It is understandable that almost everyone in the U.S. is now very focused on the tragedy caused by Hurricane Katrina. It is a tragedy that will touch us all in many ways and will continue to unfold over the weeks and months ahead. Even so, the end result is that we are going to be much better and much stronger as a nation. The Gulf Coast region will also emerge better than ever, and stronger.

I confess that I personally have a problem hearing people say that Islam is a peaceful religion. Any religion that has a doctrine which states that if someone leaves that religion they should be killed cannot be considered peaceful. That is terrorism in its most basic, and oppressive, form. However, there is more than one face to Islam, just as there are presently many faces to Christianity. It is wrong for us to judge any person or group by their most extreme elements.

Those who have true faith do not just believe that the events written in the Bible are true--they believe the same works of God can be done through their own life. This faith has been growing in a great company of witnesses who are soon to be released throughout the earth.

We continue our study of Ephesians and the purpose of the church with Chapter 1:18:

This study is not intended to just impart what I perceive to be an accurate perspective of the times, but to address how to discern the times. One of the most important gifts we can have in these times is discernment, which is something I am persuaded that God wants to give to every true disciple. The Lord has also given us simple, clear instructions on how we can grow in this gift. Without it we will be increasingly subject to deception in the times to come. With it the world and our own purpose in it will become less and less confusing and more and more clear.

There is an army gathering like no other that the world has ever seen. It will be both an irresistible force and an immovable object. Where it marches, it will conquer. Where it takes a stand, it will not be moved. That it is now gathering is one of the great signs that the end of this age is at hand, and the King will soon come to establish His kingdom. It is time to prepare the way for the Lord.

One of the most important churches in the first century was not planted by apostles, but actually gave birth to apostles and a whole new kind of missionary apostle that would "turn the world upside down." This was the church at Antioch, planted by believers simply preaching the gospel. Yet this church set the course of history for much of the world, and is one of the great inspirations of how the Lord can take any little church and impact the entire world through it.

We took a seeming diversion last week to briefly address The Da Vinci Code and the fallacies it asserted about the Bible and church history. In these times, we can expect an increasing onslaught of such attempts to sow into the minds and hearts of people, and at the very least, cause them to doubt the validity of the Scriptures.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Last week we discussed how persecution is part of the faithful Christian life, and that we should be more concerned if we are not being persecuted in some way, because “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (II Timothy 3:12). Even though we are sure to be persecuted if we are living godly lives, we do not want to be the persecutors, which is why we must resolve to obey Ephesians 4:29-32: