DIVINE WARNINGS: Are you tethered and connected for the coming storms ahead?

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Welcome to A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and friends.

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In this episode, Doug shares the importance of positioning ourselves properly so we can

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be prepared to respond during the storms.

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God wants His Church to prepare for the days ahead and be an ark of refuge in times of

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trouble.

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By preparing and getting in alignment to God's Kingdom principles, both individually and

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corporately, we can be ready to be a help to others.

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God provides many divine warnings.

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Are we listening?

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After the episode, consider leaving a review and follow us on your favorite streaming service.

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SomebodyCares.org.

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Now, let's join our host, Doug Stringer.

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Divine warnings.

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Are you tethered and connected for the storms ahead?

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I actually took this from something I wrote in 2020 and updated it on August the 4th, Sunday,

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because at sundown August the 4th, 2024 is the beginning of the month of Av in the Hebrew

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calendar.

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And interestingly, on the 9th of Av, which I wrote about a few years ago, is very significant

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because on the 9th of Av, it's a very sad time because it's the day which would be August

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12th at sundown through the 13th in 2024.

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So from August 4th sundown to sundown August 13th, I believe is very, very significant

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in many ways.

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And it's interesting because I felt a strong inclination to share this message on this

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past Sunday, August the 4th in preparation for the month of Av.

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But the 9th of Av is a very significant day in Jewish history.

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It was the same day that the temple, the first and the second temple were destroyed.

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So I won't get into that right now, but I feel like the next few days is going to be

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very significant in the global context as well as in the context of where we are right

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now.

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And then I found out this morning when I woke up after I already posted some of this late

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Sunday night that the markets began to crumble in Japan as well as in Asian markets in the

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US.

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People are overcome with fear and anxiety.

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And I thought it was very appropriate that I'm talking about divine warnings and that

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are we tethered and connected for the storms ahead.

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So I'll share some of that here in a moment.

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I do believe in the next podcast I'll do later this week will be about the 9th of Av.

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I believe it's very important for us to see the timeline here, but also the lessons we

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can get from times past, look at landmarks of the past, but also learn from history past.

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And I do believe we're in a very significant time.

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The real issue is are we prepared for the days ahead?

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So that being said, let me just share a little bit about what I wrote and posted this past

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Sunday night, August the 4th at sundown on the month of Av.

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I said, divine warnings, are you tethered and connected for the coming storms ahead?

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And I said, windsurfing and speedboating in life may be fun and exciting, but with major

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storms we'd better be rooted and grounded.

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I love what Winky Pratt used to say, it's always great to get out windsurfing and church

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windsurfing, exciting things and all the hype, but when the storms come, you better be connected

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and close to an ocean liner where there's stability.

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So I go on and say, we need stability and relationship to God and His church.

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We need more than excitement and hype.

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We need His word, His wisdom, His presence, His divine guidance and direction.

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One man who heeded God's warning, he prepared was Noah.

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In fact, we see in Hebrews 11, verse 7, it tells us that by faith, Noah, being divinely

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warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear and prepared an ark for the saving

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of his household.

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So in other words, by divine warning, we read that in the chapter 11 of Hebrews, which we

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call the chapter of faith, but the reality is here it is that Noah, by divine warning,

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prepared an ark.

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And he was divinely warned of things not yet seen, in other words, things to come.

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He was moved with godly fear and prepared an ark for the saving of his household.

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Noah lived in dark days full of corruption and immorality.

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Sounds familiar.

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But he heeded God's warning that judgment was coming and prepared accordingly.

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As a result, his household was saved as were all the living things that came with him on

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the ark.

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We can also read Genesis chapter 6 through chapter 9.

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You'll see that in the book of Genesis and scripture about the story of the ark.

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But we see in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 7, speaking of Noah, by

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faith, was divinely warned of things yet to come, of the storms ahead, and he moved with

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godly fear.

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And this is where I think we are today.

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Even tolerating compromise and profaning the holy things of God in the church, we see in

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Hebrews chapter 10, verse 26, it says, for if you sin willfully after you receive the

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knowledge of the truth, there remains a fearful expectation of judgment.

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It goes on to say it's because we've counted the shed blood of Jesus as a common thing.

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In other words, we profaned the holy.

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And then we also trampled underfoot the spirit of grace.

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And I think we see a lot of that today.

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We have been digressing and we have been regressing in some areas, and there's been a gradual

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desensitization that permits us to accept things once thought profane and obscene as

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now acceptable, even commonplace.

