What we now consider to be radical behavior was to early believers nothing more than a sincere attempt to live obediently.

There God tells us exactly what is going to happen and scripture tells us that there is going to come a world leader who will initially bring overtures of peace. He will help the Jewish people rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. He will have a new economic system where you don't buy or sell without his mark. Initially, for some, it will look like a good deal because there will be peace, as I said.

God allows hardship in our lives so that our beliefs-those handholds of faith in a troubled world-will became more and more real to us and less and less theory.

Heaven is not for good people, it's for forgiven people.

If you give, it will be given to you. And I have found that generous people are blessed people.

We also need to recognize that God may have other plans in store for us, and we must be willing to accept that.

The churches that are growing and thriving are churches that I would call evangelical and orthodox for the most part in their beliefs. They are churches that tend to evangelize ... and encourage their people to share their faith. These are the churches that are actually growing. The ones that are shrinking are the ones that are compromising and watering down what the word of God says.