An 11-year-old boy from Maine confronted the people who lead his district last month, reading aloud an excerpt from the “pornographic” content on the library shelves at Windham Middle School.

On Feb. 15, Knox Zajac told the Windham Raymond School Board he checked out “Nick and Charlie” by Alice Oseman. He found the book, he recalled, on a display stand on a shelf in the library.

(Watch this school board meeting video, beginning at the 9:59 mark).

He then read a passage from Oseman’s book: “My back over my hips. I asked if he should take his clothes off. He was saying yes before I finished my sentence. He’s pulling off my T-shirt, laughing when I can’t undo his shirt buttons. He’s undoing my belt. I’m reaching into his bedside drawer for a condom.”

Knox, so young and innocent he didn’t even pronounce the word “library” correctly, went on to read an even more explicit section of the book. The interaction described, in vivid detail, a sexual encounter between two boys. It should be noted that, when Knox first checked the book out of the library, the librarian asked him if he wanted a “graphic novel version” of it.

After the sixth-grader finished speaking, his father, Adam Zajac, addressed the school board.

“This is the smut that he is finding,” the father said of his young, impressionable son. “I don’t care whether it’s gay, straight, bisexual—whatever the terms are for all this stuff—[it] doesn’t need to be at our school. It doesn’t need to be at my 11-year-old’s library.”

Adam Zajac, who also has a high schooler, shifted to talk about the controversial book, “Gender Queer,” which, as CBN News reported, has been stripped from some school libraries due to its vulgar content.

He condemned educators and administrators who believe it is them—rather than parents — who know what is “best” for the children sitting in their classrooms.

“Listen to the parents,” he admonished district authorities. “[I] will be more than happy to focus my time and effort to the security of my child and children in this school.”

He continued, “I will be a thorn in your sides. I just want you to be aware of what you’ve awoken.”

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Following are snippets of the top stories posted on over the past week. We encourage you to visit the links to read the stories in full.

‘Unholy Alliances’ Form to Make Bible Prophecy a Coming Reality

End-times expert Michael Snyder says it’s like “watching a really bad Hollywood disaster movie slowly play out.”

Only this time, he says, billions of people could end up dead.

On his popular website, “The Economic Collapse Blog,” Snyder recently said that, “thanks to the endless bumbling of the Biden administration, Russia and China have been pushed into each other’s arms” and seem determine to confront the western powers together.

Holy Spirit Uprising Hits Another Secular University

Unlike the revival at Asbury University in Kentucky this month, the Holy Spirit has been working on the campus of Texas A&M University Corpus Christi for quite some time now.

Students at TAMUCC—many of whom attend New Life Church in Corpus Christi, Texas—have shown their boldness for Christ for many months, leading to many salvations, baptisms and healings at the secular university.

Last Friday night, nearly a couple hundred people gathered for at TAMUCC to prayer for revival for not only their school, but also for America. The event lasted for five hours.

Vineyard Pastor Resigns Amidst Son’s Misconduct Allegations

The senior pastor of The Vineyard Church in Duluth, Minnesota, Michael Gatlin, has resigned according to an email sent by The Special Committee of the Church Council.

Gatlin’s resignation comes on the heels of an investigation into his son, Jackson Gatlin, who served as the church’s young adult and online community pastor.

The Vineyard church posted an announcement regarding the matter to their website, stating that the Gatlin’s knew of the misconduct allegations and did not act on that knowledge. The church also revealed that police were involved with the investigation.

Famous Lexington Arena Becomes New Site for Asbury Revival Services

Christian evangelist Nick Hall provided a space over the weekend for the Asbury revival to continue after Asbury University shut it down.

There was plenty of space at the Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, located about 30 minutes from Asbury in Wilmore. And while hundreds showed up for the last-minute, low-key, free-flowing event, the revival meeting did not gain enough publicity beforehand to fill the massive arena.

Hall told WTVQ-TV he received numerous messages from people wanting to see the Awakening continue in Lexington, so he was able to get the arena.

