No, We Can't

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Robert Stearns challenges us to recognize and conront orces o extrem-ism that threaten the values o reedom and opportunity around the world.

Senator Joseph Lieberman

Robert Stearns proven leadership is a beacon o insight both within

the Body o Christ and beyond. Robert brings balanced and inormedperspective to the critical issues acing our world with clarity, competenceand compassion.

Jack Hayord, ounding pastor, The Church