"WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE OF GOOD REPORT... THINK ON THESE THINGS" PHIL. 4:8

Welcome! What a pleasure it is to be in touch with you again. The FMI Report always documents the previous month's activities. We would also like to thank all those of you who have been forwarding these messages to your friends and family. 

In This Month's Report:
* Editorial - "Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die!"
* Feedback - great testimonies of God's power at work 
* January Events - some of the events we were involved with
* January Ministry - our ministry activities over the last month
* Tips and Resources - Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy in Today's News
* Products - order "The Evidence of Life"  (see link below)
* Partnership - invest in God's program for the Northeast of America

We would love to hear from you, so send us your feedback today. Don’t forget the ever-popular 'GOD THOUGHTS' at the end of this report. Enjoy! JB

INTRODUCTION

The title of this editorial mimics the question young people used to ask their friends in order to guarantee that they were telling the truth. But it actually could be a play on words for what Jesus did for us on Calvary. His heart was broken as He bore the sin of the world on the Cross, willing to die to pay the price, doing it all "for the joy set before Him" (Hebrews 12:2). 

THE POWER OF THE PASSION

This coming month sees the release of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ." It centers around the twelve hours prior to Christ's crucifixion on the cross. Having had the opportunity to view the film at a special preview, I agree with many others that this movie could be the most powerful evangelistic tool ever produced. Centering around His 'passion' (suffering), the world will be confronted once again with the timeless and 'irrational' message of the ultimate sacrifice made by the Son of God. This movie is profoundly moving, and although the answer is obvious to the spiritually enlightened, we can still ask the question - why is there so much controversy and why have Mel Gibson and Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus, recently received death threats? The answer is that this film has the potential to spark off a widespread revival, something that anti-God forces would do anything to stop.

VICTORY OUT OF DEFEAT

In going to the cross, Christ's example to us of sacrificial leadership had the initial appearance of utter defeat. Thus the message of the Gospel was greeted with ridicule when it was first preached 2,000 years ago, when the prevalent world view was that 'might is right!' The concept of victory by denial ("...let him deny himself, and take up his cross..." Mark 8:34) just did not wash with that culture. ("For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18) In order to 'understand' this message, you had to have a spiritual awakening, and even then, it could only be accepted by faith ("For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe [have faith]." 1 Corinthians 1: 21, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things..." 1 Corinthians 2:14-15).

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

The Pharisees negated their leadership by placing burdens on the people that they were not prepared to carry themselves. Jesus scolded them for this, as recorded in Matthew 23:2-4, “...The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." True leadership leads by example. Judges 9:48-49 gives us an outstanding lesson in this, "Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder; then he said to the people who were with him, 'What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done.' So each of the people likewise cut down his own bough and followed Abimelech...." Laying the 'bough...on his shoulder' foreshadows the lead of Christ taking up His cross.

DENIAL IS NOT A RIVER IN EGYPT

In Mark 8:34-38, Jesus proclaims the 'irrational' idea that true and everlasting life can only be obtained through denial of self, a concept that has been lost in our modern consumer culture that relies on self-gratification. "...Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

WHERE YOU GO, I WILL FOLLOW

Jesus did not expect us to go anywhere except where He Himself had already been. He was "the firstborn from the dead" (Colossians 1:18), or as Paul put it, "...the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead” (Acts 26:23). Although we all want to follow Jesus into eternal life and rise from the dead, many of us miss the obvious; if you want to rise, first you have to die! Denial is not a popular message to the western church, and the truth was no more popular with the religious leaders of Jesus' day. But one thing is certain! The truth never changes, so let us take up our cross and begin to walk our own road to Calvary - for the joy set before us! # 

"Dear Pastor Jeff, I thank God for you and your family, and I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year. I receive newsletters from your ministry knowing about the activities you undertake monthly. From this I'm really blessed and may God continue to bless you and the ministry. Thank you and may the Lord richly bless you. In Him, Oteaka Swen."

DUTCH SHEETS AND CHUCK PIERCE WARN NYC TO CONNECT OR ELSE! - City Covenant Coalition and the New York Strategic Prayer Network co-sponsored the recent '50 State Tour' visit to New York City. This was the 33rd state that Chuck and Dutch have visited so far. Joseph & Vonnie Askins, USSPN New York State Coordinators, sent this report, "It was a 'whirlwind' time which began in Brooklyn, New York on Thursday evening the 15th, where the greater New York City body of Christ gathered and received an impartation to shift us from being an 'Empire State' to His Kingdom State! The watchword was 'CONNECT' which was repeated at every gathering; that we needed to connect as a whole rather than to continue to operate as separate parts. This doesn't mean that every Christian was going to connect but rather a remnant would connect and God would release authority to the remnant to legislate in the heavenlies. God is going to judge this state of New York by our willingness to come together and 'worship' at different times throughout the year regardless of the circumstances! It was a blessing to see how many came together in spite of the snow and record cold that hit New York City."

WITHERING THE ROOT OF SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE - John & Sheryl Price of the New Jersey Strategic Prayer Network sent this report about the recent Separation of Church and State Prayer Initiative, a cooperative effort of several NJ Prayer ministries and apostolic networks, including Pray NJ, NJSPN, FAITH Alliance, Metro Ministries and others. "Over 100 ministers, ministry leaders and intercessors gathered in Ewing, NJ to repent for this scourge on our nation. In 1943, a man from Ewing, NJ, with the help of the ACLU, was the first to initiate a law suit against a governing body, demanding that they cease to use public school buses to transport children to Catholic schools. Since that time this case has been cited in every major lawsuit filed against the U.S. Government concerning the removal of the Bible, prayer and God from our schools and daily lives.... After a time of repentance to root out and tear down that which had been built to oppress the people of NJ and our nation, we then moved into 12 apostolic declarations to rebuild the wall of righteousness and Godly authority in our state. Each time a declaration was made, a stone from the Jordan River was placed strategically to build a wall representing the new thing God is doing. These twelve stones were then sent to the center of our state, Jackson, NJ, to stand as a memorial of what took place that day. Now we will begin to look for the fruit of this initiative. Please join us in calling it forth, a great harvest, in the state of NJ."

Last month we were at the following churches and events:
Sun 4th - Tues 6th - Pioneer Valley AG, Huntington, MA, Pastor John Leslie 
Wed 7th - Harvest Army Church International, the Bronx, NY, Bishop Keith Collins
Sun 11th - The Church of Grace and Peace, Toms River, NJ, Pastor Walt Healy 
Thur 15th -Fri 16th – CCC Co-sponsored 50 State Tour with Dutch Sheets and Chuck Pierce, Brooklyn, NY
Sun 18th - Evangel Church, Long Island City, NY, Pastor Bob Johansson
Tues 20th - Separation of Church and State Prayer Event, Ewing, NJ
Sun 25th - Grace Outreach Fellowship, Norwalk, CT, Pastor Mike Kurtzman
Mon 26th to Wed 28th – Concerts of Prayer, Greater New York Pastor’s Prayer Summit, Mt. Bethel, PA

Early in January, I had the privilege of ministering in Western Massachusetts, very close to where the Great Awakening broke out in Northampton through the ministry of Jonathan Edwards. While I was there, we visited the church where Edwards ministered (see right). Following are some testimonies from the meetings we had in this area.

"Hello Jeff, First, thank you for your time at PVAG in Huntington, MA.  I was able to make it to most of the meetings and was ministered to greatly. It was very encouraging to me as well as many of the things you spoke confirmed what God has been speaking to my heart, especially with the older/boomer/younger generations. Hope you enjoyed your tour of Jonathan Edwards' and David Brainerd's preaching grounds. D. L. Moody's base is not too far from here either! Hope you will be back again! Blessings on you, your family, and your ministry! Sharon Frankel"

"Hello Mr. Jeff Beacham, I don't know if you remember me at Pioneer Valley Assembly of God in Huntington, MA the first week of January? I just wanted to tell you that ever since you came to our church, my life has changed. God has been talking to me extensively. And the message that I received from him was in Psalm 118:8. And I'll tell you how this all happened:  A few months ago my friend's mom showed me this verse and I was extremely hit with the power and huge message that it had in it. Anyway God has been reminding me of this verse. And just yesterday I remembered that verse while I was in the middle of witnessing to one of my friends.... Then during Bible study with my mom Psalm 118:8 came up again and I looked in the Bible and found all these other verses that followed. Then God told me that this is a message that He wants me to spread to people.... God Bless. Keep up the good work! Korina Carlson"

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©2004 - THE FMI REPORT IS THE MONTHLY COMMUNICATION OF NEWS FROM FIREPOWER MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL, THE MINISTRY OF JEFF BEACHAM    top