WHERE DID THE DEMONS GO?

by Thomas Nowack
http://ReviveAmerica.us

And these signs shall follow those that have believed: in my name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they should drink any deadly thing it shall not harm them; they shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall recover.
  (Mar 16:17-18)

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
 (Zec 4:6)

For many of our Bible church, Baptist, and other Christian brethren, the days when Holy Ghost power healed the sick, cast out demons, and performed wonders through disciples of Jesus are long past. “God doesn’t do that anymore” is the often heard refrain from pastors, teachers, and church leaders, who often refuse to teach on large portions of Scripture dealing with these topics. To focus on one form of missing ministry in particular, the ministry of deliverance from demons is no longer practiced or believed to be relevant by a large majority of Christians. This begs the question: If this is true, where did the demons go?

The fact that Jesus and the early disciples expelled many demons by the Spirit’s power thereby freeing people from bondage and even spoke of battling satanic powers and principalities as necessary to advancing God’s Kingdom on earth prompts another question: Since we still see evil powerfully at work in the world and it therefore seems obvious that Satan and his fiends haven’t lost any of their influence since Bible times, how can it still be held that spiritual deliverance and spiritual warfare aren’t necessary weapons for today’s Christians? Jesus even equated deliverance from evil spirits to “the children’s bread” - a most basic from of provision, in His exchange with the Canaanite woman recorded in Matthew 15:22-28!

Persistent bondage or emotional distress of Christians which doesn’t yield to intercessory prayer is often attributed to bi-polar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or some other so-called “psychological problem” (for which medication is most often proposed as the cure...!?). This approach flatly denies what the Bible states, that “…seeing as (Jesus’) divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue…” (2Pe 1:3, emphasis added), indicating that solutions to all of life’s problems are to be found in Holy Scripture!

And yet another question arises: If it isn’t true that the days of Holy Spirit power are long past but continue in our day, in what jeopardy does this place those who are, then, ignorantly following a false doctrine of “men” or “demons” in denying it? The words of Matthew Henry the respected Bible commentator provide light:

“Some build upon this foundation gold, silver, and precious stones (1Co_3:12), namely, those who receive and propagate the pure truths of the gospel, who hold nothing but the truth as it is in Jesus, and preach nothing else. This is building well upon a good foundation, making all of apiece, when ministers not only depend upon Christ as the great prophet of the church, and take him for their guide and infallible teacher, but receive and spread the doctrines he taught, in their purity, without any corrupt mixtures, without adding or diminishing.

Others build wood, hay, and stubble, on this foundation; that is, though they adhere to the foundation, they depart from the mind of Christ in many particulars, substitute their own fancies and inventions in the room of his doctrines and institutions, and build upon the good foundation what will not abide the test when the day of trial shall come, and the fire must make it manifest, as wood, hay, and stubble, will not bear the trial by fire, but must be consumed in it.

… The great day will pluck off all disguises, and make things appear as they are: He whose work shall be burnt will suffer loss. …This intimates that it will be difficult for those that corrupt and deprave Christianity to be saved. God will have no mercy on their works, though he may pluck them as brands out of the burning.” (emphasis added.)

A last question: Have the Bible, Baptist, and other Christian churches, by the often rigid formality and regularity of their services and spiritual lives, ruled out the unexpected, thereby nullifying demonstration of much-needed Holy Ghost power in and through the end-times Church?

If revival is to come to our spiritually needy generation as many pray it will, a return to the teaching of the unadulterated Word of God regarding the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit will be necessary for us. Denominational mindsets and soothing “teachings of men” must be discarded in our search for the pure and life-giving Truth of God's word, which alone sets free!

God’s best to you in your great quest!

PEAK OIL - GOD’S LAST TRICK QUESTION TO MANKIND?

byTom Nowack

ReviveAmerica.us 

Everyone knows what trick questions are and why they’re important. Because we live in a devious world, every real test which we face will involve questions which test not just our knowledge but also our discernment or judgment. Remembering this, it shouldn’t surprise us that God asks trick questions of mankind.

Here are some of the trick questions which God has posed to mankind in the past:

·         Are strictly, natural processes responsible for the formation of the physical universe, or do the amazing beauty, sophistication, and fine tuning of physical structures point to an act of creation by a superior being or God?

·         Are natural processes really random as evolutionary theory requires, or is there an intelligible overall purpose or pattern discernible in the natural order?

·         Does human life really end at death or is the eternal life of the human soul plainly inferred in the observable universe?

·         Does observable cause and effect visible in the material world support the concept of moral relativism or moral law?

And the following may be His last trick question to mankind:

·         Should the calamity of Peak Oil (...and let's not forget about peak coal, peak water, peak soil, etc...!) be explained as the result random chance or might there be a Divine intention in confronting human technocracy with its evident pride and inherent limitations at this time?

