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The popular Twilight series, which has spawned a film franchise that releases its second installment, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Friday, is getting mixed reactions from Christians who alternately see it as a doorway into Satanism or a tool for evangelism.

Since 2005, Mormon author Stephenie Meyer’s four novels about a vampire named Edward Cullen who hunts game rather than humans and falls in love with teenager Bella Swan have sold more than 70 million copies. The film adaptation of the first book, Twilight, generated $384 million.

In Forks, Wash., where the Twilight series is set, tourism jumped from 18,000 in 2008 to more than 64,000 so far this year. Christians in the town of 3,200 say interest in the books has not only bolstered the local economy but also created a new mission field.

“Instead of us going into a foreign mission field, God is bringing people here,” said Jim Chase, pastor of Forks Assembly of God. “We do friendship evangelism. We show them Christ by our actions, we show them Christ by our attitude.”

Member Merle Watson, 79, says he’s been able to witness to at least 1,000 people since tourists started checking into the Forks hotel where he works to spend a day visiting sites mentioned in the books. Most, he said, are drawn to the story’s romance. One college-age woman even began to cry as she told him about the book’s appeal. “I would give anything if someone loved me like that,” the woman told him.

“I know I’m getting shot down by some people who say I’m making evil good because vampires and werewolves, they’re evil,” Watson said. “But the people that are coming in here are searching for love. I think if the churches are not meeting this need, we’re failing; we’re falling short. It’s just love they’re looking for.”

Youth minister Kimberly Powers takes a similar view. After talking with dozens of Twilight fans, she found that the books tapped into a deep longing for love and meaning.

“The girls weren’t coming for the vampires, they were coming for the love story,” said Powers, co-founder of Walk the Talk Youth Ministries and author of Escaping the Vampire. (Read more about vampire-themed Christian books.)

“These girls are just longing to be accepted,” she added. “I’ve seen this for years and years. This is just another way of drawing them.”

Powers wants her book and a forthcoming conference series to compel Twilight readers to see Jesus as their rescuer and hero.

“I want girls to think, I thought Edward Cullen was the thing, but wow, Jesus is truly my rescuer and hero,” Powers said. “There just is no comparison. They can get swept up in God’s epic story of love. Why settle for fiction when you can have the real thing?”

Iowa minister Bill Schnoebelen, a former Satanist who practiced vampirism for several years, says Christians should avoid Twilight altogether. Unlike fantasies such as The Lord of the Rings, Twilight can spur a dangerous fascination with the occult, he says.

Since Anne Rice’s novel Interview With the Vampire and the subsequent film adaptation, Schnoebelen said interest in vampirism has been slowly increasing as a subset of Satanism and the Goth subculture. Now, he says, hundreds of people drink blood as part of vampire cults.

“Yes, [Twilight] is partly fantasy, but there are people who do these things,” he said. “It’s a false religion.”

Even though many Twilight fans may not explore vampirism, he said the books are giving it a dark kind of glamour. “It’s a hard thing to get out of,” said Schnoebelen, who came to Christ in 1984 and now leads With One Accord Ministries to help others find deliverance from occultism. “If it wasn’t for the grace of God I’d either be dead or insane somewhere.”

Schnoebelen’s concerns are not only about the book’s spiritual content. Having earned a master’s degree in counseling in 1990, he said Bella’s relationship with Edward is equally problematic.

“She’s totally destroyed when he goes away,” Schnoebelen said. “The only way she can have any kind of peace is when she goes and does some risky behavior. … She can’t exist without this young vampire man. When you think that these books target teen girls, I think that’s very reprehensible.”

Author Beth Felker Jones, an assistant professor of theology at Wheaton College, has similar concerns.

“Bella … is willing to erase herself, give up all her plans, her hopes, her dreams,” said Jones, who examines Twilight’s themes in Touched by a Vampire. “She becomes only about her love and not about anything else in her life, and I think that’s not such a great image of what love ought to be with us or for us.”

Jones encourages Christians to make their own decision about whether to read the books or watch the films, but she says those do so should view Twilight through “Christ-centered” eyes.

Some Christian parents applaud the books’ promotion of abstinence or the pro-life message presented when Bella faces a life-threatening pregnancy. But Jones worries about Christians’ willingness to jump on popular bandwagons if there’s even a hint of light.

“Yes, the characters wait until they’re married, but … at the end of the day, [the books] are still very erotically charged,” Jones said. “They’re still about wanting in really deep ways and that’s tied to danger because he’s a vampire. There’s more to think about than just to say: ‘Oh look, these folks wait. Isn’t it great to finally have some book in which this happens.'”

Pastor Chase of Forks Assembly of God neither encourages nor discourages his members from reading the books or watching the movie. He says attacks against the Harry Potter books a few years back only made the children in his church want to read them.

“Banning books … causes people to want to run toward it more,” he said. “What we need to be worried about is being Christ to these people as they come to town.”

The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, is undeniably inspirational. At a recent screening, many viewers were openly in tears.

But Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the Christian couple at the center of the film that opens Friday, hope the story of how they adopted a homeless black teenager who eventually became a first-round NFL draft pick does more than make people cry.

“We hope people walk out of the theater and want to do something for someone else,” said the couple’s daughter, Collins Tuohy.

Based on the true story of Baltimore Ravens rookie Michael Oher, The Blind Side—rated PG-13 for language, violence and depictions of drug use—chronicles how a handful of Christians helped change the life of a teen growing up in inner-city Memphis, Tenn.

First, administrators at a tony Christian school on the opposite side of town admitted him as a student, despite a GPA that began with a zero, “because it’s the right thing to do,” as the school’s football coach argued in the film. Then the Tuohys (played by Bullock and McGraw) took him into their home after seeing him walking down a road one night in the dead of winter wearing just shorts and a T-shirt.

The Tuohys eventually adopted Oher (played by newcomer Quinton Aaron) into their family, hired a tutor to help him improve his grades and encouraged him to play football. That led to a host of scholarship offers that landed him at the Tuohys’ alma mater, Ole Miss, then the 2009 NFL draft.

For some viewers, the idea of a wealthy white family rescuing a disadvantaged black youth may seem paternalistic. Many of the African-Americans depicted in the film are poor, drug-addicted or involved in gangs, and seem in need of assistance. 

But 22-year-old Collins, played in the film by Lily Collins, said her family wasn’t trying to make any social statements. They just happened to be there when Oher needed someone and would have helped him if he was purple, she said. 

“What we did for Michael was to give him tools to succeed and to have his back when he needed it and to love him,” Collins told Charisma. “It’s amazing what happens when you give a child a little bit of love.”

“The fact that he is where he is now is not a testament to us, it’s a testament to him,” she added. “Because I, Collins Tuohy, would not have done what Michael did to get to where he is. There is no way I would have sat in my kitchen for seven hours and studied every night. There is no way that I could have done what should have been done in four years [of high school] in two years. There’s no way I could have done that.”

Although the Tuohys see adopting Oher as part of God’s plan for their family, Collins says her mom was likely acting on impulse when she brought Oher into their home.

“When you see a child in snow with shorts and a T-shirt walking down the road, it’s usually your immediate reaction to question, and then she just happened to react,” Collins said. “And that’s kind of the message of the movie. If more people would just react, this world might be a little bit better of a place. … You don’t have to adopt a child. Just help someone. Then we might be a little bit better off.”

Evangelist Ray Comfort and actor Kirk Cameron joined 1,200
Christians Wednesday in distributing 170,000 copies of Charles Darwin’s
evolution manifesto The Origin of Species—which features a 50-page
introduction refuting Darwin’s theory—at 100 universities across the nation.

Comfort initially planned to distribute copies of The Origin of
Species: 150th Anniversary Edition at college campuses today, but atheists and
students had threatened “unilateral resistance,” including book
burnings and protests, according to Comfort’s Living Waters ministry.

“Our agenda was simply to get the books into the hands of the students,
without creating a disturbance at universities,” the ministry said.

Atheists nationwide blasted Comfort online for distributing the 1859 book,
which is in the public domain and was published through a partnership with
Bridge-Logos Foundation.

“This is a shameful thing that Kirk Cameron and [Ray Comfort] are doing
by altering another person’s book in order to push their agenda,” reads a post
on the “Kirk Cameron has gone too far” Facebook page. “But
we can help to restore the book to how it was intended and keep young minds
from being brainwashed by misinformation.”

Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, told
students to rip out the book’s introduction. One thousand free
copies of The Origin of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition were also distributed at the
University of Oxford, where Dawkins is a professor.

Dawkins has reportedly called Comfort a fool for advocating intelligent
design, but the evangelist says his goal was to make students think. “All I want
for this generation of kids to do is think about what they believe,” Comfort
told Charisma. “I don’t want them to turn their back on evolution. I want
them to doubt it enough to look at the claims of the gospel.”

Comfort said he doubts intelligent design will ever be
taught in schools alongside evolution. “That’s because we have to remember who
we are as Christians,” he said. “We’re the folks who believe in Adam and Eve
[and] Noah’s Ark … and so in the name of science, they are going to resist as
much as they can.”

But the evangelist says his mission goes beyond addressing
educational needs. He says when people become atheists, they change their worldview
from “I believe in God” to “I’m morally responsible” to “There are no moral
absolutes,” which “opens the door for fornication and pornography and every
vice the human heart so desires.”

Ultimately, Comfort hopes the book giveaway will draw unbelievers to Christ.
“I want them to have everlasting life,” he said. “That’s the motive for giving
these books out.”

Living Waters also supplied some of the $ books to
Christian bookstores for evangelistic purposes.

The popular Twilight series, which has spawned a film
franchise that releases its second installment, The Twilight Saga: New Moon,
Friday, is getting mixed reactions from Christians who alternately see it as a
doorway into Satanism or a tool for evangelism.

Since 2005, Mormon author Stephenie Meyer’s four novels about a vampire
named Edward Cullen who hunts game rather than humans and falls in love with
teenager Bella Swan have sold more than 70 million copies. The film adaptation
of the first book, Twilight, generated $384 million.

In Forks, Wash., where the Twilight series is set, tourism
jumped from 18,000 in 2008 to more than 64,000 so far this year. Christians in
the town of 3,200 say interest in the books has not only bolstered the local
economy but also created a new mission field.

“Instead of us going into a foreign mission field, God is
bringing people here,” said Jim Chase, pastor of Forks Assembly of God. “We do
friendship evangelism. We show them Christ by our actions, we show them Christ
by our attitude.”

Member Merle Watson, 79, says he’s been able to witness to at
least 1,000 people since tourists started checking into the Forks hotel where
he works to spend a day visiting sites mentioned in the books. Most, he said,
are drawn to the story’s romance. One college-age woman even began to cry as
she told him about the book’s appeal. “I would give anything if someone loved
me like that,” the woman told him.

“I know I’m getting shot down by some people who say I’m
making evil good because vampires and werewolves, they’re evil,” Watson said.
“But the people that are coming in here are searching for love. I think if the
churches are not meeting this need, we’re failing; we’re falling short. It’s just
love they’re looking for.”

Youth minister Kimberly Powers takes a similar view. After
talking with dozens of Twilight fans, she found that the books tapped into a
deep longing for love and meaning.

“The girls weren’t coming for the vampires, they were coming
for the love story,” said Powers, co-founder of Walk the Talk Youth Ministries
and author of Escaping the Vampire. (Read more about vampire-themed Christian books.)

“These girls are just longing to be accepted,” she added. “I’ve seen this
for years and years. This is just another way of drawing them.”

Powers wants her book and a forthcoming conference series to
compel Twilight readers to see Jesus as their rescuer and hero.

“I want girls to
think, I thought Edward Cullen was the thing, but wow, Jesus is truly my
rescuer and hero,” Powers said. “There just is no comparison. They can get
swept up in God’s epic story of love. Why settle for fiction when you can have the real thing?”

Iowa minister Bill Schnoebelen, a former Satanist who
practiced vampirism for several years, says Christians should avoid Twilight
altogether. Unlike fantasies such as The Lord of the Rings, Twilight can
spur a dangerous fascination with the occult, he says.

Since Anne Rice’s novel Interview
With the Vampire and the
subsequent film adaptation, Schnoebelen said interest in vampirism has
been slowly increasing as a subset of Satanism and the Goth subculture. Now, he
says, hundreds of people drink blood as part of vampire cults.

“Yes, [Twilight] is partly fantasy, but there are people who
do these things,” he said. “It’s a false religion.”

Even though many Twilight fans may not explore vampirism, he
said the books are giving it a dark kind of glamour. “It’s a hard thing to get
out of,” said Schnoebelen, who came to Christ in 1984 and now leads With One
Accord Ministries to help others find deliverance from occultism. “If it wasn’t
for the grace of God I’d either be dead or insane somewhere.”

Schnoebelen’s concerns are not only about the book’s
spiritual content. Having earned a master’s degree in counseling in 1990, he said
Bella’s relationship with Edward is equally problematic.

“She’s totally destroyed when he goes away,” Schnoebelen
said. “The only way she can have any kind of peace is when she goes and does
some risky behavior. … She can’t exist without this young vampire man. When you
think that these books target teen girls, I think that’s very reprehensible.”

Author Beth Felker Jones, an assistant professor of theology
at Wheaton College, has similar concerns.

“Bella … is willing to erase herself, give up all her plans,
her hopes, her dreams,” said Jones, who examines Twilight’s themes in Touched
by a Vampire. “She becomes only about her love and not about anything else
in her life, and I think that’s not such a great image of what love ought to be
with us or for us.”

Jones encourages Christians to make their own decision about
whether to read the books or watch the films, but she says those do so should
view Twilight through “Christ-centered” eyes.

Some Christian parents applaud the books’ promotion of
abstinence or the pro-life message presented when Bella faces a
life-threatening pregnancy. But Jones worries about Christians’ willingness to
jump on popular bandwagons if there’s even a hint of light.

“Yes, the characters wait until they’re married, but … at the
end of the day, [the books] are still very erotically charged,” Jones said. “They’re
still about wanting in really deep ways and that’s tied to danger because he’s
a vampire. There’s more to think about than just to say: ‘Oh look, these folks
wait. Isn’t it great to finally have some book in which this happens.'”

Pastor Chase of Forks Assembly of God neither encourages nor
discourages his members from reading the books or watching the movie. He says
attacks against the Harry Potter books a few years back only made the children
in his church want to read them.

“Banning books … causes people to want to run toward it
more,” he said. “What we need to be worried about is being Christ to these
people as they come to town.”

Focus on your objectives and not your obstacles. Most people look at situations from a negative vantage point. ·   

• What if something bad happens?

• Will I have enough money to do this?

• How will I get this done?

Looking at the difficulties causes people to be problem oriented rather than goal oriented.  It is easy to get hung up on the obstacles along the way and lose the joy of accomplishing the goal. Some of the obstacles may only be the imagination of problems and not the reality of the situation. 

President John F. Kennedy was a man who overcame many obstacles in life. While he was on active duty in the Pacific, the Japanese destroyed the boat under his command. Despite a back injury, he showed great heroism in rescuing his crew. Kennedy once said “A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.”

Do what you must do. Do it in spite of the obstacles on your path.

• What if something good happens?

• What if you locate enough money to finish the task?

• What if you find yourself accomplishing something you never thought you could do?

Keep a positive viewpoint and you’ll achieve your goals despite the obstacles designed to hinder you.

James 2:18-3:18 There are two kinds of wisdom we can experience here on earth. We can experience the wisdom of this world or heavenly wisdom. Earlier in this letter James tells us that if any man lack wisdom, he should ask God, and God will grant him wisdom. The kind of wisdom God gives is described as follows: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).

If we could daily walk in such wisdom, we would be great ambassadors for Christ. The world needs such wisdom, but most people in this world are bound by the wisdom from below. James tell us “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” (James 3:14-16).

Any time we get into strife, we are operating in the wisdom of this world, which is demonic. If we are jealous or confused, we also are experiencing the wisdom of this world. The fruit of worldly wisdom is always bad.

If we think ourselves to be wise, we can easily become fools the moment we get into strife. We are exhorted in God’s Word to cease from anger and strife and to seek peace and pursue it. God loves a peacemaker, and whenever we bring His peace into a strife-filled situation, we have pleased the Lord. Those who make peace always sow the fruit of righteousness in peace.

Lord, help me to operate in Your wisdom today and help me to be a peacemaker.

READ: Ezekiel 39:1-40:27; James 2:18-3:18; Psalm 118:1-18; Proverbs 28:2

Two sisters jailed in Iran for more than eight months after refusing to renounce their Christian faith were released Wednesday.

Maryam Rustampoor, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30,were arrested March 5 on charges of “acting against state security” and “taking part in illegal gatherings.”

During an August court hearing, the women were pressured to renounce their faith in verbal and written form, but both refused. “If we come out of prison we want to do so with honor,” they said after the hearing, according to Elam Ministries, which supports Christians in Iran and has advocated for the women’s release.

As a result of their response, the judge sent the sisters back to prison “to think about it,” Compass Direct News reported. At a court hearing in October, the judge dropped the anti-state charge, but the women still faced charges of propagation of Christianity and apostasy.

“Words are not enough to express our gratitude to the Lord and to His people who have prayed and worked for our release,” the sisters told Elam Wednesday.

Rostampour and Esmaeilabad were held in the notorious Evin prison, a facility that has drawn criticism in recent years for its human rights violations. Sources say the sisters were put in solitary confinement and subjected to intense interrogations.

Esmaeilabad also suffered from spinal pain, an infected tooth and intense headaches but was reportedly denied medical attention for a time. In October Rostampour had severe food poisoning.

“Maryam and Marzieh have greatly inspired us all,” said Elam director Sam Yeghnazar. “Their love for the Lord Jesus and their faithfulness to God has been an amazing testimony.”

Open Doors, a group that advocates for persecuted Christians, launched a campaign to free the women. The group called on supporters to contact Mohammad Khazaee, Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations, and to the Iranian government requesting the sisters’ immediate release.

David Yeghnazar, Elam’s U.S. director, said it is not clear why the women were released, but he credits prayer. He notes that roughly 17,000 people have spent a least a month interceding for Iran as part of Elam’s Iran 30 prayer campaign.

“We’re not sure of the exact reasons for their release, but certainly people have been praying for their situation,” he told Charisma.

Although the U.S. State Department designated Iran as a country of “particular concern” for its religious repression, hundreds of thousands of Iranians have reportedly come to Christ in recent years. Many converts report having dreams and visions of Jesus that led them to salvation.

Yet amid the growth of underground churches, government intimidation of Christians has been increasing. Elam leaders say last year there were more than 50 known cases of arrests and imprisonment, and some cases of torture.

Despite their release, the sisters may face further legal battles. “They’ve been told there will be a future court hearing, so prayers continue to be needed,” David Yeghnazar said. “What we don’t want to happen is that people think, ‘They’re out. We don’t need to keep praying for them.’ … I really believe that people’s prayers are making a difference.”

If you’ve ever read any written accounts of true revivals in past ages, you know about the powerful ways in which God moved upon the people, both inside and outside the church. But you may not be aware that when these powerful manifestations of God took place, many other things—things that were not of God—came in also. Strong fleshly shows and demonic take-offs tried to discredit the move. Without the discernment present to separate the precious from the vile, there was a kind of chaos.

When the power of God descends upon a group of people, there is always a form of disorder because God disrupts our religious programs, traditions and customs. But if there is no discernment among the people, particularly the leaders of the movement, the disorder may have a different origin. It is crucial that we rely on the Holy Spirit within us to bear witness to the truth.

Let’s face it. Discerning evil would be easy if the devil appeared, looking just like the devil we imagined when we were kids, and said: “Hi, I’m the devil! I’ve come to torment you and destroy your church.” Unfortunately, he doesn’t make our job that easy. The Bible says he can appear as an angel of light.

Surprisingly, a religious spirit does not always have a legalistic, sour-faced look. I’ve seen religious spirits operating in people who appear very friendly, “free,” spontaneous—even spiritual. A religious spirit can spend hours telling you about dreams and visions and “prophetic words from the Lord.”

But God has made provision for us to discern between good and evil—by sending His Spirit, who guides us and leads us into all truth (John 16:13), to dwell within us. It is His responsibility to “deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13).

What is the problem then? Why do churches and individuals find out too late that what they thought was God was really a fake?

I believe it is because we, as humans, are basically lazy. We would rather accept something at face value than make the effort to tune into the Holy Spirit and receive His discernment. It is not only the work of listening we shy away from—but the responsibility of taking action if we discern that something is awry.

Listening to the Holy Spirit

I walked past a small group of people who were gathered in my kitchen. They were standing around a first-time guest, who had come, as many other visitors did, to “check us out” and see for himself the manifestations of the presence of God that were occurring in our meetings.

As I went by, I overheard the newcomer telling how he had lost his wages on the way home from work (in those days many manual workers were paid weekly, in cash). Two thoughts crossed my mind: First, They are going to give him some money to make up for the loss, and second, He’s lying!

I walked away and began to silently rebuke myself: You are so suspicious! But inwardly my heart still felt uneasy.

The following week the same visitor came again to the house meeting. One of the elders from another church in our town also attended. After the service, the elder called me aside into another room. He was hesitant but finally said, “I need to tell you something about a man who was here tonight.”

He described our visitor. “The man has made a habit of going to various churches and telling the people he has lost his wages so that they take up offerings for him,” the elder told me. “But in actual fact, he spends his money in the betting shop!”

I thanked the elder and then went straight out into my yard and sat down. I felt that God and I needed to have a talk. “God, I’m sorry. I believe you tried to tell me about this, and I ignored your Spirit and pushed His voice aside.”

Immediately the Holy Spirit gave me a striking vision. I saw a picture of a gigantic fir tree. It was lush and beautiful, with branches spreading out like a huge crinoline petticoat. The overall effect was impressive.

Then I saw that little ornaments had been stuck on the ends of the branches. The tree no longer looked impressive; the branches were so huge and the ornaments so small that it took on a pathetic appearance.

The Lord spoke to me, “Kathie, that’s what you do to my Spirit with all your little niceties and politenesses—they are not truth, and they are not of my Spirit. My truth does not need to be decorated with your niceties.”

The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth and reality. He does not enter into pretense. He does not put on an act or witness to a lie. If you are born again that same Holy Spirit is in you. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth.

How? He witnesses to the truth. We have to learn to listen to the witness of the Spirit within us. It is the only way to walk in the truth of God and consequently live in the Spirit.

Jesus died on the cross not only so that we would have eternal security, but also so that we would be able to live in the realm He lived in—the realm of the Spirit. One of the keys to walking in this spiritual place is learning to listen to and obey the voice and witness of the Spirit within us.

Jesus did not make judgments and assessments according to what He saw with His eyes or heard with His ears. He was led by the Holy Spirit and listened to the voice of His Father (John 5:30; 7:24; 12:49). As He was, so are we in this world.

Exercising the Gifts of the Spirit

Why are we so insecure about being Spirit-led? Why do we not have the confidence that we should have? Most of us do not give attention to the witness of the Spirit when He is telling us something. We do not practice hearing and responding to the extent that we can be certain we recognize the voice of God.

Being able to exercise our spiritual senses to discern good and evil is a sign of maturity—a sign that we no longer need “milk” but are ready for “solid food” (see Heb. 5:12-14). But to get to the point of maturity, we must use our spiritual abilities regularly. The gifts of the Spirit—prophecy, the discerning of spirits and so on—are meant to be practiced!

Often we want to be able to operate in the gifts and functions of the Holy Spirit without having to exercise them. Why? Because exercising them requires us to get into faith—and it’s an effort to do that. It’s much easier to simply receive whatever is said rather than making the effort to listen to the Spirit within us, especially if He’s saying something different from what we are hearing with our (natural) ears.

Do you realize that we have a responsibility to discern not only between good and evil but also between that which is good and that which is God? If someone comes and quotes a Scripture to you, listen for the witness of the Spirit. The verse may be true, but it may not necessarily be the thing God is speaking to you right now.

I have some friends in Georgia who love the mission field. However, the Lord brought them back for a period of time in order to get some things sorted out within their own family. During this time, someone came along and gave them a conflicting word, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” That threw them into confusion for a couple of weeks.

Fortunately they had good discernment and felt that although the second word was scriptural, it wasn’t a word from God for them at that particular time. The second word was well-meaning, but it came from someone’s soul and not from the Spirit of God.

God said to me once, “Kathie, things are not as they appear.” This is why we are not to judge by what we see! Jesus learned not to judge by the seeing of the eye nor the hearing of the ear, and we are supposed to walk the same way.

The desert fathers learned to do this. These were men who secluded themselves in the caves in Egypt during the second century in order to pray unhindered by worldly distractions. One of them, a man named Anthony, was a seasoned prayer warrior who had clear discernment.

Anthony tells a story about a two-week period when the devil tried to stop him from praying. At first the devil came undisguised to the door of his cave.

