Five Ways Christianity Is Increasingly Viewed as Extremist

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Research Releases in Faith & Christianity • February 23, 2016

Society is undergoing a change of mind about the way religion and people of faith intersect with public life. That is, there are intensifying perceptions that faith is at the root of a vast number of societal ills.
Though it remains the nation’s most dominant religion, Christianity faces significant headwind in the court of public opinion. The decades-old trend that Christianity is irrelevant is increasingly giving way to the notion that Christianity is bad for society.
A new major study conducted by Barna Group, and explored in the new book Good Faith, co-authored by Barna president David Kinnaman, examines society’s current perceptions of faith and Christianity. In sum, faith and religion and Christianity are viewed by millions of adults to be extremist.
Here are five facts that explain the emerging reality:
1. Adults and especially non-believers are concerned about religious extremism.
In the wake of religiously motivated terrorism—like the recent incidents in San Bernardino and Paris—it is no wonder that a backlash against extremism is reaching a boiling point. Currently, a strong majority of adults believe “being religiously extreme is a threat to society.” Three-quarters of all Americans—and nine out of ten Americans with no faith affiliation—agree with this statement.
2. Nearly half of non-religious adults perceive Christianity to be extremist.
The perception that the Christian faith is extreme is now firmly entrenched among the nation’s non-Christians. A full forty-five percent of atheists, agnostics, and religiously unaffiliated in America agree with the statement “Christianity is extremist.” Almost as troubling is the fact that only 14 percent of atheists and agnostics strongly disagree that Christianity is extremist. The remaining four in ten (41%) disagree only somewhat. So even non-Christians who are reluctant to fully label Christianity as extremist, still harbor some hesitations and negative perceptions toward the religion.
3. The range of what constitutes extremism is broad, ranging from behaviors that are almost universally condemned to more narrowly defined extremism.
What actions and beliefs, exactly, come to mind when people think about religious extremism? The researchers examined more than 20 different activities and beliefs, asking a random, representative sample of U.S. adults to identify the degree to which each of those activities appeared extreme. The results essentially fall into four categories, as shown in the infographic below.

• Category 1 included those actions widely considered to be extreme by at least four in five adults in the U.S. This involved using religion to justify violence, refusing standard medical care for children, and refusing to serve a customer whose lifestyle conflicted with their beliefs. For the most part, these three elements were viewed to be extreme by a majority of all demographic segments as well.
• Category 2 were activities and beliefs marked as extremist by at least half, but less than 80% of the public. Eight different factors qualified for this level, ranging from demonstrating outside an organization they consider immoral and protesting government policies that conflict with religious views. Many of these factors related to the claims of faith in the public square—that is, how religious people might interact on social issues and government policies.
• Category 3 included factors that generated extremist concerns among at least one out of five adults, though they are not currently rated as extreme by more than 50% of adults. This group of concerns was populated by elements that are more distinctive to various religious traditions, such as speaking in tongues (characteristic of Pentecostal and charismatic believers), wearing special clothes or head coverings  (e.g., Muslim women), and adhering to special dietary restrictions (such as Mormons, Catholics, Jews, and Adventists). [Note: specific religious connections were not provided to respondents.]
• Category 4 was only occasionally indicated as extremist, generating concerns among at least one in 16 adults, but fewer than one-fifth of Americans. However, when calculated on the basis of the entire population, these perceptions represent significant numbers of adults who indicate anxiety about these kinds of religious expression. These factors include reading sacred literature (either the Bible or Koran) in public as well as donating money to or attending a religious institution. Again, these are low on the list of extremism, however, for many Americans even these conventional activities are viewed to be extreme.

5. Evangelicals stand out from the norm in terms of their attitudes on religious extremism—and they exhibit major differences from the skeptics.
Evangelical Christians stand out among national trends. In all but four cases, evangelicals are much less likely to perceive the elements assessed in the research to constitute extremism. Evangelicals are equally likely as the general population to say that religiously motivated violence and refusing medical attention to children are extremist—in other words, the vast majority of evangelicals agree with virtually everyone that these activities are certainly extreme. Also, evangelicals are equally likely as the general population to say that wearing special clothes or head garments and reading the Koran in public are extremist actions.
[Note: Barna’s definition of evangelicals is not based upon a person self-identifying as evangelical. See the methodology below for details. As Barna defines them, evangelicals represent 7% of the population or about one in every 14 adults.]
The research points out a massive gap between two “super segments” in American life today: evangelicals and skeptics (those who self-identify as atheist, agnostic and religiously unaffiliated).
On virtually all of the extremist factors assessed in the research, evangelicals and skeptics maintain widely divergent points of view. The chart below shows 10 of the largest differences. For example, only 1% of evangelicals believe it is religiously extreme for a person to teach his or her children that same-sex relationships are morally wrong. However, three-quarters of skeptics (75%) believe this is extremist. Attempting to convert others generates a perception gap of 10% to 83% between evanglicals and skeptics, an incredible 73 percentage points.

Learn more about the new book, Good Faith

What The Research Means
David Kinnaman, who is the president of Barna and directed the research study on religious extremism, comments that “These gaps show the challenges practicing Christians and especially evangelicals are facing. In a religiously plural and divisive society, various “tribes”—ranging from faithful to skeptic—are vying to decide how faith should work. The most contentious issues are the ways in which religious conviction gets expressed publicly, but the findings illustrate that a wide range of actions, even beliefs, are now viewed as extremist by large chunks of the population.”
“The research starkly demonstrates the ways in which evangelicals and many practicing Catholics are out of the cultural mainstream. In fact, skeptics and religiously unaffiliated are now much closer to the cultural ‘norm’ than are religious conservatives. In other words, the secular point of view, which says faith should be kept out of the public domain, is much closer to the mainstream in U.S. life.
“This fact explains why millions of devout Christians are experiencing such frustration and concern. They are feeling out of step with social norms and the cultural momentum. This is most significantly felt when it comes to social views, such as evangelicals’ convictions on same-sex relationships. However, the perception of ‘social extremism’ also applies to many other beliefs and practices, including personal evangelism and missions work.”
On March 1, Kinnaman releases a new book Good Faith that analyzes the new “social extremism” that characterizes the current faith landscape. Teaming up again with Gabe Lyons, the co-author of unChristian, the book explores cultural trends that are creating obstacles and opportunities for Christians. “UnChristian examined the negative perceptions of young non-Christians," says Kinnnaman. "And now, nearly a decade later, Good Faith continues that work by helping to explore how Christians can be biblically countercultural in a society that is increasingly unfriendly to faith.”
Those interested in more about the Good Faith project can attend one of the free nationwide events, featuring Kinnaman and Lyons.
Comment on this research and follow our work:
Twitter: @davidkinnaman | @roxyleestone | @barnagroup
Facebook: Barna Group

God Sees You

God Sees You

If you're reading this post by email or a reader, you'll definitely want to jump over to read it on my blog, because I have recently redesigned the site. I'm still working on a few things but have updated my archives page for easier browsing and my welcome page, and I even have a new tagline that I feel better communicates my goal in writing for you and to you. Come on over and have a look around!  

