This is the song (lyrics below) that American snowboarder Kelly Clark was singing along with on her iPod when she won the bronze medal at the Olympics this week.

I won't pretend that I have a clue of what it must feel like to be competing in the Olympics with the eyes of the millions watching you. But I will say that singing about what Jesus did on the cross to define love for us, in order that we would love Him back with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength, is probably the best possible way to act in that situation. Most likely only trivia buffs will remember Kelly Clark's name and what she won 20 years from now - but the love in her heart for Jesus Christ is going to be honored before the throne of God forever and ever.

If you found this page out of curiosity, I urge you to actually read the lyrics below and think about the implications. God Himself - the Creator of heaven and earth and everything in them - became a human being and showed us what a human life was always supposed to look like. And then He submitted Himself voluntarily to a gross mockery of justice, to torture, to public shame, and to death, in order to bear the penalty that we deserved for our rebellion against God. And then three days later, He rose from the dead, and is never going to die again.

He did all of that because He loves you, and He wants you to fulfill the purpose for which He made you. God demonstrated His love for us in this: while we were still in rebellion against Him, Jesus died for us. And now Jesus has been given authority over everything that He made and is co-ruling with His Father in heaven. But He isn't going to stay there forever. There is a day coming - sooner than you think! - when He will come back to the earth and every human being who has ever lived will give an account to Him for how they lived their life. I urge you, if you do not know Jesus the Messiah personally, make your peace with Him now while you still have time!

Arms Wide Open – Misty Edwards

“What does love look like?” is the question I’ve been pondering
“What does love look like?”
“What does love look like?” is the question I’ve been asking of You

I once believed that love was romance, just a chance
I even thought that love was for the lucky and the beautiful
I once believed that love was a momentary bliss
But love is more than this
All You ever wanted was my attention
All You ever wanted was love from me
All You ever wanted was my affections, to sit here at Your feet

Then I sat down, a little frustrated and confused
If all of life comes down to love
Then love has to be more than sentiment
More than selfishness and selfish gain

And then I saw Him there, hanging on a tree, looking at me
I saw Him there, hanging on a tree, looking at me
He was looking at me, looking at Him, staring through me
I could not escape those beautiful eyes
And I began to weep and weep

He had arms wide open, a heart exposed
Arms wide open; He was bleeding, bleeding

Love’s definition, love’s definition was looking at me
Looking at Him, hanging on a tree
I began to weep and weep and weep and weep

This is how I know what love is, this is how I know what love is

And as I sat there weeping, crying
Those beautiful eyes, full of desire and love

He said to me, “You shall love Me, You shall love Me
You shall love Me, You shall love Me”

With arms wide open, a heart exposed
With arms wide open, bleeding, sometimes bleeding

If anybody’s looking for love in all the wrong places
If you’ve been searching for love, come to Me, come to Me
Take up your cross, deny yourself
Forget your father’s house and run, run with Me
You were made for abandonment, wholeheartedness
You were made for someone greater, someone bigger, so follow Me
And You’ll come alive when you learn to die

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I've started a discussion group in my Biblical Studies class to read through Finney's Revivals of Religion together and to pray through what he taught. This week, the following quote caught our attention. Surely, when heresy is growing in the Church, when those giving up on the Church are increasing, and when sin is being justified, promoted, and boasted of all around, we are living in times of "outrageous wickedness."

If so, then let us repent of our "carnal policies that only make things worse," follow God's prescription, and humble ourselves and pray!

