THE REST by Ben Peters

THE REST

The Spirit of God is hovering over His church, powerfully and graciously wooing her and leading her into the place of rest, which Hebrews 4 declares is available to all of His children.  This invitation to this seemingly mystical rest is increasing in its intensity.

The phrase, “The Rest,” has two different meanings.  One meaning is: “that which remains,” as in “The Rest of the Story.”   The other meaning is “stopping our work and getting refreshed.”  But “The Rest” of Hebrews 4 involves both.  Hebrews 4:9 declares, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.”  Thus, Scripture is telling us that there is more – the rest – of what God has given us that we need to possess.  In other words, WE NEED TO POSSESS THE REST OF WHAT GOD HAS FOR US, WHICH IS THE REST.

Israel had some amazing blessings in the wilderness, which followed an amazing victory over Egypt, but the greatest blessings had not yet been claimed and “The Rest” of their blessings were still waiting for them.

The word, “REST,” in both Hebrew and Greek actually means, “ABODE,” which, I believe, has huge significance for the church today.  This rest is more than just stopping work, but also being able to fully enjoy possessions.  Israel did not enter into their “Abode” because of unbelief.   The Promised Land was their “Abode.”   

It’s like getting to go home when you’ve been on a long trip.  You don’t really rest until you get to your own house and your own bed, etc.  We’ve stayed in some nice motels and hotels, as well as some very nice homes on the road, but we don’t really completely rest until we get home to what is our own, as humble as it may be.  Our soul longs for that complete emotional rest that only comes when we are where we feel we can be totally ourselves.

Our rest in God is something like that.  We may know we have eternal life, but not fully possessing what He has provided for us.  He wants us to be led into the fullness of His promises and go in to possess the land that has been waiting for us. 

The King James Version translates Hebrews 4:11 this way:  “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

The word, “labor,” actually means “do it quickly and diligently.”  Israel’s sin of unbelief caused them to delay action, which led them to wander in the wilderness without entering their rest for forty years.  When God is ready to bless you, take quick action and trust Him completely. 

Israel had possession of their freedom from slavery.  It was much better than slavery, but God wanted to give them the fullness of His blessing in their own land. They missed out because of fear and unbelief.  Fear and unbelief always partner to rob us and to rob God.

What we may miss when we read Hebrews 4 is the application for the church.  Even as Israel, under Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had possessed the land of Canaan for three generations, so the church was in possession of its territory in the early days of their history.  Whereas “Natural Israel” was given a natural piece of land to possess, “Spiritual Israel,” the church, was given a spiritual territory to possess.  That wonderful gift was the fulness of the manifested presence of God, which produced incredible fruit and power, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.  The spiritual fruit was the amazing level of unselfishness and generosity.  The power was miracles of healing, deliverance and raising the dead, resulting in thousands of souls saved. 

This was the Promised Land of the early church.  Jesus gave them the promise repeatedly in John 14-17 and then again in Acts 1:8, when He told them they would receive power after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, causing them to be witnesses at home and abroad. 

Israel had lost their possessions for over 400 years before they were able to reclaim it through many battles in their Promised Land.  In like manner, the church had lost its possessions for over a thousand years, and it has taken several hundred years, beginning with the Reformation to get to where we are today in reclaiming our spiritual possessions.  Like Joshua, before his death, I believe Jesus, whose Hebrew name is actually Joshua, is calling the church to finish taking back their possessions from the enemy.  He wants to strike a death blow to false doctrines, such as Cessationism, which claims that miracles are not for today, by demonstrating His power and might to the nations.

Are we, His church, ready to go in and possess our inherited “Abode?”

I hear the voice of God exhorting us:  “Go in and possess the land.  I gave it to you 2000 years ago.  Don’t fear the giants in the land, whether they be religious, political or leaders from any mountain of society.  I have given them into your hands.  Just listen and obey.  When I tell you to march around Jericho seven times, do it.  Trust me and I will show you my right hand of power.  Did I not instruct Joshua to be strong and of a good courage?   So now, I am instructing My church.  Rise up and possess your possessions, so you can truly enter into your perfect rest.  Only then, can I demonstrate to the lost, how much I love them and how mighty a God I AM.  Listen and obey, and I will use you to build My Kingdom.

Ben Peters

ohmint@gmail.com

GETTING GOD'S ATTENTION AND FAVOR IN 2018 by Ben & Brenda Peters

Greetings Friends,

It’s been too long since my last letter.  I’ve posted a lot on Facebook, but realize that not everyone is on Facebook.  Please forgive me.  Life, as usual, has been a bit crazy.

For those who haven’t heard, Brenda slipped on an unseen curb coming out of church, going into the parking lot.  She fell and twisted her foot and ankle.  X-rays showed a couple of small bone chips or fractures in her foot in two different places, plus the ankle was sprained.  We’ve had hundreds of people praying for her and she is walking, or limping on it.  She got through some last minute shopping and all the Christmas gatherings.  She’s not without pain or discomfort and the foot has turned black and blue, but she’s thankful that she can still function and didn’t have to have a hard cast.  We do appreciate continued prayer for her.

We are expecting twin boys to be born in the next few days, now that they are over 37 weeks old in the womb.  I call them womb-mates.  We’re looking forward to seeing them and Kimberley is looking forward to carrying them outside the womb.

Our schedule keeps us busy with personal ministry, writing, babysitting, etc.  We have a few meetings scheduled in early 2018, but we’re wanting to stay pretty close to home most of the time to help with these twins.

Here’s my New Years Message, which will also go on Facebook.

HOW TO GET GOD’S ATTENTION AND FAVOR

Brenda and I just watched an episode of Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural, with guest James Maloney.  We were impacted heavily by his testimony and message. 

What stood out the most was the fact that having already had an amazing miracle ministry, God brought him to a place of greater brokenness and humility, where he now has more compassion and more faith for the impossible.  He has found that he also has instant access to the heavenly realm and the manifested presence of God and angelic assistance.

The important point I want to make, which is confirmed all throughout Scripture is this:  God isn’t looking to see how great our accomplishments are, how big our ministries are, how skillful we are in interpreting Scripture, etc.  What He is looking for is a broken and contrite heart. 

Isaiah 57 tells us He dwells in a high and loft place with the person who has a contrite and humble spirit. 

Psalm 51 tells us that a broken and contrite heart He will not despise. 

Isaiah 66 says that God will notice and pay attention to “him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,” rather than someone who has built Him a beautiful temple or palace. 

James 4 tells us God resists the proud but gives grace (or favor) to the humble. 

Jesus taught us that the sinner asking for mercy would have more favor than the Pharisee who had meticulously kept the letter of the law. 

MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

I can think of no greater New Year’s Resolution than to resolve to seek His face and ask Him to give us that place of brokenness and humility before Him.  The promises and rewards of brokenness and humility are so incredible that any sacrifice would be worth it to receive the benefits that are promised to us.  After all, David told us in Psalm 103 not to forget all His benefits.

Both Brenda and I have experienced these benefits following times of deep brokenness before God.  We share these experiences in some of our books.  Without these intense and exhilarating experiences, we would not have the ministry we have today.  But how easy it is to forget the true source of God’s favor and blessings, and begin to think in terms of a performance mentality.  We begin to look at our accomplishments and giftings and compare ourselves with others, which God says is not wise. 

The good news is that we don’t have to go through major pain and suffering to humble ourselves and find that place of brokenness.  We can ask for a revelation of Jesus through His Word and the Holy Spirit.  He can show us where we fall short and yet how great His love is for us.  We can ask for His heart and confess our own selfishness and pride.  His Holy Spirit will convict us if we ask Him to. 

More good news:  Being humble and broken before the Lord doesn’t mean we go around sad and mournful.  Just the opposite.  My experience is that immediately after an hour or two of carrying the burden or heart of the Lord in intercessory prayer, the joy of the Lord would flood my soul and His love and peace carried me through the day with victory and vigor for life.  The fruit of the Holy Spirit flowed out of my life like a river, and I knew it wasn’t me.  I was living in a supernatural realm I had never known before.  For more details, read “Humility and How I Almost Achieved it.”  E-book downloads are free on many e-readers.  Write me if you want more information. 

My personal and glorious revival followed one simple act of humility and obedience, and the long-term result is over 50 years of ministry, where God has provided all our needs, over 20 revelatory books written, over 20 international ministry trips and tens of thousands of hearts touched with the love of the Father.  Brenda’s testimony is similar, but different as yours probably is as well.

Let’s believe for God’s grace to empower us to keep our New Years Resolution throughout 2018 and the rest of our lives.  God isn’t looking at our performance record.  His eyes are searching for humble and broken hearts who feel His pain for souls without Christ and kids without food or clean water to drink, etc., not to mention those that are slaughtered in the womb.  May God take us lower so that He can lift us up and powerfully use us without our pride and selfishness getting in the way and messing things up.

There is so much more we could say, but this is getting too long.

Have a very blessed New Year with family, friends and with souls you will have impacted for eternity.

Much love,

Ben and Brenda Peters

DEFINING HOLINESS by Ben & Brenda Peters

Dear Friends,

There has been a certain amount of discussion on the subject of holiness recently in some circles we are involved with.  I'm going to share my thoughts below if you want to know my understanding and definition of holiness.  As mentioned below, I've written a book called, Holy How, on Holiness, The Sabbath, Communion, and Baptism.  Downloads can be made for free on several e-readers.

Here's the article:  DEFINING HOLINESS

The word, “holiness,” is used frequently by many streams of Christianity.  Most preachers and Bible teachers assume everyone pretty much knows what the word means.  Of course, we know that there are a variety of Christian groups and denominations that have set their own standards for their people, which, if kept, their people can be called holy.

Growing up in a “Holiness” minded family, Holiness meant being different or separate from the world, and not doing anything the world did that we didn’t basically do in church or our Christian homes.  That included: smoking or chewing tobacco, drinking alcohol, dancing, going to movies, gambling (including with marbles), secular music, and of course all moral indecency or inappropriate dress.  My parents even had convictions about going to doctors and trusting Jesus for all healing.  I told my teacher that my family doctor was Jesus.  The school was sure we were Jehovah’s Witnesses, but we were not.  But other religious groups forbid women from cutting their hair, wearing makeup or jewelry, or men from wearing ties.

As a pastor, I preached on holiness, without ever questioning what holiness really meant.  I preached against a number of things, including all rock music, which of course applied to Christian rock.  I assumed all secular music was “unholy.”  Through various situations and the softening of my heart, I began to accept the concept of stronger rhythm in Christian music.

