“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the  weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction  of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing  raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to  the obedience of Christ, ...”
2 Cor 10:3-5  (NAS)

Greetings, friend!      We are sending this message to those on our mailing list to ask for your special prayers in the next few days.  Brad Jones and Rob Millikan will be traveling to Turkey to attend a special prayer event scheduled in the excavated ruins of the amphitheater at Ephesus.  The event is international in scope, meaning that Christians from all around the world will be there for 4 hours of prayer and worship, for the express purpose of praying down the spiritual strongholds of false religion in the nation of Turkey.  The event will take place on the afternoon of October 1st, but we will be traveling in the country for the week prior to Celebration Ephesus, visiting all seven of the cities of the churches mentioned in Revelation chapters 2 & 3.  We will also visit other biblical sites of Paul's missionary journeys, including Assos, Troas, Hierapolis and Miletus among others.
 

BradRob

      If you are familiar with Brad's Vision To Victory materials, then you may remember the important truth taught from Acts chapter 19, in which Demetrius, the silversmith starts a riot in an attempt to gather support to do away with these Christian missionaries and their converts.  The apparent pretext used by the worshipers of Artemis (the same demon goddess of fertility that the Romans worshiped as Diana) was that Paul and company were “... robbers of temples...” and “blasphemers of 'our' goddess,” as described in Acts 19:37.      Perhaps the more realistic reason for the near-riot was that the silversmiths' trade was suffering as the Church of Jesus Christ grew in Ephesus, and the new Christian converts no longer needed the silver idols that provided Demetrius and friends their livelihood.

"The Battle of the Bluff"

      The two-hour long "worship service" held in the amphitheater was nothing more than a satanic attempt to intimidate the Church into backing off.  Brad calls this “The Battle of the Bluff”.  You see, when the enemy is making his inroads into your life, your family, your church or community ~~ he does so in secret and stealth, hoping that you will not be aware of his activity.  When God is on the advance, and His light exposes the enemy and his devices, the only weapon left to our defeated foe is bluster and noise and commotion.  If he can intimidate the Church into backing off of the advance, then he may still retain a foothold.  This is exactly what occurred in the account of Acts 19; however, the enemy's ruse did not work.  The Church of Ephesus stood as a shining beacon to Christendom of that part of the world for 200 years!      Now, however, the strongholds are numerous in that land.  BUT ~~ God is on the move!  This event has been schedule for two years, and only weeks before this battle is joined ... EARTHQUAKE!!

“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.  And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, 'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.'  And this expression, 'Yet once more,' denotes the removing of  those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things  which cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
Heb 12:25-29 (NAS)

     Who can ignore the upheaval caused by this "natural disaster"?  [it's interesting that of all the worldly institutions, insurance companies are about the only ones calling these kinds of natural disasters by their real names:  act(s) of God.]

     There is before us a great opportunity ... a Divine Appointment ... to bring down the lofty things in the heavenly realm which have for so long stood agains the knowledge of God in that region.  The parallel dynamic seen in recent physical destruction is unmistakable.  It could be that the first of many spiritual things to fall over Ephesus would begin a sweeping move of God over the whole region of Turkey, Armenia, Syria, Iraq, Iran ....