12 As holy people whom God has chosen and loved, be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. 13 Put up with each other, and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:12-13
As we enter into 2019 I realize now, more than ever, that Satan desires to destroy your family and home. As my first newsletter message for the New Year, I want to give you some insight the Lord has laid burning on my heart to help you avoid some traps that I believe the enemy has laid for you.
Living in a home filled with the love and the peace of God Himself is almost like living in heaven right here on earth. We all know that’s true. And we desire to live in such a home. Yet, time and time again, we shortchange our families. We spend our kindest words and best smiles on the people outside of our family. Have you ever asked yourself, “What’s that all about”? The answer is more simplistic than you might think. Looking at this from a spiritual perspective, the devil has a bullseye on your family. Your family is one of your most precious gifts! When your family is in unity it’s one of your strongest assets. The devil is aware of how to dismantle your family and he is determined to do it!
Satan’s war plan is basic. He will do whatever it takes to bring division to your house! He will whip up emotions of unforgiveness and anger. The devil will try to motivate you to feed feelings of resentment and keep bitterness in your heart. In the middle of all of this, his strategy is to divide and conquer your home.
When we as God’s children get in unity with one another, miracles, signs, and wonders rapidly begin to take place. The unity of God’s people makes an atmosphere for the supernatural, miracle-working power of God to freely flow! The devil is constantly tempting us to cloud that atmosphere by keeping us in disagreement with one another over menial things.
Too many times we give in to his strategies because we don’t understand how detrimental discord really is. The Bible gives us clear instruction about how to deal with this in James 3:16, “Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”
Do not allow the devil to access to your home by allowing your family the “luxury” of a few arguments.
Put a stop to the devastation before it begins. Hide God’s Word in your heart. Search the Bible to see what He has to say about the power of unity. Quit viewing your family from your own limited perspective and start viewing it as God views it—as a powerhouse! That way you won’t veer needlessly into an argument every time emotions are high in your home.
Make up your mind right now that from the beginning of 2019 you are not going to let the devil have your family. Instead, pray for them, support them and love them. Bring them together in unity, so you can all enjoy the fullness of what God has for you!
TRUTH FOR YOUTH BIBLES IN AMERICA’S PRISONS AND JAILS
With God’s leading, we plan to bring The Truth for Youth Bible distribution among young people and adults that are incarcerated in America’s juvenile detention centers, prisons and jails to a higher level than ever before. Over the past 20 years we have received more than 8000 requests for Truth for Youth Bibles from incarnated young people and adults, or requests from their family members for the Bibles to be sent to them in prison. We have NEVER turned down a request!!! We always send them Bibles and thankfully we have special permission to distribute Truth for Youth Bibles in America’s correctional facilities. There is a desperate need for Bibles among inmates and yet there are not a lot of churches that are effectively reaching into the prisons.
Most pastors have been to jail to see someone. And most want to help prisoners and their families. But their churches often lack the training or finances to run an effective prison ministry. So instead, the work is primarily done informally by individuals in the congregation.
LifeWay Research Institute found widespread support among pastors for the idea of prison ministry. Four out of five pastors have visited a correctional facility. And almost all believe churches should help the families of those incarcerated and provide care for those getting out of jail.
However, many pastors have little contact with those who have been incarcerated. Half of pastors say no one from their congregation has been jailed in the past three years. A third have seen one or two people from their church go to jail. One in six say three or more attendees have been jailed at that time. About a third of pastors say no former inmates attend their church, one or two former inmates attend, or three or more former inmates attend.
One of the many reasons that the Truth for Youth Bible is so popular among incarcerated young people and adults is because of the effective graphic novels in the front 100 pages of the Truth for Youth Bible. These powerful comic stories deal with the truth about many moral issues that people in prison and jail are dealing with – drugs, drunkenness, sexual impurity, homosexuality, pornography, cutting, sexting, suicide, bullying, witchcraft, peer pressure. We also deal with pluralism, honor and many other issues. The Bible says in John 8:32, “And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
DONATE TO HELP US GIVE TRUTH FOR YOUTH BIBLES
TO AMERICA’S INCARCERATED TEENS AND ADULTS
Overall, few pastors have contact with current or former inmates as a normal part of their ministry. So prison ministry isn’t a priority for a lot of churches. When half the pastors haven’t had someone from their church sent to jail, then prison ministry isn’t on their ministry radar. Revival Fires is able to help fill this need by having incarcerated youth and adults on our radar by providing Truth for Youth Bibles for them!
