Dear
Present Truth Magazine Subscriber:
We
are glad to have you as a subscriber to our Present Truth Magazine. Below
you will find articles from individual authors who have written for our
magazine. Our prayer for all who
receive read these articles is that the Lord "...may give to you the
Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may
know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of
His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:17-18).
OUR FUTURE AND HOPE
By A. Wilson Phillips
Scripture records a controversy
between two prophets in Israel by the names of Hananiah and Jeremiah.
The issue, at that particular time, was how long God’s covenant people
would be held captive under King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon.
Hananiah spoke to Jeremiah in
the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and many people
saying:
…Thus speaks the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: “I have broken the yoke of the king
of Babylon. Within two full years I will bring back to this place
(Jerusalem) all the vessels of the Lord’s
house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and
carried to Babylon” (Jer. 28:2-3).
At that time in Israel, a false
prophet would die if he prophesied falsely. This was a very serious issue.
False prophecy taught rebellion against the Lord (Jer. 28:15-16).
Jeremiah responded to Hananiah
in the presence of the priests and people:
...“Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord
has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.
Therefore thus says the Lord:
‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall
die, because you have taught rebellion against the Lord.’”
So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month
(Jer. 28:15-17).
The purpose in God taking His
covenant people into Babylonian captivity was to rid them of their idol
worship and rebellion. Jeremiah’s true prophecy said Israel would be in
captivity seventy years, not two years.
Thus says the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I
have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and
eat their fruit.
Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take
wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may
bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not
diminished.
And seek the peace of the city where I have
caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord
for it; for in its peace you will have peace.
For thus says the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners
who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you
cause to be dreamed.
For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I
have not sent them, says the Lord.
For thus says the Lord:
After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform
My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, says the Lord, thoughts
of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me,
and I will listen to you.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you
search for Me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, says the Lord,
and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all
the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord,
and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried
away captive (Jer. 29:4-14).
Prophetically, here are some
lessons we can learn from this passage:
1)
Hananiah, as a prophet in Israel, had in former times spoken
prophesies that were true. However, in this particular case, he was not
properly representing the Lord. Biblical history proves this. This happens
today when God’s leaders speak falsely. Many are teaching people to
trust in an unscriptural future.
2)
Error often rides in on the wings of truth.
3)
God is ever reforming His church. Since the time of the apostles’
writings until Martin Luther’s ministry in the sixteenth century until
today, many denominations have been formed with some truth and
some errors in their interpretations and practice of biblical truths
in Christ. This is especially true concerning eschatology (the study of
end times). The futurist view of a physical return of Jesus Christ to rule
in a physical kingdom on planet earth is unscriptural. Jesus said,
“My kingdom is not of this world...” (John 18:36).
4)
With the advent of modern technology in the global information age,
God is reforming the eschatological or end-time teachings of the
Scriptures.
Covenant eschatology teaches
that all of the prophetic Scriptures were written and fulfilled by the
fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. There is internal evidence of this fact in
the Scripture (Sola Scriptura).
The Word and Spirit today are
saying, “The best is yet to come.” Many of God’s
covenant
people are hurting and confused because of erroneous teachings on the
prophetic and apostolic writings of Scripture. It gives many a
misplaced hope.
Our hope is in our union with
Christ and victorious living today. It’s a life of righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). We must give this generation and
succeeding generations a blessed future and hope.
A. Wilson Phillips is the co-founding and senior
pastor of Abundant Life Covenant
Church.
GOD’S
THOUGHTS
By Richard K. Clark
One of the characteristics of
mankind created in God’s image is that we can think. The human mind is
still the most advanced computer in that it not only processes information
in split seconds, but it can interface with spirit and emotions. Through
the centuries, people that have left legacies were typically those that
could harness their thoughts and focus them toward the desired goal. It
was said of Michael Jordan that he was the most “mentally tough” person in
basketball, hence he was arguably the best ever in his field.
Can we agree that the greatest
of all thinkers is God?
How precious also are Your thoughts to me,
O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in
number than the sand… (Ps. 139:17-18).
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts”
(Is. 55:8-9).
Because God is all-knowing,
all-powerful, and everywhere-present, one might assume that we could never
attain to His thoughts—yet He has chosen to reveal Himself to us through
His Son Jesus Christ (the Word of God) and His Holy Spirit.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who
love Him.”
But God has revealed them to us through His
Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of
God (1 Cor. 2:9-10).
