Great Messages preached by Dr. Max Solbrekken that have stirred cities and influenced vast numbers of people across the world during the past 50 years of evangelism, soon in print again. Hallelujah!

                          Weekly ad in the Edmonton Journal, November 1969

LANNY HAGEN'S TESTIMONY 

GOD GAVE ME A NEW KIDNEY!

                              Dr. Max Solbrekken interviews Lanny Hagen on Camrose TV

 You  may now view this powerful miracle of God on  the Internet at Max Solbrekken on Youtube. To obtain a DVD of this interview please write to: max@ maxsolbrekken.com

FORMER PROFESSIONAL POKER

  PLAYER AND DRUG DEALER 

NOW A POWERFUL EVANGELIST

                                Dr. Max Solbrekken interviews Braden Hall on Camrose TV

      Just a few short years ago when you mentioned the name Braden Hall, only the gambling crowd knew who you were talking about. Branden was a Big Time Professional Poker player. He was also into selling drugs. 

     All that changed when he came close to death a few times at the hands of drug lords.  He cried out to Jesus Christ to save him and deliver him from the power of the devil. Our Lord heard his cry and came into his heart and filled him with the blessed Holy Spirit.

      He now travels across Canada giving his awesome testimony. He often speaks at the Full Gospel Businessmen's Banquets. You can view his testimony on the internet: maxsolbrekken on youtube. If anyone desires to get his DVD contact us.

          - Max Solbrekken

      LIKE THE LEPER IN THE BIBLE, SHE RETURNED 

TO GIVE THANKS TO JESUS CHRIST!

                   Dawn Knudsen with her beautiful family, August  2015

Hello Dawn

Greetings in Jesus' precious and Holy name!

It was so good to hear from you and it will be wonderful to meet you again and to meet your children. I will be preaching this Sunday at 11: 00 AM (a pot luck lunch after the service) at a little country Church which we renovated about 4 years ago (It had been closed down for 6 years) 

The House of Prayer Gospel Church on Hiway 623, five minutes east of Hiway 21, a little south of New Sarepta. 

May God continue to bless You and all yours!

Pastor Max Solbrekken

Hello dear reader,

My name is Dawn and i live in Vermilion alberta. When I was the age of 11, I went to a healing at Faith Cathedral Church, and the Lord worked through Pastor Max's hands and healed my eyes that night and since then im 46 years old today, my eyes are still healed. I truly believe in the Lord in ALL He does for us all. However, I'm searching tonight on where will Pastor Max be doing any sermons or services. I would like to take my children to hear one of his services. Please do get back to me as soon as you can. Thank you for taking the time out to read my email and God Bless.

REVIVAL IN THE CHURCH

 Back to the Book of Acts

                                By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.

    Revival in the Church! What is a genuine Heaven sent Revival? Is it Possible today? How does it come and whom will it affect? Why do we not have it? Do we need it? What are the prerequisites for Revival? Do we want it? Is it necessary?

      The ANSWER is that we desperately need the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives individually and corporately so that may we may enjoy the blessings of God for ourselves and others.

     It is high time to check the spiritual temperature in our own hearts and measure that with the Word of God to see where we actually stand with the Lord! We DARE NOT compare ourselves with others as their standards may be too low.

    Our objective must be to return to the place in God that we were, when Jesus became the Lord of our lives and the Bible the RULE BOOK to which we subscribed and the Holy Spirit's VOICE we heard clearly!

     The old cliche, “I'm as good as my neighbour”, doesn't cut it with God! He says: “But as He which hath called you is Holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy as I am Holy.” (1 Peter 1: 15, 16)

          CHRIST ADDRESSES THE CHURCHES!        

      “And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

     “His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire, and His feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength.

      “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not: I am the First and the Last: I am He that liveth and was dead: and behold I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of Hell and of death.” (Rev. 1: 12-18)

     When our Crucified, Risen and Glorified Lord appeared to John the Beloved on the Isle of Patmos, He addressed the spiritual condition of the seven churches in Asia and prescribed the remedy for their Desperate Needs!

     To five of the seven churches, His admonition and command was to repent, or else He would bring judgment upon them!