“What do you want?” Anthony asked.

“Why don’t you leave me alone?” the devil said. “Why do you Christians keep praying? You are tormenting me, and it is not my time.”

Anthony sent him packing. A few days later the devil came as a wild beast and tried to kill him. Anthony discerned it was Satan and rebuked him. The beast disappeared.

After a few more days Satan came as a preacher with a Bible. Anthony discerned he was not from God. Finally the devil showed up as a group of psalmists, singing psalms. “This time,” wrote Anthony, “…I cursed them, and they disappeared in the desert.”

How many Christians today have this kind of discernment? Yet Anthony and the other desert fathers lived in a spiritual realm that is available to us all. In fact, we too are meant to live in it! The same Holy Spirit who dwelled in them now dwells in us.

I believe God wants to awaken us to our need for discernment so that when He begins to move, we can thwart the enemy’s plans to pull down what God is building. We can be on the lookout for his tactics rather than seeing too late what we would have seen in the beginning if we had had our senses exercised.

We have all missed it here and there, but we can learn from our lack of faith and decide to walk in the discernment God has provided for us through His Holy Spirit. Let’s learn to listen to Him and look to Him to guide us into all truth.

Kathie Walters is co-founder with her husband, David, of Good News Fellowship Ministries in Macon, Georgia. She may be reached via e-mail at goodnews@.

Pam Cope didn’t close her heart when she learned about vulnerable African orphans. Today she is reaching children around the world. Watch her story.

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Since forgiveness is a choice, what is the next step? If we are persuaded that it is right and have decided to do it (and not look back), what next?

1. Make the deliberate and irrevocable choice not to tell anyone what they did.
You may need to do this for therapeutic reasons, but only to one person who in turn will never reveal your heart. Jesus also said that the one who is faithful in the least thing is faithful also in much, and this is the first thing. Do not mention it; refuse to tell anybody.

This isn’t necessarily easy sometimes, but when our motive is to hurt another person by telling on them, there is sin on our part. So do not tell it at all or in part; keep it quiet.

2. Be pleasant to them should you be around them.
Do not say or do anything that would make them anxious. Put them at ease. This can be hard to do, certainly harder than the first step. It is we who are afraid when we can’t forgive. When we pass our fear to them, it is utterly the opposite of what Jesus would do. He would say, “Fear not.” Josif Tson says that there are 366 statements of “Do not fear” (or the equivalent) in the Bible-“One for every day of the year and one for leap year!” he says. God does not want us to fear; we must not do or say anything to cause others to fear. Be nice. Put them at ease. This is what Jesus did when He turned up after His resurrection to 10 disciples behind closed doors. (See John 20:19).

3. If conversation ensues, say that which would set them free from guilt.
Guilt is most painful, and we can easily punish people by sending them on a “guilt trip.” Never do that. Remember that Jesus doesn’t want us to feel guilty. When we are going to be Jesus to another, then we will not want them to be angry with themselves.

This is a hard one. We get some satisfaction when we think they feel really, really bad. That defuses us and eases our anger somewhat. But if we want to be valiant and utterly magnanimous—thus showing true godliness—we will say whatever is the equivalent of Joseph’s words: “Do not be angry with yourselves” (Gen. 45:5). Joseph would not allow his brothers to feel guilty, and this is a choice we too must make. It’s hard, but it is what we would want if things were reversed and we needed forgiveness. “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31).

4. Let them feel good about themselves.
Not only does this mean never reminding them of their wrong and your hurt, but it also means helping them through any guilt they may have. This can be done without any reference to what they did. If it is not in the open, as with Joseph’s situation, that is of course different; he let his brothers save face by showing God’s sovereign strategy in their sin. But in many cases you will not be able to talk about anything specifically. You can still let them save face, because you know that they know what they did.

You therefore must behave as though you don’t even think they did anything wrong! That is hard for all of us, but it must be done. Say whatever you can (as long as it is true) that will give that person a sense of dignity. That is the point of Galatians 6:1: “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” As long as there is a trace of self-righteousness and pointing the finger, your attempt at total forgiveness will backfire.

5. Protect them from their greatest fear.
If you are aware of some deep, dark secret and fear they have, they will probably know that you know. If they can tell by your graciousness that their secret will never be revealed—ever—to anyone, they will be relieved. You only tell them when you know they know what you know, and you are convinced this would make them feel better. If by reminding them it would obviously not make them feel better, don’t even come close!

