How far do you get into the Old Testament when you start to feel the friction of daily Bible reading? We know the resistance is good for us, like we feel when we exercise, but we often don’t enjoy it — like when we exercise. For many, it’s simply harder to wake up for Numbers in March than for Genesis in January. The days can begin to feel like a season in the wilderness.

Even though 2 Timothy 3:16 echoes in the back of our heads, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable,” the experience of reading our Bibles can be a little like watching grandma use a smartphone. She knows it can do a lot more than she does with it, but she’s at a loss without someone showing her (seven or eight times) how to take a picture, turn on Bluetooth, or listen to a podcast.

These Things Happened for You

In 1 Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul sits down with us, like a room full of grandmas, to explain how to read Moses in our daily fight against sin and for joy. He begins by reminding his readers of the Exodus and Israel’s wandering in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:1–5).

He explains that their hope was ultimately in Christ, even though Jesus would not be born for more than a thousand years (1 Corinthians 10:4). Then he writes, as if speaking to a crowd of twentysomethings today, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6).

I say twentysomethings, because the next four things he says are remarkably relevant for the rising generation of Christians.

The same temptations that were murdering the believers under Moses are waging a spiritual war against believers today: entertainment, sexual immorality, impatience, and contentment. Paul finishes the paragraph by saying, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

These four warnings were lived out by Israel, but meant by God for you, and for me.

1. Do You Distract Yourself with Entertainment?

Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” (1 Corinthians 10:7, quoting Exodus 32:6)

Paul quotes (or alludes to) Moses for each of these. He clearly has particular passages or events in mind as he pastors the churches of his day. In this case, he quotes from Exodus 32. Moses is meeting with God on the mountain — he was meeting with God. The meeting ran longer than the people expected, and they got bored and disinterested (Exodus 32:1).

They asked Aaron for another god, he made them a golden baby cow, and they “sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play” (Exodus 32:1–6). They ordered delivery, turned on Netflix, and scrolled through social media at the same time.

Unwilling to wait for Moses (and God), they decided to entertain themselves instead. We’ll deal with impatience later, but the point here is that entertainment is an easy and empty god. Have you given up waiting for God to move — to reveal himself in his word, to help you make an important decision, to bring the healing or reconciliation you’ve been asking for — and decided to distract yourself with something fun instead?

2. Are You Experimenting with Sexual Sin?

We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. (1 Corinthians 10:8, referring to Numbers 25:1–9)

We tend to think of today’s America as the most sexually promiscuous and degenerate group in history. And we’re probably wrong. Sexual immorality was enticing and enslaving long before pornography was online or homosexuals were “married.”

In Numbers 25, the men of Israel began sleeping around with forbidden foreign women (Numbers 25:1), to the point that one man boldly brings his sexual immorality before the whole congregation (25:6). He knew God had forbidden this relationship, and yet, not only did he indulge in it, but then flaunted his immorality before the people. He experimented sexually, against God’s clear commands, and then bragged about it.

He and the woman were speared to death (Numbers 25:8). Seem too severe? Moses wants us to see that we deserve that, and far worse, from God if we indulge in sexual sin.

God brought a plague against the people because of their sexual immorality, and 24,000 died (Numbers 25:9). As a point of reference, there are 24,000 students currently enrolled at Auburn University. That many, all dead because of sexual immorality.

Moses said that all that death happened for your sake — a spear through a stomach, a plague wiping out thousands — so that you and I would feel the awful offense of sexual sin, and flee from it.

3. Do You Refuse to Wait?

We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents. (1 Corinthians 10:9)

In Numbers 21, the people have escaped Egypt and been to Mount Sinai. Now, they are on the way to the Promised Land. Moses tells the story, “From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses . . . ” (Numbers 21:4–5).

How would you do on that long, hard road from Egypt to Canaan? Does your life feel like that some days (or months, or years)? God had saved Israel from cruel and violent slavery. And he promised to bring them into their own land of safety and prosperity. But they could not wait.

How did God respond to their impatience? He sent poisonous snakes into the camp, and many died (Numbers 21:6). They repented (Numbers 21:7). Will we? Having been rescued by God from never-ending judgment and destruction, are we willing to wait another week, another year, or another ten years for him to answer our prayers?

God heard their pleas for mercy and made a way of salvation (Numbers 21:8–9). Jesus tells us that scene was meant to help us wait for him. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). God is waiting to save and satisfy you, if you are willing to trust him and wait.

Read the entire article Here

© 2016 Desiring God

Photo courtesy: Heavens Call

‘Amerigeddon’ movie warns of coming chaos.

Mike Norris: “When You Sell your Soul, it’s a onetime thing; There’s no Going back.”

A true story that just hasn’t happened yet.

Imagine this: In the not-so-distant future, a large-scale electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the U.S. energy grid wipes out all power in the country. Electronic devices cease to function. No more phones. No Internet. No TV. Credit cards become useless as the entire banking system grinds to a halt. Food, water and mere survival become every person’s primary concerns.

Movie director Mike Norris and producer Gary Heavin have imagined such a scenario and brought it to life in their new movie, “Amerigeddon,” set to hit theaters May 13.

“Amerigeddon” depicts a dystopia in which the American government reacts to a debilitating EMP strike by declaring martial law and stripping Americans of their constitutional rights and their guns. And by the way, it was the U.S. government, in conjunction with the United Nations, that staged the EMP attack in the first place.

It was a plot that none of the studios wanted to touch, so Norris and Heavin independently produced and financed the movie. In an interview with WND, Norris called it “a film of passion” that he and Heavin very much wanted to share with the world.

“We just decided we’re going to do it ourselves,” said Norris, the son of legendary actor and WND exclusive columnist Chuck Norris. “We said we’ll go take it to the theaters in areas that we think people would gravitate toward a film like this, and [hopefully] it’s something that resonates with people that believe in the First Amendment, the Second Amendment; people that believe in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights – this is a movie that was created just for them.”