I had a revelation the other day that we've been in Charlottesville for seven-and-a-half years now. As many of you know, in 2008 we moved here from Texas to plant a church, and all of the sudden it's 2016, and we're still here, wow! Time has flown. My kids, practically babies at the time we moved, are seven-and-a-half years older. My marriage, young and unchallenged at the time we moved, is seven-and-a-half years more sharpened and tested. And of course, I am seven-and-a-half years older, and the wear and tear of church planting is starting to show. All this to say, our lives, in these seven-and-a-half years, have been forever changed, very much for the better. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

When I realized it's been seven-and-a-half years, that felt significant to me, primarily because we were at our church in Texas for exactly seven-and-a-half years as well. This year has felt like a time of transition for me, and recognizing that the time frame is what it is, I felt as if God somehow was releasing me. No, we don't have plans to move or have a baby; it's nothing like that. We'll keep on with what we've been doing in this community that we've grown to love so much. It's just that I have felt God releasing me into the next seven-and-a-half years and pointedly asking me, "How will you be faithful in the next seven-and-a-half years?"

In my Bible reading, I've been following the Israelites through their exodus from Egypt and their wandering in the desert. About the time that I felt God releasing me, I finished the book of Deuteronomy and stood with the younger generation on the precipice of the Promised Land. That moment described exactly how I've felt. I feel that God, like Moses did in front of his people, has asked me to look back and name His abundant faithfulness to me over these years. And then I feel that He's turned my attention forward, to a new time and a new sense of calling.

Again, nothing much is different on the outside. But a lot of work and listening and reflection is going on in my inside as I look back and I look forward. The theme of it all, I'm finding is that God has seen me all along.

You see, I've been a little afraid to let go of the past years. I feel a sense of excitement about the next seven-and-a-half years but also, if you want to know the truth, a little twinge of fear. What if the things I hope for these years--fruitfulness from all the labor--is not what God plans to do? What if my greatest fears come to fruition? The What If list is pretty long in my head.

But a part of me is afraid to let go because, in these past years, I've been clear about my calling: to help my husband plant our church. That calling is actually what I sense God releasing me from. My work is done. The church is planted. Of course I'm still very much involved in our church, but I know that God is giving me freedom to step back and figure out what I'm specifically gifted for and called to do. It's all very exciting, but at the same time uncomfortable and uncertain.

Uncomfortable, because I'm afraid I will be forgotten, that the work I did will be forgotten. Sometimes I selfishly and pridefully want to make sure that people know what I've done, how I've sacrificed, and how I've helped. (It is painful to write that out loud.) I know it, too, because I find myself getting angry or off-put when others obviously don't understand what church planting has meant for me.

I've talked about this with God, mainly because He keeps bringing it up. He's releasing me and yet I'm gripping tight a self-important identity and a need to be honored by others.

As I've followed the Israelites through the Old Testament, I can't deny that it was God who did the work. He fought for His people. He led His people. He was faithful to His people. I also can't deny that He is a God who sees. He heard their private cries. He listened when they were grieved. He took note of their faithfulness. He honored His faithful ones.

God has been so good to convict me concerning my grip on self-importance and desire for appreciation, and He's been even better to quietly remind me that He's seen it all. It doesn't matter a lick if other people have seen anything or acknowledge anything, because He's seen every little thing and He's been pleased by whatever faithfulness I've shown.

That same truth is helping me move forward through uncertainty, and enabling me to embrace the next seven-and-a-half years as a new opportunity. He will see it all, and it will please Him as I walk and work by faith.

I say this to all of us, because so many of you are laboring in obscurity. You are doing unseen and unglamorous work in the name of our God. Sometimes it feels as if what you're doing doesn't matter to anyone at all. But can I tell you what's true? God sees you, and He is pleased.

PEOPLE CRY when THEY SEE IT

PEOPLE CRY when THEY SEE IT

In less than a week Torben's new movie on 'The Last Reformation'
comes out. It will be free to watch online. I have seen a preview
and I believe people will find it very powerful to see God literally
working miracles on the streets. Below is a video showing the
reactions of people when they watch it. Take a look-


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCDDod_AWgY


God bless you all.

Andrew Strom.

GREAT QUOTES on SIN

GREAT QUOTES on SIN

"Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable sinning
is not biblical grace. God's grace never encourages us to live in sin,
on the contrary, it empowers us to say no to sin and yes to truth."
--Randy Alcorn

"It is perilously easy to have amazing sympathy with God's truth
and remain in sin."
-- Oswald Chambers

"Jesus reserved his hardest words for the hidden sins of hypocrisy,
pride, greed and legalism."
--Philip Yancey

"Heart-suffering because of sin is the best proof that the Holy
Spirit dwells in your heart."
--Johann Arndt

"I couldn't live in peace if I put the shadow of a willful sin between
myself and God."
--George Eliot

"Sin and the child of God are incompatible. They may occasionally
meet; they cannot live together in harmony"
--John R. W. Stott

THE LUKEWARM

THE LUKEWARM
by Leonard Ravenhill

Elijah made it as difficult as he could for the Lord. He wanted fire,
but yet he soaked the sacrifice with water! God loves such holy
boldness in our prayers. "Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the
heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession." (Psalm 2:8)

Oh, my ministering brethren! Much of our praying is but giving God
advice. Our praying is discolored with ambition, either for ourselves
or for our denomination. Perish the thought! Our goal must be God
alone. It is His honor that is defiled, His blessed Son who is ignored,
His laws broken, His name profaned, His book forgotten, His house
made a circus of social efforts.

Does God ever need more patience with His people than when
they are "praying"? We tell Him what to do and then how to do it.
We pass judgments and make appreciations in our prayers. In
short, we do everything except pray! No Bible school can teach
us this art. What Bible school has "prayer" on its curriculum? The
most important thing a man can study is the prayer part of the
book. But where is this taught? Let us strip off the last bandage
and declare that many of our presidents and teachers do not pray,
shed no tears, know no travail. Can they teach what they do not
know?

The man who can get believers to praying would, under God,
usher in the greatest revival that the world has ever known. There
is no fault in God. He is able. God "is able to do according to the
power that worketh in us." God's problem today is not communism,
nor yet Romanism, nor liberalism, nor modernism. God's problem
is - dead fundamentalism!

