Faith News Network

Author Kenneth Wayne Hancock says that he has uncovered a Biblical secret. Everyone, including atheists and agnostics, is extolling God when they say the word “Hallelujah.”

I get a new message in my inbox every day telling me why I should be terrified to walk outside. Network news is depressing enough, with reports of rising crime, inflation, unbridled government spending and, or course, another new strain of the coronavirus.

I rarely use this column to share a word of prophecy. But for the past few weeks, a message from the Holy Spirit has been rising in my heart. I sense that leaders all across the nation feel a similar stirring.

One day Abraham sent his servant Eliezer to find a wife for his son Isaac. Standing by a small town well, Eliezer prayed, “Let the woman who offers to water my camels be the one you have chosen.”

A lot of people ignore the last chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Romans because it’s basically a long list of ancient names we can’t pronounce. After Paul finishes his masterful teaching on grace and salvation, he sends warm greetings to his many friends in Romans 16.

Many so-called Christians today have abandoned the teachings of Jesus and the Bible and taken on a belief system that denies the power of the cross and the infallibility of the Word of God. In his new book, Hope for This Present Crisis, Dr. Michael Youssef writes, “Why do they deny 2,000 years of orthodox Christian doctrine and tradition? I believe it’s because many of today’s false teachers want to be accepted and admired by the world. They don’t want to be lumped in with all those ‘rigid,’ ‘narrow-minded,’ ‘intolerant’ evangelical Christians. They want to be admired for their ‘enlightened,’ ‘open-minded,’ ‘inclusive’ approach to religion.

The body of Christ needs a massive overhaul when it comes to certain doctrines, and we need to return to the simplicity of the gospel. Though I use the word simplicity, I’m well aware that there is tremendous and complex depth to the gospel, and it will take endless ages to search out such understanding.

This past weekend I preached at a growing church in Lake City, Florida, about an hour west of Jacksonville. For several weeks the pastor, Chris Jones, has been taking his congregation through the book of Acts—chapter by chapter—because he wants to create a culture of hunger for the Holy Spirit.

When I was in my 20s, I was praying about whether I should enroll in graduate school. Then one morning in my devotional time I came to Psalm 32:8a, and it seemed to be flashing like a neon sign. It said, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go.”