INTEGRITY TEST

Integrity Test
By Eddie Smith

September, 2009

Hi,

Alice had a dilemma; or as we say in Texas, “she was between a rock and a hard place.”
“Honey, I have a problem. I feel called to produce a resource with regard to fasting…”
“Why would that be a problem?” I gently interrupted in a husbandly sort of way.
“Well, Jesus said that when we fast we're to tell no one, right?”
“Right,” I dryly acknowledged, not looking up from whatever I was doing.
“Then how can I provide training for fasting if I'm not to mention the fact that I'm personally acquainted with and accustomed to fasting?”

A Matter of Integrity

Alice's question pertained to “integrity”. We'll get back to her dilemma in a moment. But first…what is integrity?
Integrity is more than not cheating on your spouse; or not stealing tools or material from your employer. That's morality, not integrity. In fact, integrity isn't how one acts at all. An act is only a performance. Integrity isn't a performance, it's an identity! Or as some have noted; “Integrity is what you are when no one's looking.”
Your integrity is a most valuable commodity. It can be easily damaged, even lost. However, only you can damage or lose your integrity. Others, even with their criticisms, curses and their false charges can't damage or rob you of your integrity. Men criticized, cursed and falsely charged Jesus. They beat, bloodied, and spat on Him, but they couldn't soil His integrity!
My father, Robert Smith, was a man of integrity. Only a handful of people knew of the 50 churches he built in Mexico (out of his own pocket). Those who knew of the 457 seminary extension courses Dad taught to minority pastors didn't know that he refused payment of any sort. Almost no one noticed that at age 65 he enrolled in college to learn Spanish, so he could preach in Spanish.
At age 71 my father became president of an English second-language school, and preached in Spanish for 20 years! And you now join the handful of people who know that Dad once drove 12 hours in our family car, deep into Mexico, to deliver the body of a pastor who'd died while visiting the U.S. Why? Because the pastor's family could never have afforded to have their husband and father's body shipped home for proper burial. That, friend, is an indication of integrity!

A Test of Integrity

Now back to the opening story. Alice is a woman of integrity. Sure. I hear the reports about what she does and how God uses her in the Kingdom. But what's not reported matters even more! Integrity is about intent. Anything we do for recognition, no matter how good or needful it is, is done without integrity.
Now, we are inching closer to the answer to Alice's question.
Jesus did say that when we fast, we're not to announce it, or make it a performance for others to see (Matt. 6:16). However, to mention it after the fact is another matter. The Bible doesn't use the term “for recognition”. Jesus' words (our English) were, “to be seen of men”.
I said, “Alice, if it were wrong to write about your experience with fasting, we'd have never known anything about it at all—there would be no biblical record!
Jesus' point was this—a person of integrity doesn't turn fasting into a performance or an act for the recognition of others”.
So Alice lovingly produced a small book entitled, Power Praying. It's a wonderful resource that takes the reader day-by-day through a 40-day fast. In it she offers sound, practical counsel regarding the ministry of fasting, and coaches her reader through the process.
Power Praying is our gift to you this month for your investment of $30 or more in our ministry. You may request the printed book (the hard copy or a downloadable PDF e-book); or the audio-book (the CD or downloadable mp3 file). Obviously the downloadable versions are “instant delivery”!
Thank you for your generous Kingdom investment this month. We praise God for our “Give-a-Buck-a-Day-Away” partners (those who send $30 or more each month). You may remember, we're asking God for 1,000 partners who will commit a “faith promise” of $30 or a multiple of $30 each month. This enables us to do what God's called us to do. Yes, YOU make possible what God is doing through this ministry.
Thank you for your gift of any amount. God is doing remarkable things in the U.S. and around the world. We are delighted to serve as your partners in the Father's “family business”—extending His Kingdom, one life at a time!

Blessings,

Eddie (and Alice)
John 3:30

P.S. How are you doing in the area of integrity? We all have room for improvement, don't we? Let us hear from you.