      REPENT or ELSE were the words that came out of His mouth. There were no mushy words of platitude or political correctness. The Message we receive when we read St. John's visions is one of seriousness and immediacy. There is no time to dither or meander. There is an urgency in His statements that require our immediate attention!

     “You have left your first love”, thundered out the Master to the Ephesian Church. His remedy was, “Remember therefore from whence thou hast fallen, and REPENT and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Rev. 2: 4, 5)

      He also spoke with tenderness to those churches which were serving Him in purity of heart and doctrine: “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write:      These things saith the First and the Last, which was dead and is alive. I know thy works and tribulation and poverty (but thou art rich) … Fear NONE of these things which thou shalt suffer... Be thou faithful unto death and I shall give thee the crown of Life.” (Rev. 2: 9, 10)

                 GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL!

      What is our goal? What should our criteria be? Is it not to please the Master? Is it not to do the First Works? Is it not to return to our First love for Him and His Gospel?  Is it not to receive His mighty power to defeat the enemy of our souls and by His grace to build the Kingdom of God?

     The Answer is to go back to the Original! Right back to the Day of Pentecost and the Book of Acts which chronicles the Acts of the Holy Spirit! He is the Only One who has the Key to Revival, because He is the One Who inaugurated the Church on the Day of Pentecost!

      “And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

        “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in tongues, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 1: 1-4

      Jesus had given them their MARCHING ORDERS before He left them to sit on His Father's right hand in Heaven:

     “And behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on High. And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven.” (Luke 24: 49-51)

     “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the GOSPEL to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

      “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16: 15-18)

      “So then after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with SIGNS following.” (Mark 16:19, 20)

     MOSES GIVEN SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS!

      When God called Moses to rear up the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, He gave the former sheep herder a set of precise instructions which he followed consistently for forty years in the wilderness journey.

     Repeatedly, he relates how that Almighty God refreshed his memory on the precise measurements, the colours to use and even the minutest details on what he must manufacture and use for setting up the tabernacle and the articles therein.

      “And let them make Me a Sanctuary; that I may dwell among them, according to all that I SHOW thee, after the PATTERN of the tabernacle and the PATTERN of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” (Ex. 25: 8, 9)

      “And look that thou make them after the PATTERN, which was SHOWN thee in the mount.” (Ex, 25:40); “And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle ACCORDING to the fashion thereof which was SHOWN thee in the mount.” (Ex. 26: 30)

       St. Paul proves without the shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is our Heavenly High Priest. As he does, he gives us a detailed report of the preciseness of God's methodology in all things. He doesn't do things at random. Here he uses the Tabernacle in the wilderness to make his point:

       “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things ACCORDING to the PATTERN showed to thee in the mount.” (Heb.8: 5)

                  VITAL CONNECTION NEEDED!

      Our PATTERN is the Day of Pentecost and the Book of Acts! Our Leader is the Holy Spirit of God. He can and does bring new and wonderful things into our lives, but He always follows the true and tested PATTERN that He used in setting up the Church on the Day of Pentecost!

      WHY would He want to change the most powerful and effective method He used to build the Church out of nothing? How absurd and stupid man is, if he thinks he can somehow over ride and over rule Deity in the work of Christ's Church on earth? Where does this nonsense come from, if not from Satan the world's greatest Deceiver and Manipulator?

       Deception and PRIDE in the highest degree, would have mere earthlings dictating to Jesus Christ the Creator of the world and the AUTHOR of Salvation, on how to build His Church and save the world from sin and destruction!

      Who but a narcissist or imbecile would take upon himself the prerogative of removing from God's Holy Spirit the leadership of His Church and changing the PATTERN laid out for us in our Lord's Master Plan, called the Great Commission!

      During our outstanding Crusade in Newfoundland in 1968, I was invited to be the guest of that province's Radio Network in Gander. I was being interviewed by their leading interviewer. And the Holy Spirit was present in a strong way.

      Suddenly my interviewer began to tear up and had a difficult time to speak. I asked him if he was a backslider and he answered in the affirmative. He excused himself and asked if I would take ten minutes to speak on the subject: “The Greatest Mistake the Church has made in the last 2000 years?