Norris said the movie is unintentionally timely. The process began 18 months ago when Heavin wrote the screenplay. At the time, Norris and others thought Heavin’s plot was kind of crazy. But as they went through the filming process, they saw the U.S. moving more and more toward tyranny, and suddenly the film seemed very appropriate for the times.

“We were just trying to get a message across that we feel the government is overreaching its authority; Obama is ruling from the bench, our rights are being infringed on a daily basis,” Norris said. “But it wasn’t until the movie’s done, we’re finished and getting ready to put it out that it just kind of all fell into place and just became very timely with what’s happening in the world. So, really, it was kind of on accident that this film is coming out at this time in our country.”

The story may be fictional, but Norris insisted all the important elements are based in fact, from the movie’s depiction of EMP weapons technology to the National Defense Authorization Act.

“Our film, as Gary likes to call it, it’s a true story that just hasn’t happened yet,” Norris said.

This movie is not mere entertainment; it’s also a warning, according to Norris. A powerful EMP weapon could throw the entire country into chaos. Norris said he does not know of any evidence of planned strikes against the power grid, but the possibility is real.

The movie portrays the EMP attack as a false flag, but Norris believes it could come from another source. He noted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatens similar attacks on a regular basis, making him a prime candidate to eventually snap and carry out a major attack on America.

Ultimately, though, the movie is less concerned with the strike itself than with the aftermath.

“It’s not so much, should we be worried about an EMP strike?” Norris explained. “It’s, what happens if we do have an EMP strike? Are we prepared for that?”

Before he started filming “Amerigeddon,” Norris never thought about what he would do if he lost power for a week, a month or a year. But Heavin’s script forced him to consider what he would do if the action he was directing suddenly became reality.

“I am not a full-on prepper,” Norris explained. “I’m not a hard conspiracy theorist, but I think people should on some level be prepared just in case something were to happen.”

He explained how he has prepared for an emergency: “I have guns, I have food, I have water all put away. Am I set up for a yearlong EMP strike that knocks out the power grid for a year? Not even close, but I have the bare essentials that could get my family and I through a month, and I do have a plan if it really gets bad, a place to go that is very well-stocked and very well-prepared.

“I would suggest for anybody just to have the bare basics – some rice, some beans, some water, sugar, and just pack it away real nice, put it away somewhere. If you need it, you’ve got it. If you don’t, thank God.”

However, preparedness is not the only message in “Amerigeddon.” Norris and Heavin also had much to say about America’s leaders.

“Our film says our leadership, the establishment in Washington, is bought and paid for by the elites of the world, that one percent of the one percent,” Norris revealed.

Norris and Heavin did not name any of the global elites in their film, preferring to let viewers concoct their own theories about who exactly is pulling the strings behind the U.S. government. Norris said there is one line in which the global elite “puppet master” says to the president of the United States, “When you sell your soul, it’s a onetime thing; there’s no going back.”

Norris believes government corruption is commonplace in Washington, as Donald Trump has declared regularly on the campaign trail. He thinks it’s foolish for Americans to blindly trust their leaders.

“The most ridiculous thing as an American we could do is bury our heads and think everything’s great, the world’s great, our leaders have our best interests in mind,” Norris warned.

He said he’s been glad to see many commenters on his film’s trailer affirm they see what’s going on, are fed up with government and are ready to stand and fight corruption. He also pointed to a recent poll that found fewer than one in five Americans trust the government all or most of the time. It’s all evidence of the awakening he believes is necessary.

“We’re at a tipping point, I believe, in this country,” Norris said. “We are at a tipping point, and it’s palpable, the feeling out there. You can just feel it. It’s thick and it’s nerve-wracking, and if I weren’t a man of faith and if I didn’t have my Christian values, I think I’d be running around like crazy freaking out over this.”

“Amerigeddon” is only the first in a series of planned films and TV projects through which Norris and Heavin hope to promote patriotic values and protect the country’s freedoms. Norris told WND the next project they plan to do will portray what the world would look like a year after an EMP strike. They also hope to explore what would happen if the banks declared a holiday in America as they’ve done in Greece.

“What happens here in America when the banks declare a holiday and 50 million Americans that are reliant on government services cannot get their food stamps, they cannot get their entitlement from the government?” Norris asked. “What’s going to happen one week after that happens? We’re going to have riots like crazy throughout the country. So I firmly believe that what our government wants is to create chaos in the United States, and it’s slowly but surely happening.”

He pointed to liberal billionaire George Soros and MoveOn.org and the organized chaos they have been causing lately, including disrupting Donald Trump rallies. He also cited Henry Kissinger’s suggestion that chaos is necessary to usher in a new world order.

It’s all nerve-wracking, Norris admitted, because it’s hard to believe the United States of America has come to this.

“I was raised in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s when America was the greatest place on Earth. We had the greatest generation as our grandfathers,” Norris recalled. “And I look now and I’m going, where is our greatest generation? Where is this America that we used to live in? It’s gone; it’s not there.”

For a list of theaters where “Amerigeddon” will be shown and for more information on the movie, visit the film’s official website.

Here is the trailer:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdDHDh0s_BQ]

© Copyright 1997-2016.  WND.com.

In His Olivet discourse as recorded by Matthew in chapter 24, Jesus said that as the age draws to a close, society will be like it was in the days of Noah and Lot. The fact that Jesus prophesied that “As the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be,” it is important to understand what these days included.

But before that, we need to ask ourselves some important questions:  What were the distinctive features of these societies? How do we compare those days with the days of this modern world? Why did God send the judgment of the Flood in the days of Noah?

More than a historical narrative of what really happened, the events that led to the Flood are essential to understanding the prophetic implications of what the Lord Jesus says about His Second Coming.

For a description of those days, we have to look at the Book of Genesis. The sons of God described in this verse are the angels. These angelic beings came down and had sexual relations with the daughters of men and they bore children with them.

