The Mission of Listening

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I thought the assignment would be “so easy.”

The task was simple: engage someone in conversation—asking about her life, work, class load, or even her past or dreams for the future—and then don’t interrupt a single time while she shared.

I’ll never forget receiving this assignment as a junior in college. I considered myself a good listener and was excited for what I expected to be an easy A.

Then I learned how often I was prone to interrupting.

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It was the next day, as one of my dear friends shared her heart over a mug of coffee, that I quickly realized this assignment was, in fact, not going to be easy for me. It became apparent how natural it was for me to interject my own stories as people shared theirs. I wanted to show I identified, but Anna didn’t need my points of identification, she just needed someone who would love her enough to push their own words aside and listen.

Three years later, I now see how God used that assignment to begin teaching me more about the Gospel I said I believed and the way it directly correlates to serving others with our ears.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger… –James 1:19

Sitting with Anna in that small cafe on campus, my pride took a much-needed blow by the stinging reality that I was neither quick to hear or slow to speak, but I had yet to discover the Gospel implications behind that reality.

LISTENING HELPS US LOVE OTHERS

It is through words people give us their stories and hearts, so why would we not take time to learn to cherish that gift and represent Christ well by listening well?

We must discipline our flesh (which includes our tongues) and cultivate the art, gift, and mission of listening. This is counter-cultural and, while foreign to most people, extraordinarily like Jesus, who didn’t just tolerate people’s stories, concerns, or requests, but listened, assessed, and gave them exactly what they needed most. He still seeks to operate this way through His body, the church.

One of the best gifts you can give someone is open ears and an engaged heart at the same time. Roaring into every conversation with our guns fully loaded with the “right” answers to fire at people is not always the most helpful or loving approach to serving others and being a visible representation of God to them.

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Some people are verbal processors and they might answer their own questions as they continue talking, so it’s often best and more beneficial to give them freedom to remove their verbal cargo and not rush to give them specific chapter and verse. And sometimes people are so overwhelmed that what they need most is not a five-point sermon or a drill of proper doctrine, but the cathartic gift of silence and eyes full of love when they’re braced for condemnation and a tongue-lashing (this is especially true when creating space for repentance and confession of sin and struggles).

We must also remember that listening isn’t passive. It’s an active and self-sacrificing role that, according to Janet Dunn, “invites another person to exist.”

With open ears, solid eye contact, and a phone put away, you’re telling someone, “I see you. I hear you. I’m championing you across the table and in the midst of your struggle or victory. You are not alone.”

LISTENING SPEAKS

When genuine, listening speaks of love, humility, kindness, compassion, and concern. It speaks of the Gospel and that we have something greater than ourselves to live for, so we can quiet our souls enough to interestedly listen to others.

Listening forces our dependence on the Holy Spirit and silently affirms that He, not our words, is what the person beside us needs most. We listen to Him through His Word and Spirit and then, when the time comes for us to speak, our words are more likely to be seasoned with salt and ready to point our listeners back to Him, because listening mainly speaks of the Gospel.

For the ways listening speaks of the Gospel and for more content like this, check out the free RTM Magazine on iPhone, iPad,Android, or on the web.

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The Gospel is the Answer to a Lack of Assurance

The gospel of Jesus Christ is clearly the message of the entire Bible. Any honest reader of Scripture, who has a basic understanding of God’s Word recognizes that Christ is the focus of the Bible, and the gospel itself, the good news of what God has done in Christ for sinful men, is the only remedy for a lost world. But the gospel and its implications to all of life have often been used only evangelistically. The church has often failed to see the many applications of the gospel to the Christian in all areas of life and growth. The truth is that the gospel is the basis of everything in the Christian’s life. We must be “gospelized”– gospel-centered, gospel-focused, and making the gospel the central reality in all our living.

There are various applications of the gospel relative to the ministry, such as the worship life of the church. Christ himself must be the focus in our singing, prayers, and in all preaching and teaching. Any church that departs from keeping the gospel central in its ministry, that ministry will cease being effective. There are also other areas where the church must remain gospel-centered, such as missions, social work, personal evangelism, and our relationship with government and society. But I want to focus here on a more specific and narrow application of the gospel, that being the pastoral counseling and shepherding of those who lack or struggle with assurance of salvation.