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People pick and choose what is right and wrong for themselves, often according to their own

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personal preferences, opinions, and feelings.

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We've lost the love of the truth.

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God wants His church to prepare for the days ahead and be an ark of refuge in times of

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trouble by preparing and getting in alignment with God's kingdom principles, both individually

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and corporately.

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We can be ready to be a help to others in time of need.

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When disasters or crises come, or like stock market crashes or other human and natural

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disasters, we will have an opportunity to show our testimony.

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In fact, Luke 21, verse 13, you've heard me say this for decades.

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In the midst of all the crisis of Luke chapter 21 and Jesus' own words in verse 13 of chapter

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21, Jesus said, but it shall be an occasion for your testimony.

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In other words, regardless of our eschatology, regardless of all of our opinions, regardless

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of all that we can criticize or judge, the fact is, when there are times of difficulty

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in people's lives and crisis locally or globally in our personal lives, it's an opportunity

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for our witness and our testimony.

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There is such a need in the world around us today.

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How can we settle into complacency?

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The fact I wrote about this and written about this in my books and articles and quote this,

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this is how I quote myself, and I said, there is such a need in the world around us today.

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How can we settle into complacency?

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How can we be so hardened of heart as to sit back on the beach of comfort, ease and empathy

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while so many are still shipwrecked in the sea of despair?

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There's lessons we can get from the book of Hebrews.

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One of the things I love about the book of Hebrews is this.

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It's a reoccurring theme for believers standing strong in the Lord and finishing their journey

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of faith and doing it well.

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Quite a few years ago, I was reflecting on the various stories I read regarding the Titanic

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and the various warnings the crew had received prior to the perilous day of that shipwreck

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and the sinking of the Titanic and hundreds being killed.

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It occurred to me of the various warnings and lessons that we also are given in the

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book of Hebrews that can help us from our own shipwreck personally and corporately.

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Initially, I noticed and jotted down and wrote about six different warnings that I saw in

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Hebrews.

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One, the warning and danger of neglect.

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Two, the warning and danger of unbelief.

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Three, the danger of the hardening of our hearts.

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And four, the dullness of hearing.

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Five, the danger of drawing back or away from God.

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And number six, the danger of refusing God when He speaks.

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And later I noticed at least four more specific warnings that we get from the writer of Hebrews.

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And the lists are hindrances to the personal and corporate revival that we're all seeking.

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I believe that there are ten things that I wrote about, in fact, in my book, Leadership

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Awakening.

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I noticed the four additional warnings.

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I added to this book that I wrote, Leadership Awakening, and I said, nearly every believer

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claims to desire a transformed life.

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But these ten factors often get in the way.

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And today, as in the days that the book of Hebrews was written, every Christian will

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face the following hindrances.

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One, failure to hate sin.

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The negligence, the hardening of our hearts, unbelief.

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And here's another one that I wrote down, prayerlessness, the dullness of hearing, insulting

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the spirit of grace.

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I quoted that a few minutes ago.

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We've trampled underfoot the spirit of grace.

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Discouragement, and I've said this often, is a powerful drug, harboring unforgiveness

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and bitterness.

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And then finally, number ten, refusing the Lord when He speaks.

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Let's take a closer look.

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In my book, Leadership Awakening, we address each of the ten hindrances individually, but

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for the sake of space, in this podcast and the things I've written, I said this.

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I hope you will take the time to study the list of verses as well as corresponding scriptures

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that I already quoted.

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So you'll find renewed challenge, perspective, and purpose for your own walk.

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In 1959, Leonard Ravenhill wrote a classic book called Why Revival Tarries.

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And in it, he describes some reasons why the church doesn't see revival.

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May I also say another great book I'd like to encourage you to read by Leonard Ravenhill,

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Tried and Transfigured.

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Many of us have been going through trying times.

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This book, Tried and Transfigured, is a great story, a great analogies, as well as scriptural

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representation of the importance of being tried and then transfigured.

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So his book, Why Revival Tarries, of course all of his books, but another one that really

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ministered to me in my early days and when I had a chance to get to know Leonard Ravenhill,

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was Tried and Transfigured.

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We tend to be content to live without it, he says.

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It's too costly.

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We don't want God to disrupt our status quo.

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That's so true.

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The Christian life could only be lived one way, and that's God's way.

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And God's way is that I leave all and follow Him.

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When I think I've arrived at something, the Lord shudders that.

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Ouch.

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I sure hope, just like with me, I never want to become content to live without revival.