"So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will
spew you out of my mouth." - Rev. 3:16...

Sin today is both glamorized and popularized, thrown into the ear
by radio, thrown into the eye by television, and splashed on popular
magazine covers. Churchgoers, sermon-sick and teaching-tired,
leave the meeting as they entered it - visionless and passionless!
Oh God, give this perishing generation ten thousand John the Baptists!

Just as Moses could not mistake the sight of the burning bush,
so a nation could not mistake the sight of a burning man! God
meets fire with fire. John the Baptist was a new man with a new
message. As a man accused of murder hears the dread cry of
the judge, "Guilty!" and pales at it, so the crowd heard John's cry,
"Repent!" until it rang down the corridors of their minds, stirred
memory, bowed the conscience and brought them terror-stricken
to repentance and baptism! After Pentecost, the onslaught of
Peter, fresh from his fiery baptism of the Spirit, shook the crowd
until as one man they cried out: "Men and brethren, what shall
we do?" Imagine someone telling these sin-stricken men, "Just
sign a card! Attend church regularly! Pay your tithes!" No! A
thousand times no!

"... If in our cultivated unbelief and our theological twilight and our
spiritual powerlessness, we have grieved and are continuing to
grieve Thy Holy Spirit, then in mercy spew us out of Thy mouth!
If Thou cannot do something with us and through us, then please
God, do something without us!"

-From Leonard Ravenhill's classic book, 'Why Revival Tarries'.

The Goal Is Church Health, and Balance Is the Key

By Rick Warren

• Print Version

“If churches are healthy, growth is a natural occurrence.”

Church health is the result of balance.
Balance occurs when a church has a strategy and a structure to fulfill the five New Testament purposes for the church: worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship and ministry.
If you don’t have a strategy and a structure that intentionally balances the purposes, the church tends to overemphasize the purpose you as a pastor feel most passionate about.
We tend to go to seed on one truth at a time. You attend one seminar and hear that the key to growth is small groups. At another, it’s volunteer recruitment, or dynamic worship, or creative outreach, or strong preaching.
The fact is, they’re all important.
When a church emphasizes any one purpose to the neglect of others, that produces imbalance—it’s unhealthy. And being unhealthy stunts a lot of churches.
To keep things balanced, four things must happen. You’ve got to:
• move people into membership
• build them up to maturity
• train them for ministry
• send them out on their mission
And you need a clear discipleship process to be able to gauge whether you’re doing these things effectively or not. Just as our vital signs tell us whether our physical bodies are in good health or not, the health of a church is quantifiable. For example, I can measure how many more people are involved in ministry this month than last month.
How you accomplish those four objectives doesn’t matter. As long as you are bringing people to Christ, into the fellowship of his family, building them up to maturity, training them for ministry and sending them out in mission, I like the way you are doing ministry.
Health does not mean perfection. When a church focuses on evangelism, it brings in a lot of unhealthy people. My kids are healthy, but they’re not perfect. There will never be a perfect church this side of heaven because every church is filled with pagans, carnal Christians, and immature believers—along with the mature ones.
I’ve read books that emphasize, “You’ve got to reinforce the purity of the church.” But Jesus said, “Let the tares and the wheat grow together, and one day I’ll sort them out” (paraphrase of Matthew 13:29-30).
We’re not in the sorting business. We’re in the harvesting business. We do get a lot of unhealthy people at church because society is getting sicker. But Jesus demonstrated that ministering to hurting people was more important than maintaining purity. When you fish with a big net, you catch all kinds of fish.
That’s why one of the biggest programs in our church is Celebrate Recovery. We have thousands of people involved in recovery with all kinds of addictions.
One of the most important decisions we made was to not have a counseling center. If we put a full-time therapist on our staff, that person’s schedule would fill up instantly, and 99 percent of the calls would still go unmet. We couldn’t keep up even if we had five full-time therapists. Instead, we’ve trained lay-people to do biblical counseling and compiled a standard list of approved therapists we can refer to if need be.
In conclusion, a far better focal point than church growth is church health. Size is not the issue. You can be big and healthy or big and flabby. You can be small and healthy or small and wimpy. Big isn’t better. Small isn’t better. Healthy is better. So I encourage you to focus on helping your church become balanced and healthy.
If churches are healthy, growth is a natural occurrence. I don’t have to command my kids to grow. If I provide them with a healthy environment, growth is automatic. In the same way, if you provide your church with a healthy, balanced environment, growth will occur naturally. 

If I Only Knew Why

By Vaneetha Rendall

Provided by

• Print Version

“As we trust God with the things in life that we may never understand, we are transformed.”

I contracted polio long after it was supposedly eradicated. The doctor misdiagnosed my symptoms because she had never seen polio before. And the wrong diagnosis led to widespread paralysis, with a childhood spent largely in hospitals, marked by painful surgeries.
Over 30 years later, my infant son died because the substitute doctor was unfamiliar with his heart condition. The doctor took him off his life-saving medicine. Within two days, my son was gone.
How could I possibly reconcile these losses? They were unspeakable. Preventable. Unexpected. And in the face of such catastrophes, my natural question was, “Why?” Why did this happen? If God was in control, why did he allow it? Why didn’t he stop it? Why? Why? Why?
That question haunted me for years.

That Elusive Explanation

I was certain that if I had an explanation for my trials, if I could understand God’s purposes in them, if I just had a reason, then I could have accepted my losses with more grace. And I’ve heard countless others say the same thing: If they only knew why, they would be able to move on.
Knowing why seems to be the elusive key that will somehow unlock all our pain. The key that will bring clarity and peace. Freedom.
Not knowing why, having to trust God in a senseless situation—when the world feels like it has exploded and we are left picking up the splintered fragments of our life—seems impossible.

Trust Him in the Dark

God is asking the unthinkable. To trust him in the dark. To accept his will when we don’t understand. To submit to his sovereignty in the midst of uncertainty. To believe he has a purpose when nothing makes sense. Unthinkable as it is, God keeps asking me to trust him.
This invitation is not what I want. I want to understand. I want to see. I want to agree. Accepting God’s invitation takes faith, which I possess in great measure when I’m not in the furnace. But that faith wavers when the flames envelop me and my dreams fall apart.
My son’s death, my failing health, my shattered marriage—each brought inexpressible agonies. After each loss, I resolved to trust God implicitly, but fresh losses inevitably brought in new pain and brought back old questions. Are you good? Do you love me? Why is this happening?
Each time it took time to come to the place of release and trust. But as I saw how my questions only fueled my agitation, I eventually surrendered my demand to understand. And paradoxically, it was this surrender that held the elusive key for which I had been searching. This trusting, accepting, submitting and believing is what transformed me in my grief.

True Freedom Is Trusting God

The process of relinquishing my demand to understand is what freed me.
While I thought that freedom would be found in answers, true freedom was actually found in surrender. I didn’t need to figure it out. It didn’t need to make sense to me. I didn’t need to understand the details. I just needed to trust God. Trust him because he is infinitely wiser, more loving and more purposeful than I am.
He has a reason for my pain. Many reasons. Even when I am at a complete loss to name even one. John Piper says, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” We may see a few things God is doing, one or two ways he is redeeming our pain, but we will never see the full picture on earth. Often all we can see is our loss.
But if we could see what God sees, we would be stunned. There is much more taking place in the heavenly realms than we can fathom.

Encountering God in the Grief

The book of Job gives us a unique glimpse into this unseen world. We, the readers, are taken backstage to the throne room of God. We are privy to much of what Job cannot understand about his tragedy.
Job’s initial response to his unimaginable trials was acceptance and worship. But as the days and weeks wore on with no relief, Job began arguing with God, lamenting his situation, questioning why his life had been torn apart despite his faithfulness.
Then Job encountered God personally. And once again, his response was acceptance and worship. Now Job no longer needed to know. He repented in dust and ashes for questioning God. For accusing God of injustice. For demanding an answer.
Job learned that the Lord had a purpose. God had unequivocally demonstrated that all of his actions were intentional. From determining how far the ocean could go, to commanding the morning, everything God oversaw was perfectly orchestrated. Nothing in all of creation was random, or escaped his watchful eye.
After God revealed his incredible power to Job, Job declared, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). But remarkably, Job had no idea what that purpose was. God never gave Job any explanation for his suffering. Instead the Lord demonstrated his absolute wisdom and power. And that was sufficient for Job.
“God doesn’t defend himself,” says Ron Deal about Job, “he just defines himself. And somehow, in this response, Job’s faith is transformed.” Deal goes on to say, “Suffering had invited Job to ‘see’ God in a way he never had before. … Job learned that he could trust God with the things in this life he would never have the privilege of understanding.”
And so it is with us.

The Answer Is God

As we trust God with the things in life that we may never understand, we are transformed. We may never know why we are going through trials. But we can take comfort in knowing there is always a reason for our suffering—10,000 reasons. Reasons that are bigger and more magnificent than anything we can imagine.
One day our faith will be as sight, and we will see all of God’s glorious purposes in our trials. But for now, as we wait, we must trust him.
There is always a “why” to our pain. We may never understand it in this life, but this we can know: As we surrender our questions to him, God will answer us with nothing less than himself.

How Should Christians Use Guns?

By Tim Challies

• Print Version

“Continue to study God’s Word and to believe that it contains the wisdom we need to know how to respond.”

John Piper sparked a firestorm with his recent article Should Christians Be Encouraged to Arm Themselves? Piper’s article was a response to Jerry Falwell Jr., who has encouraged the students at Liberty University to secure permits to carry guns. I appreciated Piper’s attempt to answer a difficult question, and equally appreciated some of the measured and helpful responses from those who disagreed with him. What follows is a summary of some of the points he made along with some of the major points of three people who interacted with and (tactfully) disagreed with him: Steven Wedgeworth, Bob Thune and Douglas Wilson.
Here is Piper’s big point in his own words:
My main concern in this article is with the appeal to students that stirs them up to have the mindset: Let’s all get guns and teach them a lesson if they come here. The concern is the forging of a disposition in Christians to use lethal force, not as policemen or soldiers, but as ordinary Christians in relation to harmful adversaries.
The issue is not primarily about when and if a Christian may ever use force in self-defense, or the defense of one’s family or friends. There are significant situational ambiguities in the answer to that question. The issue is about the whole tenor and focus and demeanor and heart-attitude of the Christian life. Does it accord with the New Testament to encourage the attitude that says, “I have the power to kill you in my pocket, so don’t mess with me”? My answer is, No.
In response to this, Steven Wedgeworth writes, “This is a good way to approach the issue and a very important one for the average pastor to be able to consider. An eagerness to shed blood is anti-biblical and a real temptation in our contemporary culture. But Dr. Piper’s declaration that he is not “primarily” interested in self-defense falls flat when he goes on to directly address self-defense and tie it in to a larger theological framework of sacrifice and exile.” Several others noted roughly the same thing, that Piper says he is attempting to deal with a limited and defined point, but actually goes significantly wider than that. Much of the disagreement comes from these wider points.
Wedgeworth goes on to offer these three critiques:
1. “Piper’s argument is biblicistic and dependent upon a specific understanding of the relationship between the New Testament and the Old.” [For a definition of biblicism, click here and scroll down to the heading Biblicism.]
2. “Piper confuses self-sacrifice with the protection of others.”
3. “Piper’s essay is actually a very confusing piece of argument.”
He concludes by saying, “[Piper’s] logic is badly confused, as he fails to distinguish between the spiritual and temporal realms, misunderstands the civic role of the family, and conflates the question of preservation of life with vengeance and bloodlust in general. Thus, he is unable to offer any sort of corrective and may actually give a cure that is worse than the disease.”
Later in his article, Piper writes, “[A]ny claim that in a democracy the citizens are the government, and therefore may assume the role of the sword-bearing ruler in Romans 13, is elevating political extrapolation over biblical revelation. When Paul says, ‘[The ruler] does not bear the sword in vain’ (Romans 13:4), he does not mean that Christians citizens should all carry swords so the enemy doesn’t get any bright ideas.”
Bob Thune responds, “[Piper] fails to reckon with the reality that in the United States, a Christian citizen who legally uses deadly force to stop an attacker is a legitimate extension of the government’s sword-wielding power. If God has given the ruler the right to bear the sword … and if the ruler extends to private citizens that right … then where exactly is the extrapolation?”
Similarly, Thune says, “Piper asserts that there is, in the Bible, ‘no direct dealing with the situation of using lethal force to save family and friend, except in regards to police and military.’ But can he point to the chapter and verse where the Bible deals with police and military using lethal force? No. Because there isn’t one. The assertion that police and military may use lethal force is an application of texts like Romans 13. And so is the assertion that a private citizen may use lethal force!”
Later, Thune writes,
I agree with Piper that Christians should not carry concealed weapons for the purposes of (in the order of his arguments) 1. avenging ourselves, 2. retaliating for unjust treatment, 3. handling hostility, 4. advancing the Christian cause by force, 5. returning evil for evil or 6. resisting persecution. …
Piper leans heavily on the book of 1 Peter, where Christians are urged to endure unjust suffering. But contextually, that persecution was coming from the government itself. If at some point in the future our government turns with hostility upon Christians and uses the “power of the sword” against us (as did Nero in the first century), then certainly we must bear that suffering without retaliation. Many of our Christian brothers and sisters are doing this right now throughout the world. But it’s a stretch to say: Therefore, Christians should lay down while a radicalized terrorist shoots innocent people.
Doug Wilson praises Piper for what he attempts to do in this article: “He is a biblical absolutist, and he is pursuing a tight, systematic, rational argument from the text of Scripture. … I don’t have a doubt in my mind that John will go wherever the argument requires him to go, and he will submit to the text, whatever it says. We need more of that, not less.” He then summarizes his disagreement by interacting with this section of Piper’s article: “I do not know what I would do before this situation [a man assaulting his wife] presents itself with all its innumerable variations of factors. And I would be very slow to condemn a person who chose differently from me.” Here is Wilson’s response:
Let us say that a member of John Piper’s leadership team shot and killed someone who was violently assaulting his wife. The prosecutor refused to touch the case because he said it was an open and shut case. The response was well within the law, and the force used to stop the assailant was not disproportionate. Let us also say that the man who did this believes that he did the right thing, the only thing that he could have done under those circumstances. He is not apologetic at all. In short, he had a gun on him, and he had that gun because he disagreed with John’s entire approach as outlined in the article. Now what?
The solution is, of course, to continue to study God’s Word and to believe that it contains the wisdom we need to know how to respond.
I would like to commend those who disagreed with Piper in a civil fashion. This is not an issue of first-order doctrine and, for that reason, there is every reason to have the discussion and to have it tactfully. I benefitted a lot from reading and considering the various positions. Between them, they aptly highlighted the complexity of the issue and put forward compelling arguments. This is exactly what the blogosphere can do so well.
As for me, I live in Canada where the laws are very different and so, too, is the relationship between citizens and firearms. For that reason, I have put little thought into the ownership and use of guns and found this discussion quite helpful in forming my thoughts. To tip my cards just a little, I find myself appreciating Piper’s efforts, especially related to demeanor and heart-attitude, but leaning more toward the points made by Wedgeworth and Thune. 

