Naos House of Prayer

I am convinced that a major reason why so many churches and ministries fail (in God's eyes, not necessarily in the world's eyes) is because they make the error ...of King Ahaz in 2 Kings 16. The error of Ahaz is two-fold. First, in the time of trouble, instead of seeking the Lord and waiting on Him, which requires living by faith and not by sight, Ahaz seeks the help of an obviously strong, powerful, and successful leader--Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria. Second, after actually being helped greatly and delivered from trouble by the king of Assyria, Ahaz goes on to adopt Assyria's method and ways of worship: "Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship." And from there, Ahaz reconstructed the house of the Lord "because of the king of Assyria." In other words, Ahaz saw how powerful and effective the king of Assyria was in delivering him from his troubles, so he thought if he worshiped the way Assyria worshiped, then he would have the same power and strength. And so the weak-willed, man-pleasing, man-fearing, selfishly ambitious pastors and parachuch ministry leaders go. They go the way of Ahaz. They get into "trouble" which to them is not having enough members, not having enough tithes and offerings, not having enough popularity and presences and influence, etc. etc, and from there, instead of living by faith and NOT by sight, seeking the Lord and waiting on Him and His ways and His power, they live by sight and go looking to the wicked for how they do things, how they get numbers to come in, how they get people to stay and commit, how they get more tithes and offerings from people, etc. etc. They look to false teachers and heretics, and even to unbelievers, that have massive influence and followings and multi-million dollar salaries and millions upon millions more in annual budget for their church/ministry/org. They get their help and it works.... they see the numbers growing, they see the tithes and offerings growing, they see their popularity and influencing growing... and so they reorder their churches, ministries, etc. to look more like the wicked ones they received the "help" from. They forsake the ways of the Lord, they forsake the true house of the Lord, which He said is called a "house of prayer," they gladly make it into a robber's den, filled with greed for more money and more influence and popularity. They forsake the word of God, they stop listening to the counsel of the Lord, they forsake His word and way, and go happily in the way of the wicked, because it produces the results they actually want. And great will be their fall, and for most of them, their fall will not be in this lifetime. For most of them, their fall will in accordance to Matthew 7. They will stand before Christ on that final day, and they will say, "Lord, Lord, we led massive movements, and had huge churches, and did so much ministry all over the world, my ministry was internationally renowned. I healed the sick, I performed signs and wonders and miracles by my hand. I prophesied accurately and powerfully. I cast out demons. I'm ready for my great reward for being so great on the earth." And Jesus will look at them and say, "I never knew you. Depart from Me you worker of wickedness." The lesson for us all: in the time of trouble, because it will come, over and over again, times of trouble will come, and in those times, will we seek the Lord and His way, from His word, and wait on Him to deliver and to lead and to guide and to counsel? And will we OBEY HIS WORD which may seem like the worst possible counsel or way to do things to our infinitesimal minds and understanding? Will we live by FAITH IN HIM and not by sight, not by the ways of this present evil age? Or will we go the way of Ahaz and live by sight and seek the counsel of the wicked and live like them and do things like them? And in doing so reveal that our hearts desired wickedness all along and not God, at all. Do we want money, numbers, influence, popularity, etc. so much so that we would compromise God's word and ways, even in the slightest ways? And do we try to make the excuse (lie), and sear our own consciences, that it is because we want to see God glorified that we do this and that like the world does, or like the heretics do? Beloved, if we are willing to compromise God's word and ways, in order to gain money/popularity/influence/members/etc., then these things (and the Self) are our gods, NOT The God of the Bible. So, if you love money, influence, popularity, members, etc. more than God, you will, indeed, go the way of Ahaz. If you love God more than money, influence, popularity, members, etc. then it will show in your priorities and how you serve Him. You will not compromise His word and ways to get more of that other stuff. You will be absolutely content in your heart with little to nothing, in regards to money, popularity, influence, etc. if you know you are walking in God's word and ways and thus pleasing Him. And this goes for everything in this life, not just Christian ministry. It goes for how we do school and how we do work and how we do relationships. Will we seek God and wait on Him and obey His word and ways? Or will we seek the ways of the world and do it their way because we see how effective it is to do it their way? This will show who our God truly is.

