The Hillbilly's Ten Commandments (posted on the wall at the town hall of Ceredo, West Virginia )

(1) Just one God
(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa
(3) No tellin' tales or gossipin'
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meetin'
(5) Put nothin' before God
(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal
(7) No killin'
(8) Watch yer mouth
(9) Don't take what ain't yers
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff

Now that's kinda plain an' simple, don't ya think? Y'all have a nice day.

Why the Power of Music and Love Transcend Every Void

Courtesy of BCN (BreakingChristianNews.com)

Teresa Neumann (February 5, 2008)

"Music is a form of sensed continuity that can sometimes break through the most overpowering disconnections in our experience of time. There is something spiritual about music, and something musical about the human spirit...God is the composer and librettist. We are each called on to be voices in the choir, singers of God's song."

(London)—A touching Times U.K. report has addressed the profound effect music has on us. As an example, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks quotes from Oliver Sacks' book, Musicophilia, which in turn tells the "poignant story" of Clive Wearing, an "eminent musician and musicologist, who was struck by a devastating brain infection," resulting in amnesia so acute that he was unable to remember anything for more than a few seconds.

Though we are often admonished to "live in the present," Wearing's wife described her husband's shattered life this way: "It was as if every waking moment was the first waking moment."

Of having no memories of anything whatsoever, Wearing himself said, "I haven't heard anything, seen anything, touched anything, smelt anything. It's like being dead."

Amazingly, however, Wearing could sense (rather than remember) the love he and his wife shared, and he could still sing, play the organ and conduct a choir. Love and music. It caused many to ask why, of every emotion and gift, were those two so profoundly resilient?"

Victor Zuckerkandl wrote: "Hearing a melody is hearing, having heard, and being about to hear, all at once. Every melody declares to us that the past can be there without being remembered, the future without being foreknown."

Rabbi Sacks notes in his report: "Music is a form of sensed continuity that can sometimes break through the most overpowering disconnections in our experience of time. There is something spiritual about music, and something musical about the human spirit. When the Israelites experienced redemption at the Red Sea, they sang. So did Hannah when she had a child. The Levites sang in the Temple...When language takes wing heavenward, it modulates from speech to song...Beneath the silence [of the earth], audible only to the inner ear, Creation sings to its Creator."

Sacks shares other insights into the power of music and its connection with the spirit, saying that faith is more like music than science because science analyses whereas music integrates. "Faith connects episode to episode, life to life, age to age in a timeless melody that breaks into time," he says. "God is the composer and librettist. We are each called on to be voices in the choir, singers of God's song."

Concludes Sacks: "Love and music redeem our solitude, mending the broken connections of our lives. Faith teaches us to hear the music beneath the noise."

Read more of this inspiring story by following the link provided.

Source: Jonathan Sacks - The Times U.K.

LEAP FORWARD! An 8 Day Prayer Focus (month 2)

This is a Leap Year. We have been living in the Hebraic month of Adar I and are preparing to entering Adar II. (In the Hebraic calendar, a month must be added to synchronize time.) This is a time to celebrate the overturning of curses that have held you in old cycles. In this year of New Beginnings we need to see a complete release from BITTERNESS! Break word curses that have been spoken against you and bound your blessings from manifesting. Ask the Lord to reveal your identity for this season. Do not lose any momentum LEAP forward!

Every Leap Year makes us think of extended time. In Joshua 10 the Israelites battled with Adoni-Zedek. He formed a confederacy of four kings to attack the Gibeonites. As the were going into battle, Joshua spoke to the Lord and then commanded the sun and the moon to stand still over Gibeon. This is a great example of hearing God and the commanding the atmospheric elements to align with God's will. The extended or delayed allowed Israel to have revenge on their enemies. In a Leap Year in our culture, where we mostly adhere to the Roman calendar, one day is added every fourth year in the month of February. This makes the length of the agree with the course of the sun. Most years ending in "00" are not Leap Year, but those divisible by 400 (including 2000) are. The Julian calendar, authorized by Julius Caesar in 46 B. C., assumed that the year had 365 1/4 days with a 366 day Leap Year added every fourth year. Therefore the month of February in a Leap Year has 29 days.

