Dr. Michael Brown was recently assailed by anti-missionaries near Jerusalem’s Ben Judah Market. They were upset with him for being a missionary and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, and shouted, “We don’t believe in Yeshu [Jesus]!” See how Dr. Michael Brown responded in that situation in this short video. How would you have responded?
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for all of those who have died serving in the United States’ armed forces.
We are so blessed to live in a nation full of freedom. This freedom was not free. Without the sacrifice of our soldiers, we surely would not have the nation that we have today. We so often take for granted our many blessings. This shouldn’t be. Memorial Day is an opportunity for us to not take things for granted.
In John 15:13 Jesus said, “Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Those who have sacrificed their lives in defense of our freedom, and to protect their brothers in arms, point to the type of sacrificial love that Jesus was talking about. Though Christ’s sacrifice was the ultimate sacrifice, had eternal consequences, and cannot be compared to any other sacrifice, it is OK for us to feel a weightiness and appreciation concerning those who laid down their lives for our country.
We who are living have a responsibility to not allow the sacrifice of those who gave their lives while protecting this this nation to be in vain. Our modern American culture is one of narcissism and selfishness. Many people see Memorial Day as just a day to get some incredible sales, not have to go to work, and have barbecues with their families. It is so much more than that.
So, this Memorial Day, I would like to call you to do several things to honor the lives of those who died in service.
As Christians, God does not want us divorced from politics and social issues. We live in a nation that has had to be protected from outside forces. Right now, there are political and social forces that are trying to undermine the Christian fabric of our nation from within. Too many have given the ultimate sacrifice of their lives to protect our nation from outside threats for us to sit idly by as our nation falls apart from within. So, this Memorial Day, I would like to challenge you to see the times we are living in and fulfill your responsibility to be a bold voice of truth, morality and righteousness for our nation. Stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ. To do so would be the best way to truly honor those who have given their lives for the nation. {eoa}
David Hoffman is an evangelist and the director of Kingdom Enterprises, an outreach and evangelism ministry in Tucson, Arizona. His passions are to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ, ignite a passion for evangelism within the lives of believers and help equip them to live Spirit-filled and Spirit-empowered lives. For more information or to contact him, please go to HisKingdomEnterprises.
Each year, I try to think of how to depict Memorial Day in Israel in a way that’s meaningful and juxtapose it in relation to how it’s observed in the US. Many thoughts race through my head. And each year. I see Memorial Day through a different prism.
This year’s prism is through adopting a chayal boded, a lone soldier, who moved to Israel from the U.S. alone. His home is our home, and while we don’t get to see him every day because he’s in the army, his experiences trickle down and provide a perspective through which we look at military service differently, with added appreciation and respect, particularly vis a vis someone who had other choices and who chose to make his life here, defending his people, far from his family.
I look at this Memorial Day through the prism of two soldiers who died in the past months. Neither of the ones who I am thinking of died in combat, but both were connected to people with whom we are close, so the grief trickles down immediately. There are no six degrees of separation.
One of these young men was the son of neighbors. After his death, they described how the army was not only not to blame but actually fulfilled and completed his life. In their grief, they were grateful.
As I get older and so do my friends, there are many more celebrations of our children joining the army, being recruited by elite units, getting promoted, and trying out for these elite units. Our children joining the army is a fact of life here, but the older you and your friends get, the more real it becomes, and the more you think about it with tremendous pride, but still thoughts of “what if” that we suppress.
This year, I know that by this time next year, my oldest son will be in the army. He wants to be in an elite combat unit. He’s preparing himself this year, physically and spiritually. I’m proud of him, his growth, his sense of commitment and responsibility. But part of me still thinks of him as the 5-year-old boy who moved to Israel and who commented after the accidental death of another soldier from our community who was the older brother of his friend, “Don’t worry Ima and Abba, I’m not going to jump out of airplanes when I am in the army.”
This year, as every year, there was a minute of silence on the night ushering in Memorial Day, and two minutes the following morning. Both begin state memorial ceremonies that are televised nationally, but thousands of other memorials take place. This year we memorialized 26,780 soldiers and terror victims who lost their lives. We try to comfort their families.
This year, as every year, TV and radio programming is all, and only, related to somber reflection. As sad as it is, it’s uplifting to hear stories of brave soldiers, tragedies of terror victims and how they each lived valuable, meaningful and impactful lives. It allows us to pay our respect by having a personal sense of the loss so many experience individually. But the longer I’m in Israel the more I am connected to personal stories of loss. During the long minutes of silence we observe, I think about the growing number of casualties, and the growing number of those to whom I am connected, at least indirectly.
