The worlds of dating and Christianity can be two difficult worlds to merge. Find out where the lines are drawn.

Even couples who take responsibility for their actions and trust God to help them stay pure want to know when they’re crossing the line. To offer them help with this vaguely marked boundary, Jason Illian, author of Undressed: The Naked Truth About Love, Sex, and Dating first reminds singles of a simple biblical principle stated in 1 Corinthians 6:12: “‘Everything is permissible for me’—but not everything is beneficial” (NIV).

Illian then illustrates that statement with a helpful set of guidelines while comparing physical actions with rungs of a ladder.

“Every rung represents a new physical act you share in a relationship. … The higher you climb, the more physically satisfying and intimate the experience will become. However, with each step of the ladder, it becomes increasingly more dangerous.”

Rungs 1-4, Illian explains, represent activities that are permissible and can be beneficial—holding hands, hugging and cuddling, kissing, French kissing.

Rungs 5-6 are choices that are permissible but not necessarily beneficial—touching and caressing with clothes on.

Rungs 7-9, the top of the ladder, are neither permissible nor beneficial—petting and groping (under the clothes or without clothes), oral sex and intercourse.

Illian encourages couples to “draw a line and take a step back”—meaning, they ought to prayerfully consider the rung they feel comfortable climbing to “and then choose the rung right underneath it.”

For couples in the process of deciding on their physical boundaries, Mindy Meier, writing in Sex and Dating offers this cautionary observation: “A number of engaged people have shared with me that they wish they had done less sexually—sometimes with a high school girlfriend or boyfriend, sometimes with the one they are about to marry. But no one has ever said they wish they had done more.”

To set boundaries is one thing. However, to keep the standards that are set is a whole different challenge. But there are ways couples can help themselves stick to their rules.

Meier recommends having accountability partners: “Find someone of the same sex who you can be totally honest with, someone who will give you grace when you fail but not let you get by with disobedience to the Lord.”

She also suggests that couples meet in public places, where some privacy is afforded but where they can’t give in to temptation for intimacy.

Author Gary Chapman gives nonsexual examples of ways to show affection, such as words of affirmation, gifts and acts of service. To these, Meier adds “food.”

“Cooking a special meal for the person you’re dating or showing up with a well-loved snack,” she says, “are wonderful ways to say I love you.”

Most important is that a couple talk and pray about the sexual purity aspect of their relationship. God will honor the ones who pursue His standard of holiness and rely on Him for guidance and strength.

As a single person, you can “wait in the right way” by being content in God and pursuing His will while actively looking for a spouse. God created you for relationship and understands the desire you have to find a mate. Involve Him in your search, follow your passions, pursue maturity, be deliberate and don’t stop asking Him for the desires of your heart.

And keep dreaming.

In her book You Matter More Than You Think, Leslie Parrott, co-founder of the Center for Relationship Development, states, “The eventual pain that results from not dreaming—for the fear of being disappointed by an unrealized dream—will always eclipse the pain of a dream that never comes true.”

Leigh DeVore is the assistant editor of Charisma magazine.

Randy Singer reveals the
unique inspiration for his new book, False Witness. He also discusses
how a trip to India changed his perspective.

Q:  Where
did you first get your inspiration for False Witness?

At a funeral.

The deceased was David O’Malley, a good
friend and former client. His wife had asked me to give the eulogy. I talked
about David’s generosity, his big heart. He was always inviting someone to live
at his house until they could get back on their feet. He ran a used car lot and
hired people down on their luck. David believed in second chances. And he was a
character. He had this larger-than-life personality that made people laugh. He
sang in a gospel quartet. Everybody had a David O’Malley story. Heads nodded as
I shared mine.

David’s pastor followed me in the pulpit. He
spoke about a man named Thomas Kelly. The man was a scoundrel involved in
organized crime. He turned on everyone he knew. Jaws dropped and the mourners
stared in disbelief at this pastor. The man had clearly lost his mind! “You
don’t think you know Thomas Kelly, but you do,” the pastor insisted. “David
O’Malley was Thomas Kelly before he went into the witness protection
program—before he came to the Lord.”

