a skeptical and condescending half brother of our Lord as a defense witness? a most misunderstood man

Prologue

I found it difficult to put up a case for him. So I put on hold for quite sometime and prayed about it. The answer finally came. “Heureka! Heureka!” (I have found it!) I will write about his relationship with Jesus, his half brother.

Prologue: James, the half brother of Jesus

Jesus grew up in a sizable family that included four half brothers—James, Joses, Simon and Judas (who would later write the epistle of Jude)—and sisters, at least two (Matthew 13:55-56). James did not seem involved in Jesus’ ministry and yet became a prominent figure in the early New Testament church. He is most likely the author of the Epistle of James. He appeared a somewhat indifferent and even a skeptical, condescending sibling to Jesus. So why was he chosen as another leading witness for the risen Christ Jesus? Here is his own account (as read and constructed mainly from the Scriptures, some historical references, and my own understanding).

James’ narrative account of his relationship with Jesus

One of the men, a brethren, from the Jewish counsel came last night, and told me urgently that the Jewish religious leaders have decided my death sentence secretly, and they are coming to take me for stoning soon. Strange to say, I am at ease and have peace and joy in my heart. As my last farewell, I would like to talk about my relationship on earth with Jesus.

I am James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of you already know that I am also the younger half-brother of Jesus (Yeshua). I was born after my parents returned from Egypt with Jesus, who was five years my senior. As you probably know, there is little record of me in the four gospels of Jesus Christ. And all the records therein about me (as a family members) did not show a close relationship between us (his half-siblings) and Him. As you also probably know by now, having read my letter to the twelve [Hebrew] tribes [scattered abroad among the Gentiles] in the dispersion, I am a man of few words, and am careful with my tongue.

The age gap between Jesus and the rest of us was not a barrier in our sibling relationship. But it means that Jesus had to undertake more responsibilities for the family. Our parent(s) were very pious and made sure that at five years old one was fit for the Scripture, at ten years the Mishnah (oral Torah, interpretations) at thirteen for the fulfilling of the commandments, and at fifteen the Talmud (making Rabbinic interpretations).

Jesus was full of the Spirit of God: full of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, might, and the reverential fear of the Lord. We always know He is special and unique. And He was gifted and anointed in teaching. As required of all Jewish boys, He learned a trade in addition to teaching the Scripture. My father Joseph has taught Him all about our family trade: stone masonry and building construction. At thirteen, He started working with my father and traveled daily to work on large building projects in the capital city of Sepphoris, about an hour’s walk from Nazareth. At twenty he decided to continue the vocation with my father, who became frail and frequently ill. My father died when Jesus was twenty-five and he handed over the legacy to Jesus.

However, when Jesus reached the official maturity age of thirty for authority (able to teach others) He handed over the family business to me and became a full time teacher. Although my desire was to be a teacher supervisor of a synagogue, I had to continue the family trade. Strictly speaking, according to my mother Mary, I am the first born of Joseph and have the right to Joseph’s legacy.

My mother told us much later about the prophecies from two godly prophets at the temple when my parents took the baby Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. A just and devout man named Simeon confirmed that Jesus would bring salvation to all peoples. And a prophetess, Anna, also confirmed that Jesus would bring redemption. My mother too, was a woman with few words, and she kept all the things about Jesus in her heart. She taught us to respect Jesus as the eldest and much older sibling in the family. And we observed that He was very different from us from young.

When Jesus taught, He showed the kind of authority that no one did. He was anointed. He even taught the religious teachers themselves (the pharisees, scribes, and teachers). I saw the miracles and divine healings He performed. I was at the Cana wedding where He turned 180 gallons of water into the choicest wine. Any sibling of such a powerful person would have expected Him to get rich quick and bring the family to a life wherein we each could choose to pursue our own desires. But, alas, He stayed aloof and away from the family.

What we could not understand and accept was that He chose to travel most of the time, followed by an ever increasing multitude of all sorts of people. He did not appear to bother about His own care, like having proper meals and rest. We were doing well in our family business and had our own house and the women could cook and clean for him. He could have led a comfortable respectable teacher’s life at home. But He seemed to forget that He even had a family. My mother was especially upset at one time when He rejected our looking for Him and offer to take Him home for food and rest. He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” We just could not understand Him.

Mary, my mother however, did not give up. She joined a few women and followed Him whenever He was nearer home. Later, she joined the group of women, and followed Him to Jerusalem and saw Him to the end. She got to know Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herold’s steward, Susanna, Mary the mother of James, and many others who provided for Jesus from their substance. Jesus indeed had many mothers and sisters and brothers. They took good care of Him. Our worldly concern for Him was proven unnecessary.

I did not follow Jesus physically. I tried to occupy myself with the family business while trying to live a normal life with normal expectation. By then I knew Jesus had not ambition to be a ruler of the Jews. I have kept updated of His teachings as many have heard and circulated them by word of mouth. I heard of all the good deeds and compassions he had shown to the multitudes. I had done a lot of thinking. Either He had lost His mind or He was just bluffing. But I knew Him from young, and I knew He was neither. Whilst I could not accept His claim that He was the Son of God, because that was against what I had learned from the Jewish religion, I could not deny that He was an honest, upright, just, moral, and righteous man of utmost integrity. His life was His proof. His teaching and His work were those above any human.

