I Thought I Would be Happier

When I first got serious about my relationship with Jesus, He radically transformed my life. All the guilt, shame, and depression was taken from me. I reveled in that joy and thought it would never end. I assumed the causes of my depression were my bad choices, my rebellion, my lifestyle, the toxins I was putting in to my body, and the guilt of knowing I was living in sin.

I was shocked when it hit me again, much later in life. Christians don’t talk about depression. We assume it is a demon or because of sin. We judge that it must be something that person is doing wrong. I thought this was just a Christian problem, however, I have learned in medicine mental illness and depression are also stigmatized. We don’t like to talk about it. This causes people to try to hide it and put on a fake smile.

These past two years have been hard on everyone and it is becoming harder to hide it….or easier if you can never see anyone because you are afraid to go outside and catch COVID.

Let’s check in on each other from time to time. In my dark place it is easy to feel like no one cares. No one asks how I am doing. No one stares at me and sees the darkness in my eyes, or the emptiness I feel inside. No one understands that in the deepest recesses of my soul I feel like my purpose has been taken from me. No one seems to realize that the death of a dream is still a death. For many years I have put all my eggs in one basket, only to have it forcibly pulled from my hands, but no one asks if I am okay.

We don’t seem to notice when others are hurting, I know that I do not. We are too busy thinking of our own hurts, our own pain, our own needs that people pass by us everyday who are crying inside. Crying secretly so no one notices, but secretly crying that someone will.

I wasn’t expecting to feel this way ever again. Christ is still the center of my being, the focus of my life, the whole of my existence, but I expected to be happier as a Christian. I have realized that there is no promise in the book of everlasting happiness. There is no promise of a pain-free existence on this planet. There is no promise that life will go as you have planned it. There is no promise or encouragement to be yourself, or go for your dreams, you can be whatever you want to be, or you can be whoever you feel to be. Those promises are man-made!

Instead he promises that in this life we will face tribulation. We will face persecution. We will fight with unseen spirits that want to destroy us. We will need to endure hardness as good soldiers. We will need to fight the good fight of faith, and if we endure to the end we will be saved. There will be a crown of righteousness. There will be a “well done!” I may be in a dark place. It is not because of my sin. It is not because of bad choices. Sometimes I have no idea why I feel the way I do. This one thing I know, I am saved from hell! I have a place of no sorrow and pain waiting for me someday, and no matter what I have to endure in this life it is worth it. Even if that is all I ever got out of the deal, it is still worth it. So I keep going. I keep moving forward! Following Jesus is not about being happy! World rocked again.

Living The Dream

The Dream Job

Have you ever had that vivid dream / nightmare where you wake up,  get ready, and go to school?  At school you are in a class listening to your teacher and, suddenly, you look down and realize that you are only wearing your underwear?  The horror that fills your soul as you realize that everybody has known this all along, and nobody bothered to tell you. Well, my friends today I rolled out of bed and I went to my new job of teaching school from my office.  Here I teach kids in China online. While I was teaching I looked down and I realized that I was wearing only my underpants. The only difference – instead of feeling horrified, I got a sense of gratification knowing that I was on camera and no one else could see. It hit me, that I was literally living a childhood dream.

Working From Home

This is the dream of working from home. I know one freelancer who has actually named his business “The No-Pants Project.” Because working from home affords you the freedom to work in your pajamas, and wear whatever you want (or not wear whatever you want). My bed is ten feet away from my work space. In what other job can you wake up 10-15 minutes before you start your work?  Now, I am not only a freelance writer, but I also teach online; I at least need to comb my hair and look presentable in front of a camera.  However, the camera view is always from the waist up.  I also had another reason to be grateful I am working from home this week. Western New York is known for its abundance of snowfall. Over the weekend they were calling for a 12 to 18 inches of snow, and my car in the driveway was literally buried. On Monday morning I was not stressing out about getting out there and shoveling my driveway to get out to work on time. Not only do I get to wear my pajamas but I don’t have to go anywhere either.

Feeling blessed! Living the dream!

Teaching English Online to Kids in China

If you have a passion for teaching, have experience with kids, and have a bachelor’s degree you can consider doing this as well.  If you have any questions about this please reach out to me and I can walk you through the process and answer any questions you might have.  Also, if you sign up using my referral link here and use my referral code: JUSTI0137, I will make an extra $100 after you teach your first class.  I enjoy it immensely and can do this from anywhere where there is a stable internet connection.  To date, I have taught from a hotel bathroom, a basement, and my in-laws rec room.