The Bible tells us that when this began to happen, God’s Spirit was grieved and He could not put up with humans for such a long time, so He set a definite lifespan of man for which is not more than 120 years (see Genesis 6:1-4) In verse 4 of Genesis 6, the New Living Translation says: 

In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women; they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.

The word Nephilim derives from a Hebrew root- which means to fall. So Nephilim means the fallen ones or fallen apostates. Peter tells us:

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; (2 Peter 2:4-5 NKJV)

In the time of Noah there was this unnatural procreation between the occult realm and the human race and this is one of the main reasons that led to judgment of the Flood. In verse 5 of Genesis 6, The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.

The entire civilized world at that time had become totally evil every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually. The heart of man was exceedingly perverse and corrupt, and people had become unresponsive to the offer of God’s salvation through Enoch and then Noah. Sexual immorality was rampart which resulted in sexual degradation and perversion. 

Other distinctive features which we can’t discuss in detail were: the earth was full of corruption. “The earth was depraved and putrid in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence (desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power). (Genesis 6:11 AMP) The earth was filled with violence “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (Genesis 6:12 NKJV)

In the following You Tube video, Tom Horn, who is Bible teacher and prophecy expert, along with Sharon Gilbert a scientist and a molecular biologist also an expert in prophecy explaining to Sid Roth on his Supernatural programme, that the same supernatural evil that altered man’s DNA in Genesis 6 just before the Flood and did horrible things to humankind, is going to be intermingled with science.

Tom says,

We’ve reached a point in our technological development where we can use very powerful emerging fields of technology like genetics, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, cybernetics, all the kind of stuff to take mankind into the next step in our evolution. Transhumanism believes that we no longer have to wait on this very slow gradual process of Darwinian evolution, which might require hundreds of thousands of years or millions of years….We can start modifying ourselves.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHP0GXoQ2xk?rel=0]

Image courtesy: Online Church

Most reasonably informed Christians are well aware that many of the traditions that surround the Christmas holidays have pagan origins and very little correlation with the actual events as recorded in the Bible. However, most of us are surprised when we discover that some of what we have been taught about “Easter” is not only in error, but deliberately so!

Many, of course, are aware that the name “Easter” actually originates with the pagan worship of Ishtar (or Astarte) that was traditionally observed at the time of the vernal equinox, nominally about March 21 or 22. Traditional pagan fertility symbols of both rabbits and eggs continue to be associated with this holiday.

However, the name as commonly used is also currently associated with the events surrounding the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which actually occurred on the Jewish Passover and is clearly defined in the Scriptures as the 14th of Nisan.

The Quartodeciman Controversy

It may come as a shock to learn that the early church deliberately committed to separating itself from the explicit record of Scripture. The practice of those Christians insisting on celebrating Passover on the fourteenth day of Nisan from the Old Testament calendar was known as Quartodecimanism (“fourteenism,” as derived from Latin). (Passover was defined in Leviticus 23:5 to be a perpetual ordinance (cf. Exodus 12:14).)

It is nothing short of astonishing to discover that not only was this a major emotional controversy within the early church, but that the commitment to deviate from the Scriptures was driven by a deep anti-Semitism! (This is based on the writings of Irenaeus, the Roman church had celebrated Passover on a Sunday at least since the time of Bishop Xystus or Sixtus I, 115–125 a.d. (Eusebius H.E. 5.24.14).

The aged Apostolic Father Polycarp visited Rome circa 154 a.d., at which time he discussed the difference in Paschal’s calculation with Bishop Anicetus and reached an amicable compromise. In addition, Polycrates of Ephesus and Irenaeus wrote in support of the Quartodecimans. (Eusebius H.E. 5.24.17).

The controversy surrounding this issue was a principal topic at the Council of Nicea in 325 a.d. Emperor Constantine presided over this council—note his own words:

It was, in the first place, declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because their hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched men are necessarily blinded … Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries … avoiding all contact with that evil way … who, after having compassed the death of the Lord, being out of their minds, are guided not by sound reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate madness carries them … a people so utterly depraved … Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have any thing in common with those parricides and the murderers of our Lord … no single point in common with the perjury of the Jews.

The early church father, Eusebius, also records Emperor Constantine as writing:

… it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are, therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul … Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Savior a different way. (ref. Eusebius, Life of Constantine, Book 3, Chapter 18.)

Setting a Date for Easter

The council unanimously ruled the Easter festival should be celebrated throughout the Christian world on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox; and if the full moon should occur on a Sunday, and coincide with the Passover festival, Easter should be commemorated on the following Sunday.

As a result of the Council of Nicaea, and amended by numerous subsequent meetings, the formal church deliberately attempted to design a formula for “Easter” which would avoid any possibility of it falling on the Jewish Passover, even accidentally!

A principal astronomical problem involved was the discrepancy between the solar year and the lunar year, and thus, the Julian calendar then in use. Numerous alternatives for fixing the date of the feast were tried by the church but proved unsatisfactory, so Easter was celebrated on different dates in different parts of the world.

In 387, for example, the dates of Easter in France and Egypt were 35 days apart. About 465, the church adopted a system of calculation proposed by the astronomer Victorinus, who had been commissioned by Pope Hilarius to reform the calendar and fix the date of Easter. Elements of his method are still in use although the Scythian monk Dionysius Exiguus made significant adjustments to the Easter cycle in the sixth century.

Refusal of the British and Celtic Christian churches to adopt the proposed changes led to a bitter dispute between them and Rome in the seventh century. Reform of the Julian calendar in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, through adoption of the Gregorian calendar, eliminated some of the difficulties in fixing the date of Easter and in arranging the ecclesiastical year.

Since 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was also adopted in Great Britain and Ireland, Easter has been celebrated on the same day in the Western part of the Christian world.

The Eastern churches, however, which did not adopt the Gregorian calendar, commemorate Easter on a Sunday either preceding or following the date observed in the West. Occasionally the dates coincide; the most recent times were in 1865 and 1963.

