Man was not created to sin.  He was created in the image and likeness of God and God is a Spirit—Genesis 1:26 – 27.   Adam was as pure as God is pure.  As I have previously pointed out, man was given a spirit but he needed a body to house his spirit.   All decisions he made were influenced by his spirit which was connect to God and he walked with God.  Genesis 2:18 tells us God made Eve from Adam’s rib because he needed a companion.  They both had never sinned and they lived in the garden naked.  I believe that Adam and Eve never had physical relationships prior to eating the forbidden fruit.

God knew what they would do if He told them not to eat of the fruit.  God wanted them to know the difference between good and evil because when they sinned God said: Genesis 3:22 – “And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” Does this verse imply there are certain foods that can allow man to live forever?  Otherwise, why would God ban them from the garden and made sure they would never be able to enter again.  What are we going to eat during Christ’s 1,000 years of reign on earth?

Once the fruit was taken the Bible tells us in Genesis 4:1 & 2 – Once they knew good and evil, Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.”  Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.”

I believe: It was not until their bodies became lustful and sought physical pleasures that would please their bodies, did they make love.  Until then, when the spirit had complete control, there was no desire to sin or urge to please one’s body sexually.  This was not a surprise to God for He foreknows all things.  From the very beginning, God planned for Christ’s crucifixion

It was not until man’s spirit became disconnect from God because of their disobedience was there sin.  From then on the body, created to hold his spirit, fought for control of man’s mind and in making his decisions.  Man found, pleasing the body was gratifying.  Satan found it much easier to tempt man as it was easy to overcome the spirit’s will and yield to the body’s desires. 

When man allowed the spirit to control, he was frugal, lived a holy life and did things in moderation.  What the body wanted to do was party and live, allowing excesses, trying to satisfy the body’s urges for pleasures.  The mind had to decide between the spirits wishes and the body’s desires.  It is the body’s cravings that instigate sin. 

The Ten Commandments were given for man to control his selfish desires and his need to control.  Keeping the laws was meant to control man’s body excesses, his lustful desires and selfish goals.  The spirit, given by God, emphasized a need for man to live with a loving heart.  The body overwhelms humans.

Adam and Eve’s sin caused them to be separated from God.  God knew that the only way for man to live as He intended, was to provide a way back for man to reconnect his spirit with God’s spirit as in the beginning.  His plan was to have His Son be crucified and be resurrected so that the Holy Spirit could be made available to anyone accepting Christ as his Savior.  Once the Holy Spirit entered man, He provided the assistance needed for man to overcome the body’s lusts, its needs to party and evil desires. The new man learned to live a more frugal life as he wanted to please God rather than promote self aggrandizement.   However, each Disciple still has to deal daily with the body’s urges.  It is through the Holy Spirit that we must develop our connection and relationship with God and Christ. 

What causes people to sin?  There are many answers.  Primarily, we give in to the body’s desire that wants worldly pleasures and ignore the urging of the Holy Spirit to do what we know God would have us do by being frugal in everything.

Frugal means to live in moderation and under control.  Living frugally would also mean not spending more than one makes.  Limiting one’s excesses that could lead to sinning! 

I have never witnessed such potential disaster ahead as the evil going on in Iraq, the battle between Hamas and Israel, North Korea and Iran, the South China Sea situation, Ebola outbreak in Africa, rioting, earthquakes, draughts and flooding plus economic indebtedness and financial distress world-wide. Is God trying to get our attention as written in Haggai 2:7 – “I will shake all nations,”

I believe the present skirmish between Hamas and Israel is in preparation for what is to come. Israel is being tested to determine its defenses. Previously, I read that Iran and Russia have become allies for the first time in history, I have become concerned. As I have studied Ezekiel chapters 36 through 39 it sounds like a war against Israel could breakout before too long. Should that happen Scripture says that God will destroy the armies and everyone will know that it was a ‘God Thing’. When that occurs there will be millions repenting of their sins and turning to Christ for salvation and eternal life with God, even though for a short time. Then there will be a great deception coming from Satan.

Are our churches ready to handle the tremendous overflow? Will there be enough knowledgeable Christians to teach what is happening and why it is happening? I think not! Thus it is my desire to point out why we must begin preparing for we have no idea how far into the future this event could happen.

It seems that Russia is tied up with its conflict with Ukraine. If you follow current events between Russian and Iran you may be aware that Moscow has aggressively pursued political, economic and military ties to Iran in defiance of U.S. and European protests. They have authorized the sale of nuclear technology to Iran. They are in the process of training approximately 1,000 Iranian nuclear scientists and approved a billion-dollar arms deal with the latest high-tech arms and air defense systems.

Until March 21, 1935 Iran was called Persia. The Russians had always hated the Iranians and the Iranians hated the Russians. Many believed the Bible was full of errors, as the two would never form an alliance against Israel or anyone else.