We include the plan of salvation in each of the comic stories in the Truth for Youth Bible so that not only with the prison inmates find out the truth about the moral issues we deal with in the stories, but they will also find out how to give their life to Jesus Christ! Thankfully, we receive decision cards on a daily basis from incarcerated young people and adults. When these inmates make Jesus the Lord of their life while they are in prison it makes the difference with regard to keeping them from returning to prison and living a productive and fruitful life!
Incarceration rates in the United States remain at record levels. More than 2.2 million Americans are held in state and federal prisons or local jails, according to the Institute for Criminal Policy Research. That’s more than any other nation in the world!
Other ministries, like distributing school supplies to kids or volunteering at a food pantry, are relatively easy to start. But ministering to inmates and their families is more difficult, requiring special training and often a long-term commitment from volunteers.
About two-thirds of pastors cite a lack of training or volunteers as barriers to their churches helping inmates and their families. Others say they don’t know where to start, their church is involved in too many other ministries, or they don’t see a need for it. Money is an issue as well. Half of pastors say a lack of finances is a barrier to ministry. When churches do have a prison ministry, it is often run on an informal basis. Churches face an uphill battle to grow their prison ministries.
These are messy, long-term ministries. You really have to demonstrate biblical faithfulness to be involved with them. It’s a lot easier to pick a ministry where there are quick rewards, but you miss out on the opportunity to impact families and communities.
I’ve had the privilege of preaching and giving away Bibles in a lot of prisons, jails, and youth detention centers through the years. This year we are stepping it up to a higher level than ever before as I will be ministering in many more prison facilities. Please pray for us! Getting the Truth for Youth Bible into the hands of those that are incarcerated is not a cure-all but it is a good place to start! A Bible in their hands and Jesus in their hearts!
Jesus said in Matthew 25:36, “I was in prison, and you came to me.” Let me encourage you to prayerfully consider getting involved financially with helping us provide the Truth for Youth Bibles we will give away to incarcerated youth and adults in America’s youth detention centers, jails, and prisons. The Truth for Youth cost our ministry only $2 each to print and we will give away at least 25,000 Truth for Youth Bibles, ($50,000) in our prisons. Your prayerful consideration is greatly appreciated!
DONATE TO HELP US GIVE TRUTH FOR YOUTH BIBLES
TO AMERICA’S INCARCERATED TEENS AND ADULTS
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
JOHN 20:19, “PEACE BE WITH YOU!”
Our prayer is that 2019 will be your most productive & peacefull year!
FROM DR. TIM & ANGIE TODD
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Yes, Jesus came to be a glorious light in a darkened world; He came to bring hope to everyone. Jesus is the light of the world and a gift to us from God. He was sent to the world to save us from sin and eternal damnation. He was sent to us, as the most amazing gift from God. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
If you have family members that have never trusted in Christ as their Savior, they are in darkness and the shadow of death. The good news, however, is that God is merciful to all sinners. That is why Jesus came to earth as a baby. Continually pray for your unsaved family and friends to ask Him to guide them into the way of peace. Pray fervently, believing God for them to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. As they submit to Christ they will know His tender mercy that forgives them of all their sins just as He has forgiven you of your sins. Then, they will know the real meaning of Christmas.
In 2018 we were blessed with the privilege to preach in 321 services in 47 churches here in the United States in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas resulting in hundreds of people being saved, filled with the Spirit, healed, delivered and SET ON FIRE FOR GOD!!!
So thankful for all of the young people who are giving their hearts to the Lord as a result of receiving the Truth for Youth Bible. We were so blessed to give away thousands of TFY Bibles again this year during our 18th Annual National Truth for Youth Bible Week on American Family Radio and in revival services across the nation.
