Robert Puls

Do you intend to be a Christ-follower or not? The time for being in the broad middle is over. You can no longer stand in one segment of friends or associates, or in a business network, or in some other environment and stay quiet about your faith when Jesus is mocked or the Word of God is ridiculed. You can't do that and then step into another setting, like a church, a worship service, or a Christian concert, and lift your hands as an advocate for Jesus. Folks, those days are gone. We’re gonna have to decide with whom we intend to align ourselves. We have to decide which kingdom we want to be a part of.

The ultimate strength of our nation has been the Church, and the greatly weakened condition of the Church has been the primary contributor to the weakening of our nation. We’ve lacked the courage to stand up for biblical values such as biblical morality and biblical definitions of marriage and family. We’ve been either cowards or so rebellious that we’ve rejected biblical principles. So, when we pray for our nation, we are praying for an awakening within the Church. How can the Church start using its influence for God’s purposes? Watch the full podcast episode for a prayer guide you can use today on the Allen Jackson Ministries YouTube channel, or listen on any streaming platform.

We’ve had a group of people making some decisions in our nation that were reinforcing biblical worldview issues: borders matter, marriage is between a man and a woman, and we shouldn’t mutilate our children when they have emotional confusion. Those are fundamental biblical issues. Those aren’t political ideas. But our overwhelming response has been, “We want gas cheaper.” Well, I’d be happy with that, too. But we have the cheapest gas in all the world amongst the industrialized nations. I think the problem in our nation is that Christians are distracted. We’re doing what we want to do, and we don’t want to be bothered. I don't think the change we need will come from the political realm. I don’t think we need better candidates and better campaigns and more funding. We spent $12 billion on this election. Do you know how much money we spent in August on legal sports betting? $16 billion in August. And that’s just the legal part. Imagine if we spent $16 billion in August on sharing the gospel in our nation? You know what people would say? “Well, you shouldn’t spend that much money on the gospel. Christians shouldn’t have that much money.” But it’s okay for sports betting. So here’s my suggestion. We can’t huddle in our churches, look through the windows, and go, “Those people have to become different.” We need to be the salt and the light. We have to begin to genuinely say to the Lord, “How can we change?”

We, as the Church, can't keep thinking that the next election is going to solve our problems. How many elections must we have, amid the continuous deterioration of our culture, before we wake up and tell the truth? Change is not going to be initiated on the political side of the equation. It will begin in the hearts of God's people. Our failure has caused this precipitous decline of Christian influence, not the rise of evil. It has been the diminishment of the light. Watch the premiere of my new podcast, "The Spiritual Reason Behind the Election Results," on my YouTube channel or listen on any podcast app.

Father, we thank You that we still have the privilege of choosing leaders. Thank You for that great honor and for those who were willing to participate. It is beyond apparent that the Church is, if not disinterested, disengaged. We come to acknowledge that and to ask for Your mercy and forgiveness in our lives. Our lives are filled with so much abundance. We have more food than we need, more space than we can use, and more things than we can keep. Forgive us for forgetting the One who has blessed us. We pray for those in authority over us. We thank You for those who have been elected to lead. We pray they’ll make choices that will enable us to lead quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness. We pray that you’ll stir the hearts of Your people. May we become a living expression of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our neighborhoods, our schools, and all the places that we frequent. We thank You that You are still King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank You for the victories that we will see and for the triumph of the Church in the earth. We praise You for it. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Worry will paralyze and choke off your air. It will shrink your capacity and force you into delay. The simple act of saying “thank You” to the Lord will diminish the influence of worry in your thoughts and emotions. Let's fill the comment section with declarations of gratitude to the Lord today!

When Jesus taught, He said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment" (Matthew 5:21–22). This notion that Jesus gave us a wide ramp into sloppy living, and that we’re going to be agents of grace and never talk to people about sin or God’s boundaries because we believe He’s just a God of love, is an incomplete presentation. The wages of sin is death. May I ask you a question? Do you think Jesus lowered the threshold or raised it?

In Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus tells us five times not to worry. If Jesus said not to worry, it’s possible not to worry. He invites us to cast all of our anxiety on Him. We don’t have to be anxious, and we don’t have to be worried. Our freedom from anxiety and worry is not linked to everything being easy. We’re simply told that those attitudes, if they dominate our thoughts and our emotions, will rob us of the best God has for us. God has promised you peace, and I want to help you walk in it. In the Freedom from Worry Email Series, I’ll send you six weekly messages with Scripture, prayers, and teaching right to your inbox. Sign up using the form below, and you’ll receive a Freedom from Worry email each week, along with other ministry updates. You can sign up today at allenjackson.com/freedom.