Wednesday, October 27, 2010

HALLOWEEN: Is there really anything HAPPY about it?


HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

Celtic New Year

October 31 is the most important day in the satanic year. [It is known as the devil's birthday.] It marks the Celtic new year. It was the end of the growing season. It became a festival of death. On this day, the god of the Celtics was to have called up the spirits of the wicked dead who had died during the past year. At the same time, other evil spirits arose and went about the countryside harassing the people. On October 31, the Celtics expected to be harassed by ghosts, evil spirits and demons; and it was no fun and games to them. They would light bonfires to guide the spirits to their own town and to ward off evil spirits.

DRUIDS

The Celtics had priests called druids. On October 31, the druids went from house to house demanding certain foods, and all those who refused were cursed. The people were tormented by means of magic. As they went, the druids carried large turnips which they had hollowed out and on which they had carved demon faces as charms. Each one was believed to contain the demon spirit that personally led or guided that priest: his little god.

DIVINATION

Those who practiced fortune telling and divination found that this was the night that they had the most success. They called upon satan to bless their efforts. One form of divination was to put apples in a tub and bob for them. The one who first successfully came up with one without putting them in his teeth was to have good luck throughout the year. They would then peel the apples and throw the peeling over their shoulders and then quickly look around. They expected to see a vision or an apparition of the one they were to marry.

SACRIFICES

These things happened several centuries before CHRIST. Sacrifices were made to the gods, especially the god of death - Samhain (pronounced Sah win). Sacrifices all the way from vegetable to human were offered. This went on and on, and, in some parts of the world, still goes on today.

8th CENTURY

In the 8th century, the Pope, in an effort to get the people to quit the festival of Sam hain, invented All Saints Day (Nov. 1). This was an attempt to get the people to turn away from the horrible observance of Sam hain. All Saints Day was intended to honor the martyrs of the Roman persecutions. It did not work! It never works to Christianize a pagan holiday. The holy and the profane do not mix.

THE MIDDLE AGES

In the Middle Ages, there was a great revival of satanic practices and witchcraft and magic - like there is today. During this time the belief developed that witches traveled on broomsticks to the black Sabbaths to worship satan on October 31. They were guided by spirits in the form of black cats. The Druids worshiped cats believing them to be reincarnated evil people.

CHURCH INVOLVEMENT

This festival of death has survived all the efforts of the church to stamp it out. The church is joining the opposition by celebrating this festival. All Saints Day became All Hallows Day. Hallow means holy or sacred. October 31 is the evening before All Hallows Day and came to be called in the western world all hallows evening and then all hallows een. Een is an abbreviation for evening. Finally, the word was reduced to the way we have it today, Halloween. That's where the name came from, and even if it is called all hallows evening, it has nothing to do with Christian faith, and it never did.

MODERN HALLOWEEN

Now let's look at the present day celebration of Halloween. Isn't the whole theme one of darkness, death, fear, threats, destruction and evil? There are witches, broomsticks, bats, owls, ghosts, skeletons, death, and monsters. You dress up your children as demons and witches and ghouls and monsters and werewolves and send them out into the street in the darkness to reenact the Druids' practice of demanding food from people under threat of tricks (or curses) if they don't comply.

You take, not a turnip, but a pumpkin and carve demon faces in it and decorate with it.

At Halloween there will be apple bobbing, divination, fortune telling, haunted houses, candles lit and spirits called up. There will be seances and ouija boards in the name of fun and excitement. There will be sacrifices of dogs, cats, rats, chickens, goats and even humans!

You say, "Well, we don't take it seriously." But the devil does and so does God. Particularly this is true when the Church which He purchased with His own precious blood builds houses of horror in its fellowship halls so that the little lambs who have been entrusted to its care can be terrified and opened up to invading spirits of fear and torment and confusion.

How this must Grieve the Lord!

Scriptural References: Hosea 4:6; Ezekiel 44:23; Deuteronomy 18:9-14; 7:25-26; James 1:27; II Corinthians 6:14; I Corinthians 10:19-23; I Thessalonians 5:21-23; Philippians 4:8.

Monday, October 25, 2010

We Need YOUR Help to Reach People for JESUS!


VOODOO FEST
New Orleans Outreach

In just a few days, the City of New Orleans will once again roll out the red carpet to Satan and another one of his strategic devices aimed at destroying the very souls of men: New Orleans’ VooDoo Fest.