I believe that the clear and necessary answer to this last question is that God has a clear purpose in confronting human pride and the limitations of human knowledge through Peak Oil at this time in His-tory, but what might this purpose be?

The much hyped “theory” of evolution has induced a deceptive vision of unlimited, material, human advancement in the minds of the vast majority of our race, and it’s time for us to awaken to reality!

·         There is a superior being…God, who created the physical universe.

·         He has an intelligible overall purpose for the natural order He created, though we must look beyond nature to Holy Scripture, the Bible, to understand His desired result.

·         Human life does not end at death, as is plainly inferred in the structure and infinity of the observable universe.

·         Observable cause and effect supports the concept of a God-originated moral law to which all are accountable.

In light of all this, it is easy to infer that God’s intention is not mankind’s destruction via Peak Oil, etc. but the awakening of any and all who will follow reason and conscience to Eternal Truth…His Truth, the desired object and fullness of human knowledge.

God bless you in your great quest!
 

Peak Oil Spiritual Survival Skills

by Tom Nowack
ReviveAmerica.us  

Now that the near end of modern civilization has been pronounced via Peak Oil, what paradigm will supercede mankind’s past, false assumption of ever-expanding material abundance with subsequent increase of opportunity for generations to come? What will be left to us after the implosion of our vaunted techno-society, upon which so many based their hopes for the future? The answer is much in every way!

There is a God who not only began human history but is now initiating its foretold end, and it is to Him that we must ultimately return. Admitting that the atheistic, evolutionary model of history was purely wishful thinking and that we must now in honesty and humility pursue reconciliation with our gracious Creator, will be the first step!

Exploration and discovery of a spiritual and eternal kind is now called for, and, thankfully, there is a road map that has been provided for our journey called the Holy Scriptures or the Bible. You will find your starting point in the four Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament...the stories of Jesus life and ministry. They declare the greatness of God’s love for mankind and His abundant provision for our temporal and eternal future!

Know that Jesus, God's Son, is not merely a prophet or wise man but a bridge…a bridge mankind has been invited to cross to enter into the presence and fellowship of the living God! This is the Bible’s core message to each individual who, forswearing all else, seeks God’s Truth, which alone sets free! 

God bless you in your great quest!

_________________________

OUR PURPOSE - OUR QUEST 

1. To seek - until we find - the Truth regarding life’s ultimate Questions.
2. To find out who JESUS is.
3. To discover the source of all of our deepest longings...
                       ...and their fulfillment - in God Himself!

UNLESS WE FAIL THE TEST!

Street Child!

 
It’s a busy day and everyone is hurrying. You know…work to do, things to get done. The demands of family, job, etc. drive us all. Some speeding-by are engaged in tasks of a different sort such as weighing-in on the current healthcare debate, the illegal alien question, how best to preserve the environment, safeguard our right to self-defense, or freedom of speech/right to criticize, counter the terror threat, etc.. The future of our family/nation/world is at stake! Isn’t it? 

  Yes it is! But almost to a man and woman, they’ve failed to notice something, or rather someone. While caught up in the rush of their day-to-day lives, even in doing their "civic duty,” they have overlooked this important someone whose cause has vital connection to all they strive for and care about! But they have no idea who it is! Can you imagine who it might be?

It is the many thousands of children who have died in their city by abortion and those who will die tomorrow without their help! These are much worse-off than a homeless and hungry street-person. They are callously given over to death and utterly forsaken. Even many Christians have become forgetful of and are visibly indifferent to their plight. “Wait,” you might say, “That 'issue' was decided years ago, and what can that possibly have to do with me and my life now?” PLENTY!

ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION: Which entreaty will God be more inclined to hear and answer speedily: The narcissistic plea for "justice" by many in the current upsurge of American political strife or the cry of the blood of the many millions of little slaughtered images of God which, Scripture states, calls out to God from the ground of our nation for vengeance against us?

Their blood is on all our hands and,
therefore, adversely effects every good
thing we may attempt to do!

God is a God of justice/equity. If we desire Him to favor our requests for our personal needs and for a favorable outcome now in this current political conflict, we must unitedly and with a will correct the gross injustice suffered by preborn children in cities across our nation for the last twenty-six years!   
         - WE MAY BE SURE THAT WE ARE UTTERLY UNWORTHY OF EITHER JUSTICE OR FREEDOM IF WE FALTER IN THIS MORAL COURSE!!

  Acting aggressively to end abortion and to save the lives of the innocent will incline God’s ear to our prayer and His hand to save and strengthen our needy nation. This is not “protesting!” It is obedience to God’s commands to “Defend the...fatherless...” (Psalms 82:3), “Deliver those staggering toward slaughter...” (Proverbs 24:11), “...not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18), and many others. It means doing what you can, and almost everyone can do a great deal more than they presently are...so help us God!  

