Religion teaches people to stop thinking for themselves.

One thing people do not want to do is THINK.  They will do almost anything to avoid the trouble of thinking.  Indoctrination is when someone starts to do the thinking for you, and that’s why so many churches that were once alive are now dead.  The leader taught them doctrine rather than how to think.

Indoctrination is the process of being copied in the image of humankind rather than in the image of God.  Your goal is subtly changed from following Christ to following Christ’s church.

Satan has reserved this last trip for the most sincere of Christians.  If he could not get you to live in sin and promote the flesh life, then he takes your zeal for God and turns it into a weapon of religion to enforce a religious bondage on the people rather than a fleshly vice. Those most hungry to please God are the ones who fall for this trick.

I remember a dream God gave me back in 1984 when I was wearing a long black robe and trying to run with my pastor, but I kept falling over my robe.  I woke up and God spoke to me and said I was getting religious.  I thank God for the warning, and you should be warned as well!

One of the great truths of our era that has caused an explosion of growth in literature and given understanding to the spiritual workings of the word of God, is the revelation of seeds.

The power in life is found in the seeds of life, in every aspect of our natural life.  A farmer doesn’t need great faith to see a crop or harvest, he just needs enough good sense to plant seeds.  He doesn’t need any power or anointing to farm, all he needs is to put the seed in the ground. A farmer doesn’t check the soil to see if the soil is doing its job, he just plants the seeds.

It would be strange indeed to applaud the farmer for all his creativity in a crop, and marvel at his ability to produce. He would humbly say, I just put the seed in the ground.

Every seed in the earth will grow. God’s Word is a spiritual seed full of potential, and when put in the ground of man’s spirit, it will always grow!  This truth has revolutionized the church.  A preacher who belittles the power of words is like a surgeon who belittles what knife he uses.  Would you agree to be operated on if your surgeon was happy to use a kitchen knife?

It’s an exciting time of year – a time of decorations, baking, lights, and of course, Christmas gifts!

There is another very special aspect of this season – it’s what the angels said, Behold, unto you a Savior is born. Good will towards all of mankind. Christmas is indeed a miracle.

When Kevin was a young boy, his father passed away, leaving eight children. For the grieving family, it looked as if there would be no gifts for Christmas that year.

On Christmas morning however, as the family awoke not expecting any gifts at all, they found on the front porch a giant box of presents for all eight children. It was truly a miracle Christmas for all.

Today, the greatest miracle gift of all is Jesus. May He be at the very center of your Christmas. May He be the focus of all and may you realize how meaningful your gift to the nations has been.

…And so from our hearts to yours, we say, Merry Christmas!

Leslie, Kevin and the Christian Adventures staff

When you have an encounter with Jesus Christ and surrender your life to receive Him as your Savior and Lord, it is not just an emotional experience. It is not just a rational, intelligent moment of decision. It is not just a cleansing of your past and passport to your future.

The seed of God has been planted in you in the same miraculous way that the seed of God was planted in Mary to produce the Lord Jesus!

You had to say yes to His will the same way Mary did. She did not understand but said, “Be it done unto me according to your will.”

Peter describes this phenomenon by declaring:

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.  1 Peter 1:23

You have a miracle in you! All the potential of Jesus as a Son of God was placed in seed form in you as a child of God, except for the redemptive nature of Jesus. All His purpose and power is now able to grow and develop in you. This gives special meaning when we celebrate His birth at Christmas!

If people are not your purpose then you don’t have God’s plan.

People are God’s number one concern.  God not only put eternity in our heart but a burden to share that eternal life with others.  I remember in 1991 when we were preaching on the streets of St. Petersburg, Russia and two Muslims received Jesus with tears in their eyes.  Their first thought was for their Muslim brethren in the city of Baku. They proceeded to take out their wallets to buy us train tickets so that we could go and tell this Good News to Baku.

Their first thought was for others, they immediately felt the need to let others have what they had.  They truly understood the value of what they had received.

