September 13, 2024

Mision de la iglesia

Todos sabemos que la misión de la Iglesia incluye predicar a Cristo a los nocreyentes para que se salven los elegidos de Dios. Pero los seres humanos somos criaturas extrañas. Tenemos la capacidad de convencernos de que ‘hablar’ de algo es tener la realidad. Esto lo vemos todos los días en el mal-llamado ‘evangelio de la prosperidad’. Estos predicadores ‘hablan’ mucho de impartir bendición, prosperidad y victoria - y sus congregaciones creen que lo están recibiendo, aunque realmente todos viven igual que todos los demás alrededor. Como oyen hablar mucho del asunto, creen que tienen la realidad.

Pues, lo mismo sucede con el evangelismo en muchos casos. Si la iglesia habla mucho de evangelizar a los nocreyentes, creemos que el sólo hecho de estar hablando del tema implica que lo estamos haciendo. Y todos se conforman con que tienen una iglesia muy evangelística - ¡y realmente no hacen casi nada para difundir el Evangelio! Pablo contrasta fuertemente el obrero aprobado - que usa bien la Palabra de verdad - con “vanas palabrerías” que conducen a la impiedad (2 Timoteo 2:16).

Las semillas de la muerte espiritual están sembradas donde no se ajusta lo que se habla en la iglesia con lo que se hace especialmente con relación al evangelismo.

 



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September 11, 2024

Prediques buenos consejos

El comienzo seguro de la muerte espiritual de una iglesia es un giro en su predicación. Poco a poco se deja de predicar la clara Palabra de Dios que condena nuestra idolatría, nuestro egoísmo, y nuestra rebeldía contra Dios, y que ofrece como única solución el Cristo crucificado y resucitado. 

 

La predicación se vuelve muy moralística, enfatizando buena conducta, buenos valores, buenos sentimientos. O se vuelve psicología humanista. Siempre se usa la Biblia - pero ahora el uso de la Palabra es más bien para buscar ejemplos o moralejas. ¡En serio!

 

Se manipula el sentido de culpa para promover simplemente un mayor esfuerzo humano, sin mostrar cómo el pecador puede ser libre de culpa y pecado por la fe en Cristo. Poco a poco este tipo de predicación esclaviza las almas a un mensaje de obras, lo cual niega tanto la depravación total del hombre, como la salvación misericordiosa y gratuita de Dios en Cristo. 

 

El mensaje matador-de-iglesias generalmente está al tanto de los movimientos sociales, las crisis económicas, cifras y noticias actuales. Esto le da un aire de ser ‘actual’, y las congregaciones se engañan, creyendo que su pastor está ‘aplicando’ la Palabra a la situación actual. 

 

Sin embargo, si se compara el discurso con cualquier discurso de un político que tal vez también menciona que ‘necesitamos a Dios’ - realmente no hay mucha diferencia. O si se compara con el mensaje de la Iglesia Católica, no hay mucha diferencia. 

 

Sólo si se compara con la Biblia se verá que hay una gran diferencia, porque en la Palabra Dios manda predicar ‘a tiempo y fuera de tiempo’ la venida de Cristo, quien vendrá a juzgar a vivos y muertos (2 Timoteo 4:1–5). Hablar del juicio final no encaja con ofrecer análisis económicos y consejos sobre valores morales como temas para el sermón. 

 

Y por ende, se va dejando. Los comienzos de la muerte denominacional no suceden porque dejan de predicar, o cancelan cultos. Comienza sutilmente con un cambio en la predicación. 

 

Cuando el principal énfasis de los sermones es la conducta moral de los miembros y no la persona y obra de Cristo (2 Cor. 2:1, 2), ahí encontrarás raíces bien arraigadas de la muerte próxima de tu iglesia. Escucha bien y no ignores este mensaje. Corre por la salvacion de tu espiritu.

 

My name is Cesar and I'm A Voice In the Desert

www.avoiceinthedesert.net



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The spirit of lack

The Power of Targeted Prayer

 

Hi, my name is Caesar and I am a voice in the desert. It's great to be with you today, especially to share the word of God. Today is going to be a brief session, but a very important one because we’re going to talk about the power of prayer. Specifically, we will discuss targeted prayer—a prayer that addresses a specific need directly.

 

As children of Christ and warriors of the Almighty God, we are to use our best weapon, and our best weapon is prayer. When we use prayer as our main and only weapon, it becomes so precise that our Lord Jesus will act upon it.

 

Understanding Targeted Prayer

 

Today, we are going to pray against the spirit of lack, the spirit of necessity, and the spirit of having nothing and having less. We are the children of God, and we have everything because we have Christ in our lives. Christ promised us that we would be heirs with Him, and we are. Those of us who have accepted Christ must ensure that our prayers are targeted and that they use the word of God.



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September 08, 2024

Praying against the Spirit of Lack

How to do targeted prayers against the wiles of the enemy.



