’s commit ourselves to the Lord once again this weekend. Let’s not whine about our difficulties, but allow God to use them to sharpen us for His glory! Have a delightful shabbat, enjoy your weekend, and keep looking up -- for our redemption draws near! The post Keep your nose to the grindstone! appeared first on Worthy Christian Devotional - Daily Devotions. Read the entire devotional.

Here's the sermon I preached last Sunday. (11-25-2018) KIN Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— John 1:12 (NIV) Most of you know that I spent a week in October as part of a team that went to Vidor, Texas, to help repair some of the homes devastated by Hurricane Harvey last year. I’ve told you a little bit about that during Celebration Church and in some conversations with some of you, but I’d like to “fill in some blanks” for you and I’d like to talk about something God showed me through that trip. First off, Vidor is a town of about 10,000 tucked back into the corner of southeast Texas. It’s less than 25 miles from both the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana. Now, as I’m sure you know, I don’t talk like the folks that are from Vidor Texas. Granted, I did catch myself saying “y’all” once or twice and it was very easy to respond “Yessir,” and “Yes, ma’am,” when asked if I enjoyed the jambalaya, creole shrimp, blackened redfish, and/or gumbo. The people of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church were very loving, generous, and hospitable when it came to feeding the 30 of us like kings. But one of the words I noticed in their conversations was “kin.” I’m sure most of you know what that word means, but I’ve never heard anyone here in the frozen north casually remark, “Yessir, they’re kin.” But it’s a very relevant word for what went on during that week. Before I left for Vidor, I did an internet search just to find out where it was. In doing so, I discovered that Vidor had at one time been a “sundown town” where black people were not welcome after dark –and it was enforced by the town police. The Ku Klux Klan had held a march Vidor texas in 1993 protesting plans to bring African Americans into public housing. It was one of the first things we talked about with Pastor Skipper Sauls when we arrived. While we were still in the parking lot, before we were even finished unloading our bags, the subject came up. Skipper did not dodge the question. He admitted that Vidor had indeed engaged in racism in its past. He grew up there and he remembered Klan events taking place when he was a child about 40 years ago. He said all that has changed now, and although there were probably still a few old racists in this town, anyone and everyone was welcome in this church to experience the love of Jesus Christ. But let me back up for a moment and give you some background: Hurricane Harvey came ashore on August 26, 2017, near Rockport, Texas, southwest of Vidor, with winds of 130 mph. The storm’s winds weakened shortly thereafter, but the megastorm slowed to a crawl and began dumping absolutely phenomenal amounts of rain over the course of the next two days. At one point, an official in nearby Tyler County announced: “Anyone who chooses to not [evacuate] cannot expect to be rescued and should write their social security numbers in permanent marker on their arm so their bodies can be identified. The loss of life and property is certain. GET OUT OR DIE!” Before it was over, Houston had been saturated with over 30 inches of rain and Nederland, Texas, (right next to Vidor) measured over 60 inches of rainfall. The rain came so hard and so fast that the Army Corp of Engineers had opened the gates on reservoirs upstream from Vidor for fear that the levees holding back the waters would fail. With five feet of rainfall and the dam gates opened, the entire area was absolutely inundated. Skipper took us on a tour of some of the areas where he and others from the church had rescued people using a boat. We stopped at one point and he showed us the place where the boat’s propeller had hit the top of a stop sign beneath the flood waters. We turned down a side street and he showed us a video taken in that boat motoring along in that exact location. At one point, the motor hit a submerged object and they later found out it had broken the sunroof out of a parked car. Of course, the damage to homes and cars was devastating. Most of the homes sit on concrete slabs just a couple of inches above ground level because the frost never enters the ground there. Even in homes that sit on blocks, all the carpet and all the drywall and all the appliances in virtually every home was destroyed. Skipper has a background in construction and remodeling and the Lord opened doors for donated materials from numerous companies, ministries, and churches. I was among a crew of 15 that arrived at the church two days before another crew of 15 arrived to also participate in the work of restoring homes. One crew was building a porch, another was hanging drywall in a different home, and I was working on a home in need of interior paint, kitchen counters, and floor tile. I was assigned to floor tile because I had some experience in that area. Over the course of five days, we tiled four bedrooms, a bathroom and a half, a hallway, the laundry room, and a section of the main living area. It quickly became obvious that my “experience” with floor tile was approximately equal to my experience with flapping my arms and flying to the moon in comparison to what Skipper’s 16 year-old son, Isaac, knew about the subject. After five days, I can now truthfully say I know how to effectively mix up a five gallon bucket of thin-set mortar. I can also say that, although I now have much more knowledge, there is no way my now 60 year-old body could be used to support my family as a professional tiler. But much more importantly, I am the recipient of the incredible joy that comes from knowing that within a couple of days the family that has been living in an RV trailer in the backyard of their own home will be able to move out of that cramped space and cook meals, wash clothes, and sleep in their home. I just saw pictures of the Thanksgiving meal the family had prepared in their home. Lyle and Thuy and Von and Angelina are beautiful people who helped us any way they could, lifting heavy tile, sweeping up dusty construction debris, and radiating appreciative smiles for all we did over the course of that week. And as we all stood in that house for a final prayer and blessing over this home and this family, we were all tired and hot and aching and dusty and dirty. And we all looked a little like Jesus. We all looked and felt like kin. We weren’t just acquaintances or friends, we were family. That bond, that tie that comes from being together, working together, eating together in Jesus is strong