The Prophecy Update Newsletter - 7/9/25 - Prophetic Application of the Seven Churches in Revelation

News & Information for the End Times

Jul 09, 2025

ISRAEL AT WAR!!! Day 642 - PRAY!!!

Pray For Israel — Psalm 122:6-8, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee."

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In Today’s Newsletter…

*Prophetic Application of the Seven Churches in Revelation

*Playing God: As Humanity Faces A Catastrophic Fertility Crisis, Scientists Are Creating “Synthetic Human DNA” From Scratch

*Prophecy Update Videos

*Recommended Reading & Links

*The Digital Trap: Europe's Quiet March Toward Total Control

*‘Copy, Paste, Preach’: Should Pastors Be Using Artificial Intelligence to Write Sermons?

*Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: New York City

*Daily Devotion: A Worshiper of Christ

*Prophecy Update News Headlines

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Prophetic Application of the Seven Churches in Revelation

By Bill Salus - https://www.raptureready.com/2025/07/08/prophetic-application-of-the-seven-churches-in-revelation-by-bill-salus/

The seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 have multiple applications. First, they were instructional for the seven actual churches existing at the time. Second, similarities of these types of churches could be found throughout the Church Age. Third, these letters had a prophetic application. They were intended to chronologically order the seven stages of Church development throughout its earthly existence.

Fortunately, we have the advantage of looking back upon Church history, which enables us to determine each Church period. Below is an outline of the chronological development of the Christian Church in accordance with the blueprints of the seven letters in Revelation. This outline reveals that we are living in the final days of Church development, the “days of Laodicea.”

Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7; AD 40-150) The first stage of Christianity was primarily an apostolic period. Christians operated in compliance with Matthew 28:18-20. It was a time of reconciliation wherein the disciples successfully preached the good news gospel of Jesus Christ outwardly from Jerusalem into the surrounding Gentile populations of the world. This was Christianity in its infancy, and as a religion, it was rapidly spreading throughout the broader Middle East region and into the greater Roman Empire.

Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11; AD 100-312) This segment of Church history was characterized by a period of persecution. Rome was conducting wide-scale Christian executions in an attempt to prevent the growth and spread of the religion. Martyrdom was the unfortunate predicament forced upon the Church by the Roman Empire (Pagan Rome) during the Smyrna era. However, to Rome’s chagrin, the persecutions actually bolstered the growth of Christianity. Christians dying for their faith caught the attention of multitudes that, in turn, fixated their focus upon Christ as their Savior.

Pergamos (Revelation 2:12-17; AD 300-600) The period of Pergamos, meaning “mixed marriage” in Greek, is associated with the paganization of the Church. As the Roman Empire began its decline, it embraced Christianity as its state religion. This served two primary purposes.

First, it began to fill deepening political rifts developing in the deteriorating Roman government. Second, it facilitated the survival of faltering pagan religious practices by cleverly integrating and incubating them into Christianity.

Also, the martyrdom period of Smyrna, which experienced Christianity flourishing, became problematic for Rome. Each martyr’s death brought new and renewed strength among fellow Christians.

During the Pergamos period, Christianity became severely compromised—and in so doing, created an end to the persecutions occurring during the Smyrna stage. By marrying up with Roman paganism, an adulterated version of Christianity ensured its survival. Shortly thereafter, ancient Roman religious practices began to permeate the Church. Christian traditions, such as Christmas trees and Yule logs, can likely be traced to this Pergamos period of Church history.

Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29; AD 600-Tribulation) This church is commonly thought to represent the Roman Catholic Church (Papal Rome), which evolved out of the Pergamos period. Thyatira tends to be a works-based rather than a faith-based church.

“I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first” (Rev. 22:19, NKJV; emphasis added).

Being a works-based institution, it emphasizes the religious rather than relational importance between God and humanity. Revelation 2:20-24 declares that an apostate element within Thyatira, likened to the historic false prophetess Jezebel, will cause Thyatira to be cast into the “sickbed” of the “Great Tribulation” period.

“Nevertheless I have a few things against you [The Roman Catholic Church], because you allow that woman [The Queen of Heaven] Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden” (Rev. 2:20-24, NKJV; emphasis added).