VooDoo Fest is billed by organizers as “a festival celebrating music and culture.” Yet, there motto is, ‘Worship the Music.”

The Bible speaks of such things in Romans 1:25 “[they] changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creation more than the Creator…”

With a musical lineup featuring such names as: Ozzy Osbourne, Eagles of Death Metal, Soul Rebels and Rock City Morgue – it doesn’t take much to understand the spirit behind this demonic event. Our purpose is to “Make a Stand For Light [Jesus] in the Midst of the Darkness.”

This is an excerpt from one of the local VooDoo Practitioner Websites:

VOODOOFEST is our FREE annual festival, held EVERY Halloween, which celebrates the Voodoo religion's many important contributions to New Orleans' traditions. VOODOOFEST’s primary goals are to honor the Ancestors, educate the public about this widely misunderstood religion & to preserve and celebrate the unique Spiritual & Cultural Heritage of New Orleans.

They have scheduled a full line up of VooDoo priests to educate people on casting spells and curses and various other aspects of this demonic religion. [and the City swings wide open their doors for it!]

WE ARE TAKING A STAND FOR JESUS AND WE NEED YOUR HELP!

• Please pray for us! We will be on the frontlines from Thursday through Sunday night with our team of soul-winners. Pass the word to intercessors, FaceBook and MySpace friends and anyone that would take the time and make the efforts to bombard heaven on the behalf of righteousness this week.
• Consider making a financial investment into this Harvest by sponsoring one of our incoming Urban Missionaries [or two] for just $50 each. You can do this online by going to our website: www.BigGrace.com and then clicking on the “Make A Donation” icon or by going to www.PayPal.com and using Raven@BigGrace.com as the email address to give directly into this ministry.

We have a team of about 30 coming in from around the country. Several are coming TOTALLY on faith. I called them and said, “We need your help. Can you come.” They said, “YES”, but did not have the finances to come.” I assured them that if they provided the willingness to obey and come – that our Lord would provide the resources.

Please consider making a donation today to cover the cost of the place we will be sleeping and showering during the outreach (they are charging us $10 per person a day to use it) Melanie and I are working to put together some meals to feed the team that is coming in. Anything would be a great help to us.

MELANIE GOT PUNCHED IN THE FACE FRIDAY NIGHT ON BOURBON STREET!

You can certainly tell that the enemy is getting perturbed at our team setting up Raven Street Church right on Bourbon Street during the week’s busiest nights [Thurs – Sat]. This past Friday as I was preaching the Gospel in front of our 12ft Cross with built in PA System – a man attacked us!

He tackled Jonathan as he held the cross before I could restrain him. A plain clothes officer arrived and told me, “Let him up, I have things under control.” As soon as I let the man up he started attacking people in the crowd! Before you knew it he had been knocked unconscious by another Bourbon Street partier!

The blow was so forceful that the original attacked fell violently to the pavement, striking his head against the street! I rushed in to render aid and the man’s eye sockets were filling with blood and he was unresponsive. Soon an ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital. [we do not know his present condition]

The thing is – Melanie was filming me preach when everything happened and it was all caught on tape. You can view the entire attack and aftermath by going to www.RavenOutreach.Blogspot.com A woman that was with the original attacker then attacked Melanie, tried to destroy our camera and ended up punching Melanie in the jaw!

Praise JESUS that Mel was okay and that the Lord kept her [and the whole team] from any serious harm or injury. “No weapon that is formed against us will prosper.”

We will be back out in the battlefield [harvest field] this week preaching the LIFE-TRANSFORMING message of Jesus to the 10’s of thousands that pass our way each and every week. We know that God’s Word never returns to Him void, but accomplishes all that He sends it to do!

In addition – Our teams were out in Daytona Beach [preaching to 250,000 bikers] and on college campuses, and on the streets of cities from San Francisco to Guadalajara [Mexico] to Ontario [Canada] and many points in between. Thank you all that have prayed, given and encouraged us for many years as we have endeavored to share the GOOD NEWS in BAD PLACES!

Blessings,

Pastor Troy D. Bohn
Director of Raven Ministries Int’l
PO Box 2102
Kenner, LA 70063
(504)202-0939

Raven@BigGrace.com

Sunday, October 24, 2010

RAVEN TEAM ATTACKED ON BOURBON ST

ACTUAL FOOTAGE OF ATTACK!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Why don't you: 'Fly Away From Hell?"

