The ushering in of a New Year is a perfect time to  reflect on the last year with gratitude, and to commit to going deeper  with the Lord in the coming one.

A few months back I shared how the Lord prompted me to “up my game” in my prayer life by praying fifteen minutes a day in the Spirit, by  the clock   I must confess that at times it has felt tedious, even  rote.  Other times, I  lingered long after my timer went off because I  didn’t want to leave.

But  regardless of how it “feels,”  The discipline of praying in tongues  fifteen minutes a day has had a remarkable impact on my faith and also  in my ability to strategically pray for individuals and situations.

We know intellectually that life is fragile, and that any one of us  could leave this world at any time. But the reality has become much more  than theory recently. We have loved ones who should still be here. They  have been taken from us suddenly, and seemingly before their time.

Never  has this hit home more than the last couple of weeks.  To chat with a  friend at church and make plans for the following week, only the next  morning to hear that this bright light among us is now gone. It seems  impossible to reconcile the news as real.

Is there anything  redemptive that can come out of this culture of death that has thrown  its nets over the global community these last few years?

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Keywords: eternal life, died suddenly, death to self

Pastor Jonathan Conrathe tells an amazing story of leading the head anesthesiologist  from the  World Health Organization to Christ on an airplane. This  anesthesiologist professed that he believed in God because of how  routinely during surgery the medical team would open up a patient to  discover that whatever malady they were operating for was already  healed. The head surgeon would say, “We will say nothing of this” and  they’d stitch him back up. Inevitably, the anesthesiologist said that  they discovered the patient was either a Christian or had a church  praying for him.

Following this remarkable conversation, the  anesthesiologist went back to his newspaper. Jonathan realized that  while the man believed in God, this didn’t mean that he necessarily was  regenerated. When he asked him if he had ever asked Christ to be Lord  and Savior, the man replied, “Well, no. No one ever told me that was the  way to get to God.”  The doctor then prayed with Jonathan to receive  Christ.

The story highlights how we must always be ready to give an appeal for Christ.

Jesus is coming back quickly and people are not ready. The thought  governs my awareness, and yet at times I feel paralyzed to do much about  it.

When an evangelist and his team of nine men and women from  the UK came to help stir us to action, it was a powerful shot in the  arm.  (This evangelist was Jonathan Conrathe with whom we’d worked three years ago in the city of Harrisburg; his incredible testimonies and sermons can be found at Mission 24.)

The  “us” consisted of over a dozen local churches of varying denominations,  about half of them Spanish.  There is something demonstrably powerful  about church leadership setting aside differences, denominations, and  personal styles, and pastors honoring and deferring to one another.  The Holy Spirit begins to move with swift and astonishing might...

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During a time of prayer recently I heard the words, "Time to up your game."

In a church culture that shies away from the idea of striving or works, one might question, was that really the Holy Spirit?

The  message however came with a very specific directive.  The Lord reminded  me of a rookie missionary to Hong Kong, Jackie Pullinger,  who was  counseled by her mentors to pray in the spirit 15 minutes each day. She  says this...

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Do we profess the truth even though it might offend a brother?  Or do  we only speak certain truths because if we dilute truth to the least  common denominator we can still label it unity?

Is divisiveness in itself a sin?

Martin Luther said, “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every  portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the  world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing  Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages  there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the  battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that  point.”

These are questions I have wrestled with as others - even people I respect - have sometimes admonished the church "stay away from politics"...

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The wickedness of God’s people provokes a response to His holiness:  He must render swift and severe judgment on the nation. Just before He  instructs His angels to carry this out, He tells them, “Go through the  midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and make a mark on  the foreheads of the people who groan and sigh over all the abominations  which are being committed in its midst.” (Interestingly, the mark here is a Tau, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which was in the shape of the cross).

Among God’s people who are called by His name are a remnant that mourn the vile practices pervading the land.

This  passage jumped out at me recently, and I believe the Lord would have  His people understand what it means to groan over the abominations in  our land. There are numerous abominations in our own land here in the  United States. But the detestable practice of abortion is a sin our nation bears that God will not continue to tolerate. We’re approaching the tipping point.

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“If what you thought to be true was not, would you want to know?”

A  friend posted this question on social media and the responses were  surprising. Instead of the universal “of course!” which I anticipated,  several individuals replied “it depends” or “not necessarily.” Openly,  several people admitted before their peers that, given a choice, they  would rather believe some lies than have to change their minds.

“The  truth shall set you free,” Christ said; yet how many would rather live  in bondage than bear the personal responsibility that freedom brings?

This is a time of exposure, of paradigm shifts,  of repentance, and of changing one’s mind. Yet a potential pitfall is  that in swerving to avoid a trap, we don’t careen into a ditch on the  other side.

Two specific concerns for the body of Christ in this time of shaking are that,

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See also:

https://dissentfromdarwin.org/

https://emilytomko.com/the-classroom-pulpit-how-the-religion-of-humanism-undermined-a-generation/

The nature of many paradigm shifts are that they are freeing but force us from our comfort zones. More than that,  when you start sincerely seeking the truth, you may anger the people  you’d least expect.

The last 20 months, governments across the  globe took unparalleled actions in the name of halting a virus. This has  caused people to question many things they once took for granted.  School board meetings that used to bring out four or five parents on a  good night are now packed; one local meeting in my county lasted nearly  six hours as parents waited to vocalize what had become all too  apparent: many adults who were supposedly in the business of educating  and nurturing children prioritized politics, money, and power high above  the welfare of children. Science findings were repeatedly presented  from peer-reviewed medical journals that did not back up the arbitrary  decisions of those in power. Tone-deaf to the voice of parents and  taxpayers in their district, some staff and board members were seen  rolling their eyes in meetings where high school students tearfully  testified of anxiety and depression caused by mandates that had no legal  backing.

I remember a friend of mine, the young wife of a pastor,  voicing to me her disbelief at how naive people – Christians especially  – could be in supposing the government and the media had their best  interest in mind. “Nobody loves you that much except Jesus!” she  exclaimed.

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A paradigm shift is defined as a radical change in thinking from an  accepted point of view to a new belief (Merriam-Webster). The phrase  “paradigm shift” is somewhat contemporary and originates from the  scientific use of models and patterns (paradigms), necessitating a  “shift” when new discoveries produce anomalies – or deviations – in the  current trend.

That the word “pattern” is foundational to the word  paradigm brings Romans 12:2 to mind, in which the Apostle Paul exhorts  us “do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed  by the renewing of your minds” (NIV).

Here are three reasons....

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