The doctrine of assurance is greatly neglected in our day, in terms of both understanding it biblically and in gospel preaching. We do not have time here to address the issue of assurance more deeply, only to say that Christians and Christian leaders must make a distinction between a person’s possession of salvation and the possession of assurance. These two things are not the same. One does not always follow the other. There are people who are converted and who possesses assurance of their salvation, and there are people who are converted who have very little assurance, and in some cases, no assurance.

What is the answer and the means of helping them? There are various issues involved relative to assurance, but at the heart of the issue is the gospel itself and our believing it. I would argue that a clear understanding of the doctrinal truth of the gospel and a person’s acceptance with God through Christ is the only certain remedy for a lack of assurance. This has great implications for effective pastoring counseling. This is often neglected or forgotten, but may be the most important issue in pastoral counseling. Here’s why.

When a pastor deals regularly with a person who lacks assurance, what is he to point them to? Here is a man or woman who makes a clear profession of faith in Christ, is consistent in worship, has a tender heart, loves the preaching of the truth, and loves to be with other Christians, but they cannot gain personal assurance. What will help them the most? When they pour out their heart to you, desiring guidance and counsel, where do you take them? Do we have them focus on their own struggle and inward need, to get them to analyze their condition? Or do you take them to the cross, outside of themselves, to freshly see what Another One has done perfectly for them? This, and this alone, is where they can find assurance—the gospel.

The battle for assurance is one of the most significant battles Christians often face. One of the hardest trials any Christian can go through is to have little or no assurance of salvation. It is also one of the most challenging areas of pastoral counseling. The difficulty is what approach to take in trying to help such a person without trying to give them assurance yourself. They may have inconsistent assurance, little assurance, or no assurance. The reason for the lack of assurance is also often very difficult to discern—are they living in some unconfessed sin? Are they just battling besetting sins and are being condemned by the devil or by themselves? Are they laboring under unbelief that they are not good enough for God to love them? Are they basing their acceptance with God on their works or their performance? Are they physically or emotionally exhausted, chemically deficient, or battling physical sickness? Or the greater question may be, have they ever been truly converted at all?

There are many reasons that can be the root cause of the lack of assurance. It is, at times in some cases, virtually impossible to know the root cause. For one person, it may be purely spiritual reason and another person’s struggle may be completely different. A prolonged experience of no assurance is one of the most discouraging and difficult experiences a true believer can go through. I have often said that, in some ways, it would be much easier to face a physical sickness than to be a true Christian who lives with the agony of having little or no assurance of their acceptance with God, feeling or believing that God doesn’t love them.

Pastorally, here is what often happens with such persons. Picture such a person coming over and over again to their pastor or elder. One day, they come and say, “I need to talk to you; I just don’t think I am saved.” Discussion begins and then ends. The next week it happens again: “I know what you said is true, but I have no feelings about God being with me or loving me.” And the statements continue in different ways, even for months.

“How can I know Christ died for me?”

“What if I only think I’m saved and I deceive myself and go to hell?”

“What if I did not have pure motives when I thought I believed in Christ, and I was a false convert?”

“What if I come to Christ and he won’t receive me?”

“I regret so much the horrible things I’ve done in the past; I can’t get over it and it haunts me so much; how could God ever forgive such bad things?”

“I don’t really think I repented deeply enough for God to save me.”

“I have tried to come to Jesus, but it doesn’t seem like I can get saved.”

“I don’t know if I have truly believed or not.”

“Won’t I feel any different when God really saves me?”

“If I was truly a Christian, I don’t think I would doubt God’s love for me.”

On and on it goes. How do you counsel such a person? It can drive a pastor to discouragement if he is trying to find some new or innovative thought or way to give help to such people. Over the years, I have found there is only one truth such people must be brought back to, and that is the death of Christ for them and his free offer of salvation to them. Regardless of their questions, doubts, or struggle, the issue is always the same—will they believe that Christ died for them, and will they come to him, and in coming, will they believe he receives them freely? Christ is freely offered to them in the gospel, and they are invited and commanded to come to him without delay and without excuse. This is the gospel’s answer to a lack of assurance. The objective redemptive work of Christ is the only basis of assurance. They will never gain assurance by looking within themselves; in fact, that often is the cause of the lack of assurance in many people.