Raven Street Church - every Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights beginning at 9:00 PM (CST) right at the 500 Block of Bourbon Street in New Orleans (footage on this video from our Sat 10/16 service).

Something to Think About


[think about it] The Church is "sicker" than it has been in its 2000 yr history. From the looks of things it is on life-support! [why] Jesus said that the "sick" are the ones in need of the care of the physician [Matt 9:12] and it seems that most ministers [pastors, elders, etc..] spend the majority of their efforts an...d the majority of the churches money on those coming to their sunday services.

[so] It makes you wonder if "pastors" are really doing their job or not? Is it their job to "keep people coming to church" or is it their job to "equip them for the work of the ministry?" [soul-winning] How ministers must feel to have the same [high maintenance - low impact] faces staring at them each week and giving the obligatory "amen" and knowing that most of those people will never take the word to heart and actually go do something with it.

‎[I had a minister friend call me a week or so ago] after he had seen a video of Kayla [my daughter] preaching on Bourbon street [he said] "I was convicted! That little girl walked in more boldness than any five minister I know put together!"

Sunday, October 17, 2010

We Need Your Help!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

"GOD IS NOT MOCKED" - Straight from the Streets of New Orleans'


Raven Street Church: The Bourbon Street Chapel (New Orleans) "The Word of God is quick, and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

Friday, October 15, 2010

RAVEN STREET CHURCH TONIGHT!

Join us tonight @ the 500 block of Bourbon Street at 9:00 PM for RAVEN STREET CHURCH'S:
BOURBON STREET CHAPEL!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Thank you!

Dear Friends,
Melanie and I want to thank all of you who have been so faithful to pray for and support the work of the ministry. For nearly twently years we have worked to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to some of the most desperate and hurting people across this nation and beyond.
  • We have ministered to thousands of homeless on the streets of Los Angeles' Skid Row.
  • We have seen the drug addict set free in San Francisco's Tenderloin.
  • We have fed thousands of hungry families in Texas.
  • We have watched Jesus do miracles in New York City.
  • We have experienced God's protection and provision during Hurricane's.
  • We have seen entire Muslim families come to Jesus in the Nation of Turkey.
  • We have ministered to prostitutes in the streets of Kingston, Jamaica.
  • We have prayed for transvestites and street kids in Toronto, Canada.

And have seen the Lord Jesus do so many other powerful things in the lives of people from coast to coast over the past years! He is faithful and He is worthy to receive all the glory!

We are so excited to once again have the ministry based out of the City of New Orleans. It provides us a cetralized place to oversee the ever-expanding ministry of Raven. Our teams are now stretched out across the USA, Canada and Mexico! (Loook what the Lord has done!) New Orleans also provides an incredible platform to train and equip others desiring to launch into the harvest fields of souls.

Presently we are leading teams into the infamous French Quarter and Bourbon Street several times each week with amazing results and testimonies. From heroin addicts to homosexuals - we are seeing the delivering power of the Holy Spirit change and transform lives! In addition we are hosting RAVEN STREET CHURCH: Bourbon Street Chapel - every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at the 500 block of Bourbon! It is glorious to see the 12 ft cross standing in the midst of the darkness as we declare the message of Jesus Christ.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Even though the ministry has greatly expanded over the years, one thing has not changed - this is still a completely faith-based ministry that must depend upon the grace of God and the generosity of His people to invest in the work that He has ordained for us to do in these trying days.

Please consider making an investment in His Kingdom this month. There are so many pressing needs that face us and we are standing firm in obedience to the call and commision of the Lord Jesus. Your missions offering will go a long way in helping us to reach the lost and hurting.

Thank you and many blessings,

Pastor Troy D. & Melanie Bohn - Raven Ministries Int'l

PO BOX 2102

Kenner, LA 70062

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

We Need YOUR Help!

JUST HOW MUCH WOULD YOU SAY A SOUL IS WORTH?

Heaven's Gates or Hell's Bells?

Monday, October 11, 2010

"Many Churches will use things from the WORLD to REEL people into their buildings; I prefer using things from the WORD to REAL people into His Kingdom."
Pastor Troy D. Bohn

Urban Missionary: Kayla Bohn @ Raven Street Church's Bourbon Street Chapel

Thursday, October 07, 2010

COMING SOON!

