Billy Graham: Why Does God Allow Suffering?

On Nov. 21, 1980, when the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas burned, survivors were brought into the Convention Center, where our Crusade meetings were being held. In an interview, Governor Robert List talked about the good times at the MGM only 24 hours before. “And how quickly,” he said, “the music has stopped.”

Some day, for all of you, if you don’t know God, the music will stop. It will all be over. The Bible says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

The Bible says that Job suddenly lost all of his wealth and his children. The devil said to God, “If You take all those possessions away from him, he’ll curse You and turn from You.” But God replied, “You can do anything to him, except you can’t kill him, and then we’ll see” (Job 1:11-12).

Job never asked why those things were happening to him. The closest he ever came was when he said, “Show me why You contend with me” (Job 10:2). Job was sharing his agony of spirit with the very God he could not understand.

Suffering carries a message of mystery. The Bible says, “Great is the mystery of godliness” (1 Timothy 3:16). When I was asked to explain the tragedy of the fire at the MGM Grand Hotel, I had to say, “There’s a mystery to tragedies like this. We don’t know the answer.” And we may never know until God explains all things to us.

For humans, there is a mystery as to why God created the earth. There is a mystery as to why He put people on this earth. But God has revealed answers through the Bible and through the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. In the Bible you will find the answers to the questions and the problems of your life.

But man rebelled against God. Man said, “I don’t need You, God. I can build my world without You.” God said, “If you take that position, you will suffer and die.” Man took that position, and he began to suffer, and he has been dying ever since. Physical death is just the death of the body, but the spirit lives on. If your spirit is separated from God for eternity, it will be lost forever.

The Bible teaches that Satan is the author of sin. Sin is the reason that we have afflictions, including death. All of our problems and our suffering, including death itself, are a result of man’s rebellion against God. But God has provided a rescue in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s why Christ died on the cross. That’s why He rose from the dead.

Messages That Move Us to Action

In suffering there is also a message of compassion. Jesus said, “for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me” (Matthew 25:35-36).

As fire swept through the MGM Grand Hotel, I saw the emergency crews, the military people, The Salvation Army, the Red Cross, the doctors, the nurses and the people coming to donate clothes and food. I saw compassion in action.

In suffering there is a message of unity. Jesus prayed “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You” (John 17:21). And that’s the way we ought to be as Christians, one in Christ. If you have been born into the family of God, you are a child of God. You are brothers and sisters.

Suffering holds a message of comfort. In Second Corinthians we read:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Because tragedy happened to you, it gives you a greater sense of oneness with others who experience tragedy. You can feel for them in that suffering situation. Because we have been comforted through the Word of God, we in turn may be able to comfort others.

What should be our attitude toward suffering?

First, it should be one of worship. We ought to say, “O God, I believe You are the great and mighty God. I don’t understand all the things that are happening in my life, but, O God, I trust in You.”

Second, we should ask God to teach us all He would have us learn about Him, about ourselves, about others and how we can minister to those who are suffering.

Third, our attitude in suffering should glorify God. People are going to watch us as Christians. They will ask, “How is it that Christ is so in control of his or her life that he or she was able to help others?”

Jesus suffered and died for us on the cross, but God raised Him from the dead. Jesus Christ now sits at the right hand of God the Father, and He sees our suffering. He sees our life every day and knows exactly where we stand.

The Bible teaches that we are to be patient in suffering. That’s the hardest thing of all, to be patient, to have songs in the night. Ask God to help you have a trusting, patient attitude, and flee from bitterness.

In suffering there is also, I believe, a message of warning. Are you prepared to meet God? What do you have to do to be ready? God took the initiative in giving His Son, Jesus Christ. God says, “I love you. I want to forgive you. I want you to go to heaven.” But you must respond to Him. Find hope, peace, and security today.

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Your Pastor Is Under ATTACK! What Will You Do?

Hell has unleashed a coordinated assault against spiritual leaders. Are you willing to provide extra prayer covering to protect them?

I wasn't feeling especially spiritual--I was just trying to decide which carpet color I liked best. But God had other plans for me that afternoon.

Jerry, a stout 60-year-old flooring salesman, had come into my office to show me some carpet for our church. We had never met, so we chatted briefly about his business.

After a quick orientation on material and pricing options, I dove into the bulky sample books he had plunked down on my desk. I think I was considering the virtues of a soft geometric pattern when I looked up and was caught completely by surprise:

Jerry's broad shoulders were shuddering. He was red in the face, trying hard to hold back his tears.

"Are you OK?" I asked, feeling somewhat awkward.

"I'm sorry, it's just that this is hard for me. I used to be a pastor like you. Coming back to a church setting like this for the first time is difficult."

"What happened?" I inquired, trying to imagine what drove his pain.

"The constant pressure in our church on top of the painful physical attacks my wife was having almost ate me up emotionally. I became a nervous wreck. I got to the place that I knew if that phone rang just one more time, I'd lose it.

"So my wife and I packed up and walked away after 30 years of ministry. It tore us up. We still love God, but the constant battles ... ."

Jerry's voice trailed off. His head tilted down and his hands covered his eyes in shame. Before I knew it, I was on my knees beside this broken man. He gripped my hand. I asked the Lord to restore his wounded spirit and heal his broken heart.

Pastors in Pain

Jerry is not alone. In fact, nearly everywhere I travel, I meet pastors who are hurting. A wave of trouble seems to have been unleashed against the church, and spiritual leaders are getting hit with the worst of it. Many of God's servants are facing sickness, financial problems, frustrating reversals and unimaginable family tragedies.

What is happening? The Bible warned that the end times would be stressful and difficult. Yet many of us are discerning that something beyond tough times is in play.

I believe there is an all-out assault from the enemy against spiritual leaders. Satan knows what we must be reminded of today: "'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,'" (Mark 14:27, NKJV). For that reason, I believe unless we learn to provide our spiritual leaders with a protective shield of prayer, our churches and ministries will never fully change our cities with the gospel.

It's no secret that pastors and other spiritual leaders live with continual pressure. Leaders often have tougher paths to walk than those who follow them. The harvest fields they work in are booby-trapped with spiritual and emotional land mines hidden there by the enemy.

The statistics should disturb us. For example, did you know that hundreds of pastors in North America leave the ministry every month because of stress, burnout and failure? The numbers also reveal that:

97 percent of pastors say they were inadequately trained for the challenges they face
80 percent say pastoral ministry has had a negative effect on their children
70 percent say they constantly fight depression
70 percent say they feel underpaid
71 percent say they are in financial trouble
65 percent say they have thought about quitting the ministry within the last 30 days
70 percent say they do not have someone they consider a close friend.

If these figures are correct, we have a crisis on our hands. If these terrible trends hold true over time, the damage will be devastating.

In the midst of this enemy advance, where have all the watchmen gone? The honest truth is that many of us are dozing. Like the disciples who slept while Jesus faced His most difficult hours, we often do the same with those whose victory is so important to us.

Are you praying and fasting for your spiritual leaders? Others are, but not in the way you might think. Many of us are now aware that witches routinely fast and pray for the downfall of our Christian leaders.

Spiritual warfare specialist Ed Murphy tells a shocking story of a conversation he had on an airplane with an occult leader who admitted that he and others were fasting for key spiritual leaders to fall into sickness and disgrace.

The truth is, pastors too often go unsupported during these times of attack. One significant pastor I know suffered a massive heart attack and then a stroke from ministry pressure. Shortly afterward more than 100 families left his big-city church.

Their reason? They thought his faith was not strong enough. If he had been a true man of God, they reasoned, these things would not have happened to him.

We had better figure out whose side we are on and keep our eyes open. David made it clear that failing to properly protect your leader is a serious sin (see 1 Sam. 26:13-15).

Saul's commanders were sleeping when they should have been shielding, and an enemy was able to slink in by cover of night. We must avoid being drowsy disciples if our churches and ministries are to advance.

The Command to Cover

What can we do? God is calling believers to pray prayers of protection over their leaders so the entire church can prevail against the enemy's attacks, move forward and take cities for God. Supporting leaders means protecting them from enemy fire so they can advance and make a way for us all to come into our places.

Scripture commands us to cover our spiritual leaders with protective prayers. "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence," (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

Paul told the Philippians that Epaphroditus had nearly died for the cause of his ministry, and urged them to honor him and care for him in light of that fact (see Phil. 2:25-30).

The people who respond to this call play an enormous role in the kingdom of God. Pastors and leaders worldwide will attest to this.

In our own church, we are blessed with devoted intercessors who make it their aim to cover our pastoral team every time they gather for prayer, often fasting for days and then surrounding us physically, praying for our needs. On occasion, they e-mail us or drop us notes filled with loving and sensitive insight birthed through their hours of prayer.

This kind of support is invaluable to spiritual leaders because it empowers us to do God's work without endless demonic hindrances. Emotionally, I can't tell you how it makes me feel to know that my marriage, family, ministry and personal life are shielded with daily prayer by faithful intercessors who have responded to the command to cover.

If you are an intercessor, and you watch in prayer over your leaders, you are a vital part of the plan of God for your region.