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I never want to conclude that a spiritual awakening is too costly or that the status

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quo is preferable to a move of God's spirit throughout our nation or in my personal life.

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But I know that each of us must guard against spiritual complacency.

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If Christians in the early church lost their first love and became lukewarm, how much more

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do we have to take pains to ensure that our own hearts remain kindled with a fresh passion

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for God?

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I've always said, a passion for God allows no room for mediocrity.

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We need people who exhibit this kind of radical contentment in commitment today.

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Let me just clarify what I just said.

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We need this kind of radical contentment and commitment.

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Too often we are discontented even with the things of God.

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We detest the man of God.

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We detest the things of God.

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We loathe it because we have expectations of our own that we say that God owes us.

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I was waking up quite a bit the other day and I kept thinking to myself, God doesn't

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owe us anything.

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He's already given us everything through Christ.

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And we tend to always try to say, gimme, gimme, gimme.

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We're never content in the place of what He's already done.

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So we're always putting expectations on God that somehow He only loves me if He does this

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or that or moves that mountain for me.

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Yes, those are all levels of faith and things that God allows the authority of His kingdom

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to move in our lives, but we should recognize that it's our commitment to God and that our

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contentment in God that He owes us nothing.

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He's already paid the price and He's done it all for us.

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He's already given us all these opportunities.

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I like what Brother Raven also said.

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He used to say, could a mariner remain idle if he heard a drowning cry?

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Could a doctor sit in comfort and just let his patients die?

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Could a fireman let people burn without lending a hand?

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And he says to us, can you sit at ease in Zion or as Christians while the world around

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you is damned?

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There are still powerful questions that we need to ask ourselves because these are still

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powerful statements that He said to us for us today.

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Let us not miss our windows of opportunity.

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The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16, 9, a great and effective door of opportunity

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has been opened unto me, but the adversaries are many.

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I think of that scripture often because I think of the excuses I can make and I look

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at the obstacles and adversities and I begin to question my own calling or God's purposes

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in my life.

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And I tend to look at my own self-pity or I become self-absorbed rather than self-righteous

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and instead of looking at selfish rather than being selfless and realizing I'm called to

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honor God and to serve Him and to love Him and to love people.

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Let us not miss our windows of opportunity like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16, 9, because

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a great and effective door of opportunity has been opened to all of us, but there are

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obstacles and adversaries in the way.

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We live in a great and exciting time in which we the church must bring a message of hope

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because there are distractions, disappointments, and discouragements, even bring disillusionments

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and even temptations can be works of the adversary to keep us from what God wants us to do to

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be effective at this time.

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Distractions can include our love of comfort and ease of the cares and the securities of

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this world.

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Yet everything can be shaken as being shaken.

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As scripture tells us in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 25 through 29, shakings can bring distraction

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which brings disappointment.

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Then we become discouraged.

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We can get disappointed in people and even in God.

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From a place of discouragement we must watch out that we don't compromise our convictions.

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In those times our response should always be different than that of the world.

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We should call upon the Lord and His emergency hotline to find peace, grace, and mercy.

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Let me say that again.

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We need to call upon the Lord on His emergency hotline for grace and mercy and peace because

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we need the shalom of God like never before, we need the grace of God, and we need the

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peace of God who surpasses all human comprehension.

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We need the mercy of God in a world that's a mess right now.

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God can turn it all around, I believe.

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He can turn around economies, our circumstances, worldwide situations that we're going through

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right now.

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He promises us good and not evil, a future and a hope.

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If we call upon Him, He will answer us, it says in Jeremiah 29 verse 11 and 12.

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We can do exceedingly beyond what we can think or imagine according to Ephesians 3.20.

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It says that now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or

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think or even imagine according to the power that works in us.

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God has given us a great and effective door to reach many with the gospel today.

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Whatever door is open or whatever door He opens, no man can shut.

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May we not have to look back and say weeks and months from now that the harvest has passed

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and the summer has ended and the people are still not saved.

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I'm reminded of that in Jeremiah chapter 8 verse 20.

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Here we are coming to the conclusion, at least in the US, the conclusion of summertime.

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May we not also say like it says in Jeremiah 8 20 that the harvest has passed, the summer

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is over and the people are still not saved.

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This is our window.

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I do believe we're in a window of time right now just like the beginning of Av, the sundown

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of August 4th through sundown Monday, August 5th on the 9th of Av, which is sundown the

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12th of August through the end of the sundown August 13th is the 9th of Av and that is a

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very significant day throughout the last few hundred years of the two destructions of the

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temple, both destroyed hundreds of years apart on the same day.

