Light of the Nations' Foursquare Church in Denver Podcast

Joshua has recently become the leader of all of the Israelites. About two million people. God had told him to be bold and strong because God is with him. Joshua had been one of the spies that Moses sent to spy out the promised land. So Joshua sent two spies to Jericho to the house of Rahab. Rahab was reputed to be a prostitute but that might not be an accurate translation. Rahab hid the spies on her roof and she covered them with flax. But first she had a conversation with them.

Rahab had come to understand what was going to happen. She told the spies that she knew the Lord was going to hand the land over to the Israelites. She wanted to be on the right side. So she betrayed the people of Jericho. Whose side are you going to be on?

Jesus taught that we should not judge so that we will not be judged. We have a tendency to see all of the problems that other people have but are unable to see their own problems. 

Life is not fair. Only God is fair. We expect more from others that we are able to give. We what people to be perfect and we are ready to punish them when they fail. But these people are not perfect and they don’t even notice that.

This is the year of restoration. But restoration requires change. We need to listen to the Word of God so that we can see the changes that we need to make in our own lives. We need to judge ourselves prior to judging others. None of us are perfect so we need to work on ourselves before we work on others. Everyone can fall into temptation and sin. Only Jesus can be perfect.

We need to develop a heart of forgiveness and repentance and love. Not judgement! 

We need to forgive because we are forgiven. We also need to ask for forgiveness if there are things we have done to others. It works both ways. Go and forgive and be forgiven. 

We see a river flowing from the throne of God. This isn’t like a river in Colorado It is deep and wide and flows a long way. It flows through the city of God. And there is a tree alongside of it and it is the Tree of Life. We also saw the tree of life in the garden of Eden. This tree brings life. It has 12 crops per year, one per month. The fruit is for the healing of the people and the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The curse is the labor that we have to do and the sickness we get.
In Heaven there will be no more night and no need of the sun because the light of the glory of God will light the whole place.
The Bible says the end is coming soon. We know it is true because the Bible says so. We don’t know when, only God knows that. But we know it will be soon. The church that is looking for the coming of Jesus is a church that is experiencing revival.
John is experiencing this revelation and he is so overwhelmed that he falls down to worship the angel. He is rebuked because we are not to worship created things, only the creator.
The angels of God work with the people of God. They are God’s servants, just like us. We are not to worship them but God only. We need to tell others that we are not to worship other people or things. People worship rock stars and all sorts of celebrities ot things. This is very dangerous.
Jesus is coming soon! He will come without warning. You need to come to Him now because later will be too late. The time is now! This is true for you and your friends and relatives.
Jesus will reward each person according to what they have done. When we all get to judgement day, we will probably be surprised by the rewards that we, and others, receive. Only those whose robes are washed clean will be able to take from the Tree of Life.
There is a list of people who are outside. The list goes in reverse order of how bad the sins are. Surprisingly, witchcraft is not the worst. Sexual immorality and pornography are worse. Murder is worse than that. Then idolatry is worse still. Finally on the list is practicing falsehood (Lying).
Come to Jesus. Everyone, come to Jesus!

God is with us! When things are going great, God is with you. When you hit a rough patch, God is with you. When you are tempted, remember that God is with you. When you take on a big challenge, God is with you.

One of Jesus’ names is Emmanuel which means God with us. 

In the garden of Eden, God was there with Adam and Eve until sin separated Him from us. 

The Israelites spent 40 years in the desert and one of the most important lessons was that God was with them. He gave them explicit instructions on how to build a tabernacle so that His presence could be right there among the people. He was with them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God was with them.

God sent His son to live with us and to be with us. He wants to be with us always and will do amazing things to accomplish that. He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Bible is full of examples of God reaching out to us to be with us. 

When we accept Jesus into our lives, He comes to live in us. You are a temple for God! This is really important. But it isn’t the end.

We live as believers that the holy Spirit lives in us and gives us power and goes everywhere we go.

At the end of Revelation, God sends the holy city down for us and God finally comes to live with us forever. God wants to be with you!

We need to be bold and strong because the Lord is with us. We need to take back our cities and our countries to correct the work of the enemy. We need to be bold and loving to do so.

God told Joshua that He wanted the Israelites to take the land. Throughout the beginning of the book of Joshua God told him to be bold and strong and courageous because God was with him. Why did God need to tell him that so many times? Because things had changed. The cloud that went before them went away. 

Every day you need to step in boldness because the Lord is with you. We need to be bold for the people who are with us. There are people in your life who need your boldness. Your boldness can help them to be bold. It can help them to be confident and strong and courageous. People rely on you to have faith. Even people that you don’t know are relying on you.

Your boldness needs to go with obedience to God. This is vital. If you don’t go with obedience to God, you may lose His favor. Sometimes this is difficult. It can go against your desires. But you need to be bold and obey the Lord!

You need to meditate on Gods work all the time. This is your path to prosperity. We need to speak the word of God. We need to speak what is true to the people around us. How else will they learn?

Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed or discourages or depressed. God is with you. God can drive out the fear. 