During the televised ceremony at Israel’s national military cemetery, I was struck by three of the VIPs sitting next to one another. Prime Minister Netanyahu lost his brother in 1976 as a hero of Operation Entebbe, and is not just sensitive to, but a representative of, the bereaved families. He sat next to President Rivlin, whose family has been in Israel for hundreds of years, an anchor of Jewish life in Israel. Next to the President was Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein, who was a former Soviet prisoner of Zion and came to Israel after being released from a Soviet gulag in May 1987. In so many ways, they represent the mosaic of the people who live in Israel.
And in so many ways more than any other day of the year, Memorial Day is the day that brings Israelis together, because it’s hard to find one who’s not been touched by tragedy, and certainly not to find one who doesn’t live in fear of it.
During that ceremony, the Prime Minister told a story of a man who lost his life in the War of Independence whose great grandson, from my community, was killed in our 2014 war in Gaza. It was sad enough then that a young man my daughter’s age had just died in combat. Hearing that two generations of this family have been bereaved is shocking, and not something we wish to pass along.
The ceremony took place in a new memorial to the nearly 24,000 soldiers who have died, with the name of every one inscribed on a stone that make up the walls. I’d never seen the building before. What was shocking is that it was built with what appears to be at least another 24,000 blank stones, ready to be inscribed for future casualties. It’s hard to plan for that and yet remain hopeful. The reality is that this is our reality. It probably will be that way for the rest of my life, at least.
But we pray that from this Memorial Day there will be no new casualties. If not this year, one day soon. We pray that there will be no more losses, no more bereaved families, not in one generation and certainly not in two.
In Israel, unlike the US, it is not the start of summer holidays, sales or a time to wish anyone a “Happy Memorial Day.” May your Memorial Day be one of meaningful reflection and appreciation. {eoa}
Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes a regular column for Standing With Israelat . He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@.
“Why me, Lord?” Have you ever asked God that question? “Why not pick somebody else for this? Why am I always the one going through the fire?”
In the good times we say, “Lord, I love You.” We quote, “Oh, in the volume of the book it is written of me I delight to do Your will, O Lord.” Then we add, “Father take me, mold me, use me. Take my life and let it be consecrated to Thee.”
We say all this until God asks us to do something or go through something that is very uncomfortable—something we have never done or experienced before.
Then, we start singing a different tune. “I’ve never passed this way before, Lord. It’s dark, and I’m not sure where I’m going. I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. You’re making me step into the unknown.
“Yes, I know you’re holding my hand. Yes, I know You are more concerned about me than the many sparrows You carefully watch over. I know you have numbered the very hairs on my head. I know You will never leave me or forsake me, but Lord—I don’t know about this thing!”
“This thing doesn’t make any sense. This thing goes beyond my ability to understand. Why are you doing this, Lord? I’m going to trust you in it, but I don’t understand it. I can’t do this by myself. Carry me, Lord. Let me know You are with me in it.”
We have all experienced those times when our world falls apart. Nothing is working out as it should. We receive awesome prophetic words about future ministry, husbands, families, wealth—and get so excited! But just when everything seems to be going well, the bottom falls out. Our entire world is shaken.
We are lied about in ministry. Our husband has an affair with our best friend. A member of our family is diagnosed with a terminal disease. We realize we are trapped in a bad relationship we can’t dissolve. We lose our job and are facing eviction. Or, we become so sick ourselves that we want to die.
Have you ever been tempted in those times to ask, “Why me, Lord?”
I am sure Joseph must have been tempted this way. He knew His destiny was to rule—but he found himself at the bottom of a pit, discarded by his own brothers. Later, just when it appeared he was beginning to walk in purpose, he was consigned to prison—for rightly fleeing from his master’s wife when she tried to seduce him!
Do you think Joseph might have asked, “Why me, Lord?” and “Where are You in all this?”
Ah, but God had a higher purpose for Joseph. He was preparing him to save two nations.
We tend to see our circumstances through our natural eyes. We live in time and space, so we live in today. But God lives and sees in eternity. He sees the end from the beginning. He knows the outcome already. And He knows the plans He has for us—plans for good and not evil, to give us an expected end (see Jer. 29:11).