The Dividing Asunder

The Dividing Asunder

By Morris E. Ruddick www.strategicintercession.org


"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many are those who go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:13

The King James translation of Hebrews 4:12 refers to the "dividing asunder." "Asunder" is the place of key distinction between different parts. The "dividing asunder" is where those distinctions are blurred and veiled. Since the days of Adam and Eve, the evil one has sought to mask key distinctions between soul and spirit.

The times have become uncertain. Nations, cultures and communities have been subjected to wide swings of change. People are looking for answers. People want to be enlightened. Yet, historically the search for enlightenment has instead more often produced masks over what should be spiritual distinctions.

The Enlightenment Illusion
Black has been called white and white black; evil has been called good and good evil, with the resulting contagion referred to as enlightenment. In the early twentieth century the "enlightened" were liberated from personal responsibility when Freud's spin on psychology became the rage, blaming ones' shortfalls on their upbringing and adherence to chaste mores. Its precepts released a subtle force undermining the virtue upheld by the culture at that time.

Jesus pulled back the veil of confusion that masked the pathway into true enlightenment. Introducing His earthly ministry with the words, "the Kingdom of God is at hand," He prepared His disciples to enter by a different dimension. It was the gateway to restore God's original mandate for His people to rule over the work of His hands. It was the narrow path to releasing His Kingdom "on earth, as it is in heaven."

Paul began his letter to the Romans by applauding them for their faith. He noted that their faith was being spoken of throughout the world. In that same sequence Paul mentioned the mutual faith he shared with them. Yet, in verse eleven he expressed his desire to impart "a spiritual gift to them, that they might be established." Then in the fifteenth verse, he tells them that he was "ready to preach the gospel to them."

Paul was unmasking the dividing asunder between those who believe and those whose faith will make a difference. His reference to "preaching the gospel to them" was to the Kingdom distinction that would establish the Romans in the destiny entrusted to every believer to "turn world upside down" (Acts 17: 6).

The Fine Line
The dividing asunder: it's the fine line faced by all believers in making a difference by establishing God's Kingdom rule. It's the distinction between the gospel of salvation and the gospel of the Kingdom. It's the fork in the pathway between the impact made by the good intentions of the soul and the perfect result of the Spirit. It's the difference between having your ears tickled and paying the cost of a high calling. It's the reality-of-God needed to restore godliness in a world seeking the secular enlightenment that has minimized the power in God's people, as the pathway of destruction has been widened.

The masks that have blurred soul and spirit have created potent spiritual counterfeits, counterfeits of destruction that have added to the very turbulence people have sought to avoid. Paul's opening words to the Romans goes on to refer to those who suppress the truth in ungodliness and unrighteousness.

The Key Distinction
Jesus said that it would be by knowing the truth that we would be set free. Yet today even those, like Paul was writing to in Rome, who we share a mutual faith with, have need of an "impartation of a spiritual gift, that they might be established." They need the gospel, the full Gospel, preached to them. When Jesus referred to the gospel it was to the gospel of the Kingdom, which restores the original purpose God had for His people: to rule over the work of His hands.

The truth Jesus imparted, that would set us free, involves reestablishing God's authority. It is what the Scripture refers to as dominion, the mandate for God's Kingdom rule. It bears on the dividing asunder between soul and spirit.

Dominion, the foundation for God's Kingdom rule, is what is lacking in the quest for enlightenment among believers whose sights have been limited to conforming to the standards of those around them. It's the blurring of the spiritual realities resulting in believers whose aim is to become like the world around them. In so doing, they quench the Spirit's power and potential to bear world-changing fruit.

