Anti-Biblical Minorities Take the “Change the World” Baton by Dr Michael Youssef

The Bible is full of individuals who accomplished mighty things through their commitment to a cause and through God’s power working in them. Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, to say nothing of a handful of Galilean fishermen, turned their world “upside down.” Often their world was controlled by a great foe, like mighty Egypt or the Roman Empire.

Sadly, the most that many Western Christians can accomplish today is to join a big stadium filled with screaming young people listening to upbeat music. When the music stops, they go back to their pampered lifestyle and whine about what they’re not getting from life.

Of course, there are some exceptional young Christians who seek God and His will with all of their hearts. They genuinely want to make a difference in the world. But for the most part, Western Christians lack a total commitment and a definable strategy to turn the world upside down like our Christian forbears did.

In the meantime, however, anti-biblical forces have taken the “change the world” baton from Christians. But not only have they taken it, they are using it to beat Christians on the head, sending them scurrying in fear and intimidation.

For example, look at what a handful of LGBT college students have done in many Christian colleges. According to a recent article in The Atlantic, this small group has managed to radically change evangelical colleges across the country—colleges with a collective student body of more than 400,000. Through intimidation, they have managed to eviscerate the biblical principles upon which those schools were founded and funded.

Take the case of Gordon College in Massachusetts, which was founded by A.J. Gordon to train college students in understanding and underscoring the authority of God’s Word. Gordon College’s slogan has been: “Freedom within a framework of faith,” meaning that faith in Christ provides the power for freedom over sin.

But now a small student LGBT lobby has managed to convince other students and some faculty members that they need not seek freedom over the sin of homosexuality.

And like all homosexual lobbyists, they have a powerful ally in the White House. President Obama may not possess the power of God, regardless of what some may think, but he possesses power nonetheless.

Mr. Obama recently signed an executive order that forbids any federal contractor from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Gordon’s president, D. Michael Lindsay, hoping to protect the school’s religious freedom, joined other evangelical leaders in sending a letter to President Obama asking for an exemption to the order. But following the letter’s publication, voices from both outside and inside Gordon vehemently opposed the college president’s actions, branding the college and him as supporters of discrimination.

So now student LGBT lobbyists feel empowered. Although committed Christians in the past relied entirely on God’s power, today’s anti-biblical minority power is dependent on powerful people, such as President Obama.

As Christians, we need to reclaim our rightful supernatural strength by relying on the supernatural power of our Redeemer. Through Him we can bring the masses back to God and His ideals, including the ideal of sexuality belonging to a heterosexual marriage.

To do that, we must learn that God desires conduits who not only courageously buck the system and call sin sin, but who also completely depend on God to fight the public relations battle.
Many modern Christians don’t fear God. Instead they fear that their image will be tarnished by being labeled as haters and bigots. Make no mistake about it, the anti-biblical forces are banking on that aversion to being scandalized for the sake of Christ.

For biblical Christianity to survive in the West, there can be no avoiding a full commitment. We must lose the fear of bearing the marks of Christ.

The Longsuffering of God Has a Limit by Michael Brown

"How do You live with it, Lord?"

That's a question I recently asked God in prayer as I thought about all of the suffering taking place around the world today, especially as human beings slaughter one another in the most horrific and barbaric ways, including reports of Muslim radicals beheading Christian children.

"Lord, how do You live with so much suffering and pain when you see it and know it all?"

As Basilea Schlink once said, "Anyone who loves as much as God does, cannot help suffering. And anyone who really loves God will sense that He is suffering."

For our finite human minds, this is a great paradox, since the Word tells us that in God's presence is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11), and yet we know that His heart also grieves over humanity's broken condition. Did Paul experience this on some level when he said that he was "grieving yet always rejoicing" (2 Cor. 6:10)?

But there is not only divine grief over human suffering. There is also divine grief over human sin, as Genesis 6 tells us immediately before the flood: "And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart" (Gen. 6:6).

There was so much wickedness, so much violence, so much depravity, so much sin. What happened to this exquisite race of people created in His own image?

My precious wife, Nancy, who sometimes weeps in prayer for hours because of human suffering, suggested to me that God's pain over His sinning creation could be likened to the pain experienced by parents who waited for years to have a baby, and then, after what seemed like an endless wait, found out they were having a child.

The parents got the baby's room all ready and bought all kinds of little toys and clothes in readiness for their child's birth, and when that amazing day came, they showered their priceless newborn with love and affection—only to have that child grow up to be a depraved and ruthless serial killer.

Who can describe an agony like that? Yet God, in His longsuffering, has endured thousands of years of even greater agony because of human sin—look at what His creation has done and continues to do—yet somehow, He has withheld the full force of His judgment and wrath.

That's why the Word reminds us over and again that He is slow to anger and great in mercy (see, for example, Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:8). As one man once cried out in a small prayer meeting I attended, "God I thank You that You are slow to anger and great in mercy, because if You were great in anger and slow in mercy, we would have all been destroyed many years ago."

And yet there is a limit to His longsuffering. One day the wrath of God will come.