I skipped going to Jerusalem on that fateful holy week. I did not believe or expect that it would come to much despite the rumors going around about the people wanted to make Him king. Yet, the most important history for mankind was written that week by my half-brother, Jesus. He was arrested and sentenced to be crucified. And he resurrected on the third day and appeared to many people, all in all, the eleven remaining apostles, 500 disciples, those who knew Him personally and could witness for Him.

I was told later that while looking down from the cross, Jesus entrusted my mother to His apostle John, a faithful young brethren, who followed Him all the way to the crucifixion, and witnessed the empty tomb later, after the resurrection of Jesus on the third day. Why not me? Because I was not there? I was ashamed. I not only missed witnessing the crucifixion of Jesus and the earth shaking resurrection, I also missed HIs last words on the cross. Later I knew deep within Jesus did not do anything without His Father’s instruction. I accepted the Lord’s decision. I must say that John had treated her as his own mother, also named Mary. The two women became like blood sisters keeping each other company for many long years.

Jesus looked for me and called me out. Yes. After I knew of His death and burial, I sat alone in darkness, mourning for a brother I deeply missed. I no longer cared for worldly riches, status and political power. I was not disillusioned because He chose a sacrificial path instead. Why did I ever doubt Him? On one hand I wanted to believe and trust Him. On the other hand I doubted. I was like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. I kept listening to His enemies, those proud, religious hypocrites with whom I have associated myself. I have sent people to warn Him about their scheme. But He did not listen.

Jesus came to me when I was in despair. The resurrected Jesus, my Lord the Christ. He revealed to me, not as a ghost, but someone with flesh and bones I could touch and He showed me His hands and feet as well. He opened my understanding, that I could comprehend the Scriptures, and realized that all things that were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning the Messiah had been fulfilled in Him. He asked me to bring the whole family to join my mother and all the other apostles and disciples to wait in Mark’s mother’s big house in Jerusalem for the out pouring of the Holy Spirit.

And I did. We all did. We obeyed and waited. The rest is history. Jesus, the Son of God, proved exactly the Scriptures about Him are all true, and He is the long waited Messiah of Israel, the Christ for all mankind.

Here ends my farewell, James, a born again man of faith, humility, and prayer.

Kainotes, 2021-04-27

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Notes: Not long after writing his epistle, James was martyred in Jerusalem in A.D. 62. According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, James was accused by the high priest and condemned to death by stoning (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 20, chap. 9, sec. 1). Eusebius, a fourth-century church historian, adds details of James’ death. He states that the scribes and Pharisees took James to a public place, the top of a wing of the temple, and “demanded that he should renounce the faith of Christ before all the people . . .” But, rather than deny Jesus, James “declared himself fully before the whole multitude, and confessed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, our Savior and Lord” (Ecclesiastical History, 1995, pp. 75-76).

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Five hundreds credible eye-witnesses, all hand-picked by the Lord Himself

While being prompted to write this episode on the five hundreds eye-witnesses, I asked the Lord who they are. Then I realized that they had to be honest, reliable, accurate, living persons who knew Jesus personally, and because of their own personal miraculous experience with the supernatural Son of God, they became credible as witnesses for the risen Christ because many people already knew of them and their previous significant encounters with Christ and the resultant transformation in their lives! They were still alive when Paul and/or Luke interviewed them and recorded down their testimonies as eyewitnesses. They were alive in the aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection and subsequent ascension. Why do I posit that the risen Jesus Christ had shown Himself to them? Because He would want to reassure them and further built them up to be His eye-witnesses. Since they had already faithfully given their healed testimonies to many about Him before, they could be entrusted with this greater work, testifying for the risen Jesus!

In 1 Corinthians 15: 3-7 Paul had this to say:

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

1 Corinthians 15: 3-7

After being prompted of the criteria, I am led today to read through the four gospels and the book of Acts to identify them and compile the following list: (Including those who were named and in addition to the five hundreds)

Mary Magdalene, the other Mary (mother of James and John), Mary the mother of Jesus, Salome, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herold’s business manager, and many other women from Galilee who followed Jesus to the cross and later visited the tomb, the two disciples who walked back to Emmaus (Cleopas and a companion), Peter (Cephas), the twelve apostles* (minus Judas Iscariot who hanged himself), and the others who have gathered with the eleven in Jerusalem while hiding from the authority right after Jesus’ arrest (and death), and James the half-brother of Jesus. (The twelve apostles included a new addition, Matthias.) Jesus lastly appeared to apostle Paul.

The five hundreds (Some of them)

At Capernaum, Galilee: a man in the synagogue, formerly possessed by a demon and was delivered and set free by Jesus right in front of a crowd in the synagogue. The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region. Many would have heard of this healed man’s testimony and got to know him.

Simon Peter’s mother in law. Jesus healed her of fever and she immediately got up and prepared a meal for Jesus and others in Simon’s house. People throughout the village came to her house after that to be healed by Jesus. Those who did not know her before got to know her and her testimony.

