FASTING & PRAYER for 2008

Dear Raven Leaders & Friends of Jesus,

I wanted to send this email out to invite and encourage you to join with us in a season of fasting and prayer before the Lord Jesus in preparation for 2008. I believe that the things that we will face in this coming year will demand a consecrated heart towards the presence and holiness of God and a dedicated mind in regards to being dilligent in the Word of God.

As a ministry we are scheduling a period of fasting and prayer to commence at 12:00 AM on January 1st (That would be midnight on Monday the 31st) and will conclude at 12:00 AM on January 8th (That would be midnight on the 7th). This is a period of (7) full days of consecration before the Lord Jesus. Melanie and I have actually already begun the fast and will continue for a full (14) days--- we are in desperate pursuit of Jesus like never before and feel the need to make this commitment to Jesus to end 2007 and to begin 2008.

Many times the word "fasting" is met with resistance from our "Old Nature." The flesh often bristles at anything that would demand its submission to the Spirit man--this is why it is so very important to make the time to seek the face of the Lord Jesus to a greater degree during these set-aside-times of consecration. Paul the Apostle said in:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

This time of prayer and fasting will DEMAND discipline--but the reward for discipline is always breakthrough.

When Melanie and I fast, we typically go on a "non-solid" food fast that consists of water, dilluted juices, and broths. I "personally" beleive that this most represent the Biblical fast and have seen this type of fast yield some of the most incredible results. (But) I encourage you to choose the type of fast that you feel the Spirit leading you in (not the flesh leading you in), while considering what type of sacrifice that you want to make to yield the degree of breakthrough that you are seeking.

Remember: "The measurement that you choose to meausre out is the same measurement that will be measured back to you." (Mt. 7:2, Mk. 4:24, Lk. 6:38)

This is one area in which YOU are given the vehicle in which your promise is carries back to you. I suggest "pressing deeper and climbing higher and standing firmer" than you ever have before. You are going to need it in 2008.

I do want to say this and I say so very soberly: There are some of you that will refuse to pay the price in 2008 and will neglect the demands and sacrifices that God is calling you to (and I am not just talking about this season of fasting--this is just a very small part of it) and you will reap the consequences of this refusal.

The Holy Spirit has been speaking emphatically to me in the past few months that this is the most critical hour in which we have lived. This coming year is going to present issues and obstacles that without the mind of Christ and the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit operating in your heart life never before---you will fall.

I believe that God is giving us the "heads up" so that we can make preparations. Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."There will be some that head the call and there will be others who will once again make excuses and take God's warning with a grain of salt.

Matt 25:1-13 says,

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut."

I plead with you to harken unto the voice of the Lord in this late hour and respond to His voice. With the incredible opposition that is coming there is even a greater opportunity--but it will require faithfulness, humility, and holiness.

HERE IS WHAT I AM ASKING FROM YOU:

Let me know if you are committed to this time of prayer and fasting by emailing me at PastorTroy@BigGrace.com

Let me know specific areas that you need God to move in your family, your ministry, and in your personal life. **Do not send me prayer requests for others at this time---I am asking about YOU.

Also-- I believe that there is about to be one of the greatest outpourings of the Holy Spirit that this Nation has seen---and this is going to be the "real deal"--not some "showy", manipulative, weirdness---but rather a bona-fide, unmistakable, HOLINESS-BASED, power-filled impartation upon His Body. I beleive that we are going to see what the Word said we would see:

Mark 16:15-20 "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. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."

Also consider this:
1 Cor 12:31 "But earnestly desire the best gifts....".

1 Cor 14:12 "Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church."

I believe that God wants to empower His Church in this critical hour like never before and this is going to be seen as those who earestly seek Him will see the manifest presence of God moving miraculously in and through their lives. I beleive that we are going to see miracle healings like never before. I belive that words of wisdom and words of knowledge will accompany your witness to people--that the Holy Spirit will "read their mail to you" and that tongues and interpretaion of tongues and prophecy will be seen in unprecedented proportions.

My question for you as we are praying--- What "gift" is it that you are earnestly desiring the Holy Spirit to measure out in your life to make you more effective in edifying the Body and reaching the lost?

1 Cor 12:8-10 "for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues."

Email me these things as I stand with you in faith believing for God's outporing on your life like never before.

***Our weekly RAVEN NATION program will be on MONDAY NIGHT this week instead of Tuesday. This will be a special "watch night" service that will begin at 9:00 PM and last until Midnight (The New Year). We will be having special worship and intercessory prayer and a time for the Word as well. **If the Holy Sprit is dropping something in your spirit that you want to share--then write it down and email it to me. If you have SKYPE, it may be that we can put you on LIVE so that you can share it directly.

