Article by John Tisdale
It’s a good idea to periodically assess where you are at in your journey and evaluate whether you’re making the kind of decisions and progress needed to accomplish what’s most important. Amidst all the busyness and demands of life it becomes so easy to stop differentiating focus and purpose from distraction and busyness. I’m reminded of the football coach Vince Lombardi who upon realizing his team was missing the forest for the trees started a team meeting with, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” We all need to get back to the fundamentals regularly, lest we miss the point of it all.

Article by Francis Frangipane
In the last chapter we gazed at the effect of mercy on the heart of God: the Lord would spare Sodom for the sake of ten righteous souls. We also discovered that God's mercy would have gone ever further. Even as the Lord's wrath was about to fall on Jerusalem, the Lord said if there had been just one man of integrity in the city, the man's presence could have gained pardon for the entire city (Jer 5:1). Yet, the Lord's willingness to extend mercy has not always been welcomed by the church. We must rediscover true, basic Christianity. We have been content to possess a religion about what Jesus did without actually manifesting the reality of who Jesus is. Truly, our destiny does not find sure footing until the life of Christ emerges through us.

Article by Francis Frangipane
Do we understand what it means to be blessed? Perhaps we are more familiar with what it means to be cursed. The Bible definition of a curse meant "to be bound with a spell," "hemmed in by obstacles," or "rendered powerless to resist." I think many Christians are fighting the effects of curses against their lives. Even though they may not identify as a curse the resistance or heaviness that they frequently feel, they are aware that something is working against them. Some curses are generational in nature. The Scriptures warn that the sins of the fathers will be passed to "the children, and on the third and the fourth generations" (Deut. 5:9). There are character traits, sinful attitudes and cultural prejudices that can be inherited from our parents.

Article by Francis Frangipane
We have been studying the influence that one mercy-motivated intercessor can have upon the heart of God. In this, we looked at Abraham and then expanded our study to Moses. The Lord heard the intercession of Moses as he stood between divine judgment and Israel's sin, and he stayed in the place of intercession until God's Word concerning Israel came to pass. The cycle of Israel's sin and God's justice repeated itself time and again. In essence, it was always the same: Israel rebelled; God threatened destruction; Moses interceded; God forgave.

Article by Francis Frangipane
More churches have been destroyed by the accuser of the brethren and its faultfinding than by either immorality or misuse of church funds. So prevalent is this influence in our society that, among many, faultfinding has been elevated to the status of a "ministry"! The Lord has promised, however, that in His house accusing one another will be replaced with prayer, and faultfinding with a love that covers a multitude of sins.

Article by Francis Frangipane
To understand the conflict between the Elijah spirit and the spirit of Jezebel, we must understand these two adversaries as they are seen in the Scriptures. Each is the spiritual counterpart of the other. Is Elijah bold? Jezebel is brazen. Is Elijah ruthless toward evil? Jezebel is vicious toward righteousness. Does Elijah speak of the ways and words of God? Jezebel is full of systems of witchcraft and words of deceit. The war between Elijah and Jezebel continues today. The chief warriors on either side are the prophets of both foes; to the victor goes the soul of our nation.

Article by Francis Frangipane
"But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols'' (Rev 2:20). You may challenge my using the above quote and addressing it to American churches. You may argue that not one of the pastors you know has anyone who openly instructs people to commit acts of immorality. I understand your sense of alarm. I agree that you probably know of no one who brazenly preaches that sexual lust and idolatry are not sins. When we speak of Jezebel, we are identifying the source in our society of obsessive sensuality, unbridled witchcraft and hatred for male authority.

Article by Francis Frangipane
Recently, a number of respected church leaders, frustrated with America's slow turn to repentance, have proclaimed that divine wrath is coming to our land. "If God does not destroy America," one influential pastor wrote, "He will have to repent to Sodom and Gomorrah." Certainly, there are many things morally wrong with America, but America is not Sodom or Gomorrah. Neither is it a re-emergence of the spirit of ancient Babylon. You will not find charged against this land the "blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth" (Rev 18:24). The spiritual influence of these archetypes is here, just as they are also manifested throughout the world, but America is much more than the sum of its sins and failures.

Article by Francis Frangipane
We began this book by asking you to consider what the civilized world would be like without the United States. Now, I'm going to ask you to consider a world with America in revival. I do not mean a revival merely of emotional religion, but a deep revival, born of genuine Christlikeness in the church. Picture America experiencing a Christ awakening, where a priesthood of mature believers join the Lamb before the throne of God's grace; where the Lamb is offered as sacrifice for America's sin, God receives the sacrifice and, according to 2 Chronicles 7:14, He heals our land.

Article by Francis Frangipane
There is no greater opportunity to become Christlike than in the midst of pain and injustice. When Satan is raging with evil, God is planning to turn it to good. If we maintain our integrity in battle; if we let love rise to its purest expression, we will touch the heart of God. Such is the path to God's power. I have set my heart to eliminate many of the vulnerabilities to, and effects of, church splits and other ungodly divisions. At the same time, I realize that we can do almost everything right as pastors and churches and still suffer divisions. For some of us, this may actually be part of God's greater plan for our lives--that we should endure rejection, conflict and slander as part of the process of truly becoming Christlike.

Article by Francis Frangipane
"Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night" (Rev. 12:10). We discussed last week that, while there will be an actual time when the salvation, power and kingdom of God are fully manifested when Christ returns, any time the accusing voice of Satan is exposed and renounced, we can possess a partial fulfillment of that future reality today!

Article by Francis Frangipane
Moses sent twelve spies to Canaan to bring back a report of the land. When they returned, ten said that, though the land was good, Israel would surely be defeated by the inhabitants. Although Joshua and Caleb argued that Israel certainly could drive out their enemies, the people moaned, complained, and rebelled, even seeking to stone Joshua and Caleb and return with new leaders to Egypt. And again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and threatened to bring judgment (see Num 12-14).

Article by Francis Frangipane
It is no secret that we live in prophetic times. Besides two world wars, earthquakes and famines, our generation has seen the return of Israel to its land, and we have personally witnessed the spectacular increase of knowledge and travel (Dan 12). Spiritual signs are like towns we pass through en route to a further destination: they reveal approximately where we are as we approach the Lord's return. Yet, it is important to not assume we are further than we are. There are two major end time signs that we have not yet passed through. I'd love to be wrong, but it's my opinion that those planning for an immediate rapture should probably unpack. For, while we should be dressed in readiness, the gospel of the kingdom has not been proclaimed worldwide (Matt 24:14) nor has the Antichrist been revealed (2 Thess 2:1-3). Both these things must occur before Christ returns.

Article by Francis Frangipane
Our salvation grants us more than just church membership and a conservative perspective. We have, in truth, become one with Christ. The Lord Jesus is our head, we are His body; He is our husband, we are His bride; He is the vine from which we, His branches, draw our life and virtue. These images, and many more, speak openly and passionately of our eternal union with the Son of God. Yet on a personal scale, only in the briefest of flashes have we glimpsed His mighty power working with us. We pray, we ask, we travail; but we give birth, as it were, only "to wind" (Isa. 26:18). Most of our sick receive just enough grace to endure suffering; they are not healed. On a national scale, only during the heights of revivals and spiritual awakenings has the church truly seen the arm of the Lord revealed and society significantly transformed.

Article by Francis Frangipane
If you think you know God but do not live your life in gratitude before Him, it is doubtful that you really knew Him in the first place. A thankful heart honors God. Often when we say we "know God," what we really mean is that we know facts about God. But we should ask ourselves, "Do I truly know Him?" Paul warns that just knowing doctrines about God is not enough to enter eternal life. He said, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." Romans 1:20-21

Article by Francis Frangipane
How do you handle criticism? How does one protect himself from the "scourge of the tongue" (Job 5:21)? Where is the stronghold from accusation? If you are going to be successful in the Lord's work, you must find God's hiding place from one of the most painful weapons in Satan's arsenal: the critical tongue. The fact is, for better or for worse, people are going to talk about you. You cannot do the will of God without causing changes, and changes will always cause some to stumble. In fact, Jesus said we were to beware when all men speak well of us. He said we cannot serve two masters; if we are to truly please Him, we cannot be distracted by trying to please everyone else.

Article by Francis Frangipane
Those who will be tomorrow's leaders will pay God's price today. Other Christians may seem to be enjoying the benefits of Christ's blessings while doing little to obtain them. You who have answered Jesus' command, "Follow Me," will find no easy path before you. Yet, it is written, if we "suffer with Him" we shall also be "glorified with Him"(Rom 8:17). How does a disciple actually suffer with Christ? At the core of our existence, we choose to let the way of Christ guide us rather than the way of man. The cross is the cost we pay so Christ's redemption will succeed.

Article by John Tisdale
In this article, you will learn how to do the spiritual limbo. Like the popular party game, it’s all about seeing how low can you go? Instead of winning party favors, the spiritual version is all about winning favor with God. What you will need is a desire to experience more of God in your life and a willingness to do whatever it takes to make that happen. The path isn’t for the faint-of-heart. But, if you’re willing to make the journey, the reward can be exceptional.

Article by Francis Frangipane
We in our world have a different version of Christianity than that which Christ founded in the first century. Our version secures a hope in the afterlife, but does little to change us in the present life. We are still as easily offended and as unloving as those who do not know Christ -- and we are certainly just as divisive. Yes, we marvel at what Christ accomplished at Calvary, but we shrink from what He desires to fulfill in us. We desire His blessings, but not His backbone. Because we have diluted the full purpose of Christianity, which is conformity to Christ, the power to transform us is likewise diluted. As a result, our leaders fall, marriages fail and the gospel is reduced to a course on ethics, which we can take or leave since God forgives us anyway.

Article by Francis Frangipane
It should be noted that most Christians understand the significance of Christ's crucifixion, and are bowed in thankful reverence toward it. Here, at the foot of the cross, our need meets God's provision. We find forgiveness, redemption and healing. These are well-known, established truths of the gospel. They are proclaimed and re-enacted for us in an variety of expressions, rituals, and celebrations. With trembling awe we gaze at the Lord of life dying on the cross; we are captured by God's grace.