Man Who Spent 23 Minutes in Hell: ‘Not Everyone Goes to Heaven’

Bill Wiese, the author of the New York Times best-selling book “23 Minutes in Hell,” has a staunch warning for universalists who believe everyone will go to heaven.

“These people fail to realize that God is a God of justice and judgment,” Wiese says. “They say God is love, and that He would never allow such suffering, for people to go to hell. Believe everyone gets a free pass. The Universalist tries to support their beliefs with Scripture, but I’m here to tell you that the Universalist teaching is false and heretical.”

Wiese refers to British evangelist John Blanchard’s book, “Hell on Trial,” to explain the origin of universalism. {eoa}

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Loren Cunningham, who founded the Youth With a Mission Ministry more than 62 years ago, has been stricken with Stage 4 lung cancer. His wife, Darlene, posted this notice on Instagram this week:

“Thank you so much for your prayers for Loren and his health. As you know, doctors did a biopsy on some very slow-growing nodules in his lungs earlier this month, when they got large enough to biopsy. They turned out to be cancerous, which led us back to Honolulu for a full body scan on February 22.

“The results from that scan have just come in, revealing that there is extensive cancer in Loren’s lungs, bones and lymph system (stage 4 cancer).”

Darlene Cunningham says it’s a miracle the cancer cells have not spread to his brain, and that Loren Cunningham is “able to be quite active at this time.”

“We believe with all our hearts that these miracles are an answer to the prayers of the saints,” Darlene says. “Everything about this case has been unusual. The oncologist said that usually, lesions in the lungs grow very quickly; Loren’s have grown very slowly.

“We don’t know whether that will be characteristic of the growth of the other lesions as well? But what we DO know is that he is in God’s hands.”

Darlene Cunningham says that she and her family will prioritize her husband’s quality of life over trying to extend it through chemo or other treatments that could “reduce his energy and productiveness.

In the meantime, Cunningham’s wife says, he’s remaining active in his leadership role in the University of the Nations campus in Kona, Hawaii and other ministries.

“Revelation has been flowing for Loren like never before—and that is saying something! The joy of God’s dream of getting the Bible orally into every mother tongue on earth is the passion that fuels him every day, all day.

“He has Jesus, family, friends and vision. Who could ask for more? And all of them continue on the other side. … Thank you for your continuing love and prayers through the season ahead.” {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma News.

Billy Graham is known around the world for his humble, inviting demeanor while sharing the simple message of the gospel. His body was laid to rest five years ago today and a heartwarming video of prisoners carefully building his casket shows he left this world in a way that echoed the message he preached for six decades.

“Billy Graham has always preached on the humility of man, to grow in Christ likeliness, you know we must humble ourselves. I think this is his final statement to that effect. He will be buried in a coffin that’s made by the poor or the prisoner,” an inmate at Angola State Penitentiary says.

In the video shared by his son Franklin Graham, prisoners in the carpenter shop carefully saw, measure and map out the perfect casket for Graham to be laid to rest in.

My father @BillyGraham’s pine casket—as well as my mother’s—were built by murderers who were serving their sentences at Angola prison in Louisiana. Take a quick minute to watch this & hear directly from the prisoners who built it & what it meant to them. His body was laid to rest…

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) March 2, 2023

“My grandfather had seen these caskets being made. He came back and told my grandmother he had bought her a gift. He bought her a casket built by prisoners and my grandmother thought it was outstanding,” Roy Graham, the grandson of Billy Graham says.

The handiwork of Richard “Grasshopper” Liggett has been admired by the world since the passing of Billy Graham five years ago. At the time he built the casket he had been in Angola’s prison for 35 years. “I’ve built every casket just like I would have mine built,” he says in the video.

“Grasshopper” started hand crafting the caskets after the warden at the time realized the inmates who had nothing were being buried in cardboard boxes.

“In addition to making the caskets, the prisoners—many of them former hardened criminals who are now committed Christians—also pray over them,” the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wrote.

