Perilous Times = Powerful Opportunities

2 Timothy 3:1-7 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Dear Friends, Family and Body of Christ:

I think about that scripture above and I have to say to myself, “You can sure tell that we are living in the last days.” There is rarely a day that passes that I do not personally see or confront everyone of the things listed above. The City of New Orleans (where we are at on a daily basis) and in other places that God sends us—are rife with those things that serve as indicators of the last days.

While it comes as no surprise and can be expected for the world to wax worse and worse– the above passage is not merely a description of the lost, it goes on to say, “(they will) have form of godliness but will deny its power.” We are seeing this more and more as the days progress.

The “Church” has become a largely powerless entity that is more determined to walk in bondage than it is to see VICTORY (1 John 5:4). Rather than offer the life-transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (the Cross), the church instead works to justify sin and condone carnality.

Yet, in the midst of it all; “at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace” Rom 11:5 and this remnant is made up of praying people, obeying people, trusting people, and doing people! They cannot be satisfied by the palatable pastel pink modern-gospel, but hunger for the crimson red uncompromising truth of God’s Holy Word!

Let’s all endeavor to seek the Lord Jesus in a deeper and more intimate way in our lives. The times in which we live will require a raising of the standard and an elevation of our faith and expectancy. I am confident that we have yet to see the most glorious hour that awaits us. Will it be difficult? Certainly. Will it be demanding? Absolutely. Will it cost us dearly? Hopefully.

We have all been called to an hour in history without precedent and without comparison. Let’s trust Jesus and ask Him to empower and utilize us for His Glory to a greater capacity each and every day!

Thank you all so much for your continual love, prayers and support. In the next few months, we especially need you to stand with us financially if you can. There are some tremendous harvest fields opening up and we are just believing God for the resources to effectively carry out His will.

Blessings,

Pastor Troy D. Bohn
1 Thes 1:5

I AM EXCITED! I remember a number of years ago Bobby Chance calling me up while I still lived in Texas and said, “Hey, why don’t you go to New York with me this week.”

Well, I went and I was hooked! There is just nothing like stepping into the USA’s largest city (20,000,000) and sharing Jesus with the multitudes representing such vast cultural, religious, and racial diversity! It’s kind of like getting dropped into the City of Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost!

Since that first time, I have returned time and again—even taking both of my teenagers with me at different times as well.

A couple of months ago, it was dropped into my heart to assemble a group of men to take them into the city as well to offer a “training and ministry” opportunity unique in this nation. It would be a small, mobile group of guys who would just go and do “what the disciples of old did:” Preach the Gospel with power, compassion and authority.

I contacted my good friend, Bobby Chance, and asked him if he would join me in this—–he didn’t hesitate to get involved.

My friend, Rudy Gonzales of RAVEN Hope Chapel (California) said, “Hey if 15 guys serving a false God can get together and change the face of history in NYC, what do you think 30 guys who serves the only true and living God can do.”

He obviously spoke of the terrorist of 911 and how they were able to take lives and cause so much death and destruction. BUT NOW WE are going to go and GIVE LIFE and bring freedom to the captives in Jesus’ name!

We would LOVE you to join us May 18-22 for (5) days of taking Jesus to NYC.
SPACE IS LIMITED TO THE FIRST 30 MEN WHO REGISTER.
Cost $125.00

This covers your place to stay during the outreach, BOOTCAMP T-shirts, tracts, Bibles, etc..
You will be responsible for your airfare and local transportation costs. We will eat while out in the streets. There are many economical places like McDonalds, etc everywhere we go.

Deadlines:
$50.00 non-refundable deposit sent to RAVEN by 4/14/2006
Balance of $75 by 5/01/06

Again, space is limited (we have 12 already booked as of this mailing)

CALL OR EMAIL ME TODAY TO GET YOUR SPACE RESERVED

Pastor Troy D. Bohn

Is Christ Divided?

Pastor Mack Roller of 1st Baptist Church

in Fairfield, Texas "greeting me!"

1 Corinthians 1:11-14 “For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius.”

I obviously have never actually met him, but I just love the Apostle Paul so much! This guy was just so real! The things that he says in the Word of God are so non-political and so non-seeker-sensitive! He just told the truth, called it like he saw it, and at the end of the day stood firm on his convictions. We need more of that in today’s church!