The gospel is always the answer in the battle with assurance. It can boil down often to one of several causes: 1) they are yielding to specific sins that are robbing them of assurance; 2) they are trying to be accepted by God on the basis of their own works or performance; 3) they have a physical, psychological, or chemical imbalance illness that is the root of their spiritual struggle; 4) they are in pure unbelief, not believing that God has forgiven their sins; 5) they are not a believer at all, and will not have assurance until they come to Christ.

In such cases, the person should see a doctor and get a full physical exam to eliminate the possibility of a physical problem. Spiritual struggles can be rooted in physical problems. But once that is dealt with, the answer is always the gospel.

If a person is a believer, it is the gospel they need to be reminded of. They do not need to be told to look inside their own hearts; they do not need to be convinced by a sincere friend that they are a Christian; they do not need to rack their minds to find out where they are wrong, etc; the propensity toward introspection for a weak-minded believer who cannot gain assurance is very real, and no one facing this battle should be directed to look inward to find relief.

The only answer is to direct the struggling soul, over and over again, to the objective unchanging standard of Christ and what he has done for sinners. If a person is condemned for their sins, if a person believes God could not love them, if a person is convinced God is willing to save anyone except them, if a person is convinced they have committed the unpardonable sin—the only reply to any of those scenarios is to set before them the perfect work of Christ on their behalf that makes and keeps us right with God.

It is only in believing the gospel that they will gain peace and assurance. If they are a true believer, but are yielding to specific sins, the gospel is also the answer. They must see that Christ died for those sins, and the sins are robbing them of their relationship with the Lord and robbing them of assurance. If they are trying to gain assurance based on their works, performance and goodness, then the answer is the same. Nothing can make us accepted by God except the gospel. The perfect atoning work of Christ is the only basis of our acceptance with God. This is why at times the best thing a person could do who lacks assurance is to take a deep and long look at the doctrine of justification by faith, and the doctrine of the death of Christ in the place of sinners.

This is the wisest path and approach to take for pastors in helping weak saints with their battle for assurance. We cannot tell them they are saved, we cannot simply give them assurance because it won’t last, and we cannot somehow talk them into a logical gaining of assurance. The gospel itself must become very clear in their minds, and only the Holy Spirit can apply it. So in pastoring people who lack assurance, pastors need to be a broken record. We have one and only one message to doubters. If they are lost, the gospel is the answer; if they are a believer, the gospel is still the answer. Point them to flee to the Savior and believe the work he did for them. The gospel itself is the greatest tool in pastoring the doubting Christian. This, and this alone, can bring peace to the doubting soul.

– Mack Tomlinson

The Gospel is the Answer to a Lack of Assurance

The gospel of Jesus Christ is clearly the message of the entire Bible. Any honest reader of Scripture, who has a basic understanding of God’s Word recognizes that Christ is the focus of the Bible, and the gospel itself, the good news of what God has done in Christ for sinful men, is the only remedy for a lost world. But the gospel and its implications to all of life have often been used only evangelistically. The church has often failed to see the many applications of the gospel to the Christian in all areas of life and growth. The truth is that the gospel is the basis of everything in the Christian’s life. We must be “gospelized”– gospel-centered, gospel-focused, and making the gospel the central reality in all our living.

There are various applications of the gospel relative to the ministry, such as the worship life of the church. Christ himself must be the focus in our singing, prayers, and in all preaching and teaching. Any church that departs from keeping the gospel central in its ministry, that ministry will cease being effective. There are also other areas where the church must remain gospel-centered, such as missions, social work, personal evangelism, and our relationship with government and society. But I want to focus here on a more specific and narrow application of the gospel, that being the pastoral counseling and shepherding of those who lack or struggle with assurance of salvation.

The doctrine of assurance is greatly neglected in our day, in terms of both understanding it biblically and in gospel preaching. We do not have time here to address the issue of assurance more deeply, only to say that Christians and Christian leaders must make a distinction between a person’s possession of salvation and the possession of assurance. These two things are not the same. One does not always follow the other. There are people who are converted and who possesses assurance of their salvation, and there are people who are converted who have very little assurance, and in some cases, no assurance.