and solid and real and glorious. It’s amazing. And I’ve felt that same family of God bond on both mission trips to the Dominican Republic, the trip to Guatemala last March, the trip to see Pastor Betty and Ron in June, the time at MANCAMP, and the Leadership Conference where I spent time a with a dozen pastors last August. I’ve spent most of my life not venturing very far from Minnesota, but the LORD has sent me over 12,000 miles in the past nine months. He’s up to something in my life and it’s wonderful! Hallelujah!! It’s wonderful because I’m traveling to be with family, which is what a lot of us just did and are still doing this for Thanksgiving. Over 54 million Americans traveled more than 50 miles away from home over the Thanksgiving holiday. That’s a 4.8 percent increase over last year, and most of them did it to be with family. All that travel reminds me of some people in the Bible who were also traveling: Luke 2:1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David.) It was a family thing. They were traveling because Caesar had decreed that they were to be taxed and counted by according to their family lineage. And, when we believe in Jesus Christ as our LORD and Savior, we become part of His family. Let’s look at just some of the verses that talk about this: We already read John 1:12 -- Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— John 1:12 (NIV) Now the NIV uses the word, “right” while the KJV uses the word “power.” The Berean Literal Bible, however uses the word “authority” and indeed, in the Greek the word is “exousian” which Strong’s Greek defines as, “power, authority, weight, especially: moral authority. So, believing in Jesus gives us the rightful authority to claim that we are truly children of God. What that involves and to what degree are made clear in Scripture. Let’s Turn to 2 Corinthians 6:18 And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” Lets go to Romans 8:15 next: The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” And then there is Ephesians 1:15 …. he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will– And Galatians 4:5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. And as sons and daughters, let’s look at Romans 8:17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. How about Galatians 3:29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. And Titus 3:7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:7 Another verse on heirs is Ephesians 3:6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. And then there’s Acts 3:25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ Even James speaks of it: James 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? And this right, this power, this authority is so powerful it even comes with a guarantee: Turn to Ephesians 1 and lets looks at verse 13 and 14: 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. It bears all the weight and power of a legal contract with God himself! And His own Holy Spirit is our guarantee that we are indeed sons and daughters of the One True God -- the God who created the universe and everything in it! So, brothers and sisters, now that we know we really are sons and daughters with a guaranteed inheritance, does that change how we look at each other? Or at others who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? And, here’s another amazing thing I found as I was pondering this: Turn to Matthew 6:19 &20. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. I am convinced that the treasures Jesus is speaking of here in these verses are the relationships we create and forge here on this earth. We know we’re not going to take our cars or our homes or our gold to heaven with us, right? I mean, God uses gold for asphalt in heaven, right? But I believe we will recognize and know each other in heaven. I believe heaven will not only be a grand reunion with God, but between all His sons and daughters! The things we do for other people and with other people and the relationships created are indeed treasures. Those are the real treasures of this life. And, just like it always does, it all comes down to love. In all those travels this year, in all the relationships God gave me, they all involved eating together, praying together, singing together, worshiping together, laughing together, working together, sharing His Word together, and loving together. They all involved being together as family. It’s abundantly clear that all who believe in Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior are all sons and daughters. All who believe have been brought into the same family. We share the same Father who has adopted us into the family of God by the death and resurrection of His Son out of His great love for us and to the praise of His glory! We will all spend eternity together praising Him. We will all be gathered into one place sharing a richness and a celebration of life and love that never ends. We will finally be united with each other and with Him as He intended from the beginning. The treasures we will revel in and celebrate will be the eternal relationships we have. Love will finally reign completely, utterly, and without corruption of any kind. And that, my beloved brothers and sisters –my kin, is the ultimate cause for giving thanks! Because kin is thicker than how you talk or the color of your skin or the depth of the flood waters. AMEN!

There are many books on Spiritual Warfare and I've read some. However, I agree with Sojourner414, in particular about the Gosepel. Jesus said regarding His Word: "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart." Moreover, Jesus said: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." I'll tell you a personal experience, of what does it mean "my words remain in you". When I fell in love with the Lord, I've memorized Matthew and John by heart. This is not something new, early Christians knew the Word by oral tradition, and Christians like Peter Waldo and his follower were used to memorize Matthew and John too. After I've done that, I feel that the Spirit has much power in helping me with the spiritual information and strength that I need. Then, you can gain more insights even by reading other books, but keeping Jesus' words in your heart and mind is really the most powerful weapon. Keeping them, and trying to understand them better every day, by leaving room to the Spirit to talk you through His Word. With an increasing understanding of the Lord, the love for the Lord increases. With an increasing love for the Lord, the strength to do good and avoid evil increases. The Bible is 1600+ pages, so it can be hardly memorized by heart, but the Gospel is such a small book, which contains 99% of what's needed. So this is my suggestion on this topic, and none of the other books I've read have been more relevant than this practice for me.