Teaching

Three fundamentals of our Christian response to the problem of homosexuality

Mon, 21 May 2012 05:10:00 GMT

As homosexuality and the homosexual agenda continue to take center stage in our generation, many Christians appear to have a malfunctioning spiritual compass when it comes to this issue. Now that Barack Obama has publicly confessed his support of homosexual "marriage", what are we as Christians to make of this? This is not an issue of race or even politics. It's a spiritual, legal and cultural issue and we can't afford to be ignorant. Yet so many pastors and churches avoid taking a clear stance on homosexuality, fearing backlash and loss of followers and financial support.

Without trying to approach this in a reductionist manner (because there are many layers and sub-layers to each point), in this posting I contend that the three fundamentals of our Christian response to the problem of homosexuality are:

1) SPIRITUAL CONVICTION: heterosexuality and the marriage institution are inseparable and divinely instituted by God for our own good.

2) MORAL CLARITY: clearly understanding that homosexuality is categorized as sin in Scripture

3) HUMAN CONCERN: we must discern between the complexities of the homosexual phenomena: to have compassion and tolerance for homosexuals on a personal level, while exposing and fighting the aggressive homosexual agenda, usually powered by a lobby dedicated to the remaking of society in their own image and likeness.

Let's take a look into each one in more detail:

1. SPIRITUAL CONVICTION: Heterosexuality and the marriage institution are inseparable and divinely instituted by God.

The moral law of God, synthesized in the 10 Commandments, is deeply embedded into the foundation of the Judeo-Christian civilization. Any other form of "marriage" which falls outside of the heterosexual one-man-one-woman marriage covenant (polygamy, homosexuality, etc.), is a direct rebellion against what God has ordained.

Nowhere in Scripture does God endorse or institute any other form of marriage, different from what we see established initially. In the instances when Old Testament Hebrews did choose multiple wives, this was their own decision and there is no evidence to suggest anywhere in Scripture these decisions were inspired or blessed by God.

What did Jesus himself teach on this subject?

Jesus quotes the Genesis account of the creation of mankind and thus established a very important framework of interpretation of sexuality, marriage and family. This teaching couldn't be more clear: God has ordained for one man and one woman to be married in a covenant and this is what constitutes the marriage and family institution. Heterosexuality is fundamental to it.

“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6)

Jesus fully endorses the Mosaic understanding of the sanctity of the marriage institution as one man and one woman.

God has made the human race 'male and female' for the purpose of reproducing life and thus fulfilling God's command to mankind to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Gen. 1:28) Homosexuals cannot create life neither in theory or in practice.
Marriage was supposed to be the union of one man and one woman. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh". It's pretty clear here that God's will is for one man to be joined to one woman and the two (not five, for instance) will become "one flesh".

God has "joined" the two. This speaks of God blessing the covenant between the man and the woman - i.e. marriage. He will not bless two men or women coming together. He can't approve of rebellion against and the mockery of what He has already established as a pattern in the beginning.

Any and all other ideas, teachings and practices are dangerous experiments and clear denunciation of the Biblical position on marriage and family.

Marriage therefore is not a human invention or institution. It is in fact a divine institution.

Not only that, it was the first in both order and importance.

The institution of the prophet was established by God second to the marriage and family institution.

The institution of kingship, from which modern governmental institutions derive their origins, was the last institution in both order and importance.

The Law of Moses recognized and established what already existed as institution in ancient Israel.

Laws made by people, who go against the laws of God, are immoral and will lead to destruction and downfall.

Not unlike the killing of the unborn, the codifying of laws that contradict the natural law of life, will undermine the moral standing of any nation and will ultimately lead to its demise. Pastors, preachers and Christian leaders must understand this is not just some petty political issue. Just like the issue of abortion, this is a "life" issue and it transcends the realm of political rhetoric.

2. MORAL CLARITY: Homosexuality is clearly outlined as sin and perversion before God.

Due to the ungodly society we live in, the culture of manipulation in the media has forced even conservative politicians today to take the position "I have nothing against homosexuality and homosexual unions, I'm just against homosexual marriage."
However, Christians and especially Christian leaders must speak the truth.

What is wrong with preachers, pastor and leaders of ministries who have allowed this world's system to silence the voice of truth?
Now here's the truth: homosexuality and its cultural derivatives are sin before God and perversion of human nature. If that which is perverse is allowed to gain legal standing in society, it will cause the Church, as well as society to implode.

Here are the Biblical references, that specifically define homosexuality as sin:

"You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination." (Lev. 18:22) NASB

"If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense." (Lev. 20:13) NLT

"...and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper." (Rom. 1:26-28)

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:10)

"But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching." (1 Tim. 1:8-10)

Lev. 18:22 clearly defines sex between people of the same sex as an abomination. Abomination is something which makes you want to vomit. The perverse spirit behind homosexuality receives one of the strongest forms of rejection by God according to Scripture.

Homosexuality, while part of other ancient civilizations, was strongly condemned by Moses and Judaism. Those caught in the practice of homosexuality, were subject to the death penalty.

In the New Testament writings Paul the apostle uses a very clear term to denote homosexualism: arsenokoites. It's the same term used by Paul both in 1 Cor. 6:10 and 1 Tim. 1:10. In older translations of the Biblical text, sometimes the translators used older terms, which were more relevant to the culture of their generation, like "sodomites", instead of the more modern term "homosexual". The King James translation is even more outdated when it comes to this same term; it says: "abusers of themselves with mankind".

In the Greek text the word arsenokoites is made up of two words: "arren", which means "man, male" and "koite", which means "bed". Pro-homosexual theologians try to stretch these verses in all kinds of ways, only so they could make them fit their liberal agenda, but nevertheless the word of God is clear: God never has and never will endorse homosexuality.

3. HUMAN CONCERN: Homosexuality is a complex issue overlapping spiritual, legal, cultural and social contexts.

The issue with the death penalty in Leviticus 20:13 is used by proponents of homosexuality to embarrass Christians and portray us as violent, hateful and primitive. However, this sin, as well as many others, was punishable by death only under the Mosaic Law. Prior to Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross, the only way to contain sin was through corporal punishment. It's more than obvious that the death penalty for homosexuality is not what the New Testament church ever taught or practiced. If this was so, it would have been clearly shown in the teachings of the apostles.

A. Spiritual confrontation with the sin and the culture of homosexuality

The way Christians deal with sin and perversion in the lives of believers is:
Exposing sin and perversion for what it is - a spiritual bondage.
Clearly teaching everyone what the consequences from such sins are in relationship with God. Paul declared that those who choose not to repent and turn away from such sin, will not "inherit the Kingdom of God". This means they have nothing to do with God and will be rejected and judged by Him.

Expelling unrepentant members from the community of believers. This was a measure used in regards to other sins as well.

Christians who become hateful of homosexuals, have failed to understand the difference between homosexuality and the homosexual agenda.

Homosexuality is a very complex, personal, spiritual, family and social issue in the lives of many individuals.

The homosexual agenda is an aggressive, even militant enterprise, driven by unscrupulous and demonically driven activists, ideologues and politicians. It's main goal is to fundamentally change the structure of society and remake it into its own image and likeness. Under such totalitarian scenario the homosexuals become the commanding, ruling minority, which uses the personal liberties rhetoric to take way all personal liberties from anyone who disagrees with their militant agenda. Their vision of society is completely and radically different from anything most people imagine and can safely be described as Sodom and Gomorrah: public, in-your-face demonstration of homosexual supremacy on a daily basis, the remaking of social structures and the ultimate "conversion" of straight people to the homosexual culture.

Confronting the demonic nature of the homosexual agenda is a spiritual task of the Body of Christ.

Preachers, leaders, pastors and directors of churches and other Christian organizations who don't take a clear position for what God has ordained as normal and lawful, are in fact working against the Kingdom of God. If they fail to shut the door to this demonic onslaught, they are opening the door to it and:

There can never be true love toward homosexuals in such place, because God's love is not based on compromise, but on truth and power.

They are opening up the spiritual climate for these spirits to run rampant in the church and invade the families and lives of young people. Whatever we as Christians allow in the earth, will be allowed also in the spiritual realm.

"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." Mat. 18:18

The spiritual response to homosexuality doesn't end with exposing it for what it is through the truth of Scripture. The spiritual response involves reaching out to those who are struggling with this and creating safe environment where people can be ministered to and can experience restoration. Ministry to those struggling with same-sex attraction and homosexual backgrounds is a very complex process and has to be done by experienced, qualified ministers. Beyond that, it has to be a process that involves reaching out to whole families and the community as a whole.

People who think that ministering to homosexuals is only about screaming at some demons to come out of the person, are ignorant and deeply misguided. At the same time, the process is not only psychological and social. There are demonic spirits involved as well. However, screaming for hours at demons to come out is hardly what deliverance is about.

B. Legal issues with the homosexual agenda and culture

Everyone realizes that what people do in private, whether homosexual or not, is their private life and no one can interfere with that. Islamic countries who persecute homosexuals and kill them, are indeed fascist. No one calling themselves "Christian" can envision the same scenario taking place in a Christian nation.

However, the homosexual activist lobby has its sights on far more than the personal freedoms homosexuals have as citizens. Their goal is to remake the social order into their own image and likeness. They will not rest until they have imposed a social order of fascist proportions in which homosexuals are basically a privileged class which dominates public life.

The homosexual agenda runs against the basic premise of liberty, which rests on the respect of life as a gift from God. And life can only be created by a heterosexual relationship. Sociological study after study has shown us that children are best raised in a family of heterosexual, monogamous marriage couples.

When Christians deal with the legal challenges homosexuals present to the marriage institution, they need to remember there is nothing emotional in this confrontation. Laws are here to protect the decency and safety of people and the marriage institution is the bedrock of decency and safety.

If homosexual "marriage" is allowed, this will inevitably lead to demonstrative manifestations of homosexuality. Imagine two homosexual public teachers coming to work hand in hand in front of all students, kissing publicly, etc. etc. Children will be exposed to this perversion from early on and this will bring tremendous confusion on issues of sex and marriage and from there on society as a whole.
Children are probably the most vulnerable in this cultural war. They are the target of militant homosexual activists who ruthlessly use them as human shields to score political points. Adoption is one of these spheres. Education is yet another 'victim' of the homosexual militant lobby, which constantly pushes the envelope on what can and should be taught at schools. Such battlefields will require all our resources if we want to stop these attempts to pervert children and young people.

C. Cultural issues

Homosexuality isn't only an issue of sexuality, it's also a way of life and a culture. Already now the Hollywood elites are openly and aggressively leading the charge in the remaking of American society by using the cultural dominance they have achieved over the last 70 years.

Christians will have to be very creative to convey our message in support of marriage and family in a culturally relevant way. Denouncing homosexuality all the time isn't going to take us very far. We have to learn how to celebrate life by means of the fine arts, not only by spiritual and religious arguments. The sooner we get this, the better.

It's important to note here that all Biblical references refer to homosexual acts, or lifestyle, not desires and temptations. All believers get tempted with all sorts of thoughts, that's not what brings condemnation. As Christians we need to learn how to help create safe environment of trust and respect in our churches, where people who struggle with homosexual identity, can be honest and receive encouragement and ministry so they can live in victory over this sin.

The Church is starting to wake up to this realization but we have ways to go before we develop a culture of encouragement and love towards those struggling with homosexuality.

Ultimately, the spiritual restoration of individual believers, the formation of healthy Christian marriages, families and communities, are the greatest and most urgent tasks of the Body of Christ in our generation.

Three fundamentals of our Christian response to the problem of homosexuality by George Bakalov is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License Based on a work at gbmi.us.

What is the essence of the fear of the Lord?

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:45:00 GMT

Once I heard a preacher on the radio talking about the fear of the Lord being a feeling. It isn't. Let's stick to the Word. It has nothing to do with emotions. It's about grasping full reality, accepting that full reality with our hearts and minds and shaping our lives around it. Easier said than done, but knowing where to start is better than trying to "feel" something and thinking you're there, should you get goosebumps.

Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade people. (2 Cor. 5:11)

Paul says: since we know what the fear of the Lord is, we try to persuade people. We preach, we evangelize. We teach.

Why? Because we understand, we know the end of the story. We've accepted the full reality of what's really going on.

No need to guess, no need for "feelings". Just knowing this, should be able to keep us on the edge of our seats each day:

"So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." (2 Cor. 5:9-10)

Seeing our daily lives through the lens of eternity might be single most pragmatic approach to life. It's not about staring at the sky and weirding out on our families and friends. It's about getting real with ourselves.

To me, it's very close to the way I begin to think when I have to travel somewhere for a week or more and I have 3 hours left before that plane takes off. I know if I don't pack my stuff, I'll be in trouble. Time becomes a very tangible commodity. Each movement receives new meaning and weight. It's either wasteful or purposeful. It either contributes to my immediate goal or it doesn't.

And while I'm taking care of everything I need to, I have to watch my attitude so I don't treat anyone at home as if they're in my way.

I'm reminded I won't see them for days. I can't take them for granted.

Life is short. We can't take those closest to us for granted. Tomorrow might be our last day. We simply don't know. No one does. Plan practically as if you'll be around until you're 120, but live morally pure as if tomorrow might be your last.

How much better the world would be if we all thought like this?

That's what the fear of the Lord should produce in us - purity, focus, anticipation.

George Bakalov

What is the essence of the fear of the Lord? by George Bakalov is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at gbmi.us.

Orlando Leadership Teaching February 2012 [English w/ Spanish translation]

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:50:00 GMT

Orlando Leadership Seminar

February Module

Audio Session 1 George Bakalov: {module_literature,i,100179}

Audio Session 2 George Bakalov: {module_literature,i,100616,}

The Significance Of Connectedness

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 16:49:00 GMT

Below are some thoughts and notes based on a recent Secrets Of The Journey Webcast.

1) Connectedness vs. collectivism

Eph. 4:16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

For years we've preached from Eph. 4:11-16 with emphasis on Eph. 4:11-12. Here's a dynamic that has been eluding us for a long time.

- The whole body is being fitted and held together by what evert joint supplies.
- This is being done according to the measure of energy of each individual part
- This is what causes the growth of the body
- The Body builds itself in love

Here we see a very important interplay between "the whole body" and "each individual part".

The well-being and the growth of the whole body depends on the "proper working" of "each individual part".

The key dynamic we can't afford to miss here is "connectedness".

Connectedness is part of the very definition of being a healthy individual part.

The concept of connectedness is radically different from the concept of collectivism. It perfectly balances the significance of the individual with and as a part of the whole. In fact, the very well-being of the individual can be measured by his or her connectedness. Collectivism sees the whole and completely disregards the individual. The connectedness of the God-kind, as we might call it, celebrates the individual within the understanding of the whole.

At first, these concepts might seem unimportant to many. They're not. It's of paramount importance whether we understand connectedness and how we can never attain individual happiness without it.

2) In the beginning was...connectedness

The Biblical narrative begins with the story of connectedness. God himself, after creating Adam, defined unconnected perfection as "not good".

Gen. 2:18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

Think about it - here's the perfect creature, fresh out of the oven of God's creative genius. He looks in the mirror and he sees perfection. He thinks and it's perfection. He speaks and it's perfection. In purely technical and even moral terms, Adam was the perfect human being. But God himself called his lack of connectedness "not good". Which means there's no such thing as full perfection and happiness without connectedness. Whatever claim for perfection there is, it's not indeed perfection of the God-kind, until it's being shared.

The human race, it seems, always swings between two unhealthy extremes: collectivism and individualism.

Collectivism, as mentioned earlier, disregards the individual and in fact exploits him or her in the name of some utopian "common good". But what good is "common good", if it was achieved by killing, robbing or exploiting individuals, the very beneficiaries of the supposed attempt to bring good to the masses? History shows that collectivisim falls short of God's vision for mankind, which is built on His covenant with individuals, not with the masses. It's when people chose to make a covenant that true connectedness of hearts, minds and resources becomes possible, while honoring each individual party. If liberty ever needed a monument built in her name, it would have to be built by the building blocks of the legacy of healthy, meaningful individual lives, not the victims of exploitation in the name of some imaginary, forced "common good".

Individualism, in it's most extreme, ugly form, is yet another form of deception. When people say things like "my life" and by this they mean them, only them as an individual person and no one else, you're talking to someone who is deceived. The truth is, if you can perfectly equate "your life" with only you and no one else, you're probably a very miserable human being. God himself made Mr. Perfect, took a step back, looked at him and said: "Not good!"

