Forgetting those things which are behind so you can reach forward to those things which are ahead (Phil. 3:13) can bring gut-wrenching pain to your soul. I know that pain all too well as I have experienced it a number of times.

To describe the process as difficult would be an understatement.

Sometimes moving on feels like leaving a piece of yourself behind. Other times forgetting those things which are behind seems like an exercise in futility. Still other times reaching forward to those things which are ahead is, well, let’s just say you may feel there is a tug of war in your soul threatening to tear you apart.

Again, I know that pain all too well as I have experienced it a number of times.

Forgetting those things which are behind is perhaps one of the greatest challenges we can face, especially when those “things” were a major part of our daily lives. I’ve had to “forget” a husband, more than one best friend, several ministries and more—and sometimes in the midst of great persecution.

But I’m here to tell you that we can forget those things which are behind. Or at least we can remember them without the gut-wrenching pain we felt while we were making the transition. And we can press on toward the goal with joy.

Soulish Realities
It all starts in the mind. What we think about can live on as reality in our souls long after a painful event passes. I remember a difficult split with a friend who was emotionally unstable. This friend was dear to me on many levels, but not a week went by when she didn’t have an emotional meltdown and attack me verbally for “not being a friend.” It was a false accusation, and she knew it in her heart. But she wanted from me what only Jesus could give her.

The Holy Spirit told me at one point that if it happened again to walk away because it was abusive—and it was distracting me from God’s will. And it wasn’t helping her, either. But alas, soulish compassion can cloud spiritual discernment.

It did indeed happen again, but I didn’t obey God and walk away. Instead, I tried for another year to counsel her through her emotional issues with absolutely no fruit. In fact, it only got worse. I had become an enabler, of sorts. Finally, it got so bad that I had to cut the relationship out of my life altogether. And it was a painful cut for both of us.

Guilt, sadness, condemnation—a flood of emotions came to plague me. That’s when I had to make a decision about what I was going to think about. The Bible says, “For as  he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). The enemy wanted me to wallow in that guilt, sadness and condemnation until I ran back to my friend with repentance and continued a relationship God had told me to cut off a year earlier.

Resisting the Past
I had to resist that temptation with everything in me at first. After all, everyone likes a familiar friend. And nobody likes to hurt a friend. I had to quickly grab hold of the reigns of my mind, stop replaying the scenes over and over again in my soul, and reach forward to those things which are ahead. The only way out is through, and it starts with a disciplined mind.

Maybe for you it’s not a relationship, per se. Maybe you need to forget past hurts, past failures—or even past successes. The point is this: Dwelling on an unpleasant past, no matter how recent or far away that past is, can’t lead to healing. Dwelling on an unpleasant past isn’t the path to forgiveness. Dwelling on an unpleasant past can’t send you to the next place God wants to take you. It just can’t. Dwelling on an unpleasant past can only keep you tied to that past, which hinders you from moving forward in God.

Beloved, if you were led by the Spirit of God to end your relationship with a person or place or if the enemy caused you to experience great loss in your life through death, divorce or some other tragedy, God has something better for you. And if your past is one of shame, guilt and condemnation for sins you have committed, God is ready, willing and able to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Trust for Restoration
Beloved, trust God. He will restore anything the enemy stole from your life—and He may even restore relationships with people who walked away from you (or people He told you to walk away from). Our job is not to wonder what could have been or what will be. Our job is to obey God. Be assured, when we don’t walk in obedience to the Word the challenge to forget those things which are behind becomes even greater. He gives grace to those who seek to obey.

God is a progressive God. He’s always moving forward. By His grace—and with a will determined not to dwell on an unpleasant past—we can overcome the challenge of forgetting those things that are behind. I won’t lie to you. It won’t be easy. The past may even come back to “haunt” you sometimes. But the battle really is in the mind. The good news is, you have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) and God has a good plan for you. Press forward to that goal. Leave the past behind. Amen.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including Breakthrough!. You can email Jennifer at @ or visit her website here.

Millions of people will watch the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra perform tonight in a rousing tradition capped off by spectacular fireworks in remembrance of this nation’s independence.

But for Pops trumpeter Terry Everson, tonight’s celebration on a big, hatch shell-shaped stage is about glorifying God, fulfilling his Holy Spirit-empowered calling and representing his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with a spirit of excellence.