The only true rationale for
life comes as we align our thoughts to God’s thoughts. When our great
ancestor Adam sinned, he plunged all humanity into darkness—separation
from God’s presence and thoughts. “The tree of the knowledge of good and
evil” deceives a person into thinking he “knows” when he really doesn’t!
Our initiation into the light comes as we are humbled into Christ’s death
and resurrection.
Jesus, the Son of Man, said
that He always did those things that pleased His Father (John 8:29). The
only possible way that He could have accomplished this feat was to have a
continual channel into His Father’s thoughts (John 5:19, 30). Apostle Paul
said that he had the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). I believe it is our
Father’s will that we also live with the “mind of Christ” while fulfilling
our callings in these earthly bodies.
Imagine the freedom and fruit
that comes with knowing God’s thoughts. To possess God’s thoughts is one
and the same as to experience spiritually, mentally, and emotionally what
God is experiencing, and this affects our physical bodies as well. God
right now is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). He is provider
and healer. He is wisdom and direction for life. In fact God is “all” and
He is “in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). If you want to literally “have it all,”
then what you need is to have God’s thoughts!
For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope
(Jer. 29:11).
Richard K. Clark is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
Focus
By Benjamin Davis
Over the Christmas break, we
managed to break our family camera in an overexcited game of Guesstures
(charades with props). This allowed us the opportunity to get a newer,
better one. Our new camera has a 12x optical zoom—perfect for zeroing in
on those faraway shots.
As I was reading up on how to
use my new camera, I reeducated myself on the method for taking a quality
picture of a person with a broad scenic background. To do this, you must
focus the camera in on the person. Then while holding that focus, you can
move the camera any direction you like to receive the nicest background.
The end result should be a picture with a nice clear person in front of a
beautiful scenic background. In this kind of a picture, the person is the
focus and the background adds to the person, not vice versa.
As the Lord often does, He used
my reeducation about a natural item to talk to me about a spiritual
concept. The apostle Paul deals with our focus as spiritual people in his
second letter to the Corinthians.
...while we do not look at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal... For we
walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 4:18, 5:7).
America has truly become the
land of abundance. Because food is so abundant, we have a national problem
of obesity. Electronic equipment is so abundant that over 90 percent of
American youth regularly use the Internet. Clothes and styles are so
abundant that many have to spend the equivalent of a part-time job
researching and buying the new styles just to keep from being outdated. We
have an abundance of sports to choose from, careers to follow, schools to
go to, churches to choose from, and shows to watch.
God is certainly not an enemy
of abundance. As a matter of fact, Scripture clearly declares that God
desires for His people to experience abundance (2 Cor. 9:8, 8:9). The key,
however, to growing up spiritually is that we learn to focus on the
spiritual rather than the material.
A great American dilemma that
is shaping up before us is how to live with our material abundance without
choking on it. People who are consumed by material abundance are not
fulfilled people in the Lord. However, people who learn to focus on a
spiritual relationship with God through Jesus Christ are fulfilled in
their spiritual walk and can enjoy material abundance without being
consumed by it.
At Abundant Life
Covenant Church, we are placing a focus on reaching the younger generation
through a coffeehouse ministry. We are calling it “The New
Creation
House on Friday Nights.” We are using modern material abundance
(modern
computers, Xbox and other games, food, etc.) and fellowship in our
modern-style coffeehouse to attract youth to come and “hang out” with us.
This modern background is a nice tool, and I know the youth will enjoy all
the toys. Yet, our spiritual focus remains on reaching this generation
with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe by faith that the best is yet
to come.
Benjamin Davis is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church
THE MIND
By Jonathan Clark
I remember how interesting it
was to learn about the brain during anatomy class. We were taught that one
part of the brain is under voluntary control and correlates with the
large, outer cortex of the brain. This voluntary nervous system regulates
purposeful movements and activities.
We were also taught that
another section is the autonomic brain, which correlates with the brain
stem and the deeper regions underneath the outer cortex. The
autonomic/brain stem areas regulate functions that are largely under
involuntary control, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and digestion.
Both divisions of the
brain/nervous system operate together—they are intricately intertwined.
The neuronal pathway circuits have been, for the most part, well mapped
out by scientists who study the brain.
Segue from the brain to the
mind. The “mind” is associated with the brain, and the brain and the mind
are intricately intertwined. The mind is where human thought is
experienced. (Scripture often includes the mind as part of the “heart” of
man.)
