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Instead of living the abundant, fruitful life that Jesus promised, some Christians are living in a quagmire of slumber and defeat.
New York City pastor Carter Conlon says in his new book, It's Time to Pray, that never have believers had so many resources, tools and places to fellowship as they do in today's society, yet in the abundance of these things, Christians have never been more ineffective and lukewarm in their faith.
"We are rich and have need of nothing," Conlon says. "In many ways, Revelation Chapter 3 describes the church in America. 'I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.' There is an abundance of Bibles to choose from—different translations, different study notes and even designer covers. Some homes have multiple Bibles lying around—but how often are they opened? We can go online or to a bookstore and get all kinds of resources that help guide us in our daily walk. And yet, we are largely still living with one foot in the Spirit and one foot in the flesh. There are megachurches on almost every corner in our communities, but we are more disconnected from one another than we have ever been."
Conlon is the well-known senior pastor of Times Square Church in New York City, an interdenominational church with more than 10,000 people in attendance, representing more than 100 different nationalities. In his new book, It's Time to Pray, releasing Nov. 6 with Charisma House, Conlon will help readers understand how prayer is vital in their lives, their community and the world.
"The Holy Spirit is willing and able to direct us in the narrow way that leads to the more abundant life if in humble self-denial we submit to His unerring supervision," Conlon says.
Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of founding pastor David Wilkerson, who launched Teen Challenge and wrote the best-selling book, The Cross and the Switchblade. Conlon was appointed senior pastor of Times Square Church in 2001.
It's Time to Pray challenges Americans to make prayer more than a moment and, instead, a lifestyle. Conlon explores many areas of prayer in 10 different chapters that focus on praying for salvation, life, strength, serving, the impossible, forgiveness, faith, peace, freedom and awakening.
With a foreword by national radio personality Eric Metaxas, It's Time to Pray also acknowledges that there are far too many Christians who are dejected, depressed, hopeless, powerless and struggling with sin. Yet this is not what the Christian life is or should be.
Conlon continues to be a voice for God far beyond the pulpit of Times Square Church by speaking at numerous conferences across the country and around the world. His weekly radio spots air on 1010 WINS, the nation's longest-running all-news station, and his one-minute devotional and 30-minute program, called "A Call to the Nation," are currently syndicated on over 350 Christian radio stations worldwide. He is the author of several books, including The 180-Degree Christian, Fear Not and Unshakable.
It's Time to Pray is published by GPC Books, an imprint of Times Square Church's partnership with Charisma House. Charisma House has published books, including 14 best-sellers, that challenge, encourage, teach and equip Christians.
Former Super Bowl MVP Explains Winning in Defeat - Kurt Warner
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Kurt Warner was the quarterback of the Super Bowl 34 Champion, St. Louis Rams.
The 1999 Rams were the NFL's highest scoring offense, nicknamed "the greatest show on turf." The team's quick-strike passing game was led by Warner's sudden rise from undrafted backup — to the league's celebrated newcomer. Kurt explains, "That kind of success, that early, was I think the surprise to me. Just how quickly it came in my first season in the NFL, but here I am at 28 and it was like God sped up the whole career."
His impact was immediate, turning a last-place team into a division winner and leading the Rams to their first playoff appearance in St. Louis as the NFC's top-seeded team. His ascent launched him to stardom and led him to the first of three Super Bowls.
So how difficult is it to reach that game? Kurt emphasizes: "It's so difficult. So many things have to go in your favor. It's such a special thing when you put it all together. The chemistry that we had in the locker room with one another, the unselfishness amongst players."
It led to Super Bowl 34 — and a matchup against the Tennessee Titans — two 13 and 3 teams — contending in one of the most dramatic 4th quarter finishes ever. A game Kurt savored from the start saying, "Running out of the tunnel, being announced at that Super Bowl, and seeing the flashes go off, was really the first moment for it to really sink in what had happened that year. It was just about the journey that God had taken me on."
But the journey was just beginning after taking a storybook turn when the Titans kicked a game-tying field goal. Kurt recalls, "I just remember talking to Coach Vermeil on the sideline and he looked at me and just said, 'you know, this is how you write it. You know, this is what you want. Two minutes to go, quarterback, ball in your hands, lead your team down to win a Super Bowl.'"
Kurt did, on the Rams first play, a 73-yard pass to Isaac Bruce, saying, "It was called trip's right, ace right, 999, F-Seam, H Balloon. Everybody's running deep. I left it a little bit behind Isaac. And he adjusts to it and makes the catch. From there I was laying on the ground. And listened to the crowd go crazy. Now we're ahead with a chance to win it."
Kurt watched from the sideline as the Titans took their final drive down the field against the Rams defense. Kurt acknowledges, "That's always the hardest thing. We always want to have it in our control. But the hardest part about football is it's a team sport, in that you can't do it by yourself. Everybody will remember the reach by Dyson for the end zone, a one-yard difference between winning and losing. Those are the games that ultimately will be remembered."
The goal-line tackle preserved the Rams win. Kurt was named the game's Most Valuable Player — to go along with his MVP season. Just two years later, the Rams lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl 36. Is there a consolation in defeat?" Kurt answers, "It's not all about winning. You can win in losing. Success isn't defined by whether you have more points than the other guy. That's not how God defines it. It's defined by the journey; it's defined by where you find yourself and how far you've traveled and who you've become along the way."
Along the way, Kurt became one of only three NFL quarterbacks to start for two different Super Bowl teams. Resurrecting his career at 37 with the 2008 Arizona Cardinals who lost to the Steelers in the game's final 35 seconds, Kurt earned a beloved place in Phoenix. Kurt says, "You know, I was done, my career was over, he can't play anymore. Arizona will never win! We'll never go to a Super Bowl! It's just not going to happen. And we found ourselves in a place where nobody saw themselves. When we were able to take that journey here, a community came together around a football team."
