Marko Joensuu's Blog, page 4

Supernatural Love: Releasing the Compassion of Jesus Through the Gifts of the Spirit

The gifts of the Spirit were given to be used in a Christian community, but soon after the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 they were repurposed to be used in a stage performance setting, as revivalists travelled with large tents, and the Pentecostals built large auditoriums that utilised new communication technologies. Because of the stage performance setting, the Pentecostals and Charismatics began to focus on the visible aspect of the gifts, seeking to demonstrate God’s power. 

But the original purpose of the spiritual gifts—words of knowledge and wisdom, tongues and their interpretation, gifts of healings, faith, working miracles, prophecy and discerning spirits—was to be an expression of God’s love to His people. And when the original purpose was lost in the repurposing of the gifts to serve as an expression of charismatic power, their true power was also lost, and the Church also lost the gift of discerning spirits, as it got addicted to charismatic spectacles. My new book Supernatural Love: Releasing the Compassion of Jesus Through the Gifts of the Spirit goes to the roots of the stage performance model to disentangle a biblical model of ministry.



You can connect with Marko on Twitter @markojoensuu and on Facebook at  facebook.com/marko.joensuu  or by visiting  markojoensuu.com .

The name of Jesus is more powerful than any evil power!

My friend Rami Kivisalo worked with the Russian Mafia and was demon possessed before he gave his life to Christ. Here is a story of how he was set free from the demonic powers. It is an extract from the book The Red Scorpion: A True Russian Mafia Story, which I cowrote with him. 

Mum, Dad and Happiness formed a half-circle around me.

“Can you kneel on the sofa?” Happiness asked me.

I obliged and closed my eyes. I felt hands on my head and shoulders.

Happiness started praying in Swahili. “Demonic powers, I command you to come out of this man, in the name of Jesus!”

She kept repeating that. And somewhere deep inside me, the beast woke up.


I started shaking.

“No! No! No!” it screamed through my mouth.

I was thrown onto the floor and lay there for a while on my stomach. Then the power I had been aware of in my life since I got the red scorpion tattoo began making kung fu punches with my arms. I crawled on the floor, oddly ashamed that my parents were seeing me in such a state. Every time Happiness repeated her prayer, I felt as if someone had lashed me on the back with a whip. It was surreal. What was happening was outside my control. I could feel the rage of the beast inside me. It wanted to tear Mum, Dad and Happiness apart, but had no power to do so.

While understanding fully what was going on, I felt contradictory emotions. On one hand, the beast inside, the demons, were fully riled with rage and anger. This was being expressed through me. At the same time, I was silently crying out to God to help me.

I’ll not leave! it screamed inside of me.

I struck the floor with my hand with such force that the whole house shook. The rage inside me became a tsunami.

I’ll not leave! it screamed again, now with a tone of despair.

I punched the floor again.

The beast or beasts were determined to ignore the notice they had been served and held fast onto the deep recesses of my soul.

Yet even deeper inside, I screamed, Jesus! Help me! Set me free!

They told me later my face was distorted into that of a wild beast, that I hissed like a cave filled with a hundred cobras and that my eyes were transformed into piercing snake eyes. The beast was now manifesting itself fully, taking total control, as it recoiled against the whip of Happiness’ prayer. I guess a lot of folks would have been afraid at the sight. Happiness just kept on praying.

“Demonic powers, I command you to come out of this man, in the name of Jesus!” Her prayer hit my body so strong that it felt like a bullet shot at point blank range.

“Satan!” I heard a chilling voice come out of my mouth, as whatever it was left my body past my lips.

I was free, fully myself for the first time in many years. I could not believe the relief I felt.

Jesus is powerful!

I still felt embarrassed by what had taken place, but was overjoyed that the beast inside was gone.

My sister and brother, Lea and Juha, now both married, brought their spouses for Sunday lunch. It had been many years since I had been part of any family gathering, and once again I felt deeply embarrassed.

All of us sat at the table in Mum and Dad’s house—a regular thing for most people, but not for me. I did not know what to say, so I focused on the steak on my plate. It was pretty clear my siblings were not used to this either.

“We cast evil spirits out of Rami,” Happiness said suddenly.

I could feel all eyes on me.

“I saw how a large snake left him,” she added. “It was a strong and violent spirit that gave him superhuman powers. Until yesterday that demon was in charge of his life.”

I glanced up at my sister and brother. This was hardly a conversation topic they could have been expecting. They knew about demons, since they read the Bible, but casting them out of someone was something Jesus did in the past tense.

Yes, as Pentecostals they believed that people can become demon-possessed, but that was something that happened to witches, not to your own brother. They knew about the violence that had manifested in my life. They even knew about some of my crimes. But they had no idea how deeply I had walked in the darkness.

Now here was Happiness, talking about casting out demons as if it were her everyday experience.

“I’ve prayed and fasted for Rami for a long time,” she continued. “The devil did all he could to stop me from praying.”

Warm and salty tears began to roll down my cheeks and make their way onto my lips. Slowly they formed brooks and started falling onto the table.

I looked around and saw that everyone else was crying, too.

Strangely the tears washed away the discomfort I had experienced sitting at the table with the whole family.

I felt a new feeling—pride for Mum and Dad, my sister and brother.

When my brother got married I had been in prison. Although the warden would have let me attend the wedding, I had no interest in turning up handcuffed to guards. It seemed clear that he did not mind about my absence. The tears in his eyes told that the most important thing to him was that I had come safely back home.

For the first time in years, I felt a real connection with my family. The beast had been forced out of the way and my emotions now had the space to roam freely. I felt like the prodigal son. The main change in the story was that not just my dad but also my brother and sister had welcomed me with open arms.

The Red Scorpion
You can connect with Marko on Twitter @markojoensuu and on Facebook at  facebook.com/marko.joensuu  or by visiting  markojoensuu.com .

Come to Me and I will give you rest

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gives us one of His greatest promises:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

What is the most amazing thing about this promise is that it is unconditional. Jesus doesn’t really care what the burden you are carrying is—bad relationship, financial worries, sickness, spiritual warfare, your children, problems at work or ministry—He is simply asking us to lay that burden and worry to His feet. He doesn’t even ask, if we are carrying the burden because we have inflicted it on ourself, or if the burden has been inflicted on by others.



But He is asking us for one thing—for Him to deal with that burden, you must be willing to learn from Him. This might sound like even a bigger burden than you are carrying, unless you know Jesus. 

So, rather shockingly, most Christians are not initially willing to swap their yoke with the yoke Jesus is offering. But the problem is that He has not been called to follow you; you have been called to follow Him.

Many people come to Jesus and lay down their burden at the feet of Jesus, but as they don’t want to follow Him, they will end up picking their own yoke again.

The only way to have the light yoke Jesus is promising is to walk with Him in the direction He is heading.

That is why most Christians wait until the yoke they carry—including their attempt to follow Jesus with their own effort—becomes unbearable, until they humble themselves and lay their yoke at the feet of Jesus in despair.

I woke up this morning, realising that the yoke I am carrying today is far too heavy. I hope you have done the same. All the bills I have to pay, all the relationship difficulties we face in life, the ministry I am supposed to deliver, my own mistakes. The list is endless.

But then I heard the Lord whisper to me gently: Come and I will give you rest. And His offer is unconditional.

For the last few days, this song by David Brymer has really been blessing me. It reminds what Jesus has done for me.



You can connect with Marko on Twitter @markojoensuu and on Facebook at  facebook.com/marko.joensuu  or by visiting  markojoensuu.com .

6 ways to abide that help you survive your perfect storm

One of the hardest things you will ever face is maintaining the course and avoiding being spiritually shipwrecked when facing a perfect storm—a season when you are hit with setback after setback in almost every area of your life. 
And these storms will surely come. Jesus says in Matthew 7:24-27,
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
No one will go through life without major storms, and disasters rarely hit us individually—often you are hit with many disasters and difficulties at the same time.
The Lord’s Prayer says, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Another translation says, “Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.”
In John 16:33 Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” 
It seems that Jesus promises us tribulations, but He asks us to be cheerful, regardless. Looking back at a particularly lengthy season of trials in our lives, lasting for several years, I can see several things that have helped us to be cheerful and progress toward the fulfilment of the visions God has give to us as a family.

