Romans 1

The book of Romans

Chapter 1

The book of Romans is the first book written by Paul we find when we are reading the Bible. If you are not familiar with the Bible, it is a collection of 66 books put together by men of God lead by the Holy Spirit. This letter Paul writes to the Romans is different than the other letters Paul writes in that this group of people are ones that he has not visited yet. All of the other letters Paul wrote were to people that he had visited. I find Romans to be my favorite book of the Bible. Next to the gospel according to John and the book of Ephesians of course. This book has so much packed into it. A lot of doctrine starts here. At least for me this book was where I started to learn about the doctrines of predestination, election, and reprobation.

Now let's get into Romans chapter 1. Romans 1 starts off with a greeting from Paul.

 "1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God". Romans 1:1

Now I am going to stop there for something that sticks out to me when I read that verse. Notice the words gospel of God? Interesting right? Yeah, I definitely thought so. Now let's talk a little bit about the gospel since Paul so kindly addresses it in his first sentence to the Romans. What is the gospel? Is it about personal salvation? Is it about adding Jesus to our lives? Is is about accepting Jesus Christ into our hearts? I will kindly say that it is definitely about personal salvation, but definitely not about the second or third thing. The answer to the question of what is the gospel is found in the next few verses.

"2 which He(GOD) promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3a concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord," Romans 1:2-3a

I'm going to stop there to go over something about the gospel. The gospel is not about you or me. As depicted in v. 3, the gospel is about Jesus Christ. Now I did say that it does include personal salvation which is correct, but that's just a small part of the gospel. The gospel is about Jesus Christ bringing His kingdom(heaven) to earth. It is about Him reigning as King over ALL of HIS creation.

"3b who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."

When I read this, what I clearly see is that Paul is addressing the fact that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man, the Godman or God-incarnate. The same thing is done by Luke in the gospel according to Luke. 

"35 And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'" Luke 1:35

What we see in v. 35 is that Mary was to give birth to the Son of God. Mary is human, and the Holy Spirit is God. This is how one can logically conclude the Jesus was fully God and fully man.

"5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all the nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ." Romans 1:5-6

I do not have much to say with this verse other than salvation is of the Lord. Notice the wording in v. 5, "Through Him we have received grace...", and in v.6, "...you also are THE called of Jesus Christ." It seems interesting to me that this is the way it was worded. I wont get any further into this topic at this time.

"7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 1:7

Paul finishes his formal greeting to the Romans.

"8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers," Romans 1:8-9

I immediately notice that in v. 9 it says gospel of His Son. I'll say this again. The gospel is not about you or me. It is about Jesus Christ. Hopefully you have gotten that message by now.

"10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established-- 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me." Romans 1:10-12

Paul wants to visit the Romans badly, and he pleads with the Lord to do so. Now in v. 11 we see the mention of spiritual gift. Something to note is that this is not the same spiritual gifts that are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Paul actually clears that up for us in v. 12 with "that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith..."

"13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also." Romans 1:13-15

Paul stresses the fact that he has wanted to go to Rome and was "hindered until now"(v. 13). In vv. 14-15, Paul stresses the fact that he is ready to preach the gospel to anyone, and this includes the Romans.

"16 For I am unashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, '"The just shall live by faith.'" Romans 1:16-17

Paul here makes it clear he is unashamed of the gospel of Christ. We too shouldn't be ashamed of the gospel of Christ for "it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes," (v. 16). V. 16 paints the picture well enough for anyone to understand. "It is the power of GOD to salvation for everyone who believes" (v.16). Notice it does not say that it is the power of MAN to salvation. Yes, it does say that salvation is for everyone who believes, but who are the ones who will believe? Psalm 65:4 answers this question. 

"4 Blessed is the man You choose,

And cause to approach You,

That he may dwell in your courts.

We shall be satisfied with the

goodness of Your house,

Of Your holy temple." Psalm 65:4

Notice what is says, "the man You CHOOSE, And CAUSE to APPROACH You,". Who is the author of salvation? God is, and He is sovereign over it just as He is sovereign over the universe and everything in it.

Now what about v. 17. "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith;" The righteousness of God is revealed through our faith. How does one please God? Through faith. Let's turn to Hebrews 11 to see why I say that faith pleases God.

"6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him," Hebrews 11:6

Now for vv. 18-32. These are the fun verses that deal with some pretty deep stuff such as the unbeliever and presuppositionalism. If you are unfamiliar with presuppositionalism, Van Til and Greg Bahnsen would be worth your time as both of them are big time pressuppositionalists. Now let's get right into vv. 18-32.

