Spirit and Truth Fellowship International

One of the most exciting and invigorating things in this life is to personally be in touch with God and the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive revelation from them. It is important in these dark times to be confident that the Lord will give us revelation, and also that we know what it is when we receive it. In this teaching, John Schoenheit covers revelation from God and the Lord as it comes as a message of knowledge or a message of wisdom to the gift of holy spirit born inside you, and then to your mind or body in any of the seven ways: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, when you “just know,” or when you have a strong emotion. This knowledge helps Christians greatly as we witness to others and work to turn people from darkness to light, and it may just keep us alive in dangerous circumstances.

Jesus taught that the greatest commandment of all is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. This being the case, it only makes sense that the greatest sin a person could commit would be idolatry—loving someone or something before God. At the root of all idolatry is pride: the desire to do things my way, not God’s way. In this teaching Dan Gallagher explores the insidious nature of pride, the various faces that it wears, where pride comes from, and some practical ways to lessen its vise-like grip on our hearts. The reality is that we all have pride, so if we are going to live the victorious life Jesus wants for us, we have to face our personal pride issues. After all, God declares that He “opposes the proud but shows grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

Over twenty years ago the author John Bevere wrote in the book, The Bait of Satan, that he had “observed one of the enemy’s most deadly and deceptive traps. It imprisons countless Christians, severs relationships and widens existing breaches between us. It is the trap of offense.” What he observed over two decades ago seems to have increased exponentially today. The spirit of offense is behind much of the tension in the world as it engenders frustration, resentment, anger, and bitterness between people. The result is an increasing loss of compassion; coldness; and even hatred. As people lose the ability to genuinely dialogue about differences, they lose the ability to hear one another, discuss these differences, and most importantly the ability to spread the Good News of Jesus. In this teaching Dan Gallagher exposes the problem of offense, the cause behind it, and the godly solutions we can all employ to free ourselves from the Enemy’s trap of being “offended.”

A great biblical truth, but one not well-known by the Church, is that God has an inner divine council of spirit beings with whom He works to administer the universe. There is good biblical evidence for this, and it also makes perfect sense when we think of the way God works with His creation: when God created mankind, He gave them dominion over the animals; when our numbers increased, He asked us to appoint rulers and judges who would administer a godly society; and when He raised Jesus from the dead, He gave him all authority and made him ruler of His creation, just to give a few examples. Similarly, before mankind existed, God had a council of ruling spirits to help Him administer His creation. In this teaching, John Schoenheit goes over many of the verses of Scripture that reveal this divine council, and shows that they have been active in the past in helping God, and will continue in that role in the future as well.

God is a master in His use of irony. There are different forms of irony, but whether verbal or situational, they involve events that happen in exact opposition to what is intended. There are times when the irony is very subtle, but there are others when it is so unmistakable that it seems to be a neon billboard brightly flashing the words, “God is at work here!” In this teaching, Dan Gallagher uses a number of examples to show God’s use of irony, starting in Genesis, going through a number of Old Testament records, the Gospels, and the crucifixion of Christ. We believe that this teaching will inspire you and help you to get more in touch with God’s use of irony, not only in His Word but also in your own personal life, so that you too will say, “God truly is at work here!”

In this teaching, taught live at the 2015 STF-USA National Conference, John Schoenheit talks about what being a mature Christian is and is not. For example: Although many people think that mature Christians have good physical health, that is not an indicator of Christian maturity. Similarly, many mature Christians are not financially or materially prosperous. It should be the goal of every Christian to grow become mature in Christ. But if we have the wrong idea about what that means, we can set goals for ourselves that are unattainable and that leave us feeling demoralized and defeated. The Devil works hard to defeat us in the material realm, and that often means believers have problems in this world. Mature believers seek to do God’s will before fulfilling their own desires and are centered on the welfare of others. We believe this teaching will help to guide you as you endeavor to grow in Christ.

In Acts 5 we find the record of the Apostles being told by the Jewish leadership to stop spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. In obedience to Christ’s commands to “go and make disciples of all nations,” they boldly replied, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” In many cultures and societies around the world, we are seeing increasing attacks on Christian values and the passage of laws and governmental actions that contradict the ways of God. In this teaching, Dan Gallagher explores the concept of obedience to God as it relates to the realms of our personal, family, church, civil, and corporate lives. We believe this teaching will help to guide you as you endeavor to always “obey God rather than men.”

Many parts of the world are experiencing weather patterns that are unprecedented, at least in recent history. This is unsurprising as the Bible clearly ties weather patterns to the behavior of the people in a country. In this three-segment teaching, John Schoenheit covers: the nature of the earth as a war zone between Good and Evil, that everything that happens on earth is not God’s will, and that people have an effect on what happens on earth, including the weather; many of the verses that tie people’s behavior to the weather, showing that it is a consistent message throughout Scripture; and Jesus’ teaching at the Last Supper about how to prepare for difficult times, explaining and expounding on how Jesus told his disciples to prepare for them.

