Thursday, May 31, 2012

TESTING THE SPIRITS



by Molly Noble Bull
www.mollynoblebull.com

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Hi, I'm Molly. 
Recently, I received an email message from what I assumed was a Christian ministry, urging me to click at the end of the message to receive a free Kindle e-book on Bible prophecy. Since I happen to love reading books on Bible Prophecy, I clicked only to discover that I really had to pay ninety-nine cents to get the e-book. The book was titled 2008 God’s Final Witness by Ronald Weinland.
I bought it.
But after reading only one chapter, I put it down and won’t be reading more.
Why? Ronald Weinland claims to be one of the two witnesses mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Then I heard a video, stating that Ronald sets dates. According to the video, Ronald Weinland predicted that something really big was to happen on May 27, 2012—the return of Jesus or something. Today is May 30th.  
After discarding the book, I did an Internet search of people who claim to be one of the two witnesses mentioned in the Book of Revelation, and to my surprise, I found several. One of the guys said he once thought he was one of the two witnesses but didn’t believe that anymore. He said he tried to get his false witness information off the Internet but without success. He also mentioned having a nervous breakdown. Maybe Satan doesn’t like it when false prophets learn the truth that sets men free.
I hope folks who make terrible mistakes like this remember that if they truly repent of all their sins, they can be forgiven. 
Someday, the real two witnesses will appear on the scene, but I don’t think they will be writing books on Bible prophecy or setting dates for when Jesus will come again. I think they will do what the Bibles states that they will do.
I also did a web search of Ronald Weinland, and according to what I read, his wife is the other witness. Years ago, a man and his wife claimed to be the two witnesses, and they called themselves The Two. They were deceived, but I am not sure they ever followed the Lord.
Click below to hear a video from Jerusalem on False Prophets. Ronald Weinland is one of the false prophets mentioned in the video. 
As Christians, we want to believe that when a message filters through our minds that the message came from the Lord. Yet we are told in the Bible to test the spirits. I wonder how many Christians actually do that.
God does speak to Believers, and the Bible says that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord. To think ones spiritual message didn’t come from the Lord seems disrespectful; so many fail to test the spirits as scripture says to do. As a result, many accept as truth whatever they hear in their heads.
But do our thoughts agree with scripture? Can we be deceived? Should we disregard God’s warning to test the spirits on a whim? If God didn’t want us to test the spirits, why did He tell us in His Word to do it? 
The Bible is the only sure and true anchor we have. Yet some religions base their doctrines on books other than the Bible, and we have to wonder how these “other gospels” came to be. Did a spirit much like the one who spoke to Ronald Weinland also speak to the authors? Did a lying spirit encourage them to write these books?
1 John 4:1 says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1 John 4: 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1 John 4: 3. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world
Also read 2 John 1:7.
I think it is possible that if a person asked Ronald Weinland if Jesus came in the flesh, he would say yes. Maybe the reason Weinland and others don’t test the spirits is because nobody ever told them how to do it.
The Lord is the Spirit of Truth. Clearly, the spirit that contacted Ronald Weinland was not the Holy Spirit. Had Ronald tested the spirits as the Bible says to do, perhaps he would have known he wasn’t talking to God.
I don’t know exactly how to test the spirits either. I can only give my opinion. But if such a voice spoke to me, I hope I would boldly say, “Did Jesus come in the flesh?” 
If nobody answered, I would assume I wasn’t talking to the Lord, and I would end the conversation. 
If the “so called” voice or spirit simply said, “Yes,” instead of giving a complete answer, I would become suspicious. Therefore, I would probably say something like, “The Bible says that every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. So please answer my question in a complete sentence. Did Jesus come in the flesh?” 
I believe the Holy Spirit would answer that question in a complete sentence as requested. If not, I would end the conversation without hesitation.
Some of the scriptures below mention lying spirits.
1 Kings 22: 19 says, And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.  
1 Kings 22: 20. Who shall persuade Ahad, that he may go up and fall at Ramouth-gil-e-ad? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
1 Kings 22: 21. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
1 Kings 22: 22. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said. I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets, and he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1 Kings 22: 23. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.
Others scriptures listed below not only mention lying spirits but deal with those who consult spirits of the dead. I think everyone who reads this article should look up the Bible verses listed below and study them carefully.  
Leviticus 19: 31 and 20: 6, 27; Deuteronomy 18: 19-22; 1 Kings 22:1-28; 2 Chronicles 18: 21; Jeremiah 14: 13-16 and 23: 9-40 and 29: 20-32; Ezekiel chapter 13 and 14. 
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You might enjoy reading Molly's newest book, The Overcomers: Christian Authors Who Conquered Learning Disabilities. To find it at online or at walk-in bookstores, write Molly Noble Bull in the search slot. 