1. Abide in God’s presencePsalm 91:9-11 says, 
“Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.”
There is a protection that seeking God’s presence brings into our lives. But what torments us most in times of storms is fear. Even to that, the presence of God gives an antidote. 
1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.”
Often, the fear you experience has a demonic source, but as you abide in God’s love, your discernment begins to increase; often God’s presence literally pushes out the demonic fear.
Abiding in God’s presence is necessary for the gift of discerning spirits to develop. The gift of discerning spirits helps you worry less, as you begin to disentangle the natural from the supernatural in your circumstances. You are no more reacting to fear the same way as you used to, as you are able to discern its source and focus on dealing with the issues that you are able to change, rather than warring against supernatural with natural solutions.2. Abide in helping othersIn times of storm you might feel that you need help more than most, but in those times, it is vital that you keep on helping other people. This help is often not financial. But times of testing will demonstrate to God and principalities that our love for others is genuine. 
Paul says in Ephesians 3:10, that the “manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places”.
Like with Job who was tested, it is through us that God demonstrates to the principalities the wisdom of His plan and the fact that life without rebellion, with submitting to God, is possible.
And it is the will of God that we demonstrate His generosity, even when we feel that we have nothing. This is because generosity is in His nature.
This is the place where God will release the consequences of the principle of sowing and reaping in our lives—in good or bad. 3. Abide in forgivenessAs with Job, storms will test our every relationship, and the devil will seek to bring disunity into your most vital relationships—family, work, friends, church. He will seek to give a negative spin to every disappointment and every indifferent word by a friend, so that you will begin to feel that you are completely on your own. But it is God that carries you and not your friends, and even if it feels like your friends are failing you, it might be because God has already prepared another way out.
It is imperative that you maintain a spirit of forgiveness and don’t hold any grudges. So many Christians survive a perfect storm but hold grudges, and in the long term, this will lead to a failure of your ministry, and often block your blessing.
Jesus prayed on the cross: “Forgive them, as they don’t know what they are doing.” Like Job’s friends, most of our friends don’t know what they are doing, when we go through the storm! 
Job 42:10 says, “And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends.”
Often, God brings restoration to you only when you forgive those who have misunderstood you and hurt you most.4. Abide in the WordMany Christians take following the teachings of Jesus as optional, as they have misunderstood what grace is. Yet Jesus says, after preaching the Sermon on the Mount: 
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Following the teachings of Jesus makes the foundations of our life secure. It is for our own benefit. 
Abiding in the Word is vital—it is hard to follow the teaching of Jesus if you don’t even know what they are! We must continually remind ourselves about what God has promised to us, and how He has called us to live—and especially in times when our circumstances seem to witness against the Word of God.5. Abide in your personal promisesPaul says in 1 Timothy 1:18, “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare”.
Often, storms rise against these very promises, and it might feel that any other direction but the one God has asked you to go is a lot safer to take than the one He’s asked you to follow.
But testing is the way those personal promises become flesh in you—they aren’t truly yours, until you fight for them.
2 Peter 1:5-10 says, 
"But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble."
These are all things you will need in a storm, and together, they make your call and election sure—could it be that God lets this work be tested in us through storms?6. Abide in the right seasonOn the other hand, many Christians are overtly consumed by tomorrow and by God’s promises for tomorrow, and they make grave mistakes in their lives, as they try to step into those promises during a storm.
But no fisherman tries to cast nets during a heavy storm, rather they look for a safe harbour to survive it. Otherwise, they might lose the nets, or even worse, the boat.
But many Christians are trying to cast the nets of their future during a perfect storm, when all they should do is to stay in the safe harbour. But they aren't discerning, and in fact, they see defying the storm as demonstrating their faith. Yet faith needs discernment and wisdom to work.