      I stated: “The Church's greatest mistake is two-fold: First, the Church has rejected the Holy Spirit Whom God has sent to Oversee the Church and placed that authority and power into the hands of men like popes, archbishops, bishops and pastors. And secondly, the Church has rejected the Holy Bible, the Word of God which He has anointed, as the only rule for faith, morals and conduct.”

      After I had prayed for the people of Newfoundland and we were walking toward the office, I saw several men approaching us. At first, I thought perhaps they were going to castigate me for causing their head interviewer to break down on the air.

       They were all smiles saying, “All the telephone lines have been jammed.  About 70, 000 people heard the program across the province. We have a TV Station across the street. We have it all set up for you. Please go over there and do the same thing there!”

                      FOR GOD’S GLORY ALONE!

       Those were exciting days, indeed! By God's grace, I know a little of what God has planned for His End-Time Church, operating boldly in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. For more than fifty years I have witnessed His great mercy, love and power in my own life and hundreds of thousands of lives across the world, for His honour and glory alone!

     We are children of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and by God’s grace alone we have been Born Again and Filled with the Holy Spirit. We are bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh and members in particular of His Body, the Church! We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ and sealed by the Blessed Holy Spirit!

      We are pilgrims and strangers here and one day we shall see Jesus Christ in all His Glory and fall before Him in adoration and praise and tell the story: saved by grace! Hallelujah to the Lamb forever and ever!

      We are clean through the cleansing of His precious blood, healed through the power of His Word, Name and Blood and called to be apostles sent out to preach the Gospel of Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit. We are called to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. And we are signs and wonders of His amazing grace, for the glory of His precious and worthy Name!

      Can we not do what the Primitive Church did in times of great suffering, persecution and martyrdom? Out of nothing and with a handful of common plebian men, Jesus Christ would pour His great mercy, love and compassion upon a wicked world. Is not that still applicable today?

      The pivotal point, however, was His vicarious, substitutionary death on Golgotha and His glorious resurrection from the dead that would transform not only His disciples and followers, but the lives of millions for the next two centuries!

              HOLY SPIRIT TRANSFORMS PEOPLE!

     Teaching by Word and Example, our Saviour had changed his ragtag group into men who would eventually be willing to die for Him and His cause. It was the ‘Baptism of the Holy Spirit’ and the infusion of power that He had promised them, however, that would define them as the mighty men of God they became!

     What Jesus of Nazareth had failed to do with His little group of apostles during His three years with them, the Holy Spirit did in a moment of time when He baptized then with His Spirit and Fire!

      Jesus had promised: “If ye love Me keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not neither knoweth Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you.” (John 14: 16-18)

      Who can doubt the amazing transformation that took place in the life of the Big Fisherman, Simon Peter, who had earlier denied that he knew Jesus Christ, saying, “Let a curse be upon me if I’m lying.”

      HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED: “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: for these are not drunken, as ye suppose                                                         seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

     “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on My servants and on My handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophecy.” (Acts 2: 14-18)

      Unafraid, He preached the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth with great intensity and wonderful results: “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the PROMISE of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.” (Acts 2: 32, 33)

                 WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?

      “Now when they heard this they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, REPENT, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

      “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Then they that gladly received his Word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:37-41)
      What an altar call that was! THREE THOUSAND SOULS repented after they had seen and heard the evidence of the mighty Baptism of the Holy Spirit and been convicted by Peter's anointed Message of the Jesus Christ's substitutionary Death and Resurrection!

      The Church that Jesus Christ purchased with His own BLOOD through His death and resurrection and inaugurated on the Day of Pentecost, functioned perfectly in great power and influence from that day forward and will continue until He returns to rapture His Bride!

    The Miracle Power of God startled, amazed and astonished those who witnessed the ministry of Jesus, the Twelve Apostles, Seventy Disciples, Stephen, Philip and St. Paul the apostle and founder of Christ's Church in the Gentile World.

        The Bible says: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by MIRACLES and WONDERS and SIGNS, which God did by Him the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.” (Acts 2: 22);

     “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, Who went about doing good and HEALING all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10: 38)

      The healing of the LAME MAN at the Beautiful Gate brought 5,000 souls to Christ and strengthened the fledgling Church: “And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple. Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an alms…

      “Then said Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

     “And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God: 
     "And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple: and they were filled with WONDER and AMAZEMENT at that which had happened to him.” (Acts 3:1-10)
                                MIRACLES: BECAUSE OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION!

