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What if instead of just seeking answers to prayer, we actually sought for God to be glorified in a given situation? ... Not to pray less for the answer, but to be fueled and energized with the reason for the answer, that God would be glorified.

Bill Johnson, Bethel Redding, 1.14.2019

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When you come in line with the Truth of God, you come in line with the Power that overcame the grave.

Brandon Davis, GLO, 1.21.2018 

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When you run from the resistance, you run from the rain. When you run from the battle, you run from the blessings. When you run from the problem, you run from the promise.

Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, 5.7.2017

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The devil doesn't like it when you say "This is significant." The way he gets you to leave your assignment is to convince you that it doesn't matter what you're working on.

Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, 5.7.2017

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One thing I found out about dry seasons is that often, my situation can be doing a lot better than my soul.

Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, 5.7.2017

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Anytime you depend on a source that is not God, He will cut you off, because He will not allow your life to be sourced by something that cannot sustain your life. So He will cut you off for a little while so you will come back to what you needed all along - because He loves you that much.

Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, 5.7.2017

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The church shines brightest when Christians act like Christians. Revival breaks out, not when Christians become more religious or angry, but when God-honoring people become more loving and caring.

Ray Johnston, Bayside Church, 11.6.2016

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Jesus was born rejected by some and regarded by many others with indifference. Today also the same indifference can exist, when Christmas becomes a feast where the protagonists are ourselves, rather than Jesus; when the lights of commerce cast the light of God into the shadows; when we are concerned for gifts, but cold toward those who are marginalized. This worldliness has taken Christmas hostage. It needs to be freed.

Pope Francis, 12.24.2016

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I’d also encourage doubters of religious teachings to doubt the faith assumptions that often drive their skepticism. While Christians should be open to questioning their faith assumptions, I would hope that secular skeptics would also question their own. Neither statement — 'There is no supernatural reality beyond this world' and 'There is a transcendent reality beyond this material world' — can be proven empirically, nor is either self-evident to most people. So they both entail faith. Secular people should be as open to questions and doubts about their positions as religious people.... Christians believe that it is those who admit their weakness and need for a savior who get salvation. If access to God is through the grace of Jesus, then anyone can receive eternal life instantly. This is why 'born again' Christianity will always give hope and spread among the 'wretched of the earth.' I can imagine someone saying, 'Well, why can’t God just accept everyone — universal salvation?' Then you create a different problem with fairness. It means God wouldn’t really care about injustice and evil.... There is still the question of fairness regarding people who have grown up away from any real exposure to Christianity. The Bible is clear about two things — that salvation must be through grace and faith in Christ, and that God is always fair and just in all his dealings. What it doesn’t directly tell us is exactly how both of those things can be true together. I don’t think it is insurmountable. Just because I can’t see a way doesn’t prove there cannot be any such way. If we have a God big enough to deserve being called God, then we have a God big enough to reconcile both justice and love.

Pastor Timothy Keller, NY Times Op-Ed 12.23.2016 (http://nyti.ms/2imDajJ)

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If you live your whole life holding a grudge against everybody who has ever hurt you, then you will be lonely the rest of your life. The true definition of a Christian is doing the right thing when nobody is looking. I hurt and I can be angry with them. This is not how our life was supposed to be. But if Jesus has forgiven me and my neighbors for our sins, I have to follow in His footsteps.

Michael Reed, after losing his wife and two girls to Gatlinburg, TN wildfires allegedly caused by two teenagers

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Peacemaker...

I’m tired. This day has been so tiring for me, even more so than the entire rest of the election. It’s ironically not for the reason people think, and I apologize if this post is kinda unorganized. There’s just so much on my mind. What’s worn me down and discouraged me so much today is not actually the fact that Trump won the presidency, it’s the way most (at least on my FB feed) Clinton supporters have reacted to the results.

I get it, I know, Trump is a bad person. But you know, at least his victory speech was decently respectable. And he called us to unite together and invited those that didn’t vote for him to help him make America better for all people. And as Clinton said in her concession speech, we owe Trump “an open mind and a chance to lead”.  But what saddens me more is that the mud slinging continues. And instead of taking this chance to understand why something they didn’t expect happened, most people have just gone with the flow of the liberal media (which lured people in the first place into believing Trump had no chance) and written off half of the American voters (60 million) as racist bigots. But in doing so, they themselves have become that which they condemn others for. People have written off white rural America (most of the Trump supporters as well as half of the country falls under this category btw) as a bunch of racists and bigots. But they know nothing of those people. They know nothing of their plight. Instead of judging them and ignoring their opinions, if people had taken the time to actually listen to their stories and the very real struggles (http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-trumps-rise-that-no-one-talks-about/) they’re going through, if Hillary had done this, maybe the election results would be different.  But by condemning and marginalizing this population and offering no real avenues of dialogue or aid, other than to ridicule or judge them, Clinton supporters have become racists and bigots themselves. They continue to sling mud at these people, even after their candidate lost the election, without stopping for a second to understand the people they’re targeting. And this is what happens when you marginalize a people who are hurting and who’s lives are being threatened, and receive no empathy, but are instead blamed as the problem (wow, doesn’t this rhetoric sound familiar?). They vote for the guy who’s actually willing to listen to them and says he’ll fight for them, even if he’s a sociopath, because what choice do they have. Don’t let the liberal media deceive you again, like they did with saying Hillary had the election in the bag. Yes, there are racists and bigots and inequality in this country. These are issues we need to work on. But that’s not what this election was about, it ultimately came down a hurting people who were rejected by one candidate and her camp, and had no choice but to vote for the crazy guy willing to listen to them and promised them change (wait, wasn’t that someone’s platform back in 2008!?). And moving forward, even with regard to overcoming racism and bigotry, YOU CAN’T FIGHT HATE WITH HATE, IT ONLY CREATES MORE HATE!!!! And you become a racist and bigot when you do that.  As I close, what hurts the most about this, is there are my Christian brothers and sisters who are partaking in this. Not only slinging mud at half the populace that they’ve written off, but also at their own Christian brothers and sisters. Since when did allegiance to a political candidate outweigh being a family in Christ? It breaks my heart. Thankfully, most of my brothers and sisters are doing what we’re supposed to be doing. Being peacemakers. Whether that’s calling for both sides to be understanding of one another. Or offering space and support for those who are hurting. Or most importantly, pointing people to the ultimate hope we have in God. Sigh,I’m tired, and I don’t know how much more my heart can take of seeing the church allow itself to be torn apart by these earthly things. I’m sorry if I got a little too sarcastic or heated during this post. But it’s so important. As a nation, we must learn to reach for understanding before hate, and learn that we aren’t always going to agree, but we can find common ground and we need respect each other’s differences despite our disagreements. Something that President Obama reminded us of last night (I’ve grown to respect this guy a lot). As a church, we need to reach for God and our shared identity in Christ and the Gospel before reaching for being popular with the current trends. Being a peacemaker means sometimes both sides will hate you, but so be it. This is not our home, and our goal is greater than a mere presidential election, it’s the eternal salvation of people’s souls! It’s ok to be mad, it’s ok to mourn, it’s ok to need to let it out. But don’t do it at the expense of others. Please stop slinging mud…be a peacemaker…