Prior to that moment, the only people that
knew about David’s past were the government, his family, myself, and his
pastor. The men he had testified against had died in prison. His wife had
obtained the government’s permission to reveal his past. There was utter
silence as the pastor concluded with a line I will never forget. “The
government can give you a new identity,” he said. “But only Christ can change
your life.”

“That would make a good book,” I thought. I hope I was right.

 Q: 
Your book also includes in its theme the plight of the church in India. When
did you first become familiar with India and its caste system?

I took a trip to
India with a group from my church in 2009. The culture was amazing. The cities
were alive with commerce, technology and development. This was India shining, a
new world economic giant. In the rural areas, we saw the colorful traditions of
a proud, hospitable and hard-working culture, a relaxed contrast to the
frenzied city life. But everywhere we went, we also encountered the
underpinnings of the caste system and our hearts were captured by the struggle
of the lowest castes to overcome centuries of economic and educational
discrimination, as well as social isolation. I was particularly moved by the
plight of the Dalit children, struggling to get a good education so that their
generation might rise above the oppression and gain real equality and human
dignity.

The leaders of the
Christian church in India helped us understand that while India has passed many
laws guaranteeing equality for the Dalits, the fabric of society still
oppresses them at every turn. We knew that we needed to become engaged in the
human rights struggles of the lowest castes in India. It is, in the words of
one leader, the struggle for the soul of a civilization.

 Q:  Who are
the Dalits?

The Dalits, formerly
called the “untouchables,” comprise nearly one quarter of India’s society, with
population estimates of 250 million people. The term Dalit means “those
who have been broken and ground down deliberately by those above them in the
social hierarchy.” Dalits live at risk of discrimination, dehumanization,
violence and enslavement through human trafficking every day. By all global
research and reports, the Dalits constitute the largest number of people
categorized as victims of modern-day slavery.

Q:  You are donating all the proceeds from your book to the Dalit
Freedom Network (DFN). What is the DFN?

The Dalit Freedom
Network is a human rights, nongovernment organization that partners with the
Dalit people in India. The DFN represents a vast network of justice-minded,
modern-day abolitionists committed to bringing freedom to history’s
longest-standing oppressed people group. The DFN believes that we can end Dalit
injustices, such as human trafficking and child labor, and make slavery history
in India. Major partners include Operation Mercy India Foundation (OMIF) and
the All-India Confederation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe
Organizations (SC-ST Confederation).

 Q:  What can
we do to help the DFN?

You can become
involved in many ways. First, there is the child-sponsorship program that
provides books, uniforms and a midday meal to Dalit children attending an
English-speaking school with a Christian worldview that affirms the dignity,
worth and equality of each child. The cost to sponsor a child is $28 per month.
Updates will be sent to the sponsor twice a year and photos of the children
will be provided. There are approximately 67 schools with over 10,500 children presently
in this program. Second, a micro-enterprise movement is helping the Dalits to
break free by providing micro loans and vocational training in marketable
skills. Most of these groups are organized and run by the women in the Dalit
community. American Christians can contribute to this program of Dalit
self-sufficiency as well. Third, the DFN acts as an international advocate for
Dalit rights in places like Washington, London and the U.N. Those with a desire
to be part of this global human rights initiative can contribute to the DFN
advocate fund.

Click here to purchase
False Witness.

Wayne Cordeiro | Bethany House

A best-selling author and pastor
at New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu, one of the nation’s
fastest-growing churches, Wayne Cordeiro lays out a strategic framework for
pursuing change and improvement, in The Irresistible Church: 12 Traits of a
Church Heaven Applauds.

With a foreword by Willow Creek’s
Bill Hybels, Cordeiro’s book defines an irresistible church as a body of believers
that is “alluring, magnetic and relentless in its persuasion.” It is an
attractive community that cannot be ignored. Cordeiro outlines a dozen
traits of an irresistible church, including that it continuously learns,
hungers for the presence of God and follows a plan.  

Each chapter concludes with an
action item, and Cordeiro includes a study guide with discussion questions and
Bible studies. This work will make an excellent yearlong curriculum or simply serve
as a tool to get small groups or church leadership talking. Readers will
appreciate Cordeiro’s humble, God-dependent insights and his emphasis on making
church irresistible to God, not only to people.

Click here to purchase this
book.