      Simon Peter admonished the people not to look to John or himself because they are just men and have no power to heal. He said that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had glorified His Son, Jesus by raising Him from the dead and that is why this crippled man was well and walking perfectly.

     “But ye denied the Holy One and the Just and desired a murderer to be granted unto you: And killed the Prince of Life, Whom God hath raised from the dead: whereof we are witnesses. And His name through faith in His name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by Him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” (Acts 3: 14-16)

      Simon the son of Jonas closed his powerful message by inviting everyone to repent of their sins and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour:

      “Repent ye therefore, and be converted that your sins may be BLOTTED out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you.” (Acts 3: 19, 20)

     The disciples were jailed for preaching the Gospel, but five thousand men gave their hearts and lives to our Lord: “Howbeit many of them which heard the Word believed: and the number of them was about five thousand.” (Acts 4: 4)

                  SIGNS, WONDERS & MIRACLES!

     When the Church came under heavy persecution, many of their members fled Jerusalem and wherever they went they brought the Gospel message of the crucified and resurrected Jesus with them. His glorious message continued to be spread abroad by Spirit–filled believers in Christ!

     The Holy Spirit worked through several of the Seven Deacons which had been installed in the Jerusalem Church. STEPHEN was truly a mighty man of God and became the first Christian martyr. The Holy Scriptures gives us this report:

      “And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost…Whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And Stephen full of faith and power did great wonders and miracles among the people.” (Acts 6:5-8)

     Enemies of the Cross made false statements about him to the Jewish authorities. They asked Stephen if those things were true. His answer was power packed with Jewish history, Holy Scripture and Prophecies pointing to Jesus of Nazareth as the Jewish Messiah and the Son of God. They were so convicted by the TRUTH that they determined to kill him.

     The Scripture says: “And all that sat in the council looked steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel ...” (Acts 6:15)

     “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into Heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. He said, Behold, I see the Heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

      “Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord. And cast him out of the city, and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

      “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:54-60)

     Devout men carried Stephen to his burial and great lamentation was made for him by the Church in Jerusalem. The persecution, however, increased and many believers were scattered abroad and everywhere they went, they spread the Good News of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

      The Second Deacon that God used mightily is Philip: “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with  one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city.” (Acts 8: 5-7)
                                         RECEIVE YE THE HOLY SPIRIT!

      The Church grew as the blessed Holy Spirit led the Body of Christ through persecution, divisions, false doctrine, immorality, jealously, envy and other attacks of the enemy!

     There is so much more I could write about our beloved Lord Jesus the Head of the Church, and the Blessed Holy Spirit Who is still leading us into all truth.

      I will leave you with this thought. In 1987, I had been invited to speak, together with five others, at the First Latin American Pentecostal Conference of the Holy Spirit in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Cover of Newsweek had just come out with a large Headline: Latin America Prominently Cardinal Red Turning Protestant Black.

     The large article reported that 400 Roman Catholics were converting to the Evangelical Church every hour! The Protestant Black referred to the habit of Protestants carrying their Bibles to Church. My weekly column in the Edmonton Sun the next Sunday carried those statistics, with these words from me: 

     "The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Pope is the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, and as such leads the Church. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and He sent the Holy Spirit to lead His Church on earth. I'm sorry John Paul 11, I didn't know the Holy Spirit had taken early retirement!"

      To clear up a misunderstanding, the Pope is not the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth. The Holy Spirit is still leading and guiding His Church. And the Church is built on Jesus Christ Himself, the Solid Rock and Sure Foundation. And He is the Head of the Church! Praise God.
      My invitation today is to all who are hungering and thirsting for the Truth. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart and life and you will Know the truth because He is the TRUTH. Ask Him to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and your thirst will be satisfied.
       The Bible states: "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man  thirst, let him come unto Me, and DRINK. He that beliveth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living Water. But this He spake of of the SPIRIT, which they should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet, because Jesus that was not yet glorified." (John 7: 37-39). Amen.