Paul warned about it repeatedly—yes, the same Paul who wrote so much about God's grace also wrote about His wrath—and we would do well to follow his lead.

To a judgmental sinner in Romans 2, Paul wrote, "Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance." In other words, the reason He has not yet judged you for your sins is not because He is looking the other way or because He doesn't care. Rather, it is because He is being extraordinarily kind to you to give you the opportunity to repent.

But Paul didn't stop there, as many teachers do when they simply state, "The goodness of God leads you to repentance" (which, again, is only part of the point Paul was making). Instead, Paul continued, "But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment is revealed" (Rom. 2:4-5).

This is a truly staggering thought. Nonbelievers are "storing up wrath" for themselves in the day of wrath. Can you imagine what this will look like?

With all the sins being committed every single day—from rape to torture to mass murder to every kind of defiling, unclean, idolatrous act—how much wrath is being stored up by humanity as a whole? How intense will that be? (Under no circumstances can this be applied to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD or to some other past event, as some preterists attempt to do; this speaks of a day of wrath that has not yet come.)

That's why Paul, after listing sins of the flesh that all of God's people must turn away from, could write: "Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God's wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things. Therefore, do not become their partners" (Eph. 5:6-7; see also Col. 3:6).

He was saying, "Since you don't want to partake in the wrath that is coming on the disobedient, don't partake in their sin either."

According to Peter, on that day, "the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed" (2 Pet. 3:10).

And Peter was not exaggerating in the least. How "hot" it will be when God's anger, justice, and judgment are poured out on a sinning world?

And just like Paul, Peter explained that there was a practical application for our lives as well:

"Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming of the day of God. The heavens will be on fire and be dissolved because of it, and the elements will melt with the heat. But based on His promise, we wait for the new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will dwell" (2 Pet. 3:11-13).

Peter was simply reiterating what the Old Testament prophets spoke about over and again, a major theme of God's Word: There is a limit to His longsuffering, and one day, His wrath will be poured out like fire.

Shouldn't this be part of our preaching today?

Shouldn't this be part of our warning to a sinning world?

And doesn't this highlight the power of the cross and the Blood of Jesus, who died so that we would not have to suffer that wrath in this world or the next?

Paul warned sinners about future judgment (see Acts 17:31; 24:24-25) and reminded God's people that it was coming (Rom. 2:6-10).

Shouldn't we do the same?

Michael Brown is author of Can You Be Gay and Christian? Responding With Love and Truth to Questions About Homosexuality and host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network. He is also president of FIRE School of Ministry and director of the Coalition of Conscience. Follow him at AskDrBrown on Facebook or at @drmichaellbrown on Twitter.

Charles Spurgeon's Lost Sermons Surface as Intercessors Cry for Awakening by BOB SMIETANA/LIFEWAY

Charles Spurgeon preached to more than 10 million people, baptized more than 14,000 converts, and sold more than 50 million copies of his sermons.

Nineteenth-century legendary London pastor Charles Spurgeon was a publishing and preaching juggernaut.

He preached to more than 10 million people, baptized more than 14,000 converts, and sold more than 50 million copies of his sermons. Spurgeon's fans nicknamed him "the Prince of Preachers" and flocked to hear him.

Nashville-based B&H Publishing will release The Lost Sermons of Charles Spurgeon, a multi-volume edition of early Spurgeon sermons and sermon outlines.

"I have been involved in Christian publishing for over 20 years," said Jim Baird, publisher of B&H Academic. "A project like this comes to you once in your lifetime if you are fortunate."

The collection of over 400 sermons and outlines dates from Spurgeon's days as a young pastor outside of Cambridge. The son of a minister, Spurgeon came to faith in 1850 during a service at a Primitive Methodist Church. That encounter with God set him on a path to become one of the most prolific preachers in the English language.

"It is sometimes overlooked that Charles Spurgeon published more words in the English language than any other Christian in history," said George, curator of the Spurgeon library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.

Spurgeon began preaching not long after his conversion. At 17, he became pastor of a Baptist church in Waterbeach, not far from Cambridge. He kept his sermon outlines—which he called "skeletons"—along with some full-text sermons in a series of handwritten journals.

The first of the 13 newly discovered journals is dated October 1849, a few months before Spurgeon's conversion. The last is dated from 1854, right before he became pastor of the New Park Street Chapel in London. The journals reveal how Spurgeon developed his theology as well as his skill in preaching.

"Lord, revive my stupid soul," Spurgeon wrote after finishing one sermon. Another ended with, "Oh my God. Do help. For Jesus' sake."

After becoming a pastor in London, Spurgeon had planned to publish those early sermons. But that never came to pass. They were stored in the archives of Spurgeon's College in London and forgotten.

George discovered the journals three years ago, while doing research at the college. A librarian there brought him a stack of Spurgeon's journals to look through.

"Only when I began flipping through their pages did I realize the significance," he said. "These were the lost sermons Spurgeon tried so long ago to publish."

The multi-volume set from B&H Academic will include sermons from those journals, along with critical commentary on them from George. It will be the first critical edition of Spurgeon's work ever to be published, according to George.

