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Pastor Ray Bentley says persecution doesn't dampen the growth of the church. Smyrna and the persecution it experienced set the stage for the next 200 years. The church was oppressed and persecuted by the Roman Empire. Ironically, today they say there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 billion. Whether it be followers of this man, Jesus. Smyrna had the fragrance of Christ
The Bible talks of returning to our first love. Today, pastor Ray Bentley explains what that is. First, love is the love of God. His love is burning. His love is consuming. His love is overflowing. His love is penetrating. His love is dynamic. His love is alive. His love cannot leave whatever it touches. The same as it was. That's the love of God.
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Coming up today, pastor Ray Bentley points out the need for fellowship, especially during the last days. You and I, as human beings, were made for community. That's where we function at our best, at our premium, at our highest level. The greatest joy of the Lord is to be in the midst of his people and in the midst of the church.
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Pastor Ray Bentley on Prophets and Angels, as explained in revelation. The word angel means messenger. Sometimes the messenger is an angelic being. Sometimes the angel or messenger can be a human being on behalf of God. And the chief mark of a biblical prophet is that he stands in the presence of God and in the presence of angels during the sessions of the Heavenly council spread.
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The book of Revelation speaks to our generation today. Pastor Ray Bentley says we need to listen. My hope and my prayer is that pastors and churches would read. Just read the book of Revelation. Do you know the Book of Revelation was meant to be read to the body, to the congregations within the churches? The seven churches and the seven letters was to be read to them, and for the church to hear it and to have the hope of the coming of Christ spreading.
For the text to this week's passage, please click Colossians 3:15-17; For more information about Maranatha, please visit www.mbccolumbus.org
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A few years back, while working in our backyard at ABI, I built a swing for Maranatha under our porch and started clearing out weeds and debris. We laid down fabric, hauled mulch, and turned the space into something new. As I carried the bags down the hill, one of my kids looked at me and said, “Dad, I'm stronger than you.” For a moment I thought about proving otherwise—but I just smiled and said, “That's not true.”That same tension plays out in our relationship with God. Humanity, His children, often calls His goodness into question. We ask, How can God be good when…? or Surely this can't be part of His plan?This message invites us to return to Scripture and stand in awe of the truth: God is good. Unfathomably good. So profoundly good that for all eternity we will never exhaust the wonder of His goodness.Pastor Matt McCarter
Sunday, November 2, 2025
Pastor Ray Bentley points out how we identify with Christ through suffering. Each one of us receives our own cup of suffering. You will only know what you have physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually suffered. That's your cup. But it's to that degree that I drink my own cup that I'm able to identify with him and therefore love and appreciate his love for me and what he did for me there upon the cross spreading.
A new MP3 sermon from Sermons of Dr. Ian Paisley is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Anathema or Maranatha Subtitle: Reel to Reel Paisley Speaker: Dr. Ian R. K. Paisley Broadcaster: Sermons of Dr. Ian Paisley Event: Sunday Service Date: 4/21/1968 Bible: 1 Corinthians 16:22 Length: 16 min.
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Pastor Ray Bentley reacquaint us with our identity as kings and priests and loved by our God Most High. You have not even begun to touch the edge of the surface of how much God loves you. You are the focus and the object of the creator of the universe. Love. He has committed himself in a covenant to bless you no matter what it takes.
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Today, pastor Ray Bentley reminds us God is timeless. He's in the future. He's in the present. Even in the past. How could God be in the past? Every time you look up at the stars, you're looking at the past. The light you are seeing from those beautiful, twinkling little stars is from a long time ago. It was a long time ago.
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God is a verbal God. He is not someone merely to be studied, but he is someone to be heard, a living voice. Today, Pastor Ray Bentley relates that to the Book of Revelation. It is to be read physically with a human voice by the various pastors in the churches, and then the congregation is to hear the voice of their shepherd reading out loud.
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Coming up today, pastor Ray Bentley helps us appreciate the dramatic symbolism of the Book of Revelation. John could have written in the last days. There will be a dictator called the Antichrist who will rule over the world and the end of days. Instead, what is John actually writing? He says there will be this world governing empire that will be ruled by a beast.