As I grew older, I began to ask the question:  What makes an activity a “worldly” activity that Christians should avoid.  Was it our religious tradition, or was there a real Biblical and spiritual reason to not do certain things.  For instance, the consumption of alcohol or tobacco.  I always knew there were social and physical dangers of these activities, but overeating and poor food choices could be just as dangerous.   But I had a much deeper and a more intense hatred for the first two activities than I did for the latter. 

I do believe I had inherited some religious spirits from my natural and spiritual ancestors.  I still have to fight those spirits, which make me want to judge and criticize those who practice or are bound by habits of alcohol or tobacco.  There were, of course, plenty of Bible verses warning against strong drink and drunkenness, but there are also verses that seem to indicate that Jesus and his disciples and Timothy drank real wine for various reasons.  Tobacco was not discussed in Scripture, but we could use the Scripture which talked about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit.  

Today, I am more focused on trying to discern what actually grieves the Holy Spirit and what pleases Him.  I know He wants a clean vessel to use, but I also know that God looks first on the heart.  I want my heart to be full of Him and empty of my flesh. 

The greatest leader of what we call the “Holiness Movement” was John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church.  Wesley did give us a very clear and concise definition of holiness.

Definition of Holiness – John Wesley

It is that habitual disposition of soul which directly implies, the being cleansed from sin `from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit;' and, by consequence the being endued with those virtues which were in Christ Jesus, thus being so `renewed in the image of our mind,' as to be `perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect."

What I like about Wesley’s definition:

1. It’s about the habitual disposition of the soul.  That means we can position our soul to desire and pursue holiness.  It could also mean that God looks at the heart and its desires, more than our sins and failures if we confess our sins and truly desire to please Him.
2. The consequence of that disposition of the soul is being endued with the same virtues that were in Christ Jesus.  That clearly refers to the fruit of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus promised that the same Holy Spirit which was in Him would be in us.

To sum up what Wesley is saying:  Holiness is about seeking to be clean and pure before God so He can fill us with His nature and we can be like Him on the earth and demonstrate His nature to others on the earth.

Wesley, of course, has volumes more to say about holiness, loving God with all our hearts and many related subjects.  His insights were way ahead of his time and he truly introduced to the church world the concept of sanctification and separation from the world.  He was truly a pioneer and a trailblazer for many others who came after him.  He and a few contemporaries led a powerful move of God, which helped to fuel the first Great Awakening.

My personal definition of holiness would include Wesley’s main thoughts, but would also include some additional insights, which I believe God wants to reveal to us today to further empower us to bring in His harvest.

As I shared in my book, “Holy How,” there are some very wonderful and powerful aspects of holiness, which we have missed because of an overriding aura of tradition regarding the concept of holiness.  Since writing the book, I have done some additional research on the words, “Holy” and “Holiness.”  I began studying the various words used in the Hebrew and Greek, and then the way those various Hebrew and Greek words were translated in various other passages.  I’d like to share the insights I have gained through this study.

Here are a few conclusions, based totally on Scriptural research.  I believe the following points are extremely important and powerfully transformative if we will accept and embrace them. 

1. Purity of heart and life is NOT THE PRIMARY MEANING of the words, “Holy” and “Holiness.”
2. The PRIMARY MEANING of “Holy” is special or set apart, chosen or consecrated for a special purpose.  The word, Holy, is used hundreds of times to describe articles and days set aside or consecrated for special purposes in serving God.
3. Purity is a normal consequence and pursuit chosen by those who understand the fact that they have been called and chosen to be called “Holy” by God.  The “Holy” articles were kept clean, not to make them “Holy,” but because they were Holy.
4. The opposite of “Holy” according to Leviticus 10:10 is “common” or “not special, consecrated or set apart.”  Look up the Hebrew meaning of “Unholy” in Leviticus 10:10.
5. Our pursuit of “Holiness” should not be so we find greater acceptance with God.  We are accepted, “In the Beloved.”  Our pursuit of “Holiness” should be because we know He wants our intimate fellowship, which gets hindered by guilt, shame and feelings of failure, as well as pride, rebellion and stubbornness.  We love Him and express that love “because He first loved us.”
6. “Holiness” is not a heavy or burdensome concept in Scripture.  A “Holy Day” is a holiday, a special day.  In Nehemiah 8, Ezra, the priest, and the Levites told the people more than once not to mourn or weep, but to celebrate, have a feast, and give gifts, because the day was a “Holy” day. 
7. Paul addresses Christians as “Holy Ones.”  The Greek word he used for saints was the same as the word usually translated “Holy.” 
8. Peter exhorted Christians (I Peter 1:13-16) to fulfill their callings and live their lives with pure conduct like Jesus did, but later (I Peter 2:9) gives insights into the meaning of “Holy” by using it as a synonym with “Special, Royal, and Chosen.”
9. Peter said they should be Holy like God, who was Holy.  But we forget to think about what that could mean.  What makes God Holy?  Yes, he does not sin.  He keeps His promises.  He executes justice and mercy, etc.  But if “Holy” means set apart, and special, how is God special.
10. PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE’VE MISSED ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF HOLINESS IS THIS:

God is not “set apart” or “special” because He doesn’t smoke, drink, chew, do drugs, wear indecent clothing, cut His hair, go to movies, etc. etc.

What makes God different than all other “gods” is the fact that He is not only pure, but also powerful and full of love.  No other religion can claim a “god” who is both all-powerful and full of love.  No other “god” has demonstrated both of these things in any way, shape or form.  That’s because other “gods” are actually from the source of all evil, and they are full of lies and deceit, abuse and bondage.  Only the Holy God, which we serve is full of love and powerful at the same time.

HERE’S MY HUMBLE ATTEMPT TO DEFINE HOLINESS:

Holiness is an amazing and wonderful gift of GRACE:

1. FROM our HEAVENLY FATHER,
2. THROUGH FAITH in JESUS CHRIST, His Son, and
3. DELIVERED to us by His precious Holy Spirit. 

The benefits of HIS Holiness, which we should not forget (Psalm 103:1,2), include:

1.  God’s divine nature (II Peter 1:4).
2.  God’s love and other spiritual fruit.  (Galatians 5:22)
3.  God’s power, especially as expressed through spiritual gifts of all kinds.  (Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, 14, Ephesians 4)

REMEMBER:  We are talking about HOLINESS.  We would have no HOLINESS unless it was delivered to us by the HOLY SPIRIT.  When the Holy Spirit inhabits us, He will manifest His Holy nature, His spiritual fruit and His powerful gifts. 

According to Peter, God made us a HOLY NATION so that we “may proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  (I Peter 2:9)  In other words.  He has chosen us and made us HOLY, to EMPOWER US TO SHARE THE GOSPEL EFFECTIVELY LIKE THE EARLY CHURCH DID.  In my own research throughout the whole Bible, for my book on Signs and Wonders, I discovered that over 90% of all conversions of non-believers resulted from a demonstration of God’s power. 

I don’t want to say this in a critical or judgmental way, but let me ask the question:

If we leave out the aspect of God’s miracle power when we talk about HOLINESS, are we not limiting our own ability to share the gospel effectively?  If we make HOLINESS about just our ability to please God or find favor with Him, are we not making it about our own personal advantage and reward, rather than about bringing in His harvest and filling Heaven with His children?

Thus, with all due respect to John Wesley, who called the church into a new dimension of Christian life, I would add to His definition the concept of the blessings and benefits of the gift of holiness, which include not only a clean and pure heart, but a life of supernatural power to effectively share the good news of God’s amazing grace, His awesome love and supernatural power to the non-believers everywhere.  When the early church was flowing in the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were the most effective in winning the lost. 

Let me close with two very simple illustrations.

1. A wedding dress is not a wedding dress because it has been washed over and over again.  It is a wedding dress because it was created for a special purpose.  Because of its special purpose, special care is taken to keep it clean and pure.  It is holy – set apart and carefully kept clean for its purpose and design of its creator. 
2. A prince, who is being raised to become the next king of a nation, has a high and holy calling.  He is raised with great privileges, but also great responsibilities.  He can do many things that others cannot do, but there are things that others do that he cannot do.  The prince IS NOT a prince because he does what a prince should do.  He does what he should do because he IS a prince.

BE HOLY AS GOD IS HOLY

Be filled and continuously refilled with the Holy Spirit.  Embrace His nature, His spiritual fruit and His spiritual gifts – not so you can say you are holy or sinlessly perfect, but so that you can build His Kingdom and reveal who He is the most effective way possible.

In His Amazing Grace, Love and Power,

Ben and Brenda Peters

A MASSIVE RETURN TO THE "HOUSE OF BREAD"

A MASSIVE RETURN TO THE “HOUSE OF BREAD”

A VISION

I saw many angels scurrying around, excitedly building a new platform.  They were building it out in the public square, where people came daily to do business and to meet with others. This platform had a high sign at the back of it that read, “JESUS IS LORD.”   The platform was being built for a new wave of Christian leaders that loved God passionately, and were not into ministry for personal gain or favor.  They were the young and the old, including former rebels and misfits, who had found purpose and belonging in the family of God.

Right now, I hear the Holy Spirit saying,

“Do not despise the testimony of former drug addicts, those formerly entangled with sexual sin or entertainers. 

Do not ignore political enemies who have come to know My love and power. 

I have promised that I would show you things that you’ve never known before, if you called on Me. 

I am about to release a wave of new things and your hearts will be overwhelmed with the changes that are coming.  I will not stop with changes and new things, however."

“I will double down on exposing wickedness wherever it exists, whether in government, business, entertainment or the church.  Be ready to cooperate with Me and listen to My voice.  

I will surprise even some of my most faithful friends with My wisdom and direction. 

I have not turned a deaf ear to any of your prayers. ( I have delayed some answers, in order to create a greater tidal wave of My glory that will come on the land, both in the United States of America, and in every other country, where people have been calling on My name for My intervention and mercy.”)

THE HOUSE OF BREAD

In reading the Book of Ruth again, the Holy Spirit highlighted the fact that Naomi and her family left Bethlehem because of famine.  Bethlehem simply means "The House of Bread". They left the House of Bread, because the supply of bread had ceased. Their stomachs were empty.  They had to go elsewhere to survive.

The Body of Christ is called to provide the Bread of Life to people. Sadly, many churches, denominations and ministries have forsaken the Bread of Life and offered nothing but artificial religious ingredients, or “Fake Bread.”  As a result, millions of people, especially young people, no longer participate. They have left the House of Bread.