Boldness doesn’t need to be big and strong. It can be gentle and kind. It can be loving. 

In Rev. 21 the devil has been conquered. The false prophet and the beast have been thrown into the lake of fire. Now comes the good part!

This is where the victory comes. A new heaven and a new Earth because the first heaven and the first Earth were passed away.

God has never given up on us! He hasn’t even given up on the Earth. Not even during the flood. God is taking all that has been corrupted and is making it new. 

The New Jerusalem comes down from heaven and is prepared like a bride. It is made totally beautiful. The church is getting ready for Jesus Christ. It is made holy for Him. We can’t make ourselves holy. Only Jesus can make us holy.

Every day we should come before the Lord and ask for forgiveness and to be made pure.

In this chapter of Revelation we see that God’s desire, God’s plan is to come and live with us. This is a little picture of what heaven will be like. More and better than we can ever imagine. There will be no more sorrow or pain. No more sadness or disease. No more death. WOW! Everything is made new.

The Christmas story in Matthew chapter 2. This story is different from the story as told in Luke. They are told from different perspectives and intended for different audiences. By reading both we actually get a better view of the whole story.

Matthew 2 to told mostly from the perspective of Joseph. In Luke it is more from the perspective on Mary. 

The magi were not really “wise men”. They came from what would be modern day Iraq and they were famous for reading the stars. They travelled about 1000 miles to Jerusalem. They went to Jerusalem because they didn’t know exactly where to go but they knew they were looking for the “King of the Jews”. There may have been more than three, we don’t know. That journey would have taken a lot of resources.

Herod was a man obsessed with finding and killing his enemies. This even included his family members. We would call him paranoid. He was also short. E was a great architect and builder. He was very disturbed when he heard about the Magi’s search. He wasn’t the only one who was disturbed. All of Jerusalem was disturbed. He called the chief priests and the teachers of the law and asked where the messiah was to be born.

Herod sought to know when the baby was born. He told the magi that he wanted to worship the child and asked that they tell him when they find him. The magi knew this was a trick so that Herod could have Jesus killed.

In the traditional nativity scene, we have it wrong. The magi were not there for His birth. They probably didn’t show up until He was about two years old. When it was time for them to leave, the magi had a dream about Herod’s treachery. So the left by a different route. About that time Joseph also had a dream and he took he family off to Egypt.

Jesus’ birth disrupted a lot in Jerusalem and in the Roman empire. He still disrupts the world today. We need to have a relationship with Him that goes beyond how He can help us. We need to focus also on how we can stand up for Him and spread His love and His message. 

Revelation 20 is kind of like the new testament version of Sodom and Gomorrah. This talks about judgement. That is when God is deciding what is going to happen. Some people think they should just live the way they want to and when they get to heaven they will reason with God and convince Him that it is OK. The bible teaches thet God is true and that every man is a liar.

Judgement is real. Everyone is going to have to stand before God. No sin will go unpunished. Actually, there are two judgements. 

Every sin will be punished. Either by Jesus on your behalf or by you. You have the choice over which way it will be.

God wants everyone to be saved. That is why He sent His son to take the punishment for us. But we need to repent and believe.

We have seen the false prophet and the beast thrown into the lake of fire. Now we see the dragon punished. First, an angel ties him up for a thousand years. Then the people who have been martyred for their faith are resurrected and rule for a thousand years. These are the ones who refused to take the mark of the beast. The rest of the dead do not come back to life yet.

There are two resurrections. The first where the righteous are resurrected. This include believers and martyrs. It goes on for a thousand years. The second is where everyone else is raised.

This is kind of like the garden of Eden again. In the garden, there was no sin. 

At the end of the thousand years, the devil (dragon, serpent) is freed and allowed to deceive people again.

The final judgement of Satan comes next. He is then thrown into the lake of fire. After Satan is thrown into the lake of fire comes the final judgement. This is for those who have rejected Jesus. They go before a white thrown. There are books that reveal all of the good and bad that each of these people has done. All is revealed. We all think there is more good than bad, but this simply isn’t true. In fact, only one sin is enough to put you in hell. There is also a book of life. In that book are the names of everyone who has confessed that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. If your name is in the book of life, there is no further judgement. However, anyone whose name is not written in the book of life is thrown into the lake of fire. 

This is the testimony of Loth Lanongo.

I was the first born of 12 children. My father was a pastor and was in the army. When I was 15 years old we were in the city named Bunia. I was sleeping and woke up at 5 am to go to school. But I was so tired that I remained in bed and I saw a light coming through the roof and it filled the room. And there was someone in the light who was full of glory. He had a belt and a crown. And He said my name and said that He had chosen me to take His gospel far. I was only fifteen years old and before the glory of this man I could not even move but only look at Him. He said He would be with me and then He left.

My parents thought I was already at school when I came out and my father questioned why I was not at school. I told him I could not go to school because Jesus came to speak to me. He didn’t believe me and said I was talking crazy. But I insisted and told him what Jesus said to me.

