Christians Arise!

As many of you know, I have a new book releasing on February 9, 2016, Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten. In the book, I talk about how the Lord put this book on my heart nine years ago, and as I watch world events unfold, I understand why God waited for this book to release now. We’re all watching the outcome of a world that has forgotten God. While the culture tries to politicize moral issues, nothing will ever out trump God’s Word; but all of us will suffer the consequences of those who try to do just that.

I worry the most about the future of those who do not believe in Jesus, and the next generation, my grandchildren. Let me share with you a post I put on Facebook the morning after the horrendous attacks in Paris by Islamic terrorists this past Friday:

My grandkids knew nothing about the Paris attacks yesterday, but when I told them today was mommy and daddy’s 17th anniversary, 10 yr old Katelyn said: “They were married 3 yrs before The attack.” She meant 9/11. So many adults have become complacent and forgotten something we all said we would  NEVER forget . . . a horrendous atrocity/tragedy on American soil. Yet Katelyn is marking personal history by it.

Then the kids went on to talk about ISIS and a rap song about Sandy Hook. That’s the world our children and grandchildren are growing up in as “normal.”

What are we doing to make this world safer for them? I am daily reminded of the timeliness of my Feb. release “Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten.” May we never forget but be forever vigilant and never rest until everyone we know, knows Jesus as their personal Savior!

[Tweet “This is our time as Christians to arise and tell the world about the hope that lives within us”]

This is our time as Christians to arise and tell the world about the hope that lives within us . . . just like we did after 9/11 . . . but not like the complacency that followed when everyone went back to “life as normal.” I have a chapter in my book Dear God, They Say It’s Cancer that talks about “‘Normal’ Isn’t Normal Anymore.” There’s no going back to “normal” after cancer or terrorists attacks. Terrorism may never be completely eliminated: that’s the new normal in our world today. And yet, much of the energy and effort of our government and culture focuses more on eliminating God than the evil’s of terrorism. Yet, without God, evil reigns.

[Tweet “Without God, the only thing left is evil.”]

But we Christians know the truth and we need to arise in unity and speak out, step out, and reach out as fast as we can to everyone in our sphere of influence who doesn’t know the Lord. We must not be reacting in anxiety and fear like the rest of the world, but tell others about the origin of our peace, Jesus Christ! Being a Christian isn’t just about our own salvation and maturity in Christ, it’s about the Great Commission that every Christian is called on to go and tell the Good News to a lost world.

[Tweet “Being a Christian isn’t just about our own salvation and maturity in Christ, it’s about the Great Commission that every Christian is called on to go and tell the Good News to a lost world. “]

Remember all the good God has done in your life and share that with someone today. Their eternal life depends on it!

Here’s the proposed back back cover of Forsaken God?. Does it challenge you?

Our morally deteriorating culture has forgotten God’s goodness to its own peril. Will the next generation even know God? The very survival of the Christian faith depends on creating a culture of God-memories that must start now!

Today’s culture is quickly forgetting the goodness and power of God. The Bible describes the potential destruction through all generations to people who forget God. The dangers are paramount. If we don’t remember what God already has done, we won’t believe what he is capable of doing in the future. Memory builds faith.

“Forsaken God?” explores biblical examples of forgetting God as God repeatedly pleads for his people to remember his mighty acts and deeds. As you read this captivating book, you will have an opportunity to recall your own memories of God and learn new ways to remember God’s goodness and the power of sharing those memories with the next generation. The author and other contributors share open and honest stories of forgetting God’s goodness and offer ways that help them to remember.

“’Forsaken God?’ isn’t a book propagating guilt, it is a how-to manual showing us practical as well as spiritual ways to restore the romance in our relationship with the Almighty.”
—Anita Agers Brooks, inspirational business/life coach, international speaker, and award-winning author of Getting Through What You Can’t Get Over and First Hired, Last Fired

“Thank you, Janet, for giving us what we need: not another self-help book, but a well-timed reminder of profound truth: God is good.”
—Jocelyn Green, author of Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives

I hope you will help me get the word out about this book written to mobilize Christians and the church who might have . . .