In the mind, humans have
conscious thoughts and subconscious thoughts (also intricately
intertwined). The conscious are those thoughts that we choose to be
thinking at any time; the subconscious ones are the “automatic pilot,” the
ones that will take over when we are not actively pursuing thought
processes (such as when we are relaxing and dialing down at the end of the
day or when we are dreaming). The psychological concepts of denial and
repression wreak havoc through the subconscious mind; psychosomatic
physical manifestations also operate via the subconscious.
Both the inward thought and the heart of man are
deep (Ps. 64:6b).
What the Scriptures label as
“inward thoughts” are often the subconscious thoughts. Subconscious is
defined as the mental activities just below the level of consciousness.
When the consciously controlled mind lies dormant, the subconscious mind
becomes active.
“Inward thought” would also
encompass the concept of latent thoughts. I have heard it speculated that
we humans only use approximately ten percent of our brains/minds. (I’m not
sure how this has been proven.) In any case, the ninety percent of
inactive mind would be called the latent mind, for latent is defined as
“present and capable of becoming...but not now active.”
In her book Power of
Speaking Positive, Joy Haney has described the mind as an art gallery,
and she recommends that we be careful what pictures we allow (consciously)
to be hung in its corridors—for the gallery will always be “showing” back
to us—influencing thoughts, ideas, dreams, and ultimately speech and
destiny.
It has been suggested (and I
strongly agree) that keeping the conscious mind active, such as through
working crossword puzzles and reading, can help prevent demential
processes such as Alzheimer’s disease. As science continues to elucidate
any physical/chemical alterations in the brain during Alzheimer’s disease,
maintaining conscious “mind activity” can help whatever “mind changes” may
try to come about in the Alzheimer’s process. This is one reason to set
limits on mind-numbing activities such as non-educational television
viewing and video games.
For the new creation believer
in Christ, the most important way to keep the conscious mind active is
what Paul called renewing the mind.
...be transformed by the renewing of the mind...
(Rom. 12:2).
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus... (Phil. 2:5).
We do have control over our
conscious thoughts, which in turn control/program our subconscious
thoughts.
The heart...who can know it? I, the Lord,
search the heart, I test the mind... (Jer. 17:9-10).
There are two avenues into our
inner mind (inner including both latent and subconscious)—one is through
our conscious mind and the other is through God Himself (see 1 Chr. 28:9;
1 Cor. 2:16, 3:20; Rev. 2:23). He can “activate the latent mind with His
thoughts and ideas, and we can literally express the creative genius of
God (Ps. 119:98-100)!
Not only is it important to
activate the latent mind, it is also vitally important to be able to still
the subconscious mind. When the subconscious gallery is harassingly
overactive (often with negativity and fear), the anxieties, depressions,
and insomnias are usually not far behind.
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother... (Ps.
131:2).
Be still, and know that I am God... (Ps.
46:10).
Regularly renewing the
conscious mind to the mind of Christ establishes the latent mind and
assures us of having sound subconscious thoughts and dreams.
For God has...given us...a sound mind...(2
Tim. 1:7).
Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established (Prov.
16:3).
The inward mind is not an
enemy—it is an ally! Think about it
(pardon
the pun); by renewing the conscious mind, quieting the subconscious mind,
and activating the latent mind, we can solve
difficult problems, prevent/treat diseases, and get a good night’s sleep.
You will keep him in
perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You (Is.
26:3).
Jonathan Clark is an elder of Abundant Life Covenant Church and a physician in
Springfield, Missouri.
NEW
SNEAKERS
By Liz Dawes
I own a pair of old sneakers
that fit me perfectly. They are worn to the exact form of my feet. They
fit so well I have a hard time giving them up, even though a new pair
would be better for my feet and give me more support.
Like my fondness for my old
pair of sneakers, I used to be very comfortable with my defeated Christian
walk. For most of my life, I lived with a depression that was so much a
part of me I didn’t know life was suppose to be any different. At times, I
would feel better, but it was short lived. I would find myself engulfed in
depression again and again.
I had always prided myself in
being independent. I could take care of myself; I didn’t need anyone. This
thinking added to my problems because I really thought I didn’t even need
God. When I hit bottom, God began to show me I didn’t have to live this
way. He wanted me to give up my old, comfortable sneakers (depression) and
get a new, better pair (His emotionally healthy life).
I humbled myself and asked God
to forgive me of my pride and to show me a different way. I never expected
Him to give me the freedom I now feel. He revealed to me that I am a new
creation in Christ, and He promised to transform me so I didn’t have to
live in depression. God wanted me to grow and understand I could be
different.