In 1928 the British Parliament enacted a measure allowing the Church of England to commemorate Easter on the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April. Despite these steps toward a consolidation, Easter continues to be a “movable” feast.

In the church’s zeal to separate itself from the Biblical text, confusion has continued.

Friday or Wednesday?

Another controversy continues concerning “Good Friday.” While there are many scholars who continue to defend a Friday Crucifixion, there are many who find this doubtful, for at least three reasons:

1. Jesus specified there would be “three days and three nights”—His words—between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection;
2. Jesus went from Jericho to Bethany six days before Passover; that would require more than a “Sabbath day’s journey” to occur on the Sabbath if Passover was on a Friday;
3. There were two Sabbaths between Passover and Sunday morning, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread, one of the seven high Sabbaths each year.
4. This is why many serious scholars believe the Crucifixion occurred “between the two evenings” on a Wednesday Passover, not on a Friday. Three days later— “the morrow after Shabbat after Passover,” the Feast of First Fruits, was, our First Fruits, discovered on that Sunday morning.

Other Issues

There are many other misunderstandings about the details surrounding those pivotal events.

They had not planned to take Jesus on a feast day, for fear of the Romans. The timing was controlled by Jesus Christ Himself. Even in the garden of Gethsemane, it was Jesus who was giving the orders.

Every detail of the six trials Jesus endured was illegal. (Over 20 specific infractions of legal procedure are detailed in our briefing package, The Easter Story: What Really Happened.)

Satan was hoping for a “righteous death,” which, in the Torah, was a death by stoning. But the Romans had removed the Jews’ right to capital punishment. The death by crucifixion was detailed in the Scriptures 700 years before crucifixion was invented.

What Is “The Gospel”?

The “Good News” can be summed up in five words: Jesus died and rose again! Perhaps the greatest failure by most renderings of the events of those crucial days—even Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion, is the portrayal of the Crucifixion as a tragedy: it wasn’t a tragedy, it was an achievement! Literally hundreds of specifications were fulfilled to accomplish a goal set before the foundation of the world.

Prophecies of the Final Week

There are many Old Testament prophesies quoted in the Gospels specifically about Jesus’ final week. Here is a brief list:

• He would make a triumphal entry in Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9, Psalm 118).
• He would be smitten like a shepherd (Zechariah 13).
• He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:1–13 and Psalm 41:9).
• He would be given vinegar and gall (Psalm 69:21).
• They would cast lots for His garments (Psalm 22:18).
• His bones would not be broken (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20).
• His side would be pierced (Zechariah 12 and Psalm 22:16).
• He would die among malefactors (Isaiah 53:9, 12).
• His dying words were foretold (Psalm 22:1, 31).
• He would be buried by a rich man (Isaiah 53:9).
• He would rise on the third day (Jonah 1:17; cf. Genesis 22:4 with Hebrews 11:19).
• His resurrection would be followed by the destruction of Jerusalem (Daniel 9, 11 and 12).

Furthermore, The Passion also failed to show the most important point: Who He was! He wasn’t just a great figure, a teacher or a positive influence. He was the Creator-God, humbling Himself to become our Kinsman-Redeemer!

A Conjecture

The Bible is one book—it has integrity of design. It may surprise you to learn there are more graphic details of the Crucifixion in the Old Testament than in the New. For instance, Psalm 22 is a description of what it was like to hang on the Cross as if it were dictated by Christ Himself (although it was written by David 800 years earlier). Isaiah 52:14 says He would be beaten so badly He would no longer look human.

But there is another verse most people overlook. Isaiah 50:6 says, “I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not turn away my face from insults and spitting.” If I understand this verse correctly and if it was fulfilled on the Cross—and I believe it was—that means they ripped off his beard!

This is particularly vivid for me because many years ago, I worked for a company that had a large software department and the head of that department had a full beard. After working with him for over a year, he came to work one day with his beard shaved off. I would not have recognized him but for another employee who called his name.

Maybe that’s why Mary in the garden didn’t recognize Jesus; she thought He was the gardener! Did He have a disfigured face and scar tissue where His beard had been ripped off?

Maybe that explains why two disciples could walk 7 miles with Him and not realize who He was until they saw His nail prints that evening. Maybe that’s another reason some in the Upper Room were so terrified as He stood there among them. That could also be why John, at the seashore in Galilee, said, “We didn’t dare ask Him because we knew it was the Lord” (John 21:12).

This brings up another question. Does Jesus still bear the marks of His Crucifixion?

Zechariah 12:10 says, “They will look to me — the one whom they pierced.” This would seem to indicate He will indeed bear the scars forever. Some say the only man-made things in Heaven will be His scars.

In Revelation 5:6, John is transported forward in time and sees the Seven-Sealed Book: “Then I saw a lamb standing in the middle of the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders. He looked like he had been slaughtered.” I think Jesus still bears His marks. They are the marks of His humiliation, but they are also the marks of His glory.

I am reminded of a young mother whose face was badly disfigured. Her little girl was continually ridiculed by the children in school because of her mother’s appearance. (You know how cruel children can be.)

When the little girl was old enough, the mother explained to her when she was a baby there was a dreadful fire in the apartment and, although the mother was able to save the little girl, the mother herself suffered very severe burns in the process.From that day on, the little girl was no longer embarrassed about her mother. Every time she looked into her mother’s face it was a reminder of just how much she was loved.

We know the Crucifixion was far more than just a physical event. I suspect you and I will spend an eternity discovering what it really cost Him that we might be there with Him and that we might live. It’s very possible when we look into His face, we too will be reminded just how much we are loved.

This article was originally published in the March 2007 Personal Update News Journal.

© Copyright 2016 Koinonia House

When God intends great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is to set them praying.” Those are the oft-repeated words of the 17th-century Welsh minister and author Matthew Henry.