Why I Decided To Quit My Full-Time Job

Perhaps we could forget about Lauren Daigle long enough to read this post.   So I quit my full-time job and started working exclusively from home!  Some people will think we are crazy, but we felt it was the right thing to do.  If you do some research of the people in your life and find out who is the happiest, I am certain you will find that it is not the ones who worked 100 hours a week to make a six figure salary (or more).  This past year has been one of the most trying for me and my family. I had the best job I have ever had, and made more money than I ever did before, and we were more unhappy than ever.  This led us to begin talking about what was really important to us, and we realized that building a six figure income and having a successful career was not on the list.  My wife and I decided that the things that are most important to us are 1) God 2) Family 3) Ministry (and church) 4) Sources of Income (Work).  With my former job it was so demanding of my time and energy that the other three things on the list suffered greatly.

We really had to determine our “why?” before we could determine our what?  I encourage you to take account of where you are at.  Determine your “why” in life.  Why do you go to work every day?  I thought I was working for the benefit of my family, but they were more interested in spending time with me than me making as much money as I could.  These were our “whys” – Why we decided to make a change.

• God

we are sold out followers of Jesus. He wants to have a relationship with us.  Relationships require time.  I need to spend more time with the first love of my life, and honestly I was losing sight of my most important relationship.

• Family

My wife is the second most important person in the world to me (second to Jesus). She is worthy of my time, love and attention.  My kids are next in line.  Those three little babies would cry as I walked out the door (some of it a little over-dramatic for sure):  “Daddy, I don’t want you to leave.”  I’d see them briefly in the morning and then be gone until it was nearly time for bed.  That has changed.

• Ministry

I was a missionary overseas for five years, and have never lost sight of the fact that we are to live with a missional focus. We have the call of God on our lives to preach the Gospel to the lost and teach God’s people the ways of God.  God has called us to travel to cities, states, and nations to preach and teach His word.  With my job being so demanding I was not free even on the weekends a lot of the times.  Now, we are free to travel and go wherever invitations lead us.

• Source of Income

Now you may be thinking – that is all fine and dandy, but you still have to eat and pay your bills right? Being the people of faith that we are, we put our “idea” of leaving the daily grind through the fires of much prayer, deep thought, and prayerful counsel.  We are going to still be working to earn a living, just in a non-traditional way.  We consider ourselves “tent-making” missionaries like the Apostle Paul, who supplemented his needs by working with his hands wherever he went. We are free to travel, preach, spend more time with our family, but still be able to earn a living without begging for money.  How do we do that?  We have implemented a multiple streams of income approach.

• A Minister

One of the main reasons we took this step of faith in our lives is to be more available to travel and minister as the Lord opens doors.  We are now available to come and minister at churches, lead outreaches, teach at Bible Schools, hold seminars, crusades, and revival meetings.  We do not view ministry as a money-making side gig, but it can sometimes come with a financial blessing.  When you are invited to minister at a church as a traveling evangelist it is customary for the church to give you an honorarium, or a love-offering.  This will help us make ends meet.  We are also able to receive support if the Lord was to put it on hearts to give.  Reach out to me directly if you want more details.

• An English Teacher

I teach English as a second language online to Chinese kids with a company called VIP Kids. I am doing this 20-25 hours a week and it pays upwards to $20-22 an hour.  If you have a passion for teaching, have experience with kids, and have a bachelor’s degree you can consider doing this as well.  If you have any questions about this please reach out to me and I can walk you through the process and answer any questions you might have.  Also if you sign up using my referral link here.  I will make an extra $100 after you teach your first class.  I enjoy it immensely and can do this from anywhere where there is a stable internet connection.  To date, I have taught from a hotel bathroom, a basement, and my in-laws rec room.

• A Writer

I have written two books that can be found at ZCP, but I also am a freelance writer who writes for various clients and various genres.   One client I write for is an online Sports magazine.   I write different articles about sports. My sports articles can be viewed here . I also write for Christian magazines, and online platforms.  Pay can be anywhere from $8 a blog post to over $55 an article.  Super successful freelancers get hundreds per article.  I am not there yet, but who knows where it will take m?  I am about to take on a client at my college and write for the student newspaper as well.  For a limited time my two Theological non-fiction books can be bought directly from me (pdf versions) in a package deal for $7.00 (paypal only). Print versions and ebook versions can be purchased online here.