Those who stood at the foot of the cross on Calvary and watched Jesus die lived in agony for a time. Perhaps they asked, “Why, Lord?” Then they heard Him cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Though Jesus prophesied His own resurrection, they did not understand and could not anticipate the eventual glorious outcome of this terrible scene.
Ah, but we know that God had a greater purpose for Jesus: to save the lost and reproduce Himself in a new creation called “the sons of God” who would be joint heirs with Him in God’s kingdom.
The Lord has allowed me to go through some intense spiritual warfare that caused me to ask, “Why?” I encountered situations that I had never had to face before. I felt lost and abandoned as I walked this unknown territory.
But God had not abandoned me. I discovered that there were areas of my life not yet yielded to His lordship. I had to totally abandon myself once again to His plan and purpose. In the process He did a deep work within me, and when I asked Him, “Why, Lord?” His response was simply, “For the greater purpose.”
Perhaps you are going through something you don’t understand. You are bombarded on every side with doubts, fears, and uncertainties. Know that you can trust God in and through your circumstances. Know that He has a plan for you, and the end result is good.
Even more important, know that there is a higher purpose you can’t see yet—one that may include your being the means of salvation for someone else. Just as Joseph was used to save two nations, and Jesus to bring salvation to the world, so the Lord will use you for His greater purpose.
You may not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but you know the one who is holding that light! Are you willing to trust Him to lead you through? He will turn your trial around for your good—and answer your “Why, Lord?” by pointing to the fulfillment of His plans.
Prayer Power for the Week of May 20, 2018
This week, surrender yourself anew to the Lord and yield yourself to be used for His higher purpose. Thank Him that His plans for you are good and will bear much fruit for His kingdom. Pray for fellow Christians that are being persecuted for their faith. Continue to ask the Lord to send more laborers into His harvest fields and ask Him to show you what you can do to extend His kingdom. Continue to pray for our nation and its leaders, Israel and our allies, those serving in the military and first responders. Read Jeremiahs 29:11, Romans 8:28.
Leviathan is a mind-control spirit, Lance Wallnau says, and will work to distract you. This is especially evident in the mainstream media, Wallnau tells the Bakkers on a recent episode of The Jim Bakker Show. “They’re starting to target evangelicals and Christians right now,” Wallnau says. “So they said, ‘Let’s pick apart this Cyrus-Trump thing.'” And that’s when Leviathan started to work.
Christian singer and vlogger Jamie Grace recently married Aaron Collins, thrilling the hearts of her fans. “I’m really happy to be married to Aaron because he’s my best friend and the coolest person in the entire world,” Grace says in a recent video update. And, boy, is she smitten. Eight is the number of new beginnings, Grace says, so she has eight things to share about her new marriage. Take a look.
Memorial Day is an American holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May as a day for remembering and honoring the courageous men and women who have died for the cause of freedom while serving in our military. Several other countries have similar, solemn occasions, generally dating to the end of World War I and known as Remembrance Day.
Originally observed in our land following the Civil War, it was known as Decoration Day, as mourners decorated with flowers the graves of both the Union and Confederate soldiers. In the last 100 years alone, more than 600,000 American men and women have given their lives so that we all may live in freedom.
This year, it is more than appropriate that we pause and consciously remember and honor those who have served in our nation’s defense and those who have made the ultimate personal sacrifice for our freedoms. Take time to reflect upon the lives of those who have gone before us to their eternal reward. Give thanks to God for what religious freedoms we still enjoy.
As we do, also remember the one who gave His life for our ultimate and eternal freedom (Gal. 2:20), as expressed in these lyrics by Kurt Kaiser.
“O How He Loves You and Me”
Jesus to Calvary did go, His love for sinners to show./ What He did there brought hope from despair./ O how He loves you; O how He loves me;/ O how He loves you and me!
I have three children past their teen years, and I currently have four teens in our home. Let’s pause right now as I ask for prayer. Do you also have a teen—an emotion-filled creature—in your house? I’ll pause and say a prayer for you too.
One thing I’ve learned with these teens is that their emotions run deep. Here are a few things you really need to know about their emotions.
1. Teens feel everything very deeply. It may seem as if teens are just being dramatic, but the emotions are real. All emotions—good and bad—are felt toward the extreme.
Hormones in teens are a very real thing. Hormones cause emotions to swing, and it’s important to help teens understand that. I let my teens know that when I’m hormonal, I feel as if everything’s wrong with the world—but it’s just the hormones. Because we talk about it, my teen daughters often tell me, “I’m ready to start my cycle; if I act crazy, tell me to chill.”