The consequences of leaving the House of Bread have been devastating. Our social problems have multiplied exponentially since we took prayer and the Bible (the revelation of the Bread of Life) out of our schools and other public institutions.

BUT GOD!!!

Naomi got up and returned to Bethlehem, “For she had heard in the country of Moab, that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread.”  Ruth 1:6.  

Yay God!!!  The Body of Christ will return to offering the true “Bread of Life” to those who come to eat from God's table. Jesus is sovereignly visiting His people, many of whom have been desperately calling on His name.

I see in the Spirit, and do declare and decree that massive multitudes are heading back to the House of Bread, after spending time in a spiritually foreign country.

Crowds will gather wherever the angels have built a platform for these emerging voices,  for these ministers of God's grace, of His love and of His power to transform.  These platforms will be built on every mountain of society – Family, Religion, Government, Education, Media, Entertainment and Business. 

Perhaps you are called to cooperate behind the scenes to help place someone on a platform.  Some of you may be called to be the voice that is on the platform.

If you are currently being prepared for such a position, and once you are placed in that position, you need a faithful team of prayer warriors and a spiritually strong backbone "made of steel". Let God prepare you, and be prepared, since attacks will come. Know that God will always take care of His people. 

RUTH, THE MOABITESS

While Naomi is a prophetic symbol of former believers and partakers of the Bread of Life, Ruth is a prophetic picture of those who have never tasted His bread before. 

I believe God is going to reveal Himself to the people of many nations, people who have worshipped many other gods and have found their lives empty.  When they see Christians coming back to that place of intimacy with the Bread of Life, they will be overwhelmed by Holy Spirit and will be drawn to come and taste of that Bread as well. Believers will welcome spiritual foreigners and encourage them to come along and partake of His fresh bread. 

Because of Ruth’s love and devotion to Naomi, and her willingness to leave her homeland and her religious faith, God bestowed a huge blessing on her through a wonderful man named Boaz.  Ruth not only ended up with a book in the Bible named after her, but she also became the great grandmother to David, Israel’s greatest king, which put her in the lineage of Jesus.  I believe this too is prophetic.  God is going to greatly honor some of those who have come to the House of Bread to partake of the Bread of Life. Some, like Paul, will have persecuted Him, even some of those who have served ISIS or other terrorist groups.  God will give Kingdom leaders the wisdom and grace to empower these, like Barnabas did for Paul, and they will accomplish great things for God.

A CHALLENGE

I want to challenge you to ask God to show you how to cooperate with Him, and His ministering angels, in building platforms and in positioning His chosen voices to speak to the people of the Land. 

Ask Him to visit His people by bringing this Living Bread to them again.  Remember that the natural bread, that people ate in Jesus time, had many necessary nutrients to sustain life.  It wasn’t filled with artificial ingredients.  It wasn’t “Fake Bread.” 

Pray for the Body of Christ to actually function with incredible sacrificial love, and awesome displays of supernatural power, as Jesus did in His earthly body, and as the early church did as well.  May we, His body, be transformed into Living Bread for hungry people.

Delivered with a father's blessing,

Ben Peters,  Founder of Kingdom Sending Center

    Ohmint@gmail.com

A MASSIVE RETURN TO THE "HOUSE OF BREAD"

Dear Friends,

Just wrote this fresh revelation - Fresh Bread.  Keep praying for us.  We've been through some things and have seen some miracles.  Believing for many more on the way.  Praying also that God would hugely bless each person who has chosen to join us in any way in this ministry for His Kingdom.

A VISION

I saw many angels scurrying around, excitedly building a new platform.  They were building it out in the public square, where people came daily to do business and meet other people.  This platform had a high sign at the back of it that read, “JESUS IS LORD.”   The platform was being built for a new wave of Christian leaders that loved God passionately, and were not into ministry for personal gain or favor.  They were the young and the old, including former rebels and misfits, who had found purpose and belonging in the family of God.

Right now, I hear the Holy Spirit saying, “Do not despise the testimony of former drug addicts, sexual perverts and entertainers.  Do not discount political enemies who have come to know My love and power.  I have promised that I would show you things that you’ve never known before, if you called on Me.  I am about to release a wave of new things and your hearts will be overwhelmed with the changes that are coming.  I will not stop with changes and new things, however. 

“I will double down on exposing wickedness wherever it exists, whether in government, business, entertainment or even in the church.  Be ready to cooperate with Me and listen to My voice, for I will surprise even some of my most faithful friends with my wisdom and direction.  I have not turned a deaf ear to any of your prayers.  I have delayed some answers, in order to create a greater tidal wave of My glory that will come on the land, both in the United States of America, and in every other country, where people have been calling on My name for My intervention and mercy.”

THE HOUSE OF BREAD

In reading the Book of Ruth again, the Holy Spirit highlighted the fact that Naomi and her family left Bethlehem because of famine.  Bethlehem simply means the House of Bread.  They left the House of Bread because the supply of bread had ceased there.  Their stomachs were empty.  They had to go elsewhere to survive.

The church has always been called on to provide the Bread of Life to the members of the body of Christ.  Sadly, many churches, movements and denominations have forsaken the Bread of Life and offered nothing but artificial religious ingredients, or “Fake Bread.”  As a result, there has been an exodus from the church of millions of people, especially among our younger generations.

The consequences of leaving the House of Bread have been devastating.  As in the story of Naomi and Ruth, there has been a huge attack on the family and happy wives have become lonely widows, without husbands or sons to help them.  From single parents to pregnant teens and abortion, to drug dependency and suicide, our social problems have multiplied exponentially since we took prayer and the Bible (the revelation of the Bread of Life) out of our schools and other public institutions.

BUT GOD!!!

Naomi arose to return to Bethlehem, “For she had heard in the country of Moab, that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread.”  Ruth 1:6.  

Hallelujah!!!  The church will be increasingly offering the true “Bread of Life” to those who come to His table, because God is sovereignly visiting His people, many of whom have been desperately calling on His name in so many places, churches and houses of prayer.  And now, I can see in the Spirit, and do declare and decree that massive multitudes are heading back to the House of Bread after spending time in a spiritually foreign country. They will taste again the Bread of Life and realize what they have been missing.  I have a few relatives that I believe are part of that huge crowd. 

This crowd will gather wherever the angels have built a platform for the voices of the redeemed and all of God’s ministers of His grace, His love and His power to transform.  These platforms will be built on every mountain of society – Family, Religion, Government, Education, Media, Entertainment and Business.  Perhaps you are called to cooperate behind the scenes to help place someone on that platform.  Some of you may be called to be the voice on the platform, but don’t covet that position, unless you have a spiritually strong backbone of steel, because attacks will come, although God will take care of His people. 

RUTH, THE MOABITESS

While Naomi is prophetic of former believers and partakers of the Bread of Life, Ruth is prophetic of those who have never tasted of it before.  I believe God is going to move on the people of many nations, who have worshiped many other gods and have found their lives empty.  When they see Christians coming back to that place of intimacy with the Bread of Life, they will be overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit with the need to come along with them, and taste of that Bread as well.  Unlike Naomi, who couldn’t envision it being such a blessing for Ruth, spiritual foreigners will be encouraged to come along and taste of the fresh bread prepared in the House of Bread.

Because of Ruth’s love and devotion to Naomi, and her willingness to leave her homeland and her religious faith, God bestowed a huge blessing on her through a wonderful man named Boaz.  Ruth not only ended up with a book in the Bible named after her, but she also became the great grandmother to David, Israel’s greatest king, which put her in the lineage of Jesus.  I believe this too is prophetic.  God is going to greatly honor some of those who have come to the House of Bread to partake of the Bread of Life, who grew up not knowing or loving Him.  Some, like Paul, will have persecuted Him, even some of those who have served ISIS or other terrorist groups.  God will give church leaders the wisdom and grace to empower these, like Barnabas did for Paul, and they will accomplish great things for God.

A CHALLENGE

I want to challenge you to ask God to show you how to cooperate in the building of platforms for His chosen voices to speak to the people of the Land, who personally have tasted of the Bread of Life

Ask Him also to visit His people by bringing this Living Bread to them again.  Remember that the natural bread, that people ate in Jesus time, had many necessary nutrients to sustain life.  It wasn’t filled with artificial ingredients.  It wasn’t “Fake Bread.”  Pray for the Body of Christ to actually function with incredible sacrificial love, and awesome displays of supernatural power, as He did in His earthly body, and as the early church did as well.  Then we ourselves, as His body, can also be transformed into Living Bread for a hungry generation. 

So if you happen to see a lot of angels scurrying around with building materials, you know what they’re up to.  Ask God to hasten this word to come to pass, for it surely will come to pass.

Ben Peters, Ministry Founder

P.O. Box 25, Genoa, IL 60135

CUTTING OFF GOLIATH'S HEAD by Ben Peters

www.kingdomsendingcenter.org                         ohmint@gmail.com

June 7, 2017

Dear Friends,

Here's an article I just finished writing.  Would love your thoughts, and always welcome your prayers.

CUTTING OFF GOLIATH’S HEAD

I was recently given a word that God wanted me to go after Goliath’s head.  My understanding of what this means has been developing over the past few months.  Here is what I’m discerning at this point. 

MEANING OF “THE HEAD”

The head represents many things, but the primary meaning, I believe, is how we think about things.  To me it represents the thoughts that the enemy has placed in our own minds to keep us in bondage and defeat.  For Israel, they were convinced that they had no chance to defeat the Philistines, and they were filled with fear that they would become their slaves, because Goliath was too big a challenge for them. 

The “head” also represents the command center.  The way we think controls our actions.  The head dictates what we say, where we go, and what we do.  Thus, it’s so very important that we think God’s thoughts as opposed to the thoughts the enemy wants us to believe.

HEADS OF THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS

While meditating on this concept, it occurred to me that I could go after the chief lies perpetrated by our enemy on each of the seven mountains of society.  While that would be interesting and applicable for many, I know that God has clearly called me to three of these mountains and that’s the focus He has had me on for some time.  Let’s deal first with the biggest for me as a traveling minister and author of Christian books.  That would be the Religion (Church and Kingdom) Mountain.  After that, we’ll address the Big Lie on the Education Mountain and finally, the Big Lie on the Government Mountain.