Rev. 2:23 says this church will be cast into the “sickbed” of the “Great Tribulation.” The Greek words are “megas” “thlipsis.” These same words are used in Matthew 24:21 and Rev 7:14.

In all three instances, they seem to denote the time period of the last three and one-half years of the Seven-Year Tribulation period. It is called the “Great Tribulation” because this is when the seven bowl judgments of Rev. 16 find fulfillment. It is through these seven judgments that the wrath of God upon a Christ-rejecting humanity gets completed.

The letter to Thyatira states that this Jezebel campaign becomes a church doctrine outsourced from the depths of Satan (Rev. 2:24). The apostle John apparently identified Jezebel of the past as the representation for the Catholic Virgin Mary. The NLT translates this verse as follows,

“But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false [Jezebel] teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually)” (Rev. 2:24, NLT; emphasis added).

Is it possible that future signs and lying wonders associated with the Roman Catholic Mary will be the catalyst to the emergence of the Roman Catholic Church as the head of the apostate world religious system of the harlot in Revelation 17:18, located in the city of Rome? I strongly believe so!

Are you aware of the fact that the current Pope Leo XIV is a very strong promoter of Marian apparition messages that unite many different faiths by the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, Lourdes, and Our Lady of Guadalupe? Here is a recent news headline that was reported by the Catholic News Agency (CNA) on May 13, 2025. It is on this date that the Catholics celebrate a feast for Our Lady of Fátima.

“Pope Leo XIV’s prayer of consecration to Our Lady of Fátima”

Do you find it a little disturbing that this new pope is doing a prayer of consecration to a demonic statue of Mary and not a prayer of consecration to Jesus Christ? Do you know that there are alleged messages from the Roman Catholic Mary given to visionaries that in the future she will appear visibly so that the whole world will see her as she was seen at an apparition site in Zeitoun, Egypt, in the past?

Our Lady of Zeitoun

The Marian apparitions at Zeitoun in Egypt began on April 2, 1968, and continued for about 2-3 years. The apparitions were witnessed by millions, including Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Also, they were often caught on cameras by photographers and television crews present to witness the spectacles. Many videos of the event are available online at YouTube and elsewhere.

Below are a few important related quotes.

“For more than a year, starting on the eve of Tuesday, April 2, 1968, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in different forms over the domes of the Coptic Orthodox Church named after Her at Zeitoun, Cairo, Egypt. The late Father Constantine Moussa was the church priest at the time of these apparitions…

The apparitions lasted from a few minutes up to several hours and were sometimes accompanied by luminous heavenly bodies shaped like doves and moving at high speeds. The apparitions were seen by millions of Egyptians and foreigners. Among the witnesses were Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, Moslems, Jews, and non-religious people from all walks of life. The sick were cured and blind persons received their sight, but most importantly, large numbers of unbelievers were converted.” [i]

Below is an apparition message given to Chris Courtis, a visionary from Maryland, USA

“I wish to also tell you that before my apparitions end completely, I shall be seen by every denomination and religion throughout this world. I will be seen among all people, not for just a moment, but everyone will have a chance to see me. As I appeared in Zeitoun (1968-1970), I shall appear again so everyone may see me. Pray and help my plans to be realized, not just here, but throughout the world.” [ii]

What if she were to do this with a connection to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is most loved by Pope Robert Prevost (Leo XIV)? Our Lady of Guadalupe is described by the faithful as the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. Roman Catholics for centuries refer to this woman as the “Woman of the Apocalypse” based on their unbiblical interpretation of Revelation chapter 12.

It’s easy to imagine that if there was a future apparition looking like Our Lady of Guadalupe that this current pope or a new one, along with many Roman Catholics from all over the world, would point people to Revelation 12 and declare that only through the Roman Catholic Church can you now be saved and go to heaven? They would predictably continue to confidently declare that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Church in the world for all peoples.

(It’s important to note that some Catholics are truly saved and will be raptured and not be left behind!)

“Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this (Jezebel) doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come [in the Rapture]” (Rev. 2:24-25, NKJV; emphasis added).