The prolific quarterback still holds three Super Bowl passing records and hits the mark on defining his place among wins and losses. Kurt says "What happened on the cross ultimately defines Jesus and defines all of us. And what many saw as a loss, was our greatest win. He won. And that speaks to our everyday lives. But it also speaks to our Savior. That's what He created us for, was for relationship. And without that, what, at the end of the day, do we really have?
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Editor's note: The book, The Man in the Mirror, is easily the most exponentially impactful resource Man in the Mirror Ministries has ever produced. And one of the concepts we've received the most favorable feedback about is the distinction between a cultural Christian and a biblical Christian. The following is an article on the subject adapted from the Revised and Updated 25th Anniversary Edition of The Man in the Mirror: Solving the 24 Problems Men Face.
Contrary to the opinions of some, Christianity is still flourishing in our society. There are more Christians today in America than ever before, both as a percentage and in total numbers. Roughly one in three Americans indicates they have asked Jesus to forgive their sins and grant them the gift of eternal life.
But here is the obvious question: If religion is such a big part of our lives, why isn't it making more of an impact on our society? The sad reality is that claims of religious commitment run high, but impact is at an all-time low.
And here's the problem: Although Christianity is flourishing, many of us who are Christians have gotten caught up in this increasingly bankrupt culture. We have adopted many of the values of the world around us. Maybe it's the new sexual ethics of cohabitation or pornography, rampant greed and materialism, or winking at the needs of the poor.
Galatians 5:9 explains why adopting these values is a problem: "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." So when we try to have the best of both worlds, we exchange the truth of God for a lie and the glory of God for idols, we do what seems right in our own eyes, we get engrossed in the secular world, and we worship created things instead of the Creator.
The result? Cultural Christianity. Cultural Christianity means pursuing the God we want instead of the God who is. It is the tendency to be shallow in our understanding of God, wanting Him to be more of a gentle grandfather type who spoils us and lets us have our own way. It is sensing a need for God, but on our own terms. It is wanting the God we have underlined in our Bibles without wanting the rest of Him too. It is God relative instead of God absolute.
What has been the result of this adaptive, cultural religion?
Two Kinds of Christians
The ease with which people now associate themselves with religion has produced two kinds of Christians: biblical Christians and cultural Christians.
Jesus was the first to clarify the different types of people who would or would not associate with Him. The parable of the sower reveals four groups of hearers of the Word of God.
Group 1: The Non-Christian "Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved" (Luke 8:12).
Christ makes clear the point that not everyone who hears about salvation will believe.
Group 2: The Cultural Christian, Type "C"
"Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away" (Luke 8:13).
Type "C" stands for counterfeit faith. Among us are some who profess to be Christians, but in reality they are not Christians at all; they are cultural Christians—type "C." They have a counterfeit faith—a faith that is not a genuine faith in Christ. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
Without sounding a false alarm, but in love, I encourage every man who finds himself to be a cultural Christian to consider whether his faith is merely a defeated faith or a counterfeit faith. If counterfeit faith is the condition of your life, don't be discouraged. God loves you with an everlasting love and wants to reconcile with you. In the next chapter we will look at how you can get on, or back on, the right track.
Group 3: The Cultural Christian, Type "D"
"The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature" (Luke 8:14).
Sadly, there is little marginal difference between the way many Christians spend their money and the way non-Christians spend theirs. For a group whose primary commission is to be salt and light to a broken, confused world, this example does little to present a viable alternative to empty lifestyles.
Type "D" stands for defeated faith. The type "D" cultural Christian lives in defeat. There is little, if any, marginal difference between his lifestyle and the lifestyle of the man who makes no claim to be in Christ. He has never understood, perhaps because he has never been told, the difference between what it means to be a cultural Christian versus a biblical Christian. This is the category I flirted with before God brought me to my senses.
Group 4: The Biblical Christian
"But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop" (Luke 8:15).
A biblical Christian is a man who trusts in Christ, and Christ alone, for his salvation. As a result of his saving faith he desires to be obedient to God's principles out of the overflow of a grateful heart (see Romans 1:5). Obedience doesn't save us; faith does. This explains why some men can be cultural Christians—they have a saving faith, but they have not obediently made Christ Lord over all their lives. They have not allowed the Holy Spirit to empower them.
What does it mean to be a cultural Christian today?
Lessons from Elementary School
Do you remember your elementary school teacher demonstrating the principle of diffusion? She started with a clear glass of water. Then with an eyedropper she took some red food dye from a bottle and squeezed one drop into the glass. Within moments, the water was tainted with a pinkish hue as the dye permeated the water in the glass.
To be a cultural Christian in your parents' generation was to be like a clear glass of water with one drop of red dye. In other words, the secular culture was not that different from the Christian culture. That was before the days of Internet pornography, abortion on demand, explicit sex during prime-time TV, songs that degrade women, and a drug culture that's hard to avoid. So a man could be a cultural Christian and still be somewhat close to a Christian worldview and values.
To be a cultural Christian today is like having the whole bottle of red dye poured in the glass.
A Look in the Mirror
The man in the mirror will never change until he is willing to see himself as he really is, and to commit to know God as He really is. This objectivity anchors a man; it gives him the clarity of thought he needs to be a biblical Christian.
Is the man looking back at you in the mirror a cultural Christian or a biblical Christian?
Patrick Morleyis the founder of Man in the Mirror Ministries. For the original article, visit maninthemirror.org.
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