A man with an advanced case of leprosy in one of the villages. he was healed instantly by Jesus. Despite Jesus’ instructions this man not only went to the priest and certified his being totally healed and cleansed, this man spread the report of Jesus’ power everywhere, and caused vast crowds to go to Jesus to hear Him preach and be healed of their diseases.

The paralyzed man on a sleeping mat who was carried by four friends with faith who lowered him from the roof through a hole after removing the tiles, and Jesus saw their faith and healed the man instantly. The house was packed with religious leaders and teachers as well as a crowd. The healed man jumped up, picked up his mat, went home praising God. Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, praising God, exclaiming, “we have seen amazing things today!”

A man with a deformed right hand in the synagogue was healed and fully restored by Jesus on a Sabbath day, while Jesus was teaching. The enemies of Jesus went wild with rage and began to scheme how to get rid of Jesus. After that, large crowds from all over Judea, Jerusalem, even the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon came to hear Jesus and be healed, because healing power went out from Him and He healed everyone.

Capernaum: A Roman officer who loved the Jewish people and built a synagogue for them, sent respected Jewish elders to ask Jesus to heal his valued servant, who was sick and near death. The officer was later commended by Jesus for his great faith and belief that Jesus could heal by saying the word from where He was, instead of going to the man’s house physically. Jesus did exactly that.

At the village of Nain: Jesus raised a dead young man, the only son of a widow, at a funeral procession. The dead boy sat up from his coffin and began to talk. Jesus gave him back to his mother. Great fear swept the crowd, and the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.

The immoral woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with an beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume at the pharisee Simon’s house, wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair and tears. Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases and became His followers. Many women who followed Jesus and contributed from their own resources to support Jesus and His disciples.

Family of Jesus (younger half-brothers and sisters) who, in addition to James, became converted after the death of Jesus and joined Mary, their mother to Jerusalem, among whom Jude (his youngest half-brother) who later wrote the epistle of Jude.

A demon-possessed man in the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee, who was homeless, naked, and living in a cemetary outside the town when Jesus went over to deliver and set him free from a legion of demons. Jesus commanded the demons to come out from the man and they entered a large herd of pigs who plunged into the lake and drowned. A great wave of fear swept over all the people in that region. The healed man with sanity completely restored, went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.

A sunagogue ruler, Jairus, his wife, and their only daughter, raised from the dead (at twelve years old) by Jesus. The parents were overwhelmed, but Jesus insisted that they not tell anyone what had happened. Obviously they could not help but witness. The house-full of people who were earlier weeping and wailing would have been stunned too.

The father and the boy who had an evil spirit that kept tormenting him, making him scream, and threw him into convulsions. The disciples failed to cast out the evil spirit. The father came to Jesus for help. Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Awe gripped the large crowd of people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power.

The little child who was brought to Jesus’ side, and He told the disciples, “anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf, welcomes Me, and anyone who welcomes Me also welcomes My Father who sent Me. Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.”

The Bethany family with a big house: Martha (who was a caring and capable hostess showing regular hospitality to Jesus and His disciples), her sister Mary (who liked to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His teaching, and anointed Jesus’ feet with a twelve ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, prophetically in preparation for His burial), and their brother Lazarus, who was raised from the dead (after buried for four days) by Jesus.

A woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit and had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. Jesus saw her while teaching in a synagogue on a Sabbath day, called her over and healed her. The leader of the synagogue and those who opposed Jesus were indignant and shamed, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things Jesus did, such as setting this woman free from Satan’s bondage.

A man whose legs and arms were swollen in the religious leaders’ house. Jesus was invited to dinner there and saw the poor man. He immediately healed the man after questioning the religious leaders and people who were watching Him closely, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” They could not answer.

The one leper (out of ten lepers who were healed by Jesus) who came back to thank Jesus, falling to the ground at Jesus’ feet, shouting, “Praise God!” This leper was a Samaritan.

Some parents who brought their children to Jesus to be blessed. And He told the disciples not to stop them, and the truth that anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

The very rich young ruler who came to Jesus to ask what he should do to inherit eternal life. When he heard that he had to let go of everything he treasured and follow Jesus he became very sad. Jesus used his example to illustrate how the things of the world could become an obstacle for discipleship.

A blind beggar who sat outside Jericho. He shouted loudly for Jesus to give him sight. Jesus responded and instantly the man could see., and he followed Jesus from then onward. And all who saw it praised God, too.

Zacchaeus, the very rich tax collector, who climbed up a tree to see Jesus. Jesus called him by name, went to his house and be his guest. That same day, Zacchaeus became a changed man, donating half his wealth to the poor, giving back to those he had cheated on taxes four times as much. He became another true and faithful disciple of Jesus.

The Roman officer overseeing Jesus’ execution who saw what had happened at the crucifixion—the signs (darkness fell at noon time until three o’clock, temple sanctuary curtain torn down the middle), was converted and worshipped God, and said, “Surely this man was innocent.”

