Last week we ended our study by asking the questions about knowing our purposes, ministries, gifts, etc., which we have been given by God. If our Word for the Week readers are typical, only about 2 percent could answer all of these questions with “yes,” and less than 10 percent could answer any of them with “yes.” This is remarkable because studies have concluded that the number one question that people have is what their purpose is in life. Every human being knows inherently that they are not here by some random accident, but they have a purpose.

A few weeks ago, we began to discuss some basic issues that the church is now facing. These are generalizations and do not apply to every church, of course. However, what I would like to address this week seems to be a problem in just about every church, movement, or denomination, which I have also observed in almost every government, business, and other organizations. If it is not the main cause for most of the discord and division in organizations, it is a close second.

From the very beginning of the church in the first century, there have been those who have been prone to compromise the gospel in order to appease people, trying to make it easier for them to accept. This tendency has always caused far more problems for the church and the faithful than it alleviated by making the faith seem more acceptable or less offensive. This has made more hypocrites than true converts and ultimately it led to the darkest period of church history. Since then there has been a gradual climbing out of the darkness and a recovery of light and truth.

          The Apostle Paul knew as much as anyone in history about how learning from the wrong perspective leads to error. Being in conflict with the truth led him to persecute the Lord Himself by persecuting His people. Because of this, he gave possibly the greatest discourse ever written of what leads to truth in Colossians 1:9-20:

After speaking at an NFL team chapel, I was invited to join the team for dinner before the game. I ended up sitting with a group that included a winner of the Heisman Trophy, the award given to the best college player in the country. The other players at the table were also some of the best at their positions. I asked all of them how they achieved what they did, and each one related how they started out very young with a devotion to be a professional football player. Then they became focused on a single position.

          I want to address three major thrusts we are now seeing that are taking place in the body of Christ. The first is unity, and this is making unprecedented possibilities unfold for the church. Those with faith will seize the possibilities. We can expect those who live by fear instead of faith to begin fading away. Benjamin Franklin exhorted the original colonies before the Revolutionary War in America to “join or die.” This is now true for the church. However, the reverse is also true—join and you will live.

    While I’m writing this, there is a great controversy with a proposal to build a mosque near ground zero in Manhattan. This growing issue has brought up other important questions. Events and issues like this can reveal much about the heart condition of a nation, and we need to understand what it is revealing.

     It was a historic brain freeze. It was so dramatic that it eclipsed the sexual harassment allegations being made against Herman Cain and child sex abuse charges that have rocked Penn State University. It was that big.

It was no accident that this was one of the most extraordinary and enigmatic elections in our history. Never have so many people come to understand how much their vote can count, and never have so many people felt that their vote may not have even been counted. In the end, the election was not even decided by the votes, but by the courts. However, there are important messages in this election.

     One of the main cauldrons where prophetic ministries are formed is the local church. Prophetically gifted people do tend to be different, and to fit into a local church setting can be one of the most difficult of all tests for them. Few understand them, and therefore, few will trust them, usually for a long time.