But once the storm is over, the fisherman takes the boat and casts the nets. 
It is vital to understand the seasons of life. I have learned the hard way that the stormy seasons are often the times when the work God has already done needs protecting and that you need to be more mindful of each new initiative in your life than usual, taking steps of faith but ensuring that anything new in your life really comes from God.
But because of God’s promises, many Christians only prepare for good weather, not taking any precautions for the storm. And then they are disappointed when the promised good season never materialises. But had they been discerning, they might have heard the voice of God telling them to wait, until the storm is over.
Storms often deplete us of our resources. But after the perfect storm, the season often shifts, and like with Job, God often compensates you with more than a double of what you have lost in the storm.
You can connect with Marko on Twitter @markojoensuu and on Facebook at  facebook.com/marko.joensuu  or by visiting  markojoensuu.com .

Fact-checking 'The Rape of Europe'

In recent months, the video The Rape of Europe produced by David Hathaway has gained some traction in social media, especially in Britain, and not least because of the Brexit vote. In the video, Hathaway claims that the modern-day Europe is an unbroken continuation of the Roman Empire prophesied by Daniel. He claims that the heart of the new Roman Empire is now in Berlin, which is the “seat of Satan”. Also, he makes the claim that the EU is the prostitute of Revelation 17 that rides on the Beast of Islam—which will eventually rape it. 

Unfortunately, nearly everything in the video is untrue—both historically and biblically. There are some facts in the presentation—it is nearly impossible to talk for over an hour without some facts slipping in—but the way it is put together makes us look at the wrong direction.


Misinterpreting the Book of DanielHathaway begins to build his argument on Nebuchadnezzar’s dream about the golden a statue in Daniel 2. Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2:36-45. 

 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.” (Daniel 2:36-45)

Traditionally, the four kingdoms in Daniel have been interpreted as the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire of Alexander and the Roman Empire. Perceiving the EU as somehow linked to the antichrist or the beast is nothing new in the charismatic church. Since the creation of the EU, many have seen it as the vehicle that would usher in the rule of the antichrist. 

Hathaway makes a claim that the feet of the statue, made of  a mixture of clay and iron, is the EU.

The historical problem Hathaway faces is the apparent discontinuation of the Roman Empire, as it was destroyed by the Germanic tribes. He solves this problem by claiming that the Roman Empire was in fact never discontinued but that, essentially, any form of German government after the destruction of the Roman Empire presents the continuation of the Roman Empire.

This leads Hathaway to another problem—somehow, he has to link Rome and Babylon with Germany. 

Also, Hathaway places the timing of the feet’s destruction with the 2nd coming of Christ, rather than the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.

But how sound is that interpretation? Not very sound.

To begin with, Daniel would have called any Germanic empire the fifth kingdom rather than the fourth, as that’s the logic of his narrative—one empire taking over another, with their territories overlapping. 

Second, Daniel seems to be clearly referring to the 1st coming of Jesus rather than the 2nd coming, when he prophesies the establishment of God’s Kingdom. 

The verse 35 says,

“But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.”

This is in consistency with the prophetic Psalm 118, which says in verse 22,

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”

So, the Kingdom of God begins with a little rock that becomes a huge mountain that fills the whole earth. Or it is the mustard seed that becomes a large tree, like Jesus said.

Third, the fourth empire begins with iron and continues with a mixture of iron and clay. 

Initially, the Roman Empire was entirely Roman, made of iron, but as it expanded, it became a mixture of nations, eventually splitting into two empires—Rome and Byzantine—the two feet in Daniel 2.

And it was the rising influence of Christianity that destroyed these empires and more specifically the idolatry of the emperor as god. 

The idolatry of the emperor is a much-ignored part when interpreting the dream, but it is an important part of the context, as the next chapter in the Book of Daniel moves on precisely to that.

Nebuchadnezzar gets it all wrong, as in Daniel 3:1 he makes a golden statue of himself, and asks every man and woman to worship him.

So, it should be clear that the prophecy of Daniel 2 has already been fulfilled. There is no basis of trying to drag its fulfilment for another 2,000 years.
The woman riding on a beastThis leads us to the 2nd major misinterpretation of the Bible prophecy in Hathaway’s video—one that is much less forgivable than his misinterpretation of the Book of Daniel, which is rather common, as nearly every generation of Christians has attempted to apply it to their circumstances. 

According to Hathaway, the EU is the prostitute—Babylon—riding on a beast of Revelation 17, and the beast is Islam. And according to Hathaway, Islam will rape, or it is already raping Europe.