God is saying, Leap! To leap means you will go through a sudden transition. To leap also means that you will become agile by moving yourself from the ground by using your leg muscles. Leap also means to jump or pass over or cause or force something else to make this move, the act of leaping or springing, or the distance covered in a jump or a place that is to be jumped from. The Lord is releasing supernatural grace and favor so we can contend with our enemies and overthrow strategies of hell that would stop us from advancing. Psalm 18:28-29 says, For you will light my lamp; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall. Not only can we leap over a wall, but I keep seeing a door. And the Lord says, "I can release an anointing in you so you receive supernatural strength, leap over every obstacle and and position yourself to go through the door of opportunity that I have for you. Fear not the enemies on the other side of this gate. For you will leap through your new point of entry and tread upon the enemy's head."

This is a transitional year. You must find your place of departure. There are some things we need to leave behind. As you depart one phase or season you will also see your place to enter. May He accelerate time for you. Develop new strength to run the race ahead. Seek Him like never before, and all things will be added to you. Leap forward this month and you will find yourself moving in the perfect will of God!

Remove any mask of sadness and turn your sorrow to laughter. In a year of New Beginnings we must remove the masks and veils that have formed in the past season so we can now form our true identity for the future. I know that Isaiah 41:15 has become a key word for me this year. There is a new identity and authority for you in the invisible world. This will allow you to display the wisdom of God to the powers and principalities that have blocked you in past seasons. We are praying that you be filled with joy. May the Lord renew your strength. May you have a sense of laughter and abounding joy. May the power of barrenness break; may you know and walk in the advantage of light over darkness, and may light and revelation break the power of darkness around you. Shout My Fear shall Laugh!Celebrate! Declare deliverance from any deep hidden grief. Ask the Lord for joy and laughter to arise in your emotions. Declare your emotions are healed and restored.

Be Swift to Praise! Every month is linked with an understanding of one of the twelve tribes. Each tribe has a redemptive blessing. We are grafted into the blessings of Abraham and his descendents. This is a month linked with the tribe of Naphtali, a deer (hind) let loose . The blessing of Naphtali included the concept of being swift and the ability to harvest quickly. The crops of the allotted land for this tribe would ripen swiftly. During the war with Sisera, under Deborah's leadership, the valiant warriors of Naphtali were nimble, quick and played a leading role in Israel's victory. Naphtali was filled with praise because of the abundance of produce from its tribe's crops. They were more quick and agile than any other tribe and their communication secured Jacob's inheritance. On Galilee's mountains, this troop "brought good tidings" of Jesus (Is. 52:7). One of the best verses to shout out loud this month is, "The Lord will make my feet like hinds' feet." We should decree that we will skip and jump on the mountains of the circumstances in our lives. We should decree that our fortunes can increase and become strong. This is the month that joy must increase so we are propelled into a season of deliverance.

This is a time for transformation in the area of healing. I am decreeing healing in our bodies and a major move of God where healings begin to manifest in our gatherings. Your true identity should begin to be reflected during these two months. There is an identity for you in the invisible world that gives you authority. Guard yourself from idolatry. Begin to change your wardrobe - both spiritually and physically! The Lord made the body and relates His Body to our body. Ask the Lord to heal your spleen. The spleen is a very important organ. The spleen works with the stomach to produce an accurate and efficient digestive system. The spleen plays an essential role in the transportation and transformation of nutrients. The spleen controls the blood flow. If you are overly anxious, your spleen is probably not working efficiently. An inefficient spleen is responsible for heightened anxiety and muscle weakness. The stomach digests the food we eat, and then the nutrients are transformed by the spleen. After this the nutrients are transported to all parts of the body. These nutrients are used for production of blood and body fluids. Chronic fatigue and digestive disorders are, many times, linked to a dysfunctional spleen. Lack of energy can produce depression and fatigue, and fluid build-up and stagnation causes toxins to poison the blood system.

Do not allow the enemy's plan to take your inheritance this year. Watch for legal entanglements. If the enemy comes in like a flood - the Lord will raise up a standard on your behalf! Develop a watch and prayer strategy around that which is under your stewardship. Leap up on the wall that has been resisting you! Throw that Jezebel, controlling spirit off the wall, and secure your inheritance!

Day 1: Read Proverbs 29, especially vs. 18. Read Psalm 29 and Jeremiah 29, especially vss. 11-14. Hear His voice so your wilderness breaks. Ask Him for a window of prophetic revelation to open. The Lord has a plan for your prosperity and success.

Day 2: Read Genesis 4. Worship the Lord in a new way, and shut every door to jealousy and sin. Relationships are changing. Ask God to have you depart from strife and contention so you can inherit the promise God has for you.

Day 3: Read Deuteronomy 4, especially vs. 9. Ask the Lord to quicken a word of obedience in your heart.