Why should this concern us in Las Vegas? Let’s begin with Ezekiel 36:8 – 10 – ‘”But you, 0 mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”‘ Also Ezekiel 36:24 – 28 – “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be my people, and I will be your God.” Ezekiel starts with the return of the Jews on May 14, 1948. It started with a population of 806,000 and now surpasses seven million. In the Holy Land, deserts are blooming again after centuries of neglect, exporting fruit, vegetables and flowers just as the Bible said would happen. This should come as no shock that Ezekiel chapter 36 has been fulfilled. Throughout history God has forewarned His believers in advance of future events He deems prophecy of utmost importance. Any student of the Bible could give thousands of illustrations where God has foretold the future. We read in Luke 12:54 – 56 – “He said to the crowd: ‘when you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?'”

Before the war that will be led by Russia and Iran against Israel begins there must be a time of calm and the Jews must accumulate significant wealth. Drilling deep below the seas off Israel’s coast, foreign energy companies are discovering gas estimated at five trillion cubic feet of proven reserves. They also believe to have found upward of a billion barrels of oil. Is Israel like Iraq sitting on enormous oil reserves? As we get into the war, Scripture will tell us the world’s armies would meet to fight for the spoils. Isaiah 45:3 – “I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” Some believe the Bible indicates Israel will find one of the world’s largest oil and gas fields before the Messiah returns.

At this particular time, we may find it hard to believe but, some think Iraq could emerge as an oil superpower rivaling Sandi Arabia. Iraq will someday see a political and economic renaissance unparalleled in the history of the world. The people of Iraq will experience a level of personal and national wealth and power that no one would ever dreamed possible with what is going on now. In Revelation 18 the city of Babylon is described as a great city and a center of extravagant luxury. However, Scripture is very clear that Iraq could one day be the headquarters for the Antichrist who will set up his base in Babylon. That is when another war will be against Israel at Armageddon. If this is all true, it appears there will be a number of years before the end-time.

As we begin to discuss the War of Gog and Magog many interpret Gog to mean the Czar or head of Russia and Magog Russia. Ezekiel 38:8 -“After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations.

We know that Magog is a country due north of Israel. It could be Syria, Turkey, Ukraine or, as we believe, Russia. It is believed that Magog was a man that settled in Russia told in Genesis 10:I – 3 -“This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood. The Japhethites, the sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.” Based on historical evidence and Jewish scholars we conclude that Magog is Russia.

God tells us He will cause (Magog) Russia and (Persia) Iran to invade Israel. Ezekiel 38:4 -“I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army- horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them your brandishing their swords.” Scripture continues with Ezekiel 38:9 – “You and all your troops and the many nations (we believe ten nations) with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.”

American intelligent sources state that Putin has ordered a 40% increase in Russia’s defense budget, including new fighter aircraft, new rockets and two new army divisions. Iranian past President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that he believes the end of the world is only a few years away. He also said that he believes the way to hasten the arrival of the Islamic messiah is to unleash an apocalyptic holy war against Christians and Jews. Thus, he has vowed to annihilate the U.S. and Israel and was preparing their military to accomplish just that.

Let us look at what Ezekiel reveals in verses 38:2 – 6 – “Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops-the many nations with you.” We believe Cush to be Ethiopia. Put can be Libya. Gomer can be either Turkey or Germany but believe it is Turkey. Beth Togarmah could be countries under the old USSR. Some believe it includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

As this massive army approach Israel we read Ezekiel 39:2 & 4 -“I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals.” The mountains of Israel are on the border with Syria, Lebanon and northern Jordan or the Golan Heights. Since the Russian-Iranian coalition described by Ezekiel is coming from the north we might expect Syria and Lebanon to participate. Russia is described as the leader of the newly formed army with Iran being mentioned as an equal. The other nations are predominantly Islamic or have high percentages of Muslim citizens.

Based on information from Ezekiel, Russia’s influence will continue to increase among the Islamic world and decrease against NATO as the war against Israel nears. Putin has been co-operating and supporting almost every middle-eastern Islamic nation to the detriment of the United Nations and the U.S.’s resolve to boycott Iran and force the closing of its nuclear facilities. Despite international efforts to isolate Palestine’s Hamas party, Putin is supporting them. Putin has aggressively and systematic built alliances with the countries specifically cited in Ezekiel 38 & 39. We need to watch as efforts intensify as to the time of Ezekiel’s vision comes to fulfillment.

This is not the first time Russia has tried to strike Israel. They were on the brink of war in 1973 when the U.S. mobilized forces to counteract any attack the Russians planned on Israel. It was well known that the Soviet Union had supplied all of the ammunition, intelligence and military training to help the Arab and Islamic coalition destroy Israel. It happened once before in 1967 war. Under President Lyndon Johnson we kept Russia from launching forces against Israel.