Kingdom Identity
Jesus said to: "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." In short, we muddy the pathway, by going head to head with the world around us, when we hold the Kingdom advantage and the Spirit. Proverbs 3:5 tells us that in trusting the Lord, not to lean unto our own understanding. Walking in the Spirit is an entirely different dimension. It's where it all begins. It's beyond our limited understanding. It's the catalyst to true enlightenment.
"It is the Spirit who gives Life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life." John 6:63 NLT

Every believer is given a measure of faith. To what end that faith is applied is the distinction Paul was making. Until we truly yield ourselves to be vessels of His purpose and bridge that dividing asunder, we will remain spiritually anemic and stuck between soul and spirit. It was what distinguished Joseph the Patriarch in the eyes of the Egyptians around him, as the scripture describes him in Potiphar's house.
"The Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man; and everyone saw that the Lord was with Joseph and made all that he did to prosper." Genesis 39: 2-3

Paul went on to explain to the Romans about the most basic spiritual gifts, by which their pathway would be established; gifts that would distinguish them and their efforts from everyone else.
"So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy."
Rom 9:16 NRSV

The Dividing Asunder of Culture
The blurring of the arena of culture has been diabolically subtle. By penetrating and establishing itself in societal cultures, the kingdom of darkness has confused the genuine cultural identities of unique social groups with the standards of destruction that become known as "the world." This is the reason Paul admonished the Romans not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds, that they may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 NKJV

Paul was unveiling the steps needed to become established and reach for that perfect will of God. In that same sequence, he outlined seven key gifts whose unique operation in each believer would determine not only their individual identities and callings in the Lord, but the distinction they would embrace as a people in a world gone amok.

The Heart of Darkness
Rome spiritually represented the seat of power of the world of its day. It was the heart of darkness in the struggle between soul and spirit. Its significance in Paul's day should awaken us to the distinctions that, like Joseph the Patriarch, we might establish God's Kingdom rule and bring transformation to the seats of power in the world around us.

Paul, schooled in Jewish tradition spent the first three years after his conversion in the desert communing with the Spirit of the Lord. The resulting revelations gave clarity to the distinctions that had been blurred in the covenant calling of the Jewish people. Paul then went on to plant the seeds of transformation in the Gentile world that was described in Acts 17 with the words: "these who have turned the world upside down have come here too!"

Yet, here the church is in the twenty-first century; building buildings and creating programs of relevance that attract new members while the world sets both the standard and the pathway to which we conform. We seem blind to see the distinction beyond an identity of a higher level of ethics and of being such nice people.

That which once pierced the impossible with the possible is explained by human reasoning. The prospect of the ordinary becoming the extraordinary is swallowed up by those seeking to be like everyone else.

Crossing the Threshold
Entering the narrow path Jesus spoke of represents both the start and the challenge. The gateway into God's Kingdom is narrow, indeed. Yet, it serves to form the very distinction that bridges the natural with the supernatural, naturally. It leads in a pathway that consists of the power of God that changes nations.

In the early eighties, as a committed believer called with a calling into uncharted waters, I was facing some unexpected challenges. I was grounded in God's Word, but operating beyond my natural abilities. My pastor imparted some advice that I didn't understand at the time, but that I heeded. His advice was to take three or four days alone with the Lord and do nothing but pray in the Spirit. I found that easier said than done, but I pressed through and emerged changed. That change might best be described as the gate to the bridge crossing the dividing asunder between soul and spirit. It provided and provides the release tied to the gifts Paul describes in Romans 12 that operationally were previously only trickles comparatively.

The gateway is that leap of faith we consciously take, after counting the costs, into what the scripture describes as walking in the spirit.
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

The Amplified version of Hebrews 4:12 reveals: "Every word that God speaks is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division between soul and spirit." The dividing asunder between soul and spirit is simultaneously the battleground and the bridge into the supernatural. It is the narrow path into the arena where the Kingdom of God reigns and brings the kingdom of darkness to its knees.

It's the path in which we lead by serving, we live by dying, we advance by yielding, we gain by giving. In God's kingdom, wisdom comes from simplicity, honor is a byproduct of humility, and order comes from change. It's in our weakness and humility that God's strength is manifested most fully.