  CHRIST HAS DIED. CHRIST IS RISEN. CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN

Evangelists Merv & Linda Gold join Dr. Max Solbrekken in Saskatoon, SEPT 4, 5 & 6 at Christ the Healer Gospel Church. Take your burdens to the Cross. Christ will meet you there! Come and be strengthened in God. - Donna Solbrekken

Evangelists Merv & Linda Gold
SOUL WINNING:

WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT!

By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.

Preface

SOUL WINNER'S GUIDE

     I believe in mass evangelism because I have witnessed God's power to save, heal and deliver in this manner around the world. I am also a strong believer in personal evangelism, reaching one person or one family at a time!

     I was led into the evangelistic world-wide ministry - by the Holy Spirit - to win more souls for Christ, because I already was a seasoned soul-winner! It was the thrilling experience of winning souls to the Master that set my soul on fire and was the stepping stone for this great ministry in which God has placed me.

    I believe, it was because I was faithful to Him as a travelling (commercial) business man among the ungodly and sinful, that He saw fit to use me on a greater scale.

    I am a preacher today because I was a soul winner then! I am not a preacher because I received religious education but because I heard the Voice of God and won precious souls to Christ and eventually God placed me where I could reach more souls for His glory. I am not a preacher because I attended Bible College or Seminary, but because I am a soul winner and have a burden on my heart for the lost.

     Ever since my conversion, however, I have not stopped in my hunger of God's Word and so have studied theology and related subjects for more than 50 years!

     D.L. Moody was one of America's greatest Evangelists. As a young man he was converted to Christ and began winning souls for Jesus. He left his job as a shoe salesman in a Department Store in Chicago and worked among the poor and needy people in that city. His first church was comprised of 200 street urchins!

     D.L. MOODY made this powerful statement: “Shame on the Christianity of the 19^th Century. It is a weak and sickly thing. Would to God we had a few men like Daniel living here today.”

    His philosophy of Ministry could be summed up by this brief statement: 'Ruined by Sin; Redeemed by the Blood; Regenerated by the Holy Spirit'. Let us examine and expand on his sermon outline defining the plight of man because of rebellion and sin, as well his redemption through the Blood of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.

 RUINED BY SIN: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” (Is. 53: 6);

     “Wherefore as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom.5: 12)

     “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom.3: 23); “For the wages of SIN is death; but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6; 23)

REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD: “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then being now justified by His blood, we are saved from wrath through Him.

     “For if, when we were reconciled to God by the DEATH of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Rom. 5: 8,10)

    “If we walk in the Light as He is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

REGENERATED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of Regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” (Titus 3: 5,6)

    "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3: 5,6)

  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5: 17)

     Fredrik Fransen was called 'The Fire Prophet'. He was the leader of the Mission Covenant Church in Norway. He made this statement: “If a person has a guitar and has won a soul to Christ, he is qualified to be an evangelist.”

                      FREDRIK FRANSEN: FIRE PROPHET

      Fredrik Fransen was an itinerant Gospel preacher in Norway around the turn of the 19th Century. At that time it was almost impossible for a Minister to conduct Gospel meetings outside the Lutheran State Church. Fredrik Fransen had been invited to stay at the home of an elderly man while evangelizing the city of Ålesund, which lies near the Ocean.

    His work came to an abrupt halt when an agitated crowd turned ugly and threatening. The preacher was told in no uncertain terms that he was not wanted in that city, and a very large gathering of town’s people literally chased him out of Ålesund.

      He stopped on the edge of town and faced the mob with these words, "As you have driven me out of your city, one day all of you will flee from this city on this very road." 

     About a year or so later, a fire started when a cow kicked a torch in the Ålesund Preserving Company’s factory at 2:00 AM on January 23, 1904. A gale from the sea propelled the fire forward and almost the entire City burned to the ground. The fire leaped over the house belonging to the man who had given the preacher lodging. It is still preserved as an ‘heritage site’ until today.

     As the fire swept across the city devouring almost everything in its path, the owner of the house fell to his knees and prayed. His relatives said: "Hurry, you old religious nut. Get out and run for your life." 