Little did Henry know when he uttered those words that perhaps the greatest revival in the earth’s history—the Welsh Revival that took place from 1904 to 1905 and, many believe, is the root of every great revival in the world since—would break out in his homeland.

Indeed, the Azusa Street Revival, which is widely considered the birthplace of the modern-day Pentecostal movement, was inspired by intercessors who saw or heard how God was moving in Wales and prayed for the Holy Spirit to sweep over their city. And in 1906, He did.

Over 100 years later, our merciful God has set His people apraying once again—and Lou Engle has been partnering with Him to issue calls for massive intercession over America for more than three decades. Lou is a modern-day revivalist; a prophetic voice who has inspired a generation of youth to fast and pray for God’s mercy and labor for social justice.

When God called me in 2012 to make prayer my life’s work, I looked to the likes of Lou, IHOP’s Mike Bickle and Dutch Sheets—along with history’s intercessors such as Daniel Clary and Father Nash—for inspiration. What I discovered was that there are many different ways to pray for a nation.

You, for example, can walk out 2 Chronicles 7:14—”If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

You can execute strategic Spirit-inspired prayer assignments in your city. You can launch a house of prayer, as I did four years ago. You can gather the masses at stadium prayer events that unite generations to cry out to God—or work on many other initiatives.

Lou has done all that and more and is pulling off perhaps his biggest, most pivotal prayer event ever April 9 at TheCall Azusa at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was thrilling to interview Lou for our March cover story hear about how God called him to intercession for revival and learn about plans for what could be, prophetically speaking, a historic prayer meeting in America.

On the same day in Washington, D.C., pastors will band together to make an appeal to heaven. Meanwhile, Dutch Sheets, who birthed the Appeal to Heaven movement, has launched an app that encourages every Christian in America to pray for the nation 15 minutes a day—and equips us with the tools to do it.

When God intends great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is set them apraying. I’ve never before seen so many believers rallying together to pray—and crossing denominational lines to do it.

From The Response prayer events in strategic American cities to prayer rooms in revival centers and churches across America, God is uniting believers to pray for a nation in crisis, invading the seven mountains of society—arts and entertainment, business, education, family, government, media and religion—with the Word of God that promises not to return void but to accomplish that which it was sent to do.

As I wrote in my book The Next Great Move of God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening, God is not done with America. He wants to bring a Third Great Awakening to the nation. I believe it’s a Great Awakening that will spill over into the nations of the Earth, just like Azusa Street.

For all the doom-and-gloom prophecies over America, there is yet a rising cry from respected voices from various streams of the body of Christ who sense God’s heart—and God’s hope—for America even in the midst of discipline.

Despite the reality that a degree of judgment has come to America—and that we may continue to reap from the wicked seeds we’ve sown for a longer season—many agree that God is not done with America. There is hope.

As Lou once said, “Now, many look at the state of the nation and are deeply discouraged, but I am filled with hope. I have read history; most great moves of God erupted in the darkest times of crisis and were preceded by years of intercession. Today, I have more expectation for the Great Awakening in America than I ever have had.”

© Copyright 2016 Charisma Media

1. Read for the author’s meaning, not your own.

When we read, we want to know what an author intended us to see and experience in his writing. He had an intention when he wrote. Nothing will ever change that. It is there as a past, objective event in history.

We are not reading simply for subjective experiences. We are reading to discover more about objective reality. I’m not content with what comes to my mind when I read it. The meaning of a sentence, or a word, or a letter is what the author intended for us to understand by it. Therefore, meaning is the first aim of all good reading.

2. Ask questions to unlock the riches of the Bible.

When we read, we do not generally really think until we are faced with a problem to be solved, a mystery to be unraveled, or a puzzle to be deciphered. Until our minds are challenged, and shift from passive reading to active reading, we drift right over lots of insights.

Asking ourselves questions is a way of creating a problem or a mystery to be solved. That means the habit of asking ourselves questions awakens and sustains our thinking. It stimulates our mind while we read, and drives us down deep to the real meaning of a passage.

2.1 Ask about words.

Ask about definitions. What does this word mean in this specific sentence? And remember, we’re asking what the author intended by the word, not what we think it means. This assumes words will have different meanings in different sentences.

2.2 Ask about phrases.

A phrase is a group of words without a verb that describe some action or person or thing. For instance, “Put sin to death by the Spirit.” “By the Spirit” describes the activity. It tells us how we kill sin in our lives. Look closely at phrases like these and ask what specifically they’re explaining.

2.3. Ask about relationships between propositions.

A proposition is a group of words with a subject and a verb. How propositions relate to each other is one of the most important questions we can ask. Often, there will be a small connecting word that holds the answer (e.g. but, if, and, therefore, in order that, because, etc.). Sometimes the major differences between whole theologies hang on these connections.

2.4 Ask how the context helps define the meaning of words and phrases.

You can’t know accurately what a proposition means until you know the meaning of the words, and you can’t know the meaning of words until you know the meaning of the proposition. It is a circle, but it’s not a hopeless circle. Words have a limited range of shared meanings.

Wrong guesses about a word’s meaning are often set right by the end of the sentence or paragraph. Even though words, in and of themselves, can have several meanings, the content and relationships of the propositions around them usually clarify the specific meaning the author intended them to have.

2.5 Ask about connections with other parts in the Bible.

We have to ask how the meaning we’re seeing in a passage fits together with other passages. Are there confirmations elsewhere in the Bible? Are there passages that seem contradictory or inconsistent?

When I feel tension between two verses or passages, I never assume the Bible is inconsistent. I assume I’m not seeing all I need to see. If I have not seen enough to explain the apparent inconsistency, asking more questions will likely help me see more. Few things make us deeper and richer in our knowledge of God and his ways than this habit of asking how texts cohere in reality when at first they don’t look like they do.

2.6 Ask about application.

The aim of biblical writers is not only that we “know,” but that we “be” and “do.” So we need to form the habit of asking questions concerning application. To us. To our church and our relationships. To the world. The task of application is never done. There are millions of ways a text can be applied, and millions of situations and relationships for them to be applied. Our job is not to know every application, but to grow in applying the meaning of Scripture to our lives.