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A Christian’s Thoughts on the 2016 U.S. Election

I am sitting here in front of my computer, trying to splash some thoughts onto a canvas and process the events of this recent election.

Take a deep breath.  

It’s over.

Like the results or hate the results, one of the most divisive elections in recent memory is finally over. 

And now as we wait for the dust to settle, there is much healing and building that needs to take place.  Throughout this campaign, vitriol has been spewed from both sides.  Both camps are equally guilty of vilifying the other, speculating about a dystopian future should the others’ candidate be elected.  And now that future is here.  

It breaks my heart to see the pain and suffering that this election has created.  Both sides need time to heal.  There are people who are terrified, hurt, and disillusioned by this election.  There are people whose families, livelihood, and dignity are called into question.  There are people who are mourning.  We need to allow them to speak and to hear them with our hearts open.  

My family is a family of immigrants; I am an immigrant.  And when I came, I was coming to a country which offered me more opportunities, safety, and hope than the one we left behind.  I love this country.  Despite what I see many of my peers saying, I still love the ideals that this nation was founded upon.  It is not perfect, far from it.  America is better than this.  America’s strength is in its people and I trust and hope that these people will show themselves stronger than ever in times of darkness and strife.  

It hurts when your land is made a laughingstock of the world.  It hurts me when I see the mockery and joking and ridicule.  Many of my peers have threatened to leave and I respect that decision.  There are many wonderful places to live in the world.  However, I for one do not choose to abandon ship when times get difficult.  I choose to stay and fight for higher ideals and for the betterment of people’s lives. 

Now that all that is said, I am a Christian first and an American second.  There are fellow brothers and sisters whom I know on both sides of this election.  For one reason or another, they have taken advantage of the liberties offered in this nation and voted their conscience.

Now that all is said and done, I have hope not because of a country or because a certain candidate was elected or not elected.  I have hope in my God, my King, who reigns forever.  And because of that, I accept the results of this election not because a group of people have made it so, but because I believe God has ordained it.  I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips.  God has given us the leader and leaders that we deserve.  As a nation and as individuals, we are wrought with sin and we need to begin with repentance.  There is pride in us.  There is fear and anxiety.  There is hate.  There are lies and greed and sexual immorality.  We need to humble ourselves, get on our knees, confess our sins, and bank our lives on the mercy of Christ.    We need to offer grace as freely as it has been offered to us.  As Christians, I believe that our mission has not changed between yesterday and today.  

We are instructed to pay our taxes.  We are instructed to pray for the leaders placed over us.  We are instructed to submit to governing authorities because all authority comes from God and the authorities that are established have been established by God.  We are also called to fight for the cause of the widow, the orphan, and the alien.  We are called to love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with our God.  

There is and there always has been a daunting task facing Christians in this world.  We embrace it and move forward with the power of the Spirit.  God has never promised us an easy road or an easy life here on earth. 

We do not fear the future.  We do not fear what tomorrow holds for we know who holds tomorrow.  Let us point people to a peace that passes all understanding.  Let us give a reason for the hope that we have.  

We believe that one day heaven will come down to earth and God’s victory will be fully established.  He will say “Behold, I am making all things new.”  All things.  

God is on His throne and His rule will never end.  He is with us now and to the end of the age.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Amen.

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We need to pray for a miracle in this country. We need God. As a country, we've pushed God out. We're now reaping what we have sown.

Miles McPherson, The Rock Church, 7.17.2016

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSn9HW5P-sA)

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The best evangelism is good discipleship... Often in the church we aim at justification, and if you aim at justification you don't always get sanctification. But if you aim at sanctification, you always get justification.

Tim Reilly, Peet’s Coffee, 6.30.2016

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You cannot carry God into this world if you’re not carrying God.

Christine Caine, Hillsong Conference 2016, 7.7.2016

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If you live for someone's praise, you die by their rejection. If you put your hope in something other than Jesus, you're putting your hope in something broken.

Jefferson Bethke