Is the Calvinism of the twenty-first century slowing or stunting the growth of Christianity in the Reformed Church?

Key Point: Calvinism says that God chose certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world—not because of anything foreseen in them—but solely because of His own gracious purpose. Others were passed over and left in their sin. This is often called -election”—a key point in this doctrine.

Huh? Say what?

(Although Calvin taught predestination, much of his work focused on knowing God, living a holy life, and the centrality of Scripture.)

Here are the main 3 doctrines on salvation, election, and predestination:

Comparison Table

These theological frameworks shape the beliefs and practices of various Christian denominations, influencing how they understand salvation and God’s role in the lives of believers.

Now, what about this?

Evangelistic Effectiveness Relative to Membership

Overall Comparison

One important caveat is that these statistics are not directly equivalent. For example:

• The PCA counts adult professions of faith and adult baptisms separately because it also practices infant baptism.
• The SBC reports believer baptisms, which generally follow professions of faith.
• The Church of the Nazarene reports professions of faith and also conversions.
• The Assemblies of God reports conversions, water baptisms, and Spirit baptisms.

Even with those differences, the data consistently show that the Assemblies of God, Church of the Nazarene, and Southern Baptist Convention report substantially higher numbers of new converts or baptisms relative to their membership than the Presbyterian Church in America. Those differences, however, do not by themselves establish that one theological tradition is more faithful or more biblical than another, since denominational reporting methods, demographics, church-planting strategies, and ministry contexts also influence these outcomes.

It is my (limited) experience and knowledge that most Reformed Churches elevate doctrines to guide their practices. The non-Calvinist Baptists have a more even-handed approach. They seem to use doctrines to explain the reason for their practices, while allowing a stronger spiritual connection between the two. While the Church of the Nazarene considers doctrines as important, they emphasize the practice of faith as more important and encourage acting on faith. And finally, the Assemblies of God encourage both but  put more emphasis on an inter-relative spiritual connection and an interactive approach when exercising the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit (although this interactive approach can be and is frequently misused and sometimes abused).

There is also no doubt that prevailing doctrines of a denomination will influence and direct the attitudes and practices of that denomination and people group. To repeat: These differences do not by themselves establish that one theological tradition is more faithful or more biblical than another, since denominational reporting methods, demographics, church-planting strategies, and ministry contexts also influence these outcomes.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

PS: And, no. I do not believe Calvinism is stunting the growth of the Reformed Church in the twenty-first century. God is sovereign.

And by the way. I am not against Calvinism. It has many excellent tenets and practices. But many of its points create heated debates within the Body of Christ and even some divisions. It is a good idea to remember that John Calvin’s “Calvinism” then is not like the one we have today. It has been revised and nuanced. And we, like Calvin, (even though Calvin taught predestination), focused on knowing God, living a holy life, and the centrality of Scripture.

The real goal isn’t winning the Calvinism/Arminianism/Provisionism argument. The goal is to understand what Paul actually meant—and then bring our theological system into conformity with Scripture rather than forcing Scripture into our system.

And please dear friends, let’s not let the matters of this doctrine bring divisiveness to our relationships and into the church lest you be compared to the scribes and Pharisees of scriptures about whom Jesus said, “You hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You (are) blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

Additional Reading on these matters: “When Doctrinal Views Collide”

Also see “Romans Chapter 10”.

This audio lasts for about an hour. If you cannot finish this in one visit, please come back as often as needed – especially if you are (1), A Christian, and (2), if you are interested in how the Muslims are conquering the world while the Christian church stands by, watching, setting up the final days cataclysm known as Armageddon – just like the Bible prophesies.

“You Might Be A Muslim If”

A lesson by Pastor Brent Whitefield, Covenant Naples Church, Naples, Florida.

Rev. Brent Whitefield Ph.D., Mobilization Pastor

B.A. History, Amherst College
M.A. Christian Studies, Regent College
Ph.D. Church History, Cambridge University

(Reprinted and posted with permission)