"18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being made understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools," Romans 1:18-22

Paul is illustrating to us that God has made Himself known to everyone. Basically Paul is saying he does not believe in atheists. "because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them." (v.19). It's so clear here that no one is an atheist, and that everyone is a theist. Something to note about the unbeliever is that he will "suppress the truth in unrighteousness." (v.18). Still, "they are without excuse." (v. 20). My favorite part is "Professing to be wise, they became fools," (v. 22). Paul is illustrating that anyone who suppresses the truth in unrighteousness is a fool.

"23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things." Romans 1:23

How sad it is that man in their sinful nature will exchange worshiping God for worshiping themselves and things they make(idols).

"24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." Romans 1:24-25

Again, how sad it is that man will give up worshiping God to worship the creature... God gave them over to their carnal desires. Now something you will notice about these next two passages is that like vv. 24-25, it'll say "God gave them up".

"26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due." Romans 1:26-27

Again, God gave them up to their "vile passions." (v.26).  Paul uses the example of homosexuality here by writing, "burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful," (v.27). Something that I noticed was the fact that these verses sound similar to what is happening in USA right now. Homosexuality is on the rise in America. Is God giving man over to their vile passions as depicted in v. 26? I'd say yes. Now I am not saying this verse is specifically prophetic, but that it shows exactly what happens to sinful man. God gives them over to their sins.

"28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgement of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." Romans 1:28-32

V. 28 starts with "they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,". Sound anything like the new atheist movement rising up in America? Atheists will do all they can to deny God, but they simply cannot. V. 28 also says, "God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;". Again, it is stated that God is giving them over to something. Here, God is giving them up to a debased mind. All of this just sounds so similar to what is going on in the world, not just America. VV. 29-32 go on to describe all the evil things man does when given over to their sinful desires. Notice it does not say that only certain people will commit certain evil acts when given over to their sinful desires. It does not separate the level of each sin either. Anyone and everyone you come in contact with is capable of committing any of the sins listed in vv. 29-32.

Alright, this is my blog post for today on Roman 1. I hope y'all enjoyed it. God bless and have a great week.

Logan Meyer 

Reminder

Hey guys, this post is purely to let everyone know about what I am doing, and how they can help me.

First, I want to let everyone know that I am working towards becoming a full-time missionary with YWAM(Youth With A Mision).

I am raising $7000 dollars to be able to attend one of their schools this September known as DTS(Discipleship Training School).

I am working towards becoming a full-time missionary because that is what I believe God is telling me to do, and I want to do exactly what God wants me to do.  I feel led to go to the country of Turkey and preach the gospel.  I'm not sure if any of you will find this interesting, but one thing I find to be interesting is that I had done a project over Turkey in 7th grade, and now I have been called to go there.  Also, Turkey is almost the center of the Muslim parts of the world.  Even when you look at a world map you can clearly see that Turkey is really close to the exact center of the map.  Is that a coincidence, or is it that God wants me to be in the middle of what is taking place in the world?  Since I do not believe in coincidences or chance, I will have to go with the second choice. 

Now that I have told you what I am doing and why I am doing it, let me tell you how you can help support me in this journey. 
First and foremost, you can pray for me.  That is just as much needed as giving financially.  What can you pray about?  Well I will need prayers in raising $7000 dollars. Also I will need prayers for strength, wisdom, faith, patience, and that everything I do will bring glory to God.

Want to know how you can give financially?  I've got some ways you can do that.

Check out this website: https://www.booster.com/ldmjedimaster
On the website, you can either buy a shirt or just donate.  This is what the shirt looks like. 

 

Also, if you want to donate directly to me, send a check to PO Box 3000 Garden Valley, TX 75771
This address is the location of the YWAM base in Tyler, TX.  Also, if you are writing a check, make sure to leave the memo line blank, but include a NOTE that has MY FULL NAME(Logan Meyer) on it and the school that I will be attending(DTS in SEPTEMBER).

I hope y'all have enjoyed my post and have a great week!



 

Gods Not Dead Pt 3

Sorry about not posting for a while, but here I am today to post again about the movie God's not Dead.  So the last time I posted, it ended with Josh and his girlfriend breaking up.  He had taken up the challenge to defend his faith in a classroom of an atheist professor.  So now we go on to what happens next of course.  Josh gives his second argument on God not being dead, and the professor claims that everything Josh is saying is just more and more lies.  Josh then asks what happened to him to make him not believe in God.  The professor tells him that when his mother was dying, it is only natural to ask God to save his mother.  The thing that the professor did not understand was why did God let her die, so he decided that God did not exist from that point on. 

