For which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. —2 Timothy 1:12

God is going to be God, whether the answer to your prayer ever manifests or not. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego looked death in the eye and said, “Our God is more than able to deliver us, but even if he doesn’t we will still serve Him” (cf. Daniel 3:16-18).

Settle it in your mind and in your spirit once and for all that you are committed to God and His ordinances. Determine that, come what may, you are going to serve Him in loving obedience.

We all know what to do when God is speaking to us. It is when He is silent that those who have not settled it begin to falter in their walk. You will stumble over every rock of adversity the devil tosses in your path, unless you can shout like Timothy with the conviction of knowing in whom you believe.

Ambivalence leads to double-mindedness. God cannot use a double-minded man (James 1:7-8). Settle in your mind that you will have single-minded devotion to Christ. Settle it before the storm comes.

Jesus, I have settled the Lordship issue
in my life. You are Lord. You are Master.
You are my King. You alone will I obey.
Amen.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. —Philippians 2:5

To take on the mind of Christ is to adapt an attitude of expendability. By attitude I mean perspective. Paul said he took upon himself “the very nature of a servant.” Jesus saw Himself as a servant the whole time He lived. In a word: meekness. Quiet obedience, making no protest. It was a lifestyle. It was His pursuit. This brings us to a question: Do we want the mind of Christ to be in us? How much do we want it? For Jesus it was a perspective, a passion, a pursuit. He lived this way.

Now, some may say, “Well, I did that once; I know what that is.” But with Jesus it was an ongoing lifestyle, and we too are called to this lifestyle from now on. It is one thing to have a week of living like this; it’s another to make it a lifestyle. Some may say, “I don’t have to live this way now; I have paid my dues.” We will never have the mind of Christ in us until this becomes a perspective that is a lifestyle with which we are going to live twenty-four hours a day, every day of our lives. No change!

To get a little closer to the meaning, we must look at what this attitude involves. Essentially, it is a self-emptying attitude. Jesus relinquished what rightfully belonged to Him. Are we like that? Are we always so concerned about our reputation that what people think of us is so important? Yet there is one who made Himself of no reputation.

We think ourselves so important—”Well, I’ve got to be there,” “I’m needed,” “What will happen if I’m not there?”—and we become sensitive and easily offended. We wear our egos—and our feelings—on our sleeves. Anything can upset us. This is because we do not think of ourselves as being expendable. But Jesus, who was the greatest gift there ever was to the human race, made no such claims. He humbled Himself even to death on a cross. Greatness is having this conviction of self-expendability.

Excerpted from Meekness and Majesty (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1992, 2000).

In response to the recent lawsuit filed against Bishop Eddie Long, Bishop Paul Morton recently spoke out against Long, calling him to apologize and repent.

Long, pastor of Atlanta’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in May quietly settled the sexual misconduct lawsuits filed against him, after he vowed to his congregation he would fight.

Four men—all former members of Long’s church now in their early 20s—claim the pastor used gifts, trips and money to coerce them into engaging in sex acts with him beginning when they were 17 or 18. Because the men were over the age of consent in Georgia, which is 16, no criminal charges were filed.

In a message posted online on Tuesday, Morton publicly called out Long and said he should apologize to the men who sued him. “If the settlement has already been made they can’t sue you again, but you can apologize,” he said. “Some people will stay with you, some people gonna leave you, but you’ve got to leave that up to God. Those are the consequences for the sins that we do.”

Long initially denied the allegations and promised he would fight the suit, telling his congregation of 25,000: “I want you to know, I am not a perfect man, but this thing I’m gonna fight.”

While he has not publicly spoken about the settlement, Long’s church released a statement: “After a series of discussions, all parties involved have decided to resolve the civil cases out of court. This decision was made to bring closure to this matter and to allow us to move forward with the plans God has for this ministry.”

Morton went on to talk about Luke 17:3-4: “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him” (v. 3). “I’m rebuking him today,” Morton proclaimed. “That’s what the Bible told me to do. I’ve got the power to do that. Here’s what the Bible says: If he repent, forgive him. I can’t forgive somebody that does not repent.”

Morton explained the importance of repenting and said Long should not worry about what people will think of him. “God can turn your situation around and give you a second chance; just repent! Just let the body of Christ know. Don’t just ignore the situation.”