Most other works about Spurgeon either reprint his sermons without analysis, or only focus on his "celebrity-like reputation, uncanny oratorical abilities, and worldwide influence," said George. That leaves many people with a one-dimensional view of the great preacher.

"But there is a growing interest in Spurgeon scholarship in recovering his humanity—his inconsistencies, his weaknesses, his doubts, struggles and sufferings," he said. "In this way, we discover a Spurgeon who does not arrive on the theological landscape of 19th-century Britain in perfect, polished form, but instead a preacher in progress whose exegesis, rhetorical tendencies, and homiletic method evolve over the first five years of his preaching ministry."

George hopes this new edition of early Spurgeon sermons will lead to more scholarly interest in the great preacher. Pastors, he said, will also benefit from these early sermons.

"He models for us an unwavering commitment to Christ-centered preaching, fervent prayer and discipleship, local and world evangelism, and incarnational urban ministries," George said.

Baird said the new books will be published next year. Digital versions will be available exclusively through WORDsearch.

Piper Addresses Strange Fire and Charismatic Chaos by John Piper

One month ago, John MacArthur hosted a conference titled “Strange Fire.” The conference opposed the so-called “prosperity gospel” and with it the excesses of “charismania.” But somewhere along the way all things charismatic and continuationist got swept up into the conference conversation, too, igniting a strange online conflagration of its own.

The conversation prompted a variety of questions from listeners of the Ask Pastor John podcast. Before boarding a flight for the Middle East, John Piper agreed to field a few of the questions, particularly:

If you’re a continuationist (believing the supernatural gifts of the Spirit continue still today), why doesn’t this show up more often in your ministry?

Why do you not seem persuaded enough to advocate that others pursue the gifts of tongues and prophecy today?
How do you define contemporary prophecy?
Are there charismatic abuses that need to be addressed?
Open, Cautious, or Advocate?

At the conference, Piper was characterized as open to the gifts but not advocating for them or encouraging others to pursue the gifts themselves. This is a misunderstanding, says Piper. “I advocate obedience to 1 Corinthians 12:31, ‘earnestly desire the higher gifts.’ And I advocate obedience to 1 Corinthians 14:1, ‘earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you might prophesy.’ And I advocate obedience to 1 Corinthians 14:39, ‘earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.’ I want Christians today to obey those texts.”

And Piper seeks to obey those texts himself. “I pray for the gift of prophecy almost as often as I pray for anything, before I stand up to speak.” This prayer for prophecy is a desire to preach under an anointing, in order to “say things agreeable to the Scriptures, and subject to the Scripture, that are not in my manuscript or in my head as I walk into the pulpit, nor thought of ahead of time, which would come to my mind, which would pierce in an extraordinary way, so that 1 Corinthians 14:24–25 happens.”

But has Piper advocated for gifts like prophecy enough over his decades of pastoring and writing? “My effort to prioritize may be imperfect, but my answer is that I try to live up to what I see in the text and advocate for it as I see it in relation to all the other things that I preach on.”

A sampling from his ministry shows Piper’s consistency both in his definition of prophecy and in his encouragement that others pursue the gift (see resources from 1981, 1990, 1991, 2004, and 2013).

What Is Prophecy Today?

Piper’s view on prophecy raises another question. If MacArthur believes the gift of prophecy has ceased, what exegetical proofs would Piper argue to the contrary?

Four crucial texts came to Piper’s mind. First, 1 Corinthians 14:29 seems to indicate New Testament prophecy endures in the church age, but not as a prophecy that’s on the same level of authority as Scripture. It’s fundamentally a different type of prophecy.

Second, 1 Thessalonians 5:20–21 makes the same point. This passage indicates that the discernment of prophesy in the local church takes on a different shape. “You are not choosing between people here [false prophet/true prophet], it seems to me, like in 1 John 4:1. Rather, you are choosing between what they say [true prophecy/false prophecy], which you would not do if they spoke with infallible, inerrant Scripture-quality authority.”

“The issue here is that some in the church are despising not the prophets, but the prophecies. Now why would that be? Probably because they are sometimes whacko. Despise is a very strong word. Paul says, ‘don’t despise.’ So somebody in the church at Thessalonica is saying, ‘Look. You told us that prophecy is a gift from God. Frankly, we do not like what we are hearing, because it is stupid. It is weird. They are saying things that are off the wall.’ And so they tend to despise them. And Paul seems to be trying to keep the people from throwing the baby of true prophecies out with the bathwater of weird ones.”

Third, 1 Corinthians 11:4–5 encourages prophecies from women in the church. Said Piper, “I don’t see how women prophesying in the assembly fits with an infallible Scripture-level authority when Paul forbids that kind of authority to be exercised over men by women in the church in 1 Timothy 2:12. So the fact that women are encouraged to do this, and yet women are told not to exercise authority over men, says to me that we have got something going on here besides what is Scripture-level authority.”