Day 4: Read Joshua 1-5. Ask the Lord to fix your mind (meditate) upon the promise He has for you ahead. Develop a mentality of success. Know that the Lord has help prepared on your road ahead. Sanctify yourself. This means to get rid of anything that could hinder you from crossing over into your promise. Worship and pray for your generational connections. Establish a place of worship. Circumcise your heart and roll away any reproach from the past.

Day 5: Read Ezra 4, Ezra 8 and Nehemiah 4. Find your place in the gap and on the wall. Listen carefully for the Lord s trumpet. Review your weapons of war and keep building. Do not allow the enemy's resistance to keep you from moving toward restoration.

Day 6: Read Esther 4, 8, and 9. Fast today! (Let God choose your fast.) Ask the Lord to help you commit to finding your place corporately and helping the Body fight against their enemy. Find your place in a corporate prayer meeting - whether it be at work or in church. Be willing to boldly enter in to the King's Throne Room. Take the house of your Haman.

Day 7: Read Matthew 4, and Luke 4. Close the door to Satan's temptations. Declare that you are coming out of your wilderness, anointed for God's future plan.

Day 8: Read Matthew 7 (especially vss. 7-12) and Acts 1-3. Ask, knock, seek, and receive. Receive Kingdom power to begin a new season. Get to know the Holy Spirit in a new way. Ask the Lord to remove everything in your life that would hinder the Holy Spirit from filling you new and fresh. Rise up, walk forward, leap forth, change your mind, and enter into times of refreshing.

MAKE these DECLARATIONS!

1. Declare that any root of depression and despair break. I suggest a fruit and vegetable diet for 3 days.
2. Bind any confused communication or miscommunication. Declare your words and expressions will be clear.
3. Ask the Lord to remove your worry and anxiety over supply. This is the month to overturn worry through the release of supply. Declare that you will find your supply in hidden dimensions.
4. This is the month that we should mount up and be at our strongest peak. Declare anything that is robbing your joy will be detected and removed. Declare that you will be stronger by mid-March than you were in the middle of February. Wait for the Lord s saving grace to be released in a new way and divine judgment to work against your enemies. (Read EXODUS 23 and ISAIAH 40)

I want to encourage you to seek a new level of deliverance in your life and watch for your deliverers to come into your path. There is great access to develop new strategies at this time for your life, family, ministry, territory, etc. Don't let the giants in your sphere of authority cause you to fear. Guard yourself from idolatry. You need to shout once again, My Fear Shall Laugh!This a month for an overall disconnect with the spirit of fear. Think of Esther - she had to move past all of this and stand with confidence before the king to overthrow her enemies. Let your communication be filled with faith. May you express joy and laughter in a new dimension. Do not allow a root of depression and despair break down faith thoughts. I will also be sending out another prayer focus in three weeks linked with Purim.

Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce

www.gloryofzion.org

A Miracle Unfolds in Amsterdam

Shirley and I spent some time in Amsterdam back in the late 1980's. The YWAM base is right at the edge of the "red light" district. We prayed for that city and for those ladies a lot (as many many others did). What wonderful news it is to hear of the following news. May God's love and the prayers of His Saints continue to make a difference in that city!!

For His Glory,
Joe


Courtesy of BCN (BreakingChristianNews.com)

Aimee Herd (February 19, 2008)

"Mayor Cohen…stated publicly that the legalization of prostitution in Holland seven years ago simply had failed..."

(Amsterdam, Holland)—Those who know the Bible will be familiar with the verse, "…with God all things are possible." In fact it is found written similarly in every one of the four Gospels. But Believers in Holland may be starting to really grasp that concept, perhaps more than they ever have, as they witness an amazing answer to long-term prayer unfolding in Amsterdam.

Reporting for Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Europe, Jeff Fountain describes a sudden turnaround by Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen, who is pushing through a plan to clean up the city's notorious "Red Light District." Cohen aims at closing down brothels and their trademark windows, replacing them with "fashionable stores, galleries, cafes, offices and inner-city housing." (Photo: Wikipedia)

Says Fountain, "Mayor Cohen…stated publicly that the legalization of prostitution in Holland seven years ago simply had failed. Instead of giving the authorities greater control over the industry, it had actually created more demand, and therefore more incentive for criminal networks to traffic women from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and Africa as sex-workers."

He added that the miraculous news follows decades of prayer over the area by Christian missionaries and ministries such as the Salvation Army and YWAM.