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"Divine Conversations: Exploring the Power of Holy Prayers";

"Divine Conversations: Exploring the Power of Holy Prayers";

 

Welcome to Divine Conversations, a podcast where we delve into the transformative power of holy prayers. I am your host, minister Cesar Castro, and today, we embark on a spiritual journey to explore the significance, beauty, and impact of prayers in our lives as Christians.

 

Introduction to Holy Prayers;

 

Prayer is the language of the soul, a sacred act of communication with the Divine. It is a cornerstone of the Christian faith, a way to express our gratitude, seek guidance, and find solace in times of need. Through prayer, we establish a deep connection with God, inviting His presence into our lives and hearts.

 

The Nature of Holy Prayers;

 

Holy prayers come in various forms - from structured prayers like the Lord's Prayer to spontaneous, heartfelt expressions of faith. They can be recited, sung, whispered, or shouted with conviction. Regardless of the form, what matters most is the sincerity and intention behind our prayers.

 

The Power of Holy Prayers;

 

Prayers have the power to transform lives, heal wounds, and bring about miracles. When we pray, we align our will with God's, inviting His blessings and guidance into our lives. Through prayer, we find strength to face challenges, comfort in times of sorrow, and hope in moments of despair.

 



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September 07, 2024

Jesus Came to Set the Captives Free

Like angels, demons are created beings. Demons, or devils, are evil spirits that work against God’s will. The late Derek Prince, a general of deliverance, called demons “persons without bodies.” That’s a fair description, since demons have a will, intelligence and a personality.
Demons are often called by their assignment or function, such as anger, lust or bitterness. Ultimately, all demons have the same assignment. Jesus exposes the plans of the enemy in John 10:10—to steal, kill and destroy. All demons work to achieve this end. A spirit of infirmity, for example, tries to destroy your health. A spirit of poverty works to steal your prosperity. A spirit of anger will kill your relationships.
Just as Jesus Himself needed a physical body to walk the earth legally, demons need a body to operate in the physical realm. You could be demonized in your emotions, in your mind, in your body or your physical lusts. The good news is whatever demon is oppressing or depressing you, the other half of John 10:10 remains true: Jesus came to give you abundant life. You can deliver yourself from evil and walk in your destiny in Christ.



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Fiery Darts

Fiery Darts:

 

Unfortunately, where God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel. The fallen angels are close too. They seek to discourage us and distract us from the truth, tempting us to believe the Lord’s army is small and his ministers don’t matter. They constantly whisper lies in our hearts. They often heckle us through the voices of the secular and unbelieving world.

 

When I served an inner-city congregation in the Bronx, New York, many unchurched people were openly critical of our church’s mission and its values, in spite of all the social services we also provided to refugees and immigrants. I encountered countless government agents who were entirely oblivious to the holistic help that we sought to provide, caring for people’s temporal and eternal needs. They were awestruck by my claim that the most challenging work involved spiritual concerns and not bodily ones. Some would smirk when discovering the intense preparation that most clergy undergo: “How hard can ministry be? Why would you need a university degree?”



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Guiding Sheep to Heaven

Guiding Sheep to Heaven:

 

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Ps 116:15). Let’s not let our joy become overshadowed by the tears and grief at a Christian funeral. Another soul for whom our Redeemer shed his blood has passed into the kingdom of glory. Alleluia! Another guest at the heavenly banquet has arrived, even as all Christians—both the living and the dead—await the final resurrection. Praise the Lord! That pastor can rest in peace celebrating the fact that, as a spiritual warrior, he has once again foiled the enemy’s hellish plans. The apostolic ministry has triumphed, as it always does; a whole string of shepherds, through whom our Chief Shepherd worked, were likely instrumental in the victory.

 

Every pastor knows that it is dangerous to live by sight, for the victory remains hidden in the form of a cross. Yet we pastors forget how significant our calling is. Because the choices that people make in their short time on earth have repercussions for their eternal destinies, your job is one of the most important in the world. So, although the world thinks you are just performing empty ceremonies and ancient rituals that are therapeutic at best, God sees it differently.



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September 05, 2024

Stages of Subversion in the Church

 

Stages of Subversion in the Church

 

This strategy of subversion through worldly influences has progressed through several overlapping stages, some of which are only now being completed in our current generation.

 

The first stage is *penetration* (or “worming in”). In this phase, our agents infiltrate Christian groups and organizations with the intent to influence and manipulate them over time.

 

The second stage is *demoralization* (or “softening up”). Here, we aim to undermine the Church’s spiritual and social fabric through means such as deviant teachings and public scandals. As this occurs, Christian morale declines, and believers gradually lose their instinctive ability to resist. For instance, it has been observed that leaders within the Christian right in America often find themselves in compromising situations, which exposes their hypocrisy and deepens discouragement. As Marx noted about a similar tactic, “the goal is to instill poison wherever possible.”



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The cost of Following Christ

Today, I want to reflect on a profound statement made by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 8:20, where He says, “Foxes have holes, and birds ...