2.7 Ask about affections — appropriate responses of the heart.

The aim of our Bible reading is not just the response of the mind, but of the heart. The whole range of human emotions are possible responses to the meaning of the Bible. God gave us the Bible not just to inform our minds, but also to transform our hearts — our affections. God’s word is honored not just by being understood rightly, but also by being felt rightly.

3. At every page, pray and ask for God’s help.

O Lord, incline our hearts to your word. Give us a desire for it. Open our eyes to see wonders there. Subdue our wills and give us an obedient spirit. Satisfy our hearts with a vision of yourself and your way for our lives.

© Copyright 2016 Desiring God

Other recent article by Pastor John Piper: My Pastor Uses Pre-Made Sermons — Should I Be Concerned?

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 ISV)

Next Sunday marks the feast of Palm Sunday for Christians around the world.

March 20 most churches will celebrate Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter. This event, also known as “the Triumphal Entry,” involves one of the most astonishing passages in the entire Bible.

Irrefutably Documented

To fully appreciate the remarkable significance of the following, it is essential to realize that the Book of Daniel, as part of the Old Testament, was translated into Greek before 270 B.C., several centuries before Christ was born. This is a well-established fact of secular history.

The Septuagint

After his conquest of the Babylonian Empire, Alexander the Great promoted the Greek language throughout the known world, and thus almost everyone — including the Jews — spoke Greek. Hebrew fell into disuse, being reserved primarily for ceremonial purposes (somewhat analogous to the use of Latin among Roman Catholics).

In order to make the Jewish Scriptures (what we call the Old Testament) available to the average Jewish reader, a project was undertaken under the sponsorship of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 B.C.) to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek.

Seventy scholars were commissioned to complete this work and their result is known as the “Septuagint” (“70”) translation. (This is often abbreviated “LXX.”)

The Book of Daniel is actually one of the most authenticated books of the Old Testament, historically and archaeologically, but this is a convenient short-cut for our purposes here.

It is critical to realize that the Book of Daniel existed in documented form almost three centuries before Christ was born.

Gabriel’s Zinger

Daniel, originally deported as a teenager (now near the end of the Babylonian captivity), was reading in the Book of Jeremiah. He understood that the seventy years of servitude were almost over and he began to pray for his people.

The Angel Gabriel interrupted Daniel’s prayer and gave him a four-verse prophecy that is unquestionably the most remarkable passage in the entire Bible: Daniel 9:24–27.

These four verses include the following segments:

• 9:24 – The Scope of the entire prophecy;
• 9:25 – The 69 Weeks;
• 9:26 – An Interval between the 69th and 70th Week;
• 9:27 – The 70th Week.

The Scope

Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city: to restrain transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for lawlessness, to establish everlasting righteousness, to conclude vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. (Daniel 9:24 ISV)

The idiom of a “week” of years was common in Israel as a “Sabbath for the land,” in which the land was to lie fallow every seventh year. It was their failure to obey these laws that led to God sending them into captivity under the Babylonians.

When did the Messiah present Himself as a King? On one specific day, Jesus arranges it!

Note that the focus of this passage is upon “thy people and upon thy holy city,” that is, upon Israel and Jerusalem. (It is not directed to the Church.) The scope of this prophecy includes a broad list of things which clearly have yet to be completed.

The First 69 Weeks
A very specific prediction occurs in verse 25:

So be informed and discern that seven weeks and 62 weeks will elapse from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed commander. The street will be rebuilt, along with the wall, though in troubled times.”(Daniel 9:25 ISV)

This includes a mathematical prophecy. The Jewish (and Babylonian) calendars used a 360-day year; 69 weeks of 360-day years totals 173,880 days.

In effect, Gabriel told Daniel that the interval between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until the presentation of the Messiah as King would be 173,880 days.

The “Messiah the Prince” in the King James translation is actually the Meshiach Nagid, “The Messiah the King.” (Nagid is first used of King Saul.)

Bull’s-eye!

The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus March 14, 445, B.C. This was first identified in Sir Robert Anderson’s classic work, The Coming Prince, first published in 1894. (The emphasis in the verse on “the street” and “the wall” was to avoid confusion with other earlier mandates confined to rebuilding the Temple.)

But when did the Messiah present Himself as a King? During the ministry of Jesus Christ there were several occasions in which the people attempted to promote Him as king, but He carefully avoided it. “Mine hour is not yet come.”

The Triumphal Entry

Then one day He meticulously arranges it. On this particular day he rode into the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey, deliberately fulfilling a prophecy by Zechariah that the Messiah would present Himself as king in just that way:

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9, ISV)

Whenever we might easily miss the significance of what was going on, the Pharisees come to our rescue. They felt that the overzealous crowd was blaspheming, proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah the King. However, Jesus endorsed it!

He replied, “I tell you, if they were quiet, the stones would cry out!” (Luke 19:40 ISV)

This is the only occasion that Jesus presented Himself as King. It occurred April 6, 32 A.D. (Luke 3:1: Tiberius appointed in 14 AD; 15th year, 29 AD; the 4th Passover occurred in 32 AD.)

The Precision of Prophecy

When we examine the period between March 14, 445 B.C. and April 6, 32 A.D., and correct for leap years, we discover that it is 173,880 days exactly, to the very day!

How could Daniel have known this in advance? How could anyone have contrived to have this detailed prediction documented over three centuries in advance? But there’s more.

The Interval

There appears to be a gap between the 69th week (verse 25) and the 70th week (verse 27):

Then after the 62 weeks, the anointed one will be cut off, and will have no successor. Then the people of the coming commander will destroy both the city and the Sanctuary. Its ending will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war, with desolations having been decreed. (Daniel 9:26 ISV)

The sixty-two “weeks” follow the initial seven, so verse 26 deals with events after 69th week, but before the 70th. These events include the Messiah being killed and the city and sanctuary being destroyed.

