I will be posting the individual sections of Hosea: The Now Prophet on my blog until the entire section of

HOSEA: THE NOW PROPHET—

 COMMENTS ON THE BOOK OF HOSEA

 Part 1--General Historical Background

 has been presented.

PROLOGUE

“Teach us about the ancient prophets.”

Our home group asked me to teach them about the book of Hosea a couple of years ago. I was happy to do so. For several months, I presented a short lesson about Hosea in each of our meetings. This time was an emotional challenge for me. Preparing and teaching this study struck me hard in two ways. First, the strong emotions Hosea and God expressed throughout the story struck me hard. Second, the political, cultural, and spiritual parallels between Hosea’s day and our own struck me hard.

I believe God has much to teach us through the ancient book of Hosea. Therefore, I organized my notes, prayed over the editing of my comments, and published the results. May they bless you greatly; may you understand why I na...

This year has brought a number of changes--a new president, continuing chaos overseas, turmoil among believers, as well as changes in the ProphetsCalls/Redivivus Ministry.  I will be talking about more of those later.

However, I just finished a new series on what prophecy is not.  This series consists of 9 short videos on You Tube that focus on the following things that prophecy is not.  Prophecy is not:

• Equal to the Written Word [the Bible]
• A Guarantee
• A Golden Ticket
• An Endoresement of Character
• Eternal or Permanent
• Perfect
• Soothsaying, Divination, or Fortune-Tell
• Not a Toy

I created this series to help remove the confusion about what true, Biblical prophecy is.  While the Church as a whole is beginning to embrace prophetic ministry, the enemy has introduced confusion through false prophecy and false prophets.  My focus this year is to bring clarity.

This video series can be found on my You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@prophetcalls. I hope that you will take ...

Jentezen Franklin has said, “Do the Father's business, and He will take care of ours!” Yes! God has made every human being on earth in His image with the potential to do great things.

Whether we know it or not, we have an “I must” to fulfill because God gives us a life purpose. This “I must” from God will move us from complacency to action and change our lives. We release our desires to fulfill God’s will [Luke 22:42]. We eliminate the things that hinder us from fulfilling our purpose. 

God knows Who He is and is comfortable in His identity. God is good; God is the Great I AM. Through Him [Who knows Who He is], we as human beings can understand who we are. Through Him, we also discover the purpose for which we were created.

But first, to experience all that God wants to bless us with, we must meet the essential “musts” of God. These “musts” are not negotiable and cannot be circumvented. What actions are necessary to fulfill our purpose [our “I must,” as Jentezen Franklin put it], an...

Word of the Lord for 2024: It is time to soar in 2024!

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ² Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. Colossians 3:1-2

 What does this mean? How do we soar into heavenly realms?

 Recognize that God is doing a new thing.  He does not change, but He moves in different ways at various times. We must be willing to follow wherever He leads.

 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Revelation 21:5

We must not be afraid. We must not cling to what we have known and what made us comfortable. We will be flyi...

Today is Labor Day, September 4th. Summer heat still clings to the days, but fall's cooling promise is growing. While our days are still over 90 degrees here in South Carolina, the nights are cooling off, falling into the low 70s and high 60s.

It has been a tough summer. Ferocious wildfires have ravaged Canada, Hawaii, and California; smaller, less publicized fires have hit other states. Floods have devastated several states. Excessive heat has caused deaths in the South and West. And, even as summer is ending, a hurricane has devastated "the Bend" in Florida.

This summer has also been challenging for me personally. Several friends are dealing with life-threatening illnesses. One of these friends is now celebrating her homecoming in heaven. My own battle for good health seems to be at a stalemate.

Through it all, a sense of God's peace has prevailed. The struggle has been challenging. However, three revelations have made this journey easier.

1.  It's all about Jesus—not me. Seems
...

The need strikes me for balance in the structure and operation of the Ekklesia of God.  God’s Ekklesia is Christ's universal, eternal body, which has had and will have many parts [with different functions] throughout the ages.

Every local body [the local church] is a unique part of that body. Each body must have its own unique vision—or it is an aberration, having no eternal impact.  A church without a vision is, essentially, purposeless.

However, each local body is similar to other local bodies in one way: Individuals in these local bodies need to learn to love unselfishly and develop the discipline to become true disciples of Jesus. This is done through a person's fellowshipping within that local body, hearing the Word of God expounded, and volunteering [or ministering] in that local body.   

However, if the pastoral team only looks for new sheep and fails to feed the older sheep or help sheep develop their own gifts and ministries [in or out of the local church], that team has fa...

I have been on the run, traveling and learning, and [I hope!] growing in the Lord. My last stop was at the  Leadership Summit for Prophets in Charleston, S.C. It was a fairly intense two days [think of the difference between condensed orange juice and regular juice to understand the level of intensity]. Pastor Samuel imparted wisdom to all those who attended to receive.

On the second day of the summit, we had a round table summit to discuss what God was doing in the nation and the world. My assigned topic was “What God is saying to His Leaders.”  The following is a copy of what God spoke at this round table:

The word of the Lord to those who call themselves “shepherds” concerning the heart, actions, and rewards of shepherds:

Know this, all who call themselves shepherds, my measuring rod is in My hand. I have measured you and am now separating you one from another as the shepherd separates the rams from his nursing ewes with lambs and the goats from those that will go to the slaughte...

Yes, we can do anything---IF God is with us.

We can have peace, prosperity, safety, and social justice for all--IF we seek His face.

But walking in pride is even now leading us toward disaster as we listen to the pied-piper of selfish arrogance.

Our problem did not start with politics and will not end with politics--we are suffering from heart disease. Our hearts are growing cold toward God and hard toward anyone or anything except ourselves.

The cure?

Publishing houses have repeatedly declared that the Bible is the most published book. Originally written on papyrus and leather scrolls, the Bible is not available in various sizes, languages, exterior colors, and translations. Online and d editions of the Bible also exist.

Yet it is also true that the Bible is one of the most neglected books in the Western hemisphere. Even among those who call themselves believers, few can honestly say they have time set aside daily for Bible Study.

The younger generation often ignores the Bible, while this generation chases spirituality through various causes, occultic practices, and strange religions. Yet the Bible still speaks. It speaks with authority and power to those who will listen to its words. It defines a narrow road that leads to righteousness and eternal life and debunks the claims of other religions.

The Bible also declares it has its supernatural origin. The Bible proclaims its unique status as a document that speaks to each generati...

Yesterday I began sharing the first of a series of words concerning God's indictment of America. These words are a stern warning, indicating that God's forbearance with America is ending. Today, I am posting parts 2 and 3 of that series. These portions resulted from my asking God to grant me a greater understanding of HIs concerns.

Part 2

 But I asked the Lord, "Lord, although I think I understand, will you be specific about what has disgusted you?"

 And I believe the Lord responded. He despises

• America's greater love for money and spectacle than for righteousness or integrity.
• Politicians who lie and destroy good people's reputations to gain money and power.
• People who knowingly vote for evil people and evil policies to line their pockets.
• The lazy
  • those who are too lazy to seek the truth and
  • those who are too lazy to work at gainful employment but want to eat the fruit of other people's efforts [This includes both spiritual and physical fruit].
• Those who ignore the
...