    He answered: "I didn't start the fire and I'm not leaving." They said: “We are all carrying what we can to the top of the mountain. We will take your furniture, you old fool. You will die." He answered: "You are free to take what you want. I didn't start the fire and I'm staying."

     The fire JUMPED over his house. It raced up the mountainside to the look-out (a restaurant is there) and burned every one's furniture. True to the Preacher's words, thousands of people literally ran for their lives out of Ålesund down the very road they had chased Fredrik Fransen.

     At the 100th anniversary of the fire January 23, 2004, I was preaching in that city and was invited to the Museum at Midnight to hear the history and enjoy some musical renditions performed by a famous Orchestra. At midnight several hundred brave souls made a two to three hour walk about the city to hear the Curator / Historian relate some facts about the fire 100 years earlier.

      Pastor Haaken Nilsen introduced me to the Curator and informed him that I could speak Norwegian and that I knew the history of Fredrik Fransen. The Museum’s Curator said that the House had recently been struck from the tour, and he would be pleased if I would relate to the crowd the story of FREDRIK FRANSEN and the reason the fire did not engulf that house.

     I stood on a chair at about 2:00 AM and shared with several hundred die-hard History buffs the great historical event of the Ålesund Fire and why it happened, and that God not only loves us but also judges mankind because of our sins. Everyone there were very attentive and I prayed for their City and all their loved ones!

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

     God still answers by FIRE! He has not changed His Word or methodology to please some airy-fairy, arrogant, proud, puny, so-called intellectual academics who parade themselves as knowing more than the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus Christ!

     Yet, the Church of Jesus Christ has pulled back from the front lines of battle against the Devil. Fear has taken over from faith and secular humanism has trumped genuine spirituality. Some of God's servants are intimidated by the pervading philosophy of political correctness, the evolutionary theory and the new age teaching.

      They have traded the Truth for a Lie, and bought into the philosophy that God no longer works miracles and that we must discount the Bible and put our trust in the arm of the flesh!

     Many preachers have inadvertently been deceived by the phraseology of the Higher Critics who have cleverly implanted doubts by parsing certain words in the Bible. They have insidiously driven a wedge between Almighty God and His Own Word! How can you trust God if you cannot trust His Word in totality?

   Those men in the interest of their profession as theologians trained in linguistics - singularly or in concert with colleagues – often make pronouncements, depending on their own preconceived ideas which often leads to doubts about the meaning of certain texts.

   In his book God Has Spoken, J.I. PACKER writes: “Mesmerized by the problems of rationalistic criticism, we can no longer hear the Bible as the Word of God. Liberal Theology, in its pride, has long insisted that we are wiser than our fathers about the Bible and must not read it as they did, but must base our approach to it on the 'assured results' of criticism, making due allowance for human imperfections and errors of it authors. 
This insistence has a threefold effect. It produces a new papalism – the infallibility of the scholars, from whom we learn what the 'assured results' are. It raises a doubt about every single biblical passage, as to whether it truly embodies revelation or not. And it destroys the reverent, deceptive, self-distrusting attitude of approach to the Bible without which it cannot be known to be God's Word written' (Article XX).

      MARTIN LUTHER stated: “By God's grace I know Satan very well. If Satan can turn God's Word upside down and PERVERT the Scriptures, what will he do with my words or words of others?”

    The Devil (Gr. liar) is an accomplished Liar! JESUS called him by three names: Satan which means adversary, the Devil which means liar, and Beelzebub meaning 'the god of flies'

     The sorry commentary of Christendom today, is not that we have too few preachers but that we have too many of the wrong kind! Too many over educated, professional, seminary-made preachers and too few of the Christ-like, earnest, sincere, God-made preachers!

    Too many of those who love being man appointed and too few of those who are God anointed! Christendom today, is plagued with professional men who have the knowledge in their heads but no conviction, burden or compassion in their hearts. Preachers with degrees behind their names but no temperature in their hearts!

                                     HOW SAD, INDEED!

    O God, may we have a return to the hard-hitting, where-we-live, soul-searching preaching of John the Baptist, who called black, black and white, white.   
      Let us have a replay of the plain truths presented by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as He walked on earth - the love and compassion that filled His heart and showed in His life by the good deeds, miracles, healing and manifold blessings which He showered on those who were in need!