As we now look at what transpires during the War of Gog and Magog and how the nations of the world will be affected. Ezekiel 38:9 -“You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.” Nowhere does Scripture indicate any nation assists Israel against the massive army as it approaches. We see Israel standing alone on the brink of extinction as many predict another holocaust.

It is possible from Scripture that Israel could launch a massive, preemptive nuclear strike against Moscow, Tehran, Damascus, Tripoli and other enemy cites despite the fact that Russia would unleash her nuclear missiles leaving no one standing on either side. The intelligence Ezekiel provides clearly indicates that God himself will go to war on behalf of Israel and against her enemies, with devastating results as we read in Ezekiel 38:18 – 20 – “This is what will happen in that day: ‘When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground.” It is difficult to understand what it means that all people will tremble at my presence. But know what happens to the Russian-Iranian armies. Ezekiel 38:22 – “I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.” It appears they may experience another Sodom and Gomorrah hailstorm. The devastation will be immense according to Ezekiel 39:12 -“For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.”

Ezekiel’s prophecy raises many questions. Will all of Russia be supernaturally destroyed? How about the other nations? We understand Ezekiel to write that the devastation will be like something the world has never witnessed before. Undoubtedly it will bring to an end their political and spiritual systems. There have been times in history when God has used supernatural means to shake up and wake up people to have a personal relationship with Him. I Timothy 2:3 & 4 tells us -“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” Again in 2 Peter 3:9 -“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Some believe widespread atheism and secularism will change overnight in the Jewish world in light of the supernatural protection of Israel. We shall also see an unprecedented resurgence of religious expression among Israelis and among Jews worldwide. Many Jews will become united around rebuilding the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:2 – “In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it.” Daniel, Micah, Paul, John and Christ confirm this. Security experts now believe that the Temple Mount is the most dangerous square mile on the planet.

The war of which Ezekiel wrote will precede the appearing of the Messiah’s return to earth the second time. Matthew 23:39 -“For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'” Until the church and the Jewish people turn to Christ in dramatic numbers and get excited about His Second Coming. Jesus said he would delay His return.

The War of Gog and Magog will bring about a shattering of radical Islam that will trigger a spiritual crisis for Muslims around the world. As they see the hand of God defending Israel, their faith will be shaken. Muslims will hear Christians explaining what happened and why. I asked near the beginning why we should be concerned in Las Vegas. Think of the response the church will encounter? Acts 2:17 & 18 – 1n the last days, God says,’ I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy your young men will see visions; your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.'”

One of the most dramatic stories unfolding in the Middle East that you won’t read in the main stream press is the explosion of Christianity inside Iran. In 1979 a survey of Christian Demographic Trends reported about 500 Muslims who had converted to Christ. Today they estimate approximately 220,000. It is believed after the destruction of the Russian and Iranian armies churches will be overflowing around the world as masses turn to Jesus Christ and the church for wisdom and comfort amid such cataclysmic events.

Ezekiel’s war is not the end it is only the beginning. This will lead to the rise of the Antichrist and a seven-year period described in the Book of Revelation as the worst seven years in the history of mankind. The Antichrist will want to take over all of the oil-rich countries of the Middle East. However, the nations of Asia will desire these countries just as much. We then proceed to the Battle of Armageddon with Israel again the center of attention.

Over 27 years I have assisted people in planning for their financial futures. For 18 years, I had given between two and four seminars, a year on budgeting for retirement to the Metro police department. If you are depending on the government, city, county or national you may be sorry if they run out of money. I have learned over the years that most people are more concerned about the here and now than about their future. Most people are not financially prepared when it comes to retirement. Over the years we have witnessed and read where people who had well-paying jobs, yet lived from payday to payday. When it came time for retirement they had mostly, just what Social Security paid. You cannot, in the last five years of working, adequately prepare for 20 to 30 years in retirement. When it is too late, we are told they are sorry they did not take the time and the discipline to save for their later years. When they did not plan adequately, they often wonder what they can do now?

The same is true when it comes to preparing for their spiritual futures. I am not sure what the heavenly rewards are for deathbed conversions. Matthew 6:19 – 21 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be.”

How can we store up all kinds of treasures unless we become Disciples of Christ? To become Disciples, Christ told us what we must do in Mark 8:34 – 36 – “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

We must practice self-denial. We are asked to control our desires for material things that distract us from our relationship with Christ. For example, money can be the “root” of evil. Our carnal nature and lusts and pleasures of the body, is to be self-centered. We must become spiritual and God-centered.

Take up our cross is asking us to be willing to suffer for Christ. We are to identify with Christ whenever we are faced with social or political correctness. It means a willingness to obey God’s Word no matter what the consequences.