   
    


Sunday, May 27, 2012

IN SEARCH OF THE RED HEIFER


                                 
by Molly Noble Bull


Sometimes articles are worth seeing again. This is one of those times.

Cattle come in many sizes, colors and breeds. Some are bulls; some are cows. Some are calves, and some are heifers. 


The dictionary states that a heifer is a young cow that has not borne a calf. As a ranch manager’s daughter, I always think of a heifer as young cow yet to be bred for the first time, in other words—a virgin. 
Moses wrote in the Book of Numbers, chapter 19, about the mysterious sacrifice of the Red Heifer. According to the Bible, this red heifer must be unblemished, without defect and one that has never been yoked. To be the Red Heifer, I understand that she must be born in Israel. Today, cattle are shipped around the world. It would not be difficult for a young heifer or an American bull to be shipped to Israel before the breeding process began.  
Click below to see a photo of a possible red heifer born in Israel and learn more about these interesting Bible facts.
In 1920 the Santa Gertrudis breed of beef cattle was formed on the famous King Ranch when an exceptional bull by the name of Monkey was used in cross breeding Brahma and the Shorthorn cattle. The result was the beautiful, deep red, Santa Gertrudis breed of beef cattle. Could one of these females one day become the Red Heifer mentioned in the Bible? The cattle in the photo above are a mixture of several breeds, but the all red cattle are Santa Gertrudis cattle. 


Only God knows the outcome of all this. But Santa Gertrudis cattle sure do look like the red heifer bred in Israel.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Whose Review Should You Let Stick?

A few years ago a woman read the book You Are Special, by Max Lucado to our homeschool group. Yes, this is a children’s book and we were all adults. She wasn’t recommending the story for us to read to our children. She was recommending this book for us as homeschoolers. Nyou are special coverow, I’m recommending it to writers.

As she read the story of Punchinello, I became intrigued. But by the time she finished the thirteenth page I was swallowing a lump in my throat and fighting back the tears that threatened to spill in front of my fellow homeschooling moms.

You see, You Are Special, is a story about a simple wooden man trying with all his might to be seen as good, yet somehow he continually fails. The story begins by describing a town filled with wooden people who, as the author describes, spends their day giving out gold stars (kind of like book reviewers) to the beautiful and accomplished, or gray dots to the homely and deficient. At first, I thought it sounded silly. It didn’t relate to the real world. Didn’t they go to work? People don’t really spend their entire day judging.

Or do they?

Yes, we do go to work, school or church and try to be productive in these places. But while there, we too often spend our time giving out stickers (metaphorically, of course). Or just as bad, we allow others to stick them to us.

So what choked me up on thirteenth page? It’s the one where poor Punchinello performs for his gold star, but falls short, receiving dots instead. He tries to fix the problem, only to get more gray dots. Then, he works harder, to find he’s scratched his paint, and … you guessed it … gets even more. Oh, little fella, I relate. My heart ached for this wooden man, and I must admit, for me too.

So what’s a poor, dot-covered creature to do? Does he have the power to make those marks slip away? Not one for spoilers, I’m not going to tell you. Ygold starou have to get the book. You won’t be sorry. However, I will mention the remedy also removes the gold stars.

Good for you, Max Lucado, for including this!!!

Because even the stars given by other wooden creatures are unnecessary when one has this cure.

Who is giving you gray dots and what are you going to do about them?

Serious ConnieConnie is currently a semi-finalist in the Genesis Contest for Women’s Fiction. She was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Winter 2012 WOW Flash Fiction Contest for her entry, Why Not to Kiss on a Park Bench (aka. Harold and Violet). She also writes the What’s Your Story column, interviewing debut fiction authors for the My Book Therapy Ezine. Come visit her on one of her other blogs:

Living the Body of Christ

InfiniteCharacters.com

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Childish Faith

My grandson and I talk a lot about Jesus and heaven. He’s six and curious about everything. He asks some fun and amazing questions.