God taught me that my battles
were in my mind. I needed to think differently to be different. I now
understand I am a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), old things
(negative feelings and thoughts) have passed away, and all things have
become new. I’ve changed my thought life by thinking on Scriptures that
show me who I am in Christ. Now when problems come up, I look at it from
Christ’s viewpoint instead of mine. Instead of living in a landslide of
negative thoughts and emotions, I have learned that problems come up by
God’s direction or permission, and they are always for my good (Rom. 12:2;
Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:17; 1 Pet. 5:10).
Liz Dawes is a supervisor
of Patient Financial Services at Cox Health.
YOUNG HEARTS CONNECT WITH GOD
Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord
before Eli. And the word of the Lord
was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation... Now the
Lord... called... “Samuel!, Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your
servant hears (1 Sam. 3:1,
10).
The Lord has been showing me that I need to be more
thankful for my younger brothers. I had been having problems getting along
with them. The Lord showed me that even though His brothers and sisters
(spiritual) ridiculed and beat Him, He still loved them and was still
thankful for them—so much that He died on the cross for them... John 13:34
says “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I
have loved you, that you also love one another.” This verse shows me
that I need to love my brothers just as He loved us.
Tory Krueger is a
sophomore at Kickapoo High School in Springfield.
Pastor Davis shared with me
that if I give my whole heart and submit to God, He has a better way of
life for me than I could choose for myself. So I prayed to God and asked
Him to give me the desire to want Him to be the ruler of my life. I
started doing devotions and letting God speak to me... I learned how I
don’t need to search for acceptance with my peers; I’m already accepted in
Christ... I also learned about having dominion over my fears. I would let
the littlest things control me. And one last thing that really stuck out
to me was honoring my parents with a willing heart... God
truly has a better way of life for me than I could choose.
Beth Wolfinbarger is a sophomore at
Republic High School.
God has been leading me to think about what I say or
do before I speak or act... He’s been telling me that I am much more of a
joy to be around when I decide to go with the presence of the Lord.
Sabrina DuPree a
sixth grader at Carver Middle School in Springfield.
God has been dealing with me to be
more open to Him and more sensitive to the Spirit during worship. I
believe that God wants me to draw closer and have a more intimate
relationship with Him. As I become more intimate with the Lord, I believe
that I become more sensitive to what He is saying. Therefore, I can
glorify Him in all of my actions and deeds and become more “on offense” in
my Christianity. Whenever I follow what the Lord is leading me to do, I
will not compromise and will learn to minister to others and to God. I
will... live the life that God wants me to live and be...a better friend.
When I walk with the Spirit, I am ready to face daily tests ... and be a
proven follower of Jesus Christ.
Matt Cook is a freshman at Greenwood High School in
Springfield.
“Be
Ye Kind One to Another”
By Sarah Whitten
As I look back over the
last couple of years, I can see changes that have been made in me that
have made me a more accepting person to people around me.
I remember a time last
year (sophomore year) when God had been speaking to me about my feelings
and actions towards a certain person I knew from school. This person got
on my nerves constantly. Sometimes it just felt like he was trying
to be annoying and rude. He talked about things that were disgusting to
me, and to top it all off, he didn’t have the best hygiene, and we had a
physical fitness class together. All in all, he wasn’t somebody I liked
being around.
My feelings grew
stronger as time went by. I never thought that I was rude to him, but I
would try to avoid him. Then I just began to block him out, so that I
didn’t really notice whether he was there or not, or what he was doing,
unless he was bugging me.
One day, I was talking
to a couple of my other friends, and he was there. He made a few comments
during the conversation, not being rude at all (and actually not even
calling me on anything), but to me, because I knew I hadn’t been accepting
and kind, it sounded like he was telling me that he knew that I
purposefully ignored him. I really don’t know whether he knew that or not,
but it opened my eyes. I realized that I was wrong in acting that way
toward him. In Ephesians 4:29 it says:
Do not let any unwholesome talk (or actions)
come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up
according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (NIV).
No matter how much I disliked
the way he acted, he was, and is, a
person created by God. Jesus did as much for him on the cross as He did
for me, and I have absolutely no right to treat him as if he was a lesser
person than me, even just by ignoring him.
I was totally wrong in
the way I acted, and I knew that I needed to change. I know that the Holy
Spirit cannot flow through me when I am grieving Him, and I am certain
that the way I was acting was doing that. I also know that my attitude was
not what God had planned for me at all. I have learned that when I
am accepting toward others, no matter what they say or do, it is easier
for me to have a relationship with Him and others.