I.        THE BIGGEST AND MOST DESTRUCTIVE LIE THE CHURCH BELIEVES

There is one lie that has two parts, which keeps the church from experiencing God’s victory and power.  Jesus prayed that we would all be one, so that the world would believe that the Father had sent Him.  Logically then, when we are not one, the world does not easily believe that Jesus is God’s Son, sent to the world to redeem them, and bring them into a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father. 

1.   The first part of the lie is that we must accept divisions and denominations as the normal.  They have been with us all our lives back through many generations.  It’s hopeless to think that we can ever be in unity again like the early church.
2. The second part of the lie is that we can pursue unity through compromising our doctrines and practices, so as to be less offensive.  Instead of producing true unity, this only weakens us and, although some practical benefits might occur, we’ll never have the true unity that God intended us to have.

God has given me a major charge since my youth (which was a few years back) to teach and preach on the importance of true and biblical unity.  This was confirmed when James Goll, not knowing anything about our ministry, spoke at the conference we hosted in Illinois.  While he was preaching, he came down to where I was sitting and began to pound my chest, saying, “John 17, John 17, John 17.  You’re called to bring unity in the body of Christ.”  After the meeting, I told him that I had already written two books on unity.  They were my first book and my seventh book.  Instantly, he responded. One, seven – seventeen – John 17.  It blew me away, but I know God had confirmed my calling. 

Thus, God has called me to decapitate the lie that says we can’t be in unity and the lie that says we must compromise truth and righteousness to achieve unity.  What then is the truth that can decapitate this lie?

First, we must recognize the source of disunity.  I discuss this in more detail in GOD’S FAVORITE NUMBER – my second book on unity, which replaced my first book – HEAL YOUR BODY, LORD.   Disunity is caused primarily not by a difference in our intellectual understanding of doctrine, but rather by pride in our doctrines and our incredible desire to be right, rather than to be one.  It’s man’s ego that most hinders unity, not his intellect.  So how then do we practically pursue true unity?

Jesus gave us the secret to unity in John 17, verse 22: “And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one.”  If we can understand what Jesus was saying here, we can properly pursue the path to the unity that He sought for us. 

Adam and Eve were clothed in God’s glory in the Garden of Eden.  Created in the image of God, they were clothed, like Him, in His glory.  With sin came their awareness of their nakedness, causing them to cover themselves with fig leaves.  Ever since that day, men and women have been trying to cover up their loss of God’s glory with earthly glory, such as fame, power and wealth.  However, there seems to never be enough to go around and we all look for ways to restore the glory that will cover the nakedness of our souls.  The subtle warfare and competition over the little available glory results in great disunity.

Jesus declared in John 17:22 that He was giving His disciples the same glory the Father had given Him so that they could experience the same kind of unity that He had with His Father in Heaven.  This is an incredible statement.  The way to access this unity then, is to fully access the glory that Jesus gave His disciples.  In His glory, we live in another dimension, where His heart and mind are imparted to us and we see one another with His eyes.  But most of all we all see Him, and our focus is not on ourselves but on Him.  This was the source of unity of the early church, right after Jesus departed, and it will be ours as well as we get closer and closer to His appearing. 

I find five times in John 17 that Jesus prayed for unity.  I find five times in the first five chapters of the fifth book of the New Testament that the disciples were in unity.  Five is the number for grace and without God’s grace we will never have unity.  God gives grace to the humble (James 4:7).  It was humility in the disciples, after their failure at the cross that brought them into unity in the Upper Room, even before the Day of Pentecost.  Humility is a very highly underrated Kingdom commodity.  I’d like to humbly (LOL) recommend our book, HUMILITY AND HOW I ALMOST ACHIEVED IT. 

God will give us the choice to humble ourselves or let Him humble us, but we will be humbled, because He wants to give us more grace and He will operate according to His own holy Word.  At times, He will sovereignly reveal His glory and bathe us in it to bring us into that unity, but I believe that He will do whatever it takes to bring us into unity because He loves us and He wants the world to believe in Him as a consequence of our unity.

How does that work?  People will believe in Jesus when we are in unity because we will once again have the power and authority of the early church, only at a greater level.  This will be the impetus or driving force of the coming great revival harvest. 

II.        THE BIG LIE ON THE EDUCATION MOUNTAIN

The Big Lie on the mountain of education is the Theory of Evolution, with all its diabolical and devastating implications.  God has been putting this strongly on my heart for some time now.  I haven’t written any books on this subject, but I’ve been getting the urge to do so in recent months. 

This humongous lie, taught as fact in most government schools, has contributed to so many evils in our society – the most destructive of which is the loss of faith in God by so many millions of younger adults and children.   The eternal consequences are beyond our ability to imagine. 

Another obvious evil which this lie has encouraged is that of abortion.  Without God in the picture, life has little or no value.  A woman and her doctor can decide whether that baby will be more of a problem than an asset.  If there is no God, there are no eternal consequences; the child has no eternal soul, and therefore it is not a big deal to kill it and perhaps have another one later when it’s more convenient.

Other evils advanced by this lie include teen pregnancies, suicides, drunkenness, drug abuse, crimes of all kinds and all kinds of corruption, including in government.

But how can we go for Goliath’s head when it comes to this gigantic deception that has such a stranglehold on our education system?  I believe God is giving us a two-fold approach to this.  David took out Goliath in two steps.  First the stone to the forehead and secondly the sword to the neck.

1. The forehead is a thin skeletal protection to the brain.  David used a small stone, but it had a powerful impact and knocked the giant down.  We have some wonderful resources put out by Creation Scientists, that can put doubts in the minds of people who believe in evolution.  I saw that happen in the community where I ran a Christian school in the church I pastored.  I published a critique of evolution in our local paper and a local high school science teacher lost a night of sleep because of it.  I’m sure it raised questions in the minds of others as well.  We need to make use of these resources, including some great documentary movies that have been produced.  In addition, we can raise the obvious questions about how unreasonable it is to believe that so much beauty and order and intricate design, such as DNA, atoms, elements, reproductive processes, etc., all came about by accidents, not to mention how the materials came into being that provided the resources for the original “Big Bang” to happen.
2. But how will we put the sword to the neck of this lie of evolution and really cut off its head?  The Sword of the Spirit is The Word of God.  Too many times we use God’s Word as a sword of the flesh to prove our points, but when we allow the Holy Spirit to inspire His Word and demonstrate His power and love through signs and wonders and gifts of the Holy Spirit, we can decapitate this terrible lie.  When people see the miracles, they will believe in their Creator and reject the lie of evolution.  I’ve seen non-believers become believers when they received a miracle in their own bodies.  I also did extensive biblical research for my book, “SIGNS AND WONDERS – TO SEEK OR NOT TO SEEK.”  In that research, I discovered that over 90% of all conversions in Scripture happened because of something supernatural taking place.  We must pursue God’s glory through humility, in order to receive God’s grace (Charis) to operate His gifts of grace (Charisma), so that people will believe in Jesus and reject the godless theory of evolution.

III.       THE BIG LIE ON THE GOVERNMENT MOUNTAIN

There is probably no bigger lie related to government than the lie that it is our ultimate source for everything we need.  It is our security and our daily bread.  This lie is called the Sennacherib spirit in my book, A MANDATE TO LAUGH.  This book exposes the subtle spirit of slavery creeping in, making us satisfied just to have a little security, versus the threat of losing everything.  We won’t go into detail with it here, but this lie is also so deeply entrenched in our culture that taking it on is a very dangerous and arduous task.  It makes one a target by people who have become very dependent on government help.  Naturally they fear the loss of income or medical care, etc., and who could blame them.  What then is the answer and how can we cut the head off this monstrous, gigantic Goliath.

This lie crept in little by little, as government grew and became more involved in the life and culture of its citizens, replacing the responsibilities of families and churches.  Taking care of the poor (welfare) and education are two primary examples.  These were responsibilities of churches in every early American community.  When government, with its deep pocket resources, offered to take them over from the churches, it seemed like a great deal to them.  And besides, the education and welfare were still being run by good people.  Christianity and patriotism were still taught in the early public schools, but over time, that all changed and today, we have a national disaster on our hands, with the loss of even our freedom of speech and religion on school campuses.

It took about two hundred years of gradual change to get to where we are today, but I believe restoration can come much more quickly.  I believe God will do a quick work, raising up the church to once again fulfill its earthly mandate.  Although we live for eternity, not for this earth, we are called to rule and reign here until He returns, and we have a responsibility to bring truth and justice to those who live on this earth.

My personal mandate is also two-fold in beheading this giant.  First, I want to live as much as possible by faith in God and as little as possible by dependence on our government and its various agencies.  As a ministry team, my wife and I keep our needs to ourselves, to keep the testimony that God does provide for us and we have never had to ask anyone for help to meet our personal needs.  God uses people, but they give when they feel led, and the timing has been miraculous on so many occasions.  Shedding our dependence on government takes faith and that is something that we, in western nations, have in very short supply.  I wrote the book, FAITH ON FIRE, to combat the structures of unbelief that have been built into us growing up in our western society.

Secondly, God has called me to make people aware of the dangers of allowing this giant to keep us in bondage to our own governments.  At the same time, I want to stir up the church to radically change the way it perceives its role regarding government dependency.  I’d like to see churches take on more and more responsibilities in the area of welfare and education, even where the government is duplicating these services.  I’ve helped to start three different Christian schools in churches and the long-term results have been very rewarding.

The big surge in overcoming government dependence will come with the coming great transfer of wealth to fund the great harvest of souls on the earth.  These are biblical promises and I believe we will see this coming at the same time as a great spiritual revival with signs, wonders and miracles, and hundreds of millions of souls saved in a short period of time.  I wrote a prophetic book regarding these events called, THE ULTIMATE CONVERGENCE. 

(Note:   All our books can be downloaded for free on several e-readers.)

FINALLY:

The three BIG LIES mentioned here are very interrelated, but all need to be tackled individually.  I don’t want to just knock these giants down to get up later and resume their activities.  I want to completely behead them through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  If anyone wants to join me, I would be so encouraged.  If you want to discuss any particular point, I’d be honored to interact with you.

God bless you, and love to all.  

Ben R Peters

A NEW LOOK AT THE PRAYER OF JABEZ by Ben Peters

Greetings Friends,

I just posted on FaceBook the following short word.  I believe this is from the Lord and we will be seeing some great things in the coming year.   Please accept this as my prediction and exhortation for 2017.

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE PRAYER OF JABEZ

I believe the Holy Spirit is saying, “It’s time to take a deeper look at Jabez’s prayer.