Approximately 2,000 years ago Joseph was feeling very out of place, because he could not find lodging in Bethlehem for his pregnant wife. There is Good News for those who feel out of place in today’s world. Those who feel like they have misplaced their destiny, or replaced it with an ordinary “just get by” existence.

There is a place where nothing is impossible for you. There is a place where sickness cannot stay. There is a place where you are equipped with more than enough to answer every need of every good work. There is a place where peace, dignity and love rule in your daily walk. There is a place where you do as Jesus did.

Jesus is inviting you to stand in that place when you might be feeling out of place like Joseph. That place is not far from you. It is called the Kingdom of God. Jesus said it is at hand. Paul said it is within you.

When you call on Jesus He comes to live in you, and He makes you the place where all things are possible!

Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthian church and tried to capture the idea of what God has done for them.  He was grasping for the best idea to convey how God saw them in the earth today, and of all the ways he examined, he decided that the best description of a Christian would be that of an Ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Wouldn’t it be strange if the American ambassador to another country was afraid to stand up and say, “I represent America”?  What would the American government do if the ambassador was afraid to state its point of view?

An ambassador is the sent one of the U.S.A.  Do we think he or she is being arrogant if they declare that they are sent to a certain country on behalf of the U.S.A.? No!  That’s a good thing and we expect them to do that! So why do people in Christian circles accuse others of being proud or arrogant when they do the same thing acting as an ambassador of heaven?

As an ambassador I have a right to speak for the Kingdom as long as I am speaking the message of the Kingdom, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  These are the words of my country.

The devil knows you are an ambassador, and God knows you are an ambassador. When are you going to realize that you are an ambassador?  In Acts 19:15 the demon spoke to the seven sons of Sceva, “Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?” The devil will know you if you take a stand.

An Ambassador does not have to pray to act as an ambassador.  He does not need to pray to exercise his or her authority.  All they need to do is act like who their government says they are.  They don’t need to pray to get their passports stamped or have their visits approved.  No, an ambassador has the power to act and they don’t wait around to do their job.  Don’t wait on heaven anymore.  Act today!

When your motive is love the world will listen to you. Love is the most talked about subject on TV.  Love is the theme of most movies in Hollywood.  Love is what the world is drawn to, yet they are looking in the wrong places. Jesus laid a foundation for our faith by saying it requires the right motive to get the right results.  Faith works by love.  Jesus said that if we love as He loved then all the world would be drawn to him.

He also said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all people know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34).

This type of love is not understood by the world, but the world is drawn to it because it comes full of forgiveness and acceptance.  This love believes in you and wants the best for you.

The world has forgotten what God is like, so God became flesh and dwelt among us and showed us what He is really like.  God needed flesh to show off His love.

Let’s give our flesh to God’s purpose—being examples of love.

There is a debate as to whether Jesus always knew who He was. Some think that Jesus was all knowing in the flesh, but think for a moment.  He was born a baby and had all the limitations of a baby.  For 30 years you only hear of Him once and that was in the synagogue talking about scripture.

Jesus was born a man and had to grow in wisdom like any person.  Did God have to give the revelation to Jesus, or did He already know it?  Scripture says, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which GOD GAVE UNTO HIM, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Revelation 1:1 author’s emphasis).

I believe that God had to give the revelation to Jesus of who He was, just like He has to give it to us.  He had to discover it in scripture, and He challenged the religious people to search the scriptures for they speak of Him.

Jesus found Himself in the Word, and you can find yourself in the Word.  Accept the letters to the church as personal letters to you.  Examine the lifestyle of Jesus in the Gospels as an example of your own lifestyle.  Read the commission to Jesus as God’s commission to you, because the world is waiting for the sons of God to be revealed.

We have received many testimonies of people who received their healing as they discovered the reality that Christ died for them.

How does this happen? When they call on the name of the Lord for salvation from their sins, they are united with their heavenly Father and peace enters into their hearts. This peace replaces the turmoil and stress that has plagued their lives, and when that peace enters in something happens…their bodies are instantly healed!

Many times they don’t even know when the healing happened. They only realize that the Prince of Peace now lives in them, their sins are forgiven, and peace is now reigning in their physical bodies!