What is the answer and the means of helping them? There are various issues involved relative to assurance, but at the heart of the issue is the gospel itself and our believing it. I would argue that a clear understanding of the doctrinal truth of the gospel and a person’s acceptance with God through Christ is the only certain remedy for a lack of assurance. This has great implications for effective pastoring counseling. This is often neglected or forgotten, but may be the most important issue in pastoral counseling. Here’s why.

When a pastor deals regularly with a person who lacks assurance, what is he to point them to? Here is a man or woman who makes a clear profession of faith in Christ, is consistent in worship, has a tender heart, loves the preaching of the truth, and loves to be with other Christians, but they cannot gain personal assurance. What will help them the most? When they pour out their heart to you, desiring guidance and counsel, where do you take them? Do we have them focus on their own struggle and inward need, to get them to analyze their condition? Or do you take them to the cross, outside of themselves, to freshly see what Another One has done perfectly for them? This, and this alone, is where they can find assurance—the gospel.

The battle for assurance is one of the most significant battles Christians often face. One of the hardest trials any Christian can go through is to have little or no assurance of salvation. It is also one of the most challenging areas of pastoral counseling. The difficulty is what approach to take in trying to help such a person without trying to give them assurance yourself. They may have inconsistent assurance, little assurance, or no assurance. The reason for the lack of assurance is also often very difficult to discern—are they living in some unconfessed sin? Are they just battling besetting sins and are being condemned by the devil or by themselves? Are they laboring under unbelief that they are not good enough for God to love them? Are they basing their acceptance with God on their works or their performance? Are they physically or emotionally exhausted, chemically deficient, or battling physical sickness? Or the greater question may be, have they ever been truly converted at all?

There are many reasons that can be the root cause of the lack of assurance. It is, at times in some cases, virtually impossible to know the root cause. For one person, it may be purely spiritual reason and another person’s struggle may be completely different. A prolonged experience of no assurance is one of the most discouraging and difficult experiences a true believer can go through. I have often said that, in some ways, it would be much easier to face a physical sickness than to be a true Christian who lives with the agony of having little or no assurance of their acceptance with God, feeling or believing that God doesn’t love them.

Pastorally, here is what often happens with such persons. Picture such a person coming over and over again to their pastor or elder. One day, they come and say, “I need to talk to you; I just don’t think I am saved.” Discussion begins and then ends. The next week it happens again: “I know what you said is true, but I have no feelings about God being with me or loving me.” And the statements continue in different ways, even for months.

“How can I know Christ died for me?”

“What if I only think I’m saved and I deceive myself and go to hell?”

“What if I did not have pure motives when I thought I believed in Christ, and I was a false convert?”

“What if I come to Christ and he won’t receive me?”

“I regret so much the horrible things I’ve done in the past; I can’t get over it and it haunts me so much; how could God ever forgive such bad things?”

“I don’t really think I repented deeply enough for God to save me.”

“I have tried to come to Jesus, but it doesn’t seem like I can get saved.”

“I don’t know if I have truly believed or not.”

“Won’t I feel any different when God really saves me?”

“If I was truly a Christian, I don’t think I would doubt God’s love for me.”

On and on it goes. How do you counsel such a person? It can drive a pastor to discouragement if he is trying to find some new or innovative thought or way to give help to such people. Over the years, I have found there is only one truth such people must be brought back to, and that is the death of Christ for them and his free offer of salvation to them. Regardless of their questions, doubts, or struggle, the issue is always the same—will they believe that Christ died for them, and will they come to him, and in coming, will they believe he receives them freely? Christ is freely offered to them in the gospel, and they are invited and commanded to come to him without delay and without excuse. This is the gospel’s answer to a lack of assurance. The objective redemptive work of Christ is the only basis of assurance. They will never gain assurance by looking within themselves; in fact, that often is the cause of the lack of assurance in many people.

The gospel is always the answer in the battle with assurance. It can boil down often to one of several causes: 1) they are yielding to specific sins that are robbing them of assurance; 2) they are trying to be accepted by God on the basis of their own works or performance; 3) they have a physical, psychological, or chemical imbalance illness that is the root of their spiritual struggle; 4) they are in pure unbelief, not believing that God has forgiven their sins; 5) they are not a believer at all, and will not have assurance until they come to Christ.

In such cases, the person should see a doctor and get a full physical exam to eliminate the possibility of a physical problem. Spiritual struggles can be rooted in physical problems. But once that is dealt with, the answer is always the gospel.