The fourth text, 1 Corinthians 13:8–10, is “a pretty clear argument, I think, that the gift of prophecy and tongues will continue until Jesus comes back. And it seems to me that the reason they pass away, it says, is precisely because they are imperfect; they are not Scripture-level authority. Verse nine says we prophesy ek meros (Greek for ‘in part’), just like a little child trying to reason and think and talk. And when he grows up and becomes a man in the age to come, he won’t need that kind of help anymore.”

These few texts don’t settle all the issues, but they do combine to establish a legitimate exegetical basis for an ongoing gift of prophecy, distinguished from Scripture-level authoritative prophecy, a unique channel of prophecy to be discerned and then embraced in the healthy local church.

Charismatic Abuses?

Looking more broadly at the Church today, Piper was eager to address charismatic abuses and excesses (charismania). “But,” he began, “we really need to keep in mind that every charismatic abuse has its mirror image in non-charismatic abuses. Nothing I am going to say is unique to charismatics. In some of these cases, the non-charismatic church is more guilty than the charismatic.”

He addressed four abuses in particular: doctrine, emotion, discernment, and finance.

Doctrine Abuses

“There are many doctrinal abuses in the charismatic church where experience is elevated above doctrine, and doctrine is made minimally important. I think that is a huge defect in many charismatic churches. The fear is this: if you try to study the Bible with a view to assembling a coherent view of doctrine, you are going to quench the Spirit, and you won’t have as much vitality in your heart, because the mind and the heart are at odds with each other. That is a mistake, I think, and it is an abuse of experience to make it the enemy of — or the alternative to — doctrine.”

He shared a firsthand example. “I have been in prophetic meetings with charismatic groups where the Bible was treated like the priming of the pump for phenomena. So what you really want in this room is some fireworks: you want somebody to fall down, or somebody to laugh, or somebody to tremble, or somebody to raise their hands, or somebody to hear a word of extraordinary prophecy like, the man in the red shirt is going to Argentina next week, and nobody could know that, but the prophet. You want all that stuff to happen. And so what do you do with the Bible? You use it like pouring water into a pump. And everybody knows you don’t care about the text, you don’t care about this sermon; you are using the sermon to get us ready for the fireworks at the end. Wherever I saw that happening, I knew we were in trouble. I knew that no matter what kind of fireworks were coming they were going to be skewed and misused because the speaker, the one in charge, was not God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated.”

Emotion Abuses

Second, Piper addressed emotional abuses.

True prophecy is displayed not in emotional madness, but in orderliness (1 Corinthians 14:29). “If you are a true prophet, if you have got the Holy Spirit, if you are real, . . . you can sit down and wait your turn. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is patience, and kindness, and meekness, and thankfulness, and self-control. So sit down Mr. Prophet and wait your turn.

“And I think there are a lot of people who don’t think that way. They don’t think that biblically informed principles of good behavior can trump the ecstasies of a person who is, say, speaking in tongues or prophesying,” he said. “Application of the Word governs life in the church, not the emotional sway of some strong person in the moment.”

Both these doctrinal and emotional abuses can be flipped around.

“Think of all the doctrinal errors in the history of the Church. Those weren’t charismatics, by and large. Think of all the dying mainline churches today with all their moral and doctrinal aberrations. These aren’t charismatics. And think of the emotional deadness in thousands of non-charismatic evangelical and mainline churches. Those are deadly emotional abuses. And we just need to remember that if we target the charismatic church because of things that are happening there doctrinally and emotionally, let’s remember the mirror images which are equally deadly, that are happening among non-charismatic churches as well.”

To reiterate this second point, Piper said, “There are emotional abuses in the non-charismatic church, namely the absence of emotion, which is probably more deadly than the excesses.”

Discernment Abuses

Another abuse is a failure to differentiate genuine prophecies from hollow ones. This helps explain why Paul says, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything, hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:20–21).

“That is very strong language,” commented Piper. “And I think it is because some of those folks were claiming to speak for God, and it resulted in foolishness. They weren’t speaking for God. And it resulted in an emotional pushback in the church. The church said, ‘We don’t want that.’ And Paul was trying to rescue prophecy from a broad brush sweeping it away entirely by saying, ‘Whoa, wait a minute. Discern what is good here and discern what is bad here. Don’t throw it all away. Make distinctions in the various claims to hold it fast.’”

Again, Piper shared from experience. “I have been prophesied over numerous times, and two of them were just whacko. It was so hard in those [early ministry] days to take prophecy seriously. I resonated with the folks who were starting to ‘despise prophecies.’

“A lawyer one time prophesied over me when my wife was pregnant and said: ‘Your fourth child is going to be a girl, and your wife is going to die in childbirth.’ And that lawyer with tears told me that she was sorry she had to tell me that. So I went home and I got down on my knees and I said, ‘Lord, I am trying to do what you said here in 1 Thessalonians 5:20–21. And frankly, I despise what that woman just said.’ It proved out that my fourth child was a son, and I knew as soon as he came out that that prophecy was not true, and so I stopped having any misgivings about my wife’s life. She is still with me now thirty years later. That’s the sort of thing that makes you despise prophecy.”