Not even the perfect relationship between the sinless Adam and God was good enough to fulfill God's purpose for man. Many religious spirits push people toward isolation, thinking that the more isolated they are, the closer they will be to God and therefore, more spiritual. They're deceived. There's time for privacy and solitute, but those are times we need in order to recharge ourselves and become better sons and daughters of the Kingdom in real life, not in the artificial environment of religious seclusion. If monasticism was indeed the epitome of spirituality, Jesus should have built the biggest monastery of all. He didn't. Neither did he remain in the desert. Instead, he grew up in a normal family, helping his father in the carpentry business he was running, while growing in the Spirit and in communion with others.

Jesus remained connected with mankind in very real, earthly terms to the very last!

It's important for us to establish that in connectedness, which is the only way to share with others both the struggles of our fallen nature, as well as the celebration of our new birth, is indeed the full expression of God's perfect creation.

3) The workers are few

Connectedness is the very essence of the work of God on the Earth. Sin pulls people apart. Jesus desires for us to remain connected in Him and with each other.

Mat. 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He *said to His disciples, “ The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Even after releasing the power to heal people from their physical ailments and to deliver them from demonic spirits, Jesus identifies an even greater problem - disconnectedness!

Many Christians think that if we today had the power to heal every cancer and cast out every demon of depression and fear, people will automatically become established in the faith. It's not true. Disconnectedness, which at root level has to do with mistrust and betrayal, is a deep fundamental problem that can only be countered by efforts aiming at building connected bodies of people who share common values and greater purpose.

The workers referred to here, would be people who will work toward bringing people together under the lordship of Christ. They would have to work toward the restoration of each individual first and then, by God's grace, build connected bodies of people under Christ. This is very much at the center of building Kingdom communities is all about.

Today many churches are either too institutional in nature (where people experience the mysticism of the different liturgical forms without any relational aspect of such spirituality), or too modern and intentionally only aiming at gathering crowds for an experience.

Singing few songs and hearing a sermon on Sunday may do it for some, who desire to be left alone the rest of the time, but the truth is that shallow forms will never stand the test of time. Only connected people can move through the temporary seasons in life and the every changing cultural trends, toward achieving a greater purpose on the earth.

At the same time, our whole understanding of what "church" means, has to change. The Sunday morning liturgy, regardless of how lifelessly religious or dynamically modern is, is only one of the many legitimate expressions and formats of what a connected body of Kingdom people can participate in.

We're moving toward a time and it's in fact here, where many innovative formats will thrive alongside with the more traditional church structures. Think of "church" as a complex, multi-layered nexus, which has many forms, yet advances the same Kingdom.

There used to be a time when I was intimidated by such complexity and didn't even realize how reductionist my whole thought process was. No more! Today I celebrate complexity because I can see how that's the only adequate response to the chaotic nature of our fallen world. Ezekiel 1 provides a very vivid picture of the complexity of the way God's kingdom operates. Instead of fighting what we don't understand (the most natural response of our insecurities), we can join it and find where do we fit as a moving part in this enormously complex phenomena.

Mat. 9:37 Then He *said to His disciples, “ The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Most Bible Schools and seminaries emphasize on knowledge of Scripture, exegetical understanding and homiletic skills. However, in real life, most of the labor leaders, who have gotten into the "business" of bringing connectedness to a chaotic world, exert, can be filed under "emotional labor".

Most burnouts in the ministry are the result of the black hole of emotional dysfunction leaders have to put their efforts into, while bringing people together and connecting lives. No one talks about it in Bible School and hardly any ministerial associations are well prepared in providing support to those on the front lines who toil emotionally to overcome dysfunction and disconnectedness on base level - people and human relationships.

4) Happy spiritual fathers

A truly mature spiritual father and apostle will never be happy until they witness their spiritual children in a state of Kingdom connectedness.

3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. 5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church.

3 John 1:2 is said to have become the rallying banner of the so called "prosperity movement". Nothing wrong with prosperity. What's wrong is what we do with prosperity, not whether we should prosper or not. The apostle clearly rejoices that Gaius is prospering - in his soul, in his health and in every other aspect of life.

What we've missed is the following - how concerned apostle John was not only with the individual well-being of Gaius but also with the whole community. Connectedness was part of the well-being of Gaius. Not only that but in verse 4 we see that Gaius, being the prosperous individual that he was, was "acting faithfully" and working to accomplish things for both brothers and even strangers!

Gaius was working towards connectedness. His personal prosperity was extended beyond himself and well into the realm of the body of people he was associated with. Not only that, he was connecting with strangers as well.

In my now 21 years of being involved in ministry, I can clearly see how connectedness has not just been a goal, it captures the very ethos of my apostolic calling. While most people are looking for an apostle who is a push-button miracle worker and a preaching pulpit machine, who mesmerizes the masses with eloquence and infallible charisma, I've come to realize that covenant based connectedness is probably what best describes the crown achievement of a true apostle. It's the restoration of individuals, the formation of spiritual families and tribes and from there, the actual restoration of fragmented societies begins. No greater achievement that this can exist.

5) The blessing of the weak links

As seen in 3 John 1:1-4 the apostle is most happy to see his children walking in connectedness with God and with each other. The quality of our Christian life and ministry can in fact be determined by the quality (and to some degree quantity) of our connectedness. But we have limitations. We can't connect with everyone and we can't help everyone - certainly God doesn't expect that from anyone. In fact, sociology tells us that we can't have more than a dozen quality, deep relationships.

It's not the deep ones, it's the significance of the weaker links that caught me off guard as I was studying this whole subject. In his revolutionary paper The Strenght Of Weak Ties (PDF link), which work some experts call one of the most influential sociology papers ever written, Mark Granovetter proposed something that sounds preposterous at first: When it comes to finding a job, getting news, launching a restaurant, or spreading the latest fad, our weak social ties are more important than our cherished strong friendships.

Furthermore, social scientists have discovered that the average number of people we come to know on a first-name basis throughout our lifetime is in the excess of 600. Granted, these would be mostly weak links types of connections, but nevertheless, they are on a first-name basis.

For those of us who feel called to advance God's Kingdom, we are so acutely aware of how scarce resources are when it comes to materializing our God-given goals. And yet, it's not resources per se, it's connectedness that turns out to be the solution to our dilemma. Not only that, weak links seem to be of even greater importance when it comes to resources, rather than strong ones.

Conclusion

Connectedness is not a goal, it's a state of being. The way we handle relationships, be they strong or weak links, might as well be defined as the way we handle God's blessing itself, because blessings traverse across connected lives.

Will we succeed in building this kind of a complex Kingdom nexus that allows the synergy of spiritual, emotional and physical resources? This is the task at hand.

Eph. 4:16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

George Bakalov

The Significance Of Connectedness by George Bakalov is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at gbmi.us.

Covenant - back to authentic Christianity

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:36:00 GMT

What we call "relationship" today in our culture, the Scripture calls covenant. Back in the days when God's prophets and apostles received His Word, the modern idea of a being "in and out of a relationship" would have sounded rather strange to most people. You were either part of the tribe or you were not. You were either part of the covenant or you were not.

Now here's the key to covenant being a blessing, not a curse. It's covenant minus the control (forcing of one's personality, will, etc. onto another). Most people today cringe at the idea of over-committed relationships simply because they have been burned by a controling friend, relative, fellow student, boyfriend, girlfriend, co-worker, pastor, fellow church goer. The list goes on and on. We can all do just fine without people who take advantage (knowingly or not) of other people who happen to be softer, more friendly or complient. People have junk, it's true. Therefore it's our responsibility to be aware of and protect our boundaries - even with the closest people in our lives!

But this doesn't mean we ditch the Biblical revelation of covenant. God's idea of covenant comes as part of the greatest covenant of all - life itself! It has nothing to do with our idea of controlling relationships. It in fact is God's highest form of freedom because covenant was always within the context of warfare. You don't need covenant if you don't understand the cosmic warfare. Covenant was the greatest form of liberty a powerful royal could offer to a weaker partner. It guaranteed your life, the freedom of your movement and your property. Sounds good to me!

Fast forward to Abraham.

When God rolled up his sleeves and decided it's time for Him to move back in and claim some ownership on the planet, he sought for a man with whom he could cut a covenant. It was really the only way for the Lord to legally re-enter man's domain.