There is a remaining seven-year period to be fulfilled. Revelation 6–19 is essentially a detailing of that climactic period.

As Jesus approached the city on the donkey, He also predicted the destruction of Jerusalem:

Because the days will come when your enemies will build walls around you, surround you, and close you in on every side. They will level you to the ground—you and those who live within your city limits. They will not leave one stone on another within your walls, because you didn’t recognize the time when God came to help you. (Luke 19:43–44 ISV)

The Messiah was, of course, executed at the Crucifixion. “But not for Himself.”

The city and the sanctuary were destroyed 38 years later when the Roman legions under Titus Vespasian leveled the city of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., precisely as Daniel and Jesus had predicted.

In fact, as one carefully examines Jesus’ specific words, it appears that He held them accountable to know this astonishing prophecy in Daniel 9! “Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”

The 70th Week

There is a remaining seven-year period to be fulfilled. This period is the most documented period in the entire Bible. The Book of Revelation, Chapters 6 through 19, is essentially a detailing of that climactic period.

The interval between the 69th and 70th week continues, but it is increasingly apparent that it may soon be over.

The more one is familiar with the numerous climactic themes of “end-time” prophecy, the more it seems that Daniel’s 70th Week is on our horizon.

Have you done your homework? Are you and your family prepared?

As you celebrate Palm Sunday this month, share with your family and friends this incredible demonstration of just who Jesus really was, and what the significance of all this is to all of us!

Amazing grace, indeed!

This article was originally published in the March 1996 Personal Update News Journal

© Copyright 1996-2016 Koinonia House

Source of Image: Koinonia House Via Bible Prophecy for Today

Several decades ago, Saul Bellow wrote this:

For the first time in history, the human species as a whole has gone into politics. Everyone is in the act, and there is no telling what may come of it.

At this point, however, we can say what has come of it: failure. Politics has failed to deliver on nearly every promise it has made since the 1960s, and I think it’s time to hold it to account.

50 Years In

I was still a child in 1966, but I remember it fairly well. And I remember a good deal of the politics of the era, because my mom was involved with it. In fact, she helped to rewrite the Illinois State Constitution during those years. (Adoption came in 1970, but there were several years of work preceding it.)

So, I know what people in that time were hoping to get out of politics… what they firmly believed they would get out of politics. Here’s the list:

• A solution to the race problem.
• An end to a pointless war.
• A solution to the Middle East problem.
• To improve education.
• A solution to the problems of poverty and welfare.
• An elimination of police brutality.

Bear in mind that the people who were seeking these things were decent, well-meaning people. They truly wanted the world to be better, and they believed politics would make it happen.

And to their credit, they worked to make it happen. Not only that, but their children and grandchildren have kept the faith and continued the fight. We now live in a world of all politics, all the time. And so, half a century in, I think we need to take a hard look at the results, which are these:

The race problem

Race problems have shifted over the past 50 years, but they are still very much with us. And when I say “shifted,” I mean this: If you go to the towns of the American South that were considered the cores of racism (in those days it was called “bigotry”), you’ll find that black and white people generally get along pretty well; far better than they did in the 1960s.

Where racial tension survives and thrives these days is in the realm of the political and because of political actions. The typical white hater of the ’60s derided Negroes as being bad by nature.

The “angry white men” of modern times are upset that their money, jobs, and opportunities are stolen via politics and handed to other people. (There is of course a residue of just plain hate.)

The bottom line here is that politics is keeping racism alive. And if the truth is to be honestly faced, this is because a large number of political operatives would have no job if racial prejudice evaporated. It behooves them to keep it going.

Verdict: Fail.

Pointless war

Vietnam goes, Iraq and Afghanistan come, and Syria may be next; ho hum, just another season in the long march of the military-industrial complex.

Verdict: Fail.

The Middle East problem

Israel, the Arabs, bombs, terrorists, dictators… which decade’s headlines are these?

Verdict: Fail.

Education

Test scores since the 1960s have steadily fallen; teachers’ unions have become ever-more rapacious and arrogant, colleges ever-more expensive. Metal detectors now adorn school buildings, teachers are forbidden to adapt the curriculum to the students, etc.

Verdict: Fail.

Poverty and welfare

More people are on more welfare programs than ever before… and in the face of ever-declining scarcity in the world. And again, armies of political operatives would lose their jobs if these problems ever went away.

Verdict: Fail.

Police brutality

Eric Garner, intensely violent and overly used SWAT teams, and an ever-increasing list of innocent victims.

At the same time, every evening’s television shows laud “law enforcement” as our true and great saviors. Police departments are laden with bigger, deadlier tools and massive budgets. All of this while Acton’s dictum (“Power corrupts…”) remains.

Verdict: Fail.

We See, but Can We Perceive?

There’s nothing secret about the facts itemized above. We’ve all seen them. The question is this: How many of us are able to accept them?

Most people hate the reality that forces them to change their opinions. They fight it, cleverly and persistently. If the first reason to reject reality doesn’t work, it’s followed by a second, third, and fourth. And if excuses fail, anger, accusations, and wild displays may follow.

Still, reality is what it is. And this particular slice of reality is that politics has failed. Profoundly.

We may have leapt into politics with the best of intentions, but our efforts have failed to produce beneficial results… save of course that they allowed us to feel righteous.

As far as changing the world, we’d have been better off gardening; that, at least, would have provided good food for people we cared about.

We can either face reality or fight against it. But if we really care about the state of the world, we need to face the truth: Politics has failed miserably.

Originally posted on Freeman’s Perspective

Image courtesy: Prweb.com

C.H. Spurgeon, the powerful English preacher, said the following about the need for revival and repentance:

The fact is the Church has scarcely ever been in a state of universal revival since the day of Pentecost. There has been a partial moving among Christians every now and then, but the whole mass throughout has never burned and flamed with the earnestness, which the grand cause demands. Oh, that the Lord would set the whole Church on fire!