Jabez name meant pain, because his mother said, “I bore him in pain.” 

Obviously, his name bothered him because he “called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’  So, God granted him what he requested.”  I Chronicles 4:10.

Jabez made four requests, which were expounded on by Bruce Wilkerson.  They were:

1. Bless me indeed.
2. Enlarge my territory.
3. That Your hand may be with me.
4. Keep me from evil.

What I would have liked the author to pay more attention to was the declared motive for this prayer.  Motives are based on the condition of our heart, and that’s what God is always looking at.  I’m wondering how many who prayed these four requests failed to receive their answers, as Jabez did, because they didn’t have the purest motives.

The cry of Jabez’s heart, was, “that I might not cause pain.”  Somehow, Jabez connected his lack of blessing, territory, God’s hand and protection from evil with causing pain to others.  I don’t really know what his situation was, but this I do know.  The opposite of causing pain is being a blessing.  I can clearly see how the fulfillment of these requests would be helpful if he wanted to be a blessing to others. 

So simply put, he could have worded it more like this:  “Lord would you help me to be a blessing by showing me Your favor in blessings and enlarged territory.  Would you show that you are with me by doing miracles for me and by keeping me from sin and from trouble in my life.  Lord, I just want to be a blessing to others and a good testimony of your faithfulness, love and power.”

FRESH TIMELY APPLICATION

This prayer should now be prayed by the church, as the whole body of Christ.  I believe God wants us to pray this prayer with an intensity and with pure motives, so that we, as Christ’s physical body on this earth, do not bring unnecessary pain to the unbeliever, but, like the early church, bring great joy, love and healing to a lost and hurting world.  We are clearly in a time of Kingdom Advancement.  It’s time to seize the moment.  It’s a window of opportunity that the church hasn’t seen in a very long time.

1. LORD, BLESS US INDEED.  I believe there are huge material blessings coming very soon – a transfer of wealth – not for selfish reasons, but to help us fulfill the Great Commission.
2. ENLARGE OUR TERRITORY.  God wants to increase our sphere of influence and promote us to preach the gospel of Jesus’ love and power – the gospel of the Kingdom.
3. LET YOUR HAND BE WITH US.   God’s hand speaks of His power and healing anointing.  God will release a major healing anointing to activate faith in unbelievers, so He can reap His harvest.
4. LORD, KEEP US FROM EVIL.  This can mean keeping us from sinning, as well as keep us from disasters or troubles.

But, the most important part of our prayer is declaring boldly our motives.  “Lord, we are not asking these things for selfish reasons.  We want to see revival.  We want resources to send many harvesters into your harvest field.  We want a platform to preach your gospel.  We want your miracles to attract the unbeliever and encourage every weary warrior.  We want to walk in a way that’s pleasing to you and without the distractions of unnecessary attacks.  We want to seek first your Kingdom and see Your name greatly glorified.  We want to see the knowledge of the glory of the Lord cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

May God give us one heart and soul to love and serve our God with all our heart – our motives – and with our whole being.   Blessings to all!!!

Ben and Brenda Peters

HEADS UP by Ben Peters

Dear Friends,

Here's a message I'm sending to the Elijah List.  Trust it will bless you!!!

HEADS UP!

Ben R Peters

On the evening of February 8, 2016, God visited me with an unusual revelation regarding His plans to set free, empower, equip and beautify His warrior bride.  It started while I was reading a news article on my computer.  Next, I felt impressed to open my Bible and read what was in front of me from the book of Isaiah.  Finally, I felt nudged to open my phone app Bible and read where I had last left off reading in the book of Luke.  It was one news story, one Old Testament passage and one New Testament passage, and they were like a three-fold cord, speaking the same message, loud and clear.   

The news story was about Yazidi women, who had been captured and sold as sex slaves to ISIS fighters.  Many of them escaped, thanks partially to US airstrikes in the region, and have since chosen to train themselves to fight their former ISIS captors.  Here are a few quotes from the article:

Some 2,000 Yazidi women who were captured in the brutal August 2014 attack on their mountain stronghold have escaped and have taken up arms against their former tormentors. Driven by the fresh memories of unspeakable atrocities and the survival of their people, hundreds have signed up to fight the black-clad terrorist army.  ”Now we are defending ourselves from the evil; we are defending all the minorities in the region," Capt. Khatoon Khider told FoxNews.com. "We will do whatever is asked of us."

Of the number of Yazidi women who have been trained and are fighting alongside their male counterparts, Khider is one of 123. Their ages range from 17 to 37, and there are at least another 500 awaiting their training.

"Women were throwing their children from the mountains and then jumping themselves because it was a faster way to die," Khider said. "Our hands were all tied. We couldn't do anything about it.

"Our elite force is a model for other women in the region," she said. "We want to thank all the other countries who help us in this difficult time, we want everyone to take up weapons and know how to protect themselves from the evil."

After reading this story, I opened my Bible to Isaiah 52 and immediately read:

Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem!  Loose yourself from the bond of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! (Isaiah 52:2)

After a little meditation on this verse and the verses before and after, I felt nudged to read from my Bible app on my phone.  Here’s the story which followed where I had last left off reading;

And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.  But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”  And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  (Luke 13:11-13)

In verse 14, we are told the ruler of the synagogue objected to Jesus healing on the Sabbath day.  Jesus responds:

“Hypocrite!  Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?  So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound – think of it – for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”  (Luke 13:15,16)

I have been meditating on these three stories for several days, knowing that God was speaking a prophetic word to me for His Bride, His Church.  I don’t feel I have yet fully mined the prophetic treasure hidden in these stories, but this is what I know that God is speaking to us all.

1. We have a vicious enemy, who wants to victimize us, torment us and take away all hope of freedom or fulfillment of dreams or destinies.  He wants to put chains around our neck, keep us bent over with our heads down and fill us with feelings of shame and worthlessness.
2. We have a God who loves us and has the power to set us free and rebuke every physical, spiritual and emotional spirit of infirmity.
3. Those who have suffered most under the diabolical enslavement of our evil enemy, will become the most determined and fearless fighters against him, in order to free others still living under his insidious control.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few.  The reason for that is that so many potential laborers are all bent over, feeling unusable to God because of either secret or not-so-secret spiritual, physical or emotional bondages. 

When people are all bent over and cannot lift their heads up, they will always be looking down.  You don’t get a great perspective on the future, when you can see nothing but dirt.  Your eyes are not on the horizon or on the heavens.  You are seeing nothing but the same old dirt day after day.  The sex slaves in Iraq had been feeling like dirt every day that they were help captive.  We can’t imagine their anguish and sorrow, knowing family members had been murdered or tortured, etc, and that they have nothing to look forward to but being repeatedly raped by evil men. 

Like the Yazidi women, millions of Christians, and others who would become Christians, who would otherwise love to serve God and help bring in the harvest, are hopelessly held in chains of addiction to alcohol, drugs and sexual perversion.  Others suffer the torment of depression, fear and anxiety, as well as many other forms of addiction.  These bondages are real.  They are not easily cured by people preaching at them or quoting trite slogans.  They need a strong and anointed word and touch from Jesus, Himself, to break the chains that keep them in bondage.

It was heart-breaking to hear the news during the New Hampshire primary season, about how many people were dying from drug overdoses in that state.  It was of more concern, for many people, than the economy or personal security.  Certainly, addictions are a powerful means of enslavement, both in the world and in the church. 

Probably, the greatest addictions in the church, especially among men, are the many forms of sexual addiction.  The evil spirit of seduction is so emboldened in western society today, that its victims must continually find more perverted ways of expression.  Like drug addiction, what was cutting edge before is now too mild to adequately stimulate.  The bondages of addictions are leading our culture into a death spiral.

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S POWERFUL AND AMAZING SOLUTION

Yes, our enemy is bad to the bone and has a lot of things working for him today.  BUT GOD!!!  What God was and is speaking to me about this situation is this:

“I AM RELEASING A FRESH ANOINTING ON ISAIAH 61 FOR MY CHURCH, MY BODY ON THE EARTH.” 

What Jesus read in his hometown synagogue about Himself, He is now proclaiming from Heaven and pouring out the anointing oil on His own body, His church.  Here is the passage the Holy Spirit is highlighting to me right now:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion.  To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.  And they shall rebuild the old ruins; They shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. (Isaiah 61:1-4)

This was the job description the Father gave to Jesus to fulfill on his mission to Planet Earth.  He faithfully fulfilled His Father’s assignment.  Today, Jesus is giving us, His Body on the earth, the same job description.  But He is not asking us to do it in our own giftings, or our own strength.  No, He is pouring out the same Holy Spirit on us today, that was poured into Him at His baptism. 

We, His Church, His Body and His Bride, will feel that surge of supernatural energy within our spirits to take down principalities, powers and spiritual wickedness in high places.  We will not do this in foolish presumption, but together with other members of His body, we will hear His voice, feel His anointing power, and proclaim, touch and break chains. 

As we begin to bring freedom to those both inside and outside the church, we will observe the fearless passion of those who have been liberated.  They will boldly enlist in the army of the Lord.  They will learn how to use spiritual weapons of warfare, which are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds (II Corinthians 10:4).   They will take the power of freedom to those still enslaved by the chains of bondage and there will be an incredible domino effect created.  We are about to see this unfold over the next couple of years.

The power of the testimony of delivered people cannot be overestimated.  Since satan has done such a thorough job of bringing people into captivity, it creates an amazing opportunity for those who bring keys to unlock their prison doors.  Captives will be crying out for their own freedom when they hear the testimony of others.  The result will be countless conversions to Christ.  Hope will arise and the excitement will spread like a prairie fire in dry stubble.  

OUR ASSIGNMENT

We must cooperate with God in this strategic plan to prepared His harvesters.  So what must we then do? 

1. Humble ourselves before God, confessing our need for His touch and His anointing.
2. Read the passages quoted in this article over and over, and if possible, memorizing them.
3. Pray earnestly for the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit to be empowered in our lives.
4. Pray for and diligently seek for unity in the body of Christ, for His sake.
5. Identify our own bondages, small or great, and present them before God.
6. For purposes of prayer, ask the Holy Spirit to identify bondages in others, whom you want to experience freedom.
7. Commit to obey God, no matter what He asks you to do, and listen to His still small voice.
8. Lift up your head and look forward to your future in His Kingdom!