Hathaway mixes biblical imagery with the Greek myth about the goddess Europa that was raped by Zeus, arguing that the readers of the Book of Revelation would have been aware of this mythology linked to Europa and understood its meaning. But this interpretation has many problems.
First, this kind of mixing of Christian imagery with Greek mythology is deeply problematic, and it has to be justified, as it easily leads to accepting ‘revelation’ from false—even demonic—sources. This kind of mixing of sources has been the Achilles heel of the modern-day prophetic and charismatic movement. 

Second, Hathaway’s interpretation completely ignores what is clearly presented in Revelation 17.

Third, it is not historically accurate.
The prostitute in the BibleThe basis for Hathaway seeing the EU as the prostitute and Islam as the beast she is riding is Revelation 17.

"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, 'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.'

"So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.And on her forehead a name was written:

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS
OF THE EARTH.

"I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

"But the angel said to me, 'Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

"'Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.  There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.

"'The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.'

"Then he said to me, 'The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.'"

The image of the prostitute in the Old Testament prophetic literature is mainly linked to Israel that prostituted herself with other nations. The writer of the Book of Revelation is astonished at the prostitute, as for the first time, the image is linked to the Church.

In Revelation 17, the prostitute is clearly the apostate Church that has prostituted herself with the kings and the nations and caused the people of the nations to be deceived because of her false testimony. The Church of Rome—the city which reigns over the kings of the earth—has now replaced Israel as the prostitute. 

What amazes John is that the prostitute was drunk with the blood of God’s people. How could the Church be the one that kills the saints?

So, here we have a prostitute that is both the Church and the city of Rome.

Historically, this is what happened—from the 8th century until the unification of Italy in 1870, the Papal States ruled the city of Rome but they were also the Catholic Church. 

It is no wonder that Martin Luther used the picture of the beast and Babylon to describe the Church of Rome, although, according to the Book of Revelation, the interpretation is not as simple as that. The Catholic Church alone is not the prostitute, and we must be careful not to name any individual denomination as the prostitute, for what the prostitute and her daughters stand for is the Church that has compromised the following of Jesus for earthly power with all its consequences. Even Luther’s own Lutheran Church has at times acted like the prostitute, teaming up with the kings to persecute the saints in the anabaptist movement, and so on.

And the present-day emphasis in many charismatic churches to be political influencers can easily lead to prostituting Christ’s teachings for earthly gain and influence. Look at how we have ignored the clear message of the Bible and twisted its words to support our political candidates that couldn't care less about the Bible! We have ceased to be a prophetic voice in our society and instead, we have prostituted the voice of the prophetic movement to gain influence in society. And because of us and our false witness, people find it difficult to believe the gospel. And Revelation 17 prophecies that, one day, the world will turn against the apostate church in anger and disgust.

And we are not far from the times when any Bible-believing Christian will have to depart from Babylon—their church—because the clear word of the Bible is being compromised merely to maintain the tax-exempt status of the denomination and for public acceptance. But in the end, the world will become disgusted by the Church that has lost all credibility of her witness.

So, although Rome stands in the vision for the prostitute, every Christian movement hungry for earthly power is in danger of becoming the prostitute. The violent acts perpetrated over the centuries by Christian states—Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox—are also the work of the prostitute and her daughters. The Christian states have over the centuries created some of the most formidable war machines, and often the saints of Christ have been the casualties.

Even Hathway’s much-loved Britain, supported by the Church,  perpetuated unimaginable atrocities through slavery and colonialism, waking up to the abomination of slavery hundreds of years too late.

Personally, I have high hopes for renewal in the Catholic Church and in all state churches, but we can’t ignore the fact that Revelation 17 makes the Church of Rome the archetype of the prostitute. We should not prostitute the Church with the kings of the nations.

No wonder John was astonished. He sees a vision of a prostitute Church in power in Rome at the time when the Church is still being persecuted and weak. It takes 300 more years before the vision has a chance to slowly begin to resemble reality.

But if the prostitute and her daughters in the Book of Revelation are the global apostate Church, it follows that they can’t be the EU. Also, in the verse 15 the angel says that the waters—the beast—the prostitute sits on—are the many nations of the earth.