The Graham family requested the names of the prisoners be wood-burned onto the casket. The casket was built with pine plywood and crafted in 2006. On the top rests a simple wooden cross nailed into place. “I want to tell you what Grasshopper said when he made Billy Graham’s casket. He said, ‘Billy Graham is a simple man who preached a simple message. He must be buried in a simple casket,'” Prison chaplain Jim Rentz shared during Graham’s funeral service.

“The prisoners are people who need forgiveness too. That’s what my grandmother loved about it, we all need forgiveness,” Roy Graham says.

Billy Graham has, and is, continuing to have a profound impact on the world. Although pastors always tried to get him to preach a “deeper” message he never drifted from the simple truths of the gospel. He would say, “The cross and the resurrection of Christ offers forgiveness of sin, offers a whole new life and offers eternal life if you come to the cross by repentance and faith.”

Despite the fame, Graham remained humble and devoted to the call of God on his life. He was never tied to a scandal or caught up in church politics. He embodied Colossians 3:12-14 which says, “So embrace, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a spirit of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness and longsuffering. Bear with one another and forgive one another. If anyone has a quarrel against anyone, even as Christ forgave you, so you must do. And above all these things, embrace love, which is the bond of perfection.”

His casket remains in Charlotte, North Carolina in the Prayer Garden of the Billy Graham Library. {eoa}

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Shelby Bowen is an assistant editor for Charisma Media.

In the early hours of Monday morning, a woman got out of her vehicle and set fire to a gay pride flag hanging outside a restaurant in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. The flag was inscribed with the words, “Make America Gay Again.”

The woman has since been arrested and charged with a hate crime. No one was hurt and there was no significant damage to the restaurant.

Now, let me be absolutely clear: At the James Dobson Family Institute, we believe it is inappropriate to burn someone else’s property, including flags, even if we have serious disagreements about the message the flag conveys or what the banner represents.

The reason we are taking note of this single act is that it was immediately treated as a “cause celebre” by the Left. The story was picked up by every major media outlet, including ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Times and New York’s local Fox News affiliate.

New York City politicians rushed to microphones to condemn the hate. I wouldn’t be surprised if teachers in New York City used the incident to remind their students about the “LGBTQ movement’s struggle for acceptance in America.”

But this incident begs comparison to how more serious events are treated, such as the rash of attacks on churches and pregnancy resource centers.

After “Jane’s Revenge” declared a “night of rage” that saw scores of churches and pregnancy resource centers burned and vandalized, Big Media barely covered the attacks. There was no rush to the microphones by big-city politicians to condemn the Left’s hate and the pro-abortion violence.

The narrative tells you everything. Our cultural elites and leaders actually believe this is a “teachable moment” for America. It should cause every Christian great concern.

Attacks on houses of worship and faith-based ministries, which are fundamental to America’s founding, resulted in a collective yawn from the politicians and pundits. But one burned flag sent them into a frenzy. That tells you how far we’ve strayed from Judeo-Christian principles that gave birth to this nation.

Here’s something else to think about: Last month, students wearing pro-life hats were kicked out of Washington, D.C., museums. This outrageous discrimination against religious views was picked up by conservative media, but largely ignored by the “mainstream media.” But just imagine the outcry if the museum staff had kicked out a group of students wearing LGBTQ-themed hats.

One final note: Because incidents like the pride flag burning get so much attention, there has been an epidemic of fake “hate crimes” in recent years committed by attention-seeking people hoping to gain sympathy as an “oppressed victim.”

A terrible event occurs and it is later discovered that the perpetrator of the alleged hate crime is in fact a member of the “victim class.” The Jussie Smollett case is perhaps the most high-profile example of this phenomenon.

Again, no one should burn flags they find objectionable. Free speech is a fundamental right, too. But the unbalanced treatment between attacks on churches and the burning of this one flag is a big “red flag” for our culture. And it is one more example of why it is so vital for Christians to engage in the public square.

