Praying for our leaders is something we all should do, and it is incredibly important because if our leaders and government go off track, it becomes more and more difficult to “lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (I Timothy 2:2)

Throughout history there have been many heresies that have tried to attach themselves to the church. Some surround the nature of Jesus — denying the deity or humanity of Christ. Some focus on salvation — attempting to add human works as a requirement. All such false teaching is extremely serious, as Paul pointed out to the Galatians. But the false teaching that has been the most costly in terms of human physical life, is centered on the Early Church.

“The essential thing in heaven and earth is that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.” -Friedrich Nietzche

Seventy years is an entire lifetime. For Queen Elizabeth II it was the longest reign, not only in the United Kingdom but in the history of the world. When she died last week at age 96, it was a globe-riveting event. And no matter how much we paid attention, or didn’t, important history was still being made. Unprecedented history.

There are days and weeks when attacks are thick and the pains are deep. I have been going through one of those seasons. There are sufferings that we choose – inconveniencing ourselves for the gospel, to disciple someone, giving up resources till it hurts for the Kingdom – and then there are times where we go through sufferings that we didn’t choose.

When life overwhelms you,  it’s normal to look for comfort. As Christians, we should  search in two places: God’s presence and God’s word. Trials will require you to shift your focus. Instead of looking all around you, or living in fear of your circumstances, you can look to the God who holds you. That begins with recognizing who God is.

The Psalmist opens with declaration (praise) of God’s might against the enemies of Israel, as easily defeated as wisps of smoke or melting wax, illustrating the commanding power of the God of Israel. 

These verses tell us about God, and what he does for His people. See that those who are not believers “shall flee before Him!” implying their terror at the might of God…God is our help, that every day He helps us carry our burdens. His strength, His help for us, is new each day. He is our salvation. Blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up, God is our salvation. Selah

When we are blessed by the Lord, as commanded by Him, when we receive His blessing, His word, His promises, when we practice praise and the Lord Himself is our ruler, then the earth shall yield her increase and our own God shall bless us. 

In the Bible, there’s always the beautiful application of every story, and of every character. Nothing of narrative is ever wasted.

The Author would have it no other way.

Christians around America are waking up. We can’t sit on the sidelines any longer.

God is breaking down walls between denominations, races, and generations and uniting us around a mission of prayer and action for the nation that we love.

America needs us, the Body of Christ, to be fully awake and engaged.

Join us at the Wake UP! Conference – September 23 and 24th in Dallas Fort Worth.

According to Jewish tradition – this Psalm was written as a Passover Psalm with two parts – First to celebrate the huge victory and “bigness” of God delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt and taking them out of the hand of Pharaoh. Secondly to declare the vow and the sacrifices that they would give God after seeing His goodness again.

As American students prepared to end their summer vacation and return to the classroom, David McCullough died at the age of 89. He was one of the greatest historians this country will ever know. Noble, honest, fair, balanced, and thoughtful, McCullough rose with an inbred grace above the poisonous divisions of our time to teach us why we must understand and love its history if we are to better understand and love America.

Our mid-year letter and report for 2022 with updates from Christians Engaged President, Bunni Pounds.

How are you doing? Please answer honestly. Maybe things are going great, and you’re on top of the world! Or maybe you’re going through hard times and in need of some comfort and divine intervention. Either way, Psalm 65 is for you.

As a child I loved replacing burnt out incandescent light bulbs with new vibrant ones. I was fascinated by the fact that you could shake the dead bulb and hear the filament rattling — a musical confirmation that the bulb was indeed broken and no more light could be extracted from it. Most of all, I loved to see light shining again in a space where once there had been darkness.

In addition to being the central figure of all history, Christ Jesus is also one of the most controversial. Some believe Christ was “a good moral teacher.” According to others, “he was an ideal; an example.” But sadly, few outside or even inside the Church have ever taken the time to listen to what he actually taught! Let’s look at three key moments from the gospels to learn the most vital elements of Jesus’ lessons on money…

When God called Samuel to anoint David as future king he had to correct him because Samuel was looking at the outside appearance. Jesus similarly corrected his disciples about what defiles a person (Matthew 15:10-20) when he said “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”

In the same way, Proverbs teaches us to look at the heart on economic issues.