The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, but the earth He has given to the sons of men. Ps. 115:14

That wasn't just a "relationship" God initiated with Abraham, it was covenant - bloody, gory, real-life covenant. You can read about it here:

Gen. 15:7 And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.8 And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

Today we have this very loosey-goosey, sanitized idea of "relationships", which is really an 18th century [rather modern] term somewhat reflecting the Western idea of contractual based association, with much less committment and of course with much less consequences in a case of default. Failure and the right to fail without losing your life is an important part of liberty and free societies. Totalitarian and primitive societies have very low tolerance toward faliure, which is why they never experiement and progress. The cities of refuge in the culture of the Hebrews was an incredibly sophisticated and the prototype of the modern system of allowing people to experience faliure and still get another chance in life.

So I'm not against faliure, neither is God. What is grace if not allowing someone to fail without striking them dead?

At the same time, the idea of no-committement relationships is not Biblical.

The same can be said of concepts such as "friendship" and "happiness". As someone pointed out, back in the days when the founders penned the Constitution of the United States, the pursuit of happiness was the pursit of honor, goodness and nobility. It had nothing to do with the hedonistic nature of what so many people view today as happiness.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to make this over-dramatic, pompous and self-righteous to a point where it becoms a turn off. But I don't want to feel guilty about trying to raise the bar, either.

Consider the following:

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NASB

I want to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ today - you and I are fully capable of cutting the covenant of the Lord with him and with one another. It's the only way the glory of God can rest once again in the earth, which is His footstool. He's looking for a Body which is one in covenant, for him to fill with his presence, power, healing and manifest wisdom. It was always meant to be real, tangible and expressed through each and everyone who is part of the Body.

This is a different view of what "church" and "Christianity" were ment to be. A far cry from the pre-Reformation formula of "a holy man in a holy building, performing a holy ritual on a holy day of the week." This is a call to return to organic, covenantal based, Kingdom centric, Christ-like life. [Nothing wrong with live, vibrant expressions of the Body which involves "services" as we know them].

The idea of being "one spirit with the Lord" is a covenantal Hebraic concept. You can never grasp the heart of what the Scriptures mean through the mindest of the Greek thought. All Scripture was given within the context of the Hebraic worldview. Covenant has a pretty significant place in Hebraic thought. All and any relationship God has ever had with man is based on covenant. There are not kind-of-sort-of covenants. You're either in or you're not.

But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17 NASB

The idea of sharing a cup and bread is a Hebraic covenantal concept.

1 Cor. 10:16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

Let's press forward and continue to pursue the things that are real - Christ in us, the hope of glory!

George Bakalov

30 Days of Power Principles: #27 Success is in the seed

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:18:00 GMT

"Ye shall keep my statutes...thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed" Leviticus 19:19

It's possible to have mixed seed in us - to say we believe one thing and yet at the same time another thought system to be working actively, sabotaging what we say we believe otherwise. Such is the case with Christians when we say we believe in being victorious in Christ, yet subtly we act as if we're the minority, we're losing and we're never going to rise to our best. These seeds of failure might have been sown in us by the world or even through those who profess to be teachers of the Word and had chosen to propagate failure as spiritual.

To say you are a son or a daughter of the King by definition means you are declaring a higher and better way of being than the desperate world around you. You and I are supposed to think and act as success.

When exactly do you begin to feel successful? Naturally, most people begin to "feel" successful when they actually achieve success, not while they are trying to get there.

Success to a businessman or a business woman means closing the deal. For a doctor, it means a patient sent home healthy after being treated for a life-threatening disease. For a student, it means a diploma received at graduation. To this world, the evidence of success is the realized promise, not the promise itself.

But agree with me - success has to be the direction, before it becomes the final destination. If success is not the direction, it will never become the final destination.

You can be on the right road, but going in the wrong direction. This actually happened to me recently. While driving around a Baltimore suburb, looking for my final destination, I ended up on the right road, but going in the wrong direction.

Likewise, you can be married (the right road) but acting as if the final destination of this marriage is divorce (wrong direction). You can be studying at school but doing it as if you'll end up as a drop out. You can be running a business, but all your actions are admitting you're moving towards bankruptcy.

Sometimes this lack of congruity between belief system and actions, seems obvious to everyone, except the person who is the primary character in their own life drama.

Are you thinking one way about the future and yet acting out a different belief system or a conviction?

Here is a Kingdom Power Principle you cannot afford to miss: as soon as you have identified the seed of success, identify yourself with it and celebrate it! Success is in the seed!

Next, identify the seeds of failure and begin to root them out until you have purged your heart, mind and life from all the bad seeds the enemy had planted through the world or through false teaching.

It is now only a matter of time to experience the harvest of the success God has already planted in you. He is with you to bring forth the promise of the seed.

You'll meet a lot of people who want only the ready harvest, the end result, the realized promise. They don't care to hear about your faith struggle. They will only respect you after you have produced. That's okay, you can't be mad at people for being that way. Only a select few are probably your "seed buddies" - those who will believe in the seed God has placed in your. Find out who they are and stick close to the those few encouragers. However, if you don't have such, when you understand that success is in the seed, the power of fear is broken over your life! As long as you have the seed of God planted in you, you know you will be a success, regardless how long it will take or how many challenges you will go through.

Why Satan hates it when governmental prophets are recognized

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:17:00 GMT

Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded John as a prophet. Matthew 14:5 One of the reasons Satan hates it when governmental prophets are recognized by those God sends them to, is because God's voice takes a tangible position in the earth realm. Without the prophet, God's authority is largely based on the Mosaic premise of the sovereignty of Scriptures. Prophets take it a step further. They penetrate the barrier of human affairs alienating us from the reality of the Kingdom and introduce God's position on relevant moral issues.

When ministry is left solely in the hands of teachers and apostles, this doesn't work in the same way. It's because teachers are guardians of precepts and apostles are guardians of patterns. Prophets, on the other are guardians of precision, if you will. They respect the precepts and they understand the patterns of God. But they bring the much needed awareness of measures - too much of precepts can mean too little of God's Spirit. Too little of patterns can mean too much of carnal wisdom, etc.

Herod was afraid of John the Baptizer because he addressed wickedness in high places. The teachers of the law didn't do that. The priests wouldn't dare to cross the temple pattern. But the prophet allows God to take position in the realm of human affairs and bring relevance to the otherwise abstract concept of truth and morality.

Satan hates that. He hates it even more when the people recognize the prophet and heed to his warnings and admonitions. He hates it when prophets are accepted by a wide margin because it cuts into Satan's margin of influence in the minds of people, churches and nations.

This explains the struggle and the warfare over the governmental prophet. John the Baptizer was indeed a governmental prophet. He spoke out of God's concern for the state of affairs among those who represented His authority on the earth - priesthood, teachers of the law and the king. More than any of the prophetic variants we see in Scripture, Satan hates the governmental prophet - both in the Old and the New Testament era.

The natural habitat of governmental prophets should be Antioch type apostolic, Kingdom centered ekklesias. Boy, this was a mouthful for some folks out there. Never mind , moving on.

It's ironic that in Acts 13:1-5 we see the ekklesia (or "the church" as I used to say), being the epicenter of New Testament prophets and teachers operating in power, demonstrating how God's authority functions in the earth realm when man gets out of the way.

Today churches are the hardest spiritual environment for true prophets (i.e. those who won't bow down to the pressure to perform a dog and pony show people like) to penetrate. This has to change and it will only change when we abandon the "church" paradigm and we embrace the "ekklesia" paradigm.

I pray this word challenges the gatekeepers of churches (pastors) and gives them some food for thought. You might have been burned by some big-ego, money hungry, prima-donna so called "prophet". Likewise, most people can recall visiting or being part of a church plagued by a pastor who is bound by the same bondages.

It's time to let go and reach out for God's best. True apostles and prophets love God and his Kingdom, while at the same time Satan hates them and they are a prime target for him, even to the point of death.

George Bakalov

KINGDOM MINUTE Audio Podcast: Why be like the heathen?

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 20:15:00 GMT

Click on the icon below to play the audio teaching:

Click to play

30 Days of Power Principles: #26 Shake off the vipers

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:44:00 GMT

Acts 28:5 However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. Have you ever run into a situation where Satan succeeds in gaining access to you through a circumstance? Whether it's an accident, a wrong being done against you, slanderous campaign or a flat out robbery, we are not immune to Satan's attacks. What can be really discouraging is that many of these things can happen to us while we're trying to serve others and do good. The apostle Paul was meaning good when a viper bit him and held fast to his hand. Joseph meant well while Potiphar's wife launched a campaign to discredit him. David meant well when he played for Saul and yet the schizophrenic king started throwing his spear against him.