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Gary Bauer is the senior vice president for public policy at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (JDFI). He leads the effort to monitor current events and legislative measures that impact the institution of the family and culture, interpret them in light of the Bible and provide appropriate strategies for response. He hosts the “Defending Faith, Family and Freedom Podcast,” available on all major podcast platforms. Gary served in the Reagan administration as Under Secretary of Education and White House Head of the Office of Policy Development.

Joyce Meyer doesn’t have to remind the enemy as to whom she belongs. She’s been serving God for more than 55 years.

But just for good measure, Meyer, who turns 80 this year, recently decided to get not one, but two tattoos—something she said she would never have thought to do in her lifetime. One of the tattoos, which simply says “Love,” is embossed on her left ankle. The other, which says “I Belong to Jesus,” was drawn on her left shoulder in a place she says “where you all cannot see.”

Meyer says she was inspired to get the tattoos by Isaiah 49:16, which reads, “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me” (MEV). But it took a long time for her to convince herself to go through with it.

“Ever since I read that Scripture that said God has us tattooed on His, I thought, I’m going to get a tattoo that says I belong to Jesus,” Meyer said in a recent Joyce Meyer Ministries conference. “I said that about five years ago in a meeting in Australia. But here’s where the story gets interesting:

“A tattoo artist heard me say that. He had gone through the most hellish things. He had bipolar disorder, so his mind was already kinda messed up. And then, a bunch of religious Christians had him convinced that since he was a tattoo artist, he was going to hell. When he heard me say that I wanted to get a tattoo, one that said ‘I belong to Jesus,’ he decided to go back into business. And, he decided he wanted to do my tattoo. He wrote that down on a piece of paper and he kept it for five years.”

In late 2022, a friend of Meyer’s in Dallas told Meyer the he knew about a tattoo artist that was a friend of his and that confessed that he would one day tattoo Meyer.

“These things are not coincidences,” Meyer said. “Long story short, I got tattooed on my shoulder. I have a nice little cross back there. And, just for good measure, I put ‘Love’ on my foot to remind me to walk in love every day.”

Meyer says she hesitated at first to allow herself to get tattooed because she knew she would receive letters chastising her for doing so. But then she says she didn’t care about that and that the whole thing was “between me and God.”

“It’s a matter of my heart,” Meyer said. “When I stand before God on Judgment Day, before He makes any decision about me, He’s not going to call you and say, ‘Is there anything you would like to add about Joyce? Each of us is going to stand before God and give an account of our life and He is not going to ask someone else what they think about what we did. Do you honestly think I was so stupid that I didn’t pray about this and believe with all of my heart? I did it as an honor to God.

“So, let’s stop the judging and the criticizing and just don’t bother writing me letters. They (the tattoos) are there and they are not going away. I like them and I don’t have any conviction about it. I love God, and I wanted the devil to know that I belong to Jesus. He bought me and paid for me with His blood. I am not my own. I am seriously committed and dedicated to God and I not going to let some snooty, religious attitude keep somebody else out of heaven.”

Meyer’s husband, Dave, who is 82, also got tattooed at the same time.

“The guy said we were the oldest people he had ever tattooed,” Meyer said. {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

Red Alert! We must not be naïve evangelicals allowing false narratives, skewed polls and supposedly “scientific” data to mislead us anymore.

It’s time to expose deceptive propaganda the same way Russian dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn did in his 1974 manifesto “Live Not by Lies.”

We are facing nonstop narratives intended to frighten and form us into malleable foot soldiers marching in lockstep to the ‘Pied Piper Progressives.’

In the 1947 book, “Nuremberg Diaries” we’re told how Hermann Göring, the Nazi architect of Germany’s police state, said that “people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders by telling them they’re being exposed to danger.”

Recently something significant was finally admitted by the leftist New York Times in the article, “The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned?” three years after Americans were told to “follow the science” and were shamed into looking like Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs” even while walking outside or driving in cars. Studies on the efficacy of masks prove the fallacy of what Biden and his “experts” pushed on us and our children.

The Wall Street Journal just ran an expose revealing that the Department of Energy now concludes COVID (killing 15 million) did come from the China lab after we were told for years this was a falsehood from conspiracy theorists and “racist” President Trump.