We are told to follow Jesus. That requires that we humble ourselves and become submissive to His teaching. For us to save our souls we must be willing to give our life and worldly goals for God-centered goals and desires. What good would it be if on earth we had wealth, power and fame and yet failed to live in eternity? What we will have, once Christ returns to take control, will be far greater than anything that Satan can promise us here and now.

We must ask ourselves: “What are we willing to exchange for our soul as some people have?” Is pleasure, possessions, position or power worth sacrificing one’s soul? There is nothing that can buy back a lost soul and I don’t believe in paying one’s way out of Purgatory. We must be more willing to pursue God than pursuing the world’s pleasure. Jesus wants us to stop controlling our own destiny and let the Holy Spirit direct us. This means we must give up control of our worldly ways and be submissive to God’s ways.

Many people spend their time and energy looking for pleasure. However, we must be aware that a world full of pleasures, possessions, and position is ultimately worthless when one dies. What we gained was only temporary.

We have used the ten, ten example and live on 80% of what we earn. Ten percent is given to the local church. Ten percent goes to our future. The rest is what we have to live on. If you do an adequate job of saving and start at an early age, you should be able to give much more than ten percent to God’s ministry.

Too many Christians want to be saved and go to heaven, but they are not willing to become a Disciple. There are too few willing to give their soul or life for Christ. They fail to plan financially for retirement and they fail to place treasures in heaven. Many have become deceived by Satan as to how much they will miss here on earth if they become Christ’s Disciples.

Chances of becoming a Christ’s Disciple without a plan for the future, the odds are against it. But you have a choice. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Become a Disciple and live forever. Reject Christ and perish into fire and brimstone. Eighty or ninety years on earth verses “forever”! Are those earth years worth forever in eternity?

Christians, we must realize there is a war going on between God’s people and the followers of Lucifer or Satan. Our constitution and Bill of Rights, determined by our founding fathers, were intended to provide a nation that provided freedom and an economic system that gives opportunities to everyone willing to work for success. It appears there is a large group who receive their marching orders from the devil who wants to take away our individual freedoms.

The Bible continually describes evil people that were possessed by evil spirits. Some rulers and nations described in the Old Testament became so evil and inhumane that God used other nations to destroy them. Every nation has those types of people existing in every form of life. The beheading of persons in Iraq is pure evil. Iraqi Christians were told to leave, pay a high tax or die. Revelation 20:4 – “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

There are three types of people: those filled with the Holy Spirit, those who are not possessed and those that are possessed by an evil spirit. The one’s we must recognize as being potentially possessed by evil can be our neighbors, movie stars, athletes, teachers, doctors, in the church, business owners and politicians to name a few. Most of us would not want to consider anyone evil but they exist today as they did in Bible times. What about Hitler or Jim Jones and the Guyana massacre? There are millions of possessed people by the fallen angels that were ousted from heaven with Satan.

Previously, I wrote about Nimrod and the Tower of Babel. Nimrod wanted to be like God and wanted to build a stairway to heaven. He wanted a one-world government with him in charge and he had the knowledge and ability to make it happen. Otherwise, God would not have caused the people to talk in new languages and scatter them throughout the world. Genesis 11:9 – “That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

Many Christians do not consider how active Satan is in the world. Lucifer wants to control Israel, America and the world. If he can destroy Israel and America he believes he can deny that God exists and can take over the world. I believe his plan is to change our independence as a nation, change America spiritually, economically and downsize our military. He has been using people to take God out of our education system and government. He has our politicians building our debt to the point it cripples our free-enterprise and capitalistic economic system. We know what is happening to our military.

I recently read, in two different articles, that 70% to 90% of children from Christian homes reject their faith by the time they reach college. Our schools are indoctrinating our children into believing America has made a great deal of mistakes in the world and have taken advantages of others. Its economic system needs to be changed as the rich have taken advantage of the poor in America and world-wide.

Van Jones, President Obama’s previous Czar, believes in revolution and wants a new system. It is documented that he has said they have a plan to overthrow our present American system.

Christianity must be attacked so government can make laws that the Bible calls anti God and sinful. Attacking Christianity also results in attacks on Christians. Therefore, the government has enacted laws keeping Christians in check. A wedding photographer and a Christian councilor have been penalized and sued for refusing to provide their services to same-sex couples. It may not be too long before Christians will have to choose whether to obey anti-Christian government laws or obeying God’s laws. Under socialism, freedoms will be limited.

Politicians have allowed lobbyists of large international companies, with campaign contributions to both Republicans and Democrats, to allow immigrants to enter to supply cheap labor. Ultimately, many illegal immigrants become dependent on a socialistic system and reliant on a big government. This will not be of any benefit to the middle class. If something is not done, America may end up looking like Detroit. The ultimate goal of a number of politicians is to form a one-world-government. Who do you think is originating and promoting this plan besides Lucifer?