We need to know how to shake off the vipers and move on. Think of Paul's situation: after being tossed in the sea for two weeks and nearly escaping death, he gets out onto dry land and a viper bites him while he's trying to help with getting the fire started! How absurd can it get? And yet, this is what happens all the time. Just because you've decided to serve God and people, don't expect Satan to watch on the sidelines and cheer for you! God will do his part and he will protect us THROUGHOUT such experiences.

But we must be strong enough in faith and learn how to shake off the demonic assignments against us and move onto the greater things that God has in store for us. The Kingdom advances through difficult circumstances. The notion that "if something is from God it will all work out just perfect", is absurd! In fact, if something is from God, all hell will break loose against you!

Be encouraged and shake the vipers off, Jesus is with you!

30 Days of Power Principles: #25 The power of saying 'I don't know'

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:10:00 GMT

"No one was able to answer Him a word..." Matthew 22:46

One of the things that has amazed me through the years as a preacher is how many people approach me with questions they expect me to have the answer for. For some people this might be flattering. To me it's about responsibility. Who am I to give someone advice about this or that? What makes me think I can give someone the competent counsel they need, based on the Bible? Thus, I really need to rely on the Lord's ability in and through me when it comes to helping others with their questions.

The Lord began to use me to preach the Word and lead a church at a very young age. I was trying to be of help to everyone who came to me. Many times it was hard, because people approached me with questions that were above my pay-grade. Thankfully, I found something very liberating early on into my ministry development. It's the power of saying "I don't know".

Not only we find ourselves humbled by Jesus when he asks us a question (see Mat. 22:46), but we must be humble before Him when others approach us with their difficult questions.

"Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?"

"Should I divorce my husband who is abusing me and yet goes to church pretending to be a Christian?"

"Should I change jobs?"

And on and on.

The first time this happened to me I was in counseling with a member of the church. They presented me with a situation that was rather complex. I was searching for the right answer to give this person to help relieve them of at least some of the stress they were obviously going through. I felt the Holy Spirit was saying something to me which I wasn't prepared to hear. "Tell him you don't know." I must have been a pastor for less than a year and I guess I had this idea that now since I'm a pastor I need to have an answer for everything. But I didn't realize that I was believing such a false concept. There are many stereotypes about what a pastor is supposed to be. Amazingly enough we can believe some of those stereotypes about ourselves, too. The light had come on for me right when I needed it.

"I don't know", I said. "That's between you and God. There are some things God has reserved to reveal directly to you. I wish I could give you the answer, but I can't."

Suddenly I felt relieved. I didn't feel like I had done something irresponsible as a easy way out of a difficult situation. I knew this was the right answer and there was power in my ability to say I don't know and be honest about it.

What is humility? Contrary to what most people believe, humility has to do mostly with the condition of our heart and mind, not with the way we look or behave. In this situation I chose to humble myself and be honest rather than to sound wise or well-versed in the Bible. And of course, when you choose to humble yourself you don't run around screaming "I just humbled myself!!!!" to everyone else around her. What kind of humility with that be? So you just have to do the right thing before God, whether people realize what you have just done or not.

This is true for pastors, moms, dads, business owners, professionals, everyone! This is a powerful life concept, not just a religious notion.

Let me be honest - the more I know God, the more I realize how little I know. The paradox is that at the same time I learn a lot more about God and life in general. So while I learn more about God and things in general, I must consciously develop an attitude of humility and honesty, recognizing there's more that I don't know than what I do know. I must protect my integrity by using the power of saying "I don't know" when I don't. I must also trust God with the things I do know because wisdom is the ability to apply the right knowledge at the right time, not just to have knowledge. God wants us to be mature in our understanding of him in the world we deal with. There's nothing godly about going around saying you don't know anything about anything.

Jesus came to enlighten our hearts and minds and make us wise children of light. But he also came to give us the power to be truthful and honest which liberates us to be human. You can be confident in what you know and yet humble in what you don't know.

There is power in declaring the truth you do know and there is power in saying "I don't know" when you're don't.

The Anti-Christ Spirit ... is against You!

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:47:00 GMT

Posted by: Laurie Skipper [All scriptures quoted from NASB unless otherwise noted.] For some time now, I have not been able to get away from studying the book of Esther. I have gone back to it time and time again. One of the things the Holy Spirit has highlighted to me in this passage of scripture is the working of the anti-Christ spirit - how it worked then and now. Anti-Semitic Spirit at Work From the events recorded for us in Esther, we know that Haman hated Mordecai. Haman's hatred seethed each time he would pass Mordecai and Mordecai would not bow to him as everyone else did. Haman also knew why Mordecai would not bow to him, which caused him to hate not only Mordecai but his people - the Jews. Esther 3:6 tells us:

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

It wasn't enough for Haman to get rid of Mordecai; he wanted to annihilate this whole people group!

Why this hatred for the Jews? Where and when did this start?

To answer those questions we have to go back to the beginning of this "race" of people. That takes us back to Genesis.

God established a covenant with one man, Abraham. God further made covenant with his descendants through Isaac, the son born to him by his covenant wife, Sarah. (Genesis 17:19-21) God promised Abraham that "in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 22:18) It would be through this linage that God would send His only begotten Son, Jesus, to redeem mankind.

From that time forward, Satan has hated the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the Jewish people - and has sought to destroy them. Satan was driven to stop the plan of God from coming to pass, and anti-semitism was born. Since the reason for wanting to annihilate the seed of Abraham was to prevent Christ from being born, the anti-semitic spirit is simply a form or particular manifestation of the anti-Christ spirit.

We know that throughout history, both in Biblical times and up to our present day, leader after leader in nation after nation has tried to wipe out - totally annihilate - God's chosen race, the Jews, including their modern-day nation of Israel. One of the many Biblical examples is the one given in Esther when Haman convinces King Ahasuerus to issue a decree "to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of ... Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder." (Esther 3:13)

While this particular edict in ancient times was overturned by Esther's plea followed by Ahasuerus' decree of reversal, Satan did not give up on his goal to destroy this people. In the 1940s, Hitler attempted to accomplish the task. He attempted to annihilate the entire Jewish race (among other groups he also targeted). Tragically, Hitler did kill nearly 6 million Jews, which was roughly two-thirds of the European Jewish population. About a quarter of those murdered were children under the age of 15 - he killed "both young and old, women and children." He also "[seized] their possessions as plunder." Yet, the Jewish race survived - as God has promised it will.

The most poignant current example of the impersonation of this spirit rests in the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who insists that Israel must cease to exist. The story of hatred against this people simply because of who they are and Who they believe is the same; the pawns used by Satan to attempt to destroy them change over time.

Yet, Satan knows "the end of the matter." God's covenant with Abraham was an everlasting covenant to his descendants. That means - it will never end! As part of that covenant, God promised them the land of Abraham's "sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession." (Genesis 17:7-8 & Genesis 15:7,18-21)

God also promised that Abraham's seed would "possess the gate of their enemies." (Genesis 22:17) Hence it is not wise for anyone - a person or a people group - to set themselves against Israel. According to God's promise to them, in the end, Israel will prevail!

We can see this demonstrated in the story of Haman. His hatred for Mordecai and the Jewish people cost him not only his position of authority but his life and the lives of his seed along with the lives of others who joined him in his hatred of the Jews. Rather than the decree he had issued being the end of the Jewish people, "the curse was reversed," and it was a day on which the Jews were allowed to annihilate their enemies. And so they did. With the help of government officials throughout the provinces, they killed 75,500 of their enemies in a single day and were given permission to continue into the next day in the capitol city of Susa, killing another 300. (Esther 8:11; 9:1-3, 12-16)

God turned Haman's plan to destroy them into a plan for deliverance from the oppression of those who hated them. They possessed the gates of their enemies!

Anti-Christ Spirit at Work

As previously noted, there is a close tie between the anti-semitic spirit and the anti-Christ spirit. One is specifically targeted against the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. The other is targeted more globally against Jesus Christ and His people, whether Jew or Gentile, in whatever earthly nation or geographic location they reside.

According to 1 Peter 2:9-10, we "who ... obey Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:1-2) and have been "born again to a living hope" through Him (1 Peter 1:3), are now "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's Own possession ... the people of God." The creation of this new "chosen race" and the "holy nation" it constitutes does not in any way nullify God's everlasting covenant with the Jewish race and their nation, Israel. However, those who accept Christ as the promised Messiah and Savior, whether Jew or Gentile, have "a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises." (Hebrews 8:6)

As with the anti-semitic spirit, to understand this hatred of God's people, we must return to the beginning. This time, let's go all they way back to Genesis 3.

From the very beginning of the human race, there has been a struggle between Satan and God as to whom man would believe and serve. In Genesis 3, we have the account of how the serpent came to Eve and enticed her to distrust what God had told them about the tree "in the middle of the garden." What we do not know is how long it took the serpent to entice Eve to disobey the commandment of the Lord. However, by verse 6, Eve is standing at the tree.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Eve is no longer simply talking about "the tree which is in the middle of the garden" (Genesis 3:3), but she is standing there at it, beholding it and its fruit. James 1:14-15 warns us:

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

This is where Eve found herself. She was "carried away and enticed by [her] own lust" for wisdom. Her lust gave birth to sin - disobedience of God's command; her sin brought forth death.

In verse 13 we learn: The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this ... I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel."

There you have it - the enmity between Satan and the seed of woman began. Satan knew that, eventually, the seed of woman would bruise his head.

While we know that Jesus was The Seed that would bruise his head, we are also told in Romans 16:29 that "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under [our] feet." So we as redeemed mankind, born-again followers of Jesus Christ, are also part of the fulfillment of the word given in the garden. But, the fact that we will have our heel on Satan's head comes at a price.

Jesus clearly told us how the world would view us. The world, under the influence of the prince of this world, Satan, hated Jesus and it would hate those who belonged to him. In John 15:18-21, Jesus provides this warning:

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me."

So, why are we surprised when the world hates us? Why are we surprised that most of the media does not treat us "fairly" - or give equal (and respectful) time to our views and issues?

Christ, Himself, told us that if the world loved us, it would be because we were part of it - "its own." If we are "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people" (1 Peter 2:9, KJV), then we are not "its own" - we are in the world, but not "of it."

Yet, as with the Jews, we have the promises of God that tell us "the end of the story." We know that Jesus will reign over the Jewish people forever. Among other places, this was promised to Mary in Luke 1:31-33.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” [NKJV]

But what about us, particularly those of us who are non-Jewish followers of Jesus Christ? We also have promises! In fact, Romans 8:17 tells us that we will be "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." [NKJV]

Think of it. Jesus "will reign over the house of Jacob forever," but, as believers, we will be "joint heirs" with Him. That's the difference between being a subject in the kingdom and being co-regent! I would say that we have "a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises"!

But, did you catch that second phrase in the passage from Romans, "if indeed we suffer with Him"? Once again, there is the warning that the privilege of being a joint heir with Christ carries with it the condition that we share in His sufferings.

We should not expect that living a life committed to Christ will be "a cake walk." As soon as we are born again and set our hearts on living for Him and by His principles, we become targets for the Enemy. At that point, his fury against Christ is also directed against us.

In James 1:2-8 we are exhorted to:

... count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. [NKJV]

The Greek phrase translated here as "various trials" is "poikilos peirasmos" (poy-kee'-los pe-ras-mos'). A literal translation of this phrase would be to "to put to proof by various (different) means." The word translated as "fall into" is the word "peripipto" (per-ee-pip'-to). The connotation is that of falling into something that totally surrounds you or to be totally surrounded by something.

In other words, James is telling us that we are surrounded on every side by opportunities for our faith to be put to the test - to prove whether or not it will "hold up" under scrutiny. I think we can all agree he got that right!

But, why is that the case? Why does God not always give us immediate victory? Because "the testing of [our] faith produces patience." And we need for "patience [to] have its perfect work, that [we] may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

This reminds me of the issue of the children of Israel when they were finally freed from Pharaoh's rule and left Egypt.

Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, "The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt." (Exodus 13:17)

God knew that after spending their entire lives in slavery, He would have to retrain these people to think and act like the free men they now were as well. They also had to be trained to fight, both to defend themselves and to be able to conquer the enemies who had possessed their former homeland.

We are much the same when we become born again. Until that point, our thoughts have been controlled by Satan, the father of lies. God has to retrain us to think and act like His children, operating out His principles and faith in Him and His word. Ephesians 4:23-24 tells us that we need to "be renewed in the spirit of [our] mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

Yet, it is our very shift to begin to "put on the new self" that "flags" us for the anti-Christ spirit to being zeroing in on us. In 2 Timothy 3:12, Paul tells us that "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." We need not think this will improve over time. In fact, Paul warns in the next verse that "evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." (Emphasis added.) I don't think any of us will have a problem believing that this is happening!

Yet, in the next verse, Paul exhorts Timothy and us that we should "continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them." (2 Timothy 3;14, emphasis added.) If we have not truly "become convinced of" these truths, we will not be able to continue in them when the persecution comes and our faith is continually tried. If we have "become convinced," then we no choice but to "continue in" them!

Before pulling this to a close, let me emphasize that the anti-Christ spirit is after brining down the universal Church - the corporate body of believers wherever they live around the globe. He seeks to discredit it in any and every way possible and he seeks to annihilate its individual members.

The point is that the anti-Christ spirit attacks the Church as an entity - and its members as individuals. It particularly goes after key leaders, even as Satan sought to stop Jesus when He was here in the flesh. Satan first sought to stop Him through sin. When that failed, he killed Him. Fortunately for us, instead of stopping the plan of salvation, that led to its completion through Christ's death and resurrection. Hallelujah!

Satan's tactics through the anti-Christ spirit are the same for us. He will try to get us to turn from a life of righteousness and holiness to sin. When it become apparent to him that we are not "going there," he will try other means to "take us out" - either to discredit us before others in some way that will neutralize our effectiveness or even try to kill us.

In my own, personal experience, I have had two car wrecks that I firmly believe were both orchestrated by the enemy with the full intent of "taking me out" physically. One was in 1974; the other in 2004. In both cases, the situation causing the wreck was just too bizarre. In both cases, the car I was driving was "caved in" around the drivers seat. By all natural reasoning, the one in 1974 should have killed me. The one in 2004 should have, at a minimum, severely injured me. While I did sustain injuries in both, I also "walked away" from both. That was God's protection!

I am not pointing out the workings of the anti-Christ spirit against us to instill fear in anyone. Instead, I hope to offer encouragement to those who "feel the pressure" of the constant attacks and to exhort us all to be on our guard. Paul sums it up for us in Ephesians 6:12-18.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. [NKJV, emphasis added.]

Also, remember that James tells us that "If any of [us] lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5, NKJV) May we learn to always seek His wisdom for how to handle these situations.

I will leave you with two more promises we have from God's Word.

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.
(Proverbs 4:18-19)

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness will cover the earth
And deep darkness the peoples;
But the LORD will rise upon you
And His glory will appear upon you.
Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
(Isaiah 60:1-3)

Let us not worry about how dark it becomes around us or how much we are attacked. Instead, let us be sure we remain in Him so that ourpath continues to get brighter and brighter and we continue to radiate His glory to the nations!

Authored by: Laurie Skipper
Laurie resides in Wichita, Kansas. She is a Certified Enterprise Architect and has been employed by a major aerospace manufacturing company as a professional in IT for more than 25 years. She has been associated with HBNI and George Bakalov Ministries International since 2003.

30 Days of Power Principles: #24 Your hand determines your future

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:58:00 GMT

by George Bakalov For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20 (New International Version) In poker, after a tense period of betting rounds, there comes a moment when you have to flip all cards and see who has the best hand. Your hand determines your future! In real life we as Christians are given the privilege to approach the 'game' of life with Jesus Christ on our side. Unlike poker, once you enter into a healthy, meaningful relationship with the living God, chance has nothing to do with the kind of hand you hold. Your hand is the sum total of what you choose to believe, think, apply and be in life.

As we choose to align ourselves with God and His Spirit, our hand becomes strong to the point where we become positioned for winning when the time comes. Don't think you can live after the carnal ideas of this world and all of a sudden you will be dealt the winning card and you will turn into a winner just like that in a day! In real life there are so many things that are out of our control. In life you don't choose what hand is being dealt to you. Where you were born, the family you were born into, the relationships that formed you as a young person, the economic realities of the day, etc. And many of us have been dealt many bad hands. We feel weak. We don't play as winners. We dread the moment of truth when it may become clear to everyone we are not all that.

But that's because we miss the point.