“When I get to heaven can I ride a dolphin? What about a tiger?”
”Will we be afraid of the dark in heaven?”
“If I’ll know all my friends, how can I also know kids I haven’t even met?”

One of his favorite topics for riding in the car is what it will look like when Jesus comes back, especially when it’s stormy and the clouds are making interesting formations with a little sun peeking out from behind. The other day he said he couldn’t wait to get to heaven “…cause I’ll finally get to see Jesus.”

The simple faith and joy in his voice at something many Christians don’t even think about brought tears to my eyes. When is the last time we were that anxious to see Jesus? Do we want to meet him and see his face more than anything else? Jesus said if we did not become like little children we would not enter the kingdom of heaven.

This week may our wonder and curiosity about heaven and Jesus and all things glorious be stirred again within us. Let us become like little children who want nothing more than to spend time with the Lord, absorbing everything he has to teach us.

It can happen, you know. He left us His Word if we want to know his true heart. And for many, he’s lent us little ones full of questions to keep us on our toes and poring through his Word for wisdom when one of those questions is a real stumper.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING



Scriptures from the Holy Bible  

Selected by Molly Noble Bull
www.mollynoblebull.com  

Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.
He sets the time for birth and the time for death, the time for planting and the time for pulling up, the time for killing and the time for healing, the time for tearing down and the time for building.
He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy, the time for mourning and the time for dancing, the time for making love and the time for not making love, the time for kissing and the time for not kissing.
He sets the time for finding and the time for losing, the time for saving and the time for throwing away, the time for tearing and the time for mending, the time for silence and the time for talk.
He sets the time for love and the time for hate, the time for war and the time for peace.
What do we gain from all our work? I know the heavy burdens that God has laid on us. He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does. So I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive. All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for. It is God’s gift.
I know that everything God does will last forever. You can’t add anything to it or take anything from it. And one thing God does is to make us stand in awe of him. Whatever happens or can happen has already happened before. God makes the same thing happen again and again.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-14
 
 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN CAHN

New York Times Best Selling Author and Messianic Christian Rabbi


by Molly Noble Bull


Ever heard of this book?


                                            The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn

Well, you will. It’s a best selling novel based on the Bible, and it’s on the New York Times best seller list and was ranked # 8 at Amazon. Today it is # 58.
So what is all the buzz about?
An ancient mystery found in the pages of the Holy Bible—Isaiah 9: 10-11 to be exact.
Nine-eleven. Where have I heard that date before?
It’s all a mystery, and Jonathan Cahn, the author of The Harbinger, is here to tell us all about it.


Welcome, Jonathan. It’s a blessing to do the interview. We know you are an author and a Messianic Rabbi. But I sense there is a lot more about Jonathan Cahn that we don’t know. So, tell us your story.

Jonathan:
I’m from the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron.

Molly:
Levi is the priestly tribe. So you are directly descended from Aaron, the High Priest, and the nephew of Moses—many generations removed. What a blessing. Please, tell us more.

Jonathan:
My father came from Germany, fleeing from Hitler’s Third Reich when he was a teenager. My mother’s family came from Russia, escaping the pogroms of the Czar. They met while pursuing their Ph.D.s in chemistry.
My wife’s name is Renata. We have a two-year-old son named Eliel, and one more on the way.

Molly:
Thanks, Jonathan. Now, what is a harbinger and what is its mystery? And how does The Harbinger or Harbingers relate to the United States today?

Jonathan:
The Harbinger is the revelation of an ancient mystery that lies behind everything from 9/11 to the War on Terror to the Crash of Wall Street to the Great Recession. It’s a mystery so precise that it ordains the words and actions of American leaders before they say or perform them, an ancient biblical mystery that even reveals the dates and hours of the greatest stock market crashes in American history. It’s very much behind everything, and it affects everything, even the financial future of everyone reading this.

Molly:
Wow!