Charles Finney: Lectures on Revivals of Religion, "II. When a Revival is to be Expected":
But sometimes the conduct of the wicked drives Christians to prayer, and breaks them down, and makes them sorrowful and tender-hearted, so that they can weep day and night, and instead of scolding and reproaching them, they pray earnestly for them. Then you may expect a revival. Indeed this is a revival begun already. Sometimes the wicked will get up an opposition to religion. And when this drives Christians to their knees in prayer to God, with strong crying and tears, you may be certain there is going to be a revival. The prevalence of wickedness is no evidence at all that there is not going to be a revival. That is often God’s time to work. When the enemy cometh in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him. Often the first indication of a revival, is the devil’s getting up something new in opposition. It will invariably have one of two effects. It will either drive Christians to God, or it will drive them farther away from God, to some carnal policy or other that will only make things worse. Frequently the most outrageous wickedness of the ungodly is followed by a revival. If Christians are made to feel that they have no hope but in God, and if they have sufficient feeling left to care for the honor of God and the salvation of the souls of the impenitent, there will certainly be a revival. Let hell boil over if it will, and spew out as many devils as there are stones in the pavements, if it only drives Christians to God in prayer—they cannot hinder a revival. Let Satan get up a row, and sound his horn as loud as he pleases; if Christians will only be humbled and pray, they shall soon see God’s naked arm in a revival of religion.

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After hearing Lou Engle speak at IHOPU chapel last night I started reading Charles Finney’s Lectures on Revivals of Religion.  There is a lot of wisdom rooted in experience in Finney’s talks.  I was particularly struck by two points in the first talk:

1. Many Christians – and I think Christian leaders in particular – would rather see the Church make progress steadily and grow over time instead of going through all the confusion and disruption – and excess and error – that comes with revival.  Finney answers the argument squarely.  If the Church were who she is supposed to be most of the time, revival would not be necessary.  But in this age, with the deceitfulness of sin and the influence of the world which is “under the sway of the wicked one,” (1 Jn 5:19), we need revival.  The Church continually backslides without regular injections of God’s power in revival.
2. Revival, when it is the real thing, is so clearly the work of God and beyond what human beings could work up, that people often conclude that it is entirely a work of God’s sovereignty and human beings have nothing to do with it.  In fact, the history of revival shows the opposite.  It is the praying Church, consecrated and committed to seeing God’s will done on earth as in heaven, that opens the door for God’s power to be manifested.

Lectures on Revivals of Religion by Charles Finney
There is so little principle in the church, so little firmness and stability of purpose, that unless the religious feelings are awakened and kept excited, counter worldly feeling and excitement will prevail, and men will not obey God. They have so little knowledge, and their principles are so weak, that unless they are excited, they will go back from the path of duty, and do nothing to promote the glory of God. The state of the world is still such, and probably will be till the millennium is fully come, that religion must be mainly promoted by means of revivals. How long and how often has the experiment been tried, to bring the church to act steadily for God, without these periodical excitements. Many good men have supposed, and still suppose, that the best way to promote religion, is to go along uniformly, and gather in the ungodly gradually, and without excitement. But however sound such reasoning 11may appear in the abstract, facts demonstrate its futility. If the church were far enough advanced in knowledge, and had stability of principle enough to keep awake, such a course would do; but the church is so little enlightened, and there are so many counteracting causes, that she will not go steadily to work without a special interest being awakened.
....
I wish this idea to be impressed on all your minds, for there has long been an idea prevalent that promoting religion has something very peculiar in it, not to be judged of by the ordinary rules of cause and effect; in short, that there is no connection of the means with the result, and no tendency in the means to produce the effect. No doctrine is more dangerous than this to the prosperity of the church, and nothing more absurd.

Suppose a man were to go and preach this doctrine among farmers, about their sowing grain. Let him tell them that God is a sovereign, and will give them a crop only when it pleases him, and that for them to plow and plant and labor as if they expected to raise a crop is very wrong, and taking the work out of the hands of God, that it interferes with his sovereignty, and is going on in their own strength: and that 14there is no connection between the means and the result on which they can depend. And now, suppose the farmers should believe such doctrine. Why, they would starve the world to death.

Just such results will follow from the church’s being persuaded that promoting religion is somehow so mysteriously a subject of Divine sovereignty, that there is no natural connection between the means and the end. What are the results? Why, generation after generation has gone down to hell. No doubt more than five thousand millions have gone down to hell, while the church has been dreaming, and waiting for God to save them without the use of means. It has been the devil’s most successful means of destroying souls. The connection is as clear in religion as it is when the farmer sows his grain. (pp 12-14)

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Two news articles on very different – but actually related – topics caught my eye recently.