The whole purpose of being a Christian is not so you can impress others with how spiritual, smart, rich and successful you are every day of your life. We're in covenant with God is so that we can please Him in the process called life and to fulfill the purpose He has established for us. This is the only thing that will bring permanent happiness and blessing - to you and those around you! You can't control what hand life with deal to you. But you can control your life with God, your obedience to his Word, your following of his Spirit. When you do, something happens. In God's economy of things, when the day of testing comes, you find out you were actually more than ready. What seemed like a high card all of a sudden has the power of royal flush. You win. The enemy loses. All because the game includes not only the players you see around you, but also the One who is above all the players and the playing field itself.

He holds your hand already, don't let go of His'.

30 Days of Power Principles: #23 The wisdom of staying in the right lane

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:59:00 GMT

Jesus said that the road that leads to life is full of trouble. Did you know that?

But the narrow gate and the road that lead to life are full of trouble. Only a few people find the narrow gate. Matt. 7:14 (GWORD)

The word used for 'trouble' here traditionally is translated “narrow”. A deeper study tells us that there are more meanings to it: “to crowd (literally or figuratively): — afflict, narrow, throng, suffer tribulation, trouble.”

Whichever way you look into it, the full meaning of the word doesn't convey a very pleasant picture.

The road that leads to life will be crowded. All kinds of people, relationships and circumstances will try to crowd out the right people you are supposed to share the journey with. Some of those who 'crowd' your forward movement may be in fact people with very pressing needs. You know, the kind of people who never bother to actually seek God on their own or do something for themselves to better their lives. Why should they bother, when they know there’s plenty of mercy motivated “fools” in the Church who will take care of them one way or another.

The road that leads to life will be full of affliction. You will be betrayed, disappointed and even targeted by people you thought were fellow Christians. Tragedies, financial losses, illnesses and all sorts of other situations do actually happen to well meaning Christians. Why? It’s because we live in a fallen world. And even if we do all the right things and even if God is warring on our behalf, the simple truth is that He never promised earth is or will become Heaven and that he is in full control of what happens down here. I don’t mean to scare anyone, but it’s better to take the bitter pill of realization now than not be prepared in the day when affliction knocks at your door. And if it doesn’t -- well, praise the Lord, you have many wonderful reasons to sing and shout -- you are in the blessed minority! Most people experience various forms of affliction throughout their lifetime. And this, my friends is not indicative of whether God loves us or whether He has all the power. He does. Look at creation and you’ll know it. Look at the cross of Jesus and you’ll know it. But the fact remains this is a battle ground and we must be prepared for it.

The road that leads to life will be narrow. I remember living life circumstances leading us to live in a two bedroom apartment in Bulgaria with two babies, laughable income and intense persecution from the authorities, the culture and the church. Yes, living in the 90’s in Bulgaria was not for the faint of heart. Nothing was easy to accomplish. Even the most simple things took so much effort and resources. And what’s worse is that it lasted for years, not days or months. In retrospect, if that’s the worse we will experience ever in life, I’m OK with it. I’m thankful reminded of so many other believers who live in much worse conditions around the world. I’ve been there. I know.

The road that leads to life is full of trouble. Troubles come in two ways -- internal and external. Internal troubles are those that concern our families and us personally. Most of these are self-inflicted and the result of our carnal nature. External troubles are the ones the system of this world causes us -- troubles for us personally, for our churches, businesses and societies in general through corrupt government, unjust courts, crime and all kinds of scenarios who are outside of our control.

So what is our most natural inclination when we encounter these troubles on our journey with Jesus, down (or up) the road that leads to life?

We try to shift lanes.

Most of us are not raised up with enough mental and spiritual discipline to know how to plough through the troubles that come at us. We interpret these troubles, afflictions and tribulations as denial coming from God. We feel inadequate for the task. We try to shift lanes.

To our surprise, we find there are indeed different lanes on the road that leads to life.

There are all the casual Christians, who may show up to church on Sunday but outside of this are totally submerged in their own lives. You watch and you think: may be something’s wrong with me, praying and working for revival, reformation and all that good stuff? May be it doesn’t take all that? Hmm.

In the lane next to them are all religious nuts who don’t mind living completely in a world of their own, denying everything and everyone and isolating themselves in a bubble of prayer, reading of Scriptures and painful expectation of the end of times. Oh, well...

Apparently, there are several other lanes, which I can’t get into describing here. They may be broadly described as:

the lane of the hurt & wounded,
the lane of the flashy and successful,
the lane of the mediocre,
the lane of the cynical and the skeptical

and on and on. Look around, see for yourself. Your landscape probably looks different from mine. But inevitably everywhere you go, you realize that it’s not easy to be a “kingdom first” kind of Christian. Someone who tends to themselves and their family, but more than anything else has centered his or her life in the pursuit of first of all seeking and establishing God’s will on the earth.

Don’t shift lanes, stick to what your inner man is telling you. The safest place on planet Earth is to be in the middle of God’s will...or lane, if you will.

Word for 2010 and Beyond

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:30:00 GMT

Word for 2010 and Beyond

Submitted by Laurie Skipper Tuesday, December 29, 2009. (Scriptures are from NASB, unless otherwise noted.)

Part 1: For The United States

We, the Body of Christ in the United States, have become complacent if not despondent when it comes to the war on terror in this nation. We want to look, point the finger, and blame the government for their errors. The only true protection for our nation lies in keeping a spiritual hedge of protection in place. We have let down our guard and will pay the price for doing so if we do not re-establish it.

KEY: We must become re-engaged in the spiritual battle against all forces who want to destroy this nation.

“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 22:30-31)

A nation is at peace only when the righteous rule.

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan. (Proverbs 29:2, NASB)

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. (Proverbs 29:2 KJV)

We have seen the result of allowing the unrighteous to rule. We have seen the result of allowing those who give lip service but whose hearts are far from what they say (or imply) to rule. The true Church, the true believers MUST mobilize politically to place righteous men and women in office to change the course of this nation and get it back on track with its God-given destiny. We, the Church, must quit squabbling over the minor issues and support those who uphold the major issues – of life and liberty for all. And, “liberty for all” includes liberty from excessive taxation and freedom to choose services and service providers.

KEY: We must become politically engaged to unseat those who want to destroy the destiny of this nation from within.

The Church must not forget the poor.

They only asked us to remember the poor – the very thing I also was eager to do. (Galatians 2:10)

With the current state of the economy, there are many who are finding themselves in need for the first time in their lives. The people of God must not turn away; but, rather, realize that this is an opportunity to bless those in our communities and, thereby, reach them with a true gospel message.

KEY: We must be socially engaged in our communities.
And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday. (Isaiah 58:10)

If we will:

re-engage in the spiritual battle for the nation,
re-engage in the political arena, and
engage to a greater extent socially in our communities,

then we will see the following:

God will use the current economic situation that the enemy has meant to destroy our free enterprise system (and our freedoms with it) to cause the wealth of the world to begin to transfer to the hands of those prepared to both receive and handle it. He will cause what Satan meant for evil – for our destruction – to work for our good.

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)

So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king's anger subsided. (Esther 7:10)

As Haman was hung on the very gallows on which he intended to kill righteous Mordecai, those who have laid snares for others will find themselves ensnared and brought down by their own trap.

Deeds which have been done in secret will be brought to light. Deals made in back rooms and “under the table” will be exposed. This includes political deals as well as business deals. Those things done in secret will begin to be “proclaimed from the housetops.”

"But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (Luke 12:2-3)

This will mean over the airwaves of not only Fox, but CNN and other channels.

KEY: We must pray for key business leaders as well as key politicians to be radically converted. Be sensitive to God laying a particular leader on your heart. Pray for them diligently until you learn of their conversion.

These two factors will cause a shift in this nation to alter its course back into a right direction. However, these results are conditional. We must do as directed.

Part 2: For Other Nations

Israel

God’s eye is always on Israel, but there will be no major shifts there this year.

Arab Nations

There will be some shifting of powers both within and between these nations in the year ahead – and for the next two or three years. Pray for these nations! There needs to be a window of opportunity to freely share the gospel with these people groups. Pray that as the power shifts within these nations, the shift would allow that window of opportunity to open. Soak these nations in prayer this year.

China

China has given lip service to becoming more open. In truth, it has become more repressive in many ways. Pray for the church in China. There will come a time when the gospel can be shared more openly. But there will still be much persecution before that time. Pray for strength, grace, and protection for the believers there – and for extreme wisdom for them, particularly their leaders.

