Hello friends! I pray that you and your family are doing well. I’d like to share these resources with you in this week’s newsletter and I hope that they help you to understand God’s intentions and ways better. The enemy (aka Satan and his demons) has done an excellent job of misrepresenting God to outsiders because of our people’s lack of knowledge and poor examples. (There are many who are excellent examples but of course the enemy highlights the ones who fail miserably. It is what it is.)
When I left the church and the path of God in my mid 20s, I was not happy about it. I was heartbroken, but I had to do what I had to do for my sanity and survival. Since I did not want to dishonor God with my life, I decided to live life like an atheist. I didn’t even wear a cross necklace so no one would associate me with Jesus Christ and bring any dishonor to His name. I think I did the right thing. Because when I see people who advertise themselves publicly and loudly as Christians but their lives and words do not line up at all with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the principles in the Bible; I shutter at what awaits them in the near future and most importantly, for their eternity. And what do I do? I intercede for them. So far, I haven’t received any further instructions from the Holy Spirit other than to pray for them.
In my opinion, the greatest blessing that you can do for yourself and pass on to your children is the godly gift of the “fear of the Lord”. Why do I think that? Because from my experiences, it has always helped me to make the right life decisions, make less mistakes and, most importantly to keep sin and pride from overtaking me. Sin and pride will always grow super fast like an aggressive stage 4 cancer. Eventually everyone will see it, and not just God and your closest family members.
Please do a good bible study on the “fear of the Lord”. Fear of the Lord is clean and it will eventually give you abundant life, peace and freedom. Here’s a short article about this topic:
https://www.gotquestions.org/fear-God.html
It is because of my “fear of God” that I am such a dedicated learner of the Bible. Over the years, I’ve seen how awesome His teachings are and its principles for living life. Gosh what a difference that we, Christians can make in the world if believers learned and practiced the principles in Bible as best as possible by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Please remember that it’s not about perfection, it’s about progress. I’ve been in my journey for 15 years now.
Hillsong ministry from Australia made a huge impact with their worship songs and worldwide success in reaching the young people. I was so happy for their ministry in reaching the young audience. Then in 2022, some of their key ministry leaders were exposed for all kinds of wrongs. It was widely covered by secular news, and caused such an embarrassment for the body of Christ. I was shocked and mad at the Hillsong leaders for the damage they caused to the name of Jesus Christ and His church.
If Carey Nieuwhof whom I highly respect didn’t interview Carl Lentz, I would not even consider hearing his story. Now I’m glad that I did. Why? Because Carl Lentz comes clean on his backstory in order to warn others. His heart intentions are good. I highly recommend everyone to listen to this interview so that you’ll be warned and informed. Plus I realize that many young people will be coming in to church and they will also be taking ADHD medication like him. From what I’ve read about 15-20% of Gen Z in the USA are taking ADHD medication. It is classified as a narcotic drug similar to drugs like cocaine. Just because it’s prescribed by a medical psychiatrist doesn’t mean that it’s harmless. Carl Lentz was addicted to ADHD medication. It also explained where he got his energy from to keep going at super speed as his church kept growing exponentially. As we see more Gen Zers coming in to the church, please be aware that many of them will be coming in with all kinds of prescribed medication for host of issues. It’s a good idea to keep that in mind if you are planning to put them in more visible roles of leadership and ministry. It’s okay to ask as well before considering them for leadership roles. It’s my opinion that it’s better to have a vacancy than to place someone unprepared in the frontlines. You’ll understand as you hear this interview.
“Former Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz opens up about the factors that led to the collapse of his ministry. He discusses the core issues that led to his breach of trust, what it was like to preach while he was having an affair, the relentless pressure of rapid growth, what rehab taught him about addressing core issues, his regrets, and warning signs for church leaders facing the pressure.”
I’m so grateful that I live in the New Testament times. Whenever I make a mistake I always run to Jesus Christ immediately, and I become like a little child hiding behind a mom’s skirt while the enemy points his accusations against me. Jesus Christ is so awesome. He always protects me and guides me through my mistakes too. He is so kind and good. Jesus is safe. Please run to Jesus, he is our safe fortress.
In the Old Testament times (before Jesus Christ came and died for our sins) when a minister offered unholy services like Carl Lentz did, they would be struck dead. Here is a summary about Aaron’s sons who offered unholy services.
In the New Testament times, I see how patient and merciful God is when his children are deliberately serving Him while in sin. I don’t ever want to experience that, and so I always strive to have a good healthy “fear of the Lord”. I do this by studying the Bible constantly. The word of God is my light in my journey. I don’t think I’ve ever gone a day without reading or listening to the Bible in 15 years. I highly doubt Carl Lentz was doing that in the height of his influence.
Today Carl Lentz’s marriage is being restored and I saw that he and his wife, Laura are hosting a podcast. I plan to listen to a few to see what it’s like. Their topics are very interesting and vulnerable.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lights-on-with-carl-lentz/id1747789103?i=1000757250832
In my opinion, I think what Carl Lentz is doing is good. He’s using his worst mistakes to help and warn others. He exposed himself to the light and stayed in it, after being caught. Now he has the rest of his life to love his wife and children and to live righteously. Let’s keep him and his family in prayer. I really want him to succeed and serve Jesus in holiness and godliness.
It is much better than what Ravi Zacharias did. He kept denying his secret sins and accusations against him. He passed away lying about it, six years ago with an aggressive spine cancer. We saw what happened to his ministry empire and family. Today, his son and wife continue to deny the accusations against Ravi Zacharias despite overwhelming evidence and victims stepping out in public. His daughter who took over his ministry resigned and now supports causes against sexual abuse survivors. I can’t imagine that this family is connecting and communicating. The ministry also folded shortly after his death. I have no idea what happened to the ministry money.
I’d like to end this week’s newsletter with positive news. University of Pittsburgh was recently impacted by a revival event! Let’s keep all the colleges and young people in prayer 🙏.
Indiana University in Bloomington is having their big event on April 8th that our college prayer group is praying for. Here’s the link to get tickets to the event on 4/8 if anyone wants to share it with others.
https://am.ticketmaster.com/iustudent/buy/ANightWiththeSon
Novo prayer ministry has many short videos on prayer testimonies. Here’s one recent video by a young man who explains why he prays. I hope his story encourage you. 🙏
This one is from a student at SMU. ❤️
With much prayer and in the love of Jesus Christ ❤️🙏
Journal of Faith 