Jonathan:
In the last days of ancient Israel, nine harbingers, signs or foreshadows of judgment, appeared in the land. Each one was a warning, a warning of danger, or a call for the nation to return to God and avoid destruction. The book reveals that those same harbingers are now appearing on American soil, identifying America as the nation now in danger of judgment. Some have appeared in New York City. Others have appeared in Washington, D.C. Some have even involved American leaders, even the highest leaders of the nation, even the president of the United States. Each harbinger contains a mystery and a warning concerning the future of America.
In the last days of ancient Israel, the event that begins the appearances of the harbingers is an enemy strike into the land, a temporary lifting of the nation’s hedge of protection followed by a period of grace in which the nation either returns to God or progresses to judgment. The same pattern was followed in the judgment and destruction of the southern kingdoms of Judah. With America, the attack came on September 11, 2001.

Molly:
So what will this mean for our nation?

Jonathan:
In the wake of that attack, America has been replaying the ancient judgment drama of Israel’s last days—and the harbingers have begun to reappear in eerily precise manifestations. The harbingers revealed in the book which have appeared in America include the Stone Judgment, the Sign of the Sycamore, the Tower, the Utterance, and the Prophecy, to name a few.

Molly:
Have all of them been fulfilled? If not, when can we expect the next one?

Jonathan:
On one hand, the nine harbingers have appeared. But on the other hand, they haven’t been fulfilled, in that the mystery or ramifications continue.
The book reveals that 9/11 was only the beginning. The harbingers are behind everything, even up to the present day. It may seem like something out of a movie.

Molly:
It does.

Jonathan:
But the mysteries of the harbinger touch everything from the rise and fall of the credit markets, the housing markets, unemployment, the actions of the U.S. Treasury, the triggering of the Great Recession, the collapse of Wall Street, the future of America as a superpower, the end of the age as we know it.

Molly:
The end of the age as we know it. Wow!
This is frightening, yet so interesting. I’ve read your book and heard several of your TV interviews—first on Sid Roth and then on Prophecy in the News. I wrote to Prophecy in the News after your first interview and asked them to forward a message to you, requesting this interview. And here you are. What a blessing. Your life and Christian walk are amazing.
So, how did a nice Jewish boy become a Messianic Christian Rabbi? How and when did the Lord touch your heart?

Jonathan:
I was raised in a Reform Jewish home. When I was 8 years old, I questioned it all and became an atheist.
When I was 12, I began questioning my atheism. That began a search for truth involving my reading everything from science to religion to the occult to UFO books.

Molly:
Our paths to finding the Lord are so similar. I also read books on the occult and on Unidentified Flying Objects before I found the Lord. Was there a book that you read that finally turned you toward the Lord?

Jonathan:
It turned out to be The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey—about biblical prophecy coming true in our day. It was enough to turn my course.
From there I began to search the Scriptures, seeing that the Messiah of the Hebrews Scriptures had to be born in Bethlehem, die for sin, become the light of the Gentiles. Though I believed intellectually, I was still not ready to follow the Lord. But when I was 19 years old, I was hit by a locomotive-train.

Molly:
Praise the Lord. You clearly survived.

Jonathan:
That was enough to convince me to get right with God. And so I did. I gave my life to the Lord on my 20th birthday.
The Lord soon called me into ministry. I lead the Jerusalem Center/Beth Israel in Wayne, New Jersey near New York City and also Hope of the World Ministries, an international outreach ministry of the Gospel and projects of compassion to the world’s needy.

Molly:
Many of our readers are published authors or trying hard to get published for the first time. Yet you said in your interviews that you never intended to become a writer—that the Lord told you to write The Harbinger. Later, you prayed and still more amazing things took place with regard to the sale of the book. Please tell us all about those amazing events.  

Jonathan,
The Harbinger just flowed out and was finished in a few months time. The week I finished it, I was scheduled to speak at Promise Keepers in Dallas. My flight took me to Charlotte, North Carolina. There I prayed, “Lord, The Harbinger is your message. I don’t want it to go forth by the ways of man. It’s yours. You get out the word Your way.”
I opened my eyes. There was a man sitting next to me. He begins to speak to me. Then he begins to prophesy over me.
He tells me I will publish a book, and more than one—that God is about to do something big, and it will change my life. It turns out that before we met, the man was just brought together with the president of Charisma Media, Steve Strang. He sends word to him.
A little while later, I received contact from Steve Strang, telling me he heard what happened at the airport. He heard about The Harbinger, and he’s interested.
That’s how The Harbinger became published—not by the plans or hand of men, but totally supernaturally. In fact, that whole scene at the airport was as a recreation of a scene in the book where a man meets “a prophet.”