North Korea & Iran

North Korea and Iran are the two nations to watch. By “watch,” I mean watch and pray. These are the two nations that would like to force international conflict – and it is not God’s timing for either to do so. Pray that their plans – and they do each have plans – will fail. Pray confusion in their ranks. Pray, specifically, for those within these countries who realize the evil workings within their government regimes and work against it covertly. Pray for their protection and their success. Pray that they maintain the courage to continue what they do. Pray that they have supernatural wisdom and words of knowledge about specific situations, both for their safety and their success.

Europe

Much of Europe is teetering in the balance, deciding which way it will go. Islam is pressing in on one hand and socialism on the other. Both are anti-Christ spirits. There are decisions to be made by both the leaders and the people of Europe this year that will set their course for the next decade – and, for some, beyond that. Pray for a revival in Europe. There is kindling set for the Fire of the Spirit to break out in Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries. It will either be ignited within the next two to three years (by 2012) or it will be squelched until another generation. Pray for a revival that will awaken all of Europe and call her back to the roots established in the days of the early Church and re-established by the Protestant reformation.

Pray for the eastern European nations that have never been freed from the spirit of bondage that was imposed by Communism – and, for some, centuries before that. This decade is to be a time for the people of these nations to experience true freedom – the kind of freedom found only in Christ. But, there is still much spiritual warfare to be done for this to break forth in the measure intended. Pray for the people in these nations. What they need is to experience the true love of God. Pray for them; but, also, seek God for His ways to express the love of God to them – in tangible, “God made flesh” ways.

Turkey

The region now known as Turkey was once Christian and God’s desire and destiny for it is that it be so again. Pray for a revival in Turkey. The blood of the martyrs there is crying out and the bowl is almost full. God’s desire is to send a major move of His Spirit to Turkey.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria will experience what seems to be a set back spiritually in the coming two to three years. Do not be discouraged. Once again, what Satan has meant for evil will turn out to be for good if handled properly. Instead of responding in panic or discouragement, respond by turning to seek His counsel on how to turn what seems like defeat into victory. Remember, Satan thought he had won when he killed Christ. What he thought was a mighty victory was his biggest mistake and will lead to his ultimate defeat. Remember that principle when you see what looks like defeat in this nation. Prepare yourself now to handle it appropriately. Do not be caught off guard. Ask even now for strategies to be revealed to you in that season.

Globally

Without intervention, the next decade will bring more natural disasters and destruction. More islands will be hit with hurricanes or cyclones as well as tsunamis. Earthquakes will be felt in places not accustomed to having them. Rivers will overflow. Pray now that the loss of life and the destruction will be minimized. This warning is given so that there is opportunity to avert most of these. Be sensitive when God tells you to pray for a specific area. You do not realize how many such incidents have been averted or lessened by the intercession of God’s people – or how many more could have been averted. Again, I urge you, be sensitive when you feel a prompting to pray for a specific area or region.

Final Exhortation

While many are looking at 2010 and the next few years as being difficult and bleak, the darkness can be turned to light and God’s people can shine as they noon-day sun in the midst of it – if they will heed His warnings, seek His strategies and directions, and follow them.

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know over what they stumble. (Proverbs 4:18-19)

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples;
But the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you.
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising." (Isaiah 60:1-3)

30 Days of Power Principles: #22 It's what you see that matters

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:17:00 GMT

And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. Gen. 13:14-15 (NKJV)

Power Principle # 21 was about developing a God centric mindest, which is really the only way to understand the Bible and to be properly positioned to receive His instructions for success.

However, in this teaching I would like to underscore something which might appear as contradictory at first sight: It’s what you see that matters, not what God sees for you. The emphasis here is on you.

Let’s look at the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot.

You might say that Abraham had already made the switch from being self centric to being God centric. To become God centric has to do with worship. Worship is not about music! Christians, please get this once and for all! Worship has to do with positioning yourself permanently in submission to God. Read this again: worship has to do with positioning yourself permanently in submission to God.

Abraham came from a tribe which worshiped God. Many years ago I heard a preacher say that Abraham came from a moon worshiping nation, namely Ur of the Chaldeans. I have done extensive study on this subject and found out this: Abraham actually came from a tribe which resided in Ur of the Chaldeans but in fact was a tribe, which worshiped Yahweh, the true God. One of the reasons the Lord called Tara to leave Ur of the Chaldeans was probably because idolatry and the moon worship cult was threatening this minority tribe and they needed an exit strategy in order to get to a new place, to a new land where they'll be able to establish a permanent altar to Yahweh.

Abraham did not invent the idea of building an altar to God. This was a well established custom in his family and in the tribe he came from. Worship has to do with acknowledging the superior position God has in relationship to man and man's willingness to follow the patterns of God. Singing songs and making music which praises God is only one of the many expressions of our worship. Unfortunately in today's Christianity most people are taught that worship is about music.

Back to our story.

Abraham is in transition. He has arrived in the promised land but his authority hasn't been established yet. It's not only what God wants to give you, it's what you accept and act on that makes the difference.

The strife between the shepherds is very telling of the condition of the Church today. As soon as some people get some success in ministry, business or otherwise, they become arrogant -- Christians and non-Christians alike. Success can be deceptive and make one believe that it's the ultimate legitimizing of who we are as a person, our methods and so on. It isn't! You can actually become successful for a time and begin to believe yourself and the lies people tell you of how great you are. The true definition of success is not only about how high you reach but also how long you get to stay in that place. History teaches us that it's very possible for certain individuals, people groups, nations and even civilizations to arise and reach great heights of success for a period of time. True greatness has to do with how long they get to stay in that place and how well success can be transferred from generation to generation.

It seems to me Abraham needed a breakthrough. So God calls him to a higher place, to a place from which he could show him the big picture, the long-term strategy and plan. He tells Abraham that he will give him all the land which Abraham sees.

The Lord had already determined what he wants to give to Abraham but it was now time for Abraham personally to see the land and embrace God's plan. In other words it's what you see and embrace and identify with that makes difference not only what God has planned and prepared for you.

One of the most frustrating mindsets in the Church today is this: if it's God's will, it will happen.

This mindset stems from the subtle but well-established hyper Calvinistic understanding of predestination. In simple terms, it’s the belief that whatever God has determined to happen, it will happen, regardless of what I want or do. You and I can't afford to tolerate such subtle deception if we are to succeed in our Kingdom mission.

This is not the time and the place for me to get into a lengthy theological discussion. Sometimes powerful truths are communicated in a simple way. Imagine yourself standing on the verge of a cliff one step away from falling down to your death. All you need is for someone to give you a simple warning which might sound something like: step back!

Likewise, through this teaching I want you to grasp a very simple premise: it's not only what God wants for you, it's what you get to see and embrace that makes all the difference in how your life will unfold.

As a parent I might be seeing some incredible gifts and talents in my children. And they indeed are all very gifted in many different areas. But their breakthrough will come from what each one of them gets to see and decides to act on. They’ll have to see themselves as successful before they even engage in pursing God’s will. They’ll have to apply discipline and effort to release God’s ability in them.

Has the Lord called you to start your own business? Now you must see yourself as a business owner, you must embrace what the Lord is showing you and ultimately in the right timing you must act on it in order for God's plan to unfold for you. It will come with responsibilities, risk, failure and many opportunities. But you hold the key to activating it all.

Has the Lord called you to gather people and minister to them in some way? You must see yourself doing it, embrace your role as a gatherer and act on it in the right time. The Lord will do his part and his provision will align accordingly.

Has the Lord called you to the area of arts and entertainment? Same applies here.

You can go on and on and apply this principle to every area of life -- career, family and other creative pursuits which might serve as vehicles of influence.

In real life things don't work as simple and as automated as we would like them to. Even when you accept God's will for your life and embrace your calling, circumstances, Satan and other factors might still work against you. However, we will emerge victorious because the Lord is on our side when we plug into his strategy and embrace our role in it.

What are some of the factors hindering people from seeing and embracing what the Lord already has planned for them?

Not pursuing by faith, but pursuing God out of carnal, selfish desperation.
Low self-esteem.
Fear of man.
Lack of discipline.
Toxic environment -- relationally and culturally.
Theological misconceptions.
Disconnectedness.

You and I are responsible to tackle each and every one of these factors and become vessels of honor prepared in suitable for the service of the King.

George Bakalov (c) 2009 www.georgebakalov.com