By David Jeremiah EL CAJON, Calif. (BP) - Everyone is familiar with the pursuit of approval in American politics. Since the first political public opinion poll was used in Pennsylvania in 1824, the polling industry has become ingrained in American life -- and not just in politics. Celebrities are offered roles or opportunities based upon their likability as well. But it's not just politicians and celebrities who are willing to be liked at all costs. It's a human condition; we're all guilty of longing to be approved. And it begins at a young age. You may have heard about the little boy in the first-grade Sunday School class. The teacher was talking about all the animals God created and asked, "Billy, what's the name of the furry little animal with a bushy tail that scurries around collecting acorns?" Billy replied, "Well, I know the answer is supposed to be 'Jesus,' but it sounds like a squirrel to me!" He was in a Sunday School where he had learned that the answer to most questions was "Jesus," so he said what he thought the teacher wanted to hear, regardless of how silly it sounded. He was at the same crossroads we face many times in life: Do we seek the approval of man or do we speak and act with truthfulness and … [Read more...]

By Greg Laurie "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple." Jonah 2:7 God told Jonah to go and preach to the people of Nineveh, but Jonah boarded a boat and went in the opposite direction. When a violent storm hit, the sailors began to cry out to their gods. But Jonah told them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me” (Jonah 1:12 NKJV). You know the rest of the story. They followed Jonah’s advice, and the Lord brought a “great fish” to swallow Jonah. I have to say that Jonah was stubborn. He spent three days and three nights inside that fish’s stomach . . . wrapped in seaweed . . . fish smacking him in the face . . . humidity like you wouldn’t believe. Yet he refused to budge. Eventually, Jonah came to his senses. He prayed. There in the belly of that fish, he had a personal revival. Jonah was ready to do what God had called him to do. He was revived and recommissioned by God. First God sent revival to Jonah, then Jonah brought revival to Nineveh. That is because nothing can happen through us until it first happens to us. It has to start with us. If you want … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey All over the world difficult events are occurring. It’s the history of the world. As I write this, people along the Carolina coast are preparing for what has been called “A beast of a storm,” and “The storm of a lifetime” for this section of the country. Hurricane Florence is a strong Category 2 storm, meaning that winds and storm surge will be high. What should we do about all the misery and suffering in the world? Our tendency is to wring our hands and wonder. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is there so much suffering in the world? These are questions which should be studied, prayed over, and thought about, but not today. Today should be a time of action. It’s not time to speculate; it’s time to serve, pray, and care. Compassion should be at its highest when suffering is at its worst. Jim Denison recently wrote about this very thing. Today is the time to act. What should we do? We must prepare for life’s storms. Sitting and doing nothing is not the answer. Wise preparation based on experience and our own understanding will help carry us and others through tough times, whether storms or evil acts by humans. We must respond with compassion, but it must be compassion that … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn One of the big news stories of this week will be Hurricanes. As I write, there are three named storms in the Atlantic Region, one more area being closely monitored for tropical development, and two named storms in the Pacific Region. The most significant threat at the moment is of course, Florence, zeroing in on the North Carolina Coast. I first began thinking about the spiritual lessons from hurricanes years ago, but I always think about these lessons when we have encounters with hurricanes. Maybe somebody needs to be reminded of these lessons today. So, I offer these thoughts as “Top 10 Spiritual Lessons from Hurricanes.” 10. It is better to go through a hurricane in the daytime than at night. We ought to celebrate light. Things in darkness ought to raise a red flag for us. If we are hiding something in the dark, we should be convicted, because light is always better than darkness. 9. We must learn from the past. Much has been said about the mistakes made by all during other hurricanes. The good thing about mistakes is that we can learn from the past. 8. Advanced preparation is the key. In all matters of life, we must get ready well in advance of the problem. The time to prepare for … [Read more...]

