All posts by AOCM

My name is Pastor Tony Catron I graduate from K.S.U. with a degree in electronic/electrical engineering. While doing that I became a Junior Deacon and also a musician in my dad's ministry in Cleveland, Ohio. Years later, my career took me to Michigan where I worked as a Electrical/Electronic Engineer. While in Michigan I became a Minister, then later went to Seminary training at Birmingham Bible Institute and became an Elder at a large Pentecostal church in Michigan called LLCC. I was called to the ministry by God. So I headed up an outreach ministry based on the End Times, dealing with restoration in people lives. Then my dad called me back to Ohio to help him Pastor his church. During that time, God changed my outreach ministry, turning it into a full-time restoration ministry. He gave me the name Ark of Covenant Ministries and the rest is history.
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The Many Faces of Control

For those who didn’t know, one of the most profound things that has dominated society to date is control. This has plagued man kind since the beginning of man on this Earth. It is “The Many Faces of Control.” Take for instance in the garden of Eden. Adam was given the responsibility of over seeing the Garden and to maintaining an order there. When Eve comes along as a help mate, he expounds to Eve the rules of the garden and gives her the lay of the land and the boundaries of it. Now Eve, being the weaker of the two got caught in a controlling type of circumstance in dealing with the Satan who took control of the body of a serpent.

There are eight types of controlling individuals and they are as follows:

  1. The Flatterer: That is the type of person that preys on those who have low self-esteem. Then they will manipulate them.
  2. The False Accuser/ Assuming you’re the cause: They’ll say something like “you think,” or “you believe,” or “if you wasn’t.”
  3. The Isolater: If you’re in a relationship or friendship with this type of person, you have to make them your one and only or there will be hell to pay.
  4. The Interrogator: This type of person will always interrogate with question, every time you try to assert yourself.
  5. The Self Pitying, Helpless One or the Victim: Woe is me; He or she will wallow in their own pain and misery so that you will feel sorry for them. They love this because it will make a fuss over them.
  6. The Blackmailer: They’re the one that controls another by knowing what no other person knows about you to get you to do something for them.
  7. The Guilt Tripper: They are the type that may feel bad performing something by not talking to them or keeping you out of the group.
  8. The Physical Aggressor: Uses physical abuse to make you comply to their wishes.

These types of individuals thrive off of people’s weaknesses and their day isn’t complete until they have control over some thing or some body. So lets take a look at what the term “Control” means: As a noun it’s the power to influence or direct people’s behavior or the course of events. Now let see what the Word God says about these types of individuals.

In the book of 1 Thessalonians 4:6 (KJV) 6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
Galatians 1:6-12 (KJV) 6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7:12-21 (KJV) 12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
2 Peter 2:1-9 (KJV) 1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

In my conclusion, take this to heart: The Encyclopedia Britannica links control with witchcraft.

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Matthew 24

Summary of Verses 1-15

Jesus prophesied that the Jewish Temple would be leveled and destroyed, and His prophecy came true. Wars and conquest have been happening for such a long time. This is just the beginning. Many now are very cold, selfish and rarely have smiles on their faces. Many people also become so easily offended over the smallest of matters. Be aware, stand your ground about who you are and Whom you believe in, and do not compromise. Stay connected to God so you know who you are and Who you serve so you’re not deceived, for many false prophets will come about. Continue to be the light of God. Stay the course and remain connected and many will be saved. Yet, through all of these premonitions of doom upon the Earth, Jesus is giving every nation the opportunity to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom and everyone who endures until the end will be saved. Then the end will come.

Summary of Verses 16-30

When the end comes, even those who belong to Jesus have the potential to be lost, but the days will be shortened so they can be saved. Faith in Jesus and trust in Him is everything. This is how you will make it. Its His strength, not ours or our ability or merits. Cleave to Christ now and to the end, because your salvation depends on it. When Jesus comes, why would all nations mourn? Because it will be time for judgement because of all the things they’ve done contrary to the Will of God.

Summary of Verses 31-45

We have to be aware and watchful, knowing what to look for to know when Christ is coming back. He will give us signs for us to be alert. Just as we know that spring is coming when we see tender branches and sprouts upon the trees, we can know when the Lord is coming back by signs He gives us.

Summary of Verses 46-51

We don’t know when the Lord is coming, but we shouldn’t take advantage of His delay and do what we want to do, getting entangled with evil in the process. We will become blinded in our sin, and miss when the Lord comes. But someone who is faithfully waiting on Him does not become idle while the Lord delays His coming. That person faithful does what is pleasing to His master while waiting for His return.

Through all this, there is hope if we turn from our sins and to the Lord Jesus now and endure, living life in holy awe toward Him. God is merciful. Yet, if you refuse His goodness, you will exchange it for His judgement. His judgement will rest upon you and sorrow, pain and anguish will be your experience and demise.

What We Learned

  1. Be aware of God’s timing
  2. Caution of deceptions & false prophets
  3. Don’t be easily offended
  4. Don’t be attached to this life
  5. Serve Jesus with a true heart
  6. The Word of God will be your end, good or bad
  7. Expect persecution for your loyalty to Jesus

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Matthew Chapter 23

Who Was Matthew in the Bible?

The name Matthew means “given; a reward.” He was an apostle and evangelist, Son of Alpheus, a Galilean by birth, a Jew by religion and a publican and tax collector by profession (Mark 14, Luke 5:27, Matthew 9:9). He was called by other evangelists by his Hebrew name Levi, but always called himself Matthew.