Opening City Gates

There is a powerful link between this kind of prayer and the advancement of the gospel (see 1 Tim. 2:1-4; 2 Thess. 3:1). Intercession for spiritual leaders enables us to strip the enemy of territory and claim the harvest for the Lord in our cities.

We cannot forget that when the early church prayed for the apostle Peter in a time of crisis, citywide revival was released. Think about the story of Peter's imprisonment in Acts 12: He not only was imprisoned during a widespread persecution of the church, but he also was bound between two soldiers, and four squads of soldiers were assigned to guard him. Surely this is a prophetic glimpse of the overwhelming resistance that key leaders face.

But Scripture says constant prayer was made by the church for Peter's release. After a glorious visitation by angels and a dramatic jailbreak in answer to a nonstop prayer storm, something incredible happened that we cannot miss: Peter was led to the city's iron gate--which opened of its own accord (see Acts 12:10).

I believe this is a compelling picture of how intercession for leaders will lead to even the most stubborn gateways opening in our cities.

In the same way, the key to a prevailing church or nation is having the right spirit in place to prayerfully support leaders. I am convinced that we will see more reconciliation, financial provision, miracles of healing and personal breakthroughs than ever before if we will learn the secret of supporting those whom God has placed over us. When we back our leaders, we are victorious, and the gospel goes forth in new power.

---

Build a Prayer Shield

How you can provide covering:

Remember your leaders each time you pray.

If your church has prayer meetings, make it a practice to physically surround your spiritual leaders each time they are present for a few minutes of intensive prayer.

If your church does not have a functional prayer shield in place over your spiritual leaders, seek permission to create one. Gather like-minded prayer warriors, study good materials on the subject, and make it your mission to pray over your church or ministry leaders.

When you pray for leaders, be sensitive to the issues they commonly face and pray accordingly. Come against the attacks of the enemy in the areas of distraction, temptation, discouragement, burnout and physical sickness. Pray for an impartation of faith, focus, wisdom, leadership and fruitfulness to remain upon their lives.

If you sense God is showing you something for them, offer to share it with them. When you have their permission, be positive, brief, discreet and humble. Then leave it in God's hands with no strings attached. You may be a greater source of encouragement than you realize as you continue to pray for your leaders.

Written by David Cannistraci

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6 Simple Ways to Win Souls

Ever noticed that you can say the right thing the wrong way? When this happens your witnessing opportunity can go haywire--your incorrect attitude can create a huge roadblock. Here are some pointers to help you engage in fruitful evangelism.

1. Do your homework. Anticipate the different types of questions your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors will have when witnessing opportunities arise. Not everyone's questions will be the same.

Try to think about every person in your sphere of influence and what sorts of issues they are struggling with. What life experiences have shaped their view of life? What kinds of struggles do they experience in their jobs? 

Truth expressed in a relevant manner is the key to meeting an individual's needs. 

2. Learn to listen. We must genuinely attempt to understand what the person is saying and what his perspective is. As you listen, ask yourself, "Is this the real issue, or is this merely a symptom of something deeper?" Remember to keep an open ear to the Lord. Let Him speak to you about the person you are talking to.

3. Use questions wisely. Ask questions of the person in an attempt to answer his questions. Just make sure you ask the right questions in the right way. This will often allow an individual to see the answers to his own questions. 

Jesus used this form of evangelism when the Pharisees questioned Him about the origin of His authority (see Matt. 21:23-27). He responded by asking them where John the Baptist's authority came from--heaven or Earth? When the Pharisees saw their predicament, they answered that they did not know. 

The point of using questions in evangelism is for the other party to see the inadequacy of their worldview and a need for change, not just in their philosophy but also in their experience. 

4. Embrace humility. Don't come across as a know-it-all. Humbly admit that there are some questions you just don't know the answers to. But always offer to try to find the answers. 

5. Don't pressure people. Jesus called us to make disciples, not decisions. Don't pressure a person who has not fully considered the cost of discipleship. This results in a premature step. 

6. Trust God at all times. Many disastrous results could be avoided by simply following this rule of thumb. Remember that Jesus did not pressure the rich young ruler to follow Him (see Luke 18:18-23). Jesus presented the truth, which included what I call "the sacrificial demands" of the gospel in a conviction-filled yet pressure-free environment. 

Trust in God's power, not yours. We often forget that rational discussion alone will never convert a human heart or mind.Remember, there are spiritual barriers as well that attempt to inhibit the gospel's work, resulting in spiritual, not intellectual, blindness (see 2 Cor. 4:4).

Logic and rationale can lead a person to the cross but never through the cross. Only God can do that.

