The Upper World

IT TAKES AN impressive mix of stupidity and bad luck to not be in a gang but still find yourself in the middle of a gang war. I’d managed it in less than a week. And that was before the time travel.

I knelt down, resting my elbows on the one corner of the mattress where the sheet hadn’t peeled off. Tired and alone in my bedroom, I was desperate for heavenly backup. But I couldn’t make the call between Jesus, his mum, Thor, Prophet Mohammed (and the big man he works for), that bald Asian dude in orange robes, Jesus’s dad, Emperor Haile Selassie, my granddad’s voodoo sculpture, Morgan Freeman, or that metal slab on the moon in the olden-day film 2001. So, to be safe, I prayed to the whole team.

“Dear Holy Avengers,” I pleaded into my interlaced fingers. “First off, please forgive me for being a prick on Monday. And for lying to Mum about what happened.”

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10 Curses That Block The Blessing

Even though God had delivered Larry completely from drug addiction, he had not been delivered from the uncontrollable outbursts of anger that had plagued his life. Larry had tried everything he knew, but he could do nothing to put these terrible moments of rage behind him. These outbursts would come upon him unexpectedly, and when they did, he said and did terrible things to his wife and even terrified his children. After violent episodes, he would apologize in tears and beg his wife to forgive him. Though he would promise to never lose his temper again, sooner or later his control would slip. During one extreme outburst he understood that he had become just like the generations before him, angry and violent. Though he had vowed never to do those things, he had become the very thing that he most hated. In a moment of revelation he knew that he was confronting a generational pattern, acting out his anger just as generations of his family had done before him. He went to the Bible a...

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Do you remember a statement similar to this one made by President John F. Kennedy? In his inaugural address on January 20, 1961, he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” I remember learning that famous quote in school. I think more people would be saved and ministered to if Christians had that same thinking in the Church today. Many times we have a tendency to look for ways to be blessed rather than looking for ways to be a blessing. Of course, you know as well as I do that the best way to have joy unspeakable in our lives is to be a giver. Real joy is in putting others first instead of ourselves. Click Here To Download The Book

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Although the subject matter of this essay has been brewing over a long season, its present impetus stems from writing the commentary on Paul’s letter to the Philippians during Winter and Spring of 1994. As I worked through Paul’s text with great care, I experienced an ongoing encounter with the living God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — an encounter which happened in two ways. On the one hand, as I exegeted the text so as to articulate its meaning for the sake of others in the church, I was often myself so overcome by the power of the Word that I was brought to tears, to joy, to prayer, or to praise. On the other hand, I was also regularly experiencing the text of this letter in church settings, in such overwhelming ways, that I felt compelled to mention it in the final paragraph of the Author’s Preface: Click Here To Download The Book

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Four Keys To Hearing God's Voice

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God's General - The Missionaries

This verse from the Word of God is a clear description of the men and women in God’s Generals: The Missionaries. Without exception, they were overcomers, not in their own strength but in the power of the Lamb of God, whom they loved and served wherever they were called. They had extraordinary courage to face unknown lands, persecution, family loss, and death, because they esteemed their love for Jesus Christ more highly than their own lives. In the midst of both triumphs and tragedies, they lived out phrases we take for granted today, such as “Fulfilling the Great Commission,” “The future is as bright as the promises of God!” and “Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all!” The generals in this book were among the Christian pioneers who helped birth and develop modern Christian missions as we understand them today. They did not only speak about the need for preaching the gospel in “heathen” lands, but, by example, they also went and lived out their convictions on the missi...

Disciple

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The 21st Century Pastor

Being a pastor today is more difficult than anytime in memory. This century witnessed the collapse of the Christian consensus that held American culture together for centuries. The secularization of our culture pushed the churches to the margins of our nation’s consciousness. The moral relativism that accompanies a secular view of reality deeply affects the work of the church and its ministry. According to a 1992 Christianity Today survey, 1 66 percent of Americans believe there is no absolute truth. Significantly, among Americans ages eighteen to twenty-five, the number is 72 percent. The Christian faith adheres to a multitude of absolutes. No wonder ministry in and to this culture is more complex than ever. No wonder pastors and churches are increasingly viewed as curiosities or even threats to the public. Click Here To Download The Book

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