If you are interested in learning about the coming harlot world religion of Revelation 17 and a possible end-time satanic end game for all these Marian apparitions that have occurred all over the world for centuries, read my book entitled The NEXT Prophecies. Also available is my DVD entitled The Catholic Church in the Tribulation Period. Watch it online for free.

Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6; AD 1500-Tribulation) This period is best described as the Protestant Reformation; however, it lacked true transformation. Salvation through faith rather than works was reintroduced within Christianity; however, the Reformation continued to be more about religion than about a personal relationship with God.

Sardis, the religious denomination broadly representing Orthodox Protestantism, such as the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches, is in jeopardy, like Thyatira, of going into the Seven-Year Tribulation period as per the passage below.

“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received [salvation through faith in Christ)] and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief [in the Pre-Trib Rapture], and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; [alluding to saved souls] and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy [justified by true faith in Christ]” (Revelation 3:2-4, emphasis added).

Fortunately, within Sardis, there will be some who will be raptured and are worthy to walk with Christ.

Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13; AD 1800-Rapture) Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” Powerful, worldwide missionary movements beginning in the 1800s characterize the period of Philadelphia. In accordance with Matthew 28:18-20, this church answered the call to the “Ministry of Reconciliation.” The Philadelphian period concludes with the rapture as per Revelation 3:10, which says that this church will be kept from “the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world,” alluding to the Trib-period.

The Jesus Movement is an example of the Church of Philadelphia. Below is a Wikipedia summarization of this movement.

“The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia, and New Zealand, before it subsided in the late 1980s. Members of the movement were called Jesus people or Jesus freaks.” [iii]]

Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22; AD 1900-Tribulation) Laodicea means “people’s rights.” Inherent in its name is the inference that this is a church predominantly ruled by the people rather than the Lord. This church began in the twentieth century and will continue into the Seven-Year Tribulation period.

Laodicea believes that it is a prosperous church having need of nothing; conversely, Christ considers it “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17). In Rev. 3:18, Christ encourages this church to abandon its apostate practices and purchase gold from Him that is refined through the fire. By the reference to gold refined through fire, Christ implies that Laodicea is an impure and undisciplined church in need of repentance.

Laodicea treats Christ more like an ordinary stranger rather than an extraordinary Savior. They position Him mostly outside the church, which causes Him to say,

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).

Many Bible prophecy teachers, including myself, believe that these are the days of Laodicea.

_____________________________________________________________________

[i] https://www.zeitun-eg.org/zeitoun1.htm

[ii] Queen of Rome Queen of Islam Queen of All the Marian apparition’s plan to unite all religions under the Roman Catholic Church by Jim Tetlow, Roger Oakland, Brad Myers 2006 / Page 6

[iii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_movement#Calvary_Chapel

Playing God: As Humanity Faces A Catastrophic Fertility Crisis, Scientists Are Creating “Synthetic Human DNA” From Scratch

Michael Snyder - https://endoftheamericandream.com/playing-god-as-humanity-faces-a-catastrophic-fertility-crisis-scientists-are-creating-synthetic-human-dna-from-scratch/

Will the elite soon be able to order “designer babies” that are free from all genetic abnormalities and all genetic diseases because they have been created in a lab using “synthetic human DNA”? I realize that this may sound absolutely crazy to many of you, but we are dangerously close to such a scenario becoming a reality. Mad scientists that are extremely well funded are trying to “play God” by inserting large sections of “synthetic human DNA” into skin cells “to observe how they function”…

Scientists have taken a bold and controversial step toward creating synthetic human DNA from scratch, a move some critics liken to ‘playing God.’

The research aims to unlock new treatments for autoimmune disorders, heart failure, viral infections, and age-related diseases.

To do so, scientists are developing tools to build large, complex sections of human DNA in the lab and insert them into skin cells to observe how they function.

The ultimate goal is to construct entire human chromosomes, a foundational step toward assembling a fully synthetic human genome.

This is scary.

Once they are able to create a fully synthetic human genome, they will theoretically be able to create a fully synthetic human.

If you doubt this, you should consider the fact that scientists have already been able to create a fully synthetic bacterium…

Making synthetic genomes isn’t an entirely novel endeavor. Back in 2010, scientists managed to make from scratch the whole genome of a simple bacterium, and then plugged its genetic material inside an empty cell of another bacterium, making something entirely new that they cleverly dubbed Synthia. Scientists have also synthesized viral and yeast cells in other research.