Dale S. Recinella | Chosen

Dale S. Recinella was a high-powered attorney with endless
money and big dreams, but his heart was empty and broken. On the heels of
closing a huge deal for the Miami Dolphins, he gave his life to Jesus in a
rock-bottom decision, a moment in which “I will lose every illusory thing I
have thought important, and be given everything that really matters,” he writes
in Now I Walk on Death Row: A Wall Street Finance Lawyer Stumbles Into the
Arms of a Loving God.

Recinella records his long journey from penthouse to death
row is this powerful tale of asking, “Did Jesus really mean what He said?” and
receiving answers only God can give. He and his family move from mansion to
inner-city apartment, from Florida to Rome and back again. They make decisions
together, serve the poor and reach out to the mentally ill. He finds his true
heart ministering to Florida’s prison population and, eventually, its death-row
inmates.

Recinella’s faith shines
brightly in this memoir, with a foreword by Dallas Willard, that will have
readers asking themselves how they can truly serve Jesus.

Click here to purchase this
book.

Dan Walsh | Revell

Just married, Laura and John Foster are excited about their
future together. On their way back East aboard the steamship SS Vandervere, where
John will be reunited with his family to introduce his lovely bride, a
hurricane brews in the Atlantic, destroying the ship they are on and leaving
little hope.

Fearing her husband’s death, Laura struggles with how God
could be so cruel as to put someone so wonderful as John in her life only to
remove him so soon. But facing an unknown future, she bears witness to the
miracle-working hand of God and His faithfulness to turn tears into joy.

Inspired by real-life events from 1857, where God did bring
about one miracle after another, The Deepest Waters reminds the reader
that even in hopeless situations, God is still at work. Dan Walsh’s emotional
work matches the compelling storytelling of best-selling romance author
Nicholas Sparks.

Click here to purchase this book.

Lis Wiehl with April Henry | Thomas Nelson

Lis Wiehl continues her “Triple
Threat” series with the third, starring a trio of best friends crime reporter
Cassidy Shaw, FBI agent Nicole Hedges and federal prosecutor Allison Pierce.
One murder after another seem to be linked, but the three can’t figure out how
until Cassidy breaks the case with a surprising discovery. But can they
outmaneuver a killer who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals?

Suspense fans will enjoy the taut action and pure evil of
the antagonist; series fans will enjoy probing deeper in the lives of the best
friends as each struggles with difficult situations.

Readers looking for a strong Christian element won’t find it
here—though Christian themes are present, as are the occasional curse and
graphic scene—but those looking for a good escape tale brimming with excitement
will find much to enjoy. 

Click here to purchase this book.

Frank Viola | David C. Cook

Each life is a story, an unfolding
narrative heavily molded by one’s family of origin and environment. In reality,
Viola asserts, an individual’s script often works on an unconscious level and
may not be aligned with God’s best. Known for helping believers find a deeper
Christian life, Viola urges readers to return to God’s script in Revise
Us Again: Living From a Renewed Christian Script.

The author focuses on 10 key
areas, including how God speaks to believers and how the Holy Spirit works in
followers’ lives. Particularly interesting is Viola’s discussion of
“Christianeze,” those Christian slogans and cliches that inhibit authenticity
and mask the truth. He concludes with a reminder of the true gospel of the “new
creation,” pointing readers to 2 Cor. 5:17.

 Revise Us Again will
challenge and refresh believers. Most importantly, it will help them solidify
their identities in Christ by “putting off the old” and “putting on the new,”
as the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians.

Click here to purchase this book.

In the two years since Abandon’s Forefront Records debut Searchlights, the San Antonio-based band scored a Dove nomination, throngs of critical acclaim and tours alongside Fireflight, Building 429, Remedy Drive, Teen Mania’s Acquire the Fire, plus a plethora of major faith-based festivals. Amongst all the activity, the modern rockers crafted its sophomore CD, Control, which finds the five-some taking the next natural evolutionary musical step, while also turning inward for their greatest lyrical depth to date.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, and when you’re in the audience looking at a band on stage, it’s easy to take for granted how they got there,” notes frontman Josh Engler. “There’s a lot of leg work that makes it all possible. From the very beginning, we set out to stay real and stay at the audience’s level, even if we are literally three feet above them on stage.”

