TELL HIM "THANK YOU!"

When my mother, Rosie, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer a couple of years ago, every moment with her took on new meaning. Although I have no questions about my mom's eternal destination, I am so glad she is still here with us to celebrate another Thanksgiving Day.

At 88 years old, my mom is the bravest person I know. By comparison, my own challenges are small, but seeing her continually drawing on the Lord’s strength during her ordeal gives me greater courage.

My mother has never wavered in her ability to be comforted by God’s presence. She still gives Him praise everday, even under the most trying circumstances.
You must have a personal remembrance of God’s faithfulness, too. Who is or has been your example of thankfulness in the midst of a trial? Through sharing our stories, we will encourage one another.

In spite of everything else that may be going on in your life, choose to thank God for the faithful way He keeps you everyday. In this season, let’s raise our praise, stir ourselves up and lift our level of gratitude toward the Lord for His blessings—the ones we can count, and the enumerable ones we don’t even realize.

Brenda J. Davis is editor of Spiritled Woman.

There's Still Time to Repent

From time to time, during his sermons, one of my favorite TV preachers will say emphatically, "Listen to me." Whenever he does, it's because he has an important point to make, and I've learned that each time, it is a really good idea to stop and pay attention.

Lately, I'm starting to wonder if the Lord Himself isn't saying "Listen to me!" to His church. It sure seems that way.

What do you think the Spirit is saying to us? And, are we hearing Him? One of the things that saddens me the most right now is the fact that the breaking news of fallen ministers, financial scandals and investigations have a way of making it appear as though the body of Christ is in shambles.

Even though we know this is not true, it contributes to our losing our ability to speak out on things that matter. Especially with a major election not far off, we need to be talking about righteousness and justice, but that's hard to do, when we have so many fires to put out at home.

Each week seems to bring more news of another fallen leader who has left a devastated congregation in ruins. Lately, I've been so gripped by the thought that we have to pray harder than ever not just for the situations we know, but for the scores of others, ourselves included, who have a window of time in which to repent before God for having fallen short of what He’s called us to be as His church.

We have to take to heart the seriousness of this hour and commit ourselves once again to living pure, consecrated lives. Otherwise, we will not have a voice to our nation; nor will the nations of the world be drawn to our message.

During this season of both intense media scrutiny and accelerated spiritual activity, we have to seek the Lord and pray for those who still have a window of time in which to make things right with the Lord before they are uncovered.

Brenda J. Davis is editor of Spiritled Woman.

IS LIVING LARGE A CRIME?

A few days ago I read the story in The Tampa Tribune that revealed the details of a United States Senate Finance Committee inquiry into the spending habits of six prominent Christian ministries. I sincerely pray that all those under scrutiny will be able to give an account for their actions, and that they will be vindicated in the eyes of the public, but really, that is not my biggest concern.

This is nothing new, in fact, I’ve made the observation before that it’s been feeling a whole lot like 1987 lately. Mercifully, many of you won’t recall that grim period in the American church when more than one mega ministry was under investigation for their lack of financial accountability.

Back then, anyone you attempted to witness to would begin by grilling you about the negative things they were hearing in the news everyday about churches and ministers who misappropriated ministry funds. “Could these ministers be trusted?” they wanted to know. And, “were any Christians for real?”

Believe it or not, the rightness or wrongness of these current allegations concerning the ministries’ questionable spending practices is a secondary issue with me. I fully expect that most of those involved in this inquiry have already availed themselves of the best legal counsel, and will surely be proven at the end to be within the law.

However, we have to wonder why there should be a need for an investigation such as this one. And, if everyone proves to be in compliance with the law, does that make everything ok?

J. Lee Grady covered the details of this story in his weekly Fire in My Bones column. This prophetic word he delivered is just a portion of it: “I believe [God] is raising His holy plumb line over the church today. He is demanding that we come in line with His higher ways. He is decreeing: ‘I will have a holy people. I will expose greed, arrogance, larceny and corruption, and I will correct theological error that has led My people into materialism, selfishness and idolatry. The process will be painful, but in the end My people will be purified.’”

Read the entire article if you need more background www.charismamag.com/fireinmybones/. Then tell me what you’re thinking.

What this is really about, in essence, is the appearance of wrongdoing. What is the Scriptural mandate regarding things that may be perceived as wrong, even though they are legally right?

Is the law of the land the highest standard for God’s people? Where should we draw the line in exercising our legal rights, if our liberty presents an obstacle to faith for someone else? Simply because we can do something, should we?

Brenda J. Davis is editor of Spiritled Woman.

RESTORATION (3): FIXING THE PROBLEMS

For the last few weeks, we've been discussing the many ways in which a pastoral leader's moral failure affects those with whom he or she is associated. Though in some ways a leader's restoration may differ in terms of accountability issues and denominational requirements, personally, the path to healing is the same for every believer.

Any moral failure indicates that something is broken. A Christian leader, or any believer for that matter, who willfully takes such enormous risks must be coping with a breakdown of his or her spiritual, emotional and psychological makeup.

Fixing the problems that have contributed to patterns of willful sin will take time and focused attention. But if they are not thoroughly examined and the roots of the sin patterns dealt with, I believe they will provide latent opportunities for the enemy to return and set the stage for a subsequent fall from grace down the road.

In her "Breaking Free" bible study, I remember Beth Moore writing about the weaknesses in our lives, the unhealed places, and she likened them to the holes on a golf course. She talked about how flags show players where the holes are on the course. Likewise, she teaches, our places of weakness or compromise are the flags that show the enemy where the holes are in us.

Although, we won’t necessarily be aware of the depth of someone else’s repentance, here are some steps that according to Beth “When Godly People Do Ungodly Thing”, are essential for any individual to be authentically restored. These will help us to be discerning and more focused in our prayers for our leaders and ourselves:

• Detoxification. Contact must be broken completely with the source of the leader’s downfall. Situations must be avoided entirely. People who have contributed to a leader’s corruption must be cut off.
  

• Deprogramming. Beth wrote: “Somehow Satan did a fine job of programming [the individual’s] mind with lies and a lot of junk that needs dumping.” The leader must come to understand their areas of weakness and the many routes of access for the enemy’s implantation of ideas and suggestions. Forms of media that encourage compromise and sinful practices must be avoided.

• Reprogramming. Beth suggests an intense study of the Bible. In a leader, I would imagine this to mean a serious re-ordering of priorities and adjustments to his or her calendar, shelving any plans that would interfere with the kind of time needed to immerse oneself in intensive Bible study and prayer.

What do you think?
· Are these steps reasonable or too rigid? Are they possible, even?
· Are we being judgmental in looking for signs of repentance?
· Should we just recognize that everybody has problems and “get over it”?
· What counsel is there in the Bible?

Brenda J. Davis is editor of Spiritled Woman.