Just because scientists are capable of doing something does not mean that they should actually do it.

Yes, maybe scientists can “play God” and make “perfect” synthetic humans that have no genetic diseases at all.

But would such creatures even be human?

Would they have souls like we do?

There are so many unanswered questions.

Unfortunately, nobody is going to hold these scientists back. In fact, many will eagerly embrace strange new technologies as the solution to the existential fertility crisis that we are now facing.

Since the 1970s, sperm counts all over the world have fallen precipitously…

Hagai Levine, an epidemiologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his colleagues published an analysis in 2017 and an update in 2022 that evaluated a combined total of more than 200 studies that used a counting chamber. These two papers found about a 50 percent decrease in sperm concentration—most notably in Western countries—since the 1970s.

So what happens if we see another 50 percent decline over the next five decades?

Theoretically, average concentrations could eventually get so low that the majority of the male population is simply no longer capable of fathering children.

What would we do then?

As you will see below, there is concern that the accumulation of microplastics in our bodies could be one of the factors that is causing our fertility crisis.

Since 1950, over nine billion tons of plastic has been produced, and all of that plastic is constantly breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces…

More than nine billion tons of plastic are estimated to have been produced between 1950 and 2017, with over half of that total having been produced since 2004. The vast majority of plastic ends up in the environment in one form or another, where it breaks down, through weathering, exposure to UV light and organisms of all kinds, into smaller and smaller pieces, becoming microplastics and then nanoplastics.

Within our homes, microplastics are mainly produced when synthetic fibres from clothes, furnishings, carpets and other plastic objects are shed. They accumulate in large quantities in dust and float around in the air, which we then inhale.

If you are like most people, you literally use thousands of plastic products on a yearly basis.

One of the primary ways that microplastics get into our bodies is through the plastic packaging that most of our food is wrapped in…

A painstaking review of 103 scientific studies on microplastic food contamination found actions as simple as opening a plastic drink bottle or using a plastic chopping board can shave off tiny particles of common polymers.

Even glass bottles that use a plastic gasket, plastic-lined pizza boxes, plastic-lined disposable coffee cups, plastic tea bags, plastic wrappings, and microwaveable plastic containers shed microplastic like a Persian cat sheds fur in spring.

History will look back on us as the “crazy plastic people”.

Our plastic waste gets everywhere.

In fact, one team of researchers recently discovered that the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea is absolutely littered with our plastic waste…

The Mediterranean has long been a crossroads of trade and tourism, yet its deepest pocket, the Calypso Deep, seemed beyond the reach of day-to-day pollution.

That hope ended earlier this year when researchers reported plastic bags, glass shards, and crumpled cans resting 16,770 feet beneath the waves in the Ionian Sea.

The researchers didn’t just find a few plastic items down there.

It is being reported that they literally found “thousands of objects per square mile”…

The team used the submersible Limiting Factor to reach the bottom of a kidney-shaped trench roughly 12.4 miles long and 3.1 miles across.

During a 43-minute trek near the seafloor of the Calypso Deep, cameras captured thousands of objects per square mile, mostly plastic waste discarded by humans.

A single straight-line pass of 2,130 feet was enough to confirm that human trash blankets large stretches of the basin. Most pieces were flexible plastics; glass, metal, and paper rounded out the list.

All of that plastic will continue breaking down forever.

And once plastic particles get small enough, it is easy for them to get into the human body.

One recent study actually found that the average human brain now contains “a spoon’s worth of tiny plastic shards”…

The human brain may contain up to a spoon’s worth of tiny plastic shards—not a spoonful, but the same weight (about seven grams) as a plastic spoon, according to new findings published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.

Researchers detected these “almost unbelievable” levels of microplastics and nanoplastics in the brains of human cadavers, says study co-author Andrew West, a neuroscientist at Duke University, to Science News’ Laura Sanders. “In fact, I didn’t believe it until I saw all the data.”