To make even clearer that the goddess Europa riding on Zeus is not what the writer of Revelation means, there is a Sidonian coin from the 2nd century that depicts Europa riding on Zeus masquerading as bull. 

It bears no resemblance to the beast and woman in Revelation at all. 

But Hathaway needs the bull of Zeus to make a link to baal that was depicted as a bull, so that he can make a link to moon god and through that to Allah.

He argues that Allah, baal, the moon god and Zeus are the same god.

The problem is that Zeus was never linked to the moon but to sky and thunder. In the Greek mythology, Selene was the moon goddess.  

Hathaway completely disregards the actual text of the Book of Revelation and even Greek mythology to make them fit his theory.

Unforgivable historical errorsThere are so many historical errors and falsehoods in Hathaway’s presentation that it seems clear that his main sources have been the internet conspiracy theorists. Sometimes, Hathaway quotes them word by word, but without attributing the sources. 

According to Hathaway, Babylon was destroyed by Medo-Persia in Babylon and Medo-Persia then destroyed by Alexander the Great in Babylon. This is true, but then he claims that Greece was also destroyed by Rome in Babylon, and that Rome was destroyed in Europe by Germanic tribes.

Hathaway needs  Greece to be destroyed in Babylon, as he tries to create an unbroken link from Babylon to Berlin and Germany, but it is simply not true that Rome destroyed Greece in Babylon. 

Rome destroyed Greece in Corinth—not in Babylon.

It seems to me that Hathaway invents new history to fit his theory. 
Berlin—the Ishtar gateAccording to Hathaway, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon that is now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin has 337 snakes, and in Hebrew numerology 337 means sheol—gateway to hell. He’s making this point, as he wants build a case for Berlin as the ‘seat of Satan’. 

Unfortunately, many other words have the numeric value of 337, as every Hebrew word has numeric value, so this wouldn't be conclusive evidence in any case. 

It is problematic to use Hebrew numerology in prophecy, as it is the study of the occult meanings of numbers. Don’t let the word ‘Hebrew’ in Hebrew numerology deceive you, as it really is an Assyro-Babylonian-Greek system adopted by the Jews that has very little to do with the Bible and a lot more to do with horoscopes and occultism.

But that doesn’t really matter, as the Ishtar gate isn’t actually decorated with 337 snakes at all! Instead, the wall and the gate are decorated with dragons, lions and snakes, symbolising the major gods of Babylon. 

There is a wall that shows around 120 lions, bulls, dragons and flowers and the gate itself depicts a small number of gods and goddesses. 

What I find astonishing is that in video Hathaway stands in front of the gate and explains that the gate is decorated with 337 snakes when the background image clearly shows that this is not the case!

Here Hathaway has believed the internet conspiracy theorists rather than his own very eyes!
Berlin—the seat of SatanHathaway then attempts to build  a link between Berlin and Pergamon, claiming that Berlin is now the throne of Satan. In one sense, that is understandable, as the Pergamon Museum is now situated in Berlin.

Hathaway claims that the the Altar of Zeus and Athena that was moved from Pergamum to Berlin is now in the Pergamon Museum and is the “throne of Satan” that Revelation 2 refers to.

Unfortunately, there is very little if no historical evidence at all of this theory, although some have made this conjecture.  

Hathaway also claims that Christians were sacrificed on that altar in Pergamon, which dramatises his voiceover, but there is no evidence that this has actually happened.
Is the EU Parliament building the new Babel?Hathaway also claims that the EU Parliament building is an attempt to build a new tower of Babel and has been modelled on it. But that is not factually true.

The 60m high tower, intentionally left unfinished on one side, carries heavy symbolism, and is often said to have been oriented eastwards, i.e. towards eastern Europe, as by the time of the completion of the building no country from the former Soviet bloc had yet joined the EU. 

However, the open side of the tower actually faces west. Some have suggested that the tower's design consciously mirrors the Vienna painting of the Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

This is presented as fact, but it is nothing more than conjecture, as according to the architects, it was designed to look like an arena. 

Now, the arenas have their own negative connotations, but there must be thousands of buildings in the world built to look like an arena.