“My musical calling is to do whatever I can to give God glory through the gifts with which He has graced me,” says Everson.

“To that end, I believe He has commissioned me to develop to my fullest what has been entrusted to me according to Matthew 25, and to make myself available for whatever opportunities He provides for me, such as playing with the Boston Pops. There will be a certain extra thrill that tonight’s performance will touch millions.”

Everson equates playing in an orchestra and submitting to the conductor with being part of the body of Christ and submitting to God’s masterpiece orchestration and conducting.

“One of the most valuable lessons to learn as an orchestral player is that it’s not about me,” adds Everson, who has been playing off and on for years with the Pops, one of the country’s pre-eminent orchestras.

“In the Boston Pops, I’m submitting my playing and my will to the greater good in order to create something much bigger than I can do myself,” he continues. “It’s a terrific allegory for the way in which we are to submit our gifts and callings to God’s greater work in the kingdom.”

Throughout the Bible and into modern times, the trumpet has been used for clarion calls and to signify royalty. For Everson, who is also a full-time trumpet professor at Boston University, the sound of the trumpet is like a majestic voice heralding a move of God to impact people.

“My prayer before each performance is that those who hear me will receive a better glimpse of God through what they see and hear,” he says.

For his most recent classical music CD “In the Style of…” Everson recorded a special version of the classic song “Amazing Grace” to inspire a new generation to go on a musical journey that the listener experiences as the harmonization travels through dark times of struggle and grief before finally finding peace in Christ.

Everson finds satisfaction in the message of the music: God’s grace being sufficient in all circumstances.

As a teacher as well as a stand-out performer, this highly accomplished musician conveys the heart of a mentor. He is quick to tell young, Christian musicians to realize that it is important to honor the God-given gift of musical ability with thousands of hours of practice that is required to develop it to its fullest potential.

Even though God is the one who opened doors for Everson to advance his career at the highest echelon of classical music, he admits there are no short cuts to refining his craft of playing his instrument.

“It’s often said that good is the enemy of best. God didn’t give us just something ‘good’ in Jesus; He gave us His best,” Everson says.

“If I’m to represent Him in any way on this earth in what I do, it has to be the absolute best I can do, and I constantly push myself and my students to go beyond what we’ve done to date, to dare to imagine something greater.”

As Americans celebrate July 4 and remember those who fought and died for our freedom, we need to take time to pray for our soldiers.

We should also pray for our national leaders. Regardless of whether we agree with our country’s policies, we have a biblical mandate to do this.

The Apostle Paul—who knew what it was like to lose his freedom—wrote to Timothy, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior” (1 Tim. 2:1-3, NIV).

As you pray, ask that your congressional representatives, judges, governors and all others in positions of authority will seek God’s wisdom and guidance.

Gen. George Washington issued this decree on March 6, 1776, calling for a day of fasting and prayer as our country began its long and bloody battle for independence:

“Set apart … as a day of fasting, prayer and humiliation, to implore the Lord and Giver of all victory to pardon our manifold sins and wickedness, and that it would please Him to bless the Continental Arms with His divine favor and protection—all officers and soldiers are strictly enjoined to pay all due reverence and attention on that day to the sacred duties due to the Lord of hosts for His mercies already received and for those blessings which our holiness and uprightness of life can alone encourage us to hope through His mercy to obtain.”

The freedoms we now enjoy pale in comparison to the freedom we have as Christians, purchased by Christ’s death on the cross. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1-2, NIV).

Pray with us that God will continue to use BGEA mightily in introducing others to the glorious liberty of Christ.

Click here to read the original story at .

Nationally syndicated talk show host Glenn Beck gave best-selling book The Harbinger a sound endorsement during an interview last week on GBTV with its author, Jonathan Cahn.

Following a two-part interview with Cahn, Beck implored the American public to read The Harbinger, which has been entrenched on the New York Times best-seller list for the past 25 weeks. For the week upcoming (July 8), the fiction novel is ranked No. 15.

“America, I want you to go get this book now,” Beck said. “I really believe this is the answer. You can believe in God or not believe in God, but listen to the message that this book is saying. It is the way out of this mess for us.”

The book compares the United States to ancient Israel. Cahn wrote that the series of warning signs of destruction, or nine harbingers, that appeared to Israel before its end as a nation are now manifesting in America, with “profound ramifications for America’s future and end-time prophecy.”