Pastor Troy D. Bohn and the RAVEN Institute of Ministry and Biblical Studies will be returing soon with a brand new LIVE expository teaching from the Word of God. This will be a daily webcast in a similar format as our teachings on Romans (197 hours) and the Revelation (65 hours)

Watch this site of the exact time and date of the webcast. We will feature special in studio guests and panel discussions as we seek to examine the Word of God in a deeper and more practical way.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

RAVEN Street Church Schedule: New Orleans

JOIN US THIS WEEK IN NEW ORLEANS FOR
RAVEN STREET CHURCH

Thursday (October 7) @ 9:00 PM

Friday (October 8) @ 9:00 PM

Saturday (October 9) @ 9:00 PM

All services held in the 500 block of New Orleans' BOURBON STREET

This is New Orleans' "Original Mega-Church" where THOUSANDS attend our street services! The only church in town where the lost, drunkards, atheists, drug addict, homosexual, pervert, adulterer, cult-member, pagan, and back-slider come out in droves!

Bring your BIBLE . . . bring a PASSION for the LOST. . . bring the FIRE of the HOLY GHOST!


Tuesday, October 05, 2010

'Where is the Weeping Between the Porch & the Altar?"





Joel 2:17 “Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"

The Book of the Prophet Joel is a three-fold vision that should serve as a prophetic insight into what is facing the modern church. This three-fold vision can be divided into these revelatory observations:

  1. That which they were presently facing - in this case an actual plague of locust that had come in and devoured the land

  2. That which was soon to come - the invasion of the land by the armies of Judah’s enemies.

  3. That which was conditionally promised - an outpouring of the Spirit of God as a result of the repentance

Not unlike in the days of the Prophet Joel, the church of today is in much the same condition as Judah was in that day. Judah had allowed the idolatrous worship of Baal, the people were walking in lawlessness and the priest had ceased to teach the law and were no longer serving God with a pure heart.



Out of this rebellion came a plague: A plague of locust that literally devoured the land and ushered in a severe drought! Neither man not beast escaped the consequences of this Nation’s rebellion.

Walk into many a modern church and the pre-plague conditions are visibly in place:

Dry-eyed preaching and pop-culture based sermon series have effectively inoculated the Body of Christ from any true move of God. A genuine move of God simply would not fit within the finely tuned and orchestrated presentation being billed as worship services!


Intercession has been abandoned for Entertainment
Perseverance has been discarded for Performance
Consecration has been forsaken for Comfort
Revelation has been vacated for Relevance

and as a result the fields have become barren and a drought of the Spirit of God has come upon the land.

“The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off
from the House of the Lord; the priests,
the Lord’s ministers mourn.”
Joel 1:9


This spiritual plague of locust has made waste of the House of the Lord. Compromise and disdain for the truth has eaten away at the very fabric of what God has built His church upon: What this has done is cut off the spiritual meat offering and drink offering.


The Meaning of the Meat Offering


The term meat here can be misleading in that the offering didn't actually contained any meat in it. This offering was a type and shadow of (a) The Cross of Christ (b) Our identification with His suffering

The Meat Offering was actually composed of four primary ingredients:

  1. Fine Flour - representing Perfection (or Holiness)

  2. Oil - representing the Holy Spirit

  3. Frankincense - representing the Priesthood of Jesus

  4. Salt - representing Purification & Preservation

When the devourer is allowed into the Church, the first casualties are typically the contents of the meat offering!

Listen to the messages being preached in the most popular places. See how many messages are preached on holiness; See if the Holy Spirit is given free reign to move; See if it is Jesus being exalted or if everything is man-centered, man-focused, and man-pleasing! Then check the lives and testimony of those flocking to such places and you’ll see the lack of salt!

Their lives will be a bastion of compromise and lukewarmness and they will have abandoned their responsibility to be salt and light to the lost and dying world!

The Cross of Calvary was designed to produce this work in our lives, The absence of the Meat Offering is typically revealed in the absence of genuine preaching on the Cross!

With the dereliction of fundamental preaching on the command to “be crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20) there will invariably be the elimination of any message that might mention that ‘those who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim 3:12)

Comedic monologues, sports stories, movie and television references, and multi-media presentations will take the place of the Holy unction!

There was no leaven (sin or compromise) and no honey (self righteous, good works) to be added to the meat offering. The Cross had to be enough! (1 Cor 2:2)

The Meat Offering is Cut Off!

As a result of the meat offering being cut off from the House of the Lord, the drink offering will also be made of none effect.