***I will also be posting times that we will be having LIVE intercessory prayer during the fast as well. If you are set up to BROADCAST through Stickam---let me know and we may have you host a prayer time as well using my log-in.

I love you all and look forward to seeing Jesus move in all of our lives so that we can impact others for His Glory!

Blessings,

Pastor Troy D. Bohn

Raven Ministries International, Inc.

P.O. Box 1897Daytona Beach, Florida 32115

(386) 682-4141www.BigGrace.com

Please keep the Montano family in your prayers

Please be in prayer for Brother Max Montano (pictured above during and outreach in New Orleans) and his family. This past Satruday he lost his mother, Rebecca Montano (74) after a lenghthy battle following a stroke.

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Bro Max and his wife, Kimber, are awesome soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ and have ministered with us on the streets of this nation from coast to coast. May the Lord Jesus bring the comfort to he and his family during this great time of loss. The furneral will be held today in Dalhart, Texas.

NEWS FROM THE TRAINING CENTER

We are blessed to welcome Christy King from Amarillo, Texas here to Daytona Beach for a period of training and discipleship. Christy is very much a "Daughter in the Gospel" to us since we have known her since she was in grade school!

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Christy is the daughter of Pastor Ken & Wanda Fowler, who served as one of my associate pastors at The Dayspring Dream Center in Amarillo for many years.

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Please keep Christy in your prayers that this will truly be a powerful time in her life and in the things that God is preparing her for in the future. She is one of our first residnets here at the Raven Ministries International Training Center and will be residing in the new "dorm" that some of you helped us construct with your generous giving!

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Below is a video of Christy that was shot while we were in New Orleans four years ago when Christy came to help out during an outreach there during the Sugar Bowl. She expressed an interest to come and be a part then..but it has been worth the wait to be able to invest into her life!

Its Time to WAKE UP!

Ephesians 5:14-16 tells us, “...Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Did you spiritually “sleep through” this past year? Are you spiritually groggy and are your eyes matted together by complacency, lack of passion, prayer and purpose?

It’s time to WAKE UP! This could be it for you– and all of us! There is a voice calling out to the hearts of those who know Him to “Arise from the dead!” Arise from the deadness of fear! Arise from the deadness of unforgiveness! Arise from the deadness of wrath and jealousy! Arise from the deadness of religion!

Ouch! No NOT my religion! Not the “I’m okay and you’re okay religion” that I have grown so comfortable with! Not the one-hour-of-no-power ritualistic expression that I have so faithfully accounted as my way to heaven for so long! NOT THAT!

Not the covenant that requires no cross! Not the palatable-pink wide-gate gospel that always considers my feeling above my eternal destiny.

WAKE UP! And Christ will give you LIGHT! Not Jesus-lite, or Lo-Cal (Lo-Cost) Conversion— but TRUE LIGHT!

This is the “light” that the Greek translates as “to pour upon you the divine truth as the sun gives light to men aroused from sleep.”

THAT is how I want to be woken up in 2008! Rested from my sleep and slumber by the sudden blast of last days, blood bought,
RHEMA Word, power-filled, life changing, Holy Spirit breather TRUTH.

THIS COULD BE OUR LAST OPPORTUNITY. In the past month people were gunned down in Churches and in Shopping Malls!
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NO ONE ever wants to think that their LAST CHANCE is coming up too soon. We all live with some level of invincibility or denial! 2 Corinthians 6:2 tells us, “...BEHOLD NOW is the accepted time, BEHOLD NOW is the day of salvation.”

When is YOUR salvation going to really “kick in” so that you are walking in victory and not making excuses for your lack of faith, lack of fire and lack of foundation? WAKE UP! If you do...He will pour upon you His TRUTH and His presence like never before!

“See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools!” To walk “circumspectly” is to walk in accuracy and not unwisely.

Your STANDARD OF ACCURACY for the year 2008 is the Word of God! All of it this time! Not just those “plucked out of place” passages that cater to the modern-day easy-believisms being widely circulated through the modern church.

WAKE US UP LORD JESUS! Like being drenched with a bucket of water drawn from a cold stream!

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalms 139:23-24

Let this be the year that we are shaken from our slumber, searched in our hearts and minds, and led into our way or destiny God has prepared and purchased for us with the Blood of His Son Jesus!

This could be the year. Let’s make the MOST of it this time instead of doing the least and hoping for the best!

THE TIME IS NOW TO REDEEM OUR TIME! That is to recover fro the power of another that which has been taken from us.