The 13 tracks that comprise Controlare oozing with examples of the group’s instant reliability and heart on sleeve vulnerability, despite all the interactions with success and fame since first starting as an indie act in 2005. If anything, the more experiences members have encountered through their vast travels has yielded an even greater realization of their constant dependence on the Lord and need to break beyond comfort zones with a faith that’s fully on fire.

“Seeing something like the Northern Lights in person makes us marvel at the natural, God-orchestrated phenomenon happening in such a beautiful state outside of human control,” Engler muses.  “Growing up, we were sheltered a bit and it’s interesting how your perspective of life changes. As we have toured, our core beliefs have remained intact, but it’s interesting how our ‘Northern Lights’ moments have changed our perspective.  Who is ultimately in control?”

As the idea of control continued popping up in the songwriting sessions, it was only natural for Abandon to follow suit with the album’s moniker. However, it’s more than merely a quick catch phrase that summarizes the thematic thread throughout the project, but also a chance for audiences to consider a handful of very pertinent rhetorical questions. “‘Are you in control or is God in control?’” the singer encourages fans to ponder. “We basically want people to come away with an answer to ‘who’s controlling your life?’ We’re not really looking for a quick answer, but more to challenge your perspective and to provoke thought and motivation. It’s brave to question where you’re at and search out your heart.”

The guys can attest to that type of self-examination, followed by a season of giving the Lord complete control first hand, which in spite of the success from their freshman to sophomore records, was still filled with its fair share of strain. For starters, being on the road meant distance between wives and extended families, along with financial sacrifices, as Abandon continues to invest in building its ministry from the ground up. And while the players will be the first to admit being stretched further than ever before on all of those fronts, an eventual ability to lay those burdens before the Lord and relinquish their control led to the greatest clarity that they were indeed pursuing the proper path.

“When we don’t surrender our lives over to God and hold onto it ourselves, we limit ourselves, but when we let God take control, it’s way better than we dreamed or hoped,” affirms Engler.  “We’ve learned to be good stewards of our time and to hold one another accountable each and every day. And by us being open about what we’re going through, we hope to open up topics of conversation with our listeners. A lot of times, we find that if someone digs a song, we have the opportunity to talk about what we went through personally and maximize the ministry potential.”

Aside from the topical relevance, Control is replete with musical muscle, thanks in part to split production duties between Paul Moak (Third Day, Mat Kearney, The Blind Boys of Alabama), Chris Stevens (who also helmed the band’s Searchlights), and Josh Silverberg (a relatively new knob twirler who previous found fame in Edison Glass). Regardless of the collaborators, Abandon builds upon its Coldplay meets The Killers pedigree adding each of the individual guys’ personalities in the studio. 

Guitarist Stevan Vela brought an ultra-creative, borderline perfectionist attitude to ensuring excellence, while his cousin Dave on drums interjected rhythmic intricacy and conceptual depth. Bassist Bryan Fowler also added a proactive spirit to constant experimentation and suggestion, even going as far to try out parts on piano, guitar and drums. As for Engler, he’s a self-described dreamer who approaches songwriting with a mixture of theatrical delivery and personal authenticity, while his guitar grinding brother Justin Engler rounds out the rhythm section as the band’s ultimate brainstormer and sounding board.

One example of that overflowing chemistry comes during the incredibly contagious lead single “Feel It in Your Heart,” which finds the fellas casting aside life’s numerous distractions in favor of plugging into God’s plan, in turn, stirring up an undeniable passion to go forth with an eternal mindset. From there, “SOS” is a figurative cry for help from the weary, suggesting full-fledged rescue only comes from complete commitment to Christ, while “Push It Away,” serves as a resolute anthem for unabashed believers to never be swayed, even amidst ridicule, challenge or persecution.

“‘SOS’ and ‘Push It Away’ were both written with Aaron Gillespie from Underoath and The Almost,” explains Josh Engler. “We had met at the Dove Awards, and shortly after he was available to write with us. We wrote both songs in four hours, which was really fast for us, but he’s full of energy and that’s just how creative he is. He thanked us for the opportunity to write together, but we were the ones who were honored!”

Adds Gillespie about his immediate impression of Abandon: “Genuine. It’s a word that we misuse a lot. Why? I think because in this industry we all want to be just that.  … Abandon, however, is the real deal. They seek God and write music about it. I was super privileged to have the opportunity to write two songs with them on this new album. These guys are killer. Get their records, and hear their hearts. Genuine.”