And even though it may not be as obvious or drastic, teen boys deal with emotions too. Yet while hormones do play a part, it’s more than that. Just as your teen is growing and developing during puberty, your teen’s brain is too.
With these changes, a teen’s emotion centers are heightened. The big, dramatic emotions feel real, and most of the time your teen is just as overwhelmed and surprised by these emotions as you are.
2. Teens lack common sense. Not only are they emotional, but teens are also impulsive. Your teen’s frontal cortex is still developing. Even though teens look like adults, they don’t have the same thinking skills. The developing frontal cortex is associated with decision-making, insight, judgment and inhibitory control. They really do lack common sense and aren’t able to think things through as adults can. This leads to impulsive decision-making. It’s not just your teen—it’s all teens.
3. Teen brains have big needs. First, because of all the rapid growth and changes, teens need sleep. Because of all the growth and changes, their bodies need more rest: about 9-10 hours a night. They also need good nutrition. Teens who don’t eat right become irritable and depressed. Good nutrition is needed to feed the changing brain. Teens also need physical exercise. Studies show that when kids are active, it actually helps brain development. {eoa}
Tricia Goyer is a busy mom of 10, grandmother of two and wife to John. Somewhere around the hustle and bustle of family life, she manages to find the time to write fictional tales, delighting and entertaining readers and non-fiction titles, offering encouragement and hope. A best-selling author, Tricia has published 50 books to date and has written more than 500 articles. She is a two-time Carol Award winner as well as a Christy and ECPA Award nominee. To connect with Tricia, go to or
This article originally appeared at .
“David said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine'” (1 Sam. 17:32).
Young David went to face the “champion of the Philistines.” As the unofficial champion of Almighty God, he had a champion faith which enabled him to take out his adversary.
You and I will need that kind of champion faith in these last days as well. This is because Jesus said in Luke 21:26 “men [will faint] from fear and expectation of what is coming on the inhabited earth. For the powers of heaven will be shaken.”
Think about David as he looked at all of Saul’s army hiding in the trenches, shivering with fear because of Goliath’s roar of blasphemy. He wasn’t overcome because everyone else was, but on the contrary, their cowardice made him angry and more determined to destroy the enemy whom he knew was already a defeated foe.
“When all Israel’s fighting men saw the man, they fled from him, and were very afraid. … David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, ‘What will be done for the man that kills this Philistine and takes away this reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?'” (1 Sam. 17:24, 26).
David had one thing on his mind, and that was the fact that Goliath was not only his enemy but was defying Almighty God and therefore in deep trouble. David knew God would need someone to use executing vengeance upon His enemy, so he stepped up to the plate and said, “It might as well be me.”
Praise the Lord! We should remember that our enemies are God’s enemies because we have a covenant with God. He will defeat them by using one of us as His champion, just as He did with Jesus when He walked this earth.
Jesus was God’s champion, who through the Holy Ghost, defeated every enemy he faced which was threatening the future of the people of God (Acts 10:38).
You can defeat that which stands in opposition to God’s plan for your life.
What are some of the steps we can learn from David that will help us develop this championship faith as well? What made David different from all the rest of his contemporaries that brought him to his great destiny in God?
First we should know that David was a youth, a mere boy of about 15 years. This tells me David didn’t wait until he was an adult to get to know God. David was not a time waster when it came to his spiritual life.
During those early years while herding his father’s sheep, he developed qualities that enabled him to step up to the plate when his opportunity for advancement came.
Many people are unprepared for the day of opportunity because they have wasted so much time after becoming a believer. Instead of pressing in while a spiritual youth through prayer, fasting and study of God’s Word, many have allowed the cares of life and an unbiblical value system to rob them of time needed for preparing themselves for God’s plan in the future.
God is preparing you for the day of battle, because the day of battle is also the day of advancement. Don’t forget that after this battle (David vs. Goliath) a nobody became a somebody.
Did you ever wonder why you have had the seemingly tough training during your formative years as a Christian? This could be the reason; Satan will be there to defy you when it is time for promotion. You will not get to your destiny without defeating the Goliath that stands in your way. You will need championship faith in that hour.
What four qualities did David develop that enabled him to win his big battle and breakthrough to destiny?
Faithful in the Father’s House
David was tending his father’s sheep. He learned to be faithful in the house of his father.