By Joe McKeever “Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you” (Psalm 116:7). Want to see anxiety demonstrated?  Get on any highway in the country during morning rush hour traffic.  One out of every ten drivers is either running late, in a hurry, under the gun from the boss or the school kids, and taking it out on every other motorist on the road.  They’re not wicked, just stressed. They’re anxious. A friend wrote to thank me for an article on depression.  “I’m not really depressed,” he said, “but anxious.  I have a lot of problem with anxiety.” I could write a book on that subject myself.  (A friend, Dr. Larry Kennedy–now in Heaven and a member of the great cloud of witnesses–did just that.  I told him he might have thought of a more uplifting title than Down With Anxiety, but he felt the play on words worked.) I’ve been anxious.  It seems to go with the job of pastor. Ask any pastor how well he sleeps on Saturday night. Let’s not add to the misery of those battling anxiety by calling them unbelievers.  Anxiety may well be the norm for those who live in uncertain times.  And yet there is a Scriptural answer for it. Perhaps we should think of anxiety not so much as … [Read more...]

By Anne Graham Lotz In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith…of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire…may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  1 Peter 1:6-7 What fuel has the Refiner added to the fire as He works to reveal Jesus in and through you? He has recently stoked the fire under me! I’m encouraged when I remember that when a refiner purifies gold, he melts it in a pot over the fire. He keeps turning up the heat until the dross, or impurities, rise to the surface. He then bends over the gold to skim off the dross, and continues doing so, until he can see his face reflected in the surface of the gold. Gold being refined in the fire is a meaningful visual of the way God refines and purifies you and me.[1] He knows exactly how hot the fire needs to be in order to bring the impurities in our hearts, minds, and lives to the surface of our attention, enabling Him to skim them off, until He can see His own image reflected in us. The Refiner has just added fuel to the fire in my life. On the afternoon of August 17, 2015, between … [Read more...]

By James Dobson In our secular age the battle rages not only over the question of religion in our public life. The very concept of faith is under attack. Cynicism and unbelief mock faith and the sacrifices it brings forth. Yet no nation can long survive if it does not have among its people a deep reservoir of faith in all its forms. This is especially true for democracies where the will of the people prevails. In a purely secular sense, faith that things will get better (if not now, then later, and if not for you then for your children) is what motivates millions of people to make countless sacrifices. Faith is the force behind the worker who holds down two jobs so that a son or daughter can be the first in the family to go on to college. It is faith in the notion that hard work and right behavior will be rewarded (in the next life, if not always in this one) that causes us to continue to strive and toil. Religious faith permits a nation to overcome adversity and to deal with the exigencies of life that cause both individuals and countries to suffer. Faith teaches that life is more than a mad rush for wealth, that sacrifice matters, that some of the most important things men do often cannot be completed in one … [Read more...]

By Lonnie Wascom Of all the various ups and downs and ins and outs of the past nearly 15 years serving our Lord by serving His churches in the Northshore Baptist Association, there has been no event or encounter or experience more transforming for me and our region than the arrival and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It was on this day in 2005 she arrived and wreaked havoc on our region. And it was in the days, weeks, months, and years following that God's churches, all of you, from Springville southwest of Holden in Livingston Parish to Hebron in Bush in NE St. Tammany Parish, from Ridge Memorial over near the Rigolets near Slidell, west to Pass Manchac, all the way to the north ends of our Parishes and everything in between, that God did a mighty work for His glory by way of the churches that made up what were then the Chappapeela, LaTangi, and St. Tammany Baptist Associations and what is today the Northshore Baptist Association. It was a defining period. It was God's people responding as only God-empowered people can. A part of Psalm 29 ministered to my spirit all through that season, especially verses 3-8, and continues to do so today. Look at these verses pertaining to the voice of God: The voice of the … [Read more...]

By Fred Luter NEW ORLEANS (BP) - In September 1986, my life was changed forever when I was elected as pastor of a dying Southern Baptist mission called Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. I grew up in the National Baptist denomination. I was the middle of five kids raised by a single mom who required everyone in her house to attend church on Sunday mornings. At the age of 21, I was radically saved while lying in Charity Hospital in New Orleans not knowing if I was going to live the next 24 hours because of a serious head wound. A deacon of the church I grew up in put his finger inches from my face and said without apology, "Boy, obedience is better than sacrifice. If you were obedient to your mom, you would not be sacrificing your life here in this hospital!" That night I asked Jesus Christ to come into my life and woke up the next morning with a commitment to live the rest of my life as a born-again Christian. After getting out of the hospital, I started a street ministry in the neighborhood I grew up in because I wanted everyone to know about this Jesus who turned my life around. While preaching one Sunday at a National Baptist church, someone mentioned to me that Franklin Avenue was looking for a pastor and asked if … [Read more...]