Manipulating the Masses
I’m tempted to write a book in line with the popular “Dummies” series, calling my contribution “News Watching for Dummies,” with a subtitle: ‘A call to discernment, critical thinking and once-and-for-all renouncing laziness and remaining blissfully ignorant.’

We can no longer be like Lt. Girard (Tommy Lee Jones) pursuing Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) in “The Fugitive” when Kimble pled, “I didn’t kill my wife!” and Girard said, nonchalantly, “I don’t care.”

When I see video clips of White House propagandist Karine Jean-Pierre, I’ll lean in, listen carefully and consider if what she parrots from her talking points playbook is deception.

I’ll tell my business friends to categorically reject anyone threatening them with “Go woke or go broke” and remind them of Disney’s economic meltdown and 7,000 employee layoff disaster along with Bed, Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy.

I’ll tell my Black friends, especially in low income urban areas, no more caving to the slogan “Vote blue, no matter who!”

When Joe Biden seduces scores, saying systemic racism is America’s major problem; our top priority is combating climate change with more government spending; the economy is prospering; our southern border is secure; Americans want unrestricted taxpayer-funded abortion; and, MAGA supporters are “semi-fascists,” I’ll say, like the newsman in the “Network” movie: “I’m as mad as…! and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”

And when Kamala Harris tells the students at Bowie State University: “Biden has done an excellent job lowering our heating and electric bills” (2/22 WSJ) I’ll declare, “Malarkey!” as Americans this past year paid 12% more for electricity, 27 % more for natural gas and the price of fuel went up 28% in 12 months. Just check your bills.

Expose/Expunge

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Eph. 5:11).

“All that’s required for tyranny to gain a foothold is for people of conscience to remain silent.” –Thomas Jefferson

Who are some of the people and entities that need to be called out for deceiving Americans and actively working to promote radical progressive initiatives to topple traditional America?

• Big government
• Big media
• Big tech
• Big globalist elites (World Health Organization, World Economic Forum)
• Big academia
• Big-name celebrities
• Big companies

They’ve been used as mouthpieces for malevolent forces trying to convince millions, especially young people, that America is racist and systemically evil; that our Founders and heroes were racists whose statues must be torn down; that capitalism is bad and based on greed; that the time has come for the Constitution to be rewritten; that the Electoral College be abolished and voter ID be outlawed; that life does not begin at conception; that our criminal justice system is corrupt and must be replaced, recognizing offenders as victims needing counseling; that there should be no bail and release from oppressive prisons; that police departments have to be defunded; that Critical Race Theory and LGBTQ propaganda must be taught in schools; that “Death with Dignity” (physician assisted suicide) must be recognized as a basic human right; that millennials aren’t proud to be Americans; that the traditional family and religious values are being discarded; that the 2020 election had minimal irregularities; that Black and Hispanic Americans believe the U.S. is inherently racist and do not trust whites; and that religion is rapidly losing its place in America.

The Real Story

America is at a tipping point in our history. We face an unprecedented avalanche of lies that create the impression that traditional American and Judeo-Christian values are fading away.

But revival fires are starting to spread, calling us back to God! We need to recollect the words Elisha said, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us, than with them” (2 Kings 6:16).

At the recent Roundtable leadership summit, Mark Nuttle, with 57 years of extremely high-level political experience, presented in concert with Barna Research the most extensive study on the real state of Americans today.

In a non-pressured, non-political and non-biased way people from all ages and spectrums were asked penetrating questions and when they were asked for honest, answers they responded in ways which showed we’re not getting the truth about what Americans really want and believe.

Overwhelming percentages of the population, believe the Congress and media are corrupt.

A total of 75% believe in traditional family values.

Amidst a myriad of options, the number one area that the population said they rely on the most is “my family.”

The overwhelming majority of Blacks and Hispanics embrace the “American Dream” and 72% believe in basic traditional values. 86% said they were “proud to be an American!” A total of 70% of millennials said they were “proud to be an American.”