We have been providing Truth for Youth Bibles for prison inmates across America at a higher level in 2018 than in any previous year. There are approximately 6.6 million inmates in adult correctional facilities and more than 70,800 young people incarcerated in juvenile facilities. Each year there are approximately 500,000 youth brought to detention centers! The Lord has given us an inroad to provide a Truth for Youth Bible for the youth that are coming in and out of these juvenile detention centers across America!
What an awesome move of the Holy Spirit took place during our third evangelistic crusade in Cuba. With the permission of the Cuban government, we were honored to give away thousands of full Bibles to the people of Cuba who have never had a Bible and witness thousands come to the Lord.
In another service, a teenage young man trapped in the bondage of homosexuality was saved and gloriously set free by the power of the Holy Spirit!!! I was so thankful to be able to present him with a copy of the Truth for Youth Bible. As you may know, the Truth for Youth Bible consists of the entire New Testament along with 100 pages of full color graphic novels in the front section that deal with the truth about things that young people are facing every day. One of the graphic novels deals with the truth about homosexual perversion. This was very helpful to this young man coming out of the perverted lifestyle of homosexuality.
Cuba’s Department of Religious Affairs, the Cuban Bible Council and the Cuban Council of Churches have all given their approval for Revival Fires to distribute one million FULL Bibles to the people in Cuba that have never had a Bible! In addition, we have also been given permission to give away our BRAND NEW CUBAN SPANISH Truth for Youth Bible to the 1.4 million teenagers in Cuba! Please continue to pray that God will give us wisdom as He strategically positions us to complete this vitally important mission as we will be back in Cuba for evangelistic crusades and Bible distribution in 2019!
In January 2019, the Lord willing, we will be privileged to preach the Gospel in an evangelistic crusade just outside of Melbourne, Australia for the third time. In our two previous Australia Crusades, we have witnessed a tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The altars have been full in every service as people gave their hearts to Christ and receiving victory in every way possible. We distributed Truth for Youth Bibles to all young people in attendance.
In just a few short days we will celebrate Thanksgiving. It is a shame that we have only one day set aside each year to give thanks to God as a nation. We should have some time set aside each day, to give our praise to Him who has blessed us so richly.
As God’s people, we should focus our thoughts, not only now but often, on the goodness of God and offer our gratitude to Him for who He is and for all He has done for us.
This is a prayer of nothing but praise to God. There is no supplication, no request, no petition or plea in this prayer. It is pure unadulterated praise to God. David was awestruck with God’s blessings. We are not told the circumstances in which David received this Psalm, but it is not difficult to imagine how it happened. Looking at his life, counting his blessings instead of complaining about his burdens, it dawned on David just how much God had done for him. He realized how good God had been and how undeserving he was of all these blessings. Springing up from the depths of his heart and gushing out onto his parchment came this prayer of praise, expressing his gratitude toward the Lord.
These words were not dry and stale when David sang them. They were full of life and energy. They were part of his worship. You remember that David danced when he worshiped God. Remember that one of his wives, Michal, did not approve and criticized him, and God made her barren for her criticism. Now a guy who dances when he worships God, would not be dry as he sang this song. It would not be sung like he was at a funeral. This was a song of praise. David sang it with joy and with a deep desire to let God and everyone who could hear, know just how much he really wanted God to receive praise and glory. The psalms are filled with these kinds of praise songs.
Psalm 66:1 – 4: “Shout joyfully to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious. Say to God, ‘How awe-inspiring are Your works! Your enemies will cringe before you because of your great strength. All the earth will worship You and sing praise to You. They will sing praise to Your name.'”
One of the names of the devil is the accuser of the brethren. In Job we see him going before God to accuse Job. We have every reason to believe that he goes before God even now to accuse us. He says, “Look at what he said. Look at what she did. These people of yours are sinners. How can they say they really love you and continue to act like they do?” He does not have to lie about us when he comes before the Lord, for God would not permit it. No, there are enough faults in all of our lives that the devil simply has to point out the obvious.
Verse 3b – who heals all your diseases – remember that he is addressing his soul. So what kind of healing is he speaking of here?
How many people waste the years of their lives on things that, in the long run, really don’t count? They spend their days in pursuit of the temporal passing things, and wake up one day, empty, tired and feeling like there is no use going on. In fact, they end up feeling betrayed because the things they worked so hard to obtain failed to bring them the satisfaction for which they longed. The world does not offer any hope for meaningful living. Money, material, power, position, things, won’t do it.