You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.–Revelation 2:4-5, 3:3

Forsaken God? is available right now for pre-orders on Amazon! There isn’t a picture yet of the cover on Amazon, but I’m excited to reveal the cover to you as we have just finalized it after much prayer.

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Guest Post by Kathy Howard “10 SIGNS of FLAT FAITH”

I told her things I had always been too afraid to tell anyone before. My faith felt dead. I doubted my salvation. God seemed so distant. I saw something in Susan’s life I longed to have in mine. Her faith was vibrant and real. Even the way she talked about God demonstrated a dynamic in her relationship with Him that I lacked. I had been a Christian since childhood and actively served in church, but my face never lit up when Jesus was the topic of conversation.

While our toddlers played on the floor together nearby, I tearfully shared with Susan the doubts that had plagued me for nearly two decades. She listened with compassion, but she also challenged me to not be content with my condition.

Desperation gave way to vulnerability that day. Fed up and tired of trying to ignite my faith through my own works and activity, I humbly admitted I could not do it. Honesty with myself, Susan, and ultimately God opened the way for His activity. I could not make myself into what God wanted me to be. I could not find the abundant life Jesus promised. But God could do it all.

The encounter with Susan jump-started my journey toward a fiery faith. Along the way, God shifted a few of my attitudes and changed some of my actions to fire up my faith. God can use these same attitudes and actions to start a flame in your life.

What is Flat Faith?

The word flat can be defined as “without vitality or animation; lifeless; dull.”Many Christians with flat faith love Jesus and continue to serve Him, but they often feel as though they’re simply going through the motions of Christianity. Their love for Christ is short on passion. They serve largely out of a sense of duty or because that’s what they’ve always done. The routine of the Christian life may even feel superficial and directionless.

Although not an exhaustive list, here ten signs that may indicate your faith needs some pumping up:

  1. Relationship with Christ is not deepening and growing.
  2. Religious activities overshadow your relationship with Christ.
  3. Life of faith feels boring, tired, or overwhelming.
  4. Feeling of disconnect from God; no real sense of His presence or voice.
  5. Little excitement over or awareness of God’s activity.
  6. Little or no anticipation that God will work.
  7. Praise and worship feels dry and forced.
  8. Nagging sense you should be experiencing more.
  9. Notice fiery faith in others’ lives that you desire.
  10. Efforts and activity produce few results of eternal value.

Countless Christians experience flat faith. Some have never experienced a vibrant faith characterized by real intimacy with Christ. Flat faith is all they’ve known. Others have lost the passion for Christ they once had and desperately long to find it again.

Are You Fed Up? Let God Pump You Up!

What about you? Do you see yourself in the description above? Are you fed up? Pumped up, fiery faith is not only possible, God wants it to be yours. God never intended for our life of faith to be boring and cold. You can connect with God in real ways. You can experience His activity in and around you. Your life can bear fruit that lasts.

While we cannot grow our own faith, God expects our cooperation. He calls for our active and obedient participation in His work in our lives (1 Corinthians 9:24–27; 1 Timothy 4:7; Philippians 3:12–14). We can learn to position ourselves before God so He can accomplish in our lives the things that only He can accomplish.

The Bible is not silent about flat faith. Life examples and practical help for spiritual dryness pack the pages of Scripture. When you apply these truths to your life, you can follow God out of flat faith to a place where He can set your faith on fire!

My book, Fed Up with Flat Faith, highlights ten key attitudes and actions found in Scripture that help God’s people position themselves for Him to work in their lives. These ten practical, biblical steps of faith will shift your attitude and change your behavior to put you in the center of God’s activity.

Are you ready to let God pump up your flat faith? You don’t have to give up or pretend. You don’t have to settle. Instead, get fed up with flat faith and embrace the full life of faith Jesus offers.

This article is excerpted from the first chapter of Fed Up with Flat Faith: 10 Attitudes and Actions to Pump Up Your Faith by Kathy Howard.  Find out more about the book at http://www.kathyhoward.org/fed-up-with-flat-faith/  Fed Up with Flat Faith is available from your local Christian bookstore and all online stores.  Find out more about Kathy, her ministry, and her other books at www.kathyhoward.org.

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