The findings were extraordinary and extremely encouraging! There is no doubt that there is a disconnect between people’s values, and how the media and government distort reality to advance their ambitions and agendas.

Here’s the Deal: We are at a tipping point for a major revival and Third Great Awakening.

Romans 2:15 teaches us that there is a universal reality God has put in all unredeemed people regarding a knowledge of God and His laws written on our conscience. All people have sufficient knowledge of right and wrong that our conscience can accuse or affirm. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God has set eternity in the human heart meaning that everyone has a God-given awareness that there is something more than this transient world.

Let’s all do our part to communicate the transformative message of the gospel and biblical truth. Let the Holy Spirit, “convict the world of righteousness, sin and judgment” (John 16:8) amidst the avalanche of lies promoted by Satan “the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Let’s be His ambassadors in this hour of hope and harvest before His return. {eoa}

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It’s the Joe Kennedy debacle all over again, and everyone who pays attention to God’s justice knows what happened in that case. It was a huge victory for religious freedom in America.

And now, newly-hired University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders is under scrutiny for leading his team in prayers, a practice that caught the eye of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist organization who recently filed a complaint against Sanders.

In case you missed it, Kennedy, a high school football coach in Bremerton, Washington, was vindicated by the United States Supreme Court after he was fired by his school for conducting post-game prayers with his team. The high court ruled that the school district could not interfere with or prohibit Kennedy from offering a prayer consistent with the Supreme Court’s opinion. The school district also cannot retaliate against Kennedy for “conduct that complies with the terms of the court order.”

Kennedy was to be reinstated to his position at Bremerton by the beginning of March.

This week, First Liberty Institute sent a letter to the University of Colorado Boulder and its leadership to correct the “misstatements regarding the requirements imposed by the First Amendment on public school employees’ religious expression.”

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that public school employees may engage in religious expression and exercise; therefore, public universities like CU may not target Coach Sanders (or other members of the football staff) for exercising constitutional rights on campus,” The First Liberty Institute letter reads.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a Wisconsin-based secularist legal group that advocates for a strict separation of church and state. The FFRF complained that, by praying with his team, Sanders engaged in “school-sponsored proselytizing.”

FRFF, which files complaints against multitudes of Christian organizations and individuals every year, took issue with Sanders’ directing a staff member to lead players and coaches in a prayer before a team meeting. RFRFF cited the prayer as a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and an act of discrimination against non-Christians.

From 1982 to 1994, Bill McCartney served as Buffaloes’ head coach. McCartney was a forthright Christian who started Promise Keepers, a men’s organization that became one of the biggest moves of God in the history of the church. Promise Keepers is focused on helping men live with integrity. {eoa}

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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.

Billy Graham is known around the world for his humble, inviting demeanor while sharing the simple message of the gospel. His body was laid to rest five years ago today and a heartwarming video of prisoners carefully building his casket shows he left this world in a way that echoed the message he preached for six decades.

“Billy Graham has always preached on the humility of man, to grow in Christ likeliness, you know we must humble ourselves. I think this is his final statement to that effect. He will be buried in a coffin that’s made by the poor or the prisoner,” an inmate at Angola State Penitentiary says.

In the video shared by his son Franklin Graham, prisoners in the carpenter shop carefully saw, measure and map out the perfect casket for Graham to be laid to rest in.

My father @BillyGraham’s pine casket—as well as my mother’s—were built by murderers who were serving their sentences at Angola prison in Louisiana. Take a quick minute to watch this & hear directly from the prisoners who built it & what it meant to them. His body was laid to rest…

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) March 2, 2023

“My grandfather had seen these caskets being made. He came back and told my grandmother he had bought her a gift. He bought her a casket built by prisoners and my grandmother thought it was outstanding,” Roy Graham, the grandson of Billy Graham says.

The handiwork of Richard “Grasshopper” Liggett has been admired by the world since the passing of Billy Graham five years ago. At the time he built the casket he had been in Angola’s prison for 35 years. “I’ve built every casket just like I would have mine built,” he says in the video.

