James Joseph Fire
Apologetics, Prophecy, Bible Teacher
James Fire was born on AUG 27, 1962 in Syracuse, NY to an average Roman Catholic Italian family of five. He faced a lot of physical struggles with deformities and poor health for much of his childhood. Being a weakling and ‘different looking’ he was often the object of ridicule and bullying. Having barely escaped death twice before he was 10 years old, his mother told him, “God has you alive for a PURPOSE!” He was very religious and felt a closeness or a yearning to be close to God, but went astray in his search for spiritual reality by exploring and practicing the occult – and used his ability to fight back against the bullies.
Eventually he left the occult and pursued the Bible in a last desperate attempt to find his “purpose” and on June 20, 1980, in the privacy of his bedroom, he accepted Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior and was born again (To read his testimony go to this link Can I Get A Witness on FROM the MIND of FIRE).
In OCT of 1993 he, along with two friends after much prayer, moved from New York to Arizona, where he lives today, ministering to the saints in church with sermons, Bible teaching, and Discipleship classes. He writes for the website The TRUTH Under FIRE and two blogs (links for these found on TTUF): FROM the MIND of FIRE and The RED PILL Consortium.
Bible Teacher, Apologist,
Founder of The Truth Under Fire
Anne Kisly
Apologetics, Current Events, Christian Persecution
I was born and raised into the Roman Catholic faith. Oddly enough, we were never very devout followers, and never completely indoctrinated by its false teachings.
In 1974 my whole world changed. I was in the sixth grade, when quite unexpectedly my father up and had left home. Through all the heartbreak, turmoil and confusion of a family in crisis God had a plan. During this time my aunt came to visit and invited my mother to go to church and seek Christian counselling. My mother not only agreed, but packed my brother and sister and I into the car and off we went. Life was about to change forever.
I remember the first time I walked into that little Pentecostal church. I had never seen anything quite like it before, and really didn't know what to make of it. As I sat there listening to the worship and watching people as they stood lifting their hands, I remember feeling nervous and thinking that my mother had gone off the deep end. But as the teaching began my heart was opened to the gospel message, the Good News that that we had all been waiting for.
From the first moment I heard the word preached, without hesitation I believed. I never doubted it for a moment. It was as if a light switch had been turned on and there it was...the TRUTH revealed! I readily received the message that: I am a sinner ( Romans 3:10, 23). The penalty for sin is death (Romans 5:12, 6:23). Somehow the penalty for my sin had to be paid (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus paid the penalty for my sin with His shed blood on the cross. (Romans 5:8). And Jesus conquered death at His resurrection from the dead (Romans 5:10). That was back in 1974, I was 12 years old and it was the year I received Christ as my Savior.
Of course in the years that followed there were some pretty bumpy times in my walk with the Lord. We attended various Pentecostal churches that were big on experiences but seriously lacked in the teaching of the word. I was in public school and didn’t have Christian friends…so compromise began to set in. You know what they say about the Holy Spirit, and your praying mother? He is the Hound of Heaven, and mom was the hound at home. Mom would pray 'friends' out of my life, and the Holy Spirit would chase me down, convict me of sin and lead me home.
Years later, mom eventually married again and she and my step-dad purchased Bible study tapes by Chuck Smith from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. They started a home Bible study and invited neighbors and friends and before long people started coming.
James Fire was one of those who came to the home study, and came to know Christ as his Savior. I should mention that I knew James throughout our school years. We weren't friends, nor enemies....he was more of a pest. I would sleep during English class and James would sit behind me kicking my chair to wake me up, or annoy me. I think he enjoyed the reaction he would get out of me. I mention this because one night I came home from work only to find James sitting in our house attending my parents Bible study. The rest, as they say, is history. We became great friends and comrades in Christ.
In 1993, I moved from Syracuse to Canandaigua, NY to serve in full time ministry with my late husband. I am remarried now to my wonderful husband, Paul, for more than 13 years and currently serving in other capacities. I am an administrator, technician and co-writer for The Truth Under Fire website.
Anne Kisly
Founder of The Truth Under FireWeb Master, Audio/Video/Graphics Tech
Apologetics, News and Persecution Alerts
Dr. Gregory Reid
Director of Youthfire Ministry
Dr. Gregory Reid is a retire Private Investigator with over 20 years experience as a contract criminal justice trainer on occult crimes and crimes against children. He is the author of 11 books, including Trojan Church, A Cry in the Wilderness, The Color of Pain and the recently released War of the Ages: A Complete Scriptural Guide to Confronting and Defeating Satan's Kingdom.
Dr. Reid has been in youth ministry since 1975. A graduate of Christ for the Nations Bible School in Dallas, he holds an honorary degree from Logos Graduate School and is an ordained minister with American Evangelistic Association. Director of Youthfire Ministry, he served as youth pastor at Cross Point Church in El Paso, Texas for seven years."
Dr. Gregory Reid
Director of Youthfire Ministry
Guest Writer, Apologetics
Senior Pastor
Whitestone Christian Fellowship
Victor, New York
Bob Lawrenz worked for 25 years in the Fire Service, and upon retiring, went into full-time ministry at his home church. He was ordained in 1988 at Calvary Chapel of the Finger Lakes in New York where he served in Prison Ministry, and as an Associate Pastor. Pastor Bob studied Bible Based Counseling at Christian Counseling and Education Foundation, a Jay Adams ministry outside of Philadelphia, PA. (C.C.E.F. supplies the counseling curriculum for Westminster Theological Seminary.) Striking out on his own in 2003, Pastor Bob started a home Bible Study in his living room that quickly outgrew his home. Whitestone Christian Fellowship was established there, and after outgrowing two rental properties, has met in its current location since purchasing their own church building in 2008, in Victor, NY. Pastor Bob has been married to his lovely wife, Norine, for 46 years; they have two sons, six grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. They reside in suburban Rochester, NY.