This failure to discern prophecies within charismatic churches tempts others to simply dismiss all prophecies outright.

Finance Abuses

Finally, there are financial abuses. The key text here is 1 Timothy 6:5. Some false teachers within the charismatic movement “imagine that godliness is a means of gain.”

“So it is possible to have a teaching gift or a healing gift, some kind of a remarkable gift that is so popular you make millions of dollars. And you start feeling entitled to all the lavish clothes, lavish cars, lavish houses, lavish jets, and lavish hotel accommodations, turning godliness into a means of gain, and justifying it by the fact that you are so gifted and so many people are benefiting from what you say. To whom Paul would say: ‘But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction’ (1 Timothy 6:9).

“My alternative is to preach ‘Christian Hedonism’ that says: pursue contentment in God, not in things. ‘But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content’ (1 Timothy 6:6–8).”

But this abuse, too, can be flipped. “We tend to think of charismatics when we think of people abusing finances in this way. All you have to do is listen to the Twittersphere to know that is not the case. There are just as many non-charismatic leaders who are using their status as an effective spiritual leader to make a lot of money, and accumulate a lot of money, and look like they have a lot of money. And I want to say that there are a lot of simple, honest, humble charismatic pastors living on modest salaries who are less guilty than many non-charismatics when it comes to financial abuses.”

Not on a Warpath

On each point, it is surely misguided to single out charismatics, says Piper. “Charismatic doctrinal abuses, emotional abuses, discernment abuses, financial abuses, all have their mirror image in non-charismatic churches.” Of charismatics and non-charismatics alike, “we all stand under the word of God and we all need repentance.”

But those charismatic abuses remain. So how are these excesses best policed? How are Christians today protected from the abuses of the charismatic church? Is it through attack-centered books and conferences?

“I don’t go on a warpath against charismatics. I go on a crusade to spread truth. I am spreading gospel-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated, Calvinistic truth everywhere, and I am going to push it into the face of every charismatic I can find, because what I believe, if they embrace the biblical system of doctrine that is really there, it will bring all of their experiences into the right orbit around the sun of this truth.”

WATCH: Reports of Salvations, Healings and Holy Spirit Baptisms Flood In

By CHARISMA NEWS STAFF

The celebration of the Holy Spirit around the world, coordinated and promoted by Empowered21, spanned a full week with thousands of believers marking the date that the Holy Spirit descended upon believers in the upper room.

Regional Empowered21 celebrations were held in Canada, Ghana, Hong Kong and the United States, among others. Believers and churches from more than 130 countries participated in this year's initiative with testimonies and reports of salvations, healings and baptisms in the Holy Spirit pouring in.

"The Pentecost 2014 week was amazing! Empowered21 ministry events of various sizes and shapes took place around the world. Thousands of Spirit-empowered Christians from every inhabited continent were involved with the E21 network in celebrating the Holy Spirit," said Billy Wilson, president of Oral Roberts University and global co-chair of Empowered21.

"There is a growing hunger among new generations globally for a personal encounter and relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Pentecost Sunday initiative continued to grow this year, pushing us toward Jerusalem 2015 where we will experience the Holy Spirit together at the next Empowered21 Global Congress."

Registration is open now for the Empowered21 Global Congress to be held in Jerusalem May 20-25, 2015, at jerusalem2015.com.

The Empowered21 Africa Congress was held on June 4-7 in Gomoa Fetteh, Central Region, Ghana and hosted 3,000 attendees from 30 nations. Africa Co-Chairs Opoku Onyinah and Frank Chikane hosted the conference. The conference took place at the Pentecost Convention Centre and focused on 2 Timothy 1:5-6, aiming to fan the flame of Pentecost for global impact to set generations ablaze.

Empowered21 Asia hosted a conference June 5-7 in Wanchai, Hong Kong, and had 3,000 people in attendance from 18 nations. The program was conducted in English and Mandarin, with Cantonese interpretation available. Held at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium Arena, this program included daily workshops as well as evening sessions with speakers including Wilson, Cindy Jacobs, founder of Generals International and member of the E21 global council, and Lawrence Khong, senior pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church and E21 Asia cabinet co-chair.

The goal for Empowered21 Asia is to bring together members of Spirit-filled churches from throughout the region to learn, encourage and experience the presence of the Holy Spirit and the love of Father God. The focus of this year's congress was to build up a prayer network and to effect transformation in the different sectors of society for His Kingdom and glory.

The Empowered21 USA Congress 2014 was a two-day gathering of Spirit-empowered believers and also included a pre-conference hosted by SocialEcclesi focused on purposeful ministry engagement on social platforms. The Congress was hosted by USA Co-Chairs Alton Garrison, assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, and Greg Surratt, founding pastor of Seacoast Church. Individuals from many different denominations and backgrounds came together to celebrate the Holy Spirit, the significance of Pentecost and to pass on the importance of Spirit-empowered living to the next generation. This event featured a panel discussion of next generation leaders addressing issues on what is needed for passing the baton to the next generation and raising up spiritual successors.