During lunch a while ago
(this year), one of my friends asked me if there was anybody that it was
okay to be prejudiced against (by the way, this wasn’t an out-of-the-blue
question—there were some things that led up to it). He named off several
different groups of people (nerds, geeks, preps, middle school kids,
teachers, overweight people, different races, etc.). There wasn’t one that
I could honestly say, “Yes, I guess you can be prejudiced against that
group.” It started out as a joke and ended as one too (because I know that
he isn’t prejudiced towards any of these people, and neither am I.), so I
forgot about the conversation for a while.
The next Wednesday
night, our senior pastor talked about how God manifests Himself to us and
how God will be exalted in the nations and in us. He went on to say that
this doesn’t mean it is okay for us to talk down to or look down upon
others, but that our purpose in being around them is to share God with
them. As I thought about this, I realized that “others” could include
atheists, Muslims, Catholics, or any other type of religious group. I am
not supposed to turn away and ignore or try to embarrass them, but I’m to
share the life and joy of Christ with them.
I know that many times I
treat some people differently, and it is totally a subconscious thing. I
am not treating them that way with thoughts in my head like “I’m better
than them,” but it still happens. That is why it is so important
for me to spend daily time with God (which was our pastor’s main message
that Wednesday evening). Without that, I won’t be able to clearly hear His
voice whenever He is talking to me during the day.
One of the passages our
pastor used was Matthew 6:6-15. Verse 6 says
“...your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” While
this passage is talking about our loyalty
to having daily devotions, I think it is also
very true that if I change my feelings and thoughts about somebody, even
when nobody knew I was having bad or unkind thoughts, God sees and will
reward me for it.
Sarah Whitten is a junior
at Central High School in Springfield, Missouri.
INTERVIEWING
GOD
Contemplating Tongues
By Michael Lawrence
IS SPEAKING IN TONGUES FOR
TODAY, OR WAS IT RELATIVE TO ONLY FIRST-CENTURY BELIEVERS AS SOME TEACH?
The rebirth experience is
accessed by faith—a free gift that costs one everything.
WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH TONGUES?
Think of being born again of My
Spirit as having received a packaged gift. Open the box and one will find
quite a few precious items inside. This has been a new covenant reality in
every A.D. century. Depending on the individual believer, some items in
the package will have more significance than others. This depends on what
one has been taught beforehand, either directly or more often, subtly.
Such lessons can either be used by My Spirit or must be refuted by My
Spirit in order to eventually guide one into the truth about every item in
the package. We had one guy pen, “Be transformed by the renewing of
your mind.” This process does not unfold exactly the same way for
every believer.
BUT TONGUES IS IN EVERY BELIEVER’S GIFT BOX?
Yes, but like some of the other
items in the package, it may go unnoticed for some time. Negative input
concerning an item can cause one to put on protective blinders, so to
speak, and one is never able to see the item that has been there all the
time. And like a man looking for milk in the refrigerator that is right in
front of him will say, “It’s not in here,” low expectations are sometimes
at work as well.
SO FAITH IS INVOLVED IN SPEAKING IN TONGUES?
Every single item in the gift
box may only be accessed by faith.
MAY TONGUES JUST COME UPON ONE UNEXPECTEDLY OR AGAINST ONE’S WILL?
Unexpectedly perhaps, there are
some mild surprises, but never against one’s will, and that goes for every
single item in the gift box, including the delivery of the package itself.
There has never been or ever will be a person who believed any truth
without first wanting to. Wanting to is always a preliminary event brought
on by My Spirit.
SO SPEAKING IN TONGUES IS INITIATED BY THE BELIEVER HIMSELF?
We had another guy write,
“Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,” not the
other way around. Nothing has changed. It might help one’s understanding
to separate body, soul, and spirit—the mind, the will, and the emotions
being one’s soul. One’s mind, while being closely aligned with one’s
spirit, is nonetheless a separate entity of the soul. The soul and spirit
combined make up the invisible heart of man. An audible voice is a product
of the body, prompted by the mind (and/or the emotions) and permitted by
the will. Thus, the soul has a voice that is released audibly by the body
as an act of the will. The renewed spirit likewise has a voice that by
faith may be released audibly by the body as an act of the will.
THE BELIEVER IS IN CONTROL OF THE PROCESS THROUGHOUT?
Responsible is a better word.
Speaking in tongues is a gift, a privilege if you will. Privilege and
responsibility are inseparable. Not all the holy men spoke when moved by
My Spirit, but some did, and we have written record of it. One of them
wrote while discussing this very issue that “the spirits of the
prophets are subject to the prophets,” or in other words, subject to
the prophet’s soul—more precisely, his will.
IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOUR CHURCH SEEMS DIVIDED OVER THE ISSUE OF SPEAKING
IN TONGUES. WHAT CAUSES THE DIVISION?
Put simply, pride is the
culprit. It is both ironic and sad that something unique to and designed
in part to bring unity to our community of believers has instead been so
misused and misunderstood as to bring division among them.
HOW HAS IT BEEN MISUSED?
Some leaders misrepresent the
gift as though it is some badge of honor, separating in their teaching
those filled with My Spirit from those that are supposedly unfilled—or
even believers from the unbelieving. As you can discern from My previous
answers, that is hogwash. Other leaders are content to unwittingly reduce
the truth down to their experience rather than by faith elevate their
experience to match the truth. I speak of leaders because they are charged
with stricter judgment in My economy than are their charges. Such
leadership aids and abets any pride, fear, or simple lack of knowledge
residues that may remain upon those being led concerning the issue.
SO WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM?
Humility. Remember, the whole
package is a free gift that costs one everything. So, as is often the
case, humility by all those involved is all that is needed to engage My
Spirit to solve the problem, that’s all.
He who is joined to the Lord
is one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).
Michael Lawrence owns and operates
Lawrence Electric Company and is a freelance writer.
CHALLENGING TODAY’S TEENAGERS
By A. Wilson Phillips
In the January 19, 2006,
Springfield News-Leader, an article titled “Study: More teens
exploring faith on Internet” caught my attention. The article reported
that
Two in three teenagers say religion is important to
them, but they don’t want only to go to church, synagogue or mosque to
express their spirituality.
The poll showed that
seventy-four percent of teenage boys ages 13-15 say religion and faith are
important to them. The same was true for girls. However, the study showed
that for ages 16-18, the interest dropped to 55 percent in boys and 70
percent in girls. This shows us that in our culture it becomes more
difficult to shape a person’s lifestyle as their age increases.
By using one-to-one
discipleship, we need to make a concentrated effort to reach that 13-15
age bracket. These teens need an opportunity to open up to a trusted
person that would be mature enough not to reject them when they fail in
the development of their faith.
The article also stated:
Teens aren’t going to be spoon-fed information. They
want to define meaning for themselves and not have it defined for them.
That statement has a measure of
truth; however, it’s not the whole truth.
Teens need to be challenged to
read, study, and think in order to develop personal convictions for their
beliefs. However, teens also want boundaries set for them by mature adults
that they respect, namely parents. That brings them security and a belief
that they can be successful.
When parents don’t set
boundaries, a coach in sports might fill that role, as reflected in the
movie Glory Road. The college basketball coach got a winning team
by showing his recruits “tough love” and setting boundaries to bring out
the best in them. Any mature believer in Christ can set the boundaries for
teenagers in discipleship relationships.
When God’s covenant people were
not listening to His speaking voice, He raised up Moses, a prophet, who
would give them the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments revealed the
character and nature of God.
God had initiated a covenant of
grace with Abraham over four hundred years prior to giving Moses the Ten
Commandments. The law was added because of Israel’s sins. It made them
appreciate God’s grace and was their teacher and disciplinarian until
faith in Christ brought Israel into full-grown sons to receive their
inheritance in Christ (Gal. 3:24-26).
Teenagers need the law to
develop a good godly conscience, and at the same time, they need to know
that Father God wants a covenant relationship with them and not a rule
sheet.
Through the indwelling power
and presence of God’s Holy Spirit, He will teach teenagers the truths that
they long for at the deepest level of their being. It is a true identity
and healthy emotional birthright in Christ.
It takes God’s Spirit, God’s
Word, and some trusted covenant people of God to help the teenagers
through the most vulnerable years of their lives in this high-tech
information age.
God has raised up many local
churches in America today that will assume their responsibility and meet
the challenge to lead this generation of teenagers.
Late high
school and college age youth can be reached by someone who is willing to
make the sacrificial commitment to lay their lives down for them. Of
course, it’s never too late for individuals to trust in Christ as Savior
and confess Him as Lord of their lives. Studies just reveal that in our
culture it’s better to reach teens earlier.
On
more than one occasion, I’ve been in a public place and observed
individuals having a deep, hand-gesturing conversation with themselves.
As I stood gawking, I noticed some electronic gizmo attached to their
ear—the latest cell phone device to “stay connected.” 
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