Nobody Is Too Broken for the Grace of Jesus

By Jarrid Wilson

• Print Version

This false ideology that a human can be too broken for the all-consuming grace of our Lord and Savior is incorrect.

I meet a lot of people who say they wouldn’t be caught dead inside of a church building, that their life is too messed up to be embraced by the arms of God, and that their previous failures are too monstrous to be forgiven by the grace of Jesus.
This false ideology that a human can be too broken for the all-consuming grace of our Lord and Savior is incorrect, and I pray that more churches will open up their doors to prove it so.

Nobody is too broken for the grace of Jesus.

We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of, said things that we wish we could take back, and been places we wouldn’t dare go visit again. And while many of us have found redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus, we must remember that there are millions of other people in this world who have yet to do the same.
The Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, “For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church. But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.” The truth behind Paul’s words is revitalizing and scandalous—that even a man who once persecuted the church of Jesus Christ has now been redeemed and forgiven by His grace. This is revolutionary for all who hear it. The story of Paul is one we can all learn from. He is the pinnacle example of somebody who was far from God but found favor through the grace of Jesus. A second chance awaited him, and that second chance was discovered through seeking repentance, asking for forgiveness and allowing the spirit of Christ to transform him.
No matter what you’ve done in life, understand that the grace and love of Jesus is waiting for you with open arms. You don’t need to reach a certain level of “goodness” before you can pray, walk into a church or even read your Bible. God will take you where you are, but he loves you too much to leave you that way. Remember, nobody is too broken for the grace of Jesus.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.” —Titus 2:11

GREAT QUOTES on BACKSLIDING

GREAT QUOTES on BACKSLIDING

"Whenever you make up your mind to refuse to go where God
wants you to go and to do what God wants you to do, you must
make up your mind at the same time to renounce the friendship
of God. You cannot walk with Him and at the same time be in
rebellion against Him... it is mere mockery, to say "Lord, Lord"
and then refuse to do the things that He commands you to do."
-Clovis G. Chappell

"Taking it easy is often the prelude to backsliding. Comfort
precedes collapse."
-Vance Havner

"Prayer is the way you defeat the devil, reach the lost, restore a
backslider, strengthen the saints, send missionaries out, cure
the sick, accomplish the impossible, and know the will of God."
-David Jeremiah

"Most church members live so far below the standard, you would
have to backslide to be in fellowship with them."
-Vance Havner

"A revival does two things. First, it returns the Church from her
backsliding and second, it causes the conversion of men and
women; and it always includes the conviction of sin on the part
of the Church. What a spell the devil seems to cast over the Church today!"
-Billy Sunday

The Gift of Being Limited

The Gift of Being Limited

On Monday I stayed in my pajamas until 4 pm. Although I woke up early and drank two back-to-back heaping cups of coffee, the fuzz of sleep didn't burn away until late morning. By that point, showering and changing into clothes felt a bit too strenuous, so I didn't force the issue with myself. Instead of choosing hygiene, I chose to do a lot of staring off into space, giving my brain a chance to think again after a whirlwind of activity the previous week.

Why is that when my body is exhausted, my mind goes into overdrive? As I lay in bed, staring into space, taking a moment in my room to get my act together, my thoughts began berating me. For being tired. For feeling the need to rest. For not having the mental capacity to immediately move on to the "next thing" on my agenda.

I immediately did what I always attempt to do: force myself through the tiredness. This never works, although I still try it every time. Instead of helping, trying to force myself only makes me more tired and more grumpy.

So I decided to try something else. Laying on my bed in my pajamas, I just asked for the Lord to remind me of what's true.

The first thing He brought to my mind was His faithfulness. I was tired precisely because of His faithfulness, which sounds funny to say, but it's true. He asked me to tick back through the days and think about what each had entailed: a meal with friends that God has used us to pursue for years, our church's women's retreat where dear women shared stories that I've seen with my own two eyes of how God has redeemed and healed them, our Sunday church gathering with so many beloved people built into a healthy community by God, and a wedding of someone I love who has faithfully endured tremendous pain.

And that was only the weekend.

As I ticked back before that in my mind, I found instance upon instance of how I'd encountered and experienced God's faithfulness. I was tired because I had been thrown around in a pinball machine of God's goodness.

The second truth He brought to mind is that I was tired because I am tire-able. I am able to tire. I am limited by design. I don't like being limited, which I am well aware is super prideful. I get mad at myself when I hit up against the borders of my humanity, and, no surprise here, I try to force myself through those limits and valiantly push on toward the "next thing".