• Paparazzi Jewelry

Alyssa started a jewelry business about two years ago and has fallen in love with it. With my work schedule and the demands of raising three small children she was not able to invest the time effort into it that she would have liked, but now she can do that.  Paparazzi has a fabulous line of fashion jewelry, and the best thing is it is all only $5.00.  She can do her sales at live events, house parties, nursing home shows, or online using Facebook live.  If anyone has any interest in learning how to become a paparazzi sales consultant please reach out to us, Alyssa is willing to take you under her wing and mentor you in the business.   Visit her website, and Facebook pages (2nd link)

• Doula

Alyssa is a Doula. Alyssa has long had a passion for expecting mothers and helping them in their birth journey. She has taken the first step in fulfilling her passion by becoming a Doula.  With our new approach to life she is able to take on new clients.  For more information about this please visit her Facebook page and website.

• Real Estate

We have been blessed to be able to acquire two rental properties – each has two apartments. These have been a great blessing and source of income for us as well.  They pay for themselves and give us a little extra each month.  Owning rental properties comes with a lot of perks, including tax benefits.  If you haven’t looked into it, I recommend it.

We are excited about our new adventure in life.  We look forward to having more time to invest in our family, more time to travel, more time to pursue our dreams, and more time to fulfill the call of God on our lives.  We are not wealthy by any means, but beleive the Lord is guiding us in our steps.  Drop us a line sometime, and please partner with us in prayer as we walk by faith in this new season of life.  More updates coming soon.

 

God Bless,

Justin and the Clan

Seed Sowers

Reading: Isaiah 32:20 “Happy are you who sows beside all waters…”

Title: “Seed Sowers”

Evangelism is the process of sharing the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, and pointing people to repentance from sin and a commitment to live their lives for Jesus.  When we talk about the subject of evangelism most of us freeze up in fear.  We would almost rather do anything else besides evangelize, but it is an important aspect of being a Christian.  We have to find a way to face our fear – I am not saying it will be easy, but it must be done.  The Lord wants us to be seed sowers.  When a farmer is planting his field of corn he takes handfuls of seed and scatters it all over the ground.  This is the way our lives should be.  We want to plant seeds of the Gospel into the hearts of our friends and family members.  This does not mean that you have to stand up and preach, but sometimes a simple “I will pray for you” is a seed that is planted.  There is so much joy that fills our heart when we are obedient to share the Good News with someone.

Ask the Lord today to show you how you can plant a seed in someone’s life.

 

Pastor Justin Steward

Book Launch Is Here!

Well I am sorry to leave you all in suspense (does anyone actually read this?).  This past week has had its share of crazy hiccups.  Since I wrote my last post my kids got sick – like the puking kind of sick.  Then I got the bug.  Then work decided to “blow up” – like coup d’état conspiracies mixed with high school drama.  I decided to ask one of my tenants in my rental property to move out for not paying rent, and another tenant called the police on yet another one of my tenants.  Oh, plus my homework (I am going back to school full-time), and nursing home services that I hold weekly.  However, the day has finally arrived.  My book made it to the online marketplace yesterday, and printed hard-copies are displayed at the Zion Christian Publishers bookstore just in time for next week’s Pastor’s convention.

I’d like to give a shout out to my brother in law Andrew Hamilton and Rebecca Vanderburgh who spent hours tirelessly perfecting the cover.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.  They both love design work, if you would like to contact them I could put you in touch with them.  Also, a big shout out to the Zion Fellowship formatting, printing, and binding team.  Hannah, Carla, Suzanne, and Pastor David all did an amazing job.   And the greatest thanks of all goes to the Lord Jesus Christ whose atoning death on Calvary and resurrection from the dead made evangelism “a thing.”  Without him we truly are nothing.  He rescued me from sin and darkness and I will forever be grateful for that.  I owe him my all.  There are some other special thanks and dedications inside the book, but you will have to get the book to see what else is inside.

I am having a special introductory sale of $10 each (plus shipping and handling), or for only $12.00 you can have a copy of this new book AND my first book called “The Messenger of God: Lessons from the Life and Ministry of John the Baptist.”  To take advantage of this offer you will need to order directly from me using the contact form (or email me at jms22782@hotmail.com).  Please make sure to leave your email address and I will send you an invoice through Paypal or Facebook.

The e-book version is still coming down the road, but no date has been pinned down for that release.  I really appreciate all your prayer and support through this project.  I trust that God will use this book to stir the flames of evangelism in the hearts of all his people.  I am available to come and speak at churches, hold outreaches, seminars, or teach at your Bible School.