“All I’m waiting for is for you to repent. I’ll talk to people on your behalf to say this man has repented. We’ve got to forgive him of his sin and let the church roll on,” he said. “That’s what the body of Christ has to do.”

Despite the persecution and risk associated with assisting believers there, Bibles are being sent to Iran.

Iran ranks second only to North Korea for its poor treatment of Christians, according to Open Doors’ World Watch List. Believers make up a tiny minority of the nation and pay dearly for their faith.

And yet amid this severe atmosphere, Christ followers are determined to remain in their country and spread the Word. Their persistence is working, and the home church movement is booming—especially among Iranian youth.

“We just believe this is a tremendous opportunity to put Scriptures into the hands of young believers; the youth in that country are incredibly open to the gospel,” says Ken Leggatt with WorldServe Ministries in Canada. “It’s an incredibly youthful nation as well,” Leggatt adds.

The total median age of an Iranian is about 26 years old (as opposed to the U.S. median of 36 years old), and the number of these young people in the nation looking for change is high. Many are welcoming digression from the old oppressive regime of Iran and extremism. Getting Bibles into the country so they can read and learn more for themselves is crucial.

With all this in mind, WorldServe has chosen Iran to be the first recipient of their Million Bible Challenge. “We’re making our first shipment of Bibles toward the goal, and that’s 10,000 Farsi New Testaments and Psalms that is going to be distributed to believers in Iran,” says Leggatt.

There’s a serious risk to doing this type of distribution. “Back in December, you’ll recall that the day after Christmas there was an arrest of about 25 church leaders,” Leggatt reminds us. “Many of those people were detained for months and suffered at the hands of their captors. “

But church leaders are determined, and when distribution is finished, the impact could be significant.

Of course, Iran is in need of more than just these 10,000 Bibles. Leggatt says one partner mentioned, “If there was 10 million Bibles to go into the country right now, that wouldn’t satisfy the demand for the Word of God.”

Still, these initial 10,000 will touch at least that many lives, and the need for more indicates seeking and open people. As Leggatt puts it, “It’s another drop in the bucket, but eventually, enough drops and it’ll fill it up.”

Pray that those who are searching for truth in Iran would find their way to friends with these Bibles. Pray that the self-authenticating Word of God would transform many Iranian hearts looking for more.

The Million Bible Challenge is just getting started. To help WorldServe send the other 990,000 Bibles to India, Cuba, Ethiopia, Vietnam, China and more, click here.

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Sunil Damral was shocked when the police came to his house with a search warrant. Sunil, who serves on a GFA film team, had no choice but to allow them to search through his equipment. The police did not find anything out of order, so they left.

Sunil later learned that someone had filed a legal complaint against him, saying he was using force, fraud and allurement to get people to convert to Christianity. The state where Sunil lives has legal statutes, known as “freedom of religion laws,” which have strict guidelines that a person must follow when they want to change their faith. In reality, the laws mostly target Christian pastors and laypeople who share their faith.

The police told him the complaint against him indicated that he was also carrying illegal weapons with his film equipment.

The case took a disturbing turn when Sunil learned the name of the person who filed the case against him—Pumaran Chacko, who is a believer! Pumaran, his wife and all six of his children are followers of Jesus.

Sunil learned that Pumaran was also responsible for another unsettling incident in which two men tried to physically assault Sunil. The Lord protected Sunil from that attack. The would-be assailants confessed to the botched attack. So far, Pumaran has managed to elude police.

Sunil is asking fellow believers to pray for Pumaran, asking God to deliver him from the trap of evil and that he will repent of his sins.

In response to the recent lawsuit filed against Bishop Eddie Long,
Bishop Paul Morton recently spoke out against Long, calling him to
apologize and repent.

Long, pastor of Atlanta’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in
May quietly settled
the sexual misconduct lawsuits filed against him, after he vowed to
his congregation he would fight.

Four men—all former members of Long’s church now in their early
20s—claim the pastor used gifts, trips and money to coerce them
into engaging in sex acts with him beginning when they were 17 or 18.
Because the men were over the age of consent in Georgia, which is 16,
no criminal charges were filed.

In a message posted online on Tuesday, Morton publicly called out
Long and said he should apologize to the men who sued him. “If the
settlement has already been made they can’t sue you again, but you
can apologize,” he said. “Some people will stay with you, some
people gonna leave you, but you’ve got to leave that up to God. Those
are the consequences for the sins that we do.”