Hmm, what does Josh do next?  Well in the next argument, and this is the best one of the three, he narrows it down to one final point.  What is that point?  Well, the professor says that he might as well give a lecture on morals.  Josh glady points out that God gave us morals because if their is no God, then EVERYTHING is permissible.  Then Josh asks the professor why he hates God.  The professor angrily announces that he does hate Him with a fiery passion.  Josh then says, "How can you hate someone that doesn't exist."  The class ends, everyone leaves, but there are a few more things that happen that I have to tell you about.  Right after the class, one of the students catches up with Josh and tells him that he gave his life to Jesus.  You can tell Josh is truly thrilled with the news and invites him to tag along to the Newsboys concert happening that very night.  (Josh originally had the tickets for him and his girlfriend, but since they broke up, he had no one to go with.)  Remember the girl with cancer?  Well, she decided that she would have a surprise interview with the Newsboys.  Upon interviewing them they ask her where her hope lies, and she has no answer.  The drummer of the band asks her if she was here to see if all of the stuff they believe in was true.  She answered yes.  They prayed over her and she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.  What about the professor?  I'm getting to him.  Well the professor then reads an old letter from his mom, and she wrote to him that she hoped that he would continue to grow closer to God even after she died.  He then tried to contact his ex-girlfriend (he knew she was a christian), and he couldn't reach her.  He knew she was at a Newsboys concert that was happening that night.  He ran to get there to find her.  On the way there he got hit by a car and was about to die.  Remember Reverend Dave?  He just so happens to be there when the professor gets hit.  He rushes over to him and asks him if he is a believer, and that is was by God's mercy that he didn't die instantly.  The professor said he was an atheist.  Of course Dave took this chance to explain to him that God was giving him one final chance to decide between Him and eternity in hell.  The professor accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and then dies.

Always remember this: Your words could be the only bible someone who is lost ever hears in their lifetime.  Wouldn't you want your best friend to spend eternity with you in God's presence?

Also, just a reminder that if you want to give financially, you can look at my previous posts for info concerning that.  Please continue to pray for me as I walk through this journey. 
I am selling shirts to help raise money for the calling God has for me.
Go to:    https://www.booster.com/ldmjedimaster
There you can buy a shirt or give a donation. 

Hope y'all enjoyed my post and have a great week!

God's Not Dead Pt 2

So on my last post I talked about the movie God's Not Dead.  I went into the very beginning of the movie and left y'all hanging with the student taking up the challenge to defend his faith.  So what happened next?  Well before I do that, I just want to introduce some other characters into the storyline so that you may understand the movie a little bit more.  One of the other characters is Amy Ryan.  She is a well-known blog writer who seeks to find the truth behind God.  We first see her in action when she wakes up after realizing she slept in.  She finds her car broken into, and her GPS was stolen.  With a huge interview planned, she needed to have directions to where she was going.  Shen then reverts to asking her rich boyfriend, Mark, for directions.  We'll get more from Mark later.  Amy is then at the church that Willie Robertson and his wife attend.  She interviews them by asking them many questions about their beliefs.  Willie Robertson quotes scripture saying "Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my father in heaven.  But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my father in heaven." Matthew 10:32,33.  The couple then invited Amy to church with them, but she denied the offer since she does not believe in God.  Amy is then seen in a doctors office.  She was told she has cancer and that it has already grown too much.  She meets her wealthy boyfriend for dinner and tells him the bad news.  Mark breaks up with her since he can not handle her having cancer.  Now to tell you a little bit about Mark.  He's rich, successful, and his life is perfect.  He's got everything he could ever want, and yet he is not a Christian.  Next, I want to tell you about about Mark's mother.  She is a very old woman.  She has not done a single thing wrong.  She's super nice.  She's is a Christian.  Yet she had dementia.  We'll get back to that later.  Hmm, now to tell you about Ayisha.  She lives in a muslim home, but she is a Christian.  When around her family she acts Muslim, but when she is on her own she acts like a Christian.  One day her father finds out about her being a Christian and he kicks her out of the house.  She heads to the local church and talks to the two ministers there, Reverend Dave and Reverend Jude.  They tell her that everything is going to be okay.  She believes that God will help her. 