Luke 22:3 – “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.” Judas was the one that betrayed Jesus to the chief priests for money. Who else has Satan entered; are others possessed with a demon? In a previous blog, I listed the names of some well-known stars who admit to being followers of Lucifer. There were 44 young successful stars, in all walks of life, who all died at the age of 27 that possibly could have sold their souls to the devil.

Are you likely to find the devil in churches? If Scripture says he or his demons are everywhere, then they must also be in the church. He is there to cause trouble, divide Christians and make Christians powerless. If you are not aware of the devil being in the church, you may not be involved enough. Because of my job and being transferred I have been a member of a number of churches. The devil is there and he causes a lot of disharmony!

II Corinthians 4:4 – “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” It is not just the unbelievers; he is out to deceive everyone. II Corinthians 11:14 – “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. “

I hope you are aware that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. Knowing this, would we not have been more careful in how we live? Do you now realize how important it is to allow the Holy Spirit to constantly guide you in making decisions? The devil will try anything to deceive us into rejecting what we know is the right thing to do. However, if we are a Christian that has not studied the Bible, it may be easy to be led astray. Be aware: you will be attacked by evil almost daily. Are you prepared to handle it?

A church of 450 people in Las Vegas, NV affects the lives of over 100,000 people for Christ. Saturday August 9, 2014 I opened the Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper and there is a full page article about our sister church, Canyon Ridge Christian Church. They are interviewing senior pastor Kevin Oder about their growth and the outreach of their church. On special occasions, their attendance will exceed 15,000. Pastor Oder states that: “Rather than luring churchgoers away from other congregations, we were trying to go after people who weren’t going to church at all. And that is still the heartbeat of our church.”

Since I started writing blogs in 2009, I have never felt more led than to retell the story about the miracles that have occurred, over the years, at Central Christian Church. I do not know how to tell it without relating it through what I witnessed. I have been blessed to see my bi-weekly blogs being picked up by Goggle and others and being read by people from many different countries world-wide. This blog, hopefully, is to encourage those who have not heard the story previously.

In 1974, I was transferred to Las Vegas. This was my ninth transfer and as a result I have been a member of twelve different small churches. In 1981, things were not going well in our church, at that time, and I felt led to visit others church in order to make a change. Two of my friends were going to Central Christian Church. I attended and it resulted in my family transferring and attending.

After about three months, I believed it was the most traditional and legalistic church I had become a part in. They were good at telling people what they couldn’t do and had placed God in a box. I thought about returning to the denominational church that we had left and my wife had been a member all of her life. I happened to pick up a magazine about churches around America. It shared a story of a small women’s Bible group on the East Coast that prayed for a spiritual revival in America. It spread across America in the 1800’s to become one of the biggest spiritual out breaks in America ever. It was like the Holy Spirit was telling me: “This is going to happen in this church. This is where you need to stay.” No one would ever expect a spiritual revival to come out of Sin City. As a result, people will know that there is a God. If it can happen in Las Vegas, God can make it happen anywhere.

In 1983, I was elected to the church board and we continually prayed for a vision from God as to what He wanted our church to become and to do. He wanted us to concentrate on seeking those who were not going to a church and most had never attended, regularly, anywhere before. It was apparent God wanted us to make a difference in the lives of Las Vegas people who were working in an “Anything Goes, city”. God loves everyone and many were lost and had never heard the Gospel preached. How could they be saved unless Christians cared and reached out to them in love. This became the mission of our church. If we were called as missionaries to a foreign country, how would we reach the unchurched? Las Vegas became our mission field and we, as a church, changed completely to a church geared to reach the lost as Canyon Ridge church had stated in the newspaper article.

Our church was rapidly growing and many were attending from the other side of town. We decided to bring in a minster to plant a church in northwest Las Vegas. We wanted that person to spend time at Central and learn what we were doing so that church would do likewise. We selected Mike Breaux and in 1993 the second church was established and later became Canyon Ridge. A few years later Canyon Ridge and Central sponsored another church in 2000, The Crossing, in the southwest part of Las Vegas and Shane Philip as their senior pastor. On special occasions, attendance in the three churches plus satellite churches will be approximately 70,000. When you count the 50,000 conversions that Central Christian Church alone has had over the years, plus those attending all of the churches and satellites that were sponsored by that small church of 450, you come up with a figure of over 100,000 lives have been affected for Christ since that little church started its outreach program.