Naturally, there are those opposed to the clean up, however, Mayor Cohen's deputy noted in a Newsweek article, "When Rudy Giuliani started to clean up Times Square in the mid-'90s, some people were warning that no one would ever again want to come to New York City. But as far as I know, it has had record tourist numbers each year since."

Fountain concludes his report by asking, "So where will the window ladies go to as business closes down? Most will probably be moved on to other European cities, while others not yet lured into the trade may be spared the hell of sex-slavery. We can only pray that Antwerp, Hamburg and other urban centers soon follow Amsterdam's dramatic lead."

Read the full article at the link provided.

Source: Jeff Fountain – YWAM Europe

Resurrections in India Draw People to Jesus

Courtesy of BCN (BreakingChristianNews.com)

Teresa Neumann (February 21, 2008)

"During my 26 years as a journalist I've interviewed some interesting people and heard some amazing stories. But this week set a new standard when I met two people in southern India who experienced Biblical-style resurrection." -J. Lee Grady

(India)—J. Lee Grady, Editor of Charisma magazine, recently interviewed two people who were raised from the dead during an evangelistic meeting in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Says Grady: "During my 26 years as a journalist I've interviewed some interesting people and heard some amazing stories. But this week set a new standard when I met two people in southern India who experienced Biblical-style resurrection."

The first person Grady interviewed was six-year-old Jyothi Pothabathula. Her father, Suribabu, explained that while enroute to the crusade Jyothi stopped breathing. Suribabu carried her lifeless body to the stage where evangelist Harry Gomes was praying for the sick.

"I know Jesus is a great God because he raised my daughter to life," said Suribabu. The miracle prompted his brother and two other family members to give their lives to Jesus. (Photo: Indian Christians praying-Bibleleague.org)

The other resurrection occurred at a Harry Gomes crusade also, when 45-year-old Mesheck Manepally collapsed at the meeting and began foaming at the mouth. His son, Varaprasad, flagged down an ambulance to take his father to the hospital, but when Gomes heard of the emergency he stopped preaching and walked through the crowd of 100,000 attendees to pray for Manepally. By then, the report notes, he had no pulse and his body was stiffening.

According to the report in FaithNewsNetwork, "Gomes laid his hands on the man and prayed for his life to return. Within a few minutes, Mesheck sat up in the back of the vehicle with a dazed look on his face. 'People started telling me, 'You were dead and now you are alive!' Mesheck said. 'I was confused and I started crying. I was so thankful.'"

Mesheck's wife, Laxmi, is quoted as saying Hindu villagers came to see her husband for 10 days after the incident. "They came to view him as a Lazarus," she said. "The people were saying, 'Their God is the true God.'"

"Every time it happens it boosts the people's faith," said Gomes, who has witnessed five resurrections during his 14 years of doing crusades. "In the Bible we are told that the crowds came not just to see Jesus but to see Lazarus. As the word about these miracles spreads, everyone's faith is elevated."

Source: J. Lee Grady - Faith News

Some More GREAT QUOTES

Courtesy of SermonIndex.net


"I have found that there are three stages in every great work of
God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done."
- Hudson Taylor

"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives
the impossible."- Corrie ten Boom

"We never test the resources of God until we attempt the
IMPOSSIBLE." - F.B. Meyer

"Until we reach for the IMPOSSIBLE through fervent, faith-filled
prayer, we will NEVER fulfill our created purpose!" - David Smithers

"Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE with GOD." - Luke 1: 37

"A church without an intelligent, well-organized, and systematic
prayer program is simply operating a religious treadmill."
- Paul E. Billheimer

"God will do nothing but in answer to prayer." - John Wesley

"The greatest thing anyone can do for God and for man is to pray.
You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot
do more than pray until you have prayed. Prayer is striking the
winning blow ... service is gathering up the results." - S.D. Gordon

"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the
Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees." - Corrie ten Boom

"God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world
without and the tumult of our passions within bewilder us and
prevent us from listening to him." - Fenelon

"God will either give you what you ask, or something far better."
- Robert Murray McCheyne

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" - Corrie ten Boom

"Jesus Christ carries on intercession for us in heaven; the Holy
Ghost carries on intercession in us on earth; and we the saints
have to carry on intercession for all men." - Oswald Chambers

"Our prayers lay the track down which God’s power can come.
Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot
reach us without rails." - Watchman Nee

"Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet." - E. M. Bounds

"Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue. God’s voice in response
to mine is its most essential part." - Andrew Murray

"Prayerlessness is a sin." - Corrie ten Boom

"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees."
- William Cowper