Probably not since 9/11 (in 2001) has our nation and the nations of the world been so riveted to daily news from all sources. In spite of all of this, God is doing great works through this crisis. And He wants us to observe them and be a part of them.

Since God is the One who created life and who imparts life; since Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; only when we see Him and know Him and love Him can we experience and live life as He has intended for us to live it

It may be that his mercy towards all of us is what impacted me more than all the rest of his wonderful qualities. For I was a young man who desperately needed God’s mercy. Preach never failed to extend it to me, even at some of my lowest points.

Our society has so watered down the reality of evil, and instead relegated it to only the worst among us (e.g. rapists, murderers, etc), that we have become desensitized to its prevalence. How easy it is to compare ourselves to such people (obvious sinners), and then deduct that we are sitting pretty well!

God who sees, hears and knows all, and who sent His Son to set us free from all sin, is regularly examining the state of our heart, and regularly seeking to reveal to us what He sees.

Central to lukewarmness is that of being oblivious to one’s real spiritual need. We in the West especially are easily fooled into thinking we are doing ok spiritually because we are doing ok materially/financially, and there is no apparent crisis going on in our lives or relationships, and we are busy serving the Lord in one way or another.

"....our tendency is to justify ourselves (almost always by contrasting ourselves with someone we deem obviously worse in word and deed). But while we might not do the things they do or say the things they say, God looks at our hearts, our motives, our inner attitudes, and our inner conversations. His weighing standard is of course Himself!

Even if our fathers were criminals, Jesus died for their sins. To whatever depths their offenses have been toward us, there will be grace to forgive, and the Holy Spirit will cleanse and heal us from the hurts as we forgive.

Israel was to be a righteous people made up of righteous families. And at the head of each one of those families was to be a righteous, loving, focused, and intentional father, who fathered out of His relationship with God the Father. It is my growing conviction that the breakdown or failure of this brilliant plan of God is at the root of most of our world’s emotional pain, bitterness, rage and resentment.

Many believers have been at least partially blind to this reality – that there is an ongoing need to be cleansed of corruption and defilement. This is true of even those of us who have known the Lord for many years.

I’ve found myself often in these last four months pondering that unquenchable thirst “to know” that was first seen in Adam and Eve

As the Holy Spirit has been unraveling some of the subtle sin patterns that have enabled me to be so busy in the kingdom, and yet lose my passion for the King (and my passion for personal godliness and holiness), I have discovered anew the great value of devotionals in stimulating my passionate pursuit of the King of kings and Lover of all lovers.

If intimacy with Christ (and if you are married) intimacy and oneness with your spouse are at the very top of Christ’s priority list for His children, I can promise you the enemy of our souls and our own sin nature will not sit idly by.

It is my conviction that the practice of a daily quiet time or focused time with the Lord is one of the most fruitful and critical spiritual disciplines a disciple of Jesus could ever pursue. And the biggest reason or motivation for that is His own practice as seen in a number of passages such as Isaiah 50:4.

The best way to overcome unrighteous judging of others is to develop a lifestyle of daily dealing with the stuff in your own life as the Holy Spirit reveals it to you, which He is more than faithful to do when He can get our attention.

Yes our State is self destructing in many ways, and the worst may still come, but God in His amazing grace and power has called many thousands of His sons and daughters to dig our heels in and unite together to see “His glorious kingdom come and His will done” here in all its fullness before Jesus returns.

".....Wesley speaks twice of an “unusual spirit of prayer” as he lays out his account of what some call “The Layman’s Prayer Revival”. Might this be the year when this “unusual spirit of prayer” is rediscovered in America? I hope you are stirred as I was by what God did in such a short time through ordinary men and women. May He do it again in our day."

When leaders or parents or spouses or teachers or coaches lie as a pattern, the necessary trust that holds relationships and families and organizations and even nations together is blown apart. It was Jesus that said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” And one of the things that has caused this deadly division in our nation is an epidemic of lying.

Our founding fathers on the other hand held in great disdain democracy as a form of government and majority rule. Thus you will not find the word “democracy” anywhere in the Declaration of Independence or in our Constitution.

I want to say this morning that things are not always as they seem. Much more is going on for the kingdom of Christ in this State than is readily evident. And I have every reason to believe it is going to continue and increase.