Thursday, October 9, 2008

DON'T BACK DOWN!

Okay, I seldom post more than once during any given day, but I was blown away when I read this post by Steven Furtick of Elevation Church.

Blown away because earlier today I had used some of the same language in an email I sent out to the extended family of a2...

This will preach! It's where I'm at... It's what I'm believing for... Thanks for an incredible word, Steven.


Don’t Back Down
Steven Furtick

God has been speaking to me a lot about the economy recently. The sense of what He’s been impressing on my heart is: don’t back down.

Every time I’ve turned on cable news in the last 3 weeks I’ve been tempted to scale down and back away from some of our God-sized, faith stretching initiatives. And I do want to be responsible…exercise wisdom…employ restraint…

But this is NOT the time for the church to huddle up in the bunker and wait for the end of the world. In Joshua 3, God led His people across the Jordan during the flood stage. Practically speaking, it was the worst possible time for them to cross over. But from the standpoint of faith, why not cross over during flood season? Flood season and harvest time go hand in hand. And the higher the waters, the greater the opportunity for God to show off when He brings us through.

So Elevation Church is not backing down in this time of economic crisis. We’re forging ahead, believing that God knows how to feed His children, even in a time of famine.

We’ll be committing hundreds of thousands of additional dollars to our local outreach partners in the coming months. We are in the process of making the most expensive facilities decision we’ve ever made. We just sent over 700 couples on date nights-paid for by the church.

We can’t back down. It’s harvest time! People are more ripe than ever to embrace the certainty of Christ, as the earthly things that seemed so certain are shaking and quaking. And God will resource us to reach them with the Gospel as we keep our eyes on Him.

I may sound naïve. But I’d rather be naïve than faithless.

God’s faithless children are confined to wandering in the wilderness of intimidation.
Those who look to Him in times of scarcity and press ahead will see His provision, His favor, and His miraculous, abundant supply.

Don’t back down!

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