I also hear God speaking to me now as I write: 

Fear not!  There is nothing that can separate you from My love and protection, as long as you abide under the shadow of My wing.  I don’t just want to use you to build my Kingdom, I want to know you intimately and for you to know Me, that I am a God who is full of compassion, love and mercy.  Your sins, which you have confessed to me, are hidden in the Sea of Forgetfulness, never to be remembered again.  I did this for you.  Now, I’m asking you to share this good news with others, so they too can know My goodness.

Isaiah 61:4 talks about restoring and rebuilding what was destroyed in former generations.  I believe we will see that both in the church and in the life of our society.   The church will be restored to the place of intimacy, unity and love that was so manifest in the early church.  For America and other nations, who once had a Biblical foundation, there is coming a reformation and restoration to Biblical values, which will change all mountains of society.  May God help us to cooperate fully with His plans and may we be blessed to see it fulfilled in our day.  Amen!

HEADS UP, EVERYONE!

THEY THOUGHT SHE WAS DRUNK by Ben Peters

Greetings Friends,

This Tuesday (1/19) we fly to Orlando for another conference with House of Hope.  We will be sharing a message on unity and encouraging some amazing people who have given their lives to help troubled teens and their families to appropriate the amazing grace and healing power of God.  We appreciate your prayers.

MOZAMBIQUE IS CALLING AGAIN

We still have room on this July's ministry team to Mozambique with Heidi Baker.  We especially welcome any men, young or old, who want to bless some of Heidi's children in a special way, and help assist and watch over the lovely ladies already planning on going.  We do have space for a few more ladies as well. I know you will have experiences you could probably never have anywhere else in the world.  It's worth any sacrifice you would have to make togo.  For more info, you can check our website or respond to this email.  We will supply you with the vital information to help you prepare.  It's not too soon to get started.

A SPECIAL REVELATION

While reading I Samuel I, I realized something I had missed before.  There are two places in the Bible where people were thought to be drunk when they weren't.  Instead they were just filled with emotion and passion about something very important to them.  In the story of Hannah and Eli, we find a barren young woman, who was desperate for a child, praying a passionate and emotional prayer to God.  Eli, the High Priest, saw her emotional response and assumed she was drunk.  Hannah responded by saying that she had not touched strong drink, but rather was of a broken heart.  Eli prophesied the answer to her prayer and she went home at peace with her promise.

In Acts 2, we read about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and Disciples of the early church.  Their response to the moving of the Holy Spirit led some to suggest they were drunk.  Peter responded by saying, "These men are not drunken as you suppose."  Rather, he declared, this is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy.

Hannah experienced the fruit of her intercessory prayer when Samuel was born.  The early church experienced the fruit of their joy and Holy Spirit fire, when three thousand souls came into the Kingdom that same day.  In both cases, the emotional responses to the various manifestations of the Holy Spirit were part of the process in which the destiny of the people of God was radically changed for the better.  Samuel became a great spiritual leader, who eventually anointed King David.  The outpouring at Pentecost changed the course of history as it kick-started the Church and transformed the face of the then-known world in a very short period of time.

EMOTIONS IN GENERAL GET A BAD RAP

In my book, Go Ahead, Be So Emotional, I described how our society and education system honor intellect, but do so very little to honor the more "emotional" gifts and talents, such as are used in music, drama, art and public speaking, not to mention the gifts of compassion, wisdom and understanding.  Christians are told, "You can't trust your emotions," implying that emotions and emotional people are of little value.  As we discuss in the book, it's the people with passionate emotions that are the leaders that motivate us and empower us the most. 

In both stories above, the subjects of the story were emotional or passionate under the influence of the Holy Spirit to the point that they were suspected of being drunk.  In both stories, God used their emotional responses to attract the attention of people, who would then become a positive part of what God wanted to do. 

IT'S TIME FOR PEOPLE WITH EMOTION AND PASSION TO RISE UP AND BE SEEN AND EMPOWERED

I'm not hoping that people will get weird and in the flesh to get attention.  I'm believing for people who will be so filled with the Holy Spirit, who only wants to exalt Jesus and the Father, to stop suppressing their passion out of fear that people will think they are overly emotional.  Let the fruit of the Holy Spirit manifest in purity and power. 

Hannah was passionate and broken about her barrenness.  It's time for the church of today to follow in her footsteps. 

The early church was filled with the fire and joy of the Lord.  It's time for the church of today to follow in her footsteps. 

I was pretty much a person who minimized the value of emotions, but I married a young lady who was quite emotionally expressive.  In fact, it was part of what attracted me to her.  Today, thousands of those who know her are very much attracted to her because of the feeling of value that she gives them.

But, what inspired me to write the book, Go Ahead, Be So Emotional, was when our daughter, Andrea, was growing up and I saw the same emotional tendencies as her mother possessed.  Today, our sweet Andrea is blossoming into her own amazing and fruitful ministry, because of her Holy Spirit anointed emotions of love, joy and peace, as well as her Holy Spirit anointed spiritual gifts.

Though my strongest gifts are wisdom and teaching, I believe those who are gifted to love, laugh and cry with people, will produce every bit as much fruit, if not more, as any preacher or theologian.  Every gift and ministry is needed, but we must begin to honor those who have been pushed back into the shadows and let them know how valuable they are to all of us in the Kingdom. 

God showed me long ago that He wants to express His emotions through us. When I broke down speaking to a crowd, I asked Him what that was all about. "Why was I so emotional about that point?" He said, "Because I am emotional about it."

I shared last week from a very short book called The Boaz Blessing and again got very emotional trying to speak that blessing over some women of God. I realized that God felt very deeply about that message as well. I'd like for you to receive that blessing and learn how to share it with others. It's free and you can also give it away for free to those who can read books on the internet. You can use smashwords.com, Ibooks.com, Kobo,com, B & N, etc.  Kindle charges .99/book. Go Ahead, Be so Emotional is also available for free. Just click on "name your own price" and write in 00.

God bless you!!!

Ben and Brenda Peters

2016 - GLORIOUS CHAOS by Ben Peters

Posted on January 7, 2016 (by KSC email & Facebook)

As I shared recently on Face Book, I finally figured out who is to blame for all the chaos in America and the world.  In case you haven’t followed the news (and I understand why some of you wouldn’t), America and much of the world is experiencing tremendous upheaval, turmoil and revolution.  We have been warning of shakings and storms for the past couple of years.  Not everything we expected has happened yet, but many other things have.

From terrorist attacks and war in France, California, Israel, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and various places in Africa, as well as dangerous aggression or provocation from Iran, China, Russia and North Korea, to America’s moral value freefall, supported by our Extreme (Supreme) Court, and legislated by trend-setting states like California and New York, not to mention crazy El Nino weather, following extreme droughts, America and the whole world seem to be descending into an abyss of chaos.

So who might be to blame?  Are you ready for the answer?  At least in part, I blame those crazy radical Christian intercessors, who prayed prayers like, “Oh God, please turn America back to you, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST.  Bring a world-wide revival and let the “knowledge of the glory of the Lord cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”

You see, God heard those prayers, and even though many American Christians are somewhat complacent and contented as long as their own lives are going okay, God chooses to respond to those who have hearts like His and answer their prayers (II Chronicles 16:9), giving them higher priority than our prayers for comfort and prosperity.  He surely wants to bless us, but not if it robs us of our relationship with Him, and robs Him of His relationship with us.

There’s another principle worthy of mentioning from Ezekiel 9:4-6.  An angel was dispatched to mark the foreheads of all those who “sigh and cry for all the abominations” done in Jerusalem.  Those who received this mark would be protected from the death angel.  This is a different situation, but reveals that God hears and honors those who are burdened by the encroachment of wickedness, and cry out to God for the restoration of righteousness and justice.  If judgment is coming, like some predict, I certainly would like that mark on my forehead.

Now, I certainly don’t welcome crisis after crisis or persecution of any kind at this stage of my life.  I’d like to stay more comfortable, hang out with friends and family and especially our amazing kids and grand kids, going to their games and performances, etc.  I’d like to write more books, teach some classes and see God do wonderful things in our meetings through the power of spiritual gifts and ministries. And those are all great things and I will do them as much as God allows. I’m just saying, I don’t welcome war or heavy demands on my time or energy.  I would rather be left in my comfort zone.

But this is a season when God is calling us to get off the couch and out of the easy chair, and declare war on our enemy, who has been following his devilish blueprint for our destruction for centuries, and for now, is seeing great success.  It’s time to become one of those crazy radical intercessors and cry out to God for His mercy and grace to revive and heal us and bring in the great harvest for His glory. 

INCREDIBLY GREAT NEWS

God lives in eternity and sees the end from the beginning.  He may allow us temporary discomfort to bring great prosperity and joy for the long haul.  God has not been caught by surprise.  He knows what His enemy is up to and He has His own far greater plan to overpower the evil empire. 

That plan is the greatest awakening the world has ever seen.  Like Pentecost, it will sweep over capital cities and spread like fire to every corner of every nation. There is nothing that can stop it and God’s harvest will be gathered, and Jesus will have the bride that He’s been waiting for. 

Do not fear or let your heart be troubled.  There will be incredible joy in the hearts of every true believer.  Any hardship or time of suffering will seem like nothing and be quickly forgotten because of the amazing and exciting events and changes in hearts and lives. 

OKAY, HOW IS THAT GOING TO HAPPEN???

I’m glad you asked that question!!!  As long as the destructive changes in our society are small and incremental, we don’t notice or protest too much.  But when our whole world is falling apart before our eyes, and our feelings of security are replaced by fear and anxiety; when our political and even our spiritual leaders are so corrupt, that they let it happen, at that point we finally realize what kind of trouble we are in and begin to cry out to God as instructed in II Chronicles 7:14.  When we, His people, humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from OUR wicked ways, then HE WILL surely  hear from Heaven, forgive our sins and heal our land. 

The truth is that many Christians in America and world-wide have already been doing this in tens of thousands of churches and houses of prayer, etc., and GOD IS ANSWERING THEIR PRAYERS. God is preparing His army to counteract the evil. 

 I just met another teaching apostle whose whole focus now is on empowering others to rise up and fulfill their destiny.  He travels around the country, raising up apostolic centers.  We minister in many different ministry schools, including our Kingdom Sending Center, and people of all ages are discovering their gifts and learning to use them.  Look out devil.  The army of God is rising up.  They will be empowered with the fire of God and spiritual gifts and ministries, and no Herod or Caesar will ever be able to quench that fire, even under persecution. 