Cahn, leader of Beth Israel Worship Center in Wayne, N.J., one of the largest Messianic worship centers in the world, said there is still hope for America. But, there is only one hope.

“As it was with Israel, the pattern is, if the nation does not turn back to God, if we don’t wake up after the first or second alarm, there will be another and another until we do wake up,” he said. “If we don’t, we will head for judgment.

“We can’t maintain our blessings without God. America is blessed as much as America follows God. If we do not follow God, we cannot expect the smiles of heaven.”

Beck said that The Harbinger is not a judgment on America, but that it has a deeper meaning.

“With all the things that have happened—9/11, the downturn in the economy, among others—God is not punishing us,” he said. “He is trying to wake us up to come back to Him. That is what The Harbinger is all about. It’s a great message.”

As the son of a Jewish man, the state of Israel is near and dear to best-selling author Joel C. Rosenberg’s heart. First and foremost, however, Rosenberg is American, and he’s proud of it.

That’s part of what prompted Rosenberg to write his latest book, Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic and Spiritual Challenges in Time? It is Rosenberg’s hope that God will spark a Third Great Awakening from the American people.

Charisma News caught up with Rosenberg, who has written six New York Times best-seller novels—The Last Jihad, The Last Days, The Ezekiel Option, The Copper Scroll, Dead Heat and The Twelfth Imam. He also has authored, in addition to Implosion, two non-fiction books, Epicenter and Inside The Revolution.

Charisma News: Your latest book, Implosion, is a bit of a departure from what you’ve done in the past with books such as Epicenter, The Last Jihad and The Tehran Initiative. What led you to write this one?

Rosenberg: It might seem like a departure to some, but here is the consistency. I’m writing about threats external and internal to Israel, to our allies in the Middle East and to the United States. Obviously, my first two non-fiction books were almost exclusively about threats that are external to us. But Implosion is really about the internal threats primarily to the United States.

I obviously write about radical Islam, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and other things that are external threats to the United States that could affect the country in the near future. But my primary focus is that we are in so much trouble as Americans, economically and fiscally on one side and morally, spiritually and culturally on the other side. I really believe we are experiencing epic failures at almost every level of American society.

If we don’t experience a Third Great Awakening in the very near future, this country is going to implode. It was a very painful book to write because the data is so clear. It is hard to really believe that we’ve gotten ourselves in such a bad spot. I argue that it’s not simply a rough patch. Some Americans are looking at this like we’re just in a downturn in the economy and we’ll pull out of this. I hope we do. But the evidence suggests that we’re not just in decline; that we may be very close to heading into a death spiral from which we cannot pull out. I hope that is not true. But we’re dangerously close to that.

Charisma News: There are optimistic views that you present in chapter three, including economist Charles Wolf Jr. who said, “Their alarm is unrealistic.” Could these be, in your opinion, a ploy by Satan himself to lull some people of this country in a false sense of security, or do those people really believe that we can get back onto the road to recovery without God’s help?

Rosenberg: I’m much less concerned about secular analysts who are saying yes, we can get ourselves out of this than I am with how weak the church is. The American church is so filled with false teaching, heresy, apostasy, entertainment culture, apathy and spiritual drift that I think the No. 1 problem facing America is a weak church.

Yes, Wall Street, Washington and Hollywood bare enormous blame for what is happening. But, really, the church is supposed to be the lighthouse in the darkness. Of the 340,000 or so church congregations in the United States, in an awful lot of them, the light is dimming or it has gone out entirely. I’m concerned about those pastors and other Christian leaders who are not being honest with themselves or with the American people about being in a situation where we are on the brink of catastrophe, and that we are not just in a rough patch.

I have been asked in other interviews if I could give four or five suggestions as to what to do, and I have some specific ones in the book. But, honestly there is only one thing we can do at this point. That is to get down on our knees to plead with Jesus Christ to have mercy on us individually, our churches, our families and our country. Honestly, anything less than that is not going to work.

It will only matter at the margin who the next president is. Either way, the economic and spiritual challenges we face are so enormous and I think people sense this. Politics is not going to be the answer. It does not mean that we do not defend our values and do the right thing. I am not advocating that.