I was starting to see what God was trying to say to me:

God = limitless goodness and faithfulness

Me = limited in every way

God-designed limits for me = God's goodness and faithfulness to me

How was this can't-get-out-of-my-pjs weariness God's goodness to me? He was offering me time and space not only to rest but to remember. Of course limits help us in a myriad of ways, but the main one is that if we don't have limits, we would never stop. If we don't stop, we don't take time to recall what God has done or to reflect on His goodness. Limits are gifts that help us remember that our greatest gift is a God who is limitless.

My mind cleared in those truths, and my heart settled back in peace. I don't have to force myself through limits, nor do I have to listen to the self-condmenation I'm so prone to berate myself with. I can, in fact, let my limits direct me toward dependence. And I can, in fact, receive a pajama day as a gracious gift from God.

Starts Today! Hearing God Through the Old Testament

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So many laws, so many genealogies, so totally ancient; what does any of it have to do with my life today? I live in the 21^st century, with automobiles, internet, and smartphones. What could ever be the benefit of reading all those years of drudgery which the Israelites went through? After all, I am part of the New Israel, the Church of Jesus Christ. I am saved, baptized and born from above. I live and walk by the Spirit. What could I possibly find interesting in all those many cycles of failure, defeat, repentance, and restoration. Does God really want to speak to me through them? And if so, what does He want to say?

Experience the first set of these Through the Bible videos absolutely free, right now! The 10-session series for Pentateuch, covering Genesis - Deuteronomy, begins airing February 17^th and continues with one session being posted per day for 10 days. Each session is about 15 minutes, and you can watch it anytime during the 24-hour period it is available.

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ESCAPE TRIBULATION? -WRONG! - Corrie Ten Boom

NOTE:  Miss Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch survivor of the Nazi
Concentration Camps, and a lifelong missionary. Corrie was a
believer in facing tribulation. She was one of the many people who
were persecuted in concentration camps during World War II.
Her family was murdered before her eyes, but though her life was
threatened, God led her through that terrible time. Here is her
exhortation to us from a letter she wrote in 1974:


ESCAPE TRIBULATION? -WRONG!
-Corrie Ten Boom.

"The world is deathly ill.  It is dying. The Great Physician has
already signed the death certificate. Yet there is still a great work
for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water,
channels of mercy to those who are still in the world.  It is possible
for them to do this because they are overcomers.

Christians are ambassadors for Christ.  They are representatives
from Heaven to this dying world. And because of our presence
here, things will change.

My sister, Betsy, and I were in the Nazi concentration camp at
Ravensbruck because we committed the crime of loving Jews. 
Seven hundred of us from Holland, France, Russia, Poland and
Belgium were herded into a room built for two hundred.  As far as I
knew, Betsy and I were the only two representatives of Heaven in that room.

We may have been the Lord's only representatives in that place of
hatred, yet because of our presence there, things changed. Jesus
said, "In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world."  We too, are to be overcomers -
bringing the light of Jesus into a world filled with darkness and hate.

Sometimes I get frightened as I read the Bible, and as I look in this
world and see all of the tribulation and persecution promised by the
Bible coming true.  Now I can tell you, though, if you too are afraid,
that I have just read the last pages.  I can now come to shouting
"Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" for I have found where it is written that
Jesus said, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things:  and I will
be His God, and he shall be My son."  This is the future and hope
of this world. Not that the world will survive - but that we shall be
overcomers in the midst of a dying world.

Betsy and I, in the concentration camp, prayed that God would
heal Betsy who was so weak and sick.  "Yes, the Lord will heal
me,", Betsy said with confidence.  She died the next day and I
could not understand it. They laid her thin body on the concrete
floor along  with all the other corpses of the women who died that day.

It was hard for me to understand, to believe that God had a
purpose for all that. Yet because of Betsy's death, today I am
traveling all over the world telling people about Jesus.

There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation, that
the Christians will be able to escape all this.  These are the false
teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days.
Most of them have little knowledge of what is already going on
across the world. I have been in countries where the saints are
already suffering terrible persecution. 

In China, the Christians were told, "Don't worry, before the
tribulation comes you will be translated - raptured."  Then came a
terrible persecution.  Millions of Christians were tortured to death.
Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly,

"We have failed. We should have made the people strong for
persecution rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell
the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand
when the tribulation comes - to stand and not faint."

I feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world
that it is possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are in
training for the tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body
of Christ across the world has already entered into the tribulation.
There is no way to escape it. We are next.

Since I have already gone through prison for Jesus' sake, and
since I met the Bishop in China, now every time I read a good
Bible text I think, "Hey, I can use that in the time of tribulation." 
Then I write it down and learn it by heart.

When I was in the concentration camp, a camp where only twenty
percent of the women came out alive, we tried to cheer each other
up by saying, "Nothing could be any worse than today."  But we
would find the next day was even worse.  During this time a Bible
verse that I had committed to memory gave me great hope and joy.

        "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye;
        for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you;
        on their part evil is spoken of,
        but on your part He is glorified."  (I Peter 3:14) 

I found myself saying, "Hallelujah!
Because I am suffering, Jesus is glorified!"

In America, the churches sing, "Let the congregation escape
tribulation", but in China and Africa the tribulation has already
arrived. This last year alone more than two hundred thousand
Christians were martyred in Africa. Now things like that never get
into the newspapers because they cause bad political relations. 
But I know. I have been there.  We need to think about that when
we sit down in our nice houses with our nice clothes to eat our
steak dinners.  Many, many members of the Body of Christ are
being tortured to death at this very moment, yet we continue right
on as though we are all going to escape the tribulation.

Several years ago I was in Africa in a nation where a new
government had come into power. The first night I was there some
of the Christians were commanded to come to the police station to
register. When they arrived they were arrested and that same night
they were executed. The next day the same thing happened with
other Christians. The third day it was  the same. All the Christians
in the district were being systematically murdered.

The fourth day I was to speak in a little church. The people came,
but they were filled with fear and tension. All during the service
they were looking at each other, their eyes asking, "Will this one I
am sitting beside be the next one killed?  Will I be the next one?"

The room was hot and stuffy with insects that came through the
screenless windows and swirled around the naked bulbs over the
bare wooden benches.  I told them a story out of my childhood.

"When I was a little girl, " I said, "I went to my father and said,
'Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a
martyr for Jesus Christ."
"Tell me," said Father, "When you take a train trip to Amsterdam,
when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?" 

"No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we
get on the train."
"That is right," my father said, "and so it is with God's strength.
Our Father in Heaven knows when you will need the strength to be
a martyr for Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need - just in time."

My African friends were nodding and smiling.  Suddenly a spirit of
joy descended upon that church and the people began singing,

"In the sweet, by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore." 

