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A precious doctor friend told me once how God enlisted him in the "school of sympathy." He had had very little empathy with people who complained of pain. Doctors see and hear so much regarding pain that they often become immune to it. He couldn't understand why patients with kidney stones, for instance, would scream with pain. He thought, "It can't be that bad – they must be putting it on a little – perhaps to get medication. How could anybody hurt that badly?" Then one day he woke up with kidney stones!

The prophet Micah delivered a message for our day which is both frightening, yet very hopeful. The importance of his message can be found in these works: "Hear now what the Lord is saying!" (Micah 6:1). Micah speaks forth the heart of God to men of all ages - to the backslidden Jew of his day, to the remnant of the last days, and especially to the shepherds in our time. Keep in mind the message of Micah is the burden of the Lord and His view of the church and of His shepherds.

"And all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground." (Ezekiel 38:20).

There is an ominous Scripture in the Bible that is a source of comfort to many Christians. It is Matthew 7:22,23: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

In recent months I have had a sinking feeling inside me, a feeling that our entire society is spinning out of control. There is an eerie kind of confusion spreading throughout the land.

There is a gnawing inside that no one (not our President, not our congress, not our courts) can change what is happening. In spite of the optimism of the President, we all seem to know he can't do a single thing to stop inflation, unemployment or crime.

Get ready now to blow the lid off your theology. Be prepared to see Jesus in an entirely new light. Did you know we have been coming at our problems from the wrong end? We have been so preoccupied with our own problems, we have not even entertained the thought that our Lord has a problem, too. And if we can understand His problem, we will soon get to the root of our own.

We cannot separate Christmas from Christ’s resurrection. You may think of the resurrection as an Easter message, but the birth of the child in the manger can’t be separated from the man on the cross. God’s message to us through both events is one and the same.

Being in Community, Staying in the Fight

My friend the evangelist Nicky Cruz calls the church a Holy Ghost hospital. I couldn’t agree more. The church is and should be a place of healing. In my decades as a pastor, I’ve counseled a lot of people who needed restoration after lifelong heartbreak.

Is your life a spark or a torch? When it comes to our walk with Christ, the Bible shows us there is a crucial difference between the two, and that difference determines whether our walk is pleasing to him. We see this difference in the lives of Saul and David.

“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).

Most Christians know what the Bible says about God's great love for his children. Yet even after years of walking faithfully with Jesus, many have never learned to appropriate that great love. Sadly, there are dedicated servants of God who have never enjoyed the glorious experience and benefits of knowing the Father's love. And nothing saddens God's heart more.

In my years of ministry I have identified three main hindrances that keep Christians from entering fully into the special love our Father has for us.