Based on their analysis, the amount of microplastics in the human brain appears to be increasing over time: Concentrations rose by roughly 50 percent between 2016 and 2024.

Our heads are literally filling up with plastic.

This may be one of the primary reasons why most people can’t seem to think straight these days.

Scientists have also discovered that microplastics are accumulating in our reproductive fluids…

Tiny bits of plastic no wider than a human hair have turned up in some unexpected places, including the human bloodstream.

Now, data presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting shows that these fragments have breached the fluids that surround eggs and travel with sperm.

The research team led by Dr. Emilio Gómez‑Sánchez of Next Fertility Murcia in Spain scanned follicular fluid from 29 women and seminal fluid from 22 men.

The experts found microplastics in 69 percent of the women and 55 percent of the men they studied. According to Dr. Gómez‑Sánchez, the team was surprised to find that the particles were so widespread.

It is going to take time for scientists to determine exactly how these microplastics are affecting our reproductive health, but at this point they are not optimistic at all…

The impact these microplastics — defined as plastic particles under 5 millimeters in size — have on reproductive health is unclear, but it’s unlikely to be anything good.

“What we know from animal studies is that in the tissues where microplastics accumulate, they can induce inflammation, free radical formation, DNA damage, cellular senescence and endocrine disruptions,” Gomez-Sanchez said.

Of course even if microplastics did not exist, there are so many other threats to our reproductive health these days.

The constant levels of electromagnetic radiation we are being bombarded with and the poisons in our food are just two of them.

Nobody can deny that we are in a crisis, because that is what the numbers are clearly telling us. This is something that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. commented on recently during an interview with Fox News…

“We have fertility rates that are just spiraling. A teenager today, an American teenager, has less testosterone than a 68-year-old man. Sperm counts are down 50%,” he told Fox News’ Jesse Watters in April, adding: “It’s an existential problem.”

I fully agree.

Humanity really is facing an existential fertility crisis.

But creating “synthetic human DNA” from scratch is not the solution.

“Playing God” never works out well in the end.

Hopefully our scientists will realize this before it is too late.

We are experiencing the annual Summer Giving Slump -If the Lord puts in on your Heart to Help Us, we would be Forever Grateful!

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PROPHECY UPDATE VIDEOS

The Digital Trap: Europe's Quiet March Toward Total Control

By PNW Staff - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=8489

Imagine a world where every transaction you make, every website you visit, every thought you dare to express online is silently recorded, cross-checked, and stored--not just by tech giants, but by your government. Imagine your identity, bank access, health records, and even your ability to travel or speak freely, all locked behind a single digital key--one that can be disabled without warning.

You don't need to imagine. That world is already here. And Europe is leading the charge.

Under the guise of safety and convenience, the European Union has begun implementing a sweeping framework of digital control. Two pillars support it: the Digital Services Act--which dictates what you're allowed to say--and the EU Digital Identity Wallet--which determines who you're allowed to be.

Together, they are transforming Europe into something chillingly dystopian. A continent once proud of its democratic legacy is quietly building a digital fence--one that no citizen will be able to escape from.

From Regulation to Repression

On paper, the Digital Services Act claims to protect citizens from harmful content. But behind its language of "safety" lies something far more dangerous: a tool for censorship. "Disinformation," "hate speech," and "illegal content" are now whatever Brussels says they are. If your beliefs conflict with prevailing political ideologies--whether on sexuality, morality, or truth itself--you can be silenced. Not just in one country, but across the entire European bloc.

It's no longer paranoia to say that the government is watching. It's policy.

Combine this with the growing reach of the EU Digital Identity Wallet--an app that will soon store your driver's license, health records, tax status, education history, and more--and you have a society where everything about you is digitized, categorized, and controllable.

This is no longer voluntary. More and more services will soon require digital identification. Lose access to your ID wallet and you could lose the right to bank, to travel, to work--or to speak.

A Digital Cage Disguised as Convenience

Proponents say the digital wallet makes life easier. No more paperwork, they say. Faster check-ins. Fewer lines. But behind the sleek design is a darker reality: once every essential piece of your life is digitized, it becomes programmable. Modifiable. Revocable.