Superficial Spirituality versus Genuine Humility

The Scribes & Pharisees exalt themselves and want honor and recognition for their position and standing as religious leaders. They make a boast about themselves in the way they wear their religious garments, they way they carry themselves in high minded arrogance, so they can appear to be someone before people and in the way the deem to be scholars of the Law of Moses. Yet their hearts are very hard toward actually following the heart of the law: to display love toward God and love toward your neighbor.

The Religious leaders were just like their ancestors the Children of Israel who in the desert, hardened their hearts toward God. Verse 37 is a perfect picture of the Father in that He will not tolerate sin, though He is merciful. He gave the Religious leaders and their ancestors time after time, wanting to renew them to Himself, but they were so hard-hearted that they refused. His mercy endures, but one must give account of their persistent, willful sin.

These prideful ideas have blinded the religious leaders who think they are capable, worthy guides of people they consider to be blind. True humility is not wanting to be exalted before others; true humility is wanting to be servant of others.

  1. Not to be prideful
  2. Make sure your walk matches your talk
  3. Value the gift over the house its in
  4. Persistent sin will be your end
  5. Self-righteous sin is bred within
  6. The ill words you say will grow in a bad way
  7. In order to be an example you must first examine your heart
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What’s Stealing Your Time and Heart from Christ?

When it comes to people in the world today, they seem to be preoccupied with time, and sometimes they will make statements like: “You’re wasting my time,” or “You’re slowing me down,” or “I have spent to much time with you.” Still other people might say: “If you don’t have anything good to say that makes sense, then stop wasting my time.”

People use the word “time” as though it was a mystic chant. It seems that anyone that has a busy life today doesn’t even have enough time to think clearly. The average person from the ages of 14-21, I believe are going through what I call, “Life identity Crisis.” Most people are told so much today how to do and what to do and every thing in between. Through the internet and your smart phone, tablet or smart watch, you can be told how to eat, where to eat, how to walk or run, how far you have gone walking or running, plus your location, where to shop, what the best deals are, and how to get to them. You can keep up with the latest news from Hollywood to the grave, all while drinking a double latte whilst driving in your SUV!

But if you’ve left your phone at home by mistake don’t worry. Just look down at your wrist on your smart watch. You’ll think “I’m saved! I got it at a steal for $300.00 across town.” Since you have your smart watch on, you can keep up with the latest buzz feed. Yes, I said it. Buzz feed. When you look at what the word “feed” means, it is an act of giving food, especially to animals or a baby in a continuous manner.

It may become clearer as to what is going on in your heart, mind and soul when you can understand this old computer term “fifo,” or first in first out. So as I read the meaning of feed, it didn’t state weather or not the feed was good or bad. So when you look at what buzz feed is doing to you, it’s consuming your time and life with useless garbage. If you didn’t have access to that device so readily, your mind would have time to recover from that buzz in your head. Look at the person near you and ask them, “have you got buzzed lately?” Sometimes these devices can become a surrogate for a lost or unfounded relationship; they can easily take the place of a human.

Now think how often you carry your phone. Better yet what is the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night with your phone? Most of us have an intimate relationship with our phones in so much that it walks with us every where we go. Even when we go to bed at night it lies on the pillow beside us. I could go on and on about how we fall asleep in a loving embrace with our phones, but I’ll stop there.

Lets see what the Word of God has to say concerning this stealing of time from your life.

Galatians 3:1: O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

You see, the Galatians or rather the Judaizers were saying that Paul was not a one of the original Apostles but derived his teaching from the Twelve.

1 John 2:15-17: 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

As you all know that while you strive to please men and self, you might wind up losing all as is stated in the book of Mark 8:36: 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

In my conclusion, I’m going to drop these nuggets of Gods words.

Proverbs 3:3-7 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

Isaiah 26:3-5 3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength: 5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

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Jesus Is Calling for Ordinary People, to Do Extraordinary Things for the Kingdom

Why is it when we are called upon by God to do His will, we can find every excuse in the world why we don’t have time or the finances. But when the thing is pertaining to what we want, then all of a sudden funds and time have become available. I believe that we really don’t value Jesus’ word and take it to heart as we should, especially when we were baptized in His name and supposedly filled with the Holy Ghost, which is the the hope of glory as in the book of Colossians 1:27 says, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

So if Christ is in you, the hope of Glory then who is speaking, you or the Christ in you? What Jesus Christ is only asking of you to do, is your reasonable service, as Romans 12:1 states. When you take upon yourself His death burial and His resurrection, then your life is His to do of His good pleasure.

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Philippians 2:13-16

The reason why in a lot of cases we’re not doing Jesus’ will for our life is because we do not want to die to self, and yield to Jesus’ will and to His way, which is the truth and the life as stated in John 14:6. Jesus is calling for ordinary people, to do extraordinary things, for the Kingdom in these last days to further the Kingdom principles. He will use people like Moses who who freed the enslaved Hebrew people.

Exodus 3:9-12 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

Another ordinary person was David, who killed the giant named Goliath, David being just a Shepard Boy. No one would go out to fight Goliath but David did. We read about this account in 1 Samuel 17:41-46

41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. 42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

In my conclusion I’ll leave you with this: Jesus’ will is what our life down on Earth be for Him, if we want to die to self and yield to Jesus’ will and to His way. Then we really can’t call ourselves a real Christian, and if we persist in calling our self Christians, it would just in name only. So you need to get rid of the facade and stop the charade.