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Jesus said, “ Fear of man is a dangerous trap.” Just what did He mean by saying that? Is that saying so ambiguous that we overlook its significance in the Biblical message?

Now it could be that some of us have decided one way or another, and what might seem right to some may not be right to others. Having been engaged in Street Ministry for many years I take it to mean being afraid of what others think of you. But my conversion over forty years ago was so dramatic I had to tell others about it. I couldn’t believe the peace I was experiencing after crying out to God at the top of my lungs deep in the woods at midnight. I buried my nose in the Bible from that point on. I had to know more about Him.

I may have had some apprehension about witnessing in the beginning, but seeing how people react to the Gospel of Jesus Christ I needn’t have been afraid. I’ve only been rejected twice.

Facing our fears is not an easy thing to do, but like the scriptures say, the more I did it the more confident I became. It’s become second nature to share my faith with any and everyone.

Let me tell you a little story about one such encounter in my street ministry.

It just so happens that I enjoy going out on a Saturday to do a little witnessing. I usually go where the people are, usually a strip mall or shopping center. A small group of Jehovah’s Witnesses were gearing up to go knocking on doors. They stayed in the shade of the few trees lining the parking lot, talking to one another and gathering their courage to go out and make converts. Many times they just spend the day talking amongst themselves, and unable to bolster their courage, they leave for the day. I usually take advantage of a group like this to share the Gospel with them. They more often than not have no reply except to try to foist their literature on me. I leave them knowing God is the one doing the convicting, and so my work is done.

However, on one particular Saturday years ago, as I was driving into the parking lot of a strip mall I spied a big brute of a young man sitting on the colorful patio chairs that were for sale in the front of the Winn Dixie store. He stood out like a sore thumb, with tattoos all over his body and even on his bald head. The tattoos were of snakes, human skulls and flowers. There was a grotesque beauty about them with their iridescent reds, blues and greens. The snakes looked real and sinister crawling up both of his arms. I really can’t remember the tattoo on his head, but I remember the big scar running from the back of his head to the front, just below his cranium. Somewhere on his body was written “Hells Angels.” I think it was on his T shirt.

As I was getting ready to make a left to drive into the parking lot I was asking the Lord for guidance in whom I should talk to. But the moment I laid eyes on him with his head in his hands, I knew he was the one. I parked and thought to myself, “Now you’ve done it big shot, what if this guy is carrying a switch blade in one of his motorcycle boots and is just waiting for someone to slice open?” I took a deep breath and approached him,

“Mind if I sit here,” as I backed up to the adjoining plastic chair.

“Help yourself,” the big burly thirty-some year old man replied.

I couldn’t help but notice his red swollen eyes when he turned to respond to me, so I asked, “Are you alright?”

The big brute replied, “I haven’t slept in days.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“I just got out of the hospital a couple of days ago. I crashed my motorcycle doing seventy and wasn’t expected to live, cracked my skull, got a steel plate put in. I was in a coma for thirty days.

“It looks like you’re going to make it,” I said reassuringly.

“I don’t know, but I sure could use some sleep,” he replied.

“Why don’t you take some sleeping pills?”

“I have plenty that the doctor gave me, but I’m afraid to take them. I’m afraid I won’t come back!”

“What do you mean?” I inquired.

“Well, when I was in the coma all I could see was blackness. I knew I was dead or dying. I was afraid, terrified really. I cried out to God. Oh God, SAVE ME. I have a little boy who I want to bring up. I don’t want to die!…. I don’t know how long it took for Him to answer, but it seemed like it happened right away. Now I’m afraid to go back to that dark place and never wake up again.”

It didn’t take long for my answer to come to mind and I asked him if he wanted perfect peace, a peace that would let him sleep. He answered, “Yes.” “If you repent of your past life and receive Jesus Christ into your heart and life He will forgive your sins and give you a peace that surpasses all understanding,” I said.

“But how do I do that?”