That All may hear!

Rev. Justin Steward

Countdown to Book Launch – Day 2

The Covers were printed yesterday, and I am still waiting to hear when the books will be printed.

As I announced yesterday I am going to be releasing little snippets of the book here until the actual day of launch, and will be taking pre-orders for the book. I will have an e-book version and a print version available.  Price of the book is not yet determined.  If you would like to pre-order a copy please fill out the contact form on this site and let me know what type you would like (e-book or print), how many, and leave your email address and phone number.  I will be selling some here, on Facebook, and at Zion Christian Publishers for now.  I will be able to receive payments via paypal.

Here is a preview of the contents.

1. 1. Part I. Evangelism
      1. Section A – Introduction to Evangelism
         1. Chapter One – Introduction to Evangelism
         2. Chapter Two – Why Evangelize?
         3. Chapter Three – Who is to Evangelize?
         4. Chapter Four – The Ministry of the Evangelist
      2. Section B – Personal Evangelism.
         1. Chapter Five – Introduction to Personal Evangelism
         2. Chapter Six – Practical Tips in Personal Evangelism
         3. Chapter Seven – The Use of Gospel Tracts
         4. Chapter Eight – Methods – What Do I Say When Leading Someone to Christ?
         5. Chapter Nine – Dealing With Fear in Evangelism
         6. Chapter Ten – The Power to Be a Witness – The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
      3. Section C – Planned Outreaches
         1. Chapter Eleven – Planned Outreaches
         2. Chapter Twelve– Follow-Up
         3. Chapter Thirteen – Mass Evangelism
         4. Chapter Fourteen – The Role of Prayer in Evangelism
         5. Chapter Fifteen – Tips on Witnessing to People of Other Religions and Other Faiths
         6. Chapter Sixteen – Apologetics

2. Part II – The Vision of Zion
   1. Chapter Seventeen Understanding the Vision of Zion.
3. Part III – The Role of Evangelism in Our Pursuit of the Vision of Zion
   1. Chapter Eighteen – How Does Evangelism Relate to the Vision of Zion?
   2. Chapter Nineteen – The Role of the Evangelist in the Vision of Zion
4. Conclusion

Appendix……………………..………………………………………………….

Evangelism Survey………………………………………………………………

Course Outline……………………………………………………………………

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………..

Does that sound like a book you would like to read?  If so I  am taking pre-orders for the book. I will have an e-book version and a print version available.  Price of the book is not yet determined.  If you would like to pre-order a copy please fill out the contact form on this site and let me know what type you would like (e-book or print), how many, and leave your email address and phone number.  I will be selling some here, on Facebook, and at Zion Christian Publishers for now (other avenues are being explored).

Countdown to Book Launch – Post 1

Many of you would not know that I have been working on a book for the last seven years.  It has been an interesting roller coaster ride to say the least.  I may write about some of my experiences here eventually.  During the next week I am going to be giving little snippets of the book here until the actual day of launch, and will be taking pre-orders for the book. I will have an e-book version and a print version available.  Price of the book is not yet determined.  If you would like to pre-order a copy please fill out the contact form on this site and let me know what type you would like (e-book or print), how many, and leave your email address and phone number.  I will be selling some here, on Facebook, and at Zion Christian Publishers for now.  I will be able to receive payments via paypal.

Book covers are being printed today!  The coloring here is not completely accurate, but at least you can see what it will look like.

Here is a little snippet from the Introduction….

Do we need another book on evangelism?  There have already been so many written, yet it is my belief that this book has something to offer the Body of Christ that others do not.  While there will be many things in this work that have already been said, perhaps it will be said in a different light, and I believe that there is a unique perspective that this book offers—the role of evangelism in our pursuit of the vision of Zion or in other words, God’s highest and best for our lives.

There can be a tendency, in some Christian circles, to major on certain aspects of the Christian life while neglecting other important truths.  In this work, I want to focus on two often opposing sides which are both based on important aspects of the Christian life. 

One side majors on the deeper life and the pursuit of holiness, but neglects evangelism.  Some in this camp can even come across as being critical of those who major on evangelism and begin to view them as though they are on a lower spiritual level (Outer Court).  The other side majors on evangelism while neglecting personal holiness and coming to maturity in Christ.  Those in this camp focus on evangelism, while neglecting the truths of growing up to maturity in Jesus Christ. They can be very critical of those who are pursuing the deeper life, even thinking of them as extreme or legalistic.  Such an approach produces many spiritual babies and very few spiritual fathers.       