The Meaning of the Drink Offering


There are (5) historical references concerning the drink offering found in the Word of God: 1 Chr 29:21; 2 Kings 16:13-15; 2 Chr 29:35; and Ezra 7:17 and they all serve as shadows concerning the coming Millennial Reign of Christ Jesus where he alone is worshipped!

This is very significant because - once the meat offering is cut off (the message of the Cross) then there is no legitimate worship of God (regardless of the professionalism or apparent sincerity).

The drink offering was a strong wine without mixture. It was not diluted or otherwise tempered by any other thing.

Today we have dumbed down and diluted the truth to such a degree that the crimson blood has been reduced to a pastel pink! Where is the weeping between the porch and the altar?

All of these things are much like the first portion of Joel’s three-fold vision: They are things that we are presently facing in the Body of Christ!

That Which was Soon to Come

“ Blow ye the trumpet in Zion,
and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.”
Joel 2:1

Following the Prophets prophecy of the locust, the second part of the three-fold vision came to him. It was things that would soon come upon Judah: the invasion of the land by the armies of the Assyrians!

In the midst of the plague of locusts (the result of the people entering into idolatry, and the priests refusal to preach the truth) God still gave them space to repent!


“Gird yourselves, and lament ye priests; howl ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.” Joel 2:12

A Day of Darkness and of Gloominess

The plague of the first vision of the Prophet brought with it the devastation of anything that grew in the fields. This in turn brought about a famine in the land - and a subsequent drought.
These three things are now present in much of the modern Church and are significant for several reasons

Matthew 7:16 reveals that “you will be known by your fruits.” Yet, the modern Christianity is by in large a landscape of desert wasteland (at best) or a man-centered basket of plastic fruit seeking to pass itself off as the real McCoy!

Amos 8:11 declares, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

  • How many warnings did the Kingdom of Judah receive to repent and return to the place that God had desired?

  • How many warnings has the Body of Christ received to repent from our spiritual harlotry and religiously disguised idolatry and come back to a fidelity in Jesus?

The Day of the Lord is Great and Very Terrible


Just as Judah was overran by the invading armies in the midst of famine and drought - so has the enemy of the Body of Christ made plans to invade our ranks at a time of unparalleled weakness.

Instead of sword-wielding armies, the adversary has brought to our ranks, “philosophy, vain deceit, traditions of men and humanistic thinking” Colossians 2:8

Many have read the verses of Joel chapter 2 and have sang and mistakenly identified them as a “liberating” army sent by God to restore Judah, but these are armies sent by God to reprove Judah!

There are things happening across our Nation right now that many are calling “God’s blessing” or “God’s favor.” They boast of progress and influence - yet the Word of God calls them “wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.” Revelation 3:17

As we minister the Gospel on the streets of this Nation, our biggest opposition doesn't come from the drug addicts, the gangs, the pagans or the atheists - it comes from those who claim to belong to Jesus!

Their consciences have been seared because of their hypocrisy (1 Tim 4:2) and they have given themselves over to “seducing spirits and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim 4:1) because of their departure from the true faith.

In the last 125 years this has opened the door to a plethora of false religions and false teachings that have used His name, yet forsaken His precepts: Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventist, and the Seeker-sensitive movement

Even in what were once considered “orthodox” churches the armies of sin and compromise have run rampant: Homosexuality, pedophilia, adulterous leaders, greed and a false grace message!

Jude 3-4 declares, “Dear friends, I had been eagerly
planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.


Will we sit idly by and allow Christ’s Church to be completely overran by such things?

The Third Vision of the Prophet


God is faithful in that he will not only reveal to us the problems that we face, but will also give us His solution as well.

In Joel 2:1 it says, “Blow the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm…”. This was in advance of the judgment of the invading armies.

In Joel 2:15-16 it say, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation…”.


We most assuredly serve a gracious and merciful God who leaves room for not only repentance, but also restoration and REVIVAL!

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh…” Joel 2:28

For the Kingdom of Judah, this was a promise to fulfill that which He had covenanted with Abraham; for the Church it is the conditional promise that He will bring an end-times opportunity to see His Glory revealed before His return.

The key to experiencing the fulfillment of Joel’s third vision is to “rend you heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord our God.” (Joel 2:13)

In other words, when His priests (Pastors, leaders, and saints) will cease from “forms of godliness” and “ways that seem right to men” (2 Tim 3:5, Prov 14:12) and will cry out in humility to the Living God - then we can rest assuredly that He will “pour out His spirit upon all flesh.”