“Just repeat after me in your own words. Lord Jesus I’m sorry for the way I’ve been living and for ignoring you and God the father. Please forgive me and forgive my many sins. Give me the forgiveness and peace that you promised in the bible.”

The big tough Hells Angel blubbered the prayer in his own words, even as the Saturday afternoon shoppers swirled around us, impervious to our presence and caught up in their own thoughts and concerns.

I assured the man that he would have a peace that surpasses all understanding, and that he would sleep soundly tonight. I also told him to get baptized and find a bible-believing church and begin reading the scriptures. Thanking me, he agreed to all that I said, and let out a sigh of relief as if a huge weight had been removed from off his shoulders. We said our goodbyes and he left me to go home somewhere in central Florida and get some sleep.

This and many more such stories and scenes will appear in my book and depicted in my movie “The Prophecies” which is based on my street ministry. One of my favorite verses is; “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of Power, Love and a Sound Mind.”

By the way,

A reader who saw the movie just informed me that the “Four Blood Moons” by John Hagee never once mentioned Jesus Christ! I can’t say since it isn’t showing anywhere near where I live.

I did get chided for mentioning Roma Downy’s Easter T.V. special in my last article, but since I don’t watch television, I only mentioned it in passing, like I did “The Four Blood Moons”.

YBIC

Jim Torres “Towers”

 

I met the Messiah in 1983, and since then, my life has never been the same. It hasn’t been all wonderful. There were hurts and pain, but the difference was that I knew that the Lord was with me through everything. He became my life and His Word, my sustenance.

I had been taught in synagogue to be very proud of my heritage as a Jew, but it meant nothing to me back then. Actually, the constant anti-Semitic remarks by kids in my neighborhood and school; fist fights in the street over being called names — I wasn’t exactly ecstatic about being a Jew. Also, the Old Testament confused me when I attempted to read it.

I also learned in the synagogue that Christians hated us, and they always had. You see, Jews look at Christianity as one unit. They have no idea about being truly born again from above — having a heart of stone being made into a heart of flesh, and God’s own Holy Spirit coming and dwelling within us. Jews look back at history and see Jewish blood spilled in the name of Christianity. It was only on this side of the Cross, that I realized that being a Christian had nothing to do with denomination, or how ornate a church building was. None of that was important. My question to people was “Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” And it was only after knowing Jesus, that I appreciated and loved being a Jew.

Jews heard about people like Corrie Ten Boom, but I truly believe that they just thought of Corrie as one of a kind – a special lady. They were unable to see that it was the Lord in Corrie’s life and heart who made her into the loving woman she was, willing to sacrifice herself for the Jewish people. My people could not discern that some people were truly Christian, while most were just going through the motions.

But I think that Israeli Jews are beginning to be able to discern the Evangelicals from all others at last. They see that there are certain Christians who really love Israel. Bibi knows it and many others too. I think this will be used by the Lord to bring more and more Jews to know Him.

Before I was saved, I had always had the feeling that the Catholics were the holy people. I suppose some of that came from their mass, which in many ways was like a service in the synagogue. Everything seemed so perfect, but I was searching for Jesus. I did go to a Catholic church to find Jesus, although that was short lived. I did not see Him there.

AMERICAN JEWS

I have heard so many born again believers ask why most Jews vote leftist, and why most of them stand with Obama, even in 2012, after all he has said and done against Israel. The answer is not complex. I wish it was complex. The simple truth is that most Jews in America are secular Jews. They don’t believe the Bible and many are agnostic or atheists. My own sisters do not believe in God, and they hate me for believing in Jesus. I find it interesting that my older sisters never received any instruction in Judaism, but my parents decided to send me. I am grateful that they did. I believe that the Lord’s Hand was on me all through my life.

My dad had grown up in Boston, and was from an orthodox family. He read and spoke Hebrew fluently. My mom was totally secular. Her parents had been gamblers in D.C. and mom was regularly sent on a bus, at twelve years old, to pay off her parents’ debts. My parents met at the Jewish Community Center in D.C. at the beginning of WWII. They married soon after that.