Let’s go back to October 27^th, 1553. A Spanish theologian named Miguel Servitas was burned at the stake in Geneva, Switzerland. This was John Calvin’s Geneva. (And I’m getting feedback now. I can’t seem to find the happy medium. Maybe that’s better now. OK, we’ll give it a try. We may have to call on reinforcements from Gary if that doesn’t work.) So this was the time of Calvin’s Geneva. Now, Calvin did not approve. He thought he should have been beheaded instead. His crimes were purely theological. He had some unorthodox views. about the Trinity and he denied infant baptism. That was why he was executed. This was a big deal and in fact in some people’s mind was an abhorrent situation. It was now one generation into the Protestant Reformation And it was really the beginning of the end. It would take a while, but it was the beginning of the end of these kind of executions, executions for purely theological reasons. And part of it had to do with what the Protestant Reformation itself wrought in the world. Namely, it brought about religious pluralism in the world. Before the Protestant Reformation, within Christendom, there was only one church, one authority. But once the Protestant Reformation comes, you have an ever-changing religious landscape. You have an ever-changing political landscape that went along with the religious landscape. And you have a situation in which now things would change from time to time. So, for example, in a particular town, on one day a man might be the town pastor, the next day he’s a heretic, and vice versa. And so the reality of religious pluralism began to bring to an end the age in which everybody on pain of death has to be on the same page. Pluralism, and we take this for granted today. You know, by the same logic by which it’s easier to, it’s one thing to flick a fly off of your muffin, it’s another thing to try to take all the poppy seeds out of your muffin. One can be done pretty without much damage, one destroys the whole thing. And so once you have a situation where people are not on the same page anymore, theologically, it becomes less practical to go around killing people for having a heterodox view. And in fact, what is a heterodox view anymore is called into question. Well, why do I say this? And by the way, I’m really getting a lot of feedback here. Is Gary here? Maybe you can help. I’m getting a lot of this. I don’t know if Kingston or Gary can help me with that. In any event, or anybody else who’s got knowledge in these areas, the reason I mention that is that we have in Islam, an Islam which has never had a reformation, and has never acknowledged the reality, and for many Muslims, has never dealt with the reality of religious pluralism. And so it’s understandable perhaps that the whole way of seeing these things is different. We now in our culture, in American culture today, in Western culture today, we don’t tend to see theological matters as something worth dying for and killing for. For better or for worse, we don’t see that anymore. In the Islamic world, they still see theological matters as something worth dying for and killing for. And again, part of that has to do with the reality of the fact that you don’t have religious pluralism in most of the places where Islam is dominant. Most Muslims in the world live in countries and in jurisdictions where Islam is basically the only religion, the only accepted religion. There may be a very small minority of others, but they can be largely disregarded and managed. So you have to understand a very different context here. The Western post-Reformation world in which we live and the unreformed world in which most Muslims live today. This helps to explain, I think, quite a lot about our world and the dynamics of what’s going on with Islam today. Now, I should let you know that In the battle, if you will, with Christianity, Islam is winning almost everywhere in the world with very few exceptions. You need to understand this because you may not get this picture because you’ll hear exaggerated reports from mission entities and so on. Let me be clear, Islam is winning almost everywhere. If you look around the world today, you’d be hard pressed to find a single country, a single jurisdiction within any country, a single state in the United States, a single county in America that doesn’t have more Muslims today than it had 10 years ago. There’s a couple, Eastern and Southern Ethiopia, Christianity is pushing Islam out in some places. In Iran, the number of Christians is, rising at the expense of Islam. Some islands in Indonesia, perhaps this is the case, but very few, those are the exceptions that prove the rule. Everywhere else, every country in Europe, every country in South America, North America, Asia, has more Muslims in it today than it did 10 years ago, and will have more in 10 years than it has now. The only places where Islam is not growing is places where it doesn’t have any potential to grow, where the population is already 100% Muslim and can’t get any higher than that. So you need to understand that. You need to understand that this is what’s happening. Now, traditionally, Islam has… grown in two ways, not three, in two ways. The way it hasn’t grown primarily is through conversion, at least through free will conversion. That has been a very small part of the growth of Islam over the past 1300 years. Islam has grown principally through conquest, This explains the proliferation of Islam in the very earliest days, after Muhammad’s followers and so on, how Muslim takes over all of the Middle East, all of North Africa, parts of Southwest Europe, parts of Southeast Europe, on into the Central Asian area, all the way out to Indonesia and so on. This is all an issue of conquest. In more modern times, although it’s been a feature from the beginning, the other way in which Islam grows is through immigration. And immigration combined with allegations of Islamophobia. So what’s interesting is that the very first conquest of a major area by the Muslims was the city of Medina, which is now one of their two most holy cities, and the burial place of Muhammad himself. Medina was a largely Jewish city with some Christians. It was sort of Jewish and Christian, mostly Jewish. Muslims began to immigrate there and then began to demand their rights and eventually over time sort of took over, slaughtered the Jews, kicked the rest of them out, and took over the city of Medina. And this has been a pattern which has replicated itself time after time after time. So either by conquest, immigration, or kind of a combination of the two, Islam has proliferated. And so we see this, for example, playing out pretty well in Europe today. Where, especially in Western Europe, the number of Muslims is anywhere between five and 15% in various countries, the UK, France, Spain, Switzerland, and so on. Where they’ve gained quite a large number, but this has been through immigration. And also, the percentage has gone up because they’ve gone into countries with low native birth rates. So they’ve moved in, had a higher birth rate, and so naturally, just by natural natural course of things, the population of Muslims has risen as a percentage of population in these places. Not only that, but as wherever Islam proliferates, it creates laws and it creates cultural standards that make it nearly impossible to convert away from Islam and make it much more easy to convert to Islam. So for example, there are at least 16 countries in the world today where it is illegal, some of them at pain of death, to convert away from Islam to another religion or to abandon Islam in favor of atheism or anything. There’s at least 16 countries where either in practice or in theory, you can have the death penalty for leaving Islam. There is not a single country on the planet that I’m aware of, there’s not a single jurisdiction within any country on the planet that I’m aware of where it is illegal to convert to Islam. You understand that? on earth where it’s illegal to convert to becoming a Muslim. There’s many places on earth where it’s illegal to convert from Islam to something else. Not only that, but in addition to what the law says, there’s cultural standards as well. So far beyond the countries where it is illegal to become to convert away from Islam, the cultural pressures are so great, and maybe even greater, that makes it nearly impossible to convert away. A country like Turkey would be an example. There’s no law in Turkey that says you cannot convert away from Islam. But if you do, there’s a very good chance you’ll be killed by your family, by your neighbors, something. The government won’t kill you and can’t kill you, But within the culture, that’s nearly a suicidal act to do that. This is in a country that guarantees in their constitution freedom of religion. And this would be the case in many other countries as well. So even those places where it’s not against the law to convert away from Islam, it’s against the culture and that may cost you dearly. Again, by contrast, even in those places where there’s a general level of hostility towards Islam, there are very few places in the world where you stand to be killed if you become a Muslim. There may be a few. Some places in India might be a possibility. But in general terms, there’s very few places where, culturally speaking, you’re likely to be killed by your family or your community if you become a Muslim. So you can see it’s a very different picture, right, between the world of Islam and the world that is outside of Islam. By the way, a lot of times we think in America that the freedoms that come with democracy, and democracy is the answer. In the Muslim world, democracy has been a disaster for minority Christian communities. I don’t know if you realize this. The rise of democracy, or so-called democracy, in the Middle East has been a disaster for Christian communities in particular. There were hundreds of thousands of Christians in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. There are almost none today. Saddam Hussein, bad man, but he had no problem with Christians and actually elevated some of them to the highest positions in his government and ran interference and protection for them. Assad in Syria, bad man, no problem with Christians. That was some of his favorite people was Christians. And once he left, there’s been a slaughter of Christians after he was deposed and sent to exile in Russia. Similarly, Egypt, similar story. I could go on and on with more examples of this. When democracy has come, Usually it has meant pogroms against Christians and whatever remaining Jews might be in these countries as well. The way people have interpreted democracy in these places is that once we have the majority, we can now kick out all the minorities. The best thing for Christians and other religious minorities has been a relatively benevolent dictator or monarch. They have almost always been better at protecting Christian communities than democracy is. So it’s been a very, well, mixed blessing, not a blessing at all. It’s been a curse really for minority Christian populations throughout the Muslim world when so-called democracy has come. Because democracy has never been the goal in the first place. The Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdogan, he’s an Islamist, even though his country is supposed to have freedom of religion and supposed to be a secular country. He has said from the beginning that democracy is like a train. You get off when you reach your stop. In other words, democracy is my way of bringing Islamism into the country. Once we get there, we won’t need democracy anymore. Now, there’s good news for Christians in terms of witness, in terms of Christian witness to Muslims. Muslims are religious. They fear God. They’re monotheists. They’re not relativists. They believe in revelation. They believe in a messiah. They believe in the afterlife. That’s a very good foundation to begin to talk to a Muslim. about the Christian faith. It’s a far stronger foundation than you have to talk to a secular humanist or an atheist or even a sort of mainline American Christian about the faith. Within Islam, you’ve probably heard this before, if you’ve ever studied anything about Islam or anything about Islam, there are essentially five, what they call five pillars of the faith. Okay, there’s five pillars of the faith. I’ll even kind of write them if I can here. One of them is, sort of the basis is a declaration called the Shahada, which means when you actually say the words, there’s only one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. Saying that in sincerity makes you a Muslim. That’s a declaration that says, I am a Muslim. I believe there’s only one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger or his prophet. So that’s the first pillar of the faith. Another one is prayer. five times a day in the direction of Mecca for Sunni Muslims. It’s an obligation to pray, and it’s very ritualistic and predictable in nature, and it’s a community activity. You don’t pray in the comfort of your own home. You go to a mosque, and you pray together in community with other believers, and you’re called to prayer as a community in audible form, so you gather to pray. There’s the giving of alms. This is giving of offerings. Normally, an obligation would be 2.5% of your surplus or of your wealth should be given to the poor specifically. Okay, so the giving of alms is a duty. Another one is fasting, especially during the month of Ramadan in particular. Okay, so there’s a month set aside in the Muslim calendar, and it shifts every year based on the lunar calendar, but a whole month where you’re not supposed to eat and engage in other sorts of activities during daylight hours, and then you can engage in those things in the evening, but that’s for an entire month. And then… what’s known as a Hajj, that’s the pilgrimage to Mecca, and it’s required of every Muslim once in their lifetime, at least if they’re financially and physically capable of doing so, to make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. All of these are clearly spelled out in the Quran, spelled out as duties within the Quran for a Muslim to do. Now, Islam is a legalistic faith. I resist the temptation to, in a public setting like this, to kind of throw allegations out against Islam, it’s a death cult, it’s a suicide cult, whatever. No, it’s a false religion. It’s a legalistic false religion. And in fact, it is essentially, Islam is essentially the default religion, if you will, of mankind. It has all of the hallmarks of a man-made religion. Islam is the kind of religion you would make up if you were making up your own religion. The only wrinkle is that it’s monotheistic, okay, which creates problems. If you’re gonna make up your own religion, at least make it polytheistic, okay, because that way it causes less problems. You know, I’ve got my God, you’ve got your God, we can agree to disagree, we can live in peace, you know, we’ve got our local deity, you’ve got your local deities, right? When you make up a religion and then you say there’s only one God, what does that mean? That’s something I have to impose on everybody. So again, if you’re gonna make up your own religion, have the courtesy to make it polytheistic. But what the Muslims did, and this is what has created a lot of problems in our world today, is that they created a man-made false religion, but they made it monotheistic, meaning that it applies to everybody. There is only one God, their God, and this is the God that you must serve. But this is the default religion of man. And let me suggest this to you. Most, or let me say this, most people that I know, most Americans that I know, including people who would call themselves Christians in some way, they’re basically Muslim. Maybe a quarter of you in this room, you’re Muslim, basically. You don’t call yourself that. But that’s what you are. You see, you remember that guy, who was that comedian who used to say you might be a redneck if you, you know, he made a whole comedy career? Jeff Foxworthy. Jeff Foxworthy, right? You might be a redneck if you do whatever, right? Fill in the blank. Whole comedy career on that premise, right? Well, you might be a Muslim if you believe that just sort of encanting some magical words out there makes you once and for all right with God. That’s what Muslims believe. Some Christians believe that, don’t they? What if you believe that participating in some ritual, whether it be baptism, whether it be communion, something, saves you? That’s the sum of your duty to God, is that participating in this ritual makes you right with God. If you believe that, you might be a Muslim. If you believe that God can be paid off with a mandatory offering of some kind, that you’re paying your obligation to God, or that through fasting you’re depriving yourself of something and therefore getting in good with God and helping to guarantee your salvation. That’s not a Christian view, that’s a Muslim view. If you believe that going to a particular place, whether it be a church building where you light a candle, or whether it’s going to visit Jerusalem or Rome, that you can get closer to God by being in a particular place. That’s not a Christian view. That’s a Muslim view. But how many people who call themselves Christians are essentially Muslim? They would agree with all those things. They don’t call themselves Muslim, but that’s essentially the religion that they have adopted. This is where the Christian gospel is so counter-cultural, is so different, is so unlike man-made religion. If you’re making up your own religion, wouldn’t it be good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell? That’s it, right? That seems fair. That’s not what the Bible teaches, does it? You would say, it’s based on your performance. It’s a meritocracy. That’s the religion I would create if I was, you know, meritocracy. Good people who do good things, follow the rules, follow the rituals. They get to go to heaven. People who don’t, go to hell. That’s not what the gospel teaches. The gospel is revolutionary in that regard. But Islam bears all of the fingerprints of a man-made religion. And yet, it’s so much like Now, Muslims will say that they are against idolatry. In fact, they’ll hold this up as their complaint against Christianity and every religion, whereas you guys are idolaters, and we are not. Now, you can’t blame them because for most Muslims, the closest place they might go and visit a church, they’re going to visit one of these churches that’s chock full of idols of Mary and this and that and the other thing. You can’t blame them for, almost like a Buddhist temple, you can’t blame them for coming to the conclusion that Christianity is idolatrous. But what they don’t acknowledge in their own faith is that they’re extremely idolatrous themselves. particularly relating to their obligation to visit a particular place, to walk around a rock, to in essence worship and revere that rock, the belief that God is more there than any place else, that he can be sort of contained in this one place. That’s the very definition of idolatry. It’s funny, they don’t acknowledge it because they say, well look, our mosques don’t have pictures and images, fine. But it’s extremely idolatrous at its heart. Now for Christians, we’re not idolatrous, at least we’re not supposed to be. We’ve been commanded to put away idols and embrace Christ. And yet, do we really do that? Have we purged the idols from our heart? I would suggest to you that we live in a constant battle against idolatry all the time. Our attempts to confine God to a particular space or time, don’t we? We attempt to manipulate him through our religious observances and through our going here and going there. We try to manipulate God, but he won’t be manipulated. But all such attempts, you see, are idolatry. And this is what Muslims would like to say about others who are not Muslims, that they are idolatrous. Now, Because Islam is a legalistic religion, extremely legalistic, there are a bunch of rules that you have to follow. These are but the five most prominent. There’s many rules you have to follow. Anything that’s written in the Quran, you’re obliged to follow it. And so things that we might not think about a lot but are very important to them, for example, There’s such a thing as Islamic finance. Muslims are not allowed to charge interest on money. The whole banking system is based on being able to charge interest. They have workarounds for that. They have workarounds for that, but they’re very insistent on that because the Quran spills a lot of ink on the issue of what they call usury, and usury is any charging of interest. Now again, it’s not one of the five points, but it’s important to them because the Quran is very explicit. about you can’t have usury. You can’t drink alcohol. The Quran is very clear on that. You can’t gamble. It’s unambiguously clear in the Quran. You’re not allowed to engage in those activities. So there’s a whole list of do’s and don’ts within the Quran. One problem that Christians have is that, especially in Christian witness, is that they try to go toe to toe with Muslims on the rules. Well, your religion puts this rule, what about your religion? Well, your religion says this, what about yours? You’re gonna lose in a contest of rules with a Muslim. And here’s why. For Muslims, Islam is a communal phenomenon. It has implications for all of society. So a whole country is Muslim, a whole people is Muslim, and so that’s gonna be reflected in their laws, in their culture. in a way that we as Christians say, well, we certainly hope that’s not the case. We hope that American culture is not, it’s been influenced by Christianity, but certainly has not been overwhelmed by Christianity. And so to try to go toe-to-toe with a Muslim on the rules, you’re going to lose, and you’re going to be humiliated. So for example, say to the Muslim, well, you guys have slaves right into the modern age. And they’ll say, yeah, but you guys let two men marry each other and adopt children into that abominous relationship. Mic drop. There’s no answer for that. You’re right. Well, you guys have multiple wives. Well, yeah, you guys in many of your states, you allow children to be aborted up to the day they’re born. Boom. I can’t argue with that. I can’t think of anything in Islam that you do that’s worse than that. I can’t think of anything. So if you’re going to try to go toe-to-toe with what are the moral rules in your society versus our society, you’re going to lose that debate every time. That’s not the proper way to approach a conversation. And the reason why is that Islam is cultural, whereas Christianity has always been supposed to be countercultural. So the degree to which we sort of tie Christianity to our culture, that’s a losing proposition. They’re committed to it. Islam is our culture and our religion. For Christians, we better not ever say that our American culture, Western culture, is synonymous with Christianity. That’s a losing debate point right there, and it’s not even true, right? So you have to be very, very careful about what we tie things to. We have to help people understand that Christianity is counterculture. Christianity is always a prophetic voice into a corrupt and dying culture. It’s not there to help buttress the culture. is there to be a prophetic voice into it. Yes, have a salubrious influence in that culture, but never to be one and the same with it. Always to be a counter-cultural phenomenon. But Muslims don’t see the world that way, and that’s why it’s important for them to spread Islam. Now, if you associate Islam with a particular ethnic group of people, who do you associate it with? normally. Arabs, right? And while it is true that the majority of Arabs are Muslim, the majority of Muslims are not Arab. Okay, you understand that? The vast majority of Arabs are Muslim. the majority of Muslims are not Arab. In fact, the top six countries in Muslim population are not Arab. And in fact, only two of the top 10 countries in Muslim population are Arab countries, Egypt and Algeria. All the rest, All the rest are non-Arab peoples. Indonesia, the largest. Pakistan, second largest. India, third largest. These are not Arab people. These are different ethnic groups. So Islam has spread beyond its Arab origins to much of the world. And yet, because Islam is cultural, Everywhere Islam goes, it bears the mark of Arab culture with it, specifically of 7th century Arab culture. This is important to understand, and it’s important to understand because Christianity is very different and couldn’t be more different and should be more different. You see, to become a Muslim is to embrace 7th century Arab culture, at least to a certain degree. So the Quran, for example, is supposed to be God’s word, God’s final word, but it’s only the Quran in the original classical Arabic language. Of course, they’ve translated it into every language on earth, but they will always go to great pains to say, this is not the Quran. When it’s in English, it’s not the Quran. When it’s in French, when it’s in Chinese, it’s not the Quran. It’s only the Quran in 7th century Arabic. That is, as it were, God’s language. And to embrace Islam is to, if you really want to get serious, you’ve got to learn the classical language. You’ve got to read it in the original. You have to embrace aspects of Arab culture, Arab dress, and so on and so forth. The reason why this is not simply a cultural phenomenon, but it’s actually a theological point, is that Muslims do not believe that Islam God came to us in the flesh that God can identify with us in any way. You’ve got to meet God entirely on his terms. You’ve got to learn God’s language for crying out loud. He won’t learn yours. You’ve got to embrace God’s culture. He will not embrace yours. Now listen, how different is the Christian message? that God loved us so much that he didn’t say, you have to try to reach somehow for the heavens and find me. He didn’t even say you have to meet me halfway. He said, in Jesus Christ, come all the way to you and your culture and your idiom and your language i’m going to suffer all the indignities that it means to be a human being i’m going to do it for you so i can have a relationship with you what a beautiful message that is that muslims have no conception of that god is up there he’s distant he is aloof I have to try to do something to catch his attention. I’ve got to make a sacrifice. I’ve got to fast. I’ve got to go visit a holy place. I’ve got to pray. I’ve got to do something to catch his attention. And maybe, just maybe, he will allow me to be with him someday in a far-off place. But the Christian message is Jesus Christ came all the way to be with us. No other religion in the world teaches any such thing. It’s foolishness to the Greeks, isn’t it? It’s foolishness to the world. It’s foolishness to Muslims. But if and when they understand that point, how it transforms their whole understanding of who God is. So different from the God they worship. A lot of people are hung up on the question. There’s internet debates on this. Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? I can see a point for both of them. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is, what do you say about this God? What do you know about the character of this God? It doesn’t matter what name you give him. The important point is, what do you say about God? And they believe that God is distant, aloof, He is a judge. Yes, he shows mercy occasionally to whom he wants to show mercy to. But it’s a God who, from time to time, overlooks sin when it pleases him and ultimately gives you no way of getting out of your sin. It leaves your sin problem unaddressed. The God of the Bible, however, came to us in the person of his son, Jesus Christ, not ignoring our sin, but paying for our sin. Not overlooking sin, but actually paying for it. See, this is a feature of all false religion is that it doesn’t take God’s holiness seriously enough. And it doesn’t deal with our sin problem. And this is exactly the problem with Islam. Doesn’t really take God’s, as much as they talk about it, doesn’t take God’s holiness seriously enough. He winks at sin from time to time. And it leaves our sin problem completely unaddressed. But God in Christ and only through Christ was he able to deal with our sin problem once and for all and still preserve his perfect holiness. Isn’t that a wonderful, isn’t that a wonderful picture? Isn’t that the unique picture of the Christian faith? So as I said in the beginning, Islam has always spread by conquest and by immigration. There’s very little in the way of free will conversion. There is some, and in modern times there’s certainly some, but it hasn’t been a strong feature of Islam. In the very beginning, Muslims took over places. I mentioned Medina, they did this other places as well. They came in as immigrants and ended up taking over the place. How did they do this? Well, the same playbook is happening today, and I don’t wanna spend too much time getting into the political. This is our Sunday school class after all, but it’s worth mentioning a little bit about the political, because it has some implications for the theological. So you can see a predictable pattern for Muslim takeover of areas, and it’s quite fascinating. You might think, well, you know, Muslims get into an area, and once they reach 51%, they take over the place. No, no, no. It happens far, far earlier than that. So at about 5% of the population, which is not a lot, especially a generation or so into a higher birth rate in places like Europe, at about 5% of the population, Muslims begin to demand exceptions, carve-outs, acknowledgement of their culture in various demonstrable ways within the culture. Once they achieve about 10% of the population, they feel like they can begin to really throw their weight around, particularly when they’re stepping into a religious or moral vacuum. okay so at about 10% they can begin begin to demand equality for themselves all right so we demand equality with everybody else and then at only about 20% of the population they can begin to demand superiority within a population okay so it goes from Can my child bring a halal meal to school? Sure. At 10%, we demand halal meals in the schools as an option. By 20%, we demand it be only halal food in our schools anymore. We don’t care what anybody else says. At 5%, we’d like some time off for our prayers or time off for our fasting. At 10%, it becomes more of a demand for this, or we begin to get vocal. At 20%, we might demand in our neighborhood that nobody eat during Ramadan, Christian, Jew, Hindu, or otherwise. Now, why is this the case? Why is this the case? Why don’t you need to get 50%? Well, the 20% threshold is there because you don’t need 50%. You need to get above the threshold. You need to have more people than the number of people who are willing to push back from the other side. And in most populations, that’s never more than 20% of people who are willing to fight back. And especially now, and this has gone lower and lower as time has gone by. In medieval Europe, they would have pushed back. In modern Europe, they don’t push back anymore. So you maybe even need less than 20% now to really begin to get your way. And we see this happening all the time. And places that are specifically vulnerable to Islamic immigration and Islamic takeover are places with broken families. These are places where single parenthood is the norm rather than the exception. In places where mothers are in charge and not fathers. In places that have become de facto matriarchies. So urban centers in America, much of Northern Europe can be described this way. Because they have large, father-led, two-parent families. And so the single parent matriarchies are no match for two parent patriarchal Islamic family organization. They’re no match for them. And so they’re easily, they get easily overrun. One example of this is in the 20 aughts and 20 teens, there were gangs of rapists in central England, Muslim gangs of rapists in central England, that raped thousands of women, thousands of women. And this was largely kept a secret. Where were the fathers? Where were the fathers? Well, I’ll tell you, there was mostly single parent families, so there was no father. Fathers who were incarcerated or drunk. Fathers who were so steeped in the rhetoric about Islamophobia they were afraid to say anything. Imagine their daughters being raped and they’re afraid to say anything for fear of being perceived as a racist. So thousands and thousands of women helplessly preyed upon, nobody there to protect them. So many of these places in Europe, and we see this in places in America as well, have rendered themselves almost helpless to the onslaught of a very confident Islam. There aren’t the men there to stick up for their families and their women. There isn’t male leadership to stave it off. We see this in Europe, let’s be honest, we see this in Europe. It’s become a matriarchy where even the men leaders really behave like women for the most part and their virtues are womenly, feminine rather than masculine. And so, once again, they’re no match for confident Islam moving into the area and beginning to make demands. And you see, what’s interesting is when you see politically what has happened is the, and this has been very clever, there’s a doctrine within Islam called taqiyya, which means deception. And it’s even in the Quran itself. And it’s permitted for a Muslim to deploy deception in service of the greater good, in service of a greater cause. By the way, this is an imitation of Allah himself, who is a deceiver. One of the attributes of Allah is he is a deceiver. So you can’t count on him to tell the truth. He may tell a lie in the service of the greater spread of the faith and so on. So you’re allowed to lie and deceive in the spread of the faith. Now, one of the ways this plays itself out is one thing you’ll notice in America, and this is the same way through most of Europe, is that Muslim candidates for office always present themselves as liberals, as liberal on social matters. They’re always pro-LGBTQ, they’re pro-abortion, they’re pro all of the slate of these things, which are very much against Islamic values. But the ones who have maybe come to their senses or have kind of revealed, said the quiet part out loud or whatever, if you will, have basically said, yeah, this is part of the deception program. We know we can’t get into the conservative parties of these and make a difference. So we’ve gone into the liberal parties and make an impact. But once we get in there, then we’re gonna change things up. We’re gonna flip the script. And by the way, this is happening in places where the numbers are larger. So for example, a city like Luton in England, which is maybe 60% Muslim or something now, they were kind of voted into office and brought in by sort of white English liberals, including the homosexual lobby and so on. Now they’ve said, look, we’re not having any gay bars or anything in Luton anymore. We’re closing all that stuff down in the name of Islam. So, okay, I mean, I’m okay with that, but I mean, they’re making other demands as well, saying, look, this is now an Islamic city, so we get to make the rules anymore, and these rules are not necessarily the liberal platform that we came to power on or were invited in on. So this is an exercise, you might say, in deception, right? This idea, and the reason it’s just helpful to know this in terms of how Islam spreads, at 5% we want consideration, at 10% we want equality, at 20% we want supremacy. And they’ve been able to actually make that work because they’ve had people who are not willing to stand in their way. One of the problems that we see in the political realm is that we’re highly influenced by the reportage on these things, by the media. And one thing that’s invariably true in the Western world, in America, Western Europe, and so on, is that there’s almost nobody left in the media who takes religion seriously. This is a problem that’s underestimated, but there’s almost nobody in the main media, your BBCs, your NBC News, whatever, Figaro newspaper, USA Today, and so on. In your main media outlets, they don’t have anybody who’s a Christian believer of any kind, and they don’t take seriously religious motivation. So they look at the world from a Marxist view, which is all kind of power dynamics, They don’t take seriously when Muslims say, we want to come and impose our religious values. They think, well, this is a stand-in for economic demands, right? This is a social issue. This is, no. You need to take people seriously when they tell you what their religious beliefs are and what the consequences of those beliefs are gonna be. But there’s almost nobody left in the media who takes those things seriously anymore, so it’s always reported as something else. There’s always something else going on. You can’t really believe that a Messiah is coming. You can’t really believe, Iran, that there’s a 12th hidden imam that’s going to come someday as a messianic figure and take over the world. That can’t possibly be the reason why you intend to nuke Israel, for example. Well, it is. I can assure you that’s the reason. That’s the main reason. There may be some who have a different agenda, but the media, they can’t possibly conceive of religious belief in that way. So they don’t report it or they tend to not take it seriously. So I say this not to scare you or to alarm you. I guess the point I would want to leave with you about Islam is this. that if we don’t want to see our nation become Muslim, and I think it’s a very real threat, not real soon, but it could, and certainly we see this trend happening in Western Europe, the ultimate answers are not political ones. They really aren’t. They’re not military solutions. Those things will sort of happen. The answer is a religious revival in our land. where Christians recommit themselves to Jesus Christ, recommit themselves to bold witness for Christ. Not throwing people out, not going back, you know, not beheading people, not military attacks. It’s about proclaiming fearlessly the gospel of Jesus Christ and living our lives in light of that gospel. That’s the only way forward. And that’s the only way that we actually not only save our country, but bless the nations as well. So that’s why, as I mentioned, for those of you here last week, that’s why we’re being proactive in taking the gospel to Oasis, as we’ll call it, since this is being recorded. We’re taking the gospel to Oasis because we’re being proactive. We want to see the gospel go to a place where it’s rarely been heard and where we can have an impact on the lives of Muslims. We’re not there to kill them. We’re there, on the contrary, to give them the words of life. And ultimately, that’s got to be the answer, is that we’re aggressively taking the gospel forward so that people can believe in Jesus and have life in his name. So I’ll be happy to answer any questions or thoughts or comments. Once a Muslim becomes a Christian, what happens to ensure that safety… That’s a country by country decision. So the question was, when a person in a Muslim country becomes a Christian, what’s done to ensure their safety, right? So there are, it’s a case by case situation. So let’s say, for example, if you’re in Turkey and you become a Christian, The law can’t touch you in terms of they can’t kill you or even imprison you for any period of time. They can harass you and make life difficult. If your family is not gonna kill you, you’re probably gonna survive it. You may be outcast, you may lose your job, you may lose relationships, you can probably survive it. In a country like Sudan, on the other hand, where, at least in theory, there is death penalty for becoming a Christian, and if the government doesn’t get at you or kill you, there’s a good chance your family will or your village might. In those kind of situations, you might need to flee the country if you’re going to survive. And that would be similar in places of Somalia, some places in Afghanistan. There aren’t that many places where you absolutely, when you become a Christian, have to flee for your life, but there are certainly some. And again, it’s a case-by-case situation. What’s your family like? Are they fanatic Muslims or not? That kind of thing. And so some mission organizations, some who are doing evangelism, they already kind of have, as it were, a kind of underground railroad for Christians out of the country. Now, there is a danger in this being the norm, and that is that it’s very easy for a person to claim to be a Christian just so that they can get asylum in the U.S., right, or asylum in a Western country. So it’s an easy escape mode for people. So you have to be very careful about how that’s deployed. But certainly there are places where, still today there are some places where it’s nearly impossible to be a, you know, kind of out-of-the-closet Christian if you were once a Muslim, right? it’s very hard. If you’ve lived in a traditional Christian community, that’s one thing. But if you’re known to be a convert from Islam to Christianity, there’s some place in the world where you’re not going to survive. You’re not going to survive that. Talking about dealing with sin, what’s the end point of Islam? It’s not going to be a perfect, sinless world. Well, no, so they do believe in a paradise, a very sensual paradise, you know, especially for men, it seems to be a good deal, you know, or that kind of thing. But it’s, so they do believe that you can enjoy the pleasures of an afterlife, a place with, it’s almost described as, actually very much described as kind of a Garden of Eden a recomposition of the Garden of Eden in paradise. So there’d be gardens, there’s rivers flowing through it and so on. Milk and honey, again, sensuous. So there is that promise held out for those who follow the rules, do what’s right. Muslims are very hesitant because the Quran makes this clear. I’ve never had a Muslim tell me for sure I’m going to heaven. with certainty. I’ve had some say, I really hope so. I’ve tried to follow the rules. But as a Muslim, you’re not supposed to ever say, you know, my ticket is punched for heaven. I’ve got to continue. I’ve got to finish well. I’ve got to continue doing the rules. And, you know, it says in the Quran, if you follow the rules and stuff, you will be, you know, Allah will forgive your sins and allow you into paradise. Right, but again, like any legalistic religion, it’s kind of like, have I done enough? Has my good outweighed the bad? I mean, they would literally use a kind of scale analogy. Has my good outweighed my bad? If so, probably I stand a good chance of it. of being in with Allah. But again, the sin problem hasn’t been dealt with in Islam. That’s the problem. It hasn’t been atoned for. It hasn’t been dealt with. So you’re really on your own to try to reckon with your own sin by just trying to do enough good and hope that God will even turn a blind eye to some of your sins, especially if it’s any of the big ones. So it’s problematic, for sure. Sorry? Sorry? They believe there’s hell too, yeah, absolutely. That’s all written throughout the Quran, that there is hell. And they believe it’s a place of constant torment and eternal punishment for the disbeliever. Now, the… The cardinal sin, the one that guarantees you you’re going to go to hell, no passing go, no collecting $200, is if you associate with God a companion or a partner, namely a son. You can be forgiven if you repent of that. But if you maintain on your dying day that Jesus was the Son of God, yeah, there’s no doubt about that you’re going to hell. There’s no other option. Other sins, you know, if you’ve been drinking alcohol, well, maybe he can overlook that. If you didn’t make it to Mecca, there may be some things he can overlook. That one he cannot. James talked about it last week called shirk. That one can’t be overlooked. That one has to be repented of, for sure. What about revival? I mean, we don’t have any grams anymore. Right. Yeah. Well, I mean, so she said, what about revival? What do we do about revival in our land? I mean, that’s a good question. We don’t have the same kind of revival strategies or not as powerful as they once were, but we have to take into account, you know, we now have social media. That’s an important one. A lot of people see signs of revival in our land. Almost every conservative denomination has seen an uptick in church attendance over the last three years or so, like kind of post-COVID. So there’s some promising signs. Even in the UK, which is kind of dead as a doornail, church attendance among people between 18 and 30 or 35, I can’t remember, which has gone up 400% in the last 10 years. Amazing, you know, from like 4% to 16%. So, you know, promising signs of revival here and there, but we need to definitely fan those flames because, and I think, you know, in some cases, cultures have to sort of bottom out a little bit before they come to their senses, right? Kind of like the prodigal son, he had to be reduced to eating what the pigs ate before he’d actually come to his senses and go back. I think for some, we’re starting to see that rock bottom now. Real hopelessness Where do we go from here? The promises that liberalism and atheism offered us aren’t delivering the goods for us, so where else can we search for meaning? And of course, that’s where we as Christians have to be there present. We have to be present in the workplace. We have to be present in the classroom. square we have to be president politic you know everywhere christians need to be there because we’re the ones who have those answers to offer and what’s encouraging is that in some in some muslim countries now one that we talked about last week for example uh in some muslim countries uh you know they they’ve they’ve started to abandon islam you know they don’t believe it anymore but what’s going to fill the vacuum the vacuum you know and and there’s a couple of choices what we hope is that the christian faith the christian message the gospel fills the vacuum but other things can as well you know seeking the pleasures and alcohol and drugs and you know entertainment and pornography all those things can try to fill the gap right and things that well well let’s try that and see if that is a road to to pleasure or fulfillment uh for us and you know i i hope not but it may be that you have to kind of go through that valley before you realize no there’s no there’s no green grass on that side of the fence either and uh you know throw yourself on the mercy of christ so that that’s the hope is that we can be there present when people are asking those questions yeah and by the way Isn’t this the case when it comes to personal evangelism? You may have a friend or family member who has for years resisted Christ. Maybe you’ve had the conversation with him and so on. And it may just be that they have to come to a place in their life where they kind of hit bottom. There has to be a crisis. Things are going a little too well right now. I don’t need Christ. I’ve got a job. I’ve got a pretty good marriage. I’ve got my health. Things are clicking for me. What do I need Christ for? Are you going to be there for them, though, when the divorce happens, when their job is ruined and they don’t know where to turn? They’re addicted, whatever it is. They might listen then, right? But are you going to still be with them? Are you still going to be engaged in their life when those questions arise?

THE INDICTMENT – NOT ACTUALLY FOLLOWING JESUS

There are many people who claim the moniker of Christian but do not do the things commanded, taught and modeled by Jesus. They have their reasons and excuses. I have heard them and challenged them. They still insist they are followers of Jesus, and that they are ‘in the process’. They say their intentions are right but they are just not there yet. Hmmmmm.

There is an old saying: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. This saying can mean several things to different people. For example, some people say the road to hell is paved with good intentions to mean that people often intend to do good things but in fact do not, often because they are lazy or weak. ‘She said the road to hell was paved with good intentions, that she really had decided to hand write six dozen personal letters, but she just didn’t have the time’. Or perhaps, The phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” conveys that good intentions alone can lead to negative outcomes if not executed properly. It emphasizes that simply wanting to do good is insufficient; one must take appropriate actions to achieve positive results.

But this phrase is never more true nor can it have more glorious or tragic outcomes than when it is applied in a spiritual or Biblical context.

In order to establish my point most clearly, I would need first to review all the teachings and examples of Jesus as they are recorded in the Bible. But since that would simply take too much space and time here, I will begin with just a few of the most relevant, glaring and succinct examples.

WITHIN THE BODY OF CHRIST – THE CHURCH

Let me say that going to church can be a very good thing, but just going to church is just not enough.

One would think that within the Church they would find the teachings and examples of Christ on full display: love for another, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Everyone thinking more highly of others than of themselves. An attitude of ‘turning the other cheek’. Rejoicing when rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn, emphasizing the importance of empathy and community in our relationships. This call encourages believers to actively participate in the emotional experiences of others, fostering a deeper connection within the Christian community. If this were the case, we could all learn and be influenced to be more like Jesus. But by comparison, this is usually only found in small pockets of people who attend church, and who over time have become close knit. Sort of like the saying, “we four and no more” groupies. Sadly, churches can be and many times are someplace you can go and be alone in a crowd; A place where the pastor does not know your name and the ‘staff’ huddles together while you are left outside their circle. The only thing left is to ask, ‘what is wrong with this picture’?

OUTSIDE THE CHURCH

Jesus taught and modeled attitudes and behaviors. And finally, He gave the Greatest Command and the Great Commission. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love others as yourself”. Then “Go, and make disciple of all the nations, teaching them all that I have commanded, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”.

This was not a command for a select few. It was for all of His disciples for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 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.

(And as a means to clarify, the Spiritual Gifts are also given to us as a means of witnessing Christ Jesus to others. And not everyone has the same Spiritual Gift.)

Some as Prophecy – the ability to receive and communicate messages from God.

Some, Healing – the supernatural grace to restore health and perform miracles.

Others Teaching – the skill to explain and apply biblical truths effectively.

Leadership – the ability to guide and motivate others within the Church. Discernment- the gift of distinguishing between truth and falsehood, especially in  spiritual matters.

Faith – a strong confidence in God’s promises and power.

Evangelism – the ability to share the Gospel effectively.

Administration – the skill to organize and manage church activities and resources.

Exhortation – the gift of encouraging and uplifting others.

Giving – the ability to share resources generously.

Mercy – a compassionate response to those in need.

Hospitality – the gift of welcoming and serving others.

And we all have the ability, along the way, to tell others about the Person of Jesus.

The Bible reminds us that “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”.

If you will take a close look at the early disciples and the early church, you will perhaps begin to see how they ‘turned the world upside down’ and even during times of great persecution, the church continued to grow exponentially.

AS THE CHURCH

So what now? Its seems that there was a time in America that the Church was influential for Christ and effective in its witness. But there is no going back. We have forgotten what is past. So we must go forward. And good intentions are just not good enough. We must really follow Him. But how?

HOW DO I – HOW CAN I?

The admonition in the Bible, repeatedly, first is to set your mind on the things above. Meditate on them; think on them; dwell on them, so you are being transformed to the image of Christ by the renewing of your mind. And by being reminded daily you will better be able to imitate Christ as you go.

FINALLY

If you want to go on the greatest and most meaningful adventure of your life – follow Jesus. Really follow Him.

If you want to see your church grow – be like Jesus inside your church building.

If you want to experience the joy and satisfaction of actually and successfully following Jesus, realize that He dwells within you. Let Him live. Let Him live through you, moment by moment!

Please, dear friend, let’s get this done.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

PS: Going to church in and of itself does not make you a Christian. The Church is the Sanctuary where you can find some rest from the worries and troubles of the world. Use it that way!

The Church is a headquarters for strategic discipleship preparation. The world is your training ground.

The Church is where your spiritual family and friends congregate. Enjoy and spread that joy.

The Church is the Body of Christ in action. Be One.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young.

Additional Reading:

How To Be Sure You Are Really Following Jesus

You Must Deny Yourself

The Bright Red Line We All Must Cross

I saw a man wearing a t-shirt that said “Normal Ain’t Comin’ Back – But Jesus Is”. I was, at first, amused. Then I began to think,

“What is Normal, anyway?”

I am pretty sure, considering the apparent age of the man wearing the shirt, he may have been referring to the “Christian Age” of America. Several leading political figures and even some leading religious figures in the U.S. have suggested that America was a “Christian nation”, but that is no longer the case.

According to several surveys about 65% of Americans consider themselves as Christian but 19% of those are Catholics. Even with that, only about 44% of 65% pray frequently and only around one-third attend church at least once per month.

The Bible warns that a time is coming, and by all appearances may have already arrived, when “people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power”. (See Second Timothy 3:2-5). This will include many of those inside the Church as First Timothy 4:1-3 says “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods”. That just is jot normal!

Although many of these traits are have always been evident, the prevalent view in America’s past, has been decidedly Christian. (We have practiced Christian holidays, our language, literature and poetry had been heavily influenced by the Bible. We even printed “In God We Trust”, on our paper money.) Now-a-days you may still see traces of that past and can find those who claim to hang onto those beliefs and practices, but unless you experienced that past, you really can’t see how far America has moved from her Christian roots. Many calling themselves Christian, are holding onto a form of godliness, but in all reality, are denying its power.

So, what does this lead us to? The second half of the phrase: “But Jesus Is (Coming Back)”. You can find this several places in scriptures, but I will refer to:

Matthew 24:29-31, “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

And,

Revelation 19:11-16, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh, He has a name written: “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

And what does this mean to you and to me, that is those calling themselves Christians?

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

The odds are 1 to 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 is 1 to 10 to the 157th power.

These are the odds against – yes, AGAINST – Jesus Christ having fulfilled just 48 of the over 450 prophecies written about Him.

In order to give you some perspective, electrons are very small objects. They’re smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10 to the 15th power of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one-inch long.  19 MILLION YEARS!

Read that again, please.  Why is that significant?

It is significant because it gives us evidence that the Bible is true and correct when it says that Christ Jesus came to earth and is the Savior of the world.

It gives YOU evidence, if you choose to pay attention, that your life can be eternal with the only LIFE source which gives eternal Peace, Safety, Security, Joy and fulfillment the universe has ever known or ever will know.

Just think about it: It is a scientific and a mathematical impossibility that HAS COME TO PASS! No odds can defy the REALITY of Jesus Christ

(Warning: The following may be considered as offensive to “nominal Christians”.)

NEED TO KNOW

Let’s keep this simple and accurate. Jesus says, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Again, Jesus says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

He instructed “Repent (turn away from your current way of thinking and living and think and act like Jesus), for the kingdom of heaven is now at hand. Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men, women, boys and girls.”

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Then, to sum up, to some He will say, “‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

But to others He will say, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; LEAVE ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

DO YOU GET IT, YET?

Going to Church may be a good thing, but it will not save you.

Doing good deeds is a good thing, but it will not save you.

Tithing or giving offerings is a good thing, but it will not save you.

THIS IS “THE IT”

Believe on the Lord Jesus as the Christ in your heart which will result in righteousness, and with your mouth confess that God raised Him from the dead which results in your salvation. Repent of you worldly ways, follow Him in thought, speech and conduct, endure to the end, and you will be saved.

So, if you GO TO CHURCH – Good for you.

If you tithe or give offerings – Good for you.

If you do good things – Good for you.

If you are following Jesus (i.e., doing what He has said to do, thinking as He says to think, doing the things He has done as He has done them – Better. for you’

But if you are actually doing what He has done, thinking as He thinks, going where He has gone, and obeying His commands – BEST for you!

IN CONCLUSION

There are many current-day theologians, pastors and preachers who say that some of the things Jesus did and said have ceased. They say these things have ceased because we no longer see them and-or they ceased because we no longer need them with the establishment of the Church. Or perhaps they have said this because of the confusion and abuse of the ‘works of Jesus’ have created in the post-modern church. But the Bible does not say this and never even infers any the things Jesus said and demonstrated would cease. Men saying such things are manmade excuses. I honestly don’t have a better answer except to say that when the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast a demon out of a young boy, they many have been thinking ‘these things have ceased’?  But Jesus answered them saying, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’

“Ask, and you shall receive. Seek and you shall fine. Knock and the door shall be opened to you.” Now that is what Jesus calls normal!

“If My words are in you and you abide in Me, ask what you will and it shall be granted to you.”

Remembering that all ‘these things’ are in the context of and for the purpose of accomplishing the purpose, plan and mission of Christ Jesus!

His return is near. It is time to DO HIS NORMAL. Let’s get this thing done – in Jesus Name.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

Oh, Say! Can You See?

Let’s keep this simple. Deliberate and uncontrolled immigration has flooded our nation with people whose mission is to change the demographics of America in order to take political and social control of our government and our land. Is it working?

Uncontrolled monitoring of the hiring practices in our colleges and universities have allowed Leftists and Marxists to assume leadership roles in universities politicizing and setting the teaching agendas to fit their own political, religious and social worldview. This has to lead to teaching positions begin filled with pro-Socialist, Communist, anti-Israel, anti-American and anti-Christian propaganda indoctrination.

As the result, Socialist, Islamic, Marxist, and Communist politicos being accepted as viable candidate and are filling local, state and federal government positions including mayoral, legislative, senatorial and house seats at an alarming rate. A recent article in the Islamic Voice publication proclaims “Muslim Representation Reaches Historic Highs in U.S. Elections”.

The outcome is increased anti-American belligerence, anti-capitalist ideology, anti-Christian and antisemitism. socialist and communist economic principles are being implemented and are crippling our economy, sending society into chaos and distrust and is destroying the effectiveness of our longstanding institutions.

Our historical and cultural landmarks have been defaced, destroyed and removed. Trust in our institutions such as banking, elections, healthcare, religious, etc., has been eroded as it has been infected with DEI ideologies. Our nation is nearing a cataclysmic bankruptcy as the Leftists raid our treasuries. And, all of this is part of the Agenda-21 and Agenda-2030. A plan to transform America and fold her into a Marxist-Globalist cabal. A one world government, run by the few elitist Globalist nations.

President Trump and his administration has worked to counter this invasion from abroad and treason within, despite the riots, assassination attempts, failed revolts, fraud and the recent Obama and Biden administrations weaponizing the FBI, the IRS and state and federal legislatures. But Trump’s time is limited and the task is still monumental in scope.

So, for the traditional American, the Conservatives and the Christians, I ask, “what can be done”? I am neither trained nor equipped to answer that question in full. But I do know what the Bible says. So for the Christian, I will say that most of you have been sufficiently mislead that you now are rejecting most of what the Bible clearly says about standards, values, conduct, law and order. But for those who have the ears to hear, let me tell you, there is only one remedy and the Bible clearly spells it out. But “it will cost us everything – although we really have little left to lose”.

Let me start by reminding us that, according to the Bible, the Holy Spirit is the Restrainer of evil and its removal is foretold with the coming of these end of day in which we live. 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 tells us as much. This means that the Church (all believers in Christ Jesus) in whom the Holy Spirit dwells are this barrier. The removal of this restraining force is believed to occur before the revelation of the Antichrist, leading to a time of increased lawlessness on earth. And it would appear that there is an erosion of the this barrier now in progress.

Franklin Graham, President and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, has issued a direct warning about what is being sold as Christianity in public life today. He made the following statement: “Since the fall of man in the Garden, Satan has relentlessly schemed to undermine the authority of God’s Word by parsing half-truths, which are nothing more than clever lies, into a counterfeit gospel. Today we call it Progressive Christianity, and it is a lie. Just enough truth to deceive.”
This distortion and false teaching of the Word of God is comfortably ensconced in air-conditioned environments, complete with coffee shops, auditoriums with light and sound staged performances accompanied by loud rhythmic rock-n-roll style music appealing to the base nature, disguised as worship sessions and sprinkled with enough Christian-sounding words to convince the gullible that it is worship. It is being sold as Christian but is nothing more than an adrenaline and dopamine producing high. And church attending crowds are becoming addicted.

The sermons are either stories and tales simply about the Bible or opinions on what a certain preacher thinks what the Bible should mean. (It might sound ‘Gospel-esque’ but it lacks the power to convict of sin leading to repentance, a changed life and salvation of one’s soul.

It may sound as if I am veering off subject, but the two are connected. The Bible connects the two subjects: The direction of this world and the Church. The world is headed for God’s final judgments and the Church holds the restraining force against evil. Once the Church is removed, “all hell” literally breaks loose on earth and in the heavens. and the final Judgments of God will have begun. But for the meantime, the Church (you and me) have the God ordained calling as having the “Restraining Force” within us (holding back the ultimate evil of the coming anti-christ and the false prophet), and to make disciples for Jesus – thereby showing others the way out of the coming destruction. (And as I have already said, the church has veered off course and has largely become self-serving instead of God-serving.

I hope the brevity of this warning does not obscure the urgency of this message. (Use inserted page links to get more detail or email me for further discussion if necessary).

Jesus established His Church first to create a community of believers who would preach the gospel, prepare a people for the Lord, and serve as a light in the world. This community was meant to continue His teachings and fulfill God’s plan for salvation. Additionally, Jesus knew and warned of what was coming and His Church would be the instrument to confront and counter the coming antichrist (also known as the ‘beast from the sea’), the false prophet (also known as the ‘beast from the earth) and preparation for the Church to be ‘snatched away’ or ‘raptured’ from the earth just prior to the events of the Great Tribulation, the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord and the Wrath of The Lamb.

It has been my observation that most of the Church (most Christians) are woefully unprepared for what is at hand. Most Christians will say that they made a ‘profession of faith’ so they are ready for Jesus’ return, and are in fact looking forward to His return.

I don’t take issue with that, however, the Bible does not stop there. It says:

1. That if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved; for if the person believes resulting in righteousness, and (therefore) confesses with the mouth, it will result in their salvation. (See Romans 10:9-10).
2. Jesus also says that those who belong to Him have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (See Galatians 5:24).
3. Jesus also says Matthew 4:19, And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.”
4. Matthew 8:22, But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
5. Matthew 16:24, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.
6. Matthew 19:21, Jesus said to him, “If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
7. Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
8. John 10:27 My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
9. And it is to these who are following Him He said:

Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church

Matthew 16:13, Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

It is important to understand the nuance of the language Jesus uses here.  He calls Peter by name, Pétros in the Greek language, which is an isolated rock or a stone as one would throw.  But, the ROCK upon which Jesus will build His Church is the word “pétra”, which is a huge mass of interconnected rock, a “solid or native rock, rising up through the earth”.

This is important because Jesus is telling you, and all of His followers, about your position, your ability, your responsibility and your authority in His Church:

• I will build My Church, you and others like you; and
• the gates of Hades will not overpower you and others like you.
• I will give you and others like you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
  • and whatever you and others like you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven,
  • and whatever you and others like you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Finally, Jesus says He will give you and others like you, that is, His Church, the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  We can pursue this as a metaphor, but, there are specific references to these KEYS in the scriptures.

1. The most significant is The Key of David is a term found in Revelation 3:7 and Isaiah 22:22.
   • A key indicates control or authority; therefore, having the Key of David would give one control of David’s domain, i.e., Jerusalem, the City of David, and the kingdom of Israel.
   • The fact that, in Revelation 3:7Jesus holds this key shows that He is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, the ruler of the New Jerusalem, and the Lord of the kingdom of heaven.
2. And (you)coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone,
And the one who believes in Him will not be ]put to shame.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe;   (1 Peter 2:4-7)

You and I must take up our appointed positions.  We must shake of the lethargy of the 21st century postmodern religion we call ‘church’ and take the Gospel of Jesus to the streets, the byways, the hedges and towns, into our neighborhoods, and as scriptures tell us, BECOME THE LIVING STONES, A LIVING SACRIFICE.

3. It is to these that He said:

GO, MAKE DISCIPLES

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:16-20)

It is sad and shocking that the Church and the Christian today has settled in to a very different model and rhythm than that what Jesus taught, commanded and demonstrated.

It should be at least concerning that despite Jesus’ and the Bible’s warnings that we, the Church, have bought into some romantic story about an ultimate conquest of good over evil where we will rest comfortably while the earth and its inhabitants undergo indescribable horrors of judgments and punishment. The Bible actually has a much different narrative:

Meaning of Following Jesus

Following Jesus involves more than just physical proximity; it signifies a transformation in one’s life. Key aspects include:

• Self-Denial: Embracing a lifestyle that prioritizes Jesus’ teachings over personal desires.
• Commitment: A willingness to leave behind old ways and fully engage in a life aligned with His values.
• Learning and Imitation: Actively learning from Jesus’ teachings and imitating His example in daily life.

Jesus’ commands to “follow Me” encapsulate the essence of Christian discipleship, calling individuals to a deeper relationship with Him through self-denial, commitment, and transformation.

Historical interpretations of Jesus’ command to follow Him emphasize that it involves transformation and commitment, requiring disciples to align their lives with His teachings and example. This call signifies a willingness to leave behind old ways and embrace a new identity centered on serving others and living out His values.

Now ask yourself: How does this fit in with my efforts to follow Jesus? My Sunday morning visit to church? What do I do in response to the sermons and Sunday school lessons?

Making Disciples is not sitting in a church classroom taking notes on ‘relational witnessing’ or some such thing. It is being led by and following the pastor and elders of the Church into the harvest fields and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is now at hand. Teaching in their churches, laying hands on the diseased and the sick so they will recover and casting out demons. (Whether in actuality or as a metaphor for Spiritual healing).

The malaise of the false teachings within the church today is the fatal wound from which many will not recover.

“They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” (See Jeremiah 6:14).

PART II

FOLLOWING JESUS

MEANS TO

RESIST & GIRD UP FOR WAR

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

WHY DID JESUS COME INTO THE WORLD?

1. TO TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH

John 18:37 “Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.”  

2. TO BRING A SWORD

Matthew 10:34, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Verse 35, For I came to TURN A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; verse 36, and A PERSON’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.”

3. TO FULFILL THE LAW

Matthew 5:17 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.”  

4. TO CALL SINNERS

Mark 2:17 “And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

5. TO SAVE THE WORLD

John 12:47 “If anyone hears My teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.”

6. TO CAST FIRE & BRING DIVISION UPON THE EARTH

Luke 12:49 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! Verse 50,  But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Verse 51, Do you think that I came to provide peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather to create division;  “

 “WHAT HE REALLY MEANT?”

Jesus has told us, inJohn 14:12, “Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father. Verse 13. And whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Verse 14. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

I have heard so many preachers, bible teachers and detractors alike, try to justify or explain away these Words of Jesus because they just cannot fathom the gentle and sweet ‘dashboard Jesus’ saying such things as we find in the verses cited.  These same confused preachers really get tied in a knot over John 14:12.  They will begin their commentary of teaching it with, “what this really means is…”.

Jesus said what He meant and meant exactly what He said.  He is our model for our counter cultural resistance to the growing global threat of Communist-Marxist-Globalism, And we need to get on with it.

Jesus’ time on earth was spent fulfilling the purpose, and will of His Father (Matthew 5:19, Matthew 5:39). Jesus was on a singular mission (John 6 :38) and nothing would stand in the way of accomplishing that mission: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Jesus had a divine appointment with a cruel Roman cross. Read what He said when Peter proposed to get in the way of His mission:

Matthew 16:21- 23, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

We do not literally have an appointment with a crucifixion, but, the Bible is  clear in Galatians 5:24, that “Those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” and again in Galatians 2:20, the Apotle Paul reminds us that, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” which must be true for all who follow Jesus because we are on mission with Jesus. Our ‘old self’ must die so our new selves can follow and serve Him.

Jesus always, taught the Will of His Father, then, demonstrated what He taught. He expects us to do the same. Ephesians, chapter six, gives us a clear teaching and picture of the type of preparation and the kind of resolve we are to assume.

Ephesians 6:10-17, tells us, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Stand, i. e. continue safe and sound, stand unharmed: Acts 26:22.

Stand ready or prepared: Ephesians 6:14. One who does not hesitate, does not waver, of one who vanquishes his adversaries and holds the ground, also of one who in the midst of the fight holds his position against the foe, to persist, continue, persevere: (so as not to fall from thy faith).

Jesus’ example of steadfast, unmovable courage; this is our example and our command to do the same:

CONFRONTING THE STORM

Mark 4:35-41, “On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

CONFRONTING DEMONS

Luke 8:26-33 “Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.

“Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.”

CONFRONTING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

John 19:8-12  ”Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.”

BEFORE THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT

Matthew 24:57-67, “Those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. But Peter was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the officers to see the outcome.

“Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward, 61 and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’” The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”  But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”  Jesus *said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy;  what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!” Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him.”  

Jesus did not draw back.  (He proceeded boldly to the Cross and secured our salvation!) We must not draw back. Jesus has all authority in heaven  and on the earth and is with us until the end!

Remember, Jesus came to earth for these stated reasons – and these same reasons are our method and our calling:

TO TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH. We are to testify to the truth!

TO BRING A SWORD. We are to bring the sword of the Word of God!

 TO FULFILL THE LAW. We are to fulfill the same law!

TO CALL SINNERS. We are to call sinners!

TO SAVE THE WORLD through Jesus. In a very real sense, this, too, is our calling, by lifting the Name of Jesus, telling others and leading them to Him

TO CAST FIRE & BRING DIVISION UPON THE EARTH. This, too, is our calling! The Word of God is a stumbling block to those who do not believe, dividing A  MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; (Matthew 10:35-36)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, this is not hyperbole, a philosophy or metaphor. Now is the time to gird ourselves up with the full armor of God and follow our Lord, the King of Kings into battle.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places and must be fought with Spiritual Armament!

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

Disclaimer: This letter is a call to Christians to come out of their slumber. I remind the reader that I had correctly and succinctly explained the coming Islamic-Marxist invasion 10 years ago. I explained the roots of the attempted takeover of America, including the Globalist’s Agenda 21 and Agenda 2030, before the media began to lament the matter. The same is true about the democrat party, particularly the Biden era. NOW I am, in a manner of speaking, ‘sounding the ‘shofar’ once again.

WARS AND RUMORS OF WAR

Nations will rise against nations, and there will be famines and earthquakes. Then they will hand you over to tribulation and they will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And at that time many will fall away from the faith, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will mislead many people. And because lawlessness in increased , most people’s love will grow cold.

When will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Jesus’ coming, and of the end of the age?

1. When will these things happen? Look around yourself and around the world. Are you blind? Are you asleep? Why are you waiting for something that is upon you?
2. What will be the ‘sign’ of Jesus’ coming? Learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near; so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Right at the door? Jesus spoke these words in or around A.D. 32. ‘This generation’ He spoke about was in or around A.D. 32.

Thus, “they will hand you over to tribulation” began in or around A.D. 32 or more factually, these events were set in motion at or around the time of Jesus’ birth. (Also see the testimonies of the Apostles and the Disciples).

The malaise of the false teachings within the church today is the fatal wound from which many will not recover.

And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many people. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved.

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus established His Church first to create a community of believers who would preach the gospel, prepare a people for the Lord, and serve as a light in the world. This community was meant to continue His teachings and fulfill God’s plan for salvation. Additionally, Jesus knew and warned of what was coming and His Church would be the instrument to confront and counter the coming antichrist (also known as the ‘beast from the sea’), the false prophet (also known as the ‘beast from the earth) and preparation for the Church to be ‘snatched away’ or ‘raptured’ from the earth just prior to the events of the Great Tribulation, the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord and the Wrath of The Lamb.

It has been my observation that most of the Church (most Christians) are woefully unprepared for what is at hand. Most Christians will say that they made a ‘profession of faith’ so they are ready for Jesus’ return, and are in fact looking forward to His return.

I don’t take issue with that, however, the Bible does not stop there. It says:

1. That if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved; for if the person believes resulting in righteousness, and (therefore) confesses with the mouth, it will result in their salvation. (See Romans 10:9-10).
2. Jesus also says that those who belong to Him have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (See Galatians 5:24).
3. Jesus also says Matthew 4:19, And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.”
4. Matthew 8:22, But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
5. Matthew 16:24, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.
6. Matthew 19:21, Jesus said to him, “If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
7. Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
8. John 10:27 My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
9. And it is to these who are following Him He said:

 Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church

Matthew 16:13, Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

It is important to understand the nuance of the language Jesus uses here.  He calls Peter by name, Pétros in the Greek language, which is an isolated rock or a stone as one would throw.  But, the ROCK upon which Jesus will build His Church is the word “pétra”, which is a huge mass of interconnected rock, a “solid or native rock, rising up through the earth”.

This is important because Jesus is telling you, and all of His followers, about your position, your ability, your responsibility and your authority in His Church:

• I will build My Church, (upon you and others like you); and
• the gates of Hades will not overpower you and others like you.
• I will give you and others like you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
  • and whatever you and others like you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven,
  • and whatever you and others like you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Finally, Jesus says He will give you and others like you, that is, His Church, the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  We can pursue this as a metaphor, but, there are specific references to these KEYS in the scriptures.

1. The most significant is The Key of David is a term found in Revelation 3:7 and Isaiah 22:22.
   • A key indicates control or authority; therefore, having the Key of David would give one control of David’s domain, i.e., Jerusalem, the City of David, and the kingdom of Israel.
   • The fact that, in Revelation 3:7Jesus holds this key shows that He is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, the ruler of the New Jerusalem, and the Lord of the kingdom of heaven.
2. And (you)coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone,
And the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”

This precious value, then, is for you who believe;   (1 Peter 2:4-7)

You and I must take up our appointed positions.  We must shake of the lethargy of the 21st century postmodern religion we call ‘church’ and take the Gospel of Jesus to the streets, the byways, the hedges and towns, into our neighborhoods, and as scriptures tell us, BECOME THE LIVING STONES, A LIVING SACRIFICE.

3. It is to these that He said:

GO, MAKE DISCIPLES

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:16-20)

It is sad and shocking that the Church and the Christian today has settled in to a very different model and rhythm than that what Jesus taught, commanded and demonstrated.

It should be at least concerning that despite Jesus’ and the Bible’s warnings that we, the Church, have bought into some romantic story about an ultimate conquest of good over evil where we will rest comfortably while the earth and its inhabitants undergo indescribable horrors of judgments and punishment. The Bible actually has a much different narrative:

Meaning of Following Jesus

Following Jesus involves more than just physical proximity; it signifies a transformation in one’s life. Key aspects include:

• Self-Denial: Embracing a lifestyle that prioritizes Jesus’ teachings over personal desires.
• Commitment: A willingness to leave behind old ways and fully engage in a life aligned with His values.
• Learning and Imitation: Actively learning from Jesus’ teachings and imitating His example in daily life.

Jesus’ commands to “follow Me” encapsulate the essence of Christian discipleship, calling individuals to a deeper relationship with Him through self-denial, commitment, and transformation.

Historical interpretations of Jesus’ command to follow Him emphasize that it involves transformation and commitment, requiring disciples to align their lives with His teachings and example. This call signifies a willingness to leave behind old ways and embrace a new identity centered on serving others and living out His values.

Now ask yourself: How does this fit in with my efforts to follow Jesus? My Sunday morning visit to church? What do I do in response to the sermons and Sunday school lessons?

Making Disciples is not sitting in a church classroom taking notes on ‘relational witnessing’ or some such thing. It is being led by and following the pastor and elders of the Church into the harvest fields and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is now at hand. Teaching in their churches, laying hands on the diseased and the sick so they will recover and casting out demons. (Whether in actuality or as a metaphor for Spiritual healing).

The malaise of the false teachings within the church today is the fatal wound from which many will not recover.

“They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” (See Jeremiah 6:14).

(Continued at Following Jesus – Resist & Gird Up For War)

PRAYER – POWERFUL OR PATHETIC?

I was watching the movie “Ordinary Angels” with Hillary Swank (Sharon in the movie) and Alan Ritchson (Ed Schmitt) which is based on a true story. Ed is a hard-working middle-class guy, with a wife and two daughters. His wife dies of cancer leaving him with two adolescents and $432,000 in medical bills. He is clearly drowning in debt and sorrow. Then his youngest daughter, Michelle, is diagnosed with an untreatable and fatal liver disease. Her only hope is a liver transplant. Ed’s mother comes to help with the household and encourages Ed to not lose his faith in God. Ed responds saying, “Michelle is on the same 17 prayer lists as Sharon, and look at what good that did”.

How many people-how many of you reading this-may have felt, or are now feeling the same way? How many people, through despair, have sadly decided that prayer is nothing more than ‘an opiate for the masses’ of suffering people?

It may be helpful and maybe even ‘lifesaving’ to know these important biblical facts about prayer.

1. Effective biblical prayer is for the Righteous.

James 5:13-16 informs, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

2. Effective biblical prayer is for the confident.

Mark 11:22-24 tells us that, “Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

1 John 5:14-15, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

3. Effective biblical prayer is for those who endure.

Matthew 24:13, “The one who endures to the end will be saved (sozo – to be healed, preserved, made safe, to do well, be made whole, to bring safely).

When all is said and done, it is God Who does the work of hearing, answering and executing the prayers of a Righteous person.

You can know ‘all the steps’, requirements and commandments regarding effective prayer, but it is in God’s Eternal Plan to hear and answer your prayers. But He will answer according to His Will, Purpose and Plan, for all things work together for the good of those who are (the) called according to his purpose. And sometimes the best prayer is just “God please help me!”

His answers to your prayers, at times may seem bewildering, difficult, painful and not what you thought you wanted or needed. But, stand fast. Do not faint or turn aways. God is answering and has answered your prayers. (And, by the way, He never says ‘no’ to one of His children. He just does it His Way and not your way.)

4. Effective biblical prayer is a process and a blessing. (This following section is for the brave-in-heart who want to know about this entire matter).

Matthew 5:1-11, Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

1. This “Sermon on the Mount” starts by telling us that we are Blessed, when we are poor in spirit. We all have heard that this means we are “spiritually bankrupt”.Yes, I suppose this can be one very basic and rudimentary meaning.Being “Poor in Spirit” however, means so much more:

V3:  “Poor in spirit” (Greek:  ptochos) literally means reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms; destitute of wealth, influence, position, honor;  lowly, afflicted, destitute of the Christian virtues and eternal riches; helpless, powerless to accomplish an end; poor, needy, lacking in anything as respects their spirit; destitute of wealth of learning and intellectual culture which the schools afford (men of this class most readily give themselves up to Christ’s teaching and proved themselves fitted to lay hold of the heavenly treasure.

This comes from a root and alternate meaning “to be terrified”, “as a decaying corpse”.

It should cause us to wonder how could we possibly be considered “Blessed” if we are “poor in spirit”.

“Poor in spirit” is, more literally, to be crushed in your spirit; to be pinched by toil, hopelessness and extreme poverty; A beggar with no hope of rescue on the verge of death and perishing.

It is when life deals you crushing blows, which seem to be your end with no way of escape that this marvelous work of salvation, redemption and sanctification can begin; and not before.

We hear it said “you must come to the end of yourself to enter the Kingdom of God” which is true enough, but none of us have the will power to bring ourselves to such a desperate state.  It is God, alone, who will allow or bring crushing circumstances to bear on our lives which will cause us to turn to God for help.  And only God can save us from such desperate circumstances, redeem us to a state of wholeness, health and safety which is His Sanctification (holiness) of our lives.

Please read the following verses and take note of the process.  Here, the Bible explain to us, ahead of time, what we must endure (yes, endure) in order to “inherit the Kingdom of God”.Verse 4: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Mourning”.  An understandable response upon finding yourself severely pinched by poverty, reduced to begging; destitute with no influence, no position; lowly, afflicted and helpless; powerless to change your circumstances for the better; lacking in anything and terrified.

Think with me.  Have you ever endured an especially difficult time?  Perhaps, as a child, you were punished for bad behavior?  Besides receiving a scolding you may have been spanked or had privileges taken from you?  Or perhaps you endured a time of suffering and loss?  “Mourning” was the natural response.  What did you experience next?

Verse 5: “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Do you remember after enduring a time of suffering or loss and “mourning” your loss, having a good cry, you how your emotions or spirit was quieted for a time?  You may have now had time to reflect on what has happened and you lapse into a time of quiet, gentle appearing reflection.

Verse 6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Do you remember coming through a difficult time, having a good cry, either mentally or actually shedding tears and then the ‘calm the followed the storm’ in your soul?  Do you also remember that, for some reason, with the storm of your life behind you, you were actually hungry?

It is the same in our spirit.  It is usually at this point that we begin to make life-decisions.  We either getting angry and defiant or we decide to do better and to “be better”.

For those being redeemed by the mercies of God, the process is to ‘hunger and thirst for right thinking and right living’:  which is the very definition of Righteousness.

It is through this process that we gain new insights and understanding.  How apt are scriptures to remind us in the next verse that

Verse 7: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

The word ‘mercy’ in this verse literally means “kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them; of men towards men: to exercise the virtue of mercy, show one’s self merciful

We are indeed being “Sanctified”:  Being made holy and set apart for God’s use.

Verse 8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Our attitudes are changing.  Showing mercy is a sign that our hearts are changing and become pure in the sight of God.  We are being transformed in what we see and in how we see.  We are beginning to see matters as God sees them.

Verse 9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

A peace will begin to settle over the heart and mind of the redeemed and sanctified Believer.  We, not only begin to experience ‘a peace that passes understanding’ from our deepening relationship with God, but we begin to demonstrate and practice that peace of God which earns us the title “sons (and daughters) of God”.  We are being made into His image.

Verse 10: “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The bible tells us that it is now that we possess the Kingdom of Heaven.  This statement is too rich and too profound for the “casual Christian” or “casual Believer” to understand.

The phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” means this:

Kingdom:  932 βασιλεία basileia bas-il-i’-ah. Probably from Strong’s #939 through the notion of a foundation of power; 1) royal power, kingship, dominion, rule, 1a) not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom

1b) of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah

1c) of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah’s kingdom

(Note:  This comes from a root word baino,  “to walk”, AV-foot (sole of) a stepping, walking; that with which one steps, the foot; This reminds us of the tremendous proclamation in Joshua 1:3 “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.”

Heaven:  3772 οὐρανός ouranos oo-ran-os’; perhaps from the same as 3735 (through the idea of elevation); the sky; the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it; the universe, the world; the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings.

We are becoming and, in a real sense, we have already become, heirs of the Kingdom of God, the place of the foundation of all power.

(Ephesians 1:4  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,)

A place of royal power, kingship, dominion and rule, not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom, God’s Kingdom.  It is of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah.  It is the Place of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah’s kingdom.  (From Strong’s concordance, definitions and translations of the Greek and Hebrew languages)

Through this process called Sanctification, Matthew 5:14 says,  “You are (now) the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. (Therefore) “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Verse 11. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Verse 12. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

If this seems or sounds counter intuitive, you are right. But just look at the life and ministry of Jesus. Read Matthew 4:1-11 and realize that Jesus led by example. You will endure this same testing, the process of being sanctified – or you will not receive.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

PS: There may be some of you asking, “If God is such a good God, why does He allow suffering–especially of children and the most vulnerable?”

First, let me be blunt. I say to that person what God said to Job, who suffered enormously: “Who are you to questions God’s authority and wisdom by your words? Words that have no knowledge or wisdom? Hike up your pants like a big boy or girl and act like a man or a woman, and I will ask you about His matters. You would question or instruct God?! Where were you when God laid the foundation of the earth? Will you, who has no real knowledge of God, be His critic and faultfinder? You know nothing about His Eternal Plan and why people suffer.”  You are asking is the wrong question. The right question is “What is the purpose of suffering and how should I respond?”

TWO VIEWS

There are only two views of creation, existence, and eternity. (1). Either it was a fortunate cosmic coincidental accident. This can be called naturalism. Or (2). It was an intentional creative instance that continues to be created by a Creator. This is called creationism. There may be other variations of one of these two views-nuances-but is no defensible middle ground.

I am not presenting an argument here. I am not comparing or contrasting these two views. I am presenting something much more urgent: How your chosen view is determining your current existence, that is, your life, lifestyle, and your current state of affairs, and how it will determine your future even into eternity.

If you have adopted, concurred with, or even ever-so-slightly accepted the naturalist’s view, you have adopted the theories of abiogenesis or biogenesis, evolution, and dissolution.

Abiogenesis is the concept suggesting how life originated. Unlike biogenesis, which states that life only comes from existing life through reproduction, abiogenesis lacks definitive proof as it has never been directly observed. Both theories attempt to explain the origin of life on Earth. Biogenesis asserts that new living organisms arise solely from other living beings, directly opposing the notion of spontaneous generation.

Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as genetic drift and natural selection act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within a population over successive generations. The process of evolution has given rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organization.

Dissolution theory explains how a solid substance (solute) dissolves in a liquid (solvent) to form a solution, which is a homogeneous mixture at the molecular level. Ultimately, all substances will dissolve or break down into their constituent parts, depending on their solubility and the conditions of the environment. This theory can be applied to all human and animal life. This leads to the long-Term Evolution of Matter. In the distant future, as the universe approaches thermal equilibrium. First, the decay of matter. Matter may decay into its subatomic particles, losing its current form. Then comes the spread of matter. Matter will be so dispersed that it may no longer exist in a recognizable state. Matter will decay and dissolve and change states but will never cease to exist.

“AS A MAN (OR WOMAN) THINKS, SO IS HE (OR SHE).”

There is much debated and unproven minority theory in quantum mechanics that suggests we create our own reality is closely linked to the role of consciousness in influencing outcomes. This idea posits that our perceptions and intentions can affect the nature of reality itself.

THE BIG BANG

Therefore, if you believe ‘everything that exists’ has been a fortunate cosmic accident, then, following the theories associated with naturalism, you will dissolve into nothingness and into a different state but will never cease to exists-in an eternal darkness, in an unusable form-forever.

GOD

If, however, you believe that all things have been created by an ‘intelligent design’ (an understated view of ‘In the beginning God created’ and ‘All things came into being by Him (Jesus) and apart from Him not even one thing came into being except by Him’.) the ‘Intelligent Designer’ (i.e., God). Then, as the Bible posits, you will never really die. You will change states (into a Spiritual form-you will be changed in an instant) and your mind, soul, and essence will continue in the brilliant light and presence of The Creator, where there will be peace, joy, love, health, kindness, and fellowship forever.

There is no escape from one of these two destinations: Nothingness or Everlasting Perfection. Think about it.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

Additional Resources:

Christian Ethos in Action

What Happens After We Die?

The Great Escape

WHAT DID JESUS MEAN WHEN HE SAID “I GIVE YOU AUTHORITY”

The Bible repeatedly teaches that God and Christ delegate authority to His people. While the exact phrase “I give you my authority” does not appear, Jesus clearly says “I give you authority” and describes believers acting under His authority.

Here are the clearest examples.

1. Luke 10:19 – Jesus explicitly gives authority:

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” (NASB)

This is the most direct statement.

Jesus says, “I have given you authority.”

The authority is over the enemy’s power.

It is delegated authority—not independent power.

2. Matthew 10:1 – Authority over demons and disease

“Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”

Jesus delegates His authority to the Twelve.

3. Mark 3:14-15:

And He appointed twelve… so that He might send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons.“

Again, Jesus grants authority.

4. Mark 6:7

“He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.”

Notice the pattern:

• Jesus possesses authority.
• Jesus delegates authority.

The disciples minister under His authority.

5. Matthew 28:18-20 – The Great Commission:

Jesus begins with His own authority.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore…”

Notice the sequence:

1. Christ possesses all authority.
2. Therefore He sends His disciples.
3. Their mission operates under His authority.

He does not say, “I give you all authority,” but He commissions them on the basis of His authority.

6. John 20:21

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

The Father sent Jesus with divine authority.

Jesus now sends His followers in the same representative capacity.

7. John 14:12-14:

“The one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also…”

This is another example of delegated ministry under Christ’s authority.

8. Acts 1:8:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”

Here Jesus promises power (dynamis), which is different from authority (exousia).

Authority is the right to act.

Power is the ability to act.

Believers receive both:

Authority from Christ.

Power through the Holy Spirit.

9. Ephesians 2:6:

Paul says believers are “seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

This speaks of believers sharing Christ’s exalted position, though not His unique sovereign authority.

10. Ephesians 6:10-18:

The armor of God assumes believers stand against Satan under God’s authority.

Paul never tells Christians to rely on their own authority.

11. James 4:7:

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

The devil flees because the believer is submitted to God’s authority.

12. Luke 9:1:

“He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.”

Notice both are given:

Authority (the legal right)

Power (the ability)

Authority Jesus Gives vs. Authority Jesus Keeps:

Jesus delegates significant authority, but He retains unique divine authority.

Jesus gives believers authority to:

• Preach the gospel (Matthew 28),
• Cast out demons (Luke 9; Luke 10),
• Heal the sick (Matthew 10),
• Forgive sins in the sense of proclaiming God’s forgiveness through the gospel (John 20:23),
• Make disciples,
• Resist Satan,
• Serve as Christ’s ambassadors, (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Jesus alone retains authority over:

• Forgiving sins by His own divine right (Mark 2:5–12),
• Final judgment (John 5:22),
• Raising the dead at the last day (John 5:28–29),
• Salvation itself (John 10:27–29),
• Heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18),
• Opening and closing the Kingdom (Revelation 3:7).

A helpful principle:

One of the clearest summaries is found in Matthew 28:18–20:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The disciples are never portrayed as possessing authority independently. Rather, they act as Christ’s representatives. Their authority is derived, delegated, and exercised in submission to Him, just as an ambassador speaks with the authority of the king who sent him, not with authority of his own.

This is why the New Testament consistently emphasizes doing ministry “in the name of Jesus” (in other words, Acts 3:6, Acts 4:10, Colossians 3:17): believers act under His authority, not as autonomous authorities.

Let’s not overlook that although the Christian’s authority is derived, delegated, and exercised in submission to Jesus, it is by His command, and our responsibility to obey Him and exercise that authority moment-by-moment. That is how the first disciples saw the world “turned upside down,” and likewise for you and me as His disciples today.

Now, let’s get it done!

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

What do you have to say about this????

What happens after we die?

Questions about the afterlife are common. Many religious beliefs hold that there is life after death, with concepts of heaven, hell, or reincarnation. The specifics vary widely among different faiths.

Importantly, however, there is only one religion that possesses living empirical evidence about what happens after death, and His Name is Jesus Christ. (Christ-from the Greek word “Christos,” meaning “anointed one,” and is equivalent to the Hebrew word “Messiah.” It refers specifically to Jesus, whom Christians believe to be the promised savior and king foretold in the Hebrew Bible).

It was witnessed by scores of people and is recorded in biblical historical accounts that Jesus was killed (crucified), died, buried, and rose again from the dead. The Bible says that by this act Jesus conquered death, hell, and the grave, as stated in Revelation 1:18, where He declares, “I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

This is central to the Christian faith, affirming that through His resurrection, believers have hope and assurance of eternal life.

Jesus demonstrated for all who would believe in Him what happens after death. But He did not stop there.  He has explained what will happen to each repentant believer after death.

From Jesus’ own words, we learn that believers:

One notable feature of Jesus’ teaching is that He places the emphasis less on the place believers go after death than on the Person they will be with. His promises repeatedly center on Himself:

• “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
• “I will receive you to Myself.” (John 14:3)
• “Whoever believes in Me will live.” (John 11:25)
• “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)

For Jesus, the greatest hope of the believer after death is not simply entering heaven, but entering unbroken fellowship with Him. This aligns with His high-priestly prayer in John 17:24: “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am,” where Jesus expresses His desire that His followers share His presence and behold His glory.

The Intermediate State (between death and resurrection)

• The body remains in the grave.
• The soul is consciously with Christ.
• The believer experiences peace, joy, and fellowship with the Lord while awaiting the resurrection.

The Final State (after Christ returns)

When Jesus returns:

• The dead in Christ are raised.
• Their bodies are transformed into glorified, imperishable bodies.
• Body and soul are reunited.
• Believers live forever in the new heavens and new earth.

Paul summarizes this hope:

“And so we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)

A Simple Timeline

This is only true for those who have given themselves to Jesus through faith. For it is by God’s grace through faith that we are saved. It is a gift of God-not earned by works (our deeds). Call on Him now, in faith, and you will not be disappointed. Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:11-13). Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

(Those who do not believe on the Name of Jesus are condemned to an eternity of darkness and fire by their unbelief. John 3:16-18.)