Long initially denied the allegations and promised he would fight
the suit, telling his congregation of 25,000: “I want you to know,
I am not a perfect man, but this thing I’m gonna fight.”

While he has not publicly spoken about the settlement, Long’s
church released a statement: “After a series of discussions, all
parties involved have decided to resolve the civil cases out of
court. This decision was made to bring closure to this matter and to
allow us to move forward with the plans God has for this ministry.”

Morton went on to talk about Luke 17:3-4: “If your brother sins
against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him” (v. 3).
“I’m rebuking him today,” Morton proclaimed. “That’s what the
Bible told me to do. … I’ve got the power to do that. Here’s what
the Bible says: If he
repent, forgive him. I can’t forgive somebody that does not repent.”

Morton explained the importance of repenting and said Long should
not worry about what people will think of him. “God can turn your
situation around and give you a second chance; just repent! … Just
let the body of Christ know. Don’t just ignore the situation.”

“All I’m waiting for is for you to repent. I’ll talk to people
on your behalf to say this man has repented. We’ve got to forgive him
of his sin and let the church roll on,” he said. “That’s what the
body of Christ has to do.”

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Despite the persecution and risk associated with assisting believers there, Bibles are being sent to Iran.

Iran ranks second only to North Korea for its poor treatment of
Christians, according to Open Doors’ World Watch List. Believers make up
a tiny minority of the nation and pay dearly for their faith.

And yet amid this severe atmosphere, Christ followers are determined to
remain in their country and spread the Word. Their persistence is
working, and the home church movement is booming—especially among
Iranian youth.

“We just believe this is a tremendous opportunity to put Scriptures into
the hands of young believers; the youth in that country are incredibly
open to the gospel,” says Ken Leggatt with WorldServe Ministries in Canada. “It’s an incredibly youthful nation as well,” Leggatt adds.

The total median age of an Iranian is about 26 years old (as opposed to
the U.S. median of 36 years old), and the number of these young people
in the nation looking for change is high. Many are welcoming digression
from the old oppressive regime of Iran and extremism. Getting Bibles
into the country so they can read and learn more for themselves is
crucial.

With all this in mind, WorldServe has chosen Iran to be the first
recipient of their Million Bible Challenge. “We’re making our first
shipment of Bibles toward the goal, and that’s 10,000 Farsi New
Testaments and Psalms that is going to be distributed to believers in
Iran,” says Leggatt.

There’s a serious risk to doing this type of distribution. “Back in
December, you’ll recall that the day after Christmas there was an arrest
of about 25 church leaders,” Leggatt reminds us. “Many of those people
were detained for months and suffered at the hands of their captors. ”

But church leaders are determined, and when distribution is finished, the impact could be significant.

Of course, Iran is in need of more than just these 10,000 Bibles.
Leggatt says one partner mentioned, “If there was 10 million Bibles to
go into the country right now, that wouldn’t satisfy the demand for the
Word of God.”

Still, these initial 10,000 will touch at least that many lives, and the
need for more indicates seeking and open people. As Leggatt puts it,
“It’s another drop in the bucket, but eventually, enough drops and it’ll
fill it up.”

Pray that those who are searching for truth in Iran would find their way
to friends with these Bibles. Pray that the self-authenticating Word of
God would transform many Iranian hearts looking for more.

The Million Bible Challenge is just getting started. To help WorldServe
send the other 990,000 Bibles to India, Cuba, Ethiopia, Vietnam, China
and more, click here.

A key Church of God of Prophecy leader has died in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bishop Ntambwe Beya, 57, passed away on June 18 of natural causes. Beya had served as the COGP’s national bishop in the DRC since 1998. He was involved in leadership on a national level in the Congo for more than 25 years.

According to the COGP’s Global Outreach Ministries, Beya had been struggling over the past several months with health issues—mainly diabetes. In mid-June he became very ill and developed a high fever. He was admitted to the hospital on June 16 and passed away two days later.

“Bishop Ntambwe Beya has born the burden of leading in the great harvest environment of the Democratic Republic of Congo while trying to plant churches, train and equip new and emerging pastors, structure and organize in a time of colossal growth and colossal in flow into our ministries and many other ministries. In the midst of that we are so grieved that he has passed away,” Bishop Randall Howard, general overseer of the Church of God of Prophecy, told Charisma News.

Diminutive in stature, Beya was the COPG’s first native national bishop of the DRC, taking the baton of leadership from Bishop Levi Clarke and expanding the work into the surrounding nations of Angola, Chad, Congo Brazzaville and the Central African Republic. Under his tenure the gospel work of the COPG exploded in the Congo from 12,000 to more than 650,000 and spread to almost every corner of this impoverished nation.

Despite the difficult economic and political conditions in this nation, Beya led resourcefully and organized new churches into new districts. His aggressive spirit is evident in a 2001 report which began, “We are living in the last days during which the devil holds an ace up his sleeves, trying to touch any level so that people could declare he is powerful and witty. “Our God never falls into sleep. ” Even though we do not know what can happen to us in the future, we do know that our God is already there.”

This intrepid leader traveled many miles across his nation by car, bus and on foot, visiting cities and remote areas carrying the gospel. He noted the qualities of others and placed them in leadership roles. In one report on the various districts into which he had divided the work for more effective administration, he noted regarding one superintendent: “[he] is [an] incredibly worthy one in God’s affairs. A tender man, calm, and above all spiritual his ears are always turned to God’s voice.”

“Bishop Beya was a marvelous man. There is no doubt that part of the reason for his death is sacrificial giving, living and going to extend the gospel into the Congo,” Howard says. “The Church of God of Prophecy honors the memory of Bishop Ntambwe Beya and the ministry of leadership that he has contributed to our ministries and the kingdom of God and the Democratic Republic of Congo and we mourn his loss and pray for his family.”

Beya’s passing leaves a tremendous void not only in his family but in the ranks of Africa’s leadership, since he served on the Africa Administrative Committee, working closely with Bishop Sherman O. Allen, General Presbyter for Africa. Beya is survived by his wife, Mputu, their children, family members and co-laborers in the Lord.

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Sunil Damral was shocked when
the police came to his house with a search warrant. Sunil, who serves
on a GFA film team, had no choice but to allow them to search through
his equipment. The police did not find anything out of order, so they
left.

Sunil later learned that someone had filed a legal complaint against
him, saying he was using force, fraud and allurement to get people to
convert to Christianity. The state where Sunil lives has legal statutes,
known as “freedom of religion laws,” which have strict guidelines that a
person must follow when they want to change their faith. In reality,
the laws mostly target Christian pastors and laypeople who share their
faith.

The police told him the complaint against him indicated that he was also carrying illegal weapons with his film equipment.

The case took a disturbing turn when Sunil learned the name of the
person who filed the case against him—Pumaran Chacko, who is a believer!
Pumaran, his wife and all six of his children are followers of Jesus.

Sunil learned that Pumaran was also responsible for another
unsettling incident in which two men tried to physically assault Sunil.
The Lord protected Sunil from that attack. The would-be assailants
confessed to the botched attack. So far, Pumaran has managed to elude
police.

Sunil is asking fellow believers to pray for Pumaran, asking God to
deliver him from the trap of evil and that he will repent of his sins.

AP Photo

Dozens of gay couples are planning to converge on Albany, N.Y., Thursday to witness what would be a historic vote to legalize gay marriage in New York. But for that to happen, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s considerable political skills will be tested as never before to engineer one of the biggest social changes in a generation.

The Democrat has been using a kind of shuttle diplomacy to privately test proposals for additional religious exceptions within the Senate’s Republican majority. He’s talked to individual senators or small groups of lawmakers privately, breaking down barriers and letting them take his message to others in the Republican caucus.

The proposed protections are aimed at saving religious groups from discrimination lawsuits if they refuse to recognize gay marriage based on their principles.

Those exceptions—carve-outs in the political lexicon—are intended to coax the state Senate’s Republican majority, most who oppose gay marriage, to allow the bill to the Senate where Cuomo thinks it will pass by a bipartisan vote led by Democrats. He’s made the issue one of his primary objectives in his first year in office.

“Will the conference allow a vote to be taken, that’s the threshold,” Cuomo said Wednesday evening. “I’m pro-marriage equality, I’m also pro-First Amendment, I’m pro-church-state separation and I’m pro-religious freedom. So I also have the same concern.”

Click here to read the rest of this story from the Associated Press.