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There's something significant, I believe, just like we have to pray about this spirit

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of Haman that has been released across the world that's coming from the attack from Iran

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and through Hezbollah and through Hamas and others.

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There is a spirit of death that is gone around the world, but in the midst of that there

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is life and life more abundantly that God wants to give to and through his people.

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The world is looking for answers.

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This is not a comfortable place to be.

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Most of us would rather be spectators in the epic battles of our times.

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Hooray for Jesus, I say.

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We shout from the grandstands, hooray, hooray, just like all these sporting events.

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But some of us at times are more concerned and upset about athletic events, and especially

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see what's going on in Paris and the Olympics.

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I'm a sports fan like anybody else, but look at the Pandora's box that has been opened.

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Look at the immorality, the desecration of the Holy, the profaning of the Holy that we

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see is being unleashed around the world.

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And we're more excited about cheering and shouting for athletes, and I do too.

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I love sports.

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But yet we forget that we should not just be spectators in the epic battles of our times

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and saying hooray for Jesus and enjoying all of our gatherings and kumbayas and events

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and just put our heads in the sand thinking that the world is not in a desperate place.

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It is.

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We've got to stop shouting from the grandstands, giving our opinions from the sidelines, but

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some of us at times are more concerned and upset about athletic events or other personal

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preferences than we are in a world in crisis.

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Instead of standing in the gap between the living and the dead, we sit in comfort on

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our padded pews.

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Instead of running into the flames to rescue lost souls, we piously hide out in our stained

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glass buildings and our holy huddles.

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I remember a quote, and I put this in a book of mine I wrote years ago about the Spirit

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of the Ten Commandments.

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I quote a famous Scottish preacher named George MacLeod who said this,

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I simply argue that the cross should be raised in the center of the marketplace as well as

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on the steeple of the church.

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I'm recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified between two candles, but on

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a cross between two thieves.

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On the town's garbage heap, at a crossroads so cosmopolitan they had to write His title

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in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

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At the kind of place where cynics talk smut and thieves curse and soldiers gamble because

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that is where He died, that is what He died for, and that is what He died about, and that

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is where church people ought to be and what church people ought to be about.

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Echoing the same passion for intercessory evangelism, C.T. Studd wrote,

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Some like to live within the sound of church or chapel bells.

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I'd rather run a rescue shop within a yard of hell, he said.

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To quote my friend Bishop Del Broner in Atlanta,

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Our passion for Christ must always be greater than our passion for anything else.

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Is there hope that we can really make an impact?

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Yes, indeed, I believe we can.

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As Winky Pratt and Ewa said,

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When God finds someone with courage to pray, preach, and live a life before Him of holiness

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and compassion, He can literally change the face of a nation.

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During times of crisis, and I believe we're in them now, courage and cowardice both begin

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to emerge.

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Courage and character in any man or woman shines most brightly in times of difficulty,

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crisis, and intense pressure.

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The sirens and alarms are screaming a resounding cry,

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Spare your people, O Lord.

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You and I can be a part of the largest mobilized rescue effort in our day as we reach the multitudes

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living on the edge of eternity.

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The question is, will we answer the call?

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That goes back to what I've quoted before, a note that I received from Leonard Ravenhill,

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He said,

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My dearest brother Doug, let others live on the raw edge or the cutting edge.

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You and I should live on the edge of eternity.

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Whenever I begin to compromise, I begin to be self-absorbed or self-centered, and I begin

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to begin selfish in my thinking, I'm reminded there are multitudes of unmultitudes in the

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valley of decision.

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Don't let a crisis be wasted.

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Don't let the global difficulties right now be a time to walk in fear and run away into

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our holy huddles.

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But let us be available to God.

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Let His light shine in and through us, because there are multitudes upon multitudes entering

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into eternity without Christ.

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There are many still shipwrecked in the sea of despair, but we who have been rescued need

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to be those who are available to God and say, God, in the midst of all the adversities,

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in the midst of all the things that are going on, in the midst of all the obstacles, God,

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would you do a work in me?

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Help me, Lord, to run to the Lord and from that commissioning of the Lord be anointed

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and empowered by God to make a difference in a world that desperately needs the Lord

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today.

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We hope you enjoyed this episode of A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and Friends,

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and ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the ministry at SomebodyCares.org or by texting

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your donation amount to 805-422-7348.

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Please join us again for A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and Friends.