***URGENT REQUEST*** Beloved Body of Christ in Berkeley, Tomorrow night (Feb. 12th) the UC Berkeley Student Senate will be voting on a Billl to have all UC's se...parate from Dignity Health (a massive Catholic, pro-life, pro-biblical gender/sexuality organization) across all UC medical centers, solely, because of their views on abortion and gender reassignment surgery. We have one ASUC Senator, Rebecca Soo, who will be voting "NO" on the bill. She is our sister in the Lord. I believe it is a critical opportunity for us, as Christians in Berkeley, and as a whole body of Christ to show our support here. I believe we need to learn from our mistakes from the last time when a brave ASUC student stood alone for biblical truth, Isabella Chow. She was absolutely crucified by everyone, and it made national news, and the Body of Christ was no where to be found to back her and support her and show that there is more than just one person that believes in the truth of Jesus Christ regarding the sanctity of life and regarding gender and sexuality. The Church in Berkeley failed Isabella! Let it not happen again, oh God!! But great is Isabella's reward in heaven! I'm begging you to please considering joining the Body of Christ at this meeting tomorrow night, to show our support for this brave student standing for Jesus in such a hostile environment. We must mobilization our whole churches to come to the meeting tomorrow night, to show UC Berkeley that there are hundreds of us that believe this way, and we love them and we love this campus and we love this city, and we love Jesus. Many of us will be speaking for 2 minutes, sharing the Gospel, and sharing our hearts for why we are pro-life, in a gentle and loving and compassionate way. I believe this could be a massive moment for the Body of Christ in Berkeley and for this campus to see the unity of the Church in Berkeley and the love that we have for this campus and for everyone and for Jesus, and to champion Jesus' truth in a united way. The critical thing is that we need as many Christians to come as possible. We are looking for at least 100 Christians to show up tomorrow night at the ASUC meeting. We want to show UC Berkeley that we are united, we are many, and we are not hateful and bigoted as they assume, and we want to make Jesus' truth known in love. It is much harder to slander and crucify 100-200 people than it is just one person that stands for Jesus. So, I'm begging you to please come tomorrow night to the Senate meeting and to please mobilize your whole church to come, as many as possible, hundreds even. BELOVED! WILL YOU STAND WITH REBECCA, WITH US, WITH JESUS AND HIS TRUTH IN THIS CRITICAL MOMENT? PLEASE, COME AND STAND WITH US IN UNITY, FOR JESUS! The meeting starts at 8pm at Senate Chambers in Eshleman Hall (5th floor)please try to be there by 8:00pm latest. We're also going to have a prayer meeting from 7pm to 7:45pm at Upper Room, 2470 telegraph Ave. Third floor. Please try to make that as well if you are able to!

Calling all Northern California Christians to gather before the Lord, in this crisis hour, in obedience to His word, to fast and pray, humble ourselves before God, turn from our wicked ways, and cry out for mercy for this wicked generation. There is no denying, Berkeley and California and America (the whole world) rightly and justly deserves the wrath of God, and that wrath is coming quickly, it could come at any moment. And the truly astounding thing is that, even now, even...Continue reading

Why are most people so utterly confused and deceived regarding what constitutes a true move of God, and regarding what constitutes false teaching/heresy? There ...are many many reasons, but one of the most fundamental reasons is that there is no knowledge (i.e. fear) of God. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6) Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge (Isaiah 5:13) If the people of God would actually do what God very clearly commands us to do in order to gain true knowledge, true knowledge of God Himself, there would be no confusion about what constitutes a true move of God and what constitutes heresy. This is the clear instruction of God on how He has designed true knowledge of Him to be sought and found: My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord And discover the knowledge of God. (Prov. 2:1-5) The Psalmist agrees: Establish Your word to Your servant as that which produces the fear of You. (Psalm 119:38) Generations languish, and quickly perish, in the mire of a lack of true knowledge, the true knowledge of God, the fear of God, that only comes from the Holy Spirit of God speaking through the Holy Scriptures of God. Beloved, if we are to see a true move of God, we must first truly know God, and to truly know God we must follow His own instructions on how to seek and find the true knowledge of Him (Prov. 2:1-5)--read and meditate on the Scripture more than ever before, not just to gain head knowledge alone, but to gain head knowledge that leads to heart affections and desire and the fear of God and intimacy/love with God, through His word, by His Spirit through His word. If we are to have discernment (which has always been, and is ever-increasingly more important as this age draws to a close) we must seek and find the true knowledge of God in His word, as He says to, and then we will not only know the true knowledge of God, but we will also therefore recognize false knowledge, i.e. deception and heresy, when we encounter them.

Fill stadiums with tens of thousands of people for a "Christian" event and it doesn't matter what's actually happening there or what's preached there, everyone ...automatically thinks it is, without a doubt, a true move of God and everyone speaking and leading it are surely legit. Speak out against it and you're automatically labeled a religious pharisee, jealous, envious, etc. Etc. Etc. Fill an underground room with 2 or 3 true believers, fasting and praying, repenting of sin, trembling in the fear of God, in light of God's impending judgments, interceding and believing the promises of God for mercy if the people would turn from their wicked ways, weeping, travailing, rending hearts before God on behalf of a wicked and perverted generation, and do this for years and years with no visible fruit and no growth in numbers, and everyone automatically thinks it is a failed ministry, and must have surely not been of God. Decades of Pentecostal/Charismatic/Word of Faith/Prosperity Gospel/Man-centered/Bethel heresies spreading like the plague have surely done a number on an entire generation of young people. Beloved of the Lord, please do not be deceived by media hype and stadiums being filled with tons of people. Millions upon millions (maybe billions by now?) of people have packed out stadiums in America, sadly, with more fiery love, zeal, emotional fervor, and devotion to sports than most Churches in America have been filled with such things for Jesus. Hype and numbers mean nothing fundamentally speaking. Loving and joyful obedience to God's word, and thus, God's ways and will, is all that matters, fundamentally speaking. #thesend #thesendbrazil #soulish #carnal #worksoftheflesh #mixture #unholyalliances #nodiscernment #zealwithoutknowledge #notruth #bigclouds #norain #mistsdrivenbyastorm #springswithoutwater #thespiritofbalaam #thespiritoftheage

"But we need to look at that theological movement and understand what is going on here. Bethel Church in Redding has become rather well known, infamous might be... another word, for its unique brand of prosperity theology that is centered on signs and wonders, on the special gifts and miracles, some of them far beyond human reason or for that matter acceptance. Bethel Church is actually heterodox. It teaches what historic Christians would recognize to be heretical teachings." - Dr. Albert Mohler I am so thankful for men of God, especially in this day and age, that will just say it like it is without beating around the bush of cowardice and trying to sugar coat everything so as not to be even in the slightest way offensive to anyone or anything on this planet. A breath of fresh air for sure.

I highly and strongly suggest and recommend that every Christian be subscribed to Dr. James White's YouTube channel or podcast, and to listen to every single ep...isode he puts out (and to go back and listen to past episodes as well). I believe James White is one of the most important Conservative Christian voices in our generation. I highly recommend listening to this episode, particularly the latter half when he addresses Leighton Flowers on an anthropocentric vs theocentric view and lens and understanding of man, sin, salvation, grace ,etc.... It has incredibly important implications for not just soteriology but for many other critical areas of our faith and our lives. See more

Wow. This is so terrifyingly accurate. This is exactly what the enemy is doing within the American Church right now--get everyone hyped about unity and loving each other (according to the current cultural standards, according to the spirit of the age) in order to open more and more doors for more and more subtle and secret destructive heresies. There are very big "movements" right now that are all about being "together" and all about the power of unity and carrying love toget...Continue reading

Tonight (Dec. 19th) will be our last corporate prayer meeting from 7pm - 9pm for the next three weeks. Naos House of Prayer will be on a winter sabbatical from 12/22 - 1/11. During the sabbatical, we will have no prayer meetings, no small group meetings, and no Sunday services. We will resume our normal meetings starting on 1/12/2020. We will have Sunday Service on 1/12/2020.

"The lessons of history give a strong support for thisnamely, that crucial breakthroughs for the gospel have come because of periodic extraordinary outpourings of the Spirit. Jonathan Edwards, the leader of the Great Awakening 200 years ago in this country, put it like this: From the fall of man to our day, the work of redemption in its effect has mainly been carried on by remarkable [i.e., extraordinary] communications of the Spirit of God. Though there [is] a more constant...Continue reading

Beloved Family of God in California, We want to urgently invite you to join us for two consecutive Saturdays (Oct. 5 and Oct. 12) for a critical and timely day of teaching/equipping and of solemn assembly before the Lord for our state and nation. We are in exceedingly great crisis in our region, state, and nation. Wickedness explodes across every sector of society, in exponentially increasing measure, and thus, the judgments of the Lord are in the land. Even now, in astoundi...ng mercy, the Lord is still desiring to deliver and save through the Gospel of His Son, to pour out His Spirit, and heal our land! In this moment, God is looking for (and requiring) a people to gather in solemn assembly, according to 2 Chronicles 7:13-22, Joel 2, and Ezekiel 22, to turn from our wicked ways, humble ourselves before the Lord in fasting, to stand in the gap, to intercede and cry out for mercy for the people, for California, for America. If His people will do what He says to do in times of great crisis, as we are in now, He would hear from Heaven and answer! Please, prayerfully consider joining us for the solemn assembly on Oct. 12th. Also, on Oct. 5, we will be having a day of teaching and training that will be geared toward preparing us all for the solemn assembly the following week. We will be teaching from the Scripture on a few critical things that we believe the Lord has been speaking to the Church in Berkeley, California, and America, in order to help give context for the solemn assembly. We will also be teaching/equipping people on how to practically do a solemn assembly, so that on the day of, people will feel ready to engage. Please, prayerfully considering joining us for this day of teaching/equipping on Oct. 5. Lastly, whether you are able to come or not, would you please consider sharing these two events with your friends on facebook and instagram? We would deeply appreciate it! For Christ! For His mission! For His glory in California and in America! Worthy is The Lamb to receive the reward of His suffering! Zadok Intensive (Oct. 5) https://www.facebook.com/events/737274786701683/ Berkeley Solemn Assembly (Oct. 12) https://www.facebook.com/events/958107081209378/