Submission and obedience are implied in this message. We see David being faithful to duty at this time in his life. He was obeying the assignment his father had given him; to watch the sheep and to take lunch to his brothers on the battle front.
It is important that believers learn to be faithful to duties in the local church right away and develop the ability to stay under authority and do a good job while there.
Many people downplay this important part of preparation and roam about, looking for opportunity that never comes.
A Tender Heart of Worship
He was called the “sweet singer of Israel” because he developed intimacy with God while tending the sheep. He learned to draw near to God through praise and worship, allowing his heart to become tender to God. This tenderheartedness is what caused him to be so grieved when he sinned, and to immediately seek restoration with the Lord.
Many today have no grief over their sin, but continue in hardheartedness and denial of their wrongdoing. A tenderhearted worshipper cannot stay out of fellowship with God for long, but will repent and seek God’s presence.
Covenant Concepts
David also learned the key of covenant relationship while a youth. He understood that Goliath was an uncircumcised Philistine.
Circumcision was the entrance to covenant in Israel. No uncircumcised person could partake of the covenant blessings of God promised to the people. God is cutting away the flesh that hinders us from entering covenant with others that have been placed in our lives for further maturity and impartation.
Have you allowed circumcision in your life at the hand of a skilled workman who takes the sword of the spirit delicately to those areas that need to be cut away?
He Understood Faith-Principles
Lastly, David learned to speak the Word in faith when he faced the enemy. He said, “David said, “The Lord who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.’ … So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone. And he struck down the Philistine and slew him, but there was no sword in the hand of David” (1 Sam. 17:37, 50).
But there was a sword in his mouth!
When we have learned these four indispensable traits, we will be ready to both defeat our adversary and move into promotion. {eoa}
Dr. John Polis has been a TV and radio host for more than 30 years and author of 11 books now translated into six languages. Dr. John is currently president and founder of Revival Fellowship International.
When does love stop being love and become enabling?
How far do we extend grace to those around us before we’ve crossed the barrier of grace into the realm of tolerating sin?
The answers to these questions are crucial for us in these last days as false teachers are growing in number and there is a greater tolerance of sin in the body.
While First John calls us to greater maturity, loving the body of Christ in this culture of hate, he moves on his second and third letters to put some parameters around this command.
When the body is facing these circumstances, strong measures must be taken to protect the body.
Measures that to some may seem unloving or lacking in grace; but in reality are one of the greatest expressions of love and grace.
Because those pastors and church leaders are ready to lay their lives and reputations on the line to protect their sheep from those who would devour and destroy them.
It is in these moments when a shepherd is truly fulfilling his God-given role.
Second John addresses those who preach another Christ
Third John addresses church leaders who rebel against their spiritual leadership and refuse to be under authority, while abusing their own authority to manipulate the body into submission.
Jude urges the church to contend for the faith against:
Jude follows up John’s warnings with an even stronger message and then gives us seven ways Christians can avoid this kind of deception.
There are times when love of the body requires protection of the body.
There are times when loving the body means rejection of those who would:
The challenge we face in heeding John’s and Jude’s warning is that we maintain a proper heart and attitude, because it would be very easy for us to grow cynical and critical toward the body.
After all, the body is made up of flawed and broken people.
People with baggage.
People with a lot of water under the bridge. People who are in the process of being sanctified, just as we are in the process of being sanctified. There is a great difference between those who have sincere heart to love God and keep His commands and occasionally mess up and those who habitually sin.
This is why daily time in the Word and prayer is essential! How can we avoid deception when we are not intimately acquainted with the truth?
You must not rely on your pastor, favorite blogger or favorite YouTube preacher to build you up.
You need to grab your Bible, get on your knees and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to see the truth of His Word for yourself.
Build yourself up in your most holy faith!
2. Pray in the Holy Spirit.
When we are saved and we are baptized in water by immersion. But there is another gift that God has for us.
The gift of the Holy Spirit.
Being baptized in water, we are dipped into the water. This is different than being baptized in the Holy Spirit. When the pastor baptizes you in water, he doesn’t say, “Open your mouth and let me pour the water in.”
But this is exactly what happens when we’re baptized in the Holy Spirit.
It’s more than immersion, it’s a saturation!
And a sign of that immersion is a spiritual language; the ability to pray in the Holy Spirit, allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through us the will of the Father. But more than that, praying in the Holy Spirit gives ordinary people the power to do extraordinary things! It enables us to better understand the Word of God. We need the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, our Teacher. He empowers us, protects us, and teaches us all things, so that when we encounter false teachers, we can immediately discern their spirit.