It's the simple things that confound the wise. The narrow gate into God's Kingdom defines a pathway marked by the power of God. The power of God is predicated on hearing the voice of the Lord and obeying. It is the dividing asunder between what we can do for God and what we allow Him to do through us.
"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing -- if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?"
Galatians 3:3-5 NIV
_________________________________________

Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God in the marketplace. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling" and "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.

Mr. Ruddick is also the founder of the Global Equippers Entrepreneurial Program, which imparts hope and equips economic community builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world. To schedule a speaking engagement, sponsor a workshop, make a donation or to get more information on how you can help, contact Global Initiatives at 303.741.9000.

2009 Copyright Morris Ruddick - response@strategic-initiatives.org

Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check: http://www.strategicintercession.org

A Sacrifice Worth Paying

A Sacrifice Worth Paying
Alice Smith

I’m amazed at the Christian men and women who through the ages were capable of soaring above their suffering to bring maximum glory to God. Such is the case with the Rev. Ki-ch’ol Chu from P’yongyang, South Korea. The name K-ch’ol Chu has become a symbol of martyrdom in Korea. Rev. Chu lived faithful to Jesus during the darkest hours of Korean history by adamant resistance to commands to worship the Shinto sun goddess of Japan. He knew he couldn’t serve two gods, so Rev. Chu refused Japanese pressure, nor to compromise his godly principles. After five torturous imprisonments, Rev. Chu died in prison.
Most Korean Christians are familiar with this martyr. And possibly his commitment, and those of other martyrs like Rev. Chu, today many Korean Christians live on the cutting edge of sacrificial missionary service and fervent intercessory prayer worldwide. They are militant for God; both those who live in South Korea, as well as those who live here in the U.S. and throughout the regions of the world.
Interestingly, the last words Rev. Chu shared with his members of the Sanjonghyon Church were:
“If I avoid the hardships I suffer for my Lord, what will I
say to Him when He asks me on that day: ‘You have
enjoyed my name, my peace and my joy. What did you do
with my cup of suffering?’ If I avoid the cross my Lord has
given me, the cross I have to carry for my Lord, how can
I bear to look at His face when He asks me on that day,
What did you do with the cross I gave you?’” Kwang-jo Chu,
More Than Conquerors, www.daesung.com

Question: Are you this determined to sell out to Jesus? Discussed in the book, Bibliography: The Korean War: “Korea had for years been dominated by the Chinese and Japanese government. By 1876 Korea was forced to accept a lopsided trade treaty with Japan, with similar treaties signed with the U.S., France, Briton, Russia, and Germany. The result of victory from the Russo-Japanese war of 1905 left Japan as the only major power, free to fully exploit Korea in a mad quest for imperial glory.
Even though Christianity had been introduced and received by the Koreans as early as the late 1800s, by 1905 Japan had assumed administration over Korea, which technically remained a separate country (although pretty much in name only). By 1910 even that farce was eliminated with the formal annexation of Korea by Japan, thus giving the new expansionist country its first colony. All government functions (police, fire, roads, etc.), as well as all industries, were taken over by Japanese, and Korea's economy was re-geared towards providing Japan with food and material for the expanding imperialistic efforts. Japanese became the official language, and Shintoism became the official religion. Usage of the Korean language (in print at first) was banned, and local religions were persecuted.
Such exploitation expanded in 1937, when Korea became the strategic base for operations in the Japan invasion of China. Korean men were conscripted to fight in the army, and Korean women were conscripted for use as sex slaves for Japanese troops. All use of the Korean language was banned outright, and all Koreans were forced to adopt new Japanese names. Punishment was severe, as evidenced with the good will gesture of the Japanese in the 1990's to return all of the cremated noses of hundreds of Korean women, which were cut off during this early period of Korean history. All forms of torture were used to keep the populace under control, and the country was laid waste by the oppression and exploitation of Japan. The situation was to last up to the end of the Second World War, when Korea was finally liberated by the Soviets and Americans.” [Author’s note: For brevity's sake, and my own sanity, I've kept the invective set on low. However, I can't emphasize enough the sheer amount and depth of Japanese cruelty of the time. Several museums in Korea go into this with more detail. But if you need modern events for perspective, just imagine the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, lasting for 40 years.] Source: Adapted from the Bibliography: The Korean war; Hastings, Max; 1987, USA, Romadata Ltd. South Korea, A Country Study; Savada, Andrea Matles; Shaw, William; 1992.
I'm inspired by testimonies such as Rev. Chu. So right now let’s adopt a “Korean mindset” that is willing to lose all to gain Christ, for afterall, this kind of sacrifice is one worth paying.