I don’t have time to go through all the occult references Hathaway finds in the EU symbols. A mind filled with conspiracy theories will always try to find meanings in symbols, but without bothering to research what they mean according to their designers. But at this stage there isn’t much left of his argument—all the main clauses in his argument have been proven false.
The Berlin Declaration The presentation ends with one more glaring historical error, as Hathaway builds the case for Berlin as the new seat of Satan.

According to Hathaway, Nazism was the result of the German Church rejecting the Pentecostal movement with the Berlin Declaration in 1919. He says that by 1920s the German church had become the seat of liberal theology and biblical criticism. 

Undoubtedly, the rejection of the Pentecostal movement by the German Church was a tragic event, and the Pentecostal Church has always struggled in Germany.

Unfortunately, Hathaway gets the rise of liberal theology and biblical criticism nearly 100 years wrong, as they started to influence the German Church already in the end of 19th century, rather than after 1909. 

Then Hathaway claims that the Germans have now rebuilt the Reichstag building that Hitler used in governing the Nazi Germany.

The Reichstag building was indeed rebuilt and opened in 1999, but in fact it was never used by Hitler when he was in power, as the building was set on fire on 27th February 1933 by an arsonist—just before Hitler came to power. 

During the 12 years of National Socialist rule, the Reichstag building was not used for parliamentary sessions. Instead, the few times that the Reichstag convened at all, it did so in the Kroll Opera House, opposite the Reichstag building. This applies particularly to the session of 23 March 1933, in which the Reichstag disposed of its powers in favour of the Nazi government. So, there is no Nazi governmental connection to the new parliament building at all. 

Hathaway makes  a claim that Babel and Babylon are the same thing, and links the tower of Babel to the EU through a medieval painting.  But it is unlikely that Babel was in Babylon, and the Bible never links Babel and Babylon together.

Hathaway makes a claim that God destroyed the Tower of Babel, but the Bible doesn't actually say that—Genesis 11:8 only says that God scattered the people of Babel and they ceased to build the city.

You may ask why does all this matter? Well, it matters to you especially if you live in the Continent. The Rape of Europe amounts to the demonisation of Germany and Muslims, and paints a rather saintly picture of the British Empire that was responsible for many atrocities such as starving to death of over 10 million Indians.

Also, these kind of conspiracy-based 'prophecies' have successfully extinguished the power of the prophetic movement in the USA, and I fear that the same thing will happen in Europe—even before the nascent prophetic movement is given a chance.

Looking at history, I see the EU rather differently, especially after two world wars that started in Europe and claimed nearly a hundred million lives. To me, the EU is not the beast, but a cage that restrains the beast. Europe might or might not be the beast of the Book of Revelation. But the caging of it with the EU has in fact pacified it. 

The apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 1:16, "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty."

It is time for the prophetic movement in Europe to rediscover the sound teaching of the Bible rather than continuing to seek the latest conspiracy theory. 

You can connect with Marko on Twitter @markojoensuu and on Facebook at  facebook.com/marko.joensuu  or by visiting  markojoensuu.com .

The secret of God's presence

God's presence is a free gift but many Christians have not learned how to receive it, as they believe mistakenly that it must be earned.Paul says in Romans 8:38-39:"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."Paul's experience of God's love and presence had been attacked by trials and tribulations and even principalities and powers, but his conclusion was that there is nothing that can separate him from God's presence of love, as long as he was able to receive it as free gift.
You can connect with Marko on Twitter @markojoensuu and on Facebook at  facebook.com/marko.joensuu  or by visiting  markojoensuu.com .

Gift of discerning spirits and prophecy

The gift of discerning spirits is largely missing from the prophetic movement. But if you want to keep your prophetic gift and have a lifelong prophetic ministry, you will need it.


You can connect with Marko on Twitter @markojoensuu and on Facebook at  facebook.com/marko.joensuu  or by visiting  markojoensuu.com .

Gifts in the prophetic and apostolic continuum

Spiritual gifts can be best understood when they are placed within the prophetic and apostolic continuum, rather than within any arbitrary categories that we have superimposed on them. 
Hear teaching on them recorded in a short Bible school session.