“Grasshopper” started hand crafting the caskets after the warden at the time realized the inmates who had nothing were being buried in cardboard boxes.

“In addition to making the caskets, the prisoners—many of them former hardened criminals who are now committed Christians—also pray over them,” the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wrote.

The Graham family requested the names of the prisoners be wood-burned onto the casket. The casket was built with pine plywood and crafted in 2006. On the top rests a simple wooden cross nailed into place. “I want to tell you what Grasshopper said when he made Billy Graham’s casket. He said, ‘Billy Graham is a simple man who preached a simple message. He must be buried in a simple casket,'” Prison chaplain Jim Rentz shared during Graham’s funeral service.

“The prisoners are people who need forgiveness too. That’s what my grandmother loved about it, we all need forgiveness,” Roy Graham says.

Billy Graham has, and is, continuing to have a profound impact on the world. Although pastors always tried to get him to preach a “deeper” message he never drifted from the simple truths of the gospel. He would say, “The cross and the resurrection of Christ offers forgiveness of sin, offers a whole new life and offers eternal life if you come to the cross by repentance and faith.”

Despite the fame, Graham remained humble and devoted to the call of God on his life. He was never tied to a scandal or caught up in church politics. He embodied Colossians 3:12-14 which says, “So embrace, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a spirit of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness and longsuffering. Bear with one another and forgive one another. If anyone has a quarrel against anyone, even as Christ forgave you, so you must do. And above all these things, embrace love, which is the bond of perfection.”

His casket remains in Charlotte, North Carolina in the Prayer Garden of the Billy Graham Library.

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Shelby Bowen is an assistant editor for Charisma Media.

This article originally appeared on Curt Landry Ministries.

*Note: This is the first of a two-part series.

One of the outcomes of operating out of the opposite spirit is staying in alignment with the Lord. But what does it mean to “operate out of the opposite spirit”?

In short, it means you operate out of the spirit rather than the flesh. If your flesh says doubt, you choose to operate out of the spirit of belief.

Our fleshly nature wants to operate out of and agree with what we see, feel and understand in the physical. However, when operating out of the opposite spirit, you come to see, feel and know what is actually happening in the spirit realm, and you allow God to guide you rather than your flesh.

I want to talk to you about operating in the opposite spirit. One of the keys to operating in the opposite spirit is an ability to align with and stay in alignment with God. The key is to stay in alignment.

So, anytime you have conflict in a situation, body, soul, spirit, people, place or thing, you must adopt a faith mindset and align with God, and operate out of the opposite spirit of conflict. So then, operate out of the spirit of peace.

Operating Out of the Opposite Spirit Is Like Marital Arts

It’s like martial arts. You’re taking power coming at you and using it against the enemy. And the way we do that in the spirit is by battling in the opposite spirit.

• If someone comes at you with hate, then you come at them with love.
• If someone comes at you with doubt, then you come at them with faith.
• If someone comes at you with fear, then you come at them with the truth and with love.

This is what it looks like to battle in the opposite spirit.

So, the key to staying in alignment is, first, to make a choice saying, “I will, I must stay in alignment.”

Part of my value system is to stay in alignment with God. I don’t have to think about it, but you got to realize I’ve been doing this for 30 years. That’s why I’m sharing it with you. It’s a 30-year testimony.

Do I get out of alignment? Yes, I do, and I repent.

Think of Alignment Like a Train

Just think of it like a train. You’re going down two tracks. You got to walk in love, and you got to walk in faith. You are justified by faith, by keeping your train on that track. You’re not a free-will agent. You’re not like an impala where you can run and jump all over Africa and out in the field. No, you’re on a track, and narrow is the way, pressured is the gate. And few find it.

That’s where most people are. They allow their free will to be able to twist God’s grace to like, “Oh, I can just run off and do whatever I want. I would get out of that mindset, and this isn’t legalism,” but just say, “Listen, I cannot afford in my life to be out of alignment with God.”