Now to get onto the next part of the movie.  Josh Weaton decides to tell his girlfriend that he wants to take up the challenge the professor has given him to defend his faith.  His girlfriend, who he has been dating for 6 years now, tells him to drop the class.  Josh tells her he has to do it, but she doesn't want him to.  Ayisha was listening into the conversation.  Note: this is important for later in the movie.  Josh then goes to class, and for the last 20 minutes of the class he poses his argument for why he believes God is not dead.  The professor points out something that was recently found out.  Such as the law of Gravity exists, something will come out of nothing.  Hearing this, Josh did not know how to respond at the moment.  That night he went onto studying more about this theory and found out some interesting facts about this theory.  The next day Josh's girlfriend met up with Josh, and they discussed that today was their anniversary.  After Josh got up, all of his books that he was using to study for the argument against the professor fell out of his bag.  Upon seeing this, his girlfriend was not happy with him and broke up with him.  This just goes to show that even the people that love you the most don't always want you to do what God wants you to do.  Josh was not thrilled with this, but he continued on with his life. 

I think I have told you enough about this movie for today.  I will share more later.

Hope y'all enjoyed my post for today.

Also, for those of you that wish to donate money to help me with paying for DTS(Discipleship Training School) and my future mission trips, look into some of my previous posts. I have posted information there on how to help me financially. For those that can not help me out financially, PRAY for me. It is just as much appreciated as giving financially to my cause. A friend of my mothers is hosting a Scentsy fundraiser online. She is donating any of the proceeds to sponsor my trip. Check her website out: http://cpgibson.scentsy.us At the top of the sceen, it shows open parties. Click on the party for Diane Meyer, and place your order. It is that easy!
 

God's Not Dead!

Hey, it's Logan again.  What have I been up to other than work and school and more work?  In between some of this, I was able to take my younger brother to the movies.  Today I want to tell you guys about this movie I recently saw. God's Not Dead!  I have to say that I did not expect it to be as good as it was.  It was so awesome that I actually saw it twice!  It is definitely a movie YOU should go see.  It was only playing at select theaters for a bit.  After realizing how much of a success the movie was, most other theaters were opening up a spot so that they could play the movie. 

The movie is about a college freshman who is a devout Christian that takes a required philosophy class with the teacher being an Atheist.  Most of you can easily predict what happens next. The teacher would say something about God not being real, the student says that he is, and the two battle it out with countless arguments. The student eventually loses his faith because the professor just knows way too much about how the world works, and counters every single argument the student gives. Wrong! Actually, that is not what happens.  Instead, the professor starts out the class by naming many of the famous philosophers, and then reveals to the class how all of them were atheists.  Right after saying that, he tells that class that God is dead.  Not that God died, but that he never existed.  The professor then hands out a sheet of paper to all of the students(approximately 80) and tells them that he wants his class to come to the unanimous vote that God is dead.  All they had to do was write this on their paper, sign the form, and turn it in to him for a grade.  The college freshman, Josh Weaton, does not feel comfortable doing this.  He just could not write down something that he did not believe.  When the professor got to him, he asked him why Mr. Weaton would not sign the paper.  Josh states that he could not write down something he does not believe.  The professor decided to let Mr. Weaton prove to the entire class that God is NOT Dead.  He was given a brief amount of time at the end of the lecture for 3 weeks to prove his beliefs.  Josh was not too certain on how to go about this, but after speaking with Reverand Dave at the local church, he decided to take up the challenege of defending his faith and proving that God is NOT Dead. 

Hmm, I am sure you are all wanting to know what happens next.  Well that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Hope y'all enjoyed my post for today. 

Also, for those of you that wish to donate money to help me with paying for DTS(Discipleship Training School) and my future mission trips, look into some of my previous posts.  I have posted information there on how to help me financially.  For those that can not help me out financially, PRAY for me.  It is just as much appreciated as giving financially to my cause.  A friend of my mothers is hosting a Scentsy fundraiser online.  She is donating any of the proceeds to sponsor my trip.  Check her website out: http://cpgibson.scentsy.us  At the top of the sceen, it shows open parties.  Click on the party for Diane Meyer, and place your order.  It is that easy! 

Inspire Pt 2

Hey guys, it is Logan again.  Sorry that I have not been posting stuff the past few days.  The last couple of days I have been able to grab a few extra hours at work.  This has kept me quite busy.  Well now I want to tell you about the day two of the Inspire conference.