Think about a couple of things in the text quoted above:
“...there are contentions among you...is Christ divided...I thank God that I baptized none of you…”

There were some obvious differences going on among the brethren in the early church just as there are today. These differences can not only be expected, but also hoped for!

“Hoped for!” Why on earth would be hope for differences? Well because the Word says so:
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”

Differences do not have to turn into contentions. Because I travel, minister and work with many Jesus-loving people of many various denominational affiliations—I know first hand that there are things that we must agree on and then there are other things that are really not important at all at the end of the day!

I just returned from an awesome weekend of ministry in Fairfield, Texas. I was one of the missionaries invited to participate in their “Share the Well” Missions and Evangelism Conference. The host church was First Baptist Church of Fairfield, Texas— a Southern Baptist congregation.

Now if you are one of the few who might wonder why that would be unusual, consider the fact that I am Pentecostal! For years the Pentecostals and Southern Baptist have been arch-enemies! Not this Pentecostal and those Baptists! We are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus and we have one goal: To Bring As Many People Into Christ’s Kingdom As Possible. Why should that be contentious?

Paul the Apostle wasn’t about to even get involved with the argument about Baptism. He declared, “I am not here to talk about baptisms (or baptismal differences), Jesus sent me to preach the Gospel—and in that—–not with a bunch of human wisdom, because all that does is take the power out of the message of the Cross.”

He knew that the REAL BATTLE was not in the minor details, but it was in allowing those little battles to distract from the ONE TRUE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH: to bring people to the saving faith of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We have been blessed to receive encouragement and support from blessed people in a wide-ranging cross-section of Christianity, who are not so much worried about their denomination, but instead seeing JESUS lifted up!

People like Rev. Kelly Bedard of the Grace Lutheran Church in Houma, Louisiana and Pastor Russ Clifford of the Hope Chapel Foursquare Church in Santa Rosa, California.

These are men of God and churches coming from different areas of the country, different cultural and denominational backgrounds—but at the end of the day—they are all about helping hurting people and pointing them to Jesus.

THAT is something I can work with!

Again, I have been blessed to enjoy a very rewarding cross-denominational relationship with a variety of churches. The truth be told, I receive far more invites from other churches and denominations than I do from the one that I am ordained by!

Now, there are things that we must agree on.“Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” Amos 3:3

The infallibility of the Scriptures
The One true God eternally existing as Father, Son & Holy Spirit
The fall of man and his need for redemption
Salvation by grace through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eternal judgment: the righteous to eternal life and the unrighteous to eternal punishment.

If we can have those truths as the foundation of our relationship—then the chances are very good that we can “walk together!”

Now if someone starts teaching some deviant doctrine that strikes at the very core of the atonement (like teaching Jesus died spiritually, or that He might have sinned) THEN we will have a problem walking together.

If we could all endeavor to preach MORE JESUS and REACH MORE FOR JESUS and worry LESS about promoting the things that distinguish us from one another—I think you’ll find that we could ALL be much more effective in reaching a lost and dying world for the Kingdom of Heaven!

I appreciate my Baptist brother’s strong teaching and doctrine on the blood of Jesus and my Lutheran brother’s strong teaching and doctrine on justification by faith and rejoice in the fact that my heritage is one that embraces the gifts of the Spirit for this age.

Those are areas in which we can teach and draw from one another and utilize those things to be more effective in our joint efforts to preach the Gospel to the unsaved.

Our diversities are sometimes the things that make us all more effective in “casting a broader net” over a tremendous harvest of souls that awaits us.

We can call ourselves Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostal, Lutheran or something else now—but the main thing is that when we stand before God, He will call us His own!

Our duty is strictly to “love God with everything within us,” “love our neighbor as ourselves,” and to “go into all the world and preach HIS GOSPEL.”

As long as we stay on message, then the method of doing those things becomes less of a point of contention between us.

Let’s work together in these last days to show the world that we are His disciples by the love that we show one another” and to a lost world needing that love too!

Pastor Troy D. Bohn—Raven Ministries

Raven Ministries Video

Five Reasons NOT to Witness