Additional examples of Abandon shaking up its formula come during “Your Love Goes On,” the group’s inaugural AC single that’s framed around acoustic guitars and epic ballad elements. On the lyrical front, it speaks about God constantly pursuing His creation, even those who feel unworthy or like they’ve committed too many sins in the past to be wiped clean. “When we fall, we should run back to Him because that shows maturity as a Christian,” considers Engler. “He’s a father figure, and just like when a child scrapes their knee, they run to their parents. Our hope for this song is that people view it in that light, rather than feeling like they should run away from God. Whenever we mess up, His love is constantly chasing us and He’s relentless in pursuing us.”

Between members’ constantly developing faith, the project’s adventurous sonic ambition, and perhaps most importantly, everyone’s individual resignation of control, Abandon is poised for its most active and effective season thus far.

“We’re always re-evaluating success for ourselves,” Engler sums up. “We don’t think there are any limits, not in a prideful sense, but with the intention of serving the Creator and wanting Him to use us to impact the world around us.”

Click here to purchase Abandon’s new album, Control.

Anthony DeStefano |
DoubleDay Religion

Author Anthony
DeStefano offers insights into his new book, The Invisibile World:
Understanding Angels, Demons, and the Spiritual Realities That Surround Us.

Q: The
Invisible World is a book about understanding angels, demons and the
spiritual realities that surround us. In a world that is so visual, why tackle
such a murky subject?      

A: That’s really the
whole point. What I tried to do in this book was attempt to render that
spiritual world a bit less murky and a bit clearer for people. My hope is that,
by doing this, these invisible realities won’t seem so unfamiliar in the
future. And the more familiar they are, the easier it will be to understand
them and to have absolute faith in their existence.

Q: What do you
say to skeptics who believe the invisible spiritual world is just a
superstition?

A: Quite the contrary. To me, the greatest superstition is what Deepak
Chopra calls the “superstition of materialism.” That’s the superstition that
says that everything in life—our ideas, our philosophies, our religions, our
accomplishments, all our notions of honor and love and mercy and hope, all our
art and music, all of the deepest mysteries of science and faith, all the
longings of the human heart—is simply the result of the random dance of
molecules in our brain! Now to me that is superstitious and a denial of logic!

One of the great
things about the invisible realm is that you don’t have to be a “religious
fanatic” or the follower of some cult to believe in it. You can be a
levelheaded pragmatist. You can be a realist. You can even be a cynic. You
certainly don’t have to check your brains at the door before entering this
world. And you don’t have to be afraid that deep thinking is going to nullify
what you learn there. This book is not merely based on warm-hearted anecdotal
evidence. Everything I talk about in this book is based on solid theology,
informed by common sense and logic, and backed up by biblical scholarship and
the universal teaching of the Christian church over the past two thousand
years.

Q: Unseen spiritual
realities are rarely analyzed from a Christian point of view. What is the
reason?

 A: I think there are some Christian books on the market that focus on
invisible realities, but not many of them are written in a way that speaks to
the general public. In other words, there are books on God, the angels, demons,
grace, etc., but unfortunately, most of them are heavy theological works that
are rather long and dull. I think the reason for this is that Christians
sometimes forget that theology can be exciting and compelling and wonderfully
interesting for everyone—not just scholars, academics, and theologians.

Q: You’re not a priest or
pastor; in fact, you’re a writer and businessman. How did you get in touch with
this topic?

 A: I think it is precisely because I am a practical person that I wanted to
write about these topics in a way that everyday people could understand. As a
thinking human being, I’m naturally interested in the ultimate questions
concerning life, death, and the spirit. I think everyone is. After all, we’re
all headed in the same direction down the same river. So I think it’s a very
practical subject to be interested in because it concerns all of us. But as a
practical person—someone involved in business and running organizations and
hard work—I’ve been frustrated by the lack of books on these kinds of spiritual
topics written in a no-nonsense, understandable way. Basically, I try to write
my books in order to fill what I perceive to be a void.

 Q: If we are
going to explore the invisible spiritual realm, how can we tell the phony from
the authentically supernatural? Is there a way to be sure about what is real
and what is superstition or even fraud?