But He does it graciously, and He chooses human vessels to use in this awesome process called evangelism. That's why prayer and evangelism must go hand in hand.

Culled from Charismag

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When Casting Out Devils Brings Retaliation

When you cast out devils by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you (Luke 11:20). But what comes next isn’t always as much fun. There is often natural and spiritual retaliation for setting the captives free.

Although no weapon formed against a deliverance minister can prosper, the enemy nonetheless forms a weapon and takes his best shot. After all, when youcast out devils—when you set the captives free—you just did marked damage to the kingdom of darkness. Whether you are an experienced deliverance minister or just beginning to study the gospel art of casting out devils, entering the battle without expecting the backlash is not wise.

Retaliation From Flesh and Blood

Deliverance was an earmark of Jesus’ ministry. His keen ability to cast out demons was one of the things that made his ministry so popular among the people. But Jesus faced His fair share of retaliation for casting out devils—and so will you if you engage in deliverance ministry.

After Jesus cast the devil out of two demon-possessed men in the region of the Gadarenes, sending them into the swine, the entire town came out to meet Him. But instead of glorifying God as one might expect, they begged him to get out of town (Matt. 8:22-33). If that wasn’t insulting enough, when Jesus cast a devil out of a blind and mute man the Pharisees suggested He was using the power of Satan (Matt. 12:24). And religious spirits were especially indignant that Jesus cast out a devil on the Sabbath day (Luke 13:14). Ultimately, one of the reasons the religious spirits wanted to kill Jesus was because he was setting people free from demonic oppression and, in doing so, threatening their dead religious rule.

Those who don’t understand the spiritual dynamic of demonic oppression often criticize, mock or otherwise ridicule deliverance ministers. If you cast out devils, even some Christians may think you are a heretic or have a demon yourself. Such retaliation is from flesh and blood, but it is motivated by the whispers of the enemy who wants to persecute you sorely until you cast off your casting out ministry.

In his video teaching on Demonology & Deliverance, Lester Sumrall said he was greatly criticized for his teaching on casting out devils: “You’ve got to be able to accept that. If you are not able to accept that, the devil will defeat you quite easily. You’ve got to be willing to be mocked, to be laughed at, to be misunderstood in order to do what God has wants you to do.” Amen.

Retaliation From Evil Spirits

On the other side of the retaliation coin, deliverance ministers can expect retaliation through manifested spiritual warfare. I’ve cast devils out of people only to turn around and face a heavy dose of witchcraft or imaginations that tried to convince me the devil never left. I’ve had nightmares after exercising deliverance ministry. I’ve felt tired and sick. Thankfully, I understood that it was the enemy hitting back and took authority over the assignment in the name of Jesus.

When you set out to engage in deliverance ministry, don’t go there without preparing your heart—and don’t go there alone. Jesus sent the 72 disciples out two by two to cast out devils (Matt. 10:8). And they understood their authority in the name of Jesus before they ventured into ministry. Deliverance ministry is not a game of patty cake.

To be sure, you can’t just read Pigs in the Parlor and dub yourself a deliverance minister. If you don’t truly understand your authority in Christ—if you don’t have an intimate relationship with Him—the retaliation could be dramatic and painful. Remember the itinerant Jewish exorcists who took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits?

They said, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” The seven sons of Sceva joined into the deliverance party “And the evil spirit answered and said, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’ Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpoweredthem, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:15-16).

Although you aren’t likely to experience anything quite like what happened to the sons of Sceva, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare yourself for retaliation before you ever step foot into thedeliverance session. Beyond fasting, seeking God for wisdom, and putting together a team of deliverance ministers, remember to bind up the retaliation and plead the blood of Jesus over yourself before and after the session. And everything you do, do it with faith in the name of Jesus. Amen

Written by Jennifer LeClaire 

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Break Generational Chains!

How your prayers can destroy generational strongholds.

We all know we can inherit our mother’s eyes, our father’s nose, or the color of our grandmother’s hair. But did you know that we can pick up character qualities from our parents, such as a bad temper, a propensity for lying, depression, self-pity, envy, unforgiveness, perfectionism and pride? These and other characteristics that have a spiritual root can be passed along from our parents to us, and from us to our children. In a particular family there may be a tendency toward such things as divorce, infidelity, alcoholism, addiction, suicides or depression all mistakenly accepted as “the way I am.”

The Bible talks about the influence our parents can have on us. It says God will visit “the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Ex. 20:5). This Scripture is referring to people who don’t walk in a loving relationship with God. However, a parent who is a believer and loves God can still choose to sin. And his sin will profoundly affect his children.