John 7:24 – “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” John 14:6 – “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Genesis 18:14(a) – “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” John 13:35 – “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I Thessalonians 5:17 – “pray continually” I John 5:14 – “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” John 14:23 – 26 – “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”

I spent 20 years on Central’s church board. I could write pages of impossible situations, such as not having the money to relocate and yet seeing God making it all happen. But I want to write about what God wants to do in the lives of each of us. The Bible repeatedly tells us God loves us and wants what is best for us. He tells us if we have enough faith we can move mountains and I have seen Him moving mountains for a small church in Las Vegas from the very beginning. Personally, God has taken care of every need I have had. He has blessed my family beyond anything I would ever have expected. It is not because of anything we have done, other than allow God to increase our faith exponentially by seeing what He has done for our church and its members.

We have seen miraculous healing of individuals. We have seen those with addictions have a radical change in their lifestyle and become a new person. We have witnessed people from a sinful city and all walks of life and immorality; make a commitment to serve Christ, as Lord. Faith comes from hearing and reading the Word. It takes faith in Christ and belief that we have been forgiven that makes us a new person. However, it is a process. There is more to living a Christian life than just being saved. We must allow the Holy Spirit to direct our lives. We must give up being boss and let Christ become our Lord and allow Him to challenge us to a new way of living. It is then we can start accepting that the promises God has given in Scripture will apply to us. God does tell us He will meet our needs. He will—just believe!

As we enter the end times we are told repeatedly not to become deceived by what we hear. If you do not believe the end times are approaching turn on your TV and listen to the latest news. Wars and rumors of wars, Ebola outbreak, draughts and food shortages and increased earthquakes are happening as the Bible predicts. Russia and Iran are working together militarily to fulfill Ezekiel’s prophecy in chapters 37 thru 39.

Galatians 1:6 – 9 – “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”

Paul says there are characteristics of false teachers: They are children of the devil, they are deceitful, they are perverters of the gospel and they are enemies of righteousness. Many times Satan and demons do deceptive work through religious leaders and others. As Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

When Paul left the Galatians’ church, they were sound doctrinally. It did not take long until they started listening to religious leaders that were teaching a different gospel. They were teaching that you must work your way to heaven as a number of denominations teach today. As a result the church was becoming very legalistic. There were a number of things they had to do and things they could not do before and after salvation. It isn’t unusual for those who become saved to want a list of the do’s and don’ts of living a Christian life.

Throughout Jewish history, priests and prophets compromised God’s truth and would follow idolatry and pagan practices. False teachers, claiming to preach the gospel, were most successful at deceiving the early church. Even today, we hear false teachers in the church who turn Biblical theology into various forms of modernism and liberalism. However, the most damaging to Christians is false doctrine.

You may hear religious leaders claim they have received a message from God. They preach that some Christian ministers are making salvation too easy and they are only doing it to win them to the church. They claim they water down Christianity so that they can win popular support for their ministry. They criticize, growing churches who are teaching the Bible, that they only preach what people want to hear.

In the Old Testament, the Jewish religious leaders were fanatical in their desire to keep every minute detail of the law. They had 613 laws that they believed everyone had to follow. This is the difference between legalism and grace.

We were discussing, how do we know when we are hearing the truth whether it be a preacher or a politician? Any more, it is hard to know who or what to believe because there are those who are continually trying to deceive us? The Apostle Paul in his writings makes it very clear. You can tell what a Christian is saying is truthful or deceiving by one’s character. By their fruits you will know them. Paul is talking about the fruits of the Spirit as given in Galatians 5:22 – 23. Do you see in them love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? I see very few politicians that I believe live by Christian principles and possess fruits given by the Holy Spirit. If a person says they are a Christian, the Holy Spirit will produce the fruits of the Spirit in one’s life and the Holy Spirit never fails to do this. The fruits of the Spirit may also be an indicator of one’s salvation. You may count on seeing these fruits as an outward expression of Christ dwelling in the life of a believer.

John 15:13 – “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Christ did this for believers. This kind of love comes from the Holy Spirit within us. This is a love that wants to unite us and not divide us. True peace comes from obedience to God. Peace is more than freedom from strife. It means justice between people. When any person, a minister or a politician tell you they are a Christian, you can know how to spot who is telling the truth and not be deceived. Do you see the fruits of the Spirit evident in their lives? If not, chances are they are only professing to be a Christian. Then what they say could be coming from a spirit masquerading as an angel of light.

This is not saying that anyone who does not possess the fruits of the Spirit is demon possessed. Hopefully, it is pointing out who you can recognize that are professing to be a Christian and using it to deceive others. This could be a salesperson using Christianity and trying to sell you something, such as the Brooklyn Bridge. A person’s character will tell us a lot about who they are inside. Do they follow Christ or the world’s ways? The world’s ways are apt to deceive! Be aware!