Why Is Common Sense So Uncommon?

Why Is Common Sense So Uncommon?
By Eddie Smith

Why is common sense so uncommon today?

One of Alice's and my dearest friends was Dr. Adrian Rogers. Adrian followed the legendary pastor and prince of preachers Dr. R. G. Lee as pastor of the historic Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis , Tennessee .
Dr. Lee, also a dear friend, was made famous partly due to his classic sermon Payday Someday, which he preached more than 1,200 times!
Those two men were a blessed influence on us early in our ministry. Both were known for their wisdom.

Adrian, who went to be with the Lord in 2005, never saw the troubling things we are see today in our nation. But he did have a word that seems to me to be quite applicable. I'm deliberately separating it sentence by sentence so we can meditate on each thought. Dr. Rogers is quoted Dr. Rogers said:
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom.

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does not good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

(Source: http://www.rayfowler.org/2008/11/15/ten-great-adrian-rogers-quotes/)
Alice and I are blessed. We aren't wealthy, and don't have earthly wealth as a goal. We are laying up treasures in heaven.
And to be blessed with a pleasant home, food, and clothing is wonderful.
So wonderful that sometimes I find myself feeling sorry for those with less than we have.
Perhaps it's a housekeeper.
How about a hitchhiker?
Then there's the man working nights, buffing floors at Wal-Mart.
The young couple who are counting quarters to get the groceries they need.
It's enough to make me want to empty my pockets for their sake. Alice and I have always practiced the biblical injunction of benevolence. However, I must catch myself and remember:
When I was in the U.S. Navy, I did work nights buffing floors at the naval station.
When we were newly wed, we slept on the carpeted floor and kept our clothing in cardboard boxes because we had neither bed nor furniture. We did keep our food in an ice chest because we had no refrigerator. We did count quarters; pick up bottles along the highway; and grow our own vegetables--which we still do!

We did lose babies to miscarriages.
I did hitchhike. We did own several cars that burned more oil than gasoline.

We did lose everything we owned a couple of times. Yes, down to the very clothes on our backs. We were delighted to have enough money to buy toothbrushes and a friend's home to stay in. And since we lost our only vehicle and had to take a taxi; within an hour of losing all, we were blessed to lead the cab driver to faith in Christ.
It's easy for me to forget the long hard road we've traveled to be where we are; and to keep in mind that we could lose it all tomorrow and all would be fine.
I must guard my heart and not let my human sympathy for others replace the Lord as the guide to my benevolence.
You see, those difficult experiences drew us together as a couple; and drew us to God as our Source. Those difficult times formed Christ in us and taught us to trust nothing and no one but Him--ever!
For me to "bail out" the young couple or anyone else simply because I feel sorry for them is to rob them of the struggle.

It's the struggle that develops us. The Psalmist said, "In my distress He enlarged me."(Psa 4:1)
In whatever state you are in, be content.

If you are blessed today--be grateful.
If you're distressed today--be grateful. (Phil 4:6)

Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Unless you carefully allow the Lord to direct your benevolence, your intention to bless someone in need could actually rob them of even greater riches!

Is it possible that we could do that as a nation?

And, perhaps more importantly, is it our government's job to regulate our benevolence?

Why is common sense so uncommon?