 A: It’s very
difficult because the topic is so subjective. That’s why, in my book, I don’t
indulge in wild speculation or relate hundreds of anecdotes and stories that
may or may not be true. I stick to what has been revealed in Scripture and the
authentic teaching of Christianity over twenty centuries. I feel strongly that,
if I didn’t stay within these parameters, it would be too easy to drift into
the worst kind of make-believe.

Q: The
Invisible World explores the existence of angels. Angels have captured our
imagination in a special way. Why do you think that is?

A: I think part of the fascination is that, while angels are completely
different from us, i.e., they’re pure spiritual beings, they are also right
here with us on Earth, helping us, guiding us, and protecting us. In other
words, we are intrigued by angels because they are powerful and wonderful
creatures, but also because part of their job is to really get involved in
our lives—to really “get their hands dirty,’’ so to speak, in the affairs of
human beings. Angels are
mysterious and strange and invisible, but they’re also our fellow creatures—and
they’re essentially living part of their lives on earth in order to help us. So although
they’re very far away from us, they’re also very close. It’s the proximity that
is fascinating, I think.

 Q: You also
explore the idea of the devil. “The devil made me do it” is a cliché that
people often use with humor. Can it be true? How does the devil actually tempt
us?

 A: Of course it’s
true. The devil does tempt us. And the devil really exists. He is spoken about
many times in Scripture. He’s not a “theological construct,” as some academics
have theorized. He’s a real being. As far as how he goes about tempting us, as
the movie The Exorcist correctly says, “The attack is psychological.”
And moreover, it usually involves deception. Satan, says Scripture, is a liar
and the father of all lies. Understanding lying is the key to understanding the
nature of the Evil One and the nature of spiritual warfare. Think about it. If
God is Truth, and the devil hates everything about God, then naturally the
devil is going to want to mess with the truth. What could be more offensive to
God than to get us to act in a way that completely contradicts God’s identity?
What could be more insulting than for us to be persuaded to act in a way that
is diametrically opposed to everything God stands for? That’s why the devil is
always trying to deceive us. Not only is it an extremely effective tactic for
trapping us, but it also mocks God at the same time. So deception is the
foundation of all demonic strategy—it’s the devil’s modus operandi.

 Q: If the devil
and the demons are so powerful, how can we ever hope to combat them?

A: It’s very
simple. In order to protect yourself from spiritual realities that are harmful
or evil, all you have to do is unite yourself to God. Union with God is the
ultimate and absolute defense mechanism against all spiritual attacks. In the
presence of grace, evil runs, hides, flees. That’s a fundamental spiritual law.

 Q: And how can we invite
positive spiritual forces into our lives?

 A: One of the very best ways is to pray. Prayer puts you in direct contact
with the creator of everything, including the whole spiritual realm. It’s like
being plugged into an electrical generator. Prayer is the great spiritual
conduit. A super-highway to Heaven! Prayers go up to God, and he sends
spiritual graces of all kinds down to us. The best thing he sends to us, of
course, is himself!

 Q: What was the biggest
insight you had during your research for The Invisible World?

 A: The biggest insight for
me was that when you look at the invisible world from the Christian
perspective, it’s actually much more interesting and provocative than when you
look at it from all the fictional and new-age perspectives you see in the
majority of books being published. As everyone knows, there are many books out
there on paranormal activity and ghosts and goblins and all the subjects
Hollywood makes scary movies about. But the simple, age-old Christian teaching
on angels, demons, the devil, grace, God, and what’s going to happen at the end
of the world are so much more exciting and eerie. And what’s more—they are
true. They are not make-believe. And you can really believe them.

 Q: How can faith
in the invisible world help us live our day-to-day lives in the visible
world?

 A: If you only pay
attention to visible realities, i.e., the world of the senses—then you are
doomed to live only half a life. And the half you do lead is bound to be
shallow and meaningless. Why? Because the most important things in life are
invisible: love, honor, trust, faith, emotion, passion, philosophy, God. The
hidden realities of life affect everything you do—whether you know it or not.
They affect how you conduct your business, what kind of person you decide to
marry, how you raise your children, how you look at suffering, how you face
death. The invisible is the lens through which you filter all the experiences
of your life. By learning about the invisible world, your life will become much
fuller and richer and more balanced. Also, if you have a strong faith in
the invisible world, then no amount of suffering—physical, mental, or
emotional—will ever be able to destroy the profound inner sense of peace that you’ll
experience on a daily basis.