If a person is a believer, it is the gospel they need to be reminded of. They do not need to be told to look inside their own hearts; they do not need to be convinced by a sincere friend that they are a Christian; they do not need to rack their minds to find out where they are wrong, etc; the propensity toward introspection for a weak-minded believer who cannot gain assurance is very real, and no one facing this battle should be directed to look inward to find relief.

The only answer is to direct the struggling soul, over and over again, to the objective unchanging standard of Christ and what he has done for sinners. If a person is condemned for their sins, if a person believes God could not love them, if a person is convinced God is willing to save anyone except them, if a person is convinced they have committed the unpardonable sin—the only reply to any of those scenarios is to set before them the perfect work of Christ on their behalf that makes and keeps us right with God.

It is only in believing the gospel that they will gain peace and assurance. If they are a true believer, but are yielding to specific sins, the gospel is also the answer. They must see that Christ died for those sins, and the sins are robbing them of their relationship with the Lord and robbing them of assurance. If they are trying to gain assurance based on their works, performance and goodness, then the answer is the same. Nothing can make us accepted by God except the gospel. The perfect atoning work of Christ is the only basis of our acceptance with God. This is why at times the best thing a person could do who lacks assurance is to take a deep and long look at the doctrine of justification by faith, and the doctrine of the death of Christ in the place of sinners.

This is the wisest path and approach to take for pastors in helping weak saints with their battle for assurance. We cannot tell them they are saved, we cannot simply give them assurance because it won’t last, and we cannot somehow talk them into a logical gaining of assurance. The gospel itself must become very clear in their minds, and only the Holy Spirit can apply it. So in pastoring people who lack assurance, pastors need to be a broken record. We have one and only one message to doubters. If they are lost, the gospel is the answer; if they are a believer, the gospel is still the answer. Point them to flee to the Savior and believe the work he did for them. The gospel itself is the greatest tool in pastoring the doubting Christian. This, and this alone, can bring peace to the doubting soul.

– Mack Tomlinson

The Art of Building Relationship With God

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According to Statista, one of the leading statistics companies on the internet, in 2016, 78 percent of U.S. Americans had a social media profile, representing a five percent growth compared to the previous year.

It would seem more people are becoming sociable. But such numbers are giving experts concern that the depth of connectedness is superficial at best, and that we, as a society, are losing the art of true communication and relationship building. Too much time is dedicated to texting or tweeting or messaging, leaving little time to cultivate richer real-life relationships.

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One psychologist wrote about his concern over social media relationships obstructing genuine bonding.

Larry Rosen stated in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal:

As a research psychologist, I have studied the impact of technology for 30 years among 50,000 children, teens and adults in the U.S. and 24 other countries.

In that time, three major game-changers have entered our world: portable computers, social communication and smartphones. The total effect has been to allow us to connect more with the people in our virtual world—but communicate less with those who are in our real world. 

Our real and virtual worlds certainly overlap, as many of our virtual friends are also our real friends. But the time and effort we put into our virtual worlds limit the time to connect and especially to communicate on a deeper level in our real world. With smartphone in hand, we face a constant barrage of alerts, notifications, vibrations and beeps warning us that something seemingly important has happened and we must pay attention. We tap out brief missives and believe that we are being sociable, but as psychologist Sherry Turkle has so aptly said, we are only getting “sips” of connection, not real communication. ¹

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If this is true about the state of human relationships due to social media, can we make any comparisons with relationship with God?

Do we take time to cultivate relationship with the living Creator? Sadly, many Christians in developed countries spend more time on Facebook than they do in the Bible and chat more on Instagram than converse with the God of the universe.

How do you develop relationship with God?

So many Christians wrongly assume that since they are Christians, they have a relationship with God and that is all there is to it. It is true we have relationship with the Lord through Jesus, but like any relationship a process of cultivation must begin for that relationship to grow. I know of no husband wanting a deeper relationship with his wife who thinks that the wedding day is all there is to it. Why then do we believe that making a commitment to Christ the day we were converted is all there is to intimacy with Christ? It isn’t!

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Have we sunk so low that we think real relationship with God is defined by a prayer prayed and a decision made years ago to accept Jesus?