In our Christian life, it is very important to strike the perfect balance of two seemingly opposite poles.  The Lord is a God of balance; in fact, He hates a false balance (c.f. Proverbs 11:1).  When Paul wrote to Timothy about “rightly dividing the Word of Truth,” he was talking about this subject of balance (2 Tim. 2:15).  He was saying that as a student of the Word of God, we need to see what all the Word of God has to say about a subject and divide it right down the middle, so that the right side is the exact same size as the left side.   It is with this balance in mind that this work is being written.  I want to show that God is after both things—evangelism and the deeper life of holiness (maturity in Christ).  It has never been about just one or the other, but it has always been about both.  Therefore, the major purpose of this book is not only to discuss evangelism, but also to show the great need for the vision of holiness and maturity (the vision of Zion).  I also seek to reveal how important it is to set this deeper vision before all new believers.  Finally, the last section of the book is dedicated to showing how these two important truths are married together in perfect harmony; you need both, you cannot have one without the other! The main message I seek to convey is that you cannot attain spiritual perfection, holiness, and go on to Zion if you are neglecting your own active, personal involvement in evangelism!

Does that sound like a book you would like to read?  If so I  am taking pre-orders for the book. I will have an e-book version and a print version available.  Price of the book is not yet determined.  If you would like to pre-order a copy please fill out the contact form on this site and let me know what type you would like (e-book or print), how many, and leave your email address and phone number.  I will be selling some here, on Facebook, and at Zion Christian Publishers for now (other avenues are being explored).

 

Dead Sea versus the Sea of Galilee

Have you been in a rut in your Christian walk? Do you feel stagnant and lifeless? The answer may be found by comparing these two bodies of water—the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee. The Dead Sea is so named because there is no life that can be sustained in its waters. It is full of minerals, but zero fish, and no life. The reason for this is because there is no outlet. Water flows into the Dead Sea, but no water flows out of it. Conversely, the Sea of Galilee is filled with fish and life. It has water flowing in, as well as water flowing out through the Jordan River. It cleanses itself of excess minerals and salt by flowing out. Because there is flowing in and out, the Sea of Galilee sustains much marine life. Many Christians continually receive great teaching from the Word of God. Their lives are like the Jordan River that has been flowing into the Dead Sea. If Christians do not have an outflow of life to others, they become stagnant and dead. The remedy to feeling stuck in a rut, becoming stagnant and lifeless is to find an outlet through which we can flow. Witnessing to others brings life and refreshment to our own souls. It is good for us, just like exercise and fresh air. Furthermore, there is an inner cleansing that comes into our life as we actively engage in evangelism. We become more conscious of the fact that people are watching us; this should cause us to walk more circumspectly and ultimately, victoriously over fear and sin. Having an outflow can bring a deep change into our lives and cause us to become more holy.

My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts

There is a verse in scriptures that we read a lot and think we know what it means.  I have found that this verse can be quite a revelation to our hearts as we begin to walk out some stuff in our lives: “ Where the rubber meets the road” they say.  Many truths in scripture are like this – they can be exciting to preach about, or to hear about, but not nearly as exciting when that “word becomes flesh” in us.  This can only happen by experiencing the Word, and walking through the life of Christ in our own lives.

The verse I am referring to is from Isaiah 55:8 – “my thoughts are not your thoughts says the Lord, neither are your ways my ways.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

My thoughts are not your thoughts

Let us first dissect the part about our thoughts .  Much of what goes on in our lives begins in our mind.  It is the battlefield for the enemy and for the Lord.  What we are thinking determines our actions, our habits, our lifestyle, our destiny, an ultimately our eternity (Abraham Lincoln?)  The Proverbs says “as a man thinks in his heart so is he.”  The mind is very important, it reveals who we are, what kind of a person we are.

In many ways our way of thinking is totally contrary to God’s way of thinking.  His way of doing things totally baffles our logical minds sometimes.  Plain and simple, we just don’t get it – we don’t understand Him.  God’s way of looking at things is very different than ours.  Situations in our life happen differently than we thought or planned that they would.  We don’t always understand why this happens, and maybe we never will.  This creates a struggle within us.  We often think that we know better than God, because our way of thinking makes a lot more logical sense to us.  This is where we must learn to walk by faith, and trust the Lord.  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding .  in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths”.  (Prov 3:5).  As we journey through life we have got to come to the place where we can trust the Lord.  So often we begin to worry and fret about our circumstances, because we evaluate them with our own minds.  It is important that we do not let our own understanding get in the way.  “Lean not on your own understanding.”  Our own understanding and evaluation of circumstances is so futile.  We must trust that God’s evaluation is from a much higher plain of understanding.  We are always evaluating things from our own perspective and with our own human wisdom, but our natural mind is often at war with the spiritual mind (c.f. 1 Cor 3:19).