     May we take a clear cut stand against sin and iniquity as He did – not only a tender pleading for the wayward to come back to the Father (Luke 15) but a rebuking, uncompromising and exposing of the religious, self righteous pharisaical hypocrite. (Matt. 23)

     Jesus let people know where He stood in regards to right and wrong. Let us follow His footsteps today. May we return to the not-too-polished but easy-to-understand, forceful, anointed preaching of John Wesley, Charles Finney and D.L. Moody, calling sin, sin and warning men and women of God's judgment upon sinners to flee from the wrath to come!

     Let us return to the pure unadulterated Word of God as preached by Billy Sunday - that great champion of the faith - as he campaigned against wickedness and unrighteousness on every level; not afraid to openly name and condemn the sins of the people. 

     Oh, how sick God must be of these weak-kneed, afraid-to-offend, social, soft-sell preachers who are so educated and polished that God can't use them, and their flowery message just goes around the subject and floats somewhere in beautiful oratory above most people's heads.

                          DON'T HUMANIZE THE GOSPEL!

     We must not seek to glamorize, allegorize, dispensationalize, rationalize or humanize the Gospel. Let it be as it is! Tell it the way Jesus told it and the way Peter, Paul and Philip told it. Tell it and let God do the rest. He is capable. Hallelujah!

      Something has gone drastically wrong, not only in the Ministry but also among the average church goer! What has happened in the pulpit has had its death-dealing effect upon the pew and those who sit in it.

      I could compare it with the chilling blasts of the north wind that tightens its grip around those who are held in its spell too long. With devastating results it brings a deep freeze that robs the sense of awareness, causing the victim to lose consciousness!

    In the same manner, lifeless, monotone sermons, without conviction and spiritual fervor of many preachers has brought a cold, clammy, death-like atmosphere into many churches! This milieu causes the members to be slowly lulled to sleep, in its spiritual deep freeze and eventually wake up in a lost eternity!

     WHAT WE NEED TODAY IS THE FIRE OF THE HOLY GHOST TO THAW OUT THE FROZEN CONDITION OF CHURCH MEMBERS AND START A REVIVAL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. YES, THE CHURCH NEEDS TO BE REVIVED AND SET ON FIRE TO DO THE WORK CHRIST HAS CALLED US TO DO!

     The Church needs a Divine stirring and shaking to awaken us all to the task which lies before us. The Scripture says: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light". (Eph.5: 14) The duty of every Christian is to be a soul winner for Christ. We must be about our Father's business.

                               TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

      Time is running out and tragically, we are losing in our battle against evil and unrighteousness!

     The Bible says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour". (1 Peter 5:8) 
      He knows his time is short and therefore, he is doing all he can to thwart our efforts, nullify our work and bring confusion to reign, even among the saints.

      The facts are stacking up against us but we do not walk by sight, but by faith. However, we must accept the facts, evaluate our situation, find a workable plan and then put it into force for the glory of God. 
     The facts are that one out of every five persons in the world is a Muslim and the religion of Islam is spreading with a tremendous speed. Murderous followers of Islam are deceimating the Church in Muslim nations, raping, kidnapping and beheading followers of the Crucified and Risen Jesus of Nazareth.
    And many Christians in the West are mostly silent and prayerless, lulled to sleep and taken up with the prosperity doctrine while forgetting the primary message of Christ's Gospel! 

   The Hindu population of India accounts for over one billion people. Buddhism, Confucianism and Shintoism cover most of Japan and other Asian nations, while the New Age Movement is deceiving millions by their humanistic sounding and occult appeals.

   According to experts who study these demographics - because of the population explosion in the world today, we have more people living on the earth today than have lived on the earth during all the preceding generations collectively.

     Also, unless there is an outstanding supernatural revival of Christianity across the globe, the world will eventually become completely heathen having been swallowed up by pagan forces.

     Oh, what a responsibility we have to propagate the Gospel, to be fervent in prayer, diligent in witnessing to others about Christ, grounded in the concrete teachings of the Word of God and filled with the Holy Spirit on a constant basis, so that we will shine as bright lights in this world, dispelling the darkness of evil and sins of every nature and kind.