For the text to this week's passage, please click Colossians 3:1-14; For more information about Maranatha, please visit www.mbccolumbus.org
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— A House Built for Him — Visit Abidechurchfl.com for more info.———If you would like to give, you can go tohttps://www.Abidechurchfl.com/give or you can text any amount to 8432125
— A House Built for Him — Visit Abidechurchfl.com for more info.———If you would like to give, you can go tohttps://www.Abidechurchfl.com/give or you can text any amount to 8432125
Sunday, October 26, 2025
— A House Built for Him — Visit Abidechurchfl.com for more info.———If you would like to give, you can go tohttps://www.Abidechurchfl.com/give or you can text any amount to 8432125
Today, pastor Ray Bentley launches a revealing look at the last book in the Bible. I like to look at revelation as this big door and each one of us can get up to the keyhole and look in. And when you look through that keyhole, you look into heaven itself, and the glory and the splendor of all that's happened in the midst of all of that is the glorified, eternal picture of Jesus Christ spread.
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Pastor Ray Bentley takes us to the big truth in the small book of Jude. God is committed to you, God, and all of his sovereign power is committed that you will make it and be in heaven, and that you'll be washed and cleansed and transformed, and bear the nature and the character of His Son, Jesus Christ. Putting it another way, he, God, is able to bring out the treasure within you.
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Today, pastor Ray Bentley addresses the skeptics who say the Bible is anything less than the timeless truth of the Word of God. I want to assure you that the Christian life is not something that we have made up. This is not something that we have manufactured. It is something that we have received. Faith. Our faith. Christian faith is not someone's personal opinion.
Welcome to Episode #188 of the Way of the Bible podcast. This is our fourth of eight episodes in our Twenty-Fourth mini-series entitled The Return of Jesus Christ [3]. On today's episode, we will continue expanding upon the greatest news for the church, the Great Snatching Away, harpazo/rapture, the resurrection/translation of the bride of Christ.We'll start with a quick context reminder and then hit our lesson for today, which will be the second half of 1 Corinthians 15. But before then, why the harpazo/rapio, the great snatching away? The reason for the great snatching away in the Bible is to remove the church from the world before God judges the world with great tribulations and wrath. We will address that near the end of this mini-series. What I am teaching is not new. It is the Biblical view of the gospel, epistle, and letter writers of the New Testament as directed to be written by the Holy Spirit of God. It was not revealed in the Old Testament but was given by revelation to the Apostles who taught it to their disciples in the early church. Jesus was expected to return at any time with no prerequisite signs of his return to gather the church to himself. Jesus taught this to his disciples in the Upper Room the night he was betrayed.John 14:1-3 – Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.Jesus tells of the immediacy of his return to Peter after he restored Peter over a fish breakfast with several other disciples. After restoring Peter, Jesus took him for a walk and told him what kind of death he [Peter] was going to die. John was trailing behind them and when Peter took notice of him he asked Jesus about John. John 22:21-23 – When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”What we need to know for today's episode from these two passages is that Jesus taught his disciples he was coming back to take them where he was going; and that his coming back could be as early as within John's lifetime. There was nothing that had to happen prophetically to keep Jesus from coming back at any moment. That includes today, while I am sitting on my back porch writing this episode. Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus even Now! Why is this important?Three hundred years went by and Jesus didn't return. In 313 AD, Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, issued the Edict of Milan, which granted legal tolerance to Christians. Over time, Christianity was made the official religion of Rome resulting in the Roman Empire became Christianized. It was soon after that the Biblical teaching in the book of Revelation that Jesus was going to judge the world with wrath, return on the Day of the Lord, and establish his own kingdom on earth was taught to be allegory and metaphor and not to be taken literally. There was only one king/ruler of the earth and that person in the Roman empire was the emperor. This mystical understanding of the book of Revelation has continued to be taught even today in many if not most Christian denominations.
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Coming up today on Maranatha radio. Pastor Ray Bentley points out the importance of staying on fire for the Lord. Now, listen, I know that we're living in some strange times. We're living in a very prophetic hour. Now is the time not to hide our light. Now is the hour and the moment. To let our light so shine. That they may see.
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Pastor Ray Bentley says. Be on the lookout for those who look to improve God's Word. Every once in a while, there's some new. Let's just use the word guru who says, I've got something that's never been discovered before. I have a new truth. Well, as I have said before, let me say it again. If it's new, it's not true.
For the text to this week's passage, please click Colossians 2:16-23; For more information about Maranatha, please visit www.mbccolumbus.org
Pastor Ray Bentley on the fall of a third of the angels of Heaven. These were angels who saw God not even in the earthly form of the cloud and pillar, but they saw the glory of God every day and every night. Heaven was their dwelling place, and yet they still rebelled. And this very moment, Jude says, and chains waiting for the day of their final judgment spread.