How to Stay in Alignment

So, how do I stay in alignment?: You adopt habits and patterns and a choice of saying, “I’m going to battle in the opposite spirit.”

What happens if someone attacks me with adversity?: Then I slow down, back up and I start asking questions. And that diffuses the fight and the anger. And then you have to obey God’s Word.

What does it mean to obey God’s Word?: The person’s attacking you verbally or whatever, and you must forgive 70 times seven. And so, that’s the plan.

As long as you choose to walk in the opposite spirit and forgive, then the fiery darts are quenched by the shield of faith. You need to create habits and patterns that help you stay firm.

So then…

1. Adopt habits and patterns, choosing to battle any adversity in the opposite spirit.
2. Obey God’s Word.
3. Forgive

A Situation of Battling in the Opposite Spirit

I had a friend of mine in a situation, and he was in a sales situation inside a corporation. Somebody wanted to do something else for more profit, but it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do.

And so, the gentleman who put together the first sale was upset. His natural instinct was (and this is a somebody that has sat under my teaching for years, a disciple) to get upset. He was sharing with me and said, “Rabbi, it was amazing because what happened is I created a habit and a pattern that helped me stand firm.” So, a new guy came into the corporation, came from another company, doesn’t operate in same value system as this company and what he wanted to do is he wanted to jack the price up on this contract.

A Reason to Get Angry

And now, the salesperson that had put the deal together and already shook hands on it was like flipping out, saying, “I can’t believe it. That this guy, this is unethical, we’ve already given our word. We’ve signed the contract. I gave him my word.” This is the disciple that has been with me for years. And he said, “Okay, I had a choice.” He said, “My soul wanted to pick up the phone to my friends who are the long-termers in the corporation, and say, ‘Hey, you know that new guy? That new guy, man, he’s sitting there jacking the price up on this. He’s making us look bad.'” And he said, “Then I wanted to do this and that.”

He Battled in the Opposite Spirit and Gave It to God

And he said…

“No, it’s not what I did. I called my wife, and I took the principles from this teaching and literally out of our spiritual warfare book and said, ‘Lord, we choose to forgive this new guy for trying to bring inequity into the corporation by not making our ESBS. And that, Lord, Your Word says that You love balance scales. So, Lord, let the balance scales of the fair deal that was done, let that stand. And Lord, we choose to forgive this new person, and Lord, we’re not going to pick up the phone. We’re not going to call anybody. We’re not going to multiply the bitter root. We’re not going to try to manipulate the situation. We’re going to leave it alone. And I choose to forgive him.”

God Took Care of the Outcome

Then he said he dropped it and went to bed. The next day, he got a call, and the guy called, and the new guy and he didn’t approach them. He said, “Hey, you know what, I’ve been thinking about it. We’re going to leave the price at what you closed the deal at.” So, he never had to confront it.

It Was the Habit and Pattern of Standing Firm, Battling in the Opposite Spirit, That Brought Victory!

So, what was happening is he had a habit and a pattern that stood firm. And versus if he would’ve made a couple of calls to, then all of a sudden, he would’ve had two or three or five employees in this group coming against the new guy saying, “Oh, man, this guy is a liar, robber, all the stuff that people do.”

With all the bitterness, the only one that would’ve won was the enemy. It would’ve caused disruption in the team, maybe got the guy fired, maybe not. But I guarantee you one thing, it would’ve stopped the profitability, and the confusion would’ve set in and maybe the deal would’ve been lost. And this was a really big multimillion-dollar deal.

Sometimes it takes the wisdom of that apostolic leader in one of the mountains to say, “You know what?…

• We’re going to operate out of the opposite spirit.
• We’re going to trust God.
• We’re going to obey His Word.
• We’re going to have habits and patterns where we actually put the word of God of forgiveness to work. {eoa}

Click here to view Rabbi Landry’s book on spiritual warfare!

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Curt Landry, founder of Curt Landry Ministries, and his wife, Christie, travel extensively, preaching and teaching about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Together, their passion is to empower families to live and leave Kingdom legacies and understand their own personal heritage.