In This Month's Report:
* Editorial - Antiskeptic
* January Events - Triumph in Trinidad and Tobago
* January Ministry - Impacting the Northeast and Beyond
* Tips and Resources - Wingclips
* Products - Four Exciting Resources (see link below)
* Partnership - Invest in God's Program for the Northeast of America
* God Thoughts - John Wesley to William Wilberforce

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

“Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.” - St. Augustine

INTRODUCTION

One of the great things I admire about American culture is its seeming propensity for faith. At their best, Americans are willing to believe things, which could explain the large amount of emails circulated as 'FWDs' claiming all kinds of subsequently proven urban myths with threats of dire consequences if they are not continued.

On the other hand, the down side of this tendency is the prevalent gullibility of the culture that was understood perfectly by P.T. Barnum who once said, "There's a fool born every minute." He was able to built a massive circus empire on this assertion.

THE OPPOSITE OF FAITH

Skeptics have euphemistically described themselves as looking for the best place between "suckered" gullibility and close-minded cynicism. They seek to accomplish this by debunking anything that cannot be verified by the five physical senses. Just like Thomas, they need to put their finger in the wounds before they will believe.

Skepticism is the opposite of faith! The denial of a spiritual realm that defies the limits of our five senses assumes an arrogance in our species that parallels a blind person's assertion that light does not exist! Skeptical books like Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ and Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ can only become best sellers in a society that does not understand what Christianity is all about. On the other hand, true faith is not blind. All belief needs some grounding in reality, and that has often been where the Church has fallen short.

Former atheist Anthony Horvath, a Christian apologist who works with young adults, explains that renowned atheists such as Richard Dawkins were raised in the Church but have become some of the fiercest attackers of God. Horvath explained that some of the recurring questions young adults struggle with, but churches often fail to address, include the formation and development of the Bible, the presence of evil and suffering in the world, and the question of inspiration and inerrancy. “In large part, it happens when the church leadership is completely unaware that their members – and not necessarily just the young members – have questions at all,” he said.

John 20:24-25 describes many modern Christians, "Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' So he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.'"

RISING RELIGION

Despite institutionalized promotion of unbelief throughout our educational systems, interest in religion is increasing on American college campuses, including Harvard and Berkeley.

Chaplains and professors say students are more interested in religion and spirituality than at any time they can remember, according to a report by The New York Times cited on Baptist Press. "My theory is that the baby boomers decided they weren't going to impose their religious life on their children the way their parents imposed it on them. The idea was to let them come to it themselves," said Lloyd Steffen, a chaplain at Lehigh University. "And then they get to campus and things happen; someone dies, a suicide occurs. Real issues arise for them, and they sometimes feel that they don't have resources to deal with them," Steffen said. "And sometimes they turn to religion and courses in religion."

PERSISTENT FAITH

The need to believe will not lessen in this cynical age, and truth will not be arrived at by philosophies grounded in relativism that pander to egocentric credos asserting the moral 'sun' revolves around us! Faith will persist!

"Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" John 20:29  #

Triumph in Trinidad and Tobago - We ministered for 10 days in Trinidad and Tobago late in January. Our friends, Bishop Carlyle and Marilyn Chankersingh, had their church, Faith Centre in the southwestern city of San Fernando, very well prepared to receive a harvest of souls during this time.

This island nation, 12 miles east off the coast of Venezuela, is prospering from its extensive off-shore oil and gas reserves, which have replaced its original main export of sugar.

We arrived a week before 'Carnival', which consumes the whole country in a week-long 'mardi gras' where there are extreme excesses of the flesh. It is a major tourist attraction, with many coming from Europe.

Despite this major distraction, Faith Centre saw approximately 350 first time salvations over the time we were there, mainly as a result of a three night screening of a film on Hell. Our final night was spent ministering to many of these new converts regarding the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and getting plugged into the church.