Guarding His Flock Ministries

A Review and Commentary

Jonathan Cahn, The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery that Holds the Secret of America’s Future (Lake Mary, FL: Front Line—Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Club, 2011). 254 pages + Notes. In the Front Matter, it is stated: “What you are about to read is presented in the form of a story, but what is contained within the story is real.” (Emphasis added)

By applying words of judgment spoken and written to ancient Judah (circa 732 BC) by the prophet Isaiah (i.e., Isaiah 9:10-11), Jonathan Cahn creates a prophetic picture in The Harbinger—one the author admits to be part fiction and part fact—of God’s looming judgment over the United States of America (i.e., harbingers being signals of what is to come). As Jehovah judged His chosen nation in the ancient world for their iniquitous ways (Israel and Judah), so God has begun to pour out His wrath upon His chosen nation in the modern world (the United States). As such, The Harbinger delivers a spiritual wake-up call to the church and citizens of our nation.
Read the rest of this entry

»

Does anybody care?

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;  The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? Jeremiah 5:30-31, KJV

As could be agreed upon by most believers, Christians have the right, even the duty, to evaluate and hold accountable to Holy Scripture those who profess the evangelical faith but who, for reason of their manifest beliefs and behaviors, appear to be departing from the faith.[1] Jude told his readers to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). To shirk this responsibility means that believers are being disobedient to the faith once for all delivered. To all Christians, the Spirit gives His anointing which places upon them the responsibility to discern the “spirit of truth” from the “spirit of error” (1 John 4:6; 2:20-21, 27). To the congregation at Rome Paul wrote:

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Romans 16:17-18 (Compare Philippians 3:17-19.)

This same apostle also warned the elders at Ephesus:

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. Acts 20:29-31

In one context, Paul even named the false teachers! (2 Timothy 2:17; Compare 1 Timothy 1:18-20.)
Read the rest of this entry

»

God’s Gift of Discernment to Every Believer.

“They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.” (1 John 2:19-20, NASB)

The impression left by some televangelists is that they possess an exceptional anointing above and beyond that commonly possessed by the Christian masses. They give the impression that an anointing is available from God through them. In a sense, these well-known ministers have appointed themselves as distributors of the Holy Spirit’s anointing. Either by the contact of their hand with an individual’s forehead, or by a forceful exhaling of air from their lungs (thereby simulating Spirit and wind), these anointed ones slay individuals or entire audiences in the Spirit. On stage and in crowded auditoriums, these “anointed” evangelists also heal persons by a touch as they command demons to take flight. They are “the anointed,” God’s power brokers, channels by whom and through whom the power of the Holy Spirit is released and distributed into the lives of thousands. Of course, all of this raises the question, What is this anointing is all about?
Read the rest of this entry

»

God’s gift, every “seed,” and Marijuana.

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Emphasis Added, Genesis 1:29, KJV

Advocates of marijuana have long cited a passage in Genesis that seemingly, if stretched beyond the bounds of sound interpretation, gives God’s endorsement to the recreational use of this drug. God announced in the creation narrative, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you” (Genesis 1:29). Alluding to this Genesis verse, Timothy Leary (1920-1996), psychologist and psychedelic, reportedly remarked, “They’ve outlawed the number one vegetable on the planet.”[1] So in light of the way and purpose for which drug advocates employ this biblical reference, it becomes necessary to investigate to see whether this passage endorses marijuana use or, for that matter, the use of other consciousness altering drugs derived from plants on this planet (i.e., peyote, grain alcohol, heroin, tobacco, etc.).

Read the rest of this entry

»

Do people really see Jesus today?

"Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’." John 20:29

Now and then, people claim to have physical sightings of, close encounters with, and mystical visions of Jesus. Once upon a time, evangelist Oral Roberts saw Him.

I felt an overwhelming holy presence all around me. When I opened my eyes, there he stood-some 900 feet tall, looking at me. . . . He stood a full 300 feet taller than the 600-foot-tall City of Faith. There I was face to face with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.[1]

Once upon a time, Jesus visited a Texas man in an Oklahoma motel room. "He looked like his picture," said George Wood, "but when you’re talking to the man for three hours, you forget the details."[2]

Another person reports her visionary experience.

Hello, My name is __________. I have had encounters with Jesus Christ . . . My first vision was when I woke one day. I looked over at my alarm clock and saw that I still had a minute left before the alarm was set to go off, so I closed my eyes and thought "great, I’ll get one more wink." Then I felt sort of paralyzed and saw Jesus Christ’s eyes looking at me! They were his eyes only. They were green with a hint of yellow and twice the size of a human’s eyes. . . . I can not say how long it lasted because it seemed that time had stopped. The next thing I know I opened my eyes and saw that my clock still had one minute left![3]

These "close encounters" with Jesus Christ raise issues about the present nature and appearance of His body, its current location, and the meaning of His second coming.

Read the rest of this entry

»