Welcome! What a pleasure it is to be in touch with you again. The FMI Report mainly documents the previous month's activities. We would like to thank all of you who have been forwarding these messages to your friends and family. 

In This Month's Report:
* Editorial - "Weasel Words From Mollycoddles"
* September Events - National Affairs Briefing, Plaza Hotel, NYC
* September Ministry - our ministry activities over the last month
* Coming Soon -National School of the Prophets
* Tips and Resources - Old Skool Arcade, Planet Holy
* Products - order "Worship Wars" (see link below)
* Partnership - invest in God's program for the Northeast of America

We would love to hear from you; please send us your feedback today. Don’t forget the ever-popular 'GOD THOUGHTS' at the end of this report. Enjoy! JB

"Weasel words from mollycoddles will never do when the day demands prophetic clarity from great hearts. Manly men must emerge for this hour of trial." - Theodore Roosevelt

INTRODUCTION

We are now in a day that demands church leaders no longer remain confined to the box in which the secular side of Western culture, by deceit and intimidation, has succeeded in containing them. Greek historian Herodotus understood this need over two thousand years ago, "It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen."

THE BURDEN OF THE LORD

We are in a season that demands a new kind of leadership. The old paradigm of American church leadership has produced a recent statistic claiming that 80% of pastors were committed to maintenance rather than to a mission for the harvest. This 'us four and no more, let's just hold on until Jesus comes' attitude has produced a retreating church, whereas the Kingdom of God was designed to go one way - forward!

As New Mexico's Congresswoman Heather Wilson recently said regarding our next President, "In this great struggle, we need a commander-in-chief who is a beacon, not a weathervane," so we also need church leaders who feel an even greater accountability to God than to the people He may have entrusted to them. Today's leader must carry the burden of the Lord more than the burden of the people! I am not advocating either autocratic or democratic leadership, but a true apostolic style that can lead, organize, develop, build and expand the Kingdom of God so that it permeates our culture and transforms it into one of righteousness.

KINGDOM NOW...?

In his recent article "Prophet, Priest and King," Francis Frangipane asserted, "[Christ's] 'kingly' or governmental authority, outside of church proper, has not been accepted by many Christians. The idea of being granted such authority - of seeking to serve God in positions of political influence - has been deferred either to the Millennium or it has been outright scorned as heretical, "kingdom now" theology.... We [are not] trying to reduce the spiritual reality of the church to a political entity. Our quest is not to see the church become political, but the political become spiritual, where the integrity, wisdom and justice of Christ Himself is manifest in secular leadership. For those of us who say Christ's kingly anointing is reserved only for the age to come, let me remind you, Christ is king right now and our call is to grow up 'in all aspects' unto Him who is our head (Eph. 4:15)."

SOFT AND MUSHY

Western culture has become soft and mushy, and the Western church has become the same. It has lost its holy punch. But when we read about Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, John the Baptist, Paul or Jesus challenging authorities such as wayward kings, idolaters or pompous Pharisees, we don't see any of them doling out soft and mushy entreaties, but rather issuing challenging, often scathing indictments of their audience's willful blindness. These courageous Holy Spirit inspired people were godly figures who insisted on confronting bogus belief systems by proclaiming the truth, often at the expense of their own lives.

THE DAY OF DOOM

In other words, what we need is a whole lot more action from the Body of Christ! Or as John Bunyan put it, "At the Day of Doom men shall be judged according to their fruits. It will not be said then, 'Did you believe?' but, 'Were you doers, or talkers only?'" Salvation is a gift, but like everything God gives us, He expects us to use it for His glory. Lord, preserve us from being one-talent Christians! If we just 'bury' what we have received and do not maximize it, we will lose it anyway (see Matt. 25:24-28)!
 