Clearly, the need of the hour is Holy Ghost Revival Fire! We need the real thing – a spiritual awakening to sweep through our slumbering congregations and put us back on our knees before the living Lord. The word revival conjures up different pictures to different people. If you have lived in the South as I do, a revival means a week-long series of meetings at the church held by a powerful evangelist wearing a three-piece suit. Each of these “revival” meetings is primarily designed to reach unbelievers for Christ. I personally have been on the evangelistic field preach revival services for over 31 years and we have witnessed thousands of people surrender their heart and life to Christ.
Charles Finney, the revivalist of the early nineteenth century, defined revival as “a new beginning of obedience.” Simply put, it is a new humility. A new closeness to God. A new passion for Christ. A new love for God. A new desire for holiness. A fresh new baptism in the Holy Ghost! That’s what real revival is! It is a sovereign and mysterious work of God, just as the new birth is. It cannot be coerced, nor manipulated. It is a supernatural work of God in His church that restores her lost purity, devotion, and power. Revival restores to full health the spiritual life that is already present in the church. It is the renewing, purifying, replenishing work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church.
How can we wake up? How can we have revival in the church and in our lives? How can we stop playing church and have the real thing? Revival begins with the ministry of the Word of God. It begins with the preaching of the Word of God to the church under the anointing of the Holy Ghost! Why is that so important? Because the Scriptures are full of the life of God (! Peter 1:23; John 6:63). And if we are to have God’s life within the church revived, then God’s Word – which is “living” and “active” (Hebrews 4:12) – must invade our lives. Like produces like. The Word of God revives the life of God in His people.
It is the Word of God – preached, heard, applied, and obeyed – that brings Revival Fire to the hearts of God’s people. That’s exactly what Psalm 119 tells us. Revival comes when the Word of God invades our lives, searches our hearts, and produces holiness. The psalmist says, “Revive me according to Thy word” (verse 25). He pleaded, “Revival me in Thy ways” (verse 37). “Thy ways” is a synonym for the Word of God because it points out the way we are to take. Again he says, “Revive me through Thy righteousness” (verse 40). “Thy righteousness” is another synonym for God’s Word because it defines right and wrong. Also, “I will never forget Thy precepts, for by them Thou hast revived me” (verse 93). Finally, “Revive me according to Thy word” (verse 154).
Many things today have been offered to replace biblical preaching. Some of them – musicals, Christian talk shows, movies, and drama – have a place in the church. But they should never be allowed to replace the preaching of the Word of God. The need of the hour is for the powerful, Holy Ghost anointed preaching of the Word of God! Think about this, God only had one son, and He made Him a preacher (Mark 1:14).
Cuba’s churches may still be restricted, but that’s not stopping a spiritual Revival Fire in the communist nation. The churches in Cuba are thriving right now. All of them are growing, not just in the number of members but in their capacity to lead and act in society.
For many years the Cuban government has not allowed churches or other religious groups to build houses of worship or other structures. This has inadvertently sparked the growth of house churches which Cuban believers have multiplied with great success. However, recently, because of a close connection with Pastor Hernandez Salazar in Havana, Cuba, Revival Fires has been granted permission to help build large facilities for the purpose of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the country of Cuba!
Pastor Salazar now oversees more than 250 on fire for God churches that are making an eternal, spiritual impact in the entire nation of Cuba! We have already helped Pastor Salazar build a church in Santa Clara and a church in Cein Fuegos.
Across the country, we have experienced, and are currently experiencing, miraculous moves of God. Currently, revival fires are sweeping across America in our revival services!
We are seeing more miracles happen by accident than we ever used to have on purpose. When the glory of God begins to come into the room, I’m not going to stop that to preach. I don’t have anything that important to say. The preaching of the Word of God under the anointing of the Holy Ghost is extremely important, however, to me, it’s all about His presence.
Cuba is being shaken by the Gospel! Angie, our daughter Mikalen, and I were privileged to be used by the Lord in an epic outreach for His Glory and the advancement of the Kingdom of God in Cuba.
Mikalen learned songs in Spanish and ministered in each service. God used her to change the lives of so many young people as she sang, prayed in the altars and spent quality time just getting to know them.