Remember that Joseph knew his brothers’ greatest fear was that their father, Jacob, would learn the truth of their evil deed. Joseph never mentioned this directly but suggested they speak to Jacob in such a way that they wouldn’t have to tell him after all. (See Genesis 45:9-13.) It must have given the brothers incalculable relief to know that they were not obliged to tell Jacob. But that is what total forgiveness is all about: setting people free.

6. Keep it up today, tomorrow, this year and next.
Total forgiveness is a lifelong commitment. Some days will be easier than others. There will come a time when you think you are completely over it and have won a total victory—only to find the very next day Satan reminds you of what they did and the utter injustice that they will be unpunished and never exposed. The temptation to bitterness will emerge. After all, we’re not perfect! If we say we have no sin—that we are incapable of the same old bitterness—we are deceived (1 John 1:8).

This is exactly why I read Luke 6:37 every day: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” All commitments to forgive need renewal. In my case, daily. I am not telling you that this is what you must do, but be warned: the devil is cunning. He will come through the back door unexpectedly and try to upset you for forgiving. When you forgave your enemy, you then and there removed that open invitation to the devil to get inside. Satan’s favorite rationale is bitterness—he therefore will keep trying to get back into your thought life.

Whether it be Luke 6:37 or another way forward in your case—even if you aren’t required to keep it up each day—I can tell you right now that it is only a matter of time before your commitment to forgive will need to be renewed.

7. Pray for them.
“But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). When you do this from the heart—praying for them to be blessed and off the hook—you’re there. It is not a perfunctory prayer, not a “We commit them to You” prayer, and certainly not an “Oh God, please deal with them” prayer. It is praying that God will forgive them—that is, overlook what they have done and bless and prosper them as though they’d never sinned at all.

But as John Calvin said, doing this is “exceedingly difficult.” As Chrysostom said, it is the very highest summit of self-control. “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city” (Prov. 16:32).

Praying for the one who has hurt you or let you down is the greatest challenge of all, for all three reasons:

1. You take a route utterly against the flesh.
2. Nobody will every know you are doing it.
3. Your heart could break when God answers that prayer and truly blesses them  as if they’d never sinned.

And yet Jesus’s word to pray for such people is not a polite suggestion; it is a command—and one that may seem so outrageous that you want to dismiss it out of hand. Some see it as a lofty but unrealistic goal.

I remember a church leader turning to me to pray about his son-in-law who had been unfaithful to the leader’s daughter. He said to me that his own prayer was only this: that God would “deal” with this man. “This is where I have to come to,” he said to me, “that God will deal with him.”

I understood what he meant, and I felt for him. I find what people do to our own offspring the hardest things to forgive. I therefore understood what he was feeling. A few days later it was reported that this leader’s son-in-law had been in a serious accident. This same church leader was on the phone, glad that the accident had happened. Now in this particular case there was nothing sinister in this euphoria. He simply hoped that the accident would wake up his son-in-law to put his marriage back together. It was so understandable.

But this is not what Jesus means. He is commanding us to pray that our enemy will be blessed. If, however, you should pray that they will be cursed or punished instead of being blessed, just remember that is how your enemy possibly feels about you. After all, have you ever been someone’s enemy? Have you ever done something that brought a fellow Christian to tears and brokenness? If so, how would you like that person to pray for you? That God will deal with you? That God will cause you to have an accident? Yet how would it make you feel if they prayed that you would be blessed and let off the hook? That you would prosper as if you’d never sinned? Would you not like that? “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31).

Jesus wants a sincere prayer from us. It is like signing your name to a document, having it witnessed, and never looking back. You are not allowed to tell the world, “Guess what I did? I have actually prayed for my unfaithful spouse to be blessed.” No. It is quiet. Only the angels witness it, but it makes God very happy.

After all, every parent wants their children to get along with one another. No parent likes it when one child comes and squeals on the other and demands that they be punished. The poor parent is put on the spot. What gladdens the heart of every parent is when there is love and forgiveness, and the parent is not put on the spot to have to take sides and punish anyone. That is what we do for God when we ask that He bless and not curse. He told us to pray for our enemies, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteousness” (Matt. 5:45).