Attendees also participated in an outreach, led by the Atlanta Dream Center, to minister the homeless and those trapped in human trafficking, and a block party for children in downtown neighborhoods.

Empowered21 Canada hosted a Pentecost 2014 experience and national webcast with cabinet member Ron Mainse and other Empowered21 leaders on June 8, 2014. The webcast was watched in 20 nations and shown via livestream. The webcast will be available on demand beginning June 9. Churches across Canada were encouraged to show the stream to their congregations.

50 Things the Holy Spirit Does in Your Life by Frank Viola

Editor's Note: The following article comes from Frank Viola's new book,Jesus Now: Unveiling the Present-Day Ministry of Christ.

1. The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8).

2. The Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13).

3. The Spirit regenerates us (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5).

4. The Spirit glorifies and testifies of Christ (John 15:26; 16:14).

5. The Spirit reveals Christ to us and in us (John 16:14-15).

6. The Spirit leads us (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18; Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1).

7. The Spirit sanctifies us (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 5:16).

8. The Spirit empowers us (Luke 4:14; 24:49; Rom. 15:19; Acts 1:8).

9. The Spirit fills us (Eph. 5:18; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17).

10. The Spirit teaches us to pray (Rom. 8:26-27; Jude 1:20).

11. The Spirit bears witness in us that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16).

12. The Spirit produces in us the fruit or evidence of His work and presence (Gal. 5:22-23).

13. The Spirit distributes spiritual gifts and manifestations (the outshining) of His presence to and through the body (1 Cor. 12:4, 8-10; Heb. 2:4).

14. The Spirit anoints us for ministry (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38).

15. The Spirit washes and renews us (Titus 3:5).

16. The Spirit brings unity and oneness to the body (Eph. 4:3; 2:14-18). Here the Spirit plays the same role that He plays in the Godhead. The Spirit is the life that unites Father and Son. The Spirit plays the same role in the church. When the Spirit is operating in a group of people, He unites them in love. Therefore, a sure evidence of the Holy Spirit working in a group is love and unity, not signs and wonders (those are seasonal and can be counterfeited).

17. The Spirit is our guarantee and deposit of the future resurrection (2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5).

18. The Spirit seals us unto the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13; 4:30).

19. The Spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).

20. The Spirit quickens our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:11).

21. The Spirit reveals the deep things of God to us (1 Cor. 2:10).

22. The Spirit reveals what has been given to us from God (1 Cor. 2:12).

23. The Spirit dwells in us (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14; John 14:17).

24. The Spirit speaks to, in and through us (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 2:11; Heb 3:7; Matt. 10:20; Acts 2:4; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12, 28; 13:2; 16:6,7; 21:4, 11).

25. The Spirit is the agent by which we are baptized into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).

26. The Spirit brings liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).

27. The Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).

28. The Spirit cries in our hearts, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6).

29. The Spirit enables us to wait (Gal. 5:5).

30. The Spirit supplies us with Christ (Phil. 1:19, KJV).

31. The Spirit grants everlasting life (Gal. 6:8).

32. The Spirit gives us access to God the Father (Eph. 2:18).

33. The Spirit makes us (corporately) God’s habitation (Eph. 2:22).

34. The Spirit reveals the mystery of God to us (Eph. 3:5).

35. The Spirit strengthens our spirits (Eph. 3:16).

36. The Spirit enables us to obey the truth (1 Pet. 1:22).

37. The Spirit enables us to know that Jesus abides in us (1 John 3:24; 4:13).

38. The Spirit confesses that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:2).

39. The Spirit says, “Come, Lord Jesus,” along with the bride (Rev. 22:17).

40. The Spirit dispenses God’s love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5).

41. The Spirit bears witness to the truth in our conscience (Rom. 9:1).

42. The Spirit teaches us (1 Cor. 2:13; John 14:26).

43. The Spirit gives us joy (1 Thess. 1:6).

44. The Spirit enables some to preach the gospel (1 Pet. 1:12).

45. The Spirit moves us (2 Pet. 1:21).

46. The Spirit knows the things of God (1 Cor. 2:11).

47. The Spirit casts out demons (Matt. 12:28).

48. The Spirit brings things to our remembrance (John 14:26).

49. The Spirit comforts us (Acts 9:31).

50. The Spirit makes some overseers in the church and sends some out to the work of church planting (through the body) (Acts 20:28; 13:2).

The Holy Spirit unites us to Jesus Christ and to His body. The Spirit reveals Christ to us, gives us His life and makes Christ alive in us. The Spirit takes the experiences of Jesus—His incarnation, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension—and brings them into our own experience.

Frank Viola is a speaker, entrepreneur, author and writer of the blog Beyond Evangelical.

The Coming Tsunami in the Catholic Church

I believe God showed me He is sending a wave of His Spirit to bring reformation.

More than 10 years ago, I had the most vivid dream I’ve ever experienced. I told my wife about it the moment I woke up because it was so profound. The scenes are still etched in my memory.