Stay Tuned…

Church Shooting

I generally try not to post my first reactions to an event, because I have noticed that my delayed opinion about an issue is often different from my initial reaction.  By waiting I generally save myself the trouble of having to apologize or retract something said hastily in my zeal to make a righteous point.  I don’t believe I am doing this here.  There was another church shooting the other day, a terrible tragedy in the United States.  I have heard many people say things like: “of all the places a person should feel safe, it should be in a church….It is just so wrong that of all places a person would go to a church to murder people”.  I understand the sentiment, and my post is not meant to be without compassion or insensitive but it got me thinking about a couple of things:

1. We are in a battle.  The enemy (Satan) hates Christians, and would like to destroy us.  When he gets his talons into a person you can be sure that he will use them to try to “steal, kill, and destroy.”  This is his business, this is what he does.  We live in a society that is becoming more and more antagonistic to Christians and their values.
2. Being a Christian is not meant to be safe.  Only in America do we embrace the notion that Christians should live without risk of anything evil happening to them.  It is because it has been very easy to be a Christian in this country for many years.  This is because being a Christian in America has not had any real threat of violence, loss of job, or income because it was generally accepted as the acceptable religion of the country.  In other countries, churches get shot up or burned down every day.  Christians are shot, beheaded, and tortured for believing in Jesus.  They are disowned by their families, property taken away, families murdered etc.  This is just part of being a believer in other countries.  “It is through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
3. The Real Gospel has been obscured in many places.  In America we have embraced a Gospel that is not even true.  In this country the Gospel message is that Jesus wants to make you happy, healthy, and wealthy, and when things start to get bad on the earth, don’t worry, you will be whisked away by the rapture.  No need to endure “hardship as a good soldier” (2 Tim 2:3-5).  No need to “endure to the end”…and be saved (Matt 24:13).  This is not the Gospel!  We have to come back to what the Gospel really is.  We are a lost race on our way to eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire, which was prepared for the Devil and his angels.  This is our default destination – we are hardwired to rebel against our creator and follow our own will and our own way.  This is the same mentality that Satan has, but God wants to rescue us from that.  Jesus, God in the flesh, lived a sinless life, died a cruel death, rose from the dead, and defeated hell, death, sin, and Satan for us.  He is alive today, if we will repent of our sins and put our trust in Christ alone as our means of salvation we can be saved from such a terrible fate.  It is only fitting after all he has done for us, that we would in turn give up our entire lives to him in service.  You see, this is the real Gospel.  When you have this as your perspective, no matter what happens to me in life – its okay, because no one can take this from me.   I am not entitled to wealth, happiness, or even my health.  I am not entitled to a long life of cushy-ness.  I am not even entitled to a respectable death at a ripe old age.  If I have those things, praise God!  I hope I will use them for his glory, but if I don’t…I know that when I die I will have eternal life with Jesus.  That alone makes everything else worth it.

What exactly am I trying to say?  I think I am trying to say a lot, but just to summarize.  Being a Christian in today’s America is not safe.  I don’t expect it will ever be again.  I think things will get worse, and we can expect more people getting killed at church by men and women driven by the enemy of our souls.  This does not frighten me!  The Apostles of the Lamb were murdered for their faith. Countless believers have been and will be martyred for the name of Christ.  Let us not for a minute think that this is a new thing or that it should not be.  If we are right with God, spiritually, than we are safe in him, but in this world we will have trouble.  And in the midst of the trouble, God will shine forth his light and his glory in a way that the world will not be able to deny.  His power, glory, and revival will break forth in the USA – in the midst of the violence, and hatred towards Christ.  There have always been haters of Christ, we have just been mostly sheltered from it in the USA.  The time is here for the real Christians in the USA to come forth as gold, and this will be preceded by pressure, difficulties, and a mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit!

Ephesians 6:10-16 

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, 

and in the power of his might. 

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may

be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

12 For we wrestle not against flesh 

and blood,  but against principalities, 

against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this

world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. 

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may

be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt

about with truth, and having on the breastplate of  righteousness; 

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to

quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the

Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the

Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and 

supplication for all saints