The two Jewish Sanhedrin counselors, also secret followers of Jesus: Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night to find out how to enter the Kingdom of God, and Joseph from Arimathea in Judea, who went to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body for burial in his own new tomb.

The Samaritan woman at the well: She became an instant evangelist for Jesus after encountering Jesus at the well. Jesus told her about worshipping God in Spirit and in truth, as God is Spirit, and that He is the Messiah. She believed and witnessed to many Samaritans who became believers too.

In Jerusalem, A lame man at the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. The man was lying there together with crowds of sick people, and he had been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him, asked him whether he wanted to get well, and healed him instantly. The man stood up at Jesus’ command, rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking. This miracle happened on the Sabbath, in the sight of many, creating objections and investigations from the Jewish leaders. When questioned, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, who is above the Sabbath, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”

A woman was brought to Jesus for jurisdiction while He was teaching: Her accuser charged that she was caught in the act of adultery and they put her in front of the crowd at the Temple court. They charged that the law of Moses says to stone her and wanted to know what He said. He replied, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” They all left her alone. Jesus acquitted her and said, “Go and sin no more.”

A man born blind was healed by Jesus. He believed that Jesus was from God and argued His case before the Jewish leaders. They threw him out of the synagogue after that. Jesus appeared to him later and told him that He was the Son of Man. The man said he believed, and worshipped Jesus.

A woman who suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched the fringe of His robe, thinking that she would be healed if she touched his robe. Power came out from him and she was instantly healed. Jesus commended her for her faith.

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End notes: There are many more. I managed to list just a few whom I believe will stir us to think and ask ourselves: What had the Lord done for me? How may I witness for Him at this crucial time, which is like Noah’s time…

Kainotes, 2021-04-28

The Vital Signs of being Alive

Many tragedies occurred lately this 2019 Easter and Passover. I now recall reading this, “The big tragedy in the church today is that for the most part Christians major on and build their lives upon truths that are non-foundational or non-essentials.” The Bible teacher continued to state that “from the beginning it’s always been God’s intention that we be stable and well-balanced beings. It is not God’s will that we live unstable and unbalanced lives. This is not the quality of life that Jesus died to give us.” He said.

How may Christians live a balanced and stable quality life? Jesus came to give us truths (words) as our foundation to build our lives upon and not be shaken and fall. What are those word foundations? The teacher taught, “Righteousness by faith (Faith-Righteousness) is the cornerstone (or capstone) of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Why did God call Abraham righteous? Because he believed God. Likewise, we believe in Jesus whom God gave us through sacrificing His life for us and made us righteous before God by grace through faith. The teacher described the foundation truths as the vital signs of a person.

Daily we return to bed knowing how miraculous it has been that a day has passed and we are still alive. This is how many acknowledge these days.

What does Jesus say about living a good life with the right focus on earth? Let us read some of His words lest we forget.

Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:9)

Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)

“If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” (Luke 11:36)

Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” (Luke 12:15)

[ Teaching about Money and Possessions ] Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Luke 12:22-23,25)

“Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware,” (Luke 21:34)

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. (John 1:4)

For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! ” The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 5:21,39; 6:63)

[ Jesus, the Light of the World ] Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12)

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. (John 10:10)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, ” (John 10:10,11,15,17-18,28)

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” (John 11:25)

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:6,20)

a powerful testimony of an ordinary man who heard God and followed for fifty years…

“When Andrew first went on television, the Gospel Truth broadcast only had 3 percent coverage in the United States. Now, with recent additions to ministry coverage, the program reaches a potential 3.2 billion people worldwide. By God’s grace, the Gospel is going farther and deeper than ever before!…”

“It all began when Andrew was born again at just eight years old. Although he avoided the rebellious phase often associated with adolescence, he believed that through his own righteousness, he could develop a relationship with the Lord. But then, on a Saturday night in 1968, everything changed. Andrew realized he had fallen into the bondage of legalism and began confessing his self-righteousness, expecting the wrath of God to fall. Instead of wrath, however, God’s presence flooded him with love. “God’s love consumed me,” he says. “When I was at my worst, God’s love was the strongest.” This encounter changed his life forever and motivated him to follow God’s leading in his life. He decided to leave college, even though that meant losing his student deferment. Drafted into the Army and shipped to Vietnam, he served as a chaplain’s assistant. Despite how difficult and dangerous things were on the front lines, God used that time to ground Andrew in His Word and begin establishing the course of his life.

Upon his return, Andrew submitted to the call of God to be a teacher of the Word. He and Jamie were married in 1972, and together they began teaching Bible studies. Over the next six years, they would pastor three small churches and complete their family with two sons, Joshua and Jonathan Peter.

In 1976, Andrew broadcast his first Gospel Truth radio program on a little country-and-western station in Childress, Texas. By 1980, Andrew and Jamie had moved their ministry to Colorado Springs. Their vision was becoming quite clear: to teach the truth of the Gospel to the body of Christ throughout the United States and the world, with special emphasis on God’s unconditional love and the balance between grace and faith. They were fulfilling that vision by traveling to speaking engagements, producing radio broadcasts, and distributing audio cassette tapes, which were provided at no cost to those who could not afford them.