I dreamed I was standing inside the Vatican. Keep in mind that I’ve never been a Catholic, and I’ve never visited Italy. But in my dream, I was in an ornate hall decorated with marble columns and a fancy paved floor. I walked over to a huge, arched window where I could see a panoramic view of Vatican City.

Suddenly a huge wave appeared on the horizon. A tsunami was coming. The wave got closer and closer, but I did not feel panic, even though I could hear people running and yelling as they prepared for the impact. I stood near a wall and braced myself.

When the wave hit, the palatial building began creaking and tilting. Antique tables, chairs, candelabra and statues began sliding to one side as the floor moved. Chandeliers were hanging at odd angles. Within minutes the floor was perpendicular to the ground and more furniture came crashing down. The movement continued until the floor became the ceiling. More religious icons, statues and paintings fell and broke into pieces.

In my dream, I did not feel anxious about this catastrophe. Nor did I ask the obvious questions: How could a tsunami reach that far inland since the Vatican is almost 20 miles from the Mediterranean coast? How could a tsunami turn a huge building upside down? And why was there no water anywhere? I knew in my dream that what I had witnessed was a spiritual event.

At that point I heard a commotion at the other end of the hall. When I got close enough, I discovered a group of Catholic nuns and priests who were praying in the Holy Spirit. They had their hands raised and they were worshiping God fervently, as if they had experienced another Pentecost.

The atmosphere was spiritually charged. Yet, as these people prayed, a man dressed in ornate religious garb began to shout angrily at them in Italian. He was obviously not happy with the way these Catholics were behaving. This upset me, and I began to rebuke him. I was speaking in my prayer language, so I didn’t know what I was saying. But I knew God was rebuking the leaders who were opposing His work.

At that point, I woke up. And I felt the Holy Spirit say to me: “I am going to turn the Catholic Church upside down.”

I don’t believe all dreams are from God. Sometimes our brains just think in Technicolor while we sleep. Other times a dream is simply a crazy subconscious reaction to the pepperoni pizza we ate before bedtime. But in this case, I have come to believe God was showing me something big that He plans to do in my lifetime.

Pope John Paul II was still in office when I had this dream. Pope Benedict has since come and gone, and this week, cardinals are electing a new leader—at a time when the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics have been reeling from reports of child abuse and sex scandals among clergy.

I believe a great shaking is coming to the Catholic system, and it will have both positive and negative impact. God is not pleased with man-made religious structures (in any denomination) that hinder people from knowing Him, and He is serious when He asks us to tear down the idols we have created to take His place. In the end, God always judges idolatry.

On the flip side, He also cares about the millions of people in the Catholic Church who call upon the name of Jesus and who desire His presence. For them, the coming wave of God’s power will unleash a new hunger for the Holy Spirit and God’s unadulterated Word. As corruption is exposed and structures are shaken, I expect to see Catholics around the world experience a 21st-century reformation movement. Traditionalists will fight it, of course, but dead religion is powerless when faced with genuine spiritual awakening. Young reformers from various nations will challenge the system and say, like Moses said to Pharaoh, “Let My people go” (Ex. 5:1).

I know there are many of my evangelical brothers who have written off Catholics as heretics, and they leave no room for redemption or reformation. They’d rather see the whole system crash and burn. Perhaps they forgot that we have our own idols, sex scandals and institutional corruption, and that we need a spiritual tsunami to turn us upside down as well. I’m bracing myself as I pray. Send the wave, Lord.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma and the director of The Mordecai Project(themordecaiproject.org). His latest book, Fearless Daughters of the Bible, will be released in Spanish next month from Casa Creacion. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady.

Be a Man... Biblically - Paul Washer

VISION - "SKIMMING OFF the DROSS"

by Raheli.

I had a vision a few years ago. I’d been going through the mill for many years and was getting fed up with everything going wrong, and I asked the Lord how much more was He going to put me through, because I thought I’d been through enough.

I had a vision of a huge cauldron that was sat on a load of flaming logs, and as I was telling the Lord that I’d had enough refining, He chucked more logs on the fire and the flames went higher and loads of black chunks kept floating to the top of the bubbling cauldron. Then I saw a large ladle which kept skimming off the black chunks that had floated to the top.

Then I realized that this is how gold or any other precious metal is made (I worked in a steel mill at the time, so I knew what I was seeing). The more heat you apply to metal, the more the impurities float to the top and they have to be skimmed off, so that in the end you are left with a pure metal.

I believe this is what the Lord has been doing with me for over 4 decades (which just goes to show you how sinful the human heart is). My prayer for years has been ‘Lord, burn up the dross’ – and He’s been doing exactly that! It’s not comfortable in the furnace, of course [!!]...


Source: http://www.johnthebaptisttv.com/

Voodoo Priest Finds Christ in Haiti

Monday, 08 August 2011 10:49 AM EDT Mission Network News News - Featured News

Recently we told you about a grassroots effort to dedicate Haiti to Christ. According to those who participated, God moved.

Pastor Robert Ulysse, a minister in the northwest region of Haiti, says they prayed each day at a different crossroad in the region.