Later that week, half the congregation of that church was executed.
I heard later that the other half was killed some months ago. But I
must tell you something.  I was so happy that the Lord used me to
encourage these people, for unlike many of their leaders, I had the
word of God. I had been to the Bible and discovered that Jesus
said He had not only overcome the world, but to all those who
remained faithful to the end, He would give a crown of life.

How can we get ready for the persecution?  First we need to feed
on the word of God, digest it, make it a part of our being.  This will
mean disciplined Bible study each day as we not only memorize
long passages of scripture, but put the principles to work in our lives.

Next we need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Not just the Jesus of yesterday, the Jesus of History, but the life-
changing Jesus of today who is still alive and sitting at the right
hand of God.

We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is no optional
command of the Bible, it is absolutely necessary. Those earthly
disciples could never have stood up under the persecution of the
Jews and Romans had they not waited for Pentecost. Each of us
needs our own personal Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
We will never be able to stand in the tribulation without it.

In the coming persecution we must be ready to help each other
and encourage each other.  But we must not wait until the
tribulation comes before starting.  The fruit of the Spirit should be
the dominant force of every Christian's life.

Many are fearful of the coming tribulation, they want to run. I, too,
am a little bit afraid when I think that after all my eighty years,
including the horrible Nazi concentration camp, that I might have to
go through the tribulation also.  But then I read the Bible and I am glad.

When I am weak, then I shall be strong, the Bible says. Betsy and
I were prisoners for the Lord, we were so weak, but we got power
because the Holy Spirit was on us.  That mighty inner
strengthening of the Holy Spirit helped us through.  No, you will not
be strong in yourself when the tribulation comes.  Rather, you will
be strong in the power of Him who will not forsake you.  For
seventy-six years I have known the Lord Jesus and not once has
He ever left me, or let me down.

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him", for I know that to all who
overcome, He shall give the crown of life. Hallelujah!

"What is false doctrine?"

Question: "What is false doctrine?"

Answer: Doctrine is “a set of ideas or beliefs that are taught or believed to be true.” Biblical doctrine refers to teachings that align with the revealed Word of God, the Bible. False doctrine is any idea that adds to, takes away from, contradicts, or nullifies the doctrine given in God’s Word. For example, any teaching about Jesus that denies His virgin birth is a false doctrine, because it contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture (Matthew 1:18).

As early as the first century AD, false doctrine was already infiltrating the church, and many of the letters in the New Testament were written to address those errors (Galatians 1:6–9; Colossians 2:20–23; Titus 1:10–11). Paul exhorted his protégé Timothy to guard against those who were peddling heresies and confusing the flock: “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing” (1 Timothy 6:3–4).

As followers of Christ, we have no excuse for remaining ignorant of theology because we have the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) available to us—the Bible is complete. As we “study to show ourselves approved unto God” (2 Timothy 2:15), we are less likely to be taken in by smooth talkers and false prophets. When we know God’s Word, “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14).

It is important to point out the difference between false doctrine and denominational disagreements. Different congregational groups see secondary issues in Scripture differently. These differences are not always due to false doctrine on anyone’s part. Church policies, governmental decisions, style of worship, etc., are all open for discussion, since they are not directly addressed in Scripture. Even those issues that are addressed in Scripture are often debated by equally sincere disciples of Christ. Differences in interpretation or practice do not necessarily qualify as false doctrine, nor should they divide the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:10).

False doctrine is that which opposes some fundamental truth or that which is necessary for salvation. The following are some examples of false doctrine:

• The erasing of hell. The Bible describes hell as a real place of eternal torment, the destination for every unregenerate soul (Revelation 20:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:8). A denial of hell directly contradicts Jesus’ own words (Matthew 10:28; 25:46) and is therefore a false doctrine.

• The idea that there are “many paths to God.” This philosophy has become popular recently under the guise of tolerance. This false doctrine claims that, since God is love, He will accept any religious effort as long as the practitioner is sincere. Such relativism flies in the face of the entire Bible and effectively eliminates any need for the Son of God to take on flesh and be crucified for us (Jeremiah 12:17; John 3:15–18). It also contradicts Jesus’ direct words that He is the only way to God (John 14:6).

• Any teaching that redefines the person of Jesus Christ. Doctrine that denies the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, His sinless nature, His actual death, or His physical resurrection is false doctrine. A group’s errant Christology readily identifies it as a sect or cult that may claim to be Christian but is actually teaching false doctrine. Even many mainline denominations have begun the rapid slide into apostasy by declaring that they no longer hold to a literal interpretation of Scripture or the deity of Christ. First John 4:1–3 makes it clear that a denial of biblical Christology is “anti-Christ.” Jesus described false teachers within the church as “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15).

• Teaching that adds human religious works to Christ’s finished work on the cross as necessary ingredients for salvation. This teaching may pay lip service to salvation by faith alone but insists that a religious ritual (such as water baptism) is salvific. Some groups even legislate hairstyles, clothing options, and food consumption. Romans 11:6 warns against attempts to mix grace with works. Ephesians 2:8–9 says we are saved by the grace of God, through faith, and nothing we do can add to or take away from it. Galatians 1:6–9 pronounces a curse on anyone who changes the good news of salvation by grace.

• The teaching that presents grace as a license to sin. Sometimes called “easy-believism,” this false doctrine implies that all one must do for right standing with God is to believe the facts about Jesus, pray a prayer at some point, and then resume control of one’s life with the assurance of heaven at the end. Paul dealt with this thinking in Romans 6. In Matthew 7:21–23, Jesus warned those who adopt this doctrine that they did not know Him at all. Second Corinthians 5:17 states that those who are “in Christ” become “new creatures.” That transformation, in response to a believer’s faith in Christ, changes the outward behaviors. To know and love Christ is to obey Him (Luke 6:46).

Satan has been confusing and perverting the Word of God since the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1–4; Matthew 4:6). False teachers, the servants of Satan, try to appear as “servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:15), but they will be known by their fruits (Matthew 7:16). A charlatan promoting false doctrine will show signs of pride, greed, and rebellion (see Jude 1:11) and will often promote or engage in sexual immorality (2 Peter 2:14; Revelation 2:20).

We are wise to recognize how vulnerable we are to heresy and make it our habit to do as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11: “they . . . examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” When we make it our goal to follow the lead of the first church, we will go far in avoiding the pitfalls of false doctrine. Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Such devotion will protect us and ensure that we are on the path Jesus set for us.

Recommended Resources: Basic Theology by Charles Ryrie and Logos Bible Software.

SOURCE: GOTQUESTIONS.ORG

Breaking Out Into Destiny in 2016!

Breaking Out Into Destiny in 2016!