In the last chapter of Implosion, I walk through how Christians think about politics. Do not abandon it, but don’t get addicted to it. My point is, without us pleading with Christ to give us a Third Great Awakening, I believe the data shows our country is going to implode. We’re not in a time where tweaking at the margins is going to help. This is all or nothing. Either Christ gives us a game-changing spiritual revival that is far better than Great Awakening of the 1700s and the Second Great Awakening of the 1800s, or nothing will work.

Steve Saint, who suffered a paralyzing injury while testing new equipment for the mission field, is undergoing intense and painful therapy to restore the use of his hands and feet.

Two days after spinal surgery the missionary pilot and inventor began therapy at a rehab program at a hospital in Gainesville, Fla.

“I think God is teaching me that he writes his best stories from the hardest starts, hardest beginnings,” Saint, who founded Itec-USA, said in a recent update posted on Facebook.

Saint said the pain he has endured has been intense, but seeing a story on the life of Christ in his hospital room gave him a new perspective.

“And it showed somebody holding a crown of thorns over his head and then jamming it down on his head,” Saint recalled. “And it showed him weary and dehydrated.

“I’m telling you, I’ve lived in some pretty hard places but I never had any idea that pain could be so intense,” he continued. 

After his surgery a video call from Ecuador provided a welcome distraction. The call was from his friend Mincaye, who decades ago joined other Waorani warriors in murdering Steve’s father, Nate Saint, and four other missionaries trying to bring them the gospel.

“Mincaye said he had a dream that something happened to you,” Mincaye’s translator told Saint.

Since Mincaye and other tribe members converted to Christianity, Saint has looked to him as his adoptive father.

“I’m feeling really bad and I’m sad that I’m looking at you in the hospital,” he told Saint during the call. “But God knows, too, that we can keep working and I would like to see you coming back to Ecuador and working with us together.”

“In all the world, Mincaye, there are no people that I love more than I love you, and that goes for your family, too,” Saint replied.

Doctors expect a slow recovery, although they’re doubtful Saint will regain full use of his limbs. They plan to keep him hospitalized for another two to four weeks.

In a victory for culture wars on campus, the University of California, Los Angeles, has revised a problematic flier-posting policy.

The policy vaguely prohibited a broad array of speech protected by the First Amendment.

“Universities are supposed to be a marketplace of ideas, not censorship. We commend UCLA for acting promptly to respect the free speech rights of its students,” says Heather Gebelin Hacker, Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) legal counsel. “A policy like UCLA’s was clearly unconstitutional and could have been used to silence the expression of those who hold to certain religious and political views.”

UCLA’s Center for Student Programming had a flier posting policy requiring posted materials “not be presented in any manner which tends to promote demeaning social stereotypes based on race, ethnicity, culture, gender or sexual orientation.”

After ADF attorneys brought the broadness and vagueness of the policy to the university’s attention, the policy was immediately revised to eliminate the problematic language.

The ADF letter, sent in April, explained that courts around the country have struck down policies with similar language.

“As the Supreme Court reiterated, ‘much political and religious speech might be perceived as offensive to some,’ but it is still protected speech,” the letter states. Moreover, “a university policy is unconstitutionally vague when ‘men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning.’”

“A public university should invite robust debate and dialogue on every conceivable issue, be open to the widest possible array of ideas and views and adopt policies that encourage the fullest possible exercise of First Amendment freedoms,” the letter concludes.

ADF sent the letter to UCLA as part of its nationwide effort to change unconstitutional policies at public universities. UCLA joins Virginia Tech and several other universities that have made changes in response to ADF letters.

Illinois’ same-sex marriage ban is under fire.

Both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund have filed suits against the Cook County Court, asserting that the General Assembly acted with intent to discriminate against same-sex couples when it enacted the Illinois Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

At that time, the sponsors of the legislation, Sen. Peter Fitzgerald and Rep. Tom Johnson, stated that the legislation was intended to preserve the traditional understanding of marriage and ensure that Illinois would not be required to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

During the debate on the measure, Sen. John Cullerton, now the president of the Illinois Senate, opposed the legislation because he thought it was unnecessary, stating that: “It is very clear that today in Illinois marriage is reserved as a union between a man and a woman. That is our policy, and I personally support that. I think it should be reserved for a union of a man and a woman. There are historic, cultural, religious and civil traditions for this, and we should continue in that tradition.”