Dad gave up his orthodox ways for mom. So there we were, a secular Jewish family. My parents had told us that as good Jews, we should be Democrats. It was expected. It was important. They made me believe that the Democrats were the party of compassion. I guess they missed the history of FDR sending away a ship of 900 frantic Jews from Europe, wanting to come into America to escape the coming slaughter. FDR told Congress that the U.S. had enough Jews. Those Jews went back to Europe, and eventually to the camps.

I guess they forgot that in the miraculous 6 day war of 1967, President Johnson (Democrat) said that Israel would stand alone if they defended themselves. He didn’t realize that God helped Israel. He didn’t care.

My dad, having had Hebrew instruction, and a love for Torah, was different. He loved Israel. I remember during the 1960’s, he had a picture of Nasser in our utility room — we threw darts at it. Dad loved Israel and sent money each year to them. I’m not sure if mom knew that he did this. But Dad was still a Democrat.

When God saved me in 1983, I had been a registered Democrat. It had never occurred to me to be anything else. But as I read the Word every day, I realized that I could not reconcile the platform of the Democrats with God’s Word. I changed my political affiliation to Republican.

Mom told me in a stern voice, that she could take my believing in Jesus, but she could not accept me being a Republican. She exclaimed “I can’t believe I gave birth to a Republican!”

Before dad died in 1997, the Lord allowed me to lead him in prayer to be saved. I had witnessed a lot to Dad when they moved to Florida for retirement. I sent him books and letters about Yeshua.

He wrote back to me that he was so proud that one of his children loved the Ten Commandments. He didn’t mention Jesus, but on his deathbed he prayed the prayer of repentance and trusted Yeshua for his salvation.

ISRAELI JEWS

In Jerusalem, there are quite a few orthodox Jews. They are conservative. They believe the Old Testament, and they know that God promised the land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac. About 10% of Israel is orthodox.

In contrast to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is much like the majority of Jews here in America. Some of them want to split Israel and even Jerusalem for peace. They have no idea that it will not bring peace. They have no idea that it angers God when His land is divided.

And then there are the moderates, who love Israel and know the dangers which encircle them. They want to be safe. They don’t want to die. They want a strong leader like Netanyahu.

WHAT IS COMING

No person knows the time of the Rapture of the Church. But we do see the signs that this world is getting ready for something big. Anti Semitism is at its highest point, worldwide. There are wars and rumors of wars all around. There are earthquakes and all sorts of natural disasters. One of the most important fulfillments of prophecy was in 1948, when God brought His people from the four corners of the earth, back to their own land.

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.” Amos 9:13-15 (KJV)

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Matthew 23: 37-39 (KJV)

I believe that those words will be among the sweetest that our Lord will ever hear.

My Jewish brothers and sisters, my prayer for you is that your eyes will be opened, and that you will understand that your Messiah came, and you knew Him not. He is Yeshua (Jesus). He gave his life for you. You were hardened for a time, so that the Gentiles could come into the Kingdom. You see, the plan of God was that through us (Jews) the whole world would be offered Salvation.

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:” Romans 11:26 (KJV)

When the last Gentile comes in, then your eyes will be opened and you will see Him clearly. He adores you!

I don’t know why He revealed Himself to me at this time. I’m so glad He did, so that I can tell you that this is TRUTH. Now do you understand why the born-again Christians love Israel so much? The Law, the prophets and Yeshua came from the Jewish people!

What’s not to love?

I pray that many will read this, and that the Lord will draw them to Himself and they will be saved.

Am Yisrael Chai!

Shalom b’Yeshua!

Grandmageri422@gmail.com

You read the headlines on the internet, “Isis urges U.S. brothers to kill 100 American soldiers and claims to have their names and addresses.” I sincerely hope that this is a false flag or misinformation, if you will. Islamist radicals often use tactics like this to instill terror into the hearts of nonbelievers of Islam. But knowing that terrorist cells exist in the United States I would be hard pressed to say that this is only a scare tactic. Today, anything is possible.