Andrew Wommack on radio
In 1976, Andrew broadcast his first Gospel Truth radio program on a little country-and-western station in Childress, Texas.

God began speaking to Andrew about 2 Timothy 2:2. In that scripture, Paul told Timothy to take the things that he had learned and commit them to faithful men who would be able to teach others. Andrew knew God wanted him to do the same. In 1994, a cornerstone of the ministry was laid in place with the dedication of Charis Bible College—a college committed to equipping the saints for ministry by providing sound biblical teaching and practical, hands-on training.

In January of 2000, Andrew broadcasted the first Gospel Truth television program on INSP Network. Response to the message was tremendous, and since then, the Gospel Truth has been added to over twenty networks including The Church Channel, Daystar, God TV, and CNL, as well as over 500 television stations around the globe. And the Gospel Truth continues to grow.
But God was putting even bigger things on Andrew’s heart.

The ministry quickly outgrew its first two buildings, in Manitou Springs and on Robinson Street in Colorado Springs. Andrew began looking for a new home for the ministry. Although he saw several move-in-ready properties, he knew the ministry needed more space than they could offer. Instead, he chose the partly finished, but much larger, Elkton Drive location. AWM moved into the Elkton building in 2004, and for years this location was able to accommodate substantial growth for Charis Bible College, the Communication Services Department, Product Services Department, Television Department, Marketing Department, and the other departments that help make this ministry a success around the world.

In early 2011, AWM continued to grow in its reach and started to broadcast the Gospel Truth program on TBN. This nearly doubled the viewership and was a huge answer to prayer!….” (Excerpts quoted from the link below)

Read on for the full amazing and powerful testimony. Be encouraged as you read about how one man heard God and continued to hear and obey and let the impossible God do the impossible in his ordinary life. (This comment is this blogger’s own)

http://www.awmi.net/about-us/ministry-history/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=andrews-50th-anniversary&utm_content=social

https://youtu.be/3tFd_up8S-E 

(Updated July 13) What has Britain’s fate got to do with USA

What has Britain’s fate got to do with USA or the Commonwealth or the rest of the globe?
A lot. Believe me. She is just the beginning of another phase the globe will enter henceforth.

Why I support Andrea Leadsom as Prime Minister for the first independent Britain after EU? I believe she is the anointed one for an entrepreneurial Britain who will sail round the globe and conduct free trade again.

She is not a glamorous civil servant but the ruling days of the bureaucrat is over. Look at the current world history for evidence. No nation or corporation today can afford to pay a general manager with no other skills or knowledge except to administer or talk in rounds of meetings only. No talkers or negotiators can contribute anything productive which the hungry world badly needs. I believe Mrs. Leadsom will be a solid doer and not talker.

I pray the nation wake up and vote for the right choice who will bring back the original enterprising spirit that Britain was formerly good at.

What has Britain’s fate got to do with USA or the Commonwealth or the rest of the globe?

A lot. Believe me. She is just the beginning of another phase the globe will enter henceforth. A right choice fits into a good plan. A wrong choice means acceleration toward a worse end for all. Andrea spoke of one key word when I was prompted to read her speeches before her ascension to the forefront. The day I was alerted was three hours before the final count of Brexit votes came out on June 23rd. She spoke of one word: “Principled“.  I know that is the key word for her. It has been confirmed as a sudden twist of events left her as the only Leave contestant.  (Note: as of July 13, Andrea has pulled out from the race. There is no longer option for this nation right now unless there is another significant shift which can only come from the 17 million who voted Brexit).

Personally, I respect the old values she represents and believe that those values will bring Britain and even those other States, including USA,  which will follow suit, GREAT again. GREATNESS does not mean in greed for selfish power to gratify self. It means successfully bringing a people to align with godly values that have sustained the survival of the human race for thousands of years on this earth. I pray that the nations of the world will wake up and see that there is a spiritual realm that everyone must take heed. It is late but not too late to align with the Creator’s  plan. I am calling out as a futuristic watchman here. I pray it will not be too late for anyone. Forget about the superficial glamour. Look at the spirit behind. 

I quote below excerpts from: (http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/07/theresa-may-andrea-leadsom-tory-leader-prime-minister)(http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/07/how-andrea-leadsom-can-beat-theresa-may)

Andrea Leadsom, the junior energy minister who shot to prominence as a leading voice in the Vote Leave campaign, has secured second place in the Conservative party leadership race behind Home Secretary Theresa May on Thursday, ensuring Britain’s next prime minister will be a woman.
Leadsom was boosted by the support of Johnson, who insisted that despite her relative inexperience she had the “zap, drive and determination” required for the top job.

After the vote, Johnson said: “For the second time in history the Conservatives will have a female prime minster, proving that we are the not just the greatest but the most progressive party in Britain.

“I want to offer particular congratulations to Andrea Leadsom on her stunning achievement. She is now well placed to win and replace the absurd gloom in some quarters with a positive, confident and optimistic approach, not just to Europe, but to government all round.”

