In an age when many Christians seem preoccupied with their emotional struggles, their difficult past, or their supposed lack of self-esteem, some will say that even salvation is not enough for all their needs. Yet, if these people really understood the incredible things that God has done for them, their lives and attitudes would be dramatically different.

It seems as if the world is getting more and more troubled. There are wars, famines, earthquakes, new diseases; there are increases in corruption, immorality, and violent crime all over the world. It is no wonder that many ask if we are living in the Last Days, if the end of the world is near.

Not long ago, cable TV mogul Ted Turner declared the Ten Commandments obsolete:

"We're living with outmoded rules. The rules we're living under are the Ten Commandments, and I bet nobody here even pays much attention to 'em, because they are too old. When Moses went up on the mountain, there were no nuclear weapons, there was no poverty. Today, the Ten Commandments wouldn't go over. Nobody around likes to be commanded. Commandments are out."

Angels have been the featured subject of national news magazines, countless books, many movies, and several television shows. They have even surfaced on the Internet. You can find them on postcards, T-shirts, calendars, and sunglasses. In fact, entire seminars, newsletters, and boutiques have been devoted to these beings. There's no doubt about it, America is experiencing a wave of angel-mania.

While every disciple is a believer, not every believer is necessarily a disciple.

Many may think that the term disciple refers only to the early followers of Christ. We know that they were a praying, worshipping, loving, giving, and evangelizing group of men and women who refused to keep the truth of the gospel to themselves. Yet, God still desires disciples today—ordinary people like you and me whom God can use to do extraordinary things.

 Prayer is as essential to knowing God and growing spiritually as breathing is to living and staying healthy.

In an age when many Christians seem preoccupied with their emotional struggles, their difficult past, or their supposed lack of self-esteem, some will say that even salvation is not enough for all their needs. Yet, if these people really understood the incredible things that God has done for them, their lives and attitudes would be dramatically different.

Where did sin come from? What exactly is sin? Are some sins worse than others?

THE SPIRIT-EMPOWERED CHURCH

One night several years ago, hurricane-force winds battered an American town. In the morning, people emerged from their homes and shelters to assess the damage. The power of the storm quickly became apparent to one investigator, who made an amazing discovery. Imbedded in a telephone pole, he found a flimsy, plastic drinking straw. Obviously, under normal circumstances, a flimsy straw could never penetrate a telephone pole. The tremendous power of the wind had driven the straw into the wood like a spike.

The gospel is the message that God will give us pardon from our sins and eternal life with Him in heaven, if we will turn away from our sins and turn to Him, accepting His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior and Lord. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). This simple message is for all the world.

Hundreds of years ago, the Egyptian ruler Pharaoh asked the question, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him?" (Exodus 5:2). That question is still asked today. It is not an easy question to answer, because to do so we must use our finite minds to try to grasp the infinite. There are some things about God that we may never fully understand until we face Him in eternity (Job 11:7; Psalm 145:3; 1 Corinthians 13:12). But with the help of the Holy Spirit, there are many things we can grasp and should know about God.

Nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus asked the Pharisees, "What do you think of Christ? Whose Son is He?" (Matthew 22:42). This question perplexed many people. The general public was confused about Christ. Some thought He was Jeremiah the prophet, while others thought He was Elijah. King Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead. For the most part, Jesus was thought to be the Messiah's forerunner—a man with God-given miraculous powers—not the incarnation of God Himself.

The psalmist asked, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4). Yet, mankind is very special to God. The pinnacle of God's creative work is His creation of human beings. God created both male and female to be more like Him than anything else in all creation.

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or magician with the same delight" (Lewis, C.S. The Screwtape Letters. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1941, p.3). When it comes to the question of the existence of the devil and his demons, people frequently have one of two reactions: