I can only imagine the feeling of being rejected in Nazareth. After living in the city for 30 years and going to the same synagogue, one would wonder who His friends were. Luke mentions it was a custom of Jesus to come to that synagogue (Luke 4:16). It was not primarily a place of worship but to conduct civic activities. Jesus needed a forum and he had one already established by the Jewish establishment.

You probably can tell me a time or two when you were rejected by friends and church members. It is natural and expected that after rejection you simply wish it had never taken place. However, some of us have to be rejected so the word will come forth in dry places.  Nazareth was a dry place. They had never heard what Jesus was saying:

“The Spirit of The Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

The message in itself has to be understood from a bird’s eye view, since it speaks of the kingdom. First, Jesus was anointed. The Holy Spirit had come upon Him at the Jordan. You have to be anointed to preach the good news or else you begin preaching your news! That does not save anyone. He was anointed to preach the good news to the spiritually and physically poor, freedom of the prisoners from an oppressive system of laws and regulations that took the life of those trying to honor God.

Legalism ruled and it continues in Jerusalem to this day. The spiritually blind were in tremendous bondage since they oppressed so many in the time of Jesus. The release of the oppressed was a great reality… more people taken by unclean spirits than ever before. Today we refer them to a psychiatrist and the church is powerless to deal with a small and defeated demon.  We are saying they do not exist anymore, when even  church workers are in bondage to evil. 

The proclamation of the word was announced in Nazareth and the world heard it. That is why they tried to throw Jesus from the top of a cliff. He said too much for them to take.  How about you? Does what I say offend you? Or this is really the truth? 

The kingdom is upon us. We must preach it or someone else will. God will not wait on you to get the job done when you doubt the word of the kingdom. Hear me! the time is coming to announce the kingdom and speak in authority about what Jesus meant to say in Nazareth. This is the real Nazareth story. But, I want you to know, He passed by them on the hill and walked away without anyone opening their mouths, because there was another hill to climb: GOLGOTHA!

Rick Bonfim

The battle for Capernaum was key in establishing the Kingdom of God in the earth. It was central to the ministry of our Lord. Jacob and Isaiah prophesied that it would be in the cities found at the Lake of Galilee and not in Nazareth.  Capernaum was a hard place, and the hardest spiritual ground in the earth; Galilee, would yield the greatest return. Someone delivered of a demon “in the church”, a mother-in-law healed of fever, a paralytic brought through the roof for healing,  a tax collector found salvation, a man’s withered hand returned to normal, all at the touch of Jesus  - and no one was impressed. His own family called him crazy.

The hardest spiritual ground in the earth yielded men like Peter, James and John, Andrew, Phillip and Nathanael.

Why is the supernatural so important to the Kingdom of God? I guess, without the parting of the Red Sea, there would not be the parting of the Jordan. Without the healing of the paralytic in Capernaum, there would not be the healing of our souls. Without the baptism and coming of the dove upon Jesus at the Jordan, there would not be a Pentecost. Without the transfiguration there would not be a resurrection. Without the cross, there would not be an ascension.

So, when you look to the heavens, expect fireworks. It is the nature of God to be holy and without holiness no one will see God. But, you must also accept that the nature of God calls for the supernatural.

You and I are are living in the most important times in the history of the world. There will be lots of shaking and wars and famine, but the greatest act of the supernatural is coming. This will be when Jesus stands above our city and we will meet him in the air. Yes, the hand of God is preparing the world for the coming of Jesus, and that will be very supernatural!

You see, we want the kingdom without the power. We want the kingdom without the glory. We want to kingdom without the fireworks. But Jesus will come to this hard world in the same manner as he came to Capernaum, displaying power and glory everywhere.

Would you today honor the nature of the Spirit of God? Would you today be not ashamed of the supernatural of the kingdom? It quenches the Spirit of God to find men and women who know nothing about the nature of God. Let me invite you to one of our meetings and you will see salvation, healing and deliverance breaking out all over the building. This is, perhaps, what you need in your personal life. Come, the Lord waits on you…

Rick Bonfim

Many people, after 50 years, still ask me where I am from. Sometimes I jokingly answer, “From heaven.”  I have this idea in my mind that God gave me life for a purpose. I believe that my life belongs to God and He will use me until the end. I have no idea what will happen at the end, but it will end some day. I am not afraid of it, not running to it, not crying about it, but simply doing what is in front of me.

Many in history had no idea of what they were doing at the time of their struggle. The Puritans in England rebelled and were being persecuted for non-conformity. The church of Germany was in conflict with Martin Luther and he responded with his faith. In Geneva, Calvin stirred up the saints with new ideas and caused a war in the church. In Scotland the spiritual war was started by Knox. It takes men with conviction to change things. These were schools of fiery trials shaping men to become what God intended them to be.

All of us have been called and some of us have been chosen to advance the will of God for a generation. Think of the great men who shaped this nation: Brewster, Winthrop, Roger Williams, Penn, Oglethorpe, Adams, Jefferson and George Washington. All of these were announcers of a new idea of liberty and freedom that today we enjoy in America. Think about this: no one asked them to do this, no one helped them to do this, no one ordained them to do what they did for America.

What prevents me from saying to you that without the Spirit of God we are dead in the water, a sunken ship? What is wrong with saying that our worship needs to change and that the pulse of this generation calls for praise and worship? What is wrong with saying that every servant of God needs to be baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit? I tell you this: I am called and chosen to say this. The call is greater than life!

Are you chosen to serve the living God? Why then run from His nature? Why play the game of serving until you retire, and you discover that you served yourself most of your life? Why not to allow God to come in and deliver you from hell? Why be so worried about what others think of you? Fulfill your call! write your book! Dance your dance! Be a man or a woman of character, serving the living God!

Rick Bonfim