3. Keep yourself in the love of God.
1 John showed us how we can keep ourselves in the love of God.
When we keep Christ’s commands, we will keep ourselves in the love of God. However, I want to emphasize that our motive for keeping Christ’s commands is crucially important!
If we keep Christ’s commands so that He loves us, we are not keeping ourselves in the love of God.
We don’t keep His commands to make Him love us. He already loves us. He loved us before we were ever saved. That’s what the cross is all about!
We keep His commands out of love for Him! When we love Him so much that we desire to keep His commands, we keep ourselves in His love.
4. Look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads unto eternal life.
The word “looking for” in the Greek actually means, to accept or be accepted into, to receive or to expect something promised.
We can actually restructure this to say, “Receive, accept, or expect the mercy (kindness, goodwill) of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads unto eternal life.”
It is the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance.
Without His mercy, we’d all be destined for hell. Hopeless.
So, while Christians have already received the mercy and kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ that has led them unto eternal life, we need to continually remind ourselves that we have eternal life only because of the mercy of God.
There is a great temptation that comes with time to suppose that somehow we’ve managed to become good enough to receive the compassion and mercy of God.
Whether or not we realize, we all battle against this tendency.
Even more, there are those who minimize the blood and sacrifice of Christ in order to elevate the good works of man as a means of redemption.
These are false teachers, from whom we must run.
5. Have compassion, but with discernment.
Discernment is a sign of maturity.
I have been in congregations where compassion was given freely, but often without discernment. The result was chaos.
There are those who will come into the church, not as sheep, not as lost souls searching for answers, but as wolves, devourers and opportunists seeking to disrupt and infect the church.
Perhaps they themselves are not even aware, but are being used as a tool of the enemy to hinder the effective work of the church to win the lost.
This is why true discernment of the Holy Spirit is needed; so we know where to pour out our compassion.
So the work of the Holy Spirit through us reaches those who are ready and willing to receive the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
6. Rescue others with fear, pulling them out of the fire.
I like to interpret this verse not only as rescuing unto salvation, but also those who have fallen prey to false teaching or even blasphemy. Rescue them! “If anyone sees his brother commit a sin which does not lead to death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life. This is for those whose sin does not lead to death” (1 John 5:16).
“When we walk in the ministry of reconciliation, given to us by God, we are continually reminded of the danger of sin and the mercy of God.
“All this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18).
7. Hate sin.
The question I ask myself often is, “Do I really hate sin?” Do I truly despise, detest, abhor those things that nailed Jesus to the cross?
Because here’s the thing:
If we don’t really hate sin, if we play around the edges of sin a bit, the enemy is opportunistic enough that he will use that as leverage to gain a foothold in our life.
When rescuing those around us, we have to be so careful that we don’t become so familiar with their sin that we begin to compromise in our own life.
And this happens more often than we would think!
There is a quote by Alexander Pope:
“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien/ As to be hated needs but to be seen;/ Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,/ We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
The danger is, when we see sin too often and become familiar with it, we begin to endure it. Then, we begin to have compassion on it—compassion without discernment.
Finally, we embrace it.
This is why Jude urges: “but others save with fear.”
In the fear of the Lord, rescue the lost, those who have wandered; knowing that if you don’t fear the Lord, you will become too familiar with their sin!
My dear sisters, I believe this is a serious and yet necessary warning for us all. We are living in a time when many false prophets and false teachers are distracting God’s people from their true call and purpose.
They are preaching another Christ!
They are watering down the gospel; they are minimizing the blood of Jesus, they are minimizing the seriousness of sin, and they are minimizing the blazes of hell.
We must protect ourselves from these.
We must protect those God has entrusted to us from these.
We must walk in compassion with discernment—not cynicism, not judgmentalism—but discerning the spirit of those in our path.
We must save the lost, but maintain the fear of the Lord, so that while living and walking among sinners, we don’t fall into the trap of sin. {eoa}
Rosilind Jukic, a Pacific Northwest native, is a missionary living in Croatia and married to her Bosnian hero. Together, they live with their two active boys, and she enjoys fruity candles, good coffee and a hot cup of herbal tea on a blustery fall evening. Her passion for writing led her to author her best-selling book The Missional Handbook. At A Little R & R she encourages women to find contentment in what God created them to be. You can also find her at Missional Call, where she shares her passion for local and global missions. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +.
This article originally appeared at .