A single "error" in your data--or a single opinion deemed "hateful" or "misinformed"--could lock you out of the system entirely. And who decides what's an error? Who decides what's hateful?

This isn't fiction. It's happening. And the people of Europe are sleepwalking into a digital trap they may never escape.

Imagine going to buy groceries, but your digital wallet flashes red: access denied. Your doctor tries to prescribe treatment, but your health ID doesn't load. You try to express a belief online, only to find your account suspended and your name flagged as a potential risk.

That's not safety. That's control.

The Spirit Behind the System

This is not just a political shift--it is a spiritual one.

The Bible warns of a time when no one will be able to buy or sell unless they carry a certain mark. A global system of control. A counterfeit kingdom where loyalty is demanded, and truth is punished.

Could these digital systems--framed as helpful tools--be laying the groundwork for exactly that?

When your ability to function in society is tied to a digital ID, and that ID is tied to ideological compliance, you are no longer free. You are owned.

We are witnessing the infrastructure of Revelation 13 being assembled before our very eyes: a beast-like system that merges commerce, identity, and belief into a single, coercive structure. It may not look like tyranny now. That's the brilliance of it. Tyranny dressed in progress. Oppression disguised as innovation.

Today, it's a digital wallet. Tomorrow, it may be your only lifeline to the world--and it can be cut off at the push of a button.

The warnings of Scripture were not metaphorical poetry. They were prophetic alerts.

We are closer than ever to the world it described.

So, the question is no longer, Will it happen?

It's How soon?

And Are you ready?

‘Copy, Paste, Preach’: Should Pastors Be Using Artificial Intelligence to Write Sermons?

By Ken Ham - https://harbingersdaily.com/copy-paste-preach-should-pastors-be-using-artificial-intelligence-to-write-sermons/

Should pastors be using AI to write their sermons? I recently saw a website for a company that advertises itself as “Your AI-Powered Sermon Assistant” designed to help pastors “create better sermons in less time” using artificial intelligence.

A video on the website claims you can just type a word (like “forgiveness”) into the sermon builder tool and “instantly have a sermon ready to preach” and if you like the sermon “copy it, paste it, you’re ready to preach.” In other words, as a pastor you don’t even need to go to the Bible yourself to prep for your sermon—AI will do it all for you.

There are many good uses for AI—this is certainly not one of them! Yes, perhaps AI could be useful in pulling some cross-references, finding related passages, or pulling quotes to consider from church fathers (although resources to do all of these things already exist). But using AI to write sermons strips away a pastor’s wrestling with and studying of God’s Word. When a member of such a pastor’s flock comes to him for wisdom, counsel, and shepherding, he won’t know God’s Word to apply it properly!

And pastors surely should be praying (as any teaching pastor should do) for God’s guidance and wisdom as they build sermons. Be assured, AI doesn’t pray for any wisdom from God!

Contrast “copy, paste, preach” with these commands to pastors from God’s Word:

1 Timothy 5:17 KJV – “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.”

2 Timothy 4:2 KJV – “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”

Titus 1:9 KJV – “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

The work of pastoring isn’t meant to be easy—it’s laboring; it’s having patience; it’s training to be ready. It’s a hard calling, but a worthy one for those who are willing to be trained by the Word of God.

If you’re a pastor, don’t take the easy way out. Labor in your preaching and teaching as God has commanded you to. Don’t outsource one of the most important aspects of your job—opening the Word for your flock—to a robot!

Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: New York City

Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com

Well done, New York City. You’ve gone from the Big Apple to the Rotten Core. Apparently, it’s not enough to have soaring crime, sanctuary city chaos, and antisemitic mobs marching in the streets. Now you’ve crowned a pro-terror, anti-cop, socialist extremist as the Democratic mayoral nominee. Bravo. Enter Zohran Mamdani, the state assemblyman from Queens and proud card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). After winning the Democratic primary in a landslide, he is being hailed by Ilhan Omar, Hollywood leftists, and street protesters alike as the face of “progress.” One problem: his platform reads like a Hamas press release.