Since that time I have felt that I am not alone and I have someone at my side. I was schooled in a Roman Catholic school. In my country we have big cars that get loaded up very high and after they are loaded people go up on top and catch rides on them. One day I was coming home from school riding on top of a car like that with about six people. The driver was speeding down a hill and he lost his brakes. We came to a turn and the car rolled and we all fell off. But an angel took me very quickly and lifted me off the car and stood on my back and we watched the car roll over. Some villagers came to rescue us and they were asking me what happened but I could not speak. Then I told them what happened and pointed out the angel who rescued me but they could not see him. My father was frustrated because I was seeing things that no one else could see.

I was in a village called Kasenyi which is near Lake Albert. This is the lake that borders Congo and Uganda. My uncle was in charge of all of the troops stationed there. People told me that there is a confluence of two rivers that are different colors and it shows that this is Congo and that is Uganda. So I was very curious and my uncle sent me with five soldiers to go see it. There were soldiers from Uganda and Cong and they were talking. A storm came and we left there but it was raining very hard with a strong wind. It was so bad that our boat broke in two and we were all in the water. Out in the middle I found some shallow water and I thought I was standing on a rock in the middle of the river. I was scared and crying but I started singing. I stood there for three hours and then I heard a sound of an engine coming. Soldiers came and were wondering who this was standing in the middle of the river. As the boat got closer, the rock started moving. It wasn’t a rock. It was a hippo! The hippo saved me. From that day on I thought the name of Jesus was hippo! If you go to Kesenyi they all were talking about this. Hippos are very dangerous. The most dangerous animal in Africa.

After that my father was transferred to Kinshasa which is about 2500km from Bunia. So I thought this was what Jesus meant when He said He was sending me far.

Eventually, my father passed away. Since I was the oldest, I became the father of these eleven children. So I went looking for a job. I found a security job. They asked us to complete a test. There were several circles various sizes. We were to pick out the largest of the circles. Everyone had trouble with this. I heard a voice behind me telling me to choose the smallest looking circle. I thought for sure that the angel was wrong this time. So I wrote that the smallest one was the biggest one. I was the only one to get it right. The man in charge was from America and asked me to explain my answer. I told him I didn’t know and that I just chose it. He took me to the US Embassy and told me there is only one job open. Did I want it? I took it because I didn’t know any better. The next day 9 people came from the US to

In the beginning of chapter 19 we saw the three hallelujahs showing that God is God and there is no other. They started right before the final battle. At the end of the hallelujahs it was so beautiful that John fell down and worshiped the angel. But the angel stopped him. We are not to worship angels. We are to worship the creator and not the created. Jesus accepted worship because He is God.

In our modern world we are enticed to worship all sort of things and people. Rock stars, sports stars, money, cars. Even ourselves. That is the ultimate sin. We are constantly tempted to worship anything but God. Throughout the old and new testaments we are told not to worship idols. We get confused because we don’t have “idols” but the devil is so crafty that he has created all sorts of idols for us to worship that don’t look like idols.

In chapter 19 Jesus comes out of heaven to fight the devil. He is riding a white horse. He is referred to as faithful and true. Why would Jesus do that? He already dies for our sins. In the old testament the messiah comes as a lion and as a lamb. One messiah that comes two times. First as a lamb and then as a lion. He comes to bring justice.

He doesn’t come alone. He comes with the host of heaven and they are all dressed in white. Pure, clean and white. 

He is the Word of God. With a sword coming out of His mouth. The sword is His word. A two edged sword that cuts us to separate what is good from what is bad. He is carrying something in His hand. An iron scepter that symbolizes ruling. This one is made of iron instead of gold. Iron is a hard metal. He is not messing around.

Why do wars start? Sometimes it is because of greed. Sometimes it is for revenge. This final war has another reason. To bring justice on the earth. Every sin that has been done against you will be paid for in one of two ways. Either by the person who committed it or by Jesus himself.

We need to get serious about God. We need to tell others!

The final battle comes in verse 21. The devil has three parts. There is the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. The beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. This happens so fast. It shows how powerful God is. But it makes you wonder what God is waiting for. He is waiting for His people to come to Him. God is patient and kind and doesn’t want anyone to go to the lake of fire but He won’t force you against your will. 

This chapter begins the conclusion of Revelation. We are beginning to see all of the victory that God is bringing. This book is really about worship.

The battle between heaven and hell is coming to an end. Even if we don’t have the victory in hand yet, it is time to rejoice and worship before it is finished. 

When Paul and Silas were in prison they began to sing a song of praise at midnight and then the earth shook, and the cells opened and the prisoners were freed.

God is looking for people who will praise Him. You need to praise Him so that He can work in your life.

First hallelujah: God has the power. God has the power of salvation. God has the power of glory. The presence of God is the glory of God. All power! No one is beyond salvation.

Second hallelujah: The elders bow down. When we understand the power of God, we can’t stand in His presence. Both great and small are supposed to worship God. Families should worship together. Even little children should hear the Word of God.

Third hallelujah: The whole multitude of people are worshiping God and giving praise because the bride is ready. Who is the bride? It is the church!