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By Emily Tomko
The podcast currently has 31 episodes available.
The ushering in of a New Year is a perfect time to reflect on the last year with gratitude, and to commit to going deeper with the Lord in the coming one.
A few months back I shared how the Lord prompted me to “up my game” in my prayer life by praying fifteen minutes a day in the Spirit, by the clock I must confess that at times it has felt tedious, even rote. Other times, I lingered long after my timer went off because I didn’t want to leave.
But regardless of how it “feels,” The discipline of praying in tongues fifteen minutes a day has had a remarkable impact on my faith and also in my ability to strategically pray for individuals and situations.
We know intellectually that life is fragile, and that any one of us could leave this world at any time. But the reality has become much more than theory recently. We have loved ones who should still be here. They have been taken from us suddenly, and seemingly before their time.
Never has this hit home more than the last couple of weeks. To chat with a friend at church and make plans for the following week, only the next morning to hear that this bright light among us is now gone. It seems impossible to reconcile the news as real.
Is there anything redemptive that can come out of this culture of death that has thrown its nets over the global community these last few years?
For more, go to www.emilytomko.com
Keywords: eternal life, died suddenly, death to self
Pastor Jonathan Conrathe tells an amazing story of leading the head anesthesiologist from the World Health Organization to Christ on an airplane. This anesthesiologist professed that he believed in God because of how routinely during surgery the medical team would open up a patient to discover that whatever malady they were operating for was already healed. The head surgeon would say, “We will say nothing of this” and they’d stitch him back up. Inevitably, the anesthesiologist said that they discovered the patient was either a Christian or had a church praying for him.
Following this remarkable conversation, the anesthesiologist went back to his newspaper. Jonathan realized that while the man believed in God, this didn’t mean that he necessarily was regenerated. When he asked him if he had ever asked Christ to be Lord and Savior, the man replied, “Well, no. No one ever told me that was the way to get to God.” The doctor then prayed with Jonathan to receive Christ.
The story highlights how we must always be ready to give an appeal for Christ.
Jesus is coming back quickly and people are not ready. The thought governs my awareness, and yet at times I feel paralyzed to do much about it.
When an evangelist and his team of nine men and women from the UK came to help stir us to action, it was a powerful shot in the arm. (This evangelist was Jonathan Conrathe with whom we’d worked three years ago in the city of Harrisburg; his incredible testimonies and sermons can be found at Mission 24.)
The “us” consisted of over a dozen local churches of varying denominations, about half of them Spanish. There is something demonstrably powerful about church leadership setting aside differences, denominations, and personal styles, and pastors honoring and deferring to one another. The Holy Spirit begins to move with swift and astonishing might...
For more, check out www.emilytomko.com
During a time of prayer recently I heard the words, "Time to up your game."
In a church culture that shies away from the idea of striving or works, one might question, was that really the Holy Spirit?
The message however came with a very specific directive. The Lord reminded me of a rookie missionary to Hong Kong, Jackie Pullinger, who was counseled by her mentors to pray in the spirit 15 minutes each day. She says this...
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Do we profess the truth even though it might offend a brother? Or do we only speak certain truths because if we dilute truth to the least common denominator we can still label it unity?
Is divisiveness in itself a sin?
Martin Luther said, “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”
These are questions I have wrestled with as others - even people I respect - have sometimes admonished the church "stay away from politics"...
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The wickedness of God’s people provokes a response to His holiness: He must render swift and severe judgment on the nation. Just before He instructs His angels to carry this out, He tells them, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and make a mark on the foreheads of the people who groan and sigh over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” (Interestingly, the mark here is a Tau, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which was in the shape of the cross).
Among God’s people who are called by His name are a remnant that mourn the vile practices pervading the land.
This passage jumped out at me recently, and I believe the Lord would have His people understand what it means to groan over the abominations in our land. There are numerous abominations in our own land here in the United States. But the detestable practice of abortion is a sin our nation bears that God will not continue to tolerate. We’re approaching the tipping point.
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“If what you thought to be true was not, would you want to know?”
A friend posted this question on social media and the responses were surprising. Instead of the universal “of course!” which I anticipated, several individuals replied “it depends” or “not necessarily.” Openly, several people admitted before their peers that, given a choice, they would rather believe some lies than have to change their minds.
“The truth shall set you free,” Christ said; yet how many would rather live in bondage than bear the personal responsibility that freedom brings?
This is a time of exposure, of paradigm shifts, of repentance, and of changing one’s mind. Yet a potential pitfall is that in swerving to avoid a trap, we don’t careen into a ditch on the other side.
Two specific concerns for the body of Christ in this time of shaking are that,
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See also:
https://dissentfromdarwin.org/
https://emilytomko.com/the-classroom-pulpit-how-the-religion-of-humanism-undermined-a-generation/
The nature of many paradigm shifts are that they are freeing but force us from our comfort zones. More than that, when you start sincerely seeking the truth, you may anger the people you’d least expect.
The last 20 months, governments across the globe took unparalleled actions in the name of halting a virus. This has caused people to question many things they once took for granted. School board meetings that used to bring out four or five parents on a good night are now packed; one local meeting in my county lasted nearly six hours as parents waited to vocalize what had become all too apparent: many adults who were supposedly in the business of educating and nurturing children prioritized politics, money, and power high above the welfare of children. Science findings were repeatedly presented from peer-reviewed medical journals that did not back up the arbitrary decisions of those in power. Tone-deaf to the voice of parents and taxpayers in their district, some staff and board members were seen rolling their eyes in meetings where high school students tearfully testified of anxiety and depression caused by mandates that had no legal backing.
I remember a friend of mine, the young wife of a pastor, voicing to me her disbelief at how naive people – Christians especially – could be in supposing the government and the media had their best interest in mind. “Nobody loves you that much except Jesus!” she exclaimed.
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A paradigm shift is defined as a radical change in thinking from an accepted point of view to a new belief (Merriam-Webster). The phrase “paradigm shift” is somewhat contemporary and originates from the scientific use of models and patterns (paradigms), necessitating a “shift” when new discoveries produce anomalies – or deviations – in the current trend.
That the word “pattern” is foundational to the word paradigm brings Romans 12:2 to mind, in which the Apostle Paul exhorts us “do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds” (NIV).
Here are three reasons....
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The podcast currently has 31 episodes available.