Click here to
purchase this book.

In his
latest DVD release, Holy Spirit, part of the BASIC series, Francis Chan challenges
the church to allow the Holy Spirit to lead. Here he discusses this oftentimes misunderstood and sometimes dividing topic.

Q: You
wrote a book in 2009 on the Holy Spirit called The Forgotten God.  Now you
have a film from the BASIC series on the Holy Spirit.  Why all of this emphasis on the Holy Spirit?  

A: I received a lot
of questions about why I titled the book The Forgotten God.  Some thought it was is a bit extreme. I
don’t think so. From my perspective, the Holy Spirit is tragically neglected
and, for all practical purposes, forgotten. That’s why I have a book and a film
on the subject.  While no evangelical would
deny His existence, I’m willing to bet there are millions of churchgoers across
America who cannot confidently say they have experienced His presence or action
in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not believe they can.          

Perhaps we’re
too familiar and comfortable with the current state of the church to feel the
weight of the problem. But what if you grew up on a desert island with nothing
but the Bible to read? Imagine being rescued after 20 years and then attending
a typical evangelical church. Chances are you’d be shocked (for a whole lot of
reasons, but that is another story). Having read the Scriptures outside the
context of contemporary church culture, you would be convinced that the Holy
Spirit is as essential to a believer’s existence as air is to staying alive.
You would know that the Spirit led the first Christians to do unexplainable
things, to live lives that didn’t make sense to the culture around them, and
ultimately to spread the story of God’s grace around the world.

There is a big
gap between what we read in Scripture about the Holy Spirit and how most
believers and churches operate today. In many modern churches, you would be
stunned by the apparent absence of the Spirit in any manifest way. And this, I
believe, is the crux of the problem.

Q: Don’t most Christians already know about
the Holy Spirit?

 A: Whole
denominations have been built around specific beliefs about the Holy Spirit. I
know people who have lost jobs at churches and Christian colleges because of
their beliefs about the Holy Spirit. I even had a girl break up with me while I
was in seminary because we believed differently about Him! It is not one of
those issues that is easy to float over. This is especially true if you belong
to a particular “camp” with a specific belief or bent.

Which is why I
ask this question: Are you willing to pursue truth in your journey to know and
be known by the Holy Spirit? Do you have enough humility to be open to the
possibility that you have been wrong in your understanding of the Spirit? It’s
easy to get into “defensive mode,” where you quickly disagree and turn to proof
texts and learned arguments to defend what you’ve always believed. Rather than
guarding your perspective, consider taking a fresh look at familiar passages to
make sure you haven’t missed something. You may end up with the same theology
you’ve always had, but maybe you won’t. Don’t let your views be determined by a
particular denomination or by what you’ve always been told. Within the context
of relationship with other believers, seek out what God has said about His
Spirit. Open up your mind and your life to the leading of the Spirit,
regardless of what others may think or assume about you.

Q: What does it mean to “quench” the Spirit?

 A: You’re
probably familiar with God’s command in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Do not quench
the Spirit.” Do you know what it means? For years I never gave it much thought.
I didn’t take the time to explore what this meant and how I could be guilty of
this sin.

I look back now and realize I not only quenched the
Spirit, but I also violated the next verse: “Do not treat prophecies with
contempt” (1 Thess. 5:20, NIV). I had contempt
toward anyone who claimed to have “a word from the Lord.” I felt it was a
righteous contempt because I’d seen people use the phrase “I have a word from
the Lord” to manipulate others for personal gain. Cult leaders use the phrase
to secure followers and increase their own authority. How can you disagree or
even have a discussion with someone who claims they heard directly from God?

So I was against all of it. I was disturbed by any
claim of prophetic speech. Looking back, I believe my concerns were valid but
my actions were not. The biblical response would have been to “test everything.
Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (1 Thess. 5:21-22). Rather than
rejecting the possibility of God supernaturally speaking through people, I
should have tested what I was hearing in the context of faithful community.