Power and love evangelists will invade every mountain of society.  More and more powerful movies will be released.  More business leaders will give their businesses to God and use them for positive influence.  More athletes and movie stars will share their testimonies with the world.  New technology, given to Christians, will reveal the greatness and love of God.  And great new political leaders will be elected and appointed to the highest offices in the land and the nations of the world.  No, they may never be the majority in this sinful world, but their influence will be unprecedented for righteousness and justice.

POWERFUL OPPORTUNITIES IN 2016

Christians – PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, listen to my heart!!!   More importantly, listen to God’s heart.  We, in America, have both the power of prayer and the power of the vote.  Before our elections become completely corrupted by evil politicians, we must vote in those with character and true integrity.   PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don’t wait for the final election to vote.  The PRIMARIES ARE SOOOOOO IMPORTANT.  If you don’t want to vote for the lesser of two evils, vote and help others get out to vote in your state’s primary.

Those blessed to be in early voting states have a special opportunity and responsibility.  Here are a few pointers to help you choose.  I believe there are several great options this year.  Some who don’t win the presidency may be appointed to high positions later.

1. Look for someone who has a reputation of telling the truth.  That would eliminate at least one candidate for sure.
2. Look for someone who doesn’t spend time bragging, trusting in his own wisdom and rudely insulting his opponents.  That should eliminate at least one more candidate.  I know God can use any heathen for His purposes, but we have the blessing of voting for a David, instead of a Saul.  Too many similarities to mention here.
3. Look for someone who acknowledges that America’s greatness comes from the goodness of God and has a personal relationship with God.
4. Look for someone who knows how to listen to other people including military and spiritual leaders.
5. Look for someone with a quick mind, but one who does not lean on his or her own understanding.
6. Look for someone who is not part of the political establishment, who has been corrupted by power and money-making opportunities and temptations.
7. Above all, listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Ask Him to speak to you while you watch the debates or study candidate’s websites or Christian Voter’s guides.  Every state has these voter’s guides.

HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR, AND LET YOUR CHAOS TURN INTO HIS GLORY!!!

Ben and Brenda Peters (ohmint@gmail.com)

P.S.   I love your feedback and comments, and so appreciate knowing you took time to read this.  I know how hard it is to read everything you want to read.

YOUR FATHER HAS ANOTHER SPECIAL GIFT FOR YOU by Ben Peters

Greetings Friends,

God gave me a significant word for this Christmas and coming year.  I would love to get your response.

Here it is:

YOUR FATHER HAS ANOTHER SPECIAL GIFT FOR YOU

While the enemy of our souls uses his brainwashed and evil spirit-controlled captives to terrorize and to take away our freedoms, our peace of mind, and even our very lives, our ultimate gift-giving Father is using His renewed-minded, spirit-filled lovers of Jesus to bring comfort and to give freedom, the peace of God and eternal life to desperate souls everywhere.  The way that our Father in Heaven is able to accomplish this is through His incredible gift-giving generosity to His servants on earth, not just at Christmas, but all year long.

God began to download His heart concerning spiritual gifts and ministries in a very clear and strong way in the past two or three years.  It started when Brenda and I were ministering to an apostolic training center in Washington State.  There were several pastors attending and a strong anointing was flowing as we spoke and prophesied over them.  Then the Lord gave me a clear and instructive word for them all.  It went something like this:

GOD’S STRONG WORD TO MINISTRY LEADERS

It’s time to take a look at your team and make sure you don’t have any major weaknesses that the enemy can exploit.  Use the football analogy and see if you have a strong defensive line and backfield, as well as the offensive line, wisdom-filled quarterbacks and gifted ball carriers and receivers.  These positions can only be filled by those who have received and developed their spiritual gifts and ministries. 

The important point the Holy Spirit was making was that we need every single gift and gift-ministry properly functioning on our ministry teams, or the enemy will continue to mess with us and defeat us in our battles against him.  The positions on a football team can be easily compared with the five-fold ministry gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4, and their use of the spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12-14.  God was using American football as an object lesson that most of us could understand.  For more information, read Folding Five Ministries Into One Powerful Team.

Here are the gifts mentioned in I Corinthians 12:

“For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit.  To another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit.  To another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues.” (I Corinthians 12:8-10)

At that point, the Lord clearly highlighted the gift of discerning of spirits.  There had been very little focus on this gift, but the need for it was extremely obvious.  Church ministry teams everywhere had suffered incredibly from the enemy’s attacks.  These attacks were successful to such a large degree because nobody was discerning the enemy’s diabolical influence and subtle methods of warfare.  I began preaching and teaching the body of Christ everywhere I could, challenging people to ask God to increase this gift in its purest form in every ministry team to prevent the enemy from taking away what God had given.  Satan still comes to steal, kill and destroy.  His favorite target is your ministry team.  If he can bring misunderstanding, strife, selfish ambition and jealousy in your ministry team, he can steal, kill and destroy the effectiveness of your ministry or church.  Tragically, we’ve seen this scenario repeated over and over and over again.

GOD’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR 2014

Late last year well before Christmas 2014, I heard the Lord say that He wanted to give His people an increase in the gift of faith.  I shared this with as many as possible, both in writing and speaking as well as with impartation of laying on of hands.  I believe God said He was giving an increase in the gift of faith so people would walk through the doors that He was opening for them.  They would need faith, because they were going where they had never gone before, and were leaving their comfort zones behind them.  To enter a new place, you have to leave the old behind.

GOD’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR 2015

I actually wasn’t expecting God to highlight another gift for this Christmas and the New Year, but while I was ministering to someone on the telephone, the words flew out of my mouth and I knew it was a word for the body of Christ.  The Holy Spirit is going to especially empower people with gifts of healings (I Corinthians 12: 9). 

As I have meditated on this word, I can see the divine logic in this order.  First, we need to discern spirits, so we don’t allow false gifts to operate and deceive the church.  Next we need a stronger gift of faith, not only to walk through new doors, but to help us believe for the healings we are called to release through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

AN EXTREMELY NECESSARY GIFT FOR THE CHURCH AND FOR KINGDOM EXPANSION

1. IN THE CHURCH

The need for a greater healing anointing should be very obvious.  Churches are not only filled with people who are physically sick, but the majority of Christians are just beginning to become aware of the need for emotional healing, in order for them to function to their full potential.  Without the healing of their soul, they have real openings for the enemy to cause more pain to themselves and to others. 

Without that healing, we can never have real deep unity, which we desperately need in order to bring in God’s great harvest.  Unhealed emotional pain prevents us from seeing others through God’s loving eyes, because past pain invites the constant fear that the pain will be repeated again.  Fear causes defense mechanisms to be set up and opens the door for contention, anger and bitterness.

God certainly wants us healed physically, but His priority is the healing of our soul and spirit.  Our priorities are usually the physical healing, because we can bury the emotional pain easier than we can the physical pain or disability.  But God will always prioritize the eternal over the temporal.

2. OUTSIDE THE CHURCH

There is no doubt that God wants His people healthy in every way.  He loves us and does not wish pain upon us.  But God knows this life is short and eternity is forever.  Thus, there is no doubt that He is more concerned with the spiritual health of every person in the world that He created, than with their physical health.

The great and wonderful news is that the gifts (plural) of healing not only bless people with a better quality of life on earth, but God loves to use these gifts to transform the hearts and souls of men and connect them with the eternal source of Life Himself.  This is an overwhelmingly wonderful truth that should touch our hearts with deep gratitude to God.  He really does want us to have a full and joyful experience in this life and He also wants us to help others to experience it both here and in Heaven.

God is giving us His amazing spiritual gifts to use for both purposes, but the greatest blessing is that we can use these gifts to reveal God’s love and transform the hearts of people to give them eternal life.  Healing bodies is one of God’s preferred ways to reveal His love to the lost, and I believe He is asking us, “Do you want this gift?”

I’ve seen how this gift works in powerful ways to bring the lost to Christ.  I’ve seen it in Canada, Argentina, India, Africa, South Korea and America.  I’ve seen it under the ministry of other men and women of God as well as our own ministry.  A number of years ago, I did extensive research in Scripture and church history and discovered that over 90% of conversions have resulted from supernatural occurrences, of which most of them were physical healings.  At that time, I wrote the book entitled, Signs and Wonders – To Seek or Not to Seek.  It clearly reveals the power of miracles to bring people to faith in God. 

A PROPHETIC CHALLENGE

I believe God wants me to challenge people all over the world at this season – the season in which we remember the greatest gift ever given to the human race – the gift of a Savior, Jesus Christ, who was born in a humble stable, but has been highly exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords.

God is speaking to me that He is now inviting us to join His medical team.  He is preparing to send us out to do clinics, house calls and stadium healing events.  He will empower us as individuals, but even more powerfully when we form divinely orchestrated medical teams who will carry the various gifts of healings.  These gifts include pretty much every other spiritual gift God has given us. 

Sometimes words of knowledge and/or words of wisdom are released to bring healing.  The gift of faith is, of course, a very frequent contributor to the healing ministry.  Many times the healing comes through the gift of miracles.  Other times, a prophetic word can open the mind and heart to the fact that God knows and cares.  As Jesus demonstrated, the gift of discerning of spirits can also be frequently used to bring the miracle healing.  Tongues and interpretation of tongues can also be used like prophecy, so we can see why Paul wrote it was the “gifts of healings.”

Do you want to join God’s medical team?  Are you willing to leave your comfort zone and take up the Heavenly challenge to do house calls, clinics and/or stadium healing events?  If so, here are some practical ideas to prepare.

1. Educate yourself in the realm of healing.  The Bible is your chief textbook.  Read about the healings in the Old and New Testament.  Then read stories of more recent revivals and healing ministries.  Grow your faith in prayer and worship and deeper intimacy with Jesus.  Attend healing services and listen to the teachings offered live or on electronic media.   Learn about all the gifts, especially those you are the strongest in.  
2. Take the first steps as God opens doors for you.  Pray for everyone you can.  Learn about spiritual treasure hunts – asking God for words of knowledge about people He wants you to minister to.
3. Join a ministry team in your church or ministry or neighborhood.  Practice develops your gifts.
4. Give God all the glory and stay humble when you see people healed.

It’s time to get excited about the opportunities God is opening up to us.  We have been given the ability to give the gift of hope to people living in fear and anxiety over the threat of radical terrorists, who want to destroy us.  Instead, we have the supernatural power of God given through His Spirit-empowered gifts, with which we can expose and defeat every attack of our enemy.  It’s the church’s privilege and the church’s responsibility.  Will be take up the challenge, or will we cringe in fear?  It’s time to embrace our destiny and God’s amazing adventures prepared for us, His beloved children.  Shalom!!!