It’s understandable that this threat would make any military personnel edgy. I would urge American Christians everywhere to pray for our men and women in uniform as well as their immediate families.
Islamic terrorists will continue to harass us in one way or another. They are here in the U.S. to explore ways to destroy us. Not only are there terrorist cells in our country, but incarcerated Muslims are converting many disenfranchised American prisoners to Islam. Muslim extremists are making converts by the truckload and we are FOURTH in the world in promoting jihad on face book! It seems that Islamic extremists are hard at work in our country. We are thousands of miles away from the heat of battle, but we are in a battle for hearts and minds, a spiritual battle, “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against wickedness in high places.”

Among the other young men being converted are those who won’t work or are privileged kids in universities where godlessness is taught. Many of them have been brought up by atheists, alcoholics, two mommies, two daddies or drug addled parents. They have turned to a life of crime and dissipation, not realizing the ultimate results of their actions. Far too many of them have no morals or foundational faith in Christ, which makes them little more than brute beasts. You can hear it in their so-called rap music lyrics, lyrics that boast of killing and raping.

Is God giving mankind over to a reprobate mind that the Bible warns about? Obviously this is what is happening with Jihadists in other parts of the world, otherwise how could a person kill and dismember innocent children or set fire to a living, breathing human being? Not to mention beheadings and stoning women to death. It’s beginning to look like the pits of hell have been opened and demons are wreaking havoc across the globe.

Nevertheless, it’s my understanding that some Muslims are having an encounter with the risen Christ in personal visitations. Only God can save them by showing up in person in a vision. I suspect though that this is only happening to those who still have some light in their spiritual lives, but don’t know any better and are only going along with the crowd, but they are few.

To continue, it was reported the other day by some members of the U.N. that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had issued a Fatwah against nuclear proliferation. But anyone who knows anything about a Fatwah knows that it has to be put in writing to be valid – and it hasn’t been. But, even if it were put in writing it wouldn’t really mean a thing since the Quran says that lies can be told to subvert the enemy of Islam. Furthermore, the U. N. is made up primarily of Muslim nations!

We know that Satan is the father of lies and so it stands to reason that these people are doing his will and not the will of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the true creator of heaven and earth. I would suspect that Iran has nuclear bomb capacity even as we speak and are only waiting for the right time and circumstance to carry out a nuclear attack on Israel. If Israel didn’t have the military might to protect itself, this would have already happened.

We also know that Hamas and Hezbollah are proxies of Iran and are ready to attack northern Israel from Lebanon and Syria. Years ago Lebanon was overrun by Muslim immigrants when they were offered shelter there from warring factions years ago. Thus, Hezbollah immigrated, infiltrated and eventually took over that nation from top to bottom.

I find it hard to believe that some apostate Christians think we serve the same God. Allah is the moon god and on their flag is a depiction of the crescent moon. But no, I don’t hate Muslims. I despise their satanic ideology.
I remember once several years ago an old Pakistani woman asked me to pray for her dying husband. I knew she was a Muslim and she knew I was a Christian. “I don’t care what you are, but please oh, please pray for my dying husband,” she wailed. Being a born again Christian street evangelist I felt obligated to do so, and embraced the crying woman who laid her head on my chest while crying openly. When I asked her what her husband’s name was she replied, “Mohammad.” So there I was praying for Mohammad in Jesus name!
I told you that story so that you wouldn’t accuse me of being an Islamophobe. I know God loves all of his creation, but there can be no compromise with Islam who would kill our children and families. Their intent is to kill, maim and destroy all who are opposed to them. “The devil goes around but to kill and destroy.”
These things must be revealed so that you are fully prepared for any eventuality. So I strongly suggest you get your life in order and prepare to meet your maker in the rapture or in death, whichever comes first.