How many times have we read that a large number of Christians will reject the gospel and rebel against God prior to the end times? Many theologians have different theories as to what this really means.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 – 12 – “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

It is believed that a number of Christians will reject their faith and accept another gospel. There are some church leaders who believe in merging with those whose religion is Islam. It is called Chrislam and they are trying to say Christians and Muslims are all worshipping the same God. It is a world-wide movement headed toward the teaching of the false prophet and the Antichrist. Because of their rejection of the gospel, Scripture says that “God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.”

Matthew 7:21 – 23 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Hebrews 6:4 – 6 – “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

This is where a debate occurs. Some believe the author is talking about a person who has received salvation and has fallen away. Others believe these are people who have never received salvation though they have shared in the Holy Spirit. Once you have been enlightened and understand New Testament teaching and know spiritual and Biblical truths and either reject or disbelieve the teachings you are cutting yourself off from God’s forgiveness. It would be better for them not having known the way of righteousness than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. II Peter 2:21.

It is believed the heavenly gift is salvation. Some believed it was only tasted, meaning sampled but not accepted. Others wondered how can you taste the Spirit without accepting the Spirit. Some believe they may have shared in the Holy Spirit which could mean they were around the Holy Spirit and saw the Spirit’s saving grace but they never accepted. Or, once they had accepted the Holy Spirit, the Spirit was quenched by their lack of faith and disobedience.

People in the church who are knowledgeable and continue to resist making a commitment and totally surrendering one’s self to Christ can become immune to salvation. Our spiritual system becomes more and more unresponsive and insensitive and we lose the opportunity for salvation.

Titus 1:15 – 16 – “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”

Paul writes to Timothy that the human mind and body had to be rigorously disciplined to achieve spiritual maturity. I believe too many have accepted Christ but have never repented of their sins and continue to live life without change. Christ says even though you may have prophesied in His name, drive out demons in His name and perform many miracles that does not mean Christ will accept us into His Kingdom.

Paul further states that we are to follow his example in living a Christian life as he has followed Christ’s example. Paul practiced daily the things Christ taught and practiced. How many of us have followed their examples? Christ trained himself to depend on God. Paul lived daily as Christ did. Most Christians have no intentions of making a radical change in how they live, once saved. God knew we could not make the changes He required without the Holy Spirits help. Christians must determine whether they actually received the Holy Spirit.

We have repeatedly written that the Bible says that God made man in His image and likeness. He made us with a spirit and gave us a body to do what the Holy Spirit directed. Sin caused man to reject the spirit’s control and allowed the urges and lusts of the body to direct our behavior. Many who accept Christ as Savior are unwilling to reject the pleasures that the body desires. It is necessary to follow Christ’s example. The people who overcome the body’s control and makes the dramatic change back to spirit control, which is connected to the Holy Spirit and to God are Christians Christ and God want to work with in eternity.

Therefore, there will be many who will follow different religious leaders with a pagan gospel or other religions denying the teaching of Christ. Those are Christians that the Bible says will fall away or backslide. May I suggest that you study your Bible so that no one can lead you away from the teachings of Christ?

Man was made in the image and likeness of God. God is a Spirit and man was a spirit given a physical body to hold that spirit. He was created without sin. Adam was filled with love and God’s Spirit was in him and connected to his spirit. God made him pure, as God is pure. He did not know evil. He loved God with his mind, soul and strength. Man had complete confidence because Adam could not love God and others unless he first loved himself. Later we learned that it was selfishness that was a distortion of love and a sin.

When man was created, God gave him dominion over all the earth and gave him the talents and abilities to govern the earth and all living things in it. He was to live with the right relationship to God and other humans. In God’s likeness, humans were given the power to be God’s co-workers and be a part of God’s overall plan for the universe.

Adam and Eve were not to eat of the fruit from the tree in the midst of the garden. They were told: If you do, you shall surely die. As a result of their disobedience, they became separate and disconnected from God’s Spirit and they fled in fear from the Lord’s presence. They lost their image and likeness of God by being disconnected and received the likeness of the devil with sensual desires and appetites. Instead of their minds being controlled by their spirit and connected to God’s Spirit, it became the body that controlled the mind.

As a result of the body controlling man, the Old Testament describes the evil that existed, beginning with Adam’s sons and it increased until man was so evil that God destroyed them with the flood. It wasn’t many years after the flood that man continued his evil ways. Man lived separated from God and in rebellion. Ancient philosophers use to say, if God had not hidden from humans the glory of their own soul, they could be overwhelmed with pride. Remember when Nimrod and his followers were building the Tower of Babel, God said let’s change their language or nothing they do will be impossible. Man’s abilities were unlimited but Satan’s tempting man to fall, caused fear to impair man’s potential that God created man to have, in order for man to have dominion over the earth.