Ben & Brenda

ohmint@gmail.com

P.O. Box 25, Genoa, IL 60135

THANKSGIVING, BIRTHDAYS AND CHRISTMAS by Ben Peters

www.kingdomsendingcenter.org         ohmint@gmail.com

P.O. Box 25,  Genoa, IL 60135            November 29, 2015

Greetings Dear Friends

November and December are very eventful for Brenda and me.  Brenda's birthday is in November just before Thanksgiving and mine is in December, two weeks before Christmas.  It makes for a lot of special times with each other and family.  This Thanksgiving, we were with our firstborn son, Ken and his wife, Valencia, who pastor two churches in Washington State, plus four totally awesome grandkids.  Just before that we spent a little time at the assisted living center where Brenda's 93 year-old mom lives.  We don't know how long she'll be able to stay there with the level of memory loss, etc. she's experiencing, but we do appreciate your prayers for her.  Her name is Joyce Pinkerton.

Christmas is coming in less than four weeks and for Brenda, this is the greatest time of the year.  It's her excuse to give and give and give some more.  But, it's also our reminder of the Giver of Life, Himself, who gave His only Son, so that we could be forgiven and accepted into eternal life.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we should have no lack of reminders to be thankful for what God has given us. 

If you'd like a unique gift for someone, I have a great suggestion:  My dear friend and son in the faith, Jonathan Seiver, has written a wonderful book, based on a series of visions that God gave him.  It reads much like Pilgrim's Progress, and would be great for older children and adults.  It's called, THE PALACE.  I wrote the foreword and Randy Clark and others gave endorsements.  You can go online to smile.amazon.com and type in The Palace, Jonathan Seiver, and you'll find it for sale, both real book and Ebook versions.  If you haven't registered to support a charity like KSC, you can do that first and then we'll get a wee kickback from your purchase, which won't cost you a penny more. 

If you prefer, you can just click on this long link: 

http://www.amazon.com/Palace-Prophetic-Journey-through-Cultures/dp/1517048257/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448862599&sr=8-1&keywords=Jonathan+Seiver

ALSO, would anyone like a good deal for books for your pastor or leader, I'm working on a pastor's packet, that would be very inexpensive (basically our cost) and something they might really appreciate.  Please reply to this email if you are interested.

(Special Note:  KSC has now added the Pastor's Christmas Gift Pack to our Books section under the RESOURCES tab for only a $14.95 donation)

Stay thankful and watch and pray and God prepares this nation and the world for the greatest harvest we've ever seen.

Yours for the Kingdom,

Ben and Brenda Peters

SPECIAL INFORMATION by Ben Peters

November 19, 2015

Greetings Friends,

We so appreciate all the kind responses to our newsletters.  Here comes a different one with some important information.

NEW WEBSITE:

Our new website is taking us deeper into the 21st Century.  I hope it's not too high tech for us senior citizens!!!!   Actually, it is quite user friendly.

Our newsletters are now getting posted on the blog site.  You will be able to find back issues and easily share them with others.  Here's the link:

http://www.kingdomsendingcenter.org/blog/

MOZAMBIQUE ADVENTURE ANYONE???

We are taking applications for next summer's trip to Mozambique for those who want to experience the amazing revival and miracles in the "bush, bush."  There are so many ways to be a blessing and get blessed at the same time.  We've almost always had opportunities to experience close up times with Roland and Heidi Baker, and overall it is an amazing adventure for anyone who loves God and missions.  This is not yet on our new website, but you can click on the following link if you want to learn more or apply.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KSC2016AFRICATRIP

MINISTRY FOUNDATIONS 101 COURSE

I just got a report on our KSC group that's taking this course.  They all seem to be getting really blessed and I know it will certainly help them fulfill their destiny in a way that pleases Jesus.  This course is available for individuals as well as groups.  Please let us know if you are interested at all.

THE KINGDOM BUILDING CHURCH

I was encouraged this week with the fact that other authors are writing books with a similar emphasis.  It is time to eliminate competition, jealousy and strife in the Kingdom.  I believe this is high on God's priority list for this generation, breaking the religious traditions of centuries and refocusing on His Kingdom and not our own.  Remember:  All our books can be downloaded for free on several E-book providers, such as smashwords.com.  You get to name your own price and I'm not offended by those who write 0.00 in the blank. 

God bless and keep you in the center of His heart and His will,

Ben and Brenda Peters

SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE by Ben Peters

Dear Friends everywhere,

My apologies for the long delay in getting another newsletter out.  I was hoping to switch to a better service, but haven't made it happen yet, so we'll us this one again.

Brenda had her birthday yesterday and about two hundred wrote her on Facebook to wish her a happy birthday.  Thanks so much to all her precious friends.

Before I forget, let me just say that if you use amazon.com for any reason, including Christmas shopping, you can bless KSC by using the smile.amazon.com website, which has the same products and prices as the regular amazon.com website.  You can register once with the charity of your choice and about .5% will go to our ministry account every time you order through smile.amazon.com.  Of course, you might want to check out our books on that service as well.  Hint, hint!!!  Of course they can be downloaded for free on most ebook sites, but if you prefer the real book you can hold in your hand and underline etc, smile.amazon.com would be a great place to shop.

SEEING THE BIG PICTURE

It's very easy to get fearful and lose hope when you watch the advance of ISIS, the acceleration of the war on Christianity, and the moral decline of America and the Western World, etc., etc.  The recent ISIS attacks in Paris not long after the downing of an airlines jet, highlight the dangerous world we live in and the fact that satan's forces are in full press mode. 

However, if we can step back and ask God to open our spiritual eyes of understanding, we will be filled with not only faith and hope, but also with excitement.  Many have been taught that the excitement is about the fact that Jesus is coming to take us out of the troubles via the rapture.  Actually, my excitement is that while the enemy is at work, God has a bigger plan and sees the bigger picture. 

The frightening events happening on the earth are going to be used by God to bring people to a position of need and desperation for protection and deliverance.  Israel didn't come out of Egypt until they were groaning in slavery.  Jews didn't return to their homeland until after the Holocaust.  America didn't become a free nation until they were severely oppressed by Britain.  God didn't cause the pain and suffering, but he turned the devil's worst attacks into something that brought great blessing to those who inherited the land.

God wants to bring America and the world out of the slavery to atheistic education and immorality.  He will use the fear and anxiety to open hearts to some good news from Christians who have their gifts ready to serve others.  We are seeing it happening more and more. 

God is increasing His anointing on His servants - those who really want to build His Kingdom, not their own.  He is raising up ministry training schools everywhere.  We have ministered in several of these this past year.

He is using more and more women leaders.  Women tend to be more servant-hearted than men.  We have close relationships as spiritual parents to at least a dozen women pastors and leaders in ministry these days.

But whether He uses a man or a woman, He is increasing the anointing on their gifts and preparing them to minister to hungry, thirsty souls who don't know where to turn.  Even the coming transfer of wealth will create needs for some who will lose their wealth and have nowhere to turn but to their Christian neighbors.

The BIG PICTURE then, is that the church of Jesus Christ is going to be empowered to combat the fear and dread of the enemies advances.  In fact, great victories over the enemy and radical Islam will be accomplished through prayer and miraculous answers to prayer.  Many more Muslims will be saved and many violent attacks will be thwarted by gifts of knowledge and wisdom and supernatural interventions. 

Instead of escaping the living hell on earth via the rapture, we will bring more of Heaven to earth and bring in the Great, Great Harvest of souls and prepare the Bride for her Bridegroom.  We will see more miracles in the days ahead than ever before in our lifetime, and we will experience God's powerful presence and consuming love in unprecedented ways.  If some of us die a martyr's death, it will be a great honor and highly rewarded in Heaven.  We can't lose, and the devil can't win.  Hallelujah!!!

God bless you all and have a great Thanksgiving!

Ben and Brenda Peters

IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE OCTOBER WHEN IT'S 90 DEGREES by Ben Peters

October 6, 2015

Brenda and I returned to our California residence yesterday afternoon, and were suddenly reminded that much of California does not participate in the normal seasonal changes that we grew up with.  So it's back to shorts and T-shirts again, until our next trip later this month to Ohio.  We do know it will cool down later, so we will get Autumn weather in Januaryand February.  Our ten day forecast has nine days in the low 90's F.

Meanwhile, we have to report that our trip was hugely blessed by God.  We met such wonderful new friends and renewed relationships with some previous friends.  The anointing was consistently strong on both of us and we heard many great testimonies of God's touch on people's lives.  The hospitality and generosity of our Canadian friends was outstanding and we have to thank God so much for allowing us the privilege of ministering to them.

This may be our last newsletter using our current newsletter service.  We hope to transition soon to a better company.  If we don't get another newsletter out soon, it will be because I'll be learning a new system.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Pray for Canada and their elections this month.  They have a Christian Prime Minister from Calgary, named Stephen Harper, but he's being challenged by others with different values.  Harper is one of the strongest supporters of Israel in the world.

Pray for America and another Great Awakening.  We are in a new season, filled with turmoil, change and shakings. It's a season that God can use greatly for His Kingdom advantage.  We need to pray like never before and join in unity with all Christians who want God's Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven.

One of the strongest messages God has given me in the past couple of months is the message on the storms the disciples experienced on the Sea of Galilee.  The prophetic word I received from the two different situations is that God is going to use the storms to unite His people.  Even those who didn't believe in miracles or didn't value His presence, will be doing the miracles themselves and loving His presence more than they ever imagined. 

As always, I want to encourage you to pray for the political process, that Christians would value the opportunity to choose leaders to represent them, knowing that leaders do lead, whether toward God and His ways, or away from Him and His ways.  While we still have some very good choices, let's let our voices be heard.  It's sad when it comes down to choosing the lesser of two or three evils.  It's usually our fault, because we were to busy or lazy to get involved when we had the better choices.  I won't name my favorites here, but if you email me, or Facebook message me, I'd be happy to discuss the candidates privately, if I find the time. 

I may not have answered everyone's letters while we were on the road.  We didn't always have internet access and our schedules were somewhat hectic.  However, I should be able to catch up in the next couple of weeks, so if you didn't get an answer, try resending your message.  Thanks for understanding.

Blessings and love to all,

Ben and Brenda

ohmint@gmail.com