Let’s take a quick look at what Mamdani is selling—and what NYC just bought. He proudly chants “Globalize the Intifada.” This is a call to action for a violent uprising. According to the Times of Israel, Mamdani defended the phrase by claiming it “shows desire for Palestinian rights.” Fox News reported that his refusal to retract the slogan has stirred deep tensions within Jewish communities that are still reeling from pro-Hamas street demonstrations. “When you chant ‘globalize the intifada,’ you are calling for the spread of terror,” said a Jewish community leader in Manhattan. “This is not about civil rights—it’s about violence.” But Mamdani isn’t worried. As Breitbart reported, “Ilhan Omar praised Mamdani’s victory with a tweet that read ‘Alhamdulillah’ (Praise Allah) and celebrated his win as a triumph for progressive values.”

Which values exactly? Supporting Hamas? Helping violent illegals evade ICE? (Yes, he’s on record supporting that, too.) Calling for the abolition of the NYPD while his city faces surging crime? All in a day’s work for a DSA star. He’s also been clear that “queer liberation is impossible without defunding the police.” That nugget of wisdom came straight from Mamdani’s campaign speeches and social posts. Because apparently safety and stability are so last century. Meanwhile, the Communist Control Act of 1954—which once banned open communists from holding office—has long since been neutered by the courts. SCOTUS decisions like Aptheker v. Secretary of State and United States v. Robel ruled that barring people from political positions based on association alone violates the First Amendment. So legally Mamdani can run.

But morally? That’s another story. What happens when a candidate openly cheers for terrorist catchphrases, undermines law enforcement, invites criminal illegals to hide from deportation, and gets rewarded with votes and headlines like “A New Hope” (Breitbart, quoting Hollywood activists)? Proverbs 29:16 says, “When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases.” What happens is what we’re seeing now: a slow-motion civic collapse. NYC is rapidly becoming a test case for the consequences of when ideology replaces accountability. When mobs run the streets, and radicals run for office. When waving a Molotov cocktail gets you more media applause than waving the American flag. What happens is worse than, say it with me…Stupidocrisy. Wake up New York before it’s too late.

Daily Devotion: A Worshiper of Christ

by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org

But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.’ —Luke 10:41–42

https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/a-worshiper-of-christ/ - Listen

If your aim is to experience genuine revival in your spiritual life, in addition to being an ambassador for Christ and a neighbor like Christ, you must also be a worshiper of Christ. That’s the third ministry role found in Luke 10.

Some believers make the mistake of allowing their work for God to overshadow their worship of God. They convince themselves that what they say or do is indispensable to God’s kingdom. That their ministry is vital to the success of the Christian faith. That God needs them.

Newsflash: God doesn’t need us.

Another newsflash: Everything that believers do must emanate from our worship of God. Worship is the source of our power and effectiveness, so it must be our top priority.

If it isn’t, we will not burn bright for Christ. We won’t feel a sense of revival. Instead, we’ll find ourselves burning out. We can’t give out what we don’t possess. We can’t take people any further than we’ve gone ourselves.

We see this principle played out in the story of Jesus’ visit to the house of his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Luke 10. Storm clouds were looming large in the life of the Lord. In fact, He was on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified. Before that happened, He wanted to talk about the coming changes with His friends. This was an important evening.

Martha’s instinct was to prepare a good meal for Jesus—to stay busy doing things for Him. Mary, on the other hand, “sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught” (Luke 10:39 NLT). Martha saw obligation; Mary saw opportunity. The Creator of the universe, in human form, was sitting in her house, revealing life-changing spiritual truths. As far as Mary was concerned, washing dishes and setting the table could wait. Her priority was to spend as much time as possible in Jesus’ presence.

Martha grew annoyed with Mary for not joining her in her busy work. She took her complaint to Jesus. “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me” (verse 40 NLT).

Jesus helped her see where her priorities were out of order. “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her” (verses 41–42 NLT).

There’s a time for work and a time for worship. Martha’s mistake was offering activity instead of adoration, perspiration instead of inspiration, and work instead of worship. She didn’t realize that Jesus preferred her company over her service in that situation. He wanted her fellowship and companionship more than He wanted a meal.

There are countless ways to serve Jesus, but our worship must come first. That’s where our spiritual power and energy come from. That’s where revival begins. What we do with Christ is far more important than what we do for Christ.

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