Most Christians understand that Jesus directed his followers to be witnesses for him; yet the reality is that the majority of the Body of Christ is not actively spreading the Good News. In this teaching, Dan Gallagher examines the problems that keep most Christians from witnessing, and provides practical solutions that will help many to become more comfortable and effective in engaging others. We believe you will be inspired and encouraged by this teaching to be the ambassador Christ has called you to be.

Life is too difficult for Christians to be mentally, physically, and spiritually successful without help from the Lord. The Bible encourages us to be strong in the Lord—and that is a must, if we are going to succeed as God’s workers, athletes, warriors, and ambassadors. When Jacob was told that his beloved son Benjamin had to go to Egypt if the family wanted more food, he exclaimed, “Everything happens to me!” Of course, that was not true—but it expressed how he felt at the time, and how a lot of us feel when things go wrong in our lives. If we allow our thoughts to run in that direction, we can become pessimistic and even depressed, or we can slip into escapism and not engage the world the way God calls us to. In this teaching, John Schoenheit addresses 5 simple points for staying positive, being engaged in life, and being effective ambassadors for God—through our awareness of how our flesh makes us feel; our honesty about the world as a war zone; our understanding that it is not abnormal or ungodly to have strong emotions when bad things happen; our having control of our thoughts, and being willing to let go of the things of this life and keep the Hope in mind.

Most Christians understand that God is their spiritual Father, but what many don’t realize is that God wants to be a very intimate part of our lives just like a good father that loves his children, providing instruction and lessons on a daily basis. One of the ways God does this is through Faith Lessons From Everyday Life. In the Book of Hebrews we are told that, like a father, God “disciplines” his children. In the Western world we often think of discipline as corporal punishment, but in the Greek and Hebrew mindset, discipline was about teaching and instruction. In this teaching Dan Gallagher shows how, when we are seeking His instruction, God will guide and train us at all times, through both the good times and periods of hardship, provided we are focused on the Creator and not the creation. We believe you will enjoy and be inspired by the many personal examples cited in this teaching.

It can be very unsettling to feel like we are out of control of our lives. Yet we all face unwanted circumstances on a regular basis that we may not be able to change. The Bible says that Satan controls and enslaves people through fear. While we may not be able to change our circumstances, we can still be in control of ourselves, and Jesus showed us how to do that. Jesus faced many difficult situations as well as hours of torture and then death on the cross at the end of his life. It is amazing and inspiring to see that Jesus was not just another prisoner being overcome with fear and controlled by others, but instead he stayed in control of himself. He may have been tied up, beaten, and nailed to a cross, but he was not confused and in despair. He knew who he was and what he was doing and he was not afraid of the pain and death. In this teaching, John Schoenheit reads the records of the trial and death of Jesus Christ, examines the principles Jesus used to maintain his control in some of the most difficult situations that any person could ever face, and then discusses how we can use those same principles to be in control of our own lives.

While it is true that throughout God’s Word He uses the description of light and darkness to compare good and evil, the number of descriptions of God and light seem to also indicate that there is a far deeper reality at work. In this teaching Dan Gallagher provides a brief sense of the scientific properties of light, citing recent discoveries concerning light and DNA, the basic building block of all biological organisms; he then examines the many vivid descriptions of God and light as it manifests His glory; its presence when angels appear; references to Jesus being the light of the world, who was transfigured with light on the mount; and how Jesus now manifests light in his present glorified state. We believe you will find this teaching to be inspiring and encouraging as it illuminates why Christians are called “children of the light” and how one day, when our bodies are transformed, we will live with God and Jesus in a place where there is no more need for the sun or moon because we will dwell with them, and they will be our complete source of light.

The book of Esther is a historical account of the events that led up to the establishment of the Jewish feast of Purim, which occurs in the month of Adar. In this teaching on Esther, John Schoenheit explains the value of expository teaching versus topical teaching, and demonstrates how we can, and must, learn to notice the valuable lessons that God placed in the text as we read the Bible. Esther is packed with powerful practical lessons and wisdom for life. We can see the spiritual battle between good and evil raging in a real life drama; the value of being wise and making wise choices to be successful in life; the requirements of sacrifice and boldness to accomplish God’s purposes; and the value of being able to graciously handle the things that come up in our lives, being thankful to God and looking for a way to let our light shine on this earth. Those lessons, and many more, are buried in the pages of Esther, and come to light as we read it.

The desire for love, as well as the capacity to love, has been hardwired into every human being. The problem is that most people don’t realize that when we love, we are either doing it in a worldly way or a godly way. Knowing the difference between the two is essential if we are truly going to be the kind of people God desires: those who love like He does. In this teaching Dan Gallagher examines the differences between the two types of love by looking at examples from the scriptures, personal examples, and a comparison between the two. We believe you will enjoy this teaching as you gain a new perspective on what it means to love as God does.