By the way, on a lighter note, I actually saw a good movie today, a Christian one at that! The name of the movie was “Do You Believe”. (Before the movie began we had to sit through a wave of previews of new Christian movies that will be screening in the near future and of course one is a football movie.) “Do You Believe” was pretty well done with a number of professional actors filling the primary roles. It was obvious to me that the lighting, sound and camera work were professionally done, as well as the editing. The story was well written too! For all the aforementioned reasons it proved to be entertaining. This is not your typically unprofessional Christian fare, and they did as well as can be expected; but alas, it was not evangelical enough for me.
Roma Downey and her husband, who are Catholics, have a continuation of the New Testament coming out during Easter on television. Also, the movie “Four Blood Moons” was mentioned during the trailers. That may be coming out on DVD. I’ll let you know.

Even after a number of setbacks, I am going to try to get my evangelical films, calling for repentance, made for “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

We owe it to our loved ones, friends and neighbors, and fellow Americans to warn them about the days that lie ahead and the need to repent, based on Biblical prophecies in these, the last of the last days. So that they, “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near” like it says in Isaiah 55:6.

YBIC
Jim Torres “Towers”

A very dear friend shared this with me last year. Obviously suffering is all around us, soldiers have seen the young cut down and many ask why? I can not expound on it as well as my friend does below.

Where is God in your suffering?
A funeral message in honor of Marilyn Peterson. (1947-2014)

My mom’s life changed when we had our first boy, Micah, six years ago. She fell in love with him and tried desperately to will herself to health so that she could spend 2-3 day stretches at our house, playing and loving on him. My mom and I were able to spend much more time together and the majority of it was spent talking about the Bible and about Christ. She soaked in the Word of God and read the whole Bible several times, listened to countless sermons, and asked incredibly thoughtful and challenging questions. In honor of those talks with her, in honor of her and for the honor of Christ, I would like to spend a few minutes on an issue that we talked about many times. As most of you know, I am an engineer who sits in a cube all day. I am not a pastor or a very good speaker. My qualifications are simple. I know God. I love God and I know and love His Word. I have written this message out as I know it may be difficult to get through. Thank you all very much for being here and hearing this message.

My mom was a wonderful beautiful woman who loved me every second of my life for 43 years.
God is a wonderful beautiful God who has loved me every second of my life for 43 years.

My mom suffered as a child and was torn apart in the divorce of her parents.
My mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 30 and was bed ridden and racked with pain much of her remaining 40 years.
At 48, she lost her precious daughter, Jill, in a car wreck, and she never emotionally recovered from that.
At 63, the doctors told her that she had multiple myeloma, (bone marrow cancer), and that she had at most a couple years left.
At 66, she entered the hospital with unbearable pain and ten weeks later at 67, she lay on a hospital bed in her living room, unrecognizable, and gasped her last breath at 3 in the morning last Thursday night.

Is God really such a wonderful loving God? It is quite easy to accept the fact that God is loving when we are young and have never experienced hardship or tragedy. But when we meet evil and pain, tragedy and suffering face to face, the loving God of our youth does not seem so loving.

There is great tension in the statement that God is love and that He allows evil, tragedy and suffering to exist and even to flourish.
This tension if left unexplored and unresolved will at best cause a person to become ambivalent or indifferent towards God. At worst, it will cause a deep anger and resentment toward God.
The tension can be resolved, but it must be resolved alone with God and in His Word. Much of the world does not really wish to resolve this tension because it gives them a convenient and rational reason to live as they please and to be their own God. But for those who eagerly desire to know Him, He is also eager to teach and He has taught me. He taught me on September 18, 1995, in a hospital bathroom at 1 am after I had collapsed on the floor in grief over my dying sister.

My begging, pleading, and anger exhausted, I lay in silence on a cold hard bathroom floor knowing that He was not going to perform a miracle that day and that my sister would be dead in hours.
Empty of myself, God taught me. He taught me the true heavenly perspective of tension and it wasn’t “how could a loving God allow good people to suffer”. It was “How could a Holy and Just God give so much love, so much mercy, so much grace, and so many blessings to a rebellious and thick headed people such as we are-such as I was”. It was at that moment that I realized I had not deserved such a beautiful, kind-hearted sister and instead of pleading for her life as if I was entitled to something, I began to, with great emotion, pour out my thanks to the God who gave me a sister and as I prayed, I was met with as best as I can describe it- a hug from God, and that hug had just redeemed the worst day of my life and made it beautiful.