Leadsom also received the backing of many of those MPs who, unlike May, had supported the campaign for Britain to leave the EU. She gave a speech on Thursday morning at which she promised to “banish the pessimists” on the risks to the economy of leaving the EU.

Her campaign chief, Tim Loughton MP, said: “It was absolutely right that this would be an all-women shortlist. We have two strong women. We can now given the party a real choice. A remain woman; a leave woman. They both happened to go to state schools. They are both women. Hey, that’s pretty quirky for the Tory party.”

Another Leadsom backer, defence minister Penny Mordaunt, said: “It will be a really exciting contest, I hope it will be really positive. [Leadsom] is in this to win it, what she offers, her unique selling point is her strength on the economy, restoring stability and certainty to our economy swiftly.”

Andrea Leadsom now has about six weeks to woo the Conservative membership, who are likely to be more rightwing, middle class and affluent than the average voter. She will have to appeal to these 150,000 people to get the job of prime minister, and convince them that she can win over the whole country when it comes to a general election. To beat May, the following strategies will be crucial:

Reiterating her fight for Brexit
Highlighting May’s failure to bring down immigration
Classic rightwing policies to appeal to Tory members
The Tory grassroots have been feeling highly neglected in recent years, having reportedly been dismissed by the party’s chairman, Andrew Feldman, as “swivel-eyed loons” – although he denied making that comment. Leadsom could be the person to make them feel loved again by their leader.
Her supporter Peter Bone saying: “She has been out in the real world, working. People are crying out for non-establishment figures. This is not just about governing now, its about winning the 2020 election. Who would be better? I think its Andrea Leadsom.”

nations are like trees in the Garden of God once

Today the watchman-intercessor was woken after midnight to read Ezekiel 31-32. Why? He asked the Lord. The answer is in the reading. At 3am, a name was given. Then he read the news. Indeed, it was exactly as the Lord has spoken through prophet Ezekiel. When the prophet recorded the words none of the events had happened. But history had proven that they had come to pass. God’s words are forever settled in heaven. Why did the prophet have to utter them in his days even when no one listened? The actual speaking of God’s words bring them to pass. So be it even today. The Bible verse below are quoted in parts. Please read the whole chapters (31-32). After reading these prophetic words, the watchman was led to read chapter 33:33 “But when all these terrible things happen, they will know a prophet has been among them.” God is still merciful and wants people to repent and return to Him. That is why He sent prophets to warn beforehand and not after. And He warns both the good and the bad. (chapter 33)
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On June 21, during the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, give this message to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his hordes: “To whom would you compare your greatness?
You are like mighty Assyria,
which was once like a cedar of Lebanon,
with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade
and with its top high among the clouds.All the great nations of the world
lived in its shadowBecause I made this tree so beautiful,
and gave it such magnificent foliage,
it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden,
the garden of God.
“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because Egypt became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, with its top reaching to the clouds, I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it. A foreign army—the terror of the nations—has cut it down and left it fallen on the ground. Its branches are scattered across the mountains and valleys and ravines of the land. All those who lived in its shadow have gone away and left it lying there.I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of its fall, for I sent it down to the grave with all the others who descend to the pit. And all the other proud trees of Eden, the most beautiful and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, took comfort to find it there with them in the depths of the earth. Its allies, too, were all destroyed and had passed away. They had gone down to the grave—all those nations that had lived in its shade.
“O Egypt, to which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You, too, will be brought down to the depths with all these other nations. You will lie there among the outcasts who have died by the sword. This will be the fate of Pharaoh and all his hordes. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
“You think of yourself as a strong young lion among the nations,
but you are really just a sea monster,
heaving around in your own rivers,
stirring up mud with your feet.
Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
I will send many people
to catch you in my net
and haul you out of the water.
“I will disturb many hearts when I bring news of your downfall to distant nations you have never seen. Yes, I will shock many lands, and their kings will be terrified at your fate. They will shudder in fear for their lives as I brandish my sword before them on the day of your fall. 11 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“The sword of the king of Babylon
will come against you.
I will destroy your hordes with the swords of mighty warriors—
the terror of the nations.
On March 17,during the twelfth year, another message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, weep for the hordes of Egypt and for the other mighty nations.For I will send them down to the world below in company with those who descend to the pit.Say to them,
The Egyptians will fall with the many who have died by the sword, for the sword is drawn against them. Egypt and its hordes will be dragged away to their judgment. Down in the grave mighty leaders will mockingly welcome Egypt and its allies, saying, ‘They have come down; they lie among the outcasts, hordes slaughtered by the sword.’
“Assyria lies there surrounded by the graves of its army, those who were slaughtered by the sword.
“Elam lies there surrounded by the graves of all its hordes.
“Meshech and Tubal are there, surrounded by the graves of all their hordes.
“You too, Egypt, will lie crushed and broken among the outcasts, all slaughtered by the sword.
“Edom is there with its kings and princes. Mighty as they were, they also lie among those slaughtered by the sword, with the outcasts who have gone down to the pit.
“All the princes of the north and the Sidonians are there with others who have died. Once a terror, they have been put to shame.
“When Pharaoh and his entire army arrive, he will take comfort that he is not alone in having his hordes killed, says the Sovereign Lord. Although I have caused his terror to fall upon all the living, Pharaoh and his hordes will lie there among the outcasts who were slaughtered by the sword. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Ezekiel 33
The Watchman’s Message
10 “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ 11 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?
12 “Son of man, give your people this message: The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins.