THE HEART OF WISDOM

On the other hand, let us be full of zeal but not lacking in wisdom. To be so would lead to expectations that are unrealistic and outside the timing and anointing of God. "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Understanding is not enough; we must do. Knowing and understanding in action make for honor. And honor is the heart of wisdom." - Johann von Goethe  #

"Dear Jeff, I am a member of Bethany Church in Wyckoff, NJ. I am so happy that I found your site. I was looking for a way to contact you for a while. I am not sure of the date in which you visited Bethany Church but I remember it immensely. Your ministry is FIRE and God is using you tremendously. I loved your preaching and I could see the fire of the Holy Spirit ignited in you... thank you for all that you do for Jesus/Heavenly Father/Holy Spirit and for your mission and life devotion to the gathering harvest of souls." Jill De Peri
 

National Affairs Briefing, Plaza Hotel, NYC - On September 30, Kings College hosted the National Affairs Briefing at the legendary Plaza Hotel in New York City. This year's theme was traditional marriage.

Maggie Gallagher, America's foremost authority on this issue, was the featured speaker. Among her comments, she stated, "Marriage is universal for the procreation of children.... Same sex marriage says it’s not about babies or life.... Whole communities suffer when marriages break down.... There are no known societies that have succeeded without marriage.... Marriage is being redefined to be primarily about adults and their feelings.... Traditional marriage is multi-generational, gay marriage is only for one generation.... Gay civilizations phase out and are taken over by straight civilizations.... Of 13-17 year olds, 63% are opposed to gay marriage."

I joined 300 others for this briefing, including 120 spiritual leaders from the tri-state region.

Defense of Marriage Statewide Clergy Prayer Breakfast and Press Conference - A historic event took place in Trenton on October 4th. As a follow-up to several similar events held in New York City on March 29th and July 25th, where 1,000 couples renewed their traditional wedding vows on Broadway, we were able to gather 240 clergy from across the state of New Jersey for a prayer breakfast and press conference in defense of traditional marriage.

I was the moderator of this event on behalf of the two main sponsors, FAITH Alliance, a statewide network of ministers and ministries, and the NJ Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage. There were many denominations, networks, organizations and ministers present who worked with us on this issue including, but not limited to, the NJ Catholic Conference, NJ Assembly of God, NJ Faith Alliance, NJ Strategic Prayer Network and Radio WWDJ/WMCA. These ministries represent thousands of churches with a potential voting block well in excess of one million.

Held in the War Memorial Building, the prayer breakfast included addresses delivered by Bishop John Smith of the Catholic Diocese of Trenton, and Dr. David Ireland, Senior Pastor of Christ Church in Montclair, NJ. Shortly before noon our group moved to the steps of the Capitol Building where over 16 newspapers, and several TV and radio stations witnessed 240 clergy singing 'Amazing Grace' and reading a challenging statement on the issue of traditional marriage.

Following is part of our press statement, "Marriage has deeply rooted civil and societal benefits that have been recognized by government and therefore should not be redefined from a political, judicial or social perspective. Upholding marriage is a crucial quality of life issue that will affect future generations to come. The definition of marriage should not be altered to satisfy special interest groups and promote the radical agenda of some public officials, or an unrestrained judiciary. Furthermore, we do not accept, or affirm, the recent same-sex “marriages” in Massachusetts and elsewhere, nor will we ever recognize same sex “marriages” in New Jersey, nor perform them in our churches.... Rather than redefining marriage, or watering down the definition, our society needs to do all it can to strengthen the institution of marriage and family as one of the foundational building blocks of all civilizations.... We support any law and/or a constitutional amendment that will ensure that this traditional view of marriage is upheld and protected.... With one voice, we celebrate traditional marriage and have set aside this day to proclaim our stand on this crucial issue and pray that our state, region and nation will also renew their commitment to uphold this high standard of marriage, held since the beginning of all civilizations, cultures and religions."

In response, one newspaper sought Garden State Equality, a gay rights group, who said that our group "....overestimated its political pull. The clergy participating in today's event neither reflect the mainstream thinking of clergy or that of citizens across the state." With the largest and most diverse group of clergy in recent history taking place in this event, we wonder which galaxy Garden State Equality resides in?

Two days later, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a gay rights advocacy group, who had previously filed a motion to take the same sex marriage lawsuit directly to the NJ Supreme Court bypassing the Appeals Court, had their motion denied in a unanimous ruling by Supreme Court Justices, much to the surprise of all involved. Coincidence? Maybe, but we believe something broke in the atmosphere over this state on Monday as a result of the unity, prayers and bold declarations that were made on the steps of the Capital Building.

(more to come on this event next month)