     What a privilege is ours in this ever needy generation to do something about the situation that exists, to put our shoulder to the wheel and by God's grace, help shape the destiny of our home, our community, our nation and the world.

     Say not, that it cannot be done! Say not, it is too late and the world is too wicked. Only believe, have faith in God and then put your faith to work for Christ. As long as this old world stands and the Holy Spirit is still here and we are still living in the day of grace, it is not too late and something can be done to correct the condition that now exists.

    Just look at the conditions that existed 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ came to earth with the message of God's love. His own people, the Jews, rejected Him. (John 1:12) The world cared not for Him and He was crucified by the angry mob, but God raised Him from the dead three days later!

    Then after He had poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit upon 120 dedicated, spiritually hungry men and women in the upper room, the Lord worked with them as they took the message to the world, confirming His Word which they preached with signs following. (Mark 16:20)

     They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6) and filled Jerusalem with the doctrine of Jesus Christ. (Acts 5:28) One hundred and twenty men and women filled with the Holy Spirit had such an impact upon the world that everyone knew Jesus Christ was risen from the dead!

     In the dark ages that followed, the Church became perverted and Roman Catholicism had complete power in the greatest part of the earth. The Papacy had become so corrupt and blood thirsty that it would do anything to keep complete control.

     Yet in this situation, one man stood up to Rome's murderous system, calling the Pope the Anti-Christ and a liar, burning 'The Papal Bull' and spearheaded a revival under God which split Germany down the middle and brought revival to the world.

      That man, MARTIN LUTHER, was consumed with the Gospel of Christ. He refused to be 'buffaloed and intimidated' by the powerful "enemies of the cross" and took a stand for the truth! Martin Luther's philosophy of ministry is evident in this powerful statement: "I live as though Jesus Christ died yesterday, arose today and is coming again tomorrow"!

    Dear friend, do not say it is impossible. All things are possible to those who believe! (Mark 9:23)

    The purpose of this booklet and of this Bible Course is to stir up the Christian Church to realize the lateness of the hour, the urgency of our work as Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, the very sad condition of the backsliding churches and the possibility of reviving them.

                            IT IS OUR PRIVILEGE AND DUTY!

     We have the opportunity, privilege and duty to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this midnight hour to the lost of our generation, praying and believing that they will be saved.

     I prayerfully dedicate this book to the many who will, after reading it, become inspired of God to become real souls winners for the Lord Jesus Christ! One of the wonderful things about the Christ, is His wide appeal to all mankind!

His invitation is to all, any and everyone; regardless of colour, race, culture, sex, age or educational, social and religious background!

    Jesus said, "I have come to seek and to save the LOST". (Luke 19:10) Again He stated, "For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to SAVE them". (Luke 9:56)

    The Bible says, "For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only begott­en Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have ever­lasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the WORLD through Him might be SAVED." (John 3:16-17)

     St. Luke stated, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and power, who went about doing good and HEALING all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him". (Acts 10:38). St. John declared, "For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil". (1 John 3:8)

    The prophet cried, "Ho, EVERYONE that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk WITHOUT money and without price".

    Isaiah continues, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: "Let the WICKED forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Is. 55:1,6,7)

    God's Word of reconcil­iation, reaches out repeatedly to the sinful nation of Israel and a pagan world: "Come now, let us reason together saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool." (Is. 1:18)

       Jesus said, "If you have seen Me you have seen the Father. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Fath­er also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him...he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." (John 7: 9)

     Again Jesus said, "I and My Father are one". (John 10:30). Then Jesus sent out His disciples to preach the glorious Word: "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28); "Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37)

    Although God chose Israel as His own special nation - through which He would save the world - to be His special ve­hicle to bless the world they rejected Him when He did come.

     The Bible states: “He came unto His own and His own received Him not, but to as many as received, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name.” (John 1: 11, 12). 

                          ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!

    'Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching as to War; With the Cross of Jesus Going on Before'. Let us follow in the footsteps of that great Christian Leader, General William Booth and press forward for Jesus Christ while we still can and are able!

    Our Saviour stated: “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh Harvest? Behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4: 35); “I must work the works of Him that sent Me, whole it is day: the night cometh when no man can work.” (John 9; 4). Amen.