Safety is definitely not the absence of danger but the presence of God

Notes on 2-2-2019: I came across this book by an intercessor-author ten years ago. Since then I have learned that some intercessions and prayers need to be in line with the teaching in the New Testament. I have not deleted this blog because the author's experience and testament have shown us a spiritual realm which is real. I pray that you read it with wisdom and understanding of the God revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ. I refer especially to the prayers we should be making today after we have learned from Jesus that we have the power and authority over demons and sicknesses (which Jesus had borne by His stripes). We also do not need to plead to God as if He is stingy and harsh to His children. The God as personified by Jesus and described by the New Testament apostles and Scripture writers is of love and grace. God wants us well. God wants to save all people because Jesus died for all people. You need to read the New Testament to find out what Jesus had accomplished for you already. (Ephesians 1:3)
The end times tribulations are reserved for those who do not believe in God. Christians need to pray for the lost. On the other hand, prayers will not be able to bring souls to Christ unless believers go out and witness to them. Romans 10:14-15 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who [b]preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

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“If we do not live in awareness of the end, then our present living is nullified and meaningless –we all live as others live…for self and to please self.” (Jeremiah 8:7)”

__________Some powerful excerpts and quotations from the book:

PERSONAL WORD (by the author)

“Yes, God’s mandate and God’s call for every believer is that we fight for our set apart and apostolic faith, without which we can never overcome the world. (1 John5:4)”

“The book of Jude has so impacted me that I know I must be apostolic for if I am not, I may end up an apostate. I cannot be ambiguous in these end-times days.”

“Indeed NOW is the end and the END HAS BEGUN NOW. This is why we cannot be ambiguous, we must either be apostolic or we will end up as apostates.”

“I keep hearing our Lord’s warning so clearly and consistently. This is the reason why this book is written: “watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)”

“We must know that every form of crisis nations of the world…are all a buildup or prelude to the unspeakable destruction ahead of us.”

“If we do not live in awareness of the end, then our present living is nullified and meaningless –we all live as others live…for self and to please self.” (Jeremiah 8:7)

“If we do not have the end in view, we will just flow with the present antichrist culture;” “Jesus did not need to go to the cross,” “Is Jesus in the culture or is He above it?”

“We must live in awareness that society today is not just influenced by education, industry or technology. It is shaped by demons…sin has given them so much influence over the human race, including the Christians. Technology like the mobile phones, the computers and television (which the prophet Jeremiah called ‘windows’ in Jeremiah 9:21) had indeed admitted the spirit of death into so many lives, especially the lives of our youths.”

“Like Daniel, I must possess both the tenacity and the intensity to pray and pray and pray even though I do not feel like praying at times.”

“Daniel, the end-time prophet, mourned and travailed until a breakthrough came into the heavens, a breakthrough which affected him, his nation and the nations of the world.” (Dan.10:12-14)

“There are so many troubled Christians. Is it because our faith is not an apostolic or set-apart faith?”

INTRODUCTION

“Why must the church engage in PURPOSEFUL AND INTENSIVE intercessory prayers in these end times called the ‘beginning of sorrows?’ Because God has called us into it and this may well be the final call to prayers to evict the enemy …just before the great tribulation.”

“If we are the true church we will have the apostolic distinctive of knowing that the end, or the DAY OF THE LORD is near. All universal shakings and meltdowns now are just birth pangs of the coming kingdom of our Lord. There are calamities, upheavals, crises and great stirrings on earth now because there is war in heaven!”

“More and more we can feel it as these present evil days…”

“It is sad that many Christians are still in denial”

“”The prophets of old saw visions of these dark and foreboding ‘tribulation’ days…” (Ezekiel 21:7; Zechariah 13:8-9)

“The purpose of this book is to call you to return to your basic duty -return to your priesthood and be that house of prayer that God wants (Isaiah 56:7).”

CHAPTER 1 -have we missed the vital signs of the Messiah’s second coming?

“Learned high priests like Caiphas and Annas could stand in front of the Messiah and not discern that He is the One.” “Many who are made to rule in God’s house do not know the Lord nor understand His word.”

“All the vital signs of Christ’s second coming (in heaven and on earth) are pronounced today and yet we carry on as usual; not wanting to make preparations for these coming evil and devastating days that we may be ‘counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)”

Jesus Christ warned us that the day of destruction will come to us like the days of Noah…when people carry on as usual.” “Their time was never deliberately prioritized for God.”

“Also days when Nimrod arose in defiance against God to form his ‘one world government’ and to build his high towers and monuments.”

“Also be like the days of Lot” “when fire literally fell out of heaven suddenly!” “Iran and Israel also have nuclear bombs pointed at each other and should one go off, the entire world will be affected.”