Personal Revival, Nation Awakening & Generational ReformationIt sounds provocative and controversial doesn't it? Peace—can it really be true? The eyes of the world have been on Israel and the Arab nations throughout the Middle East. Israel's hostages are home and we rejoice. We have just witnessed something profound with the Gaza peace process. How long will it last? Where is this going? In this newest episode of The Torch we take a look at the strategy for peace, survival, prosperity and hope for the future. Join Brian as we watch and pray and look for Biblical clarity to light our path as we journey ahead towards the ultimate comeback of The Lord JESUS CHRIST. Maranatha!We are currently raising funds for our Sanctuary Building that we are building. If you'd like to partner with us in building a resting place for the presence of the Lord, you can give today at: https://www.victoryfla.com/giveFor all the latest on all things from Brian, be sure to check out our website at https://victoryfla.com and follow us on social media.Welcome to The Torch. A podcast with Brian Gibbs, presenting Biblical insights and prophetic perspectives for cultural and current events in this day and age. Contending for personal revival, national awakening and generational reformation. Download our app at: https://victoryfla.com/appFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/victorychurchfla/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victorychurchfla/X: https://twitter.com/victorychurchfl/
Today, pastor Ray Bentley points out, the small book of Jude is big on passion and urgency. Jude is saying agonize. Don't let the basic truth of the gospel be changed. Don't let it be twisted. Don't let it be perverted. Don't let it be lost. The simple message of the gospel. The world needs Christ. They need Jesus Christ. Spreading news.
Today, pastor Ray Bentley points out the diligent efforts of our spiritual forefathers. There were many who were already in the early days of the church. Here's the half brother of our Lord Jude, who is saying that there are already apostates who have perverted or twisted or chain the gospel. And the reason that so dangerous is if you miss, that, you can miss salvation spreading.
Pastor Ray Bentley on the message contained in the New Testament book of Jude and why it's so relevant to us today. Why did you write this letter? The purpose of the book is to address the apostasy that was creeping into the early church. And it's also, by the way, one of the great signs of the last days is that there would be much falling away from the faith of the simple gospel of Jesus Christ spread.
Today, pastor Ray Bentley points out, the path to happiness involves sanctification and holiness. Sanctification brings satisfaction, and the role of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you is to sanctify you and to make you more and more holy, and therefore more and more satisfied, and more and more like Jesus and the whole here we become, the happier we will be spread.
This episode's guest hails from Maranatha's inception. In fact, he met the Brothers of the Holy Cross who sold the campus to MBU. Dr. Bob Griffin reflects on the early days—transferring from Pillsbury, meeting his wife (plus how a bowl of melted ice cream landed in his lap), and the quandary of what to do after graduation. Bob defines his mission as willingness to be a servant, and host Dr. Matt Davis prompts him to explain how the Lord employs desires, preparation, and counsel to direct His will. Bob mentions his US Navy chaplaincy that ended before it began and how an inner-city boy pastored a rural church with 13 members, six of whom died within a year. They discuss unexpected opportunities to advance his education, how the Lord sustained when Bob's wife developed a terminal condition. Bob recounts poignant financial extremities and how the Lord surprised them, how his wife's illness triggered new pursuits, and now how the Lord allows continued opportunities to serve despite a stroke. A servant has no will, Bob states. Humility is key, which results in peace.
Some think effective prayer is praying with all our might and ultimately praying hard enough to change God's mind. Today on Maranatha Radio, pastor Ray Bentley corrects that perspective. Prayer does not change God's mind. It realigns us with his perfect will. So putting it another way, the purpose of prayer is not to get your will done. The purpose of prayer is to get God's will die spreading.
Today, pastor Ray Bentley brings us insight on the divine purpose of prayer. Prayer is God's way of solving every problem. You got a problem? Just pray. What should I pray? Just pray. God's will is done. It'll all take care of itself. Because God turns every problem into a blessing. When we pray, put it another way. God is on your side.
Our problems won't last forever. Pastor Ray Bentley points out, nothing that happens in this world is permanent. There's a joy that comes when you know that you're going to heaven, and that you're spending eternity with the Lord, and you can have heaven now on your way to heaven. So Jesus, he is our perfection. He is our holiness. He is our joy because he abides in us.
Who is Jesus? The answer is pivotal. Pastor Ray Bentley gives us the answers straight from God's Word. Christ means anointed One. Jesus came and he was born miraculously born of a virgin. He was God, manifest in the flesh. He was God, literally coming down to seek us and to save us. In him all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily.