Rom. 13:1 EVERYONE must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.
Here are some thoughts from this Scripture that have been in my spirit lately:

+ We all must submit to the authority of the govt whether we are Christian or not, agree or not, vote or not, have opinions or not.

+ The fact that is comes from God doesn’t mean that everything they do or don’t do is a reflection on God. (like a show airing on a network that is definitely using the network for exposure but doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of the network)

+ Those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. This phrase has been very misunderstood. Many have used this to justify the views and policies of someone that is not godly or being led by Biblical values. When this was written Nero was emperor of Rome. You think God would have chosen this murderous, perverted maniac as His man? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! So what does this mean? God has placed man in the position of govt on earth going all the way back to Gen. 1:28 when He gave dominion or rulership to Adam. So we honor the position of leadership even when we don’t necessarily respect the views or character of the man. After Bill Clinton committed adultery in the White House we did not then get to stop honoring him as President. We may have been disgusted with his character and poor decisions but we did not then stop honoring the position he was in.

+Right now we are in a time where many things are happening in our government that either contradict the Word of God (like the dogmatic advancement of “gay rights”) or make me uncomfortable personally (like the proposed govt takeover of health care). This doesn’t give license to dishonor or quit praying for those in government BUT does not mean (as many religious and liberal would try to condemn) that we have to agree or keep quiet concerning our views, values, and even opinions. Many brave men and women died to give us the right to have an opinion in this nation. We as Christians cannot err in either dishonoring those in government NOR by being super passive and not voicing our values and views by voting and being aware of what is going in local, state, and federal government. (many good-hearted believers have disconnected from what is happening in government and excused themselves from what is going on to shape our future by the excuse that “the Lord is coming soon.” This logic is irresponsible and presumptive!)

++ So what should we do? Glad you asked! We should pray for all those in authority (1 Tim 2:2) and ask God to give them wisdom and hearts that seek after Jesus. Secondly, we should be aware of what is going on in our nation and be sure to vote, voice our Biblical values, and talk to our fellow Americans about the state of our nation before God.

Prov. 11:11- Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper, but the talk of the wicked tears it apart.

For all of you wondering why I have not been writing as much lately, it is because (other than being busy, praise God) I am in the middle of writing my first book on discipleship. I know, i know, thank you! Im excited! As of right now, I am about a third of the way done and look to be finished by the end of the year. Please pray for me as i write that the Holy Spirit would envelop this work and powerfully anoint it by His Spirit. I will admit that while writing it the anointing has been so strong at times i have had to jump out of my writing chair and dance, shout, and praise the Lord with jubilation at the goodness of His presence. There is so much work to be done in the area of maturing the Body of Christ and I believe that this book will help spur many to aspire to the high calling of a radical disciple.
Thanks for your prayers and support, I truly treasure them! Joel

Ps. I cant wait to sign a book for so many of you that i love so dearly. That will be a dream come true!

Yesterday was a tremendous moment in time for Bethany. We held our annual gathering of all services and campuses called Bethany United. This years gathering was themed “For the glory of God”. His presence was there in a mighty way. Dad preached on how we should live our lives for His glory and not for ourselves. It is humanism that comes in and causes us to think that God exists for our happiness instead of us existing for His glory. Boy, what a message for the church of today!

Yesterday’s gathering was a small picture of what the Lord is doing all over the nations of the world in uniting His Church for the final harvest of souls. When we are able to lay down our differences, preferences, and pre-conceived ideas for the sake of the Kingdom of God and the glorious King, things that we never dreamed possible can take place.

It was a great joy for me to see the beautiful variety of young and old, black and white, rich and poor coming together for the cause of Christ and under the banner of the local church. Sadly, not many churches have come to such a place of Kingdom awareness that they could gather and be so well represented by every sector of society. It should be our prayer that this happens more and more!

Psa. 133:1- How wonderful and pleasant it us when brothers live together in harmony!

Last week i had the opportunity to be in Washington DC for 2 days. I was invited their by Past. Ken Wilde, the founder and director of the National Prayer Center. This trip turned out to be amazing! In the short time i was there, we toured the White House, the Capitol bldg, and many of the famous sites and memorials. In it all, I was so impressed with the city and proud to be an American like never before. As I was there, I was struck by several things that I would like to pass on to all of you concerning our nation and govt.

1. Watch- be aware of what is taking place around you and particularly in Washington DC. The policy and rulings that happen in the halls of our govt there are shaping our nation and world.

2. Pray- don’t just be mad or glad about the latest happening but be a person that truly stands in the gap. This means lifting up our leaders whether we AGREE OR NOT!

3. Participate- exercise your right to vote! don’t sit back and allow your voice to be silenced. A great price was paid for us to be able to speak out and we should never allow complacency or apathy to stop us.

4. Be encouraged- while there, we met with people and leaders and I was greatly encouraged. Yes, there is a spirit of anti-Christ that would try to take over our govt and nation, but yet there is still a remnant of righteous men and women who have been placed there strategically by the Holy Spirit.

Let us be vigilant to serve our Lord Jesus Christ while on this earth but also never forget the great privilege we have to live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. God Bless America!!!

Matt. 7:13 You can enter God’s Kingdom ONLY through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is VERY NARROW and the road is DIFFICULT, and only a FEW ever find it.

This is one of those verses that we should all remember and meditate upon all the time. It brings something that the church wants nothing to do with today and that is the FEAR OF THE LORD! God forbid that we repeat the words of Jesus in the sermon on the mount where He makes it plain for everyone that it is a narrow way and it has a narrow gateway.

One of the battles that the church is fighting in futility is to prove to the world that we are not narrow minded. I often say that most accusations made by religious spirits are true and this is proof yet again. When we say that people of any kind that are still wallowing in the mire of sin are going to hell people rant and rave with unrighteous indignation that we dare condemn someone for being on the broad way. The church of today seems paralyzed by the simple accusation that we are narrow minded. This age-old trick of the enemy has worked for thousands of years and why abandon it now when it seems to reak havoc on the church of today?

When I hear that someone has called me narrow minded it strikes me as a compliment. The alternative is to be broadminded which speaks of someone who thoroughly understands the broad way of destruction and remains open to possibilities outside of God’s Word. A broad minded person is not someone who is passionate about the narrow way! James 1:6 says a double-minded person is unstable in ALL their ways.
The narrow gate is the Cross and you cannot bring anything with you through that gate. Sin cannot pass through that gate and neither can a broad mind. A person who is open to other ways to heaven is not a person with revelation of the Cross and the narrow way. A person who believes that despite the obvious fruit of wickedness and evil a person is still eligible for heaven is someone lacking the conviction to travel the narrow way. Those who insist that the love of God is broad enough for homosexuals and atheists are those with no relationship to Jesus and have formed an idol in their minds of who God is.

So, lets quit denying this goofy religious and worldly accusation that we the redeemed of God, washed in His Blood, and obedient to His Word are narrow minded. I say we cant help it! It is a narrow way and it does not befit those with a broad mind. Let the world continue in its deception of being broad minded and let the real church press forward in the narrow way. Remember: the true bride is most single-minded in her pursuit of the heavenly Bridegroom!

The Spirit and the Bride say COME! Rev. 22:17