Molly:
Your story is amazing. So what do you think the future holds for the United States with regard to the harbingers? Is it too late for our country to be saved? And what new insights have you gained since writing the book as to coming events for America and the world?

Jonathan:
The Harbinger is not only a revelation of a multitude of biblical mysteries, and a prophetic warning, but it’s also a book of hope. It gives the one answer if America is to avert calamity or destruction. It gives an answer for the believer, the unbeliever, and the church, for repentance, salvation, and revival. We are all being called to return to God. It is written: If My people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land.”
The key is “If.”

Molly:
Thanks, Jonathan. Let us pray that the church in America repents.
Please come back and tells us about the other book or books the prophecy said you were to write, and don’t forget to give us your contact information.

Jonathan:
Thanks. People can find the Harbinger almost everywhere from Amazon.com to barnesandnoble.com to cbd.com to Walmart to Target, Sams Club, wherever books are sold.
To get the teachings and full revelation behind the mysteries of The Harbinger, we have a 7 disk album on dvd or cd, including images of the harbingers that they can get by going to TheHarbingerWebsite.com.
World Net Daily produced a powerful documentary on the harbingers called The Isaiah 9: 10 Judgment which has become the number 1 faith video in the country and is available at Amazon.com. And if they want to get in touch with the ministry, they can go to HopeOfTheWorld.org.

Molly:
Thanks again for taking the time to come here. Please come back again soon.

Jonathan:
It was my blessing.

To find The Harbinger at online and walk-in bookstores, write Jonathan Cahn in the search slot.

NOTE: If you haven’t read my book review of The Harbinger, click below.
http://writersrest.blogspot.com/2012/04/harbinger.html

Please leave a comment and tell us what you think. Are we living in the end-times as Jonathan suggests?
                 
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Don't forget to check out the non-fiction book that Molly wrote with four other published authors, The Overcomers: Christian Authors Who Conquered Learning Disabilities. To find all Molly's books, write Molly Noble Bull in the search slots at online and walk-in bookstores.


 






Saturday, May 5, 2012

How Jesus Said to Get More Talent

 

The Parable of the Talents, as it is often called, is a story Jesus told of a master who entrusted each of his servants with a weight of currency, measured in “talents.” The one given five, used the currency to make five more. The servant given two made two more. And the servant given one, buried it (to keep it safe) and gave it back just as it was received. The first two servants were rewarded for their work. The last was stripped of the property and thrown into darkness where there’d be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Ouch! To think, he was the over-protective one, too!

And yet, who do I relate to the most. Ugh! Dare I say it? The one behind doorstorage doors number three. The guy who buried the talent so he wouldn’t lose it, not realizing that by using it, he could acquire more. He just wanted to keep it for himself and was not concerned with advancing the earnings of the master who’d given it to him.

What does God want you to do with what He has entrusted to your care?

Let’s look at the word “talent” for a sec. What does it mean in this passage, and what should it mean to us? The word in the Bible means a particular measuregold coinsment, used for metals of currency like silver and gold. The amount would change based on the current law, but one source suggested it was approximately what a man could carry. The word ‘talent’ as we use to describe our special gifts or abilities today, seems to come from the same root.

So what does this passage say to us? Is it telling us to go dump all our savings into the stock market expecting to double it? I somehow doubt that.

It’s just too coincidental that the word “talent” is used here at all. Yes, it is used elsewhere, clearly indicating a measurement of currency, but just like when other verses talk about bearing fruit we know it’s not about gardening, there is a bigger meaning here, too. God wants us to use our talents!

It’s also important to note that these talents are first given by God, then used for God and lastly are added to from God’s Abundant Bounty. These are His property and you have been entrusted with it. This is not meant to burden you with a commission, because although it may be a commission to use the talent you’ve been given, it will not, in the end, be a burden … especially when you see how He will reward you with more.

That’s what the passage says: use the talent for Him and He will give you more.

It is also important to note that He wants us to step out of our comfort zone anhappy faced take some risks to do so. That is where servant number three went wrong. He was afraid. We need to be bold and know God gave these to us so we would use them. Then we will understand what it means to “come and share your Master’s happiness" (Matt 25:23b).

Serious ConnieCome check out Connie’s other blogs:

Finding wholeness in Christ: http://livingthebodyofchrist.blogspot.com/ 

Group blog: http://infinitecharacters.com/