Thomas More Society attorneys on Friday filed a motion to intervene, asking the Cook County Circuit Court to allow them to defend Illinois’ marriage law in the same-sex marriage lawsuits. The motion to intervene was filed on behalf of Christie Webb, Tazewell County Clerk, and Kerry Hirtzel, Effingham County Clerk.

Attorneys with the Thomas More Society have been appointed Special Assistant State’s Attorneys to represent Webb and Hirtzel in this litigation.

“When the ACLU and Lambda Legal brought plaintiffs from across the state of Illinois to sue the Cook County clerk, this became a statewide issue affecting the duties and responsibilities of every county clerk in the state of Illinois,” says Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel of the Thomas More Society.

“Legal claims similar to those asserted here by the ACLU and Lambda Legal have been rejected by every federal appellate court and the substantial majority of state courts,” he continues. “Illinois’ marriage law is valid and constitutional. Our state’s laws deserve robust defense, and with this motion to intervene, we intend to ensure that defense.”

The Thomas More Society’s request to enter the case follows the decisions of Cook County Clerk David Orr, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to refuse to defend the ban on same-sex marriage.

There is a principle to be learned in this parable of Jesus in Matthew 7:24-27:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had it’s foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (NIV).

The principle to be learned in this parable is that without the right foundation, a structure cannot stand. If you build on the sand, which shifts and washes away when the storms rise, your house will not stand. It is only upon a solid foundation that a house can stand. And it is only upon a solid foundation that a person, family or a nation can build and be secure.

Since the dawn of civilization, family has been the cornerstone and foundation on which all things are built. But over the years, we have watched the family structure erode and unravel to the point where even our legislators and judges are redefining the meaning of family and marriage.

Fatherlessness abounds. Divorce rates are skyrocketing, Alternative lifestyles are becoming normalized. What was once a solid foundation in this nation is now shifting on eroding sand of self preferences, rather than the immovable and unshakable foundations that cannot be shaken referred to in Hebrews chapter 12. The result is a culture that lies in great danger for the storms ahead.

In the days leading up to Hurricane Ike, local officials warned residents along the Texas southeast Gulf Coast of the magnitude of the storm that was coming. Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for coastal communities. Many residents heeded the warnings while others did not.

Thinking that they could ride out the storm, some decided to stay in their homes near the rising waters. The day before Hurricane Ike made landfall, the storm surge began rising significantly and many areas flooded hours before the storm hit. This early flooding may have proved to be the mercy of God, as in many cases, rescuers were able to to be deployed and airlift people into safety. But, many did not get out before Ike hit and they lost everything, some even their very lives.

When I first published the book The Fatherless Generation, a book on the state of the nation, the church and the generation in 1994, I knew the book was a prophetic wake-up call and warning. Like many other leaders who began issuing wake-up calls in our nation, I could see the writing on the wall. A generation was in crisis, resulting in a massive destabilization of our society.

But, just like during with Hurricane Ike and so many other storms, many have ignored the warnings. The wake-up calls have come in increasing measure, yet many of us continue to push our snooze buttons. We are being battered by the winds and waves that continue to erode our moral foundations.

Today, a whole new generation is emerging without a proper foundation to build upon for the future. They are a generation on shifting sand and our national house is in danger of falling. When the storms come—be it economic storms, spiritual storms or natural disasters—the structure will come tumbling down if we don’t recognize our cracked foundations.

Several years ago, while attending the Congressional Presidential Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., I was honored and humbled by an invitation to participate in the taping of two made-for-TV specials on The Soul of America by the late Dr. Bill Bright. The other guests were Max Lucado and the late Chuck Colson.

As we began the tapings on the Soul of America, I realized and emphasized that we cannot change the soul of our nation if the heart is sick. I believe the heart of any community or nation should be the church. But if the heart is sick how can we positively influence the soul of the community or nation?

The church needs a heart awakening if we are going bring life and hope to the land. If we are to be “salty” Christians as Jesus teaches, then we must not lose heart (or flavor). Like salt, we should be used as the flavor, preserver & medicinal element in our cities and nation. We cannot make lasting change unless, we first deal with our own root issues of the heart.

In the days of King Josiah and his reforms in 622 B.C., though he sought to legislate moral laws, he recognized that these laws cannot last without first the change of heart. Likewise, today, we need to recognize that we must continue to raise a banner of truth and righteousness with moral bearings, but it must first start in the heart of us as individuals returning to our first love, to a solid foundation that is unshakable, then as the corporate heart of the nation with a church awakening.

It’s time to quit pushing the snooze button and arise from our sleep.

Doug Stringer is the founder and president of Somebody Cares America/International. You can find him online at .

Inevitably, when disasters strike, the charismatic Christian world begins to ask what is the prophetic significance of these events. The fires in Colorado are no exception.

Is there some hidden meaning or message in the conflagration? It is never long after such questions begin to surface that judgments and condemnations posing as prophetic words begin to be heard.

But what  do  the fires really mean? And if this were the hand of God, why would one of those fires so devastate a city in which are located approximately 100 Christian ministries (other than churches) as well as one of the largest churches in the state? ??

Here is my answer: I don’t believe there is a cause, meaning or message specific to Colorado in all this. Nor do I believe there to be a cause, meaning or message specific to any other disaster currently or recently experienced in other places.

I live in Denver. I am painfully familiar with our transgressions both as a city and as the church in this city. I don’t believe these fires result from the collective sins of Colorado, our lack of unity, our 8 percent church attendance (including Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses) or any other genuine cause of the Lord’s displeasure.

I find it a long and even cruel leap to assume that God Himself actually pre-planned this tragedy affecting believers and unbelievers alike for the purpose of delivering a message or sending a judgment just for Colorado. ??I think rather that it is part of something I (and others) have long prophesied for the earth and included in Visions of the Coming Days, that we would see an increase in natural disasters around the world because the earth can no longer bear up under the accumulated sin of mankind and is finally reacting.

The evidence is that we are experiencing floods in Florida, extended droughts in other places and temperatures in some regions shattering records set many years ago. The fires in Colorado and other places follow upon the driest and warmest spring in anyone’s memory. We have seen devastating tornadoes in the American midwest breaking records for both numbers and destructive power. Recent earthquakes in Japan, New Zealand, Italy and other nations have devastated countless lives. This list represents just a few of the natural disasters afflicting the earth in our time.

If there’s a message to be received in all this, it’s about mercy, repentance for sin and crying out to God in prayer, not condemning and blaming those who don’t share our sense of morality or political persuasion.?? These disasters are the inevitable result of what mankind has sown. They are not—at least not yet—the judgment of our God whose very nature is love.

Maybe it’s just my Native-American genetics crying out, but the earth itself now speaks its warning, expressing its pain, and we’d best listen. I am grieved at the chorus of voices I have heard rising in loveless condemnation of sinners, homosexuals, politicians and others as these fires and other disasters progress.

As a Bible-believing, conservative, charismatic Christian and as a political conservative, I would agree with the wrongness of what many regard to be sinful in these areas. This is not, however, the time for that kind of talk, even if true. This is rather a time for intercession, repentance (as the Lord grants revelation), and huge doses of mercy for hurting people, no matter who they are. ??

Fires are devouring people’s homes and memories. Earthquakes have devastated major cities. Droughts and floods have caused crop failures, causing food prices to rise and some to starve in various parts of the world. People are suffering. This is what matters right now.

Our church, for instance, is sending a truckload of water, clothing, diapers and other materials to Colorado Springs, Colo., to minister love and support to hurting people who have lost their homes or been forced to evacuate. I know of other churches doing the same and I pray that more step up to the plate.??

PLEASE, this is a time for mercy. Let’s focus there. When a pandemic of plague struck the Roman Empire, the persecuted Christians did NOT cry out that it was God’s judgment for profligate immorality, idolatry and oppression, although they would have been able to point legitimately to extreme moral corruption of every kind.

Instead, they ministered to the victims. In fact, they were the only ones who would. This is how they won souls and grew the early church. We must do the same, especially as human suffering escalates. And please, Lord, come quickly!

About the author: R. Loren Sandford is the founder and senior pastor of New Song Church and Ministries in Denver. He is a songwriter, recording artist and worship leader, as well as the author of several books, including Understanding Prophetic People, The Prophetic Church, Renewal for the Wounded Warrior and his latest, Visions of the Coming Days, which are available with other resources at the church’s website.