Tom Nowack

ReviveAmerica.us

Click here to find out what you can do!

Sexual Violence and Abortion Violence Linked

   
While at the Portland State University Campus in Portland, OR the other day talking to students about Eternal Issues and distributing Christian literature with my friend Dave Williams, I noticed a protest against sexual violence taking place a short distance away. A group of about 12 young people including one man (presumably students!) were silently holding signs which stated their views - "stop sexual violence," "sexual violence isn't cool...," etc.. 

While acknowledging to myself the lamentable fact that so many post-modern minds fail to logically connect the dots when formulating a coherent response to the moral dilemmas facing our nation and world, it occurred to me to ask these obviously concerned individuals the pertinent question: "Do you see a possible link between sexual violence against women and the violence of women against their own offspring by abortion?"

The answer I got, other than silence from those listening on from the group, was from a twenty-something female protester who said, "I don't want to talk about abortion now." OK, maybe it was a silent protest, which would account for their silence and her terse answer, but the point is one that should reasonably be made:

Can it have possibly escaped us as a society that violence only begets more violence? And this reasoning is not only based on logic. Scripture pointedly confirms it in Jeremiah 13:22: "And if you say in your heart, Why do these things come on me? It is because of the greatness of your iniquity; your skirts are lifted up, and your heels suffer violence."

 Or maybe we/you doubt that abortion is violence? If that is the case, you are respectfully challenged to view the postmortem photo evidence to the contrary on the following site: http://www.reviveamerica.us/holocaust2.htm   

You will see that the violence of women against their unborn children by the hands of abortion "doctors" is far greater than any possible sexual violence which they may suffer at the hands of men behaving badly or even criminally while committing sexual abuse! The pictures are worth ten thousand words and don't lie.

You should know that knowledge is power, but it is also responsibility! Viewing the pictures and then remaining indifferent to the tragic injustice suffered by baby humans in the womb will condemn you as an accessory to the continuing slaughter of innocents taking place in our nation. May you/I/we be found worthy of better things, so help us God!

Tom Nowack 
ReviveAmerica.us 
  

...just a little poetry...

Astride the Years

As we stand astride the years
blown by wind in rain and sun,
through the laughter and the tears
what is it that we become?

Reaching, grasping for it all
seeking goods in greater measure,
have we missed our highest call
overlooking life’s true treasure?
 

Scripture says that gain is loss
and loss is gain - this seems insane,
there stands the cross
portending only desolation, 

But new life from seeming death
is nature’s anthem sung each springtime;
bursting,  blooming, fragrant earth
heralds this truth in voice divine.
 

And Jesus’ love through death brought freedom
for generations, some yet unborn,
won ascendancy, a kingdom,
for us a shelter from the storm.

So take His yoke upon your shoulder -
suffer for God’s righteous cause.
It grows light as we wax bolder,
His due is nothing less, our all.
 

Think that then in Heaven’s radiance
looking back on earth’s mere trials,
past all pain and troubled variance
bathed in glory all the while,

How, with gratitude unbounded
for having borne the cross with Christ,
God’s eternal praise resounding,
we hear His “well done servant” voiced!

Thomas Nowack

For more poetry with an eternal focus visit: http://www.reviveamerica.us/arts.htm

Life - The Ultimate Test

"Lightly men talk of saying what they mean. Often when he was teaching me to write in Greek the Fox would say, 'Child, to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that's the whole art and joy of words.' A glib saying. When the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the center of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you'll not talk about joy of words. I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?"

- Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis

What lies at your core, in the very heart of your being? What motivates you? Is it the law of nature - dominate or be dominated - or does the aspiration for truth, beauty, and love, or belonging, inspire and define you?

Know for certain that life is a test which will soon disclose in totality, for all of God’s infinite creation to see, the nature of the person that you truly are! Step warily! A glorious or fateful Eternity – yours – hangs in the balance!

What we accomplish in the few decades of our earthly life pales in comparison with even the smallest consideration of our life and legacy in ETERNITY!

As the Scriptures state in Proverbs 4:14-18:

“Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” (emphasis added)

FOUR CAUTIONS:

1. As in every genuine test, there are trick questions.

2. Little is as it seems, and nothing is yet in its final form.

3. Keep an open mind but never settle for half-truths or allow yourself to be swayed by mere personality or eloquence.

4. Give your best effort, and reveal your noblest self, knowing that your all-wise Creator watches your course and He has promised to reward every man and woman according to their deeds!

OUR PURPOSE - OUR QUEST

1. To seek - until we find - the Truth regarding life’s ultimate Questions.

2. To find out who JESUS is.

3. To discover the source of all of our deepest longings...

                                            ...and their fulfillment - in God Himself!

- UNLESS WE FAIL THE TEST! -

Tom Nowack
ReviveAmerica.us