On the flip side, if churches that practice prophetic
utterances were quicker to reject the false prophets and prophecies by calling
them out on their biblical inconsistencies (“avoiding evil”), then maybe the
conservative world would be less skeptical about prophecy.  Some conservatives may quench the Spirit by
ignoring His working, but surely putting unbiblical words into the mouth of God
is a form of quenching the Spirit as well. We need the Spirit in order to live
faithfully. But we also need each other as we work out our faith.

Q: How can you tell if a Christian gathering
is empowered by the Holy Spirit?

 A: Sometimes
I leave Christian events wondering if we resemble the prophets of Baal in 1
Kings 18 more than Elijah. The prophets of Baal had a loud, passionate worship
gathering that lasted from morning till evening. When they were done, they had
a great time of fellowship (I think you can call it that). But “no one
answered; no one paid attention” (1 Kin. 18:29). After all of that, Elijah
prayed. God heard his prayer, and fire came down from heaven.

My favorite part of that story
comes when it is all over and the prophets of Baal are saying, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” (1 Kin. 18:39, NIV). They didn’t say, “Elijah is a great speaker” or “Elijah
sure knows how to connect with God!” They were stunned by God. They were in awe of His power. They knew that what they
experienced could not have been manipulated by Elijah. They experienced the
power of God.

Is that what happens at the
Christian gatherings you attend? Or does it feel more like what the prophets of
Baal experienced before Elijah prayed? We can have a great time singing and
dancing ourselves into a frenzy. But at the end of it, fire doesn’t come down
from heaven. People leave talking about the people who led rather than the
power of God.

Q: What if the Holy Spirit calls me to radical, bold living?  My Christian friends will think I’m crazy!

A: My hope
and prayer for you is that church people don’t try to normalize you. What I
mean is that in American churches we often try to calm people down who are just
too passionate or too sacrificial and radical. I know at times I have done this
to other people. And I’ve had it done to me.

Two years ago at a dinner I sat next to a man who runs
a human-trafficking awareness organization. He described how these children,
most of whom were sold or abducted into the sex trade, are raped and abused
every single night, again and again, how they have no one to advocate for them,
and how there is no way out.

That night I lay awake in my bed for hours—literally
hours—and I imagined my own children in this situation. Maybe that was a stupid
thing to do, but suddenly, vividly, I was sobbing and I couldn’t get the images
out of my mind. I started thinking about what I would do if this really happened
to my little girl. I know that I wouldn’t stop until I had saved her. I would
mobilize everyone I know through whatever means possible to get them to help.
Lying there in my bed that night I got more and more passionate about
everything I would do to save my little girl.

Then something happened. I am not one of those people
who often hears God’s distinct, clear voice (though I know some people do), but
on this night, the Spirit of God said to me: I want you to love them as your
own children. This was overwhelming to me. After all, if I treated these
kids as though they were my own, I wouldn’t stop praying for them. I also
wouldn’t stop passionately begging people to figure out ways to seek them out
and rescue them. I literally wept for hours. The thought of these precious
children of mine being taken advantage of was unbearable. I was now on a
mission. A mission from God.   

I remember getting back to Cornerstone Church and
“rallying the troops.” I was so fired up, and I got others fired up. But, over
the course of several months I got distracted. People around me started calming
me down about sex trafficking. They said, “Francis, you can’t save the world”
and “You’re already doing so much. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Things like this happen all the time. As a church, we
tend to do this to people who are passionate and bold. We mellow them out.
Institutionalize them. Deaden them to the work that the Spirit is doing in
them. Instead of encouraging people who are doing courageous things for God and
joining them in their discernment process of how to be faithful to what God is
calling them to, we tell them to slow down and back off.

Don’t let other churchgoers dissuade you from your
call.  May you stand strong as you move
toward passionate love and sacrifice!

Q: How has the Holy Spirit called your family
to live more boldly?

 A: My wife
and I recently decided to give all of the royalties from my previous book, Crazy Love, to a fund called the Isaiah
58 Fund. All of the money goes to the needy in the world—the starving, sick,
impoverished, and to those in the sex slave trade. We reasoned that if we kept
all this money, we would end up spending it on things we didn’t need. We knew
that in the long run (80 years from now), there would be no regrets. But if we
bought things that wouldn’t last beyond our time on earth, we would end up
disappointed and regretful. I was a bit shocked and discouraged by some of the
responses we received.         

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