According to Ulysse, "After we closed the seventh crossroad event on Saturday, a Voodoo priest named Solivert Josep, came forward with his wife. They both declared that they wanted to renounce their Voodoo practices in favor of the 'Living God.' We filled three pickup trucks with Christians and drove to the Joseph's home to remove and burn their Voodoo articles."

Earlier in the week another couple came forward to renounce their Voodoo practices in favor of the "Living God." Ulysse recounts: "After the service, we went to their home at crossroad No. 5 to destroy their Voodoo articles. They had more articles than anyone we have seen so far in this campaign. They attended all of the remaining crossroad services."

Another husband and wife who were saved out of their Voodoo worship are so excited. "They have been trying to get their friends, neighbors and relatives to do the same," says Ulysse.

In general, says Ulysse, the seven crossroad events have been a complete victory. He adds, "Voodoo keeps people in bondage through fear. Haitians, in general, fear the power of Voodoo more than they fear God."

However, many people believe that anyone who would dare attack the Voodoo spirits on their turf (the crossroads) would be severely punished. Ulysse says, "Some people clearly said that they would wait to see if we could really hold the services at the crossroads without anyone among us being struck dead right there."

But that never happened. They prayed that God would protect them from even the smallest incidents. Ulysse reports: "We knew that any incident could be and would be interpreted as a punishment from the angry spirits of the crossroads. By the grace of God, we ended the seven days without even a minor incident even though overloaded pickup trucks and buses carried thousands of people over mountainous and other potentially-treacherous roads. So our God answered our prayers."

Ulysse is praying that the psychological effect on people will help them understand God's power.

An Awakening: Youth Revive Japan's Dying Church

by Lucille Talusan
CBN News Asia Correspondent



TOKYO -- Whether they're in church or standing on a street corner, the members of Grace Tokyo Church loudly sing their songs of praise.

The congregation's young people are part of a new youth movement that many Japanese Christians hope will revive Japan's churches.

Philippines native Glen Nabarrete, who serves as the head pastor at Grace Tokyo, was born and raised in Hawaii. He and his family answered God's call to Japan in 1992.

A Dying Church?

The church in Japan is getting smaller every day. The average Japanese church has 30 people and many have less than 10 members.

Church historian Masakazu Suzuki says traditional churches are dying out.

"After the war, a lot of American GI's who came to Japan are Christians and later came back to Japan as missionaries. So, after the war, the Japanese churches grew a lot," Suzuki told CBN News.

"Now after 50, 60 years, a lot of pastors are getting older, facing retirement," he said. "Also many members are getting older too."

Like most Christians, Suzuki believes God is using the recent disasters to open the hearts of the Japanese people.

"In Christian evacuation centers, some of the aged people, five or six died. Six to seven old people died. But through their love and unity, some family members who visit them become Christian. More than 15 of them got baptized last month," Suzuki said.

Spiritual Awakening

There have been more than 1,200 aftershocks since the March 11 earthquake and there could be more, but Christians here are praying for another kind of aftershock and that is the spiritual awakening of the Japanese people.

Businessman Yuto Matsumoto saw how the power of God restored his marriage after a divorce.

"I worked too hard, not too much attention for my family," Matsumoto said.

His Christian daughter visited him in New York where he moved, and took him to watch the film "Passion of the Christ" on Easter.

Later, back in Japan, she brought him to the church their family has been attending since converting to Christianity.

"During the preaching, I couldn't stop crying. I don't know why," Matsumoto recalled. "Right after the service, I went to Pastor Scott and asked him how I can become a Christian. That was April 2004. I accepted Jesus as Lord. It was the beginning of my new life."

Two years ago, Matsumoto re-married Takako, his ex-wife. Today, they have a harmonious relationship with Christ at the center of their marriage.

He also shares his faith with his colleagues at work.

"It's very tough especially for the businessman because Japanese businessmen were taught to believe in his power, or on himself," he said.

Nevertheless, Matsumoto invites his co-worker to visit grace Tokyo church where he serves as an interpreter.

The Joy of God

Pastor Nabarrete and his family answered God's call to Japan in 1992.

"I believe in this church," Nabarrete said about Grace Tokyo.

"One of the things we have that a lot of Japanese churches don't have is a lot of joy and a lot of laughter," he told CBN News. "I think that's one quality that God wants to bring to this nation. There is the reality of joy in serving God."

"And we also cater to young people," he added. "We let the young people step up, do preaching. Young people love it they want to participate for the growth of the church."

The youth go out of their way to spread God's love, singing gospel songs on the street, even when reprimanded by the police.

"The idea is just praise and worship on the street and let God move and touch people's lives. Someone stands near; we talk to them and invite them to church," Grace Tokyo youth leader Gerwin Echegoyen said.

"When I first moved in 1992, church growth was very small," Nabarrete said. "Our church at Yokohama Grace Bible Church was about 30 people in 10 years. So for us Tokyo Bible, two years with 60 people is phenomenal. God has been gracious to us here."

The young Christians hope that through their involvement, Japan's older churches can be made young again -- and other dying churches can be reborn.