Bob Lawrenz
Whitestone Christian Fellowship
Guest Writer & Contributor for TTUF
Pastor Sonny Islas
Senior Pastor
Eternal Living Word Church, South
Tucson, Arizona
Sonny Islas was born on April 8, 1980 in Tucson, Arizona to a Christian family of 7. Though raised in a Christian home, during his teen years , he associated with the wrong crowd, which lead him to do shameful and remorseful things. After watching some of his closest friends die due to drugs and gangs, he began to really ponder eternity, life after death, hell and the consequences of sin. This caused a holy fear of God to grip his heart.
He, then, eagerly began attending church again and surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ at the age of 16. He was immediately baptized. The first few years were a bit rough. However, at the age of 16 , he felt an inner calling to preach. By the time Sonny turned 18, the inward calling took fruition. While a senior in high school, he was asked to give bible studies during lunch. During this time God gave him a genuine hunger for the Word. Furthermore, he was also asked to preach on Friday nights at his local church to the youth group. God continued to open doors, as he was consistently invited to preach by different churches-- small and large, both in and out of town. He served in many ways such as; preaching, Christian rap music, leading worship, missions trips, evangelism of all kinds, and leading teen and young adult ministry. Sonny comes from an extensive line of preachers, pastors, worship leaders, Christian musicians, evangelist and ministry workers of all kinds.
He married at the age of 23 and is still with the love of his life today. Sonny and his wife have two sons, 13 and 10. After serving in youth ministry and evangelism, Sonny served as an Assistant Pastor to his oldest brother for a few years. At age of 30, he felt the calling to become a lead pastor himself and to plant a sister church. God grieved Sonny’s heart for the souls of men who are being destroyed by false teachings and by the blinding of Satan. His desire was to preach God’s inerrant Word by the power of the Spirit, that men would turn to Christ as they hear the Gospel Message. After 4 years of much prayer and patience, the leadership took a step of faith to send Sonny, in June of 2014, to the most spiritually bankrupt part of town where the E.L.W Church South was born. That desire has become the heart of the ministry by the Grace of God. This July of 2018, The E.L.W. Church South faith family celebrates 4 years and Sonny celebrates 20 years of ministry and 15 years of marriage. The LORD has been good and faithful to work his will and purpose in Sonny.
Senior Pastor
Eternal Living Word Church, South
Tucson, Arizona
Sonny Islas was born on April 8, 1980 in Tucson, Arizona to a Christian family of 7. Though raised in a Christian home, during his teen years , he associated with the wrong crowd, which lead him to do shameful and remorseful things. After watching some of his closest friends die due to drugs and gangs, he began to really ponder eternity, life after death, hell and the consequences of sin. This caused a holy fear of God to grip his heart.
He, then, eagerly began attending church again and surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ at the age of 16. He was immediately baptized. The first few years were a bit rough. However, at the age of 16 , he felt an inner calling to preach. By the time Sonny turned 18, the inward calling took fruition. While a senior in high school, he was asked to give bible studies during lunch. During this time God gave him a genuine hunger for the Word. Furthermore, he was also asked to preach on Friday nights at his local church to the youth group. God continued to open doors, as he was consistently invited to preach by different churches-- small and large, both in and out of town. He served in many ways such as; preaching, Christian rap music, leading worship, missions trips, evangelism of all kinds, and leading teen and young adult ministry. Sonny comes from an extensive line of preachers, pastors, worship leaders, Christian musicians, evangelist and ministry workers of all kinds.
He married at the age of 23 and is still with the love of his life today. Sonny and his wife have two sons, 13 and 10. After serving in youth ministry and evangelism, Sonny served as an Assistant Pastor to his oldest brother for a few years. At age of 30, he felt the calling to become a lead pastor himself and to plant a sister church. God grieved Sonny’s heart for the souls of men who are being destroyed by false teachings and by the blinding of Satan. His desire was to preach God’s inerrant Word by the power of the Spirit, that men would turn to Christ as they hear the Gospel Message. After 4 years of much prayer and patience, the leadership took a step of faith to send Sonny, in June of 2014, to the most spiritually bankrupt part of town where the E.L.W Church South was born. That desire has become the heart of the ministry by the Grace of God. This July of 2018, The E.L.W. Church South faith family celebrates 4 years and Sonny celebrates 20 years of ministry and 15 years of marriage. The LORD has been good and faithful to work his will and purpose in Sonny.
Sonny Islas
Eternal Living Word Church
Guest Writer & Contributor for TTUF
3 comments:
Hi Anne,
My name is Anita McLaurin, and I have a question about a graphic used in the article entitled Spiritual Warfare from February 2011.
The image of the armour of God. May I have permission to use it in a PowerPoint presentation if I credit you and Truth Under Fire as the source?
Thank you for your consideration.
Anita
I clicked on "Apostasy Alerts" and it landed on a page of lawyer information. No alerts?
Anita, our apologies on getting back to you so late, but if you are still interested, please feel free to use it! All for the glory of the Kingdom of GOD!
Steve, we are trying to play 'catch-up' on the various tabs on our site - I think you'll be seeing some new stuff on TTUF soon! If not, there are some really good sites to keep updated such as https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/ among some others.
As I am fond of saying, Keep Your Eyes On the Skies and Don't Believe the Lies, Jesus Christ Returns Soon from on High!
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