The Bible says “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). That doesn’t mean that when we receive Jesus we are suddenly perfect and incapable of sinning. It means we have been freed from the consequences of sin, which is death, and we have been given the power to resist it. But we must make choices every day about whether we will live in that freedom and power or not.

The Bible also says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1). If it is not possible as a believer to become entangled again with a yoke of bondage, why does the Bible warn us about it? The answer is, even though Jesus set us free from sin we can still make choices that put us back into bondage to it.

The point is, sometimes we accept certain tendencies toward sin in ourselves and we don’t have to. Sometimes we carry on a family tradition that we shouldn’t and it affects our children. Unlike physical traits, tendencies toward sin are something we don’t have to receive as an inheritance from our parents. That’s because these tendencies are nothing more than the unquestioned acceptance of a firmly entrenched lie of the enemy. He wants us to believe that we are not a new creation in Christ and that we have not been set free from our old nature. He wants us to think that because dad or grandpa drank too much, or was a complainer, or cheated on his wife, or abused his family with his anger, or got divorced, or was dishonest in his business dealings, that’s the way things are done in our family. But we can choose to break away from these old familial habits through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit. And when we see things we don’t like about ourselves reflected in our children, we can pray for them to be set free of that tendency as well.

“If God through His mercy has saved us, and the Holy Spirit has washed and renewed us, and we are justified by grace, then why am I still struggling with sin?” I asked my Christian counselor many years ago.

“It’s because the sin is either unconfessed, or you are choosing to continue to do it,” he answered.

“But I still have unforgiveness for various family members for things that have happened in the past,” I said. “I’ve reconfessed it. I don’t want to do it. Why can’t I get beyond this?”

“Your mother was an unforgiving person, wasn’t she?” he said.

“Very much so. She had unforgiveness for nearly every family member. That’s why she distanced herself from most of them. She had few friends for the same reason—she pushed them away with her unforgiveness for the most minor infractions.”

“Have you ever thought of the possibility that you could have acquired that tendency toward unforgiveness in your personality? Children pick up what their parents are,” he suggested.

I’d never thought about the possibility of there being anything outside my own mind that was propelling me to stay locked in unforgiveness, but the more I thought about it, the more I remembered seeing that trait manifest seriously in other family members. Nearly every family has to deal with that at some point, but most get beyond it without allowing it to cause a major breach in the family ties.

“I know this doesn’t relieve me of my responsibility to forgives, but I do see a pattern of this in my family,” I said.

“And what frightens me most is that it could happen in my own children. I see them now hanging on to unforgiveness toward one another for things that have happened. It would break my heart to think that after they’ve grown and left our house, or after my husband and I have gone to be with the Lord, they would have nothing to do with one another. I can see that I have to get free of this for them as well as for myself.”

The counselor and I prayed that day that the sin of unforgiveness in my family would not be passed down from generation to generation, but would be stopped by the power of the Holy Spirit. I proclaimed the truth of God’s Word, which says I am a new creation in Christ and I don’t have to live according to the habits and sins of the past. Through that revelation, I resolved to confess unforgiveness the moment it appeared—even if that meant doing it on an hour-by-hour basis.

The more I have released unforgiveness through confession, repentance and prayer before God, the more I have seen my children become free of it too. And their relationship with one another has improved. Of course, my children’s ability to forgive does not rely on me. It is their decision. But hopefully they will see forgiveness being modeled in a clear-enough manner as to make their decision to forgive easier.

A good way to see a negative trait broken in your child is to see it broken in you first. The best place to start is to identify any sin in your life. Wherever there is sin, you need to confess it. If that sin is given place time and again, it will become more and more entrenched. For example, a lie is a sin. By repeated lying, place is given for this trait to become entrenched, and soon lying gets out of control. Another example is wanting to die. This is a sin. When people say “I want to die” enough times, they can get to the point where they are plagued by suicidal thoughts.

If you see a place in your life where you have sinned or not lived God’s way, repent of it immediately by going before the Lord and confessing it. Ask for God’s forgiveness and say, “God, You be in control and help me not to live like that anymore.”

Then identify any sin in your parents and grandparents that you feel could be affecting you or your children and pray about that also. The Bible says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:16-17). We want to be heirs of God, not of our family’s sin.

In Jesus’ name we can be set free from any family pattern of sin, and by the power of the Holy Spirit we can refuse to allow it any place in our children’s life. If you can think of any family traits you don’t want your children to inherit, start praying.

Stormie Omartian is the best-selling author of The Power of a Praying series, including The Power of a Praying Parent, from which this article was adapted. Copyright © 2007 by Stormie Omartian. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission

Culled from Charismag

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