“It seems to me that if the primary view of sanctification comes through simplicity, poverty, suffering, [then] if you don’t get those things it’s almost like when God blesses it’s hard to be sanctified because you don’t know what to do with it. What if God wants to sanctify you through not poverty but generosity, not suffering but blessing; and what if it’s not through simplicity but complexity?”

—Mark Driscoll, who questioned Francis Chan’s decision to leave his megachurch and give away everything last year. Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church, suggested Chan might be following the “theology of poverty,” a belief that he says is just as detrimental as the prosperity gospel.

“I believe it’s motivated by love and a desire to be Christ-like; I don’t want to suffer needlessly or just to suffer. To me, the core issue here has to be love. I think in times of prosperity, for me, I look at Scripture and go: ‘Wow, this is awesome. Look at this great-selling book, all this money. What do I want to do? I want to give it to the people who need it.’ I get excited about that.” 

 
—Francis Chan, who says he did not needlessly give away his money or step down from his church but was striving to be like Christ read more

Rick Warren If a ministry is God-anointed, it doesn’t matter who criticizes it. If it’s not anointed, it doesn’t matter who praises it. 

Joyce Meyer The Word is like medicine, but it is most effective when applied properly. If I have a headache, I don’t put a Band-Aid on my head.

Brian Houston Serving sacrifices self, because self doesn’t want to serve. LIVE to serve. DIE to self!

Cindy Trimm Did you know that procrastination is a sign of fear?

Robert Morris A little faith will bring our soul to heaven. Great faith will bring heaven to our soul.

News By Numbers

3% of teenagers from age 13 to 17 say that Jesus Christ is their role model

Barna Group

49% of Americans say the lack of civility in American politics is a 
“very serious problem” 

 PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey

  read more

Joe Hurston and his family know about giving. Hurston has given his life to missionary work in Haiti since 1978, living in the poorest conditions. But this year the tables turned and the longtime missionary family is learning how to receive.

Last year, while the family was away on a missions trip, a plumbing problem caused pipes to burst and flood their Florida home. For almost a year, Hurston and his wife, Cindy, and their three youngest children—Joliet, 17, Peter, 12, and Dieunika, 4—lived in an RV camper. 

Hurston was recently working on his mission plane at Tico Airport in Titusville, Fla., when another small aircraft landed on the runway. Inside was Ty Pennington, designer and host of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, who gave him the news that his family had been selected to receive a new home.   read more

For 16 years, Annie Lobért was known at various times as a prostitute, high-class escort and stripper. At the age of 18, Lobért willingly entered the sex industry as a rebellious and curious teenager, only to be sex-trafficked later into a life of coercion and threats—and utter misery.

“Ninety percent of prostitutes are sex-trafficked,” says Lobért, who finally broke free from the industry, became a Christian and now lives to help others who want to get out. 

She says people don’t understand that although many women enter the industry on their own free will, they eventually lose control of their lives: “In the end, you’re trafficked.”  read more

 Former stripper and porn star Shelley Lubben found herself making X-rated films in the multibillion-dollar sex industry by the time she turned 24. 

Known then as “Roxy,” Lubben starred in more than 30 films, her success fueled by the rage she built up from being abused as a child and teenager. 

“‘You’re dead to me,’” Lubben recalls her father telling her when he kicked her out after high school. “When he said those words to me, the demonic spirits entered me, and I was never the same.”  read more

Stovall Weems, a pastor who once fully embraced the partying lifestyle, now lives to reach the lost and help people passionately pursue God

Stovall Weems, the pastor of Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Fla., is demonstrating his passion for Christ in word and deed. As a result, he’s fueling the fire of not only his congregation but also of those around the world.

Though Weems was not raised in the church, today he and his wife, Kerri, are seeing the church they founded become one of the largest and fastest-growing in America. Weems says he is driven by his passion for the local church and reaching people.  read more