First, a horrific article about America’s most profitable export - hardcore pornography – and the effect it’s having in poor villages in West Africa.

Africa goes hardcore | Tim Samuels | The Guardian
"The village has no electricity, but that doesn't stop a generator from being wheeled in, turning a mud hut into an impromptu porn cinema – and turning some young men into rapists, with villagers relating chilling stories of assaults taking place straight after the film's end."

Second, a not-surprising-if-you’ve-been-paying-attention article about the sharp decline in the number of Americans self-identifying as Christians in recent years.

Where Have All the Christians Gone? - Bruce Feiler -  FOXNews.com
"A shocking new study of Americans’ religious beliefs shows the beginnings of a major realignment in Americans’ relationship with God. The American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) reveals that Protestants now represent half of all Americans, down almost 20 percent in the last twenty years. In the coming months, America will become a minority Protestant nation for the first time since the pilgrims."

What do these two stories have in common?  They both provide a disturbingly negative diagnosis of the spiritual bankruptcy of America then proceed to prescribe pathetically weak remedies – in fact, both writer’s prescriptions amount to nothing more than “Let’s keep doing what we’ve been trying to do for years.”

Tim Samuels, completely ignoring his own narrative hook with the story of young African porn initiates becoming instant rapists, prescribes more condoms and more safe sex education. 

“Since the only sex education some people in places such as Ghana are getting is via porn films, there is a decent argument for the porn industry to produce more films where performers use condoms. In LA, where the majority of the world's porn is still shot, only one company routinely makes such films. The condom-only policy adopted following an industry HIV outbreak five years ago lasted just months.”

God forbid that we should say the obvious and admit that we shouldn’t be making hardcore porn at all.  Pornography is addictive, destructive of our ability to relate to the opposite sex in a healthy way, and it creates rapists all over the world – not just in mud huts in Ghana.  The sexual revolution was a lie.  It was based on falsified research created to advance a predetermined agenda.  We are not going to solve this problem with “corporate responsibility” in the porn industry.  We need to repent and reject the sexual revolution altogether.

Bruce Feiler’s diagnosis on the topic of church decline is equally completely unsuited to the crisis:

“First, catering to older believers is a recipe for failure; younger Americans are tuning out.

Second, Americans are interested in God, but they don’t think existing institutions are helping them draw closer to God.

Finally, Americans’ interest in religion has not always been stable. It dipped following the Revolution and again following Civil War. In both cases it rebounded because religious institutions adapted and found new ways of relating to everyday Americans.”

I’m not sure if Feiler is a Christian or belongs to a church.  I haven’t read any of his books.  But his idea that more relevance and catering to the youth is the answer surely shows a massive disconnect from anything that’s actually happening in the American Church.  What have we been doing for the past twenty years if not trying to be relevant and catering to the youth?

It isn’t working.  It isn’t going to work.  An entire generation has grown up in churches filled with church growth strategies that were designed to be relevant to our culture and to meet the needs of young people.  How many of that generation are devoted followers of Jesus now? 

According to Thom Rainer, in The Bridger Generation, only 4 percent of people under 30 affirm that Jesus is the only way of salvation.  Despite the fact that a huge percentage of them still attend church.  Our strategies have failed.

More of the same isn’t going to solve this problem.  As Feiler rightly notes in his article, there were massive dips in faith in America before.  But better church growth strategies were not the solution.  The solution was revival.  God’s people got desperate enough to quit trying the latest new thing and went back to the forgotten, old things – prayer, repentance, and holiness. (Jeremiah 6:16)  And in the fullness of time, God sent revival, and everything changed.

That is what America needs today.  It is desperately important that the sexual revolution be turned back as unbridled sexual sin destroys millions of lives.  It is desperately important that America hear the Gospel again and respond to Jesus.  But a new strategy is not going to accomplish either goal.  It is time to shut down our programs and pray.

We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us.
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You. (2 Chronicles 20:12)

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Joel Rosenberg has posted a great followup to the "Islam on Capitol Hill" event that happened yesterday.

Of the approximately 3,000 Muslims that came, apparently a large proportion of them received a packet of materials from Christians who were there to greet them respectfully and offer them gifts - which included the JESUS film and the DVD More Than Dreams. It was extremely encouraging to read the testimony of one Muslim woman who said, "I am very sincere. I will definitely take this home and look at these things." There really are sincere Muslims who are hungry for the true knowledge of God. That hunger alone is not enough to save them, but I think the ever-increasing testimonies of Muslims receiving dreams and visions of Jesus is evidence that God is still doing what He did with Cornelius. (Acts 10:1-5)

Sadly, these believers were upstaged by others who seemed to think that shouting angry condemnations - and mixing political messages into their proclamation of Jesus - was what was most profitable to do. The story below of a woman who challenged one of the protesters about his willingness to die in order that Muslims might be saved is very telling.

“ISLAM ON CAPITOL HILL” EVENT ATTRACTS FAR LESS THAN EXPECTED: Evangelical Christians use opportunity to share gospel with thousands of Muslims « Joel Rosenberg’s Weblog: "“I’m just really concerned about the message you guys are communicating. Aren’t we supposed to love them? Aren’t we supposed to share the truth in love? Would you die to bring these people the gospel? Do you want them to be saved, or just to tell them that they’re following a lie?”
“Die for them?” the protester asked, somewhat bewildered, thinking about the concept for few moments. “I just don’t think I could. I have a wife and five kids.”"

By the way, I just finished reading Joel Rosenberg's book Epicenter, and I highly recommend it. I'm not sure yet whether I agree with his interpretation of the timing of the war of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39, and I definitely disagree with him about the timing of the Rapture, but his book is nonetheless fascinating and very readable.

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I’m posting something a little different on my podcast this month because I’ve recently been stirred about the state of our nation and how dire the need for intercession for America is right now.  Daniel Lim and Allen Hood recently shared powerful messages at Forerunner Christian Fellowship about the crisis in America and the prospect of judgment if we there is not a widespread turning of our hearts.  I urge you to listen to both messages and pray sincerely about what God is saying to America right now. (Allen’s message should be on the FCF Podcast soon)

The message I’m posting is related to these exhortations; it was an open vision that another IHOP-KC leader had seven years ago, also on the topic of judgment coming to America.  The conclusion is the same – America, and specifically the Church, needs to do 2 Chronicles 7:14, and we need to do it soon!

Shelley Hundley – The TURN Word
Shelley Hundley, a teacher at IHOPU, had a vision of Jesus in 2002 in which He warned of judgment coming to America. He did not tell her anything about the timing or the nature of the judgment, only that the response needed among God's people was the fear of the Lord, the first commandment, and willingness to speak an unpopular message.

NOTE: this episode is an exception for this podcast because it recounts a subjective experience that a person had, rather than a teaching drawn from scripture. The Bible says not to despise prophecies, but to test all things and cling to what is good. (1 Thes 5:20-21) I urge you to listen to this story and judge it according to that standard.

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This is about as clear a warning as America is going to get about how God feels about churches decreeing that homosexual behavior is not sin. We have the Bible, but we've ignored it and twisted it to make it say what we want. Now God has sent a tornado. That didn't stop us either. What will He have to send next?

God loves people who have same-sex attraction just like He loves everyone else who struggles with sin. But the answer is repentance and faith in Christ, seeking the power of Christ to bring transformation and freedom, not changing the Biblical standard of sexual behavior.

As Piper aptly put it, "official church pronouncements that condone the very sins that keep people out of the kingdom of God, are evil. They dishonor God, contradict Scripture, and implicitly promote damnation where salvation is freely offered."

The Tornado, the Lutherans, and Homosexuality :: Desiring God:
"According to the ELCA’s printed convention schedule, at 2 PM on Wednesday, August 19, the 5th session of the convention was to begin. The main item of the session: “Consideration: Proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality.” The issue is whether practicing homosexuality is a behavior that should disqualify a person from the pastoral ministry.

The eyewitness of the damage continues:

This curious tornado touches down just south of downtown and follows 35W straight towards the city center. It crosses I94. It is now downtown.

The time: 2PM."

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