In route to Cein Fuegos the Holy Spirit began to deal with me about preaching on the subject of the Holy Fire of God. Cein Fuegos means, “One Hundred Fires”! As I was going over my message with my interpreter we passed a large field, ON FIRE, just off of the highway. In all of my traveling through Cuba I had never seen a large field on fire. Our daughter Mikalen leaned up and let me know that the Lord had given her a dream the night before that she was in a room that was 100 degrees and completely surrounded by fire. “When you walk through the fire you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2
We were blessed to be able to give Bibles to many of the people in attendance in each service. What a glorious sight to witness people receiving their very first Bible! Our plan was to massively distribute the brand new Cuban Spanish Truth for Youth Bible we publish while we were there. However, the 60,000 Truth for Youth Bibles did not arrive in time for us to actually be the ones to give them away. The TFY Bibles will arrive in Cuba in just a few days.
Revival Fires International and American Family Association partnered to reach America’s youth with the Word of God for our 18th Annual National Truth for Youth Bible Week on American Family Radio!
AFR President Tim Wildmon said, “American Family Radio is always excited about our vital partnership with Dr. Tim Todd and Revival Fires International to get the living and powerful Word of God into the hands of young people who desire to share Christ with their friends at school. Thousands of teenagers have been saved through these efforts.”
I am convinced that introducing young people to Jesus Christ is the only real solution to the senseless violence in our schools! When Bibles were in school bullets were not! Giving 2.5 million Truth for Youth Bibles to America’s youth has resulted in our ministry receiving more than 25,000 decision cards from young people giving their hearts to Christ!
Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” What will America look like in the very near future? Where is our culture heading? Where are we headed as a society? What will our lifestyle be?
We the church have found ourselves ministering in an increasing godless society. We are now living at hell’s headquarters. We have set up church at the gates of hell. How should we live? What should be the church’s strategy in the midst of such culture wars?
Doesn’t this sound like the church in America today? While Satan and his legions are pushing a cultural revolution all across the land, we are deliberating behind cloistered walls, where we trivialize the essentials and debate the unimportant. If we are to be the church, we must be faithful to Christ and so penetrate our world.
Those who believe in a great God are those who desire to do great things for God. He delights in taking ordinary people and doing extraordinary things through them. That way, the greatness belongs to Him. There is one holy passion that beats in the heart of every Spirit filled believer. It is an ambition to know God and to do something great for Him. Whether it be a pastor or evangelist toward his ministry, a business person toward his career, or a parent toward his or her child, every Christian wants their life to count for eternity. The key for making one’s life strategically count for Jesus is to be gripped with a high view of God!
God opened doors are seen only through the eyes of faith. Natural eyes see only the impossibilities. Physical eyes see only the obstacles. Only spiritual eyes can see God’s doors opening before us. Only faith can see God-given opportunities. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’ (Hebrews 11:1). An open door requires our step of faith. It’s not enough just to see and admire an open door. We must take a step of faith and move forward. God’s part is to open the door, but our part is to go through it.
In the meantime God supernaturally opened doors for evangelistic crusades and Bible distribution in Cuba. While we were there we were granted permission to give 1.4 million Bibles to the young people of Cuba!!! With the permission of the Cuban Department of Religious Affairs, the Cuban Council of Churches, and the Cuban Bible Council, we received the approval, endorsement and encouragement from Cuban government officials to publicly hand out the Truth for youth Bible to over a million young people that have never had a Bible! This is a huge breakthrough and God has allowed us to be on the ground floor of this incredible effort! The first 60,000 Truth for Youth Bibles will be delivered to Cuba in time for out GIANT OPEN-AIR TRUTH RALLY that will take place August 12-19. God opened the door and we stepped out in faith! What door has God opened for you? Step out by faith and enter it. 
When I was in high school, I played football. After we had warmed up before the game, we would return to the locker room for final instructions. Then we would come back onto the field together. We would gather together behind the goalposts, and the cheerleaders would put up a big banner across the goalposts. The band would play our school fight song, and we would run and bust through the banner together. That’s the way God wants the church to be united. Running through the door of opportunity together into the assignments He has given us!