If you are to experience a vibrant relationship with the One who loves you most, you are going to have to spend time with Him. You should study Him as you would the features of your spouse’s face. Have you not cultivated friendship with someone outside of his or her profile on social media? How did you do so? Not without time and expense of energy. Relationships that are enduring build on the expenditure of self. Jesus did that on the cross. He spent Himself to make it possible for you to know Him intimately, not just intellectually. And He continues to spend Himself in loving care and caressing of your soul.

What have you spent to love Christ? And is the outlay still happening? Do you longingly look forward to time with God in prayer? Do you joyfully gaze on the attributes of the King as described in the Sacred Record? Or do you consider such an inappropriate management of your time?

Relationships are designed in the heart but forged in time. The soul’s affection for another will make its way into the open. We may not be able to see someone’s heart, but we can see what the heart treasures by what it pursues. God’s heart was manifested long ago with the words, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . .” His heart is still manifest, and it says the same, “And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” God is willing to come and meet with you. Are ready to show up and meet with Him?

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For the rest of the article, as well as access to other articles and content about relationships, can be found in the September/October RTM Magazine.

Sounding the Trumpet: God’s People Asking for Help, As Seen In Nehemiah 4

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By Whitt Madden

The Old testament book of Nehemiah opens up to us like the scene of a movie.

The city walls of Jerusalem were standing in ruin from war, leaving the people defenseless and vulnerable. Nehemiah, a cupbearer of the King, had received word about the state of his beloved city and began to weep and mourn over their situation. He prayed to the Lord, confessing the sins of Israel and the sins of his father’s house, and went before the King. The King saw how distraught Nehemiah was over the situation, listened to his pleas, and allowed Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to begin rebuilding the city walls.

As Nehemiah began to gather men and resources to rebuild, a Samarian leader named Sanballat heard the news and was greatly angered, for he did not want the exiles to return and take control of the land. It is in the early chapters of Nehemiah we see opposition to God’s work begin and the tactics of the enemy unfold.

IT SEEMED TOO MUCH

In the city of Judah it was said that the “strength of those who [bore] the burdens was failing,” there was too much rubble, too much oppression, too much work, too much to do.

This is one of the great struggles unfolding in our churches today. The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. We have many burden-bearers within our churches and the assault of the enemy will often leave them weakened. Christians in this condition tend to see only the rubble in front of them. They are completely overwhelmed. The tasks set before them seem too much and, like Nehemiah’s workers, they believe there is no way to do what God has called them to do.

Just as he did in the day of Nehemiah, the enemy views this as great opportunity to attack. When we leave our churches on Sunday, we are doing great, but by the time Wednesday comes around, what happens? We’re exhausted. We’ve been assaulted, intimidated, and worn down by the enemy of our souls. We’re too tired to even pray. “There is too much rubble in front of us.”

A BATTLE PLAN AGAINST THE ENEMY’S GREATEST TOOL

Nehemiah devised a plan of defense that would unite and protect his people. The workers were spread out along the wall. Half of the men worked while the other half stood guard. Each of the builders worked with one hand and held their weapon with the other, with their sword by their side.

They were prepared and ready for the attack from the enemy. Are we? Are we prepared to fight the lies of the enemy with the Sword of the Spirit: the truth of God’s word?

If Sanballat or one of his men had taken someone out while they were building the wall, it would have opened up a weak spot and the work would have stopped. This would’ve affected the task God had called them to complete. When you are under attack it doesn’t just affect you, it hinders the work of the entire church.

This is why isolation can be such a powerful tool of the enemy. We have an enemy that hates us and more than that, he hates the Christ in us. He will stop at nothing to destroy our faith, and if he can isolate someone apart from the body of Christ, not only will that hinder the individual but hurt the church as a whole. If the enemy could isolate the builders of the wall, they could destroy the work they were accomplishing one person at a time. This is no different from the church today.

Isolation is what happens whenever doubt and discouragement have its work in you apart from the truth of the Gospel and the help of the body of Christ. Accusations begin to wear us down and we begin entertaining thoughts of “What if?” and ultimately “Why bother?”

The enemy’s ultimate goal is the destruction of your faith. As in the days of Nehemiah, he wants you to abandon the work that the Lord has called you to. He understands the importance of the body, and if he can isolate you from the church, something dangerous will happen.

For the rest of this article and for more content like this, check out the free RTM Magazine on iPhone, iPad, Android, or on the web.