After the service on Friday night, I was pumped for day two.  Saturday morning (bright and early) we had another service. The worship session was lead by Josh Sinke, a member of YWAM. The sermon was given by Josh Langer, the guy who lead worship the previous night. Josh Langer is from Deutschland(Germany), and English is his second language.  He began with a few details about himself, and led into this question- how can I become a part of what you(God) is doing. He spoke about the Trinity and Abraham and how God promised Abraham that he would become a great and mighty nation. In Revelation 15:4 it says "Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations will come and worship You." So how can we be a part of what God has already set into motion? How do we reach the unreached? How do we get the places where God wants us to be? These are some questions you might want to ask yourself. Another big subject he talked about was Encouragement. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we definitely should be lifting each other up instead of tearing each down. We needed a break after this session to really think about what he said.  God has a plan.  How can I be a part of that plan?

Later in the day, we attended another service. Josh Langer lead worship, and Fred Markert gave yet another great message. This time Fred went into a little more detail of what he talked about last night. He talked about when Martin Luther seperated from the church and formed his own church  that he left out one major part. He left out Isaiah 54. Isaiah 53 talks about receiving the blessing from God, and Isaiah 54 talks about sharing that blessing with others around you. We are to receive the blessing, and to bless others.  The church transforms the world. He showed us graphs to demonstate the countries that follow God, and those that don't.  Notice how the countries who follow the path God wants them to follow thrive and how the countries that do not follow God's path do not thrive. Well, let us look at what God created so that civilization would work. They need family, religion, education, economics, government, celebration, and media communication. If the country does not focus all of these aspects on God, then the country will surely fall. Right now the United States of America is focusing on Economics, government, and media communication. The United States is right now a plutocracy. Another thing he talked about was how there is a cycle the world goes through and how it has happened 26 times. It is about to happen for the 27th time if the United States does not undergo a genuine revival. The stages are as follows: multipolar-the world has many world powers, bipolar-the world has two main world powers, and unipolar-the world has one main world power. To find out more about this you'll have to read the book he is writing. 

You will have to tune in later for more about the conference. 

Also, if you are able to help me financially with Discipleship Training School, then it is this simple:
Please mail a check to: PO Box 3000 Garden Valley, TX 75771.  Also, if you are writing a check, make sure to leave the memo line blank, but include a NOTE that has MY FULL NAME on it and the school that I will be attending(DTS in SEPTEMBER).

For those of you that are praying for me, just keep on praying.  I appreciate your support.

Inspire

Hey, it's Logan again.  Today I'm gonna tell you all about the Inspire conference I attended  this past March. What is Inspire?  I'm so glad you asked.  Inspire is a worship and missions conference held once a year by YWAM right around spring break.  The conference is held at the YWAM facility in Tyler,TX.  Now that was a long drive!  As soon as we got there, I was welcomed by a friendly face.   We had an option to stay in a cabin with others or in our own personal cabin.  And for everyone who knows me knows that I am a city boy.  Remember the song "Little cabin in the Woods"?  Well these were little cabins in the woods.  After checking in, it was off to the woods to find our cabin.  Did I mention it was down a red dirt road.  I dropped my stuff off on my bed, and drove back to the main campus for some chow.  Nothing is better than a cheeseburger and fries after a long car ride.    After dinner, it was off  to the main building to get ready for the service.  I got there a little early, so I was able to walk around the room freely and check out the many posters they had hanging up on the walls.  They had a section in the back explaining the outreaches that they had scheduled right after the last day of the conference.  The outreaches this year went to Downtown Houston, Austin, and Louisiana.  And I will tell you more about these later.

Friday night service consisted of worship lead by Josh Langer, and the sermon was given by Fred Markert.  To be honest, after the car ride I was tired.  Once the conference started,  I felt the energy of the room and was energized.  The music was great and the sermon was overwhelmingly fantastic.  Fred had just come back from a 2 week tour to many different locations and let us know he was experiencing major jetlag.  He started off his sermon with pictures of many signs he had found while traveling all over the world.  They were all wrongly translated so it was some nice humor right before we got to the seriousness of his message.  He really opened a lot of peoples' eyes when he told us how much God was winning in the world.  He told us how tv broadcasters like CNN, BCC, and others always show us the bad stuff that is going on in the world.  Fred though, has seen the many good things that have happened in the world because of God.  He gave us all these numbers of the growth of christianity in the world.  Some things he told us I sadly can not tell you. What I can tell you is that he is writing a book about what he has found out, and his many thoughts of what is going to happen really soon.  So much of what he said gave me hope and inspired me.