The Bible is very clear as to why suffering and tragedies occur. They occur because we are rebels and we desire to be our own god. We broke off our relationship with God and there were great consequences, the worst of which was separation from Him forever. In His great mercy though, He promised that He would save us and therein lays the great tension and greatest mystery of the Bible. How can God save a doomed people that He loves and still be just. Even our corrupt earthly judges have to issue forth justice and demand payment when laws are broken. -How much more the Great and Perfect Judge. Where do perfect love and perfect justice meet?

Almost every page of the Bible hints and points to this answer. God did not ask Abraham to kill his son Isaac to teach us about faith. He was asking Abraham to rehearse and point to what He (God) was going to do in a thousand years on that same hill. God would lead his own Son up the hill to be killed as a sacrifice for many. The Bible does not record that Isaac carried his own wood to His sacrifice for the sake of our curiosity. It was recorded so that when we saw Jesus carrying his own wood (cross) up the hill for his sacrifice, we might know that it had all been carefully planned out from the beginning.

Where do perfect love and perfect justice meet? They meet at the cross of Christ.
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.
The Father sent his Son to us, to live a sinless life, to die on a cross, and to be raised to life 3 days later to prove true His claims and our redemption.
Our sins have been paid (perfect justice), our redemption has been purchased (perfect love) and they are offered to us as a free gift.

Why does the Bible record that Jesus was crucified between two thieves? Once again God is painting a picture for us to look upon, to contemplate and to take wonder in.
We are those two thieves. We stand rightly condemned for our rebellion and many sins. We have no recourse. We have no way down…no way to rescue ourselves just as they did not.
The Bible tells us that both thieves mocked Jesus, but at some point, one of them turned to Jesus and humbly and simply asked to be saved. Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”. The most important question in all the world is this-Which of those two criminals are you?

Psalms 90 says, God teach us to number our days. What that means is that as you look upon my mom’s casket today, please realize that you will be there very soon. It was just a few moments ago that my mom was holding a baby boy in her arms and now he is 43 and speaking at her funeral. Time is so very precious and short and the Bible is very clear that you only have this lifetime to make a decision to follow Christ. If you do not know Christ, I urge you to humble yourself at the foot of the cross and ask Him to save you. He is indeed Mighty to save and he turns no one away. If you already belong to Christ, I urge you to recommit your life to Him and surrender your whole self to Him as He is deserving and most worthy of it.

I will close with this thought. For those who belong to Christ, suffering is allowed for a season. We are told to expect it, but we are also told that He will be there with us and that He will turn it into something beautiful. Last Thursday night at 2:45 AM, my mom was dying and gasping for air. It was as horrible as anything I could have imagined. But God was there and He was holding us close. Marilyn’s sister was lovingly by her side. I was stroking my mom’s forehead. My dad was holding her hand and I glimpsed both wedding rings and realized that ‘til death do us part’ was happening in front of my eyes. She breathed her last and my dad put his head down into Marilyn and cried and cried and then said, “God thank you so much for my wonderful wife.” God was there and we gave mom to Him at 3am and she entered glory not because of her good works but because of Christ’s finished work on the cross. Praise be to Him who is mighty to save.

Where is God in your suffering? God is on cross 2000 years ago bleeding and dying for you.
The question is not where is God in your suffering.
The question is where are you in God’s suffering.

Closing Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,
We thank you for blessing us with your beautiful daughter Marilyn.
We mourn that we will be apart from her for a while, but we are eternally grateful that we have the hope to see her again in glory.
We would not have this hope apart from your precious Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be all honor, glory, majesty and power.
Maranatha. Lord come quickly!
-Amen.