I trust that sorrowful penitence does still exist, though I have not heard much about it lately. People seem to jump into faith very quickly nowadays…I hope my old friend repentance is not dead. I am desperately in love with repentance; it seems to be the twin sister of faith.

I do not myself understand much about dry-eyed faith; I know that I came to Christ by the way of weeping-cross…When I came to Calvary by faith, it was with great weeping and supplication, confessing my transgressions, and desiring to find salvation in Jesus, and in Jesus only.

Most of us came to the Lord like Spurgeon is describing above, but we’ve lost the first love we had for the Lord. The truth about all human flesh is that when we come to a place of comfort, we tend to forget God.

Few of us came to the Lord when everything was going on very well. Likewise very few of us seek the Lord as fervent as possible when in prosperity as we do when all hell breaks loose. The greatest distraction to us all is not the difficulties, but the prosperity. In fact we should learn to seek the Lord as much in prosperity more than we are in difficulties. E.M. Bounds wrote,

Material prosperity is not the infallible sign of spiritual prosperity. The former may exist while the latter is significantly absent. Material prosperity may easily blind our eyes so much so that it is easy to make it a substitute for spiritual prosperity. How great the need to watch at this point! Prosperity in money matters does not signify growth in holiness.

The seasons of material prosperity are rarely seasons of spiritual advance, either to the individual, the nation or to the church. It is so easy to lose sight of God when goods increase. It is so easy to lean on human agencies and cease praying and relying upon God when material prosperity comes to the Church.

Is there not in the life of us believers an idolatry of money, talent and education—and a confidence in the flesh that grieves and resists the Holy Spirit? When we’ve set up idols in our hearts, and we don’t have a poor and contrite spirit, nor do we tremble at God Word, (see Isaiah 66:1-2), then we need to repent and be revived.

Revival is coming! We hear that all the time. But if we desire a revival, it should start with our own lives. Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? (Psalm 85:6)

In one of the greatest revivals in human history-the Welsh Revival, the Holy Spirit began convicting the church of her sin of lukewarmness before He began convicting the heathen of their sin. But this was a gradual work that obviously evolved over many years. As Stewart has observed in his book, Invasion of Wales by the Spirit through Evan Roberts:

Every outpouring of the Spirit is preceded by earnest, agonizing intercession, accompanied by a heart-brokenness and humiliation before God. This is followed by recognition and honouring of the blessed Spirit.

Pastors and flock alike in their churches are deeply concerned about the discrepancy between the heart-stirring record in the Book of Acts and the present-day condition of the church. So it was in the little Principality of Wales before the month of November, 1904.

It is an impossible task to trace the beginnings of the awakening, either in individual hearts or in individual churches. One reason, no doubt, is that those who had the deepest experiences with their Lord were loath to reveal them publicly. These experiences were too sacred for them to divulge to the public.

Many, I am sure, could have forward and given personal and private witness to the first stirring in their own breasts, helping us trace the glorious beginnings of the revival, but somehow a veil of secrecy has been spread over these early days.Suffice it to say that no revival is of sudden origin.

When the revival manifests itself in a mighty way it comes suddenly as in the days of Hezekiah, but even so, its origins begin with the Holy Spirit of God moving effectively in individual lives in private. Let no one pray for revival—let no one pray for a mighty baptism of power who is not prepared for deep heart–searchings and confession of sin in his personal life.

Revival, in its beginnings, is a most humiliating experience. When one, like Isaiah, sees himself in the light of God’s holiness he must inevitably cry, Woe is me! (Isaiah 6:5)

The depth of any revival will be determined exactly by the spirit of repentance that is obtained. In fact, this is the key to every true revival born of God. There is always much need for heart preparation, in humility and separation, before God can consistently come.

Jesus promises that your godly sorrow, your broken and repentant heart, and your renewed first love for Him will lead to a personal revival which He will use to bless others.

So, pray to the Lord to truly give you a broken, contrite and repentant heart, something that He doesn’t despise. Ask Him to take you back to who you were when He first met you. As you repent, the Lord will grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the deep and intimate knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17).

Andy Stanley is the senior pastor of North Point Community Church. This is the largest church in the Metro Atlanta area with 6 campus and 36,000 in attendance.

In a sermon on February 28, 2016, Andy told his congregation “if you don’t go to a large church, you are so stinking selfish…and don’t care about your kids.” See a two minute segment of this message here…

Needless to say, this comment went viral and Andy received all kinds of grief about it. Well, Andy issued an apology of sorts. You can see and read it here:

To me, Andy’s apology revealed a much bigger problem. Here’s what I wrote on Facebook…

Andy Stanley’s “apology” exposes the real problem. In this interview, he talks about how grateful he was that 4,600 middle school students spent the weekend at the church. “Imagine if every middle school kid in America had an opportunity to experience this kind of content, accountability and love.”

The underlying message is “Parents, send you kids to church. We’ll create great programs that will disciple them for you.” I’m sure they don’t intend that message but it is, none the less, what is communicated.

I would be way more impressed if Andy was grateful that 4,600 parents of middle school students spent the weekend at the church learning how to disciple their children.

Reggie McNeal in “The Present Future” writes, “We typically hire children’s and student ministers to run programs for children and young people. In fact, this approach by the church may do more to decimate the home as a spiritual center than anything coming into the home on television or the Internet.” p. 88.

And, I would add that the bigger and more exciting the program, the more decimating to the home it is. (How can anything at home compete with this?!)

Finally, isn’t it time to step back and evaluate youth ministry in general? Never in the history of the world have there been more or better age segregated ministries – youth groups of every kind, youth retreats and conferences, youth concerts, Young Life, Youth for Christ, Campus Crusade, etc.

The net result? An increasingly secular, post Christian culture.

When will we get desperate enough that we will return to the Biblical idea of the home as the center of spiritual life?

Source: The Look 10 Community