CHAPTER 2 –The end has begun and the beginning of the end, (‘the beginning of sorrows’) is already here

“Today, we too, have talked much about the end times but unfortunately we have also failed to discern that the time is now -it has now come upon us! The next change will be terrible, for almost without warning, the ‘tribulation’ days will come upon us.”

“Why couldn’t they discern? Because their hearts were not right. Ambitions and ego-centrality have often robbed men of spiritual discernment. These ambitious men seem to have enough spiritual light to prophesy and sit in their position as the nation’s spiritual leaders (John 11:49-53), but they definitely did not have enough light to carry themselves through to salvation!” “Caiphas prophesied accurately that Jesus is the Saviour but he himself remained unsaved!”

“There are many modern Caiphases and Annases today” “They have enough light to teach others and to prophesy but they do not have enough light to acknowledge their own sin so that they can be saved.”

“The light that comes from one’s scholarship, study, degrees, etc., must be tempered with the light that comes from our prayers, revelation knowledge and personal experiences with God which must result in self-denial, humility and servanthood.”

CHAPTER 3 -Intensified prayers from the remnant will evict the enemy out of the heaven

“Since Israel as a nation, did not want to keep their distinction as God’s people…the prophet Daniel and his three undefiled friends did it for them.”

“May God, in His mercy, in these troublesome and turbulent days of much spiritual upheaval and natural disasters, also raise up a ‘Daniel-like’ group of people who will remain distinct and whose spirit and intercessory travail will be of the same pattern, in order to reach out to God.”

“Deborah proclaimed that when there were leaders (leading by examples) then the people would willingly offer themselves (Judges 5:2). She was commissioned and she was willing so she just got in there and led by example! And people were willing to follow her. Do you want prayer groups set up? You need to lead by example.”

“The time to pray and travail is NOW, not later when the heat is on because our ability to stand will come from the sum total of the times we have spent in the presence of God.”

“Israel went after God when they were in the wilderness because they had nothing. (Jeremiah 2:2)” “You may find this hard to believe, but God is definitely going to bring both the church and Israel back to the ‘wilderness days‘ again.”

CHAPTER 4 -Halt the enemy’s activities to accelerate God’s work in the spiritual realm

“It is vital we pray with prophetic declaration to declare what God Himself has already declared in these end times.”

“We need to do what Ezekiel did -speak directly into the situation (Ezekiel 36). “

“Such is the power of God’s word! Jesus taught His disciples to speak to the mountains, not pray, if they want the mountains to shift.” (Matt.17:20)

“We puncture these times of great deception, desertion, depression, darkness and desolation with God’s spoken words, God’s declarations that are true and right!” (Notes from this blogger: read 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 the warfare is over our thoughts, in the mind! Paul pointed out that "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,")

CHAPTER 5 -To know the end we must know the beginning

“We have no excuse of not knowing the end because God has taken the end and hidden it in the beginning!”

“To me, the key that unlocks end times is found in Isaiah which says: Remember the former things of old…there is none like Me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done…” (Isa.46:8-10)

“EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE BOOK OF DANILE WILL BE REPEATED IN THE END TIMES”

CHAPTER 6 -Intensified suffering means intensified miracles, signs and wonders

“As Daniel travailed in prayers on earth, angelic activities prevailed in heaven!”

“The ‘open heaven’ coming our way when God’s fullness is experienced is as sure as the coming of the days of tribulation!” 

“We must recognize that Daniel symbolizes a corporate group of God’s people who must rise up in these end times to engage themselves in purposeful and relentless prayers.”

“This is why God told us to be a generation of priests -why have we forsaken our destiny? If the church is not a kingdom of priests ministering to God and apprehending His fullness for the nations of the world, what then is the church?”

“Remember, as long as the hands of Moses, representing the prayers of the nation, were lifted up towards heaven, Israel has the upper hand over the Amalekites.”

“To watch and pray means we pray with the word of God into every situation and see all present situations as God sees them. We keep our spiritual antenna up and we are to be alert to present signs and world events.”

“Pray with intensity and pray fervently, which means your spirit, soul and body must be in agreement.”

CONCLUSION -we are now in the end times

“The end has certainly begun…twenty-four hours a day God’s ears are bombarded by the outcries of sin in the nations of the world but He wants to hear prayers, confessions, supplications but they seem to be getting lesser and lesser.”

“May God…also give you the courage to change and prioritize your time to pray, to be ‘thrown in’ together with this great network of intercessors spanning both heaven and earth.”

“So many people complain of being lonely…But when we are bonded up with God and threaded together into His prayer network and are aware that prayer has eternal validity, it will rid us of all loneliness.”

“Safety is definitely not the absence of danger but the presence of God, but this presence is not to be taken for granted. We need to spend time to be connected with Him and to bring His presence into where we are.” (This blogger's notes: God is not far from us. he is in every believer. When we pray by faith we know He always hears us. He is our ever present help!)

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Postscript added by this watchman:

Jesus gave this to His disciples: Mark 16

The Great Commission

¹⁴ Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they^[p] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Christ Ascends to God’s Right Hand

¹⁹ So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.^[q]