Ricardo Sanchez (Passio)
Grammy-nominated recording artist Ricardo Sanchez debuts his new book, subtitled “How to Keep Moving Forward When You Feel You’re Losing the Fight.” Sanchez shares how he and his family trusted God when his son was on the verge of death. He also offers tips to surrender the broken pieces of your heart to God when everything seems to be falling apart.
Cindy Trimm (Charisma House)
Using historical illustrations and Scripture, Trimm explains how to operate in spiritual warfare outside the four walls of the church. Readers will learn the planning stages of warfare and get keys to help strategize during the battle.
Sept. 16-30
Believers from around the world will gather in Jerusalem to pray for peace at the city’s 12 gates. Conference speakers include Heidi Baker, Ana Paula Bessa, Cindy Jacobs, Myles Munroe and Jaeson Ma, as well as worship teams from multiple nations.
Many believers’ biggest fear is ruining their lives. But Furtick, the pastor of 10,000-member Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C., says believers should be more concerned about wasting their lives by not seeking their God-ordained calling for something bigger than they could ever imagine.
Jim Raley (Charisma House)
Using Paul’s writings to the Galatian church, Raley cuts through the sensationalism and spookiness of spiritual warfare to expose Satan’s strategies, while also explaining how we can recognize and overcome the enemy’s deceptive tactics.
Tullian Tchividjian (David C. Cook)
The grandson of evangelist Billy Graham says that believers are missing the purpose of suffering when they focus on the question of why rather than on God. Tchividjian uses the life of Job to explain why believers are better off spending their energy seeking God’s presence and not trying to understand their current struggle.
Sept. 28-29
This solemn assembly will be held in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, the Bill of Rights was written and the Constitution was ratified. In the spirit of 2 Chronicles 7:14, the thousands gathered will pray for God to reverse the moral decline in the U.S.
Nothing in life is certain except for death, taxes—and change. God never changes, but we do. Through sanctification we are transformed from sinful, carnal creatures into the image of God’s Son.
Becoming like Jesus requires a lot of change—and often involves difficult periods of transition.
Transition can take many forms. It can be like the transition during labor—intense pain followed by a clear reward. Or it can be like the momentary transition that takes place when you switch gears in a car to face the challenge of the road ahead.
For an instant you are between gears and though the engine is roaring, you have no control. You may not know what the road ahead is like or whether you even want to move to a higher level. But when the shift occurs, you are connected once again with the power of the engine and are translated into a higher level of operation—the next gear.
Transition can also be a time that seems as if it will never end—a long, dark night of the soul when all around you seems dim and you lose sight of God’s promises to you. In this season, you may lose your sense of God’s presence and feel that He has abandoned you.
Don’t give up! I have learned that no matter how uncomfortable the period of transition is, change is a good thing. It keeps us moving forward.
Forward motion starts with just one step, and we have the assurance that our steps “are ordered by the Lord” (Ps. 37:23). This means that God has a plan for us. He knows what is needed to conform us to the image of Christ.
But taking that first step often requires the kind of faith Peter had when he stepped out of the boat and walked on water in response to Jesus’ command to come (see Matt. 15:28-32). Faith allowed Peter to do something that was impossible in the natural, but the roar he heard in the natural—the wind—distracted his faith, and he began to sink.
Don’t allow the storms of your transition to cause you to lose sight of God’s promise to see you through. To the degree you see or hear the natural, you can’t hear God.
Weathering transition successfully also requires trust. Suffering, Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). And David declared, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” (Ps. 56:3). God rewarded David’s trust with refuge and deliverance. Know that you serve One who is trustworthy.
Whether in birth or in the darkest night, each period of transition in your life will lead you to a glorious new place. Allow God to use each one to take you to a higher level spiritually, with the ultimate goal that you become like Him.
PRAYER POWER FOR THE WEEK OF 7/30/12
This week embrace change and thank God that He is moving you to a new level of trust when you weather storms of transition in your life. Continue to pray for those affected by the floods, tornadoes, drought and other natural disasters. Pray for President Obama and his administration to wisely lead the country during this difficult time. Pray that righteousness will be restored to our executive, judicial and legislative branches. Pray for God’s will and direction in the upcoming elections. Remember Israel, our allies, and all of our troops and their families. Psalm 37:23; Matt. 15:28-32
To enrich your prayer life and learn how to strategically pray with power by using appropriate scriptures, we recommend the following sources by Apostle John Eckhardt: Prayers that Rout Demons, Prayers that Bring Healing, Prayers that Release Heaven on Earth and Prayers that Break Curses. To order any or all of these click here.
God’s Impossible Victory
Sharon Daugherty has seen God do the impossible in her years leading Victory Christian Center (p. 30). Go to daugherty.charismamag.com and watch her share God’s miraculous provision for this outreach-oriented church.
Track The Adventure … In Real-Time
What if you could virtually follow an evangelist on a monthlong adventure to a remote village and watch in real-time as he ministers the gospel to people who have never heard the message of Christ? Thanks to a cutting-edge online tracking system, you can track Phil Smethurst’s risky mission to Angola (p. 46) all month at smethurst.charismamag.com.
The Holy Spirit In You
Visit spirit.charismamag.com to watch respected Southern Baptist pastor Charles Stanley (p. 36) explain the significance of the Holy Spirit living inside each of us.
That’s just Religious!
Check out evangelist Daniel Kolenda’s teaching (p. 52) at kolenda.charismamag.com on how to avoid “religious” experiences devoid of the Holy Spirit.
“We are all Americans, and as Christians we need to learn to love one another.”
THE RACISM DEBATE
I was glad to read the article “The Church’s Response to Racism” (by Steve Strang, Harry R. Jackson Jr. and Samuel Rodriguez, June). It is wonderful to see so many ministers praying and speaking out about the Trayvon Martin incident. Americans of all colors need to return to the godly principles in family values and depend on God and their churches for their needs, rather than on the government. We are all Americans, and as Christians we need to learn to love one another—and know that in Jesus we are not victims but victors!
If we are ever to succeed in ending discrimination then it must end in reconciliation, and that is something everyone should agree on. It is sad to see that so often those who have been enslaved, mistreated or discriminated against do exactly the same thing they hated when they come into power. But they justify themselves, and thus it never ends.
name withheld
I was disappointed in your June edition. Do you really believe that the church can change the general course of our degenerate pop culture in society as a whole? It seems to me that the church needs to come alongside the black church and get in the “trenches” to bring hope and healing from whatever vestiges of racism do exist, one family at a time.
MORE MARKETPLACE, PLEASE!
It was wonderful to see “God’s Marketplace Move” by Jonathan Shibley (June). The move of the Holy Spirit in the marketplace is valid, significant and exciting. Please include more articles addressing this topic. People need to be encouraged to follow after what God is calling them to and the marketplace is a valid arena.
PASSING THE BLESSINGS
I appreciated reading Jack Hayford’s article “Speaking Blessings Upon Your Children” (June) and passed it on to my son. The tongue is by far the most powerful influence one can have on a child.