How many of your yesterdays would you like to “do-over?” Sorry—– it just isn’t ever going to
happen. But, you can REDEEM your time NOW, by making the commitment that 2008 will be YOUR YEAR of realized promises, manifest miracles and unwavering faith!
Let’s not think that we can “do the same things this year” and expect “different results.”

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Gal 6:7-10

A Mormon in the Whitehouse?

The coming Presidential election is once again heating up as “faith” or more accurately religion takes the stage as a major issue in many of the contender’s campaigns.

One of the Republican candidates, Gov. Mitt Romney, recently gave a speech reminiscent of former President John F. Kennedy wherein he attempted to diffuse the criticism surrounding his Mormon faith. In the speech he sought to equate questioning his beliefs with intolerance and bigotry.

Another candidate, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, came under fire for bringing up specifics of the Mormon faith in an interview with the New York Times. In the interview he made the remark, “"Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"

Huckabee has since backtracked and stated that he was not trying to challenge Romney’s beliefs and that his comments “were taken out of context.”

I wonder if people would be talking “tolerance” if Romney represented any other religious cult (which Mormonism is). What if he had been a Jehovah’s Witness (who don’t run for office), or perhaps a Christian Science, or Scientology? Would there have been such an outcry for tolerance then?

Mormonism is plain and simple a non-Christian and non-Biblical cult that utilizes Biblical terms but does not teach or preach the Jesus of the Bible. I have included a short dissertation of a few of their beliefs. Any person with a basic understanding of the Scriptures will see that this is not a belief system consistent with the Christian faith.

Mormonism teaches that God used to be a man on another world and that he became a god by following the laws and ordinances of his god on his home world. He brought his wife to this world, a woman he had married on the other world. She is, essentially a goddess.

In his present god-state, he rules our world. He has a body of flesh and bones. Since god and his wife are both exalted persons, they each possess physical bodies. In their exalted states as deities, they produce spirit children that grow and mature in the spiritual realm.

The first spirit born was Jesus. Afterwards Lucifer was born along with the rest of us. So, Mormonism teaches that we all pre-existed in the spirit realm having been produced from the union of god and his goddess wife. Therefore, we all existed in spirit form before coming down and entering the bodies of human babies that are being born on earth. During this ‘compression' into the infant state, the memories of their pre-existence is 'veiled.'

God the father, who is called Elohim, was concerned for the future salvation of the people on earth. In the heavenly realm, the Father had a plan for the salvation of the world. Jesus endorsed the Father's plan. Lucifer did not. Lucifer became jealous and rebelled. In his rebellion he convinced a large portion of the spirits existing in heaven to side with him and oppose god. God being more powerful then they, cursed these rebellious spirits to become demons. They can never be born in human bodies.

The remaining spirits sided with God. Since they chose the better way, when it comes time for them to live on earth, they have the privilege of being born in races and locations that are relative to their condition and choice made in the spirit realm.

In the Mormon plan of salvation there needed to be a savior: Jesus. But Jesus was a spirit in heaven. For him to be born on earth, Brigham Young the second prophet of the Mormon Church said that instead of letting any other man do it, God the Father did it with Mary. He said that the birth of our savior was as natural as the birth of our parents. Essentially, what this means is that Brigham Young taught that God the Father came down and had sexual relations with Mary, his spirit daughter, to produce the body of Jesus.

Though many Mormons will not entertain such incestuous thoughts about God and Mary, this is what Brigham Young taught and as far as we know, this has not been denied by the Mormon Church.

Nevertheless, Jesus was born, got married, and had children. He died on the cross and paid for sins -- but not on the cross only. According to Mormonism, the atonement of Christ was not only on the cross. It began in the Garden of Gethsemane before he went to the cross.

In Mormonism, men and women have the potential of becoming gods. President Lorenzo Snow said, "As God once was, man is. As God is, man may become." In order to reach this exalted state of godhood, a person must first become a good Mormon, pay a full ten percent tithe to the Mormon church, follow various laws and ordinances of the church, and be found worthy.

At this point, they receive a temple recommend whereupon, the Mormon is allowed to enter their sacred temples in order to go through set of secret rituals: baptism for the dead, celestial marriage, and various oaths of secrecy and commitment. Additionally, four secret handshakes are taught so the believing Mormon, upon entering the third level of Mormon heaven, can shake hands with god in a certain pattern.

This celestial ritual is for the purpose of permitting entrance into the highest level of heaven. For those who achieve this highest of heavens, exaltation to godhood awaits them. Then, he or she, will be permitted to have his or her own planet and be the god of his own world and the Mormon system will be expanded to other planets.