It was not until Christ’s resurrection that man was able to again receive the Holy Spirit. There were times in the Old Testament that the Holy Spirit was on a person but not in them. God’s plan, once Christ explained man’s purpose, were we able to obtain a shadow of God in his image and likeness. I John 3:2 – “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.” At that time I believe we will be as Adam and Eve prior to the fall and no longer just a shadow of God but as a child of God.

God knew prior to the creation of man what the future would be like. Once man fell God planned to send His Son for the salvation of man, with a plan to once again place His Spirit into the lives of one who would accept Christ as His Savor. We believe it was God’s plan to allow man to once again have the image and likeness of God.

Matthew 16:24 – 26 – “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
As we have previously stated and let me repeat, it was man’s spirit that controlled the mind and his behavior. Once man fell from grace, it was the body that controlled the mind of man. Christ tells us we must die out to the body’s control and let God, through His Spirit, control how we live. We must stop allowing the old man or carnal nature to control who we are and become a new man living as God has always intended.

I recently talked with a person who was having problems at work. It was a big project he was directing and it affected a number of people. Those doing the installation told him what should be done to make the change. He told me he had a “gut feeling” it would not work and it didn’t. Too often those “gut feelings” is the Holy Spirit giving us guidance and direction. We must learn that Christians have an advantage having God’s Spirit connected to our spirit giving us information and we not recognizing it. Should we not, as Christian expect what Scripture promises; that the Holy Spirit is given to us to help us live our lives with God’s help?

Colossians 3:9 – 10 – “ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

A Christian may ask: How can I stop doing what I have done much of my life? Paul said they must get rid of the old ways and start a new life as taught by Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit. It is a process but, each day the likeness of Christ can be reproduced into a believer’s life. We have been told that our minds must be renewed and our bodies must stop controlling. How do we stop the flesh and our carnal nature from tempting us? Without the Holy Spirit we can’t. When Scripture says we must die out to self. It means stop the lusts and appetites of the body from controlling. We have been given free moral agency and can make any decision we wish. God wants us to allow our spirit to be guided by His Spirit in making our decisions and living our lives. Do you have the discipline and the love for God to make it happen?

Luke 9:23 – “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Deny themselves and give up your body, (with its lusts and sinful ways) being in control and allow your spirit, connected to God, to control your mind’s urges and actions. Take up their cross by believing every day, I am the Messiah and can forgive your sins and change your life’s direction. Then follow me and live by Christ’s example. This is how God meant for you to be as His image and likeness. This is how we become a shadow of God.

Many feel they cannot live the life expected of a Christian. Are you filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? What if you found the secret to living as Jesus taught?

Isaiah 59:2 “ It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.” Before salvation we were separated from God. We were dead spiritually because of our sins. The Holy Spirit convicted us and we realized that we were a sinner. We then confessed our sins and were willing to repent so that we could have the Holy Spirit come into our lives and change our direction. Christ atoned for our sins and we were given a new life, in Christ, to live as a different person. Our old person and nature was to die out to our self-centeredness and selfishness and surrender to the Holy Spirit within us.

We became confident that we were going to heaven but we still were living in a world that promotes sin. Even though we had a new nature and a new attitude, we continued to want to do many things the world says was okay to do but we knew from Scripture that they were wrong. This is what we must continually deal with. We must ask ourselves: How did Jesus deal with it?

Our struggles living a Christian life can lessen when we realize that the Holy Spirit comes into our lives to help us live as Christ lived. We learn this in Galatians 2:20 – “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” If the Spirit of Christ lives in us we must allow Him to live through us. This is what it means to surrender to our self-centered nature.

John 3:34 – “For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.” Christ was given the Spirit without limit. I believe the more we live a Christian life, (it is not about what we must do), but the willingness to allow Christ to work through us; and the more we allow the Spirit to control, the greater Spiritual power we will have. We shall then be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

How difficult it is for many to give up control and let Christ work in and through them. Is our mind our master or our servant? The Holy Spirit is trying to make our minds our servants. If we do, we will think morally and make moral decisions. Our mind determines our attitudes. We can choose to be positive or negative. If our mind is our servant, we will have a servant’s heart and a heart that is forgiving and loving. If our mind remains our master, we will find living a Christian life too often miserable.

We were created to worship God. However, we can replace God with idols. Often Christians make other people their model and idol. That created need to worship is to make someone as our model for living. Who do we chose? Have we chosen Christ and do we honor Him? Sin is to dishonor as in the Ten Commandments. We are to honor God and our parents and not to, is a sin. In fact, our future depends on whom we honor.

Struggles living a Christian life come when we are unwilling to allow Christ to live through us. It results often, in an unwillingness to trust God. It can also be a lack of faith that God will keep His promises. We must believe that God wants what is best for us. Where is God in our priorities? If He is not first, we have not died out to self and were never able to give up control to the Holy Spirit who is in us to help guide us.

I John 3:9 – 10 – “Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.”