At the start of 2016 many may have found themselves in very narrow, tight and constricted places; places of anxiety and discomfort, of perplexity by the turn of circumstances. Having just walked through such a time, I have discovered that God is using the trial of the narrow place to eliminate any outstanding blockages that would hinder us in the coming season of HARVEST AND GLORY.  God is a GOOD FATHER who is perfecting and completing all that concerns His children that they would stand in secure places of strength in the volatile season ahead.

“In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul…Though I walk in the midst of trouble, YOU WILL REVIVE ME; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. THE LORD WILL PERFECT THAT WHICH CONCERNS ME…” Psalm 138:3,7-8

The word perfect is the Hebrew word gâmar which means to end in the sense of COMPLETION.  The English definition of the word to perfect, means: to bring to completion; to finish; make flawless or faultless: to bring nearer to perfection; improve; make better: to make fully skilled.  God has promised us in His Word to complete that which He has started in us and He is presently doing a spectacular work to see His intentions in and for us realized (Phil. 1:6).

In the narrow place, if we have ears to hear, and will listen for His voice, the Lord is releasing keys to remove demonic schemes and barriers that have kept His people from freedom over the years. Sudden revelations and answers are being released from Heaven right now to open spiritual prisons that we may not have even been aware of!  THE NARROW PLACE IS THE BIRTHING CHANNEL that is now moving His people forward out into broad and spacious places of freedom and victory!

The Lord is bringing His people OUT and establishing their boundaries in pleasant places!  We are coming out with strength and with revelation!  We are coming out with direction and strategies; we are coming out with ideas and inventions; we are coming out with joy and with passion!  WE ARE COMING OUT AS AN ARMY ON THE OFFENSIVE READY TO CONQUER AND TO OCCUPY!  We are now being established at higher levels of faith, undergirded with a double portion of Grace and with a greater understanding of His Great Power and Sovereignty over our lives.

God is giving us the word of authority to move the mountains before us, and as we speak forth in faith our very BIG God breathes into the word and all things begin to align to His will!  He is aligning us in His will and securing our lives in Him!

God is strategically establishing His people to accomplish His intentions for people groups, communities and nations.  NOW IS THE TIME to boldly run a race of strength, to occupy all areas of society for the Kingdom of God.  Psalms 110 prophecies that the people of God will volunteer freely to work the works of God in the DAY OF HIS POWER—a Day that is now upon us!  As the Lord showed me in the last word that I wrote— “Let There be Light” He is now opening a GREAT & EFFECTIVE DOOR for us to reap a GREAT HARVEST.  There are certain words that have a Kairos timing attached to them, however, recently God has impressed this word on my heart as a now word, with a sense of urgency:  “WHATEVER YOUR HAND FINDS TO DO, DO IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT...” (Ecc. 9:10).  As the GREAT AND EFFECTIVE DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY OPEN to us in the days ahead, let us lay hold of God and run with endurance…with all our might, the race He has set before us!

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” Hebrews 12:1

The Baptism of Love

The Baptism of Love
(En Español)

To Dwell Upon God
It is hard for us in this anxious, fearful age to quiet our souls and actually dwell upon the presence of God in our hearts. We can engage ourselves with Bible study or other acts of obedience; in varying degrees we know how to witness, exhort, and bless. We even know how to analyze these things and then perfect them. But to lift our souls above the material world and consciously drink from the presence of God Himself seems beyond us.

Yet to actually grasp the substance of God is to enter a spiritual place of immunity; it is to receive into our spirits the victory Christ won for us, which is oneness with God in Christ.
Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit, which we have received, searches all things, "even the depths of God" (1 Cor. 2:10). We can have more, and we should want more. I am a pastor. I believe in church attendance and body ministry. The atmosphere provided when we gather together can be wonderful. Yet typically the spiritual light provided in church meetings is diffused, not focused. Yes, we can find God there, but our church activities must in some fashion become what the Lord has ordained them to be: means through which we seek and find God.
Paul's cry was, "That I may know Him…" (Phil. 3:10). It was this desire to actually know Jesus that produced Paul's knowledge of salvation, church order, evangelism, and End Time events. As a by-product of His quest to know God came revelation, the writing of Scriptures, and knowledge of the eternal. Paul's knowledge was the overflow of his experience with Christ.
On the other hand, we have made ourselves content not with seeking the face of God, but with studying the facts of God. We are satisfied with a religion about Christ, without the reality of Christ.
The Bible is the historical record of man's experiences with the Almighty. Out of the personal encounters that people had with the living God, our theological perspectives have developed. But knowledge about God is only the first step toward entering the presence of God. As much as the Bible is a book of truths, it is also a map to God. As Christians, we study and debate the map yet too often fail to make the journey.
Love Surpasses Knowledge
There is a place that transcends the boundaries of knowledge and dogma; it is a simple yet eternally profound place where we actually abide in Christ's love. This is, indeed, the shelter of the Most High. Remember the apostle's prayer was that we each would "know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge" (Eph. 3:19). As important as knowledge is, that verse tells us love "surpasses knowledge." Doctrinal knowledge is a framework that opens door toward divine realities, but it is love alone that causes us to be "…filled up to all the fullness of God" (v. 19). Let this be our quest that our knowledge of God is fulfilled with the substance of God.
Consider, beloved, the Amplified Bible's rendering of Ephesians 3:19. It reads:

May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, that you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; [that you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
                                         ---Ephesians 3:17-19

Let this be our goal: to be rooted deeply in love; to grasp the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love; and to know for ourselves the deep, personal love of Christ. Can any goal be more wonderful? Indeed to be "wholly filled and flooded with God Himself" is the ultimate hope of the gospel!

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Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, The Shelter of the Most High, available at www.arrowbookstore.com.

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The Shelter of the Most High

Is there a spiritual place, a shelter, where God actually keeps us, "and the evil one does not touch" us (1 John 5:18)? Yes, there is a place in the heart of God where we can find immunity and protection, where we are literally surrounded by the Lord's presence. Once we enter this place, nothing can defeat us. Twenty-one profound chapters, each highlighting a different dimension of our Father's love and protection, each well able to escort you into the warmth and safety of the shelter of the Most High.

View Francis introducing this book

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The Shelter of the Most High
Audio Companion Teaching

Message titles:
Healing in Horeb  |  Opportunity in the Secret Place
The Lord Indeed is Good  |  Perpetual Rescue
Significant to God |  Abiding in God's Love  |
Check Your Attitude  |  Immunized from Assault
New Every Morning  |  Greater Immunity
A Thought Concerning Criticism  |  Christ in You
Identified with Heaven

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The Power of Covenant Prayer

Gain the victory over the effect of curses. The section on persevering prayer is a must for anyone serious about attaining Christlikeness. The second part is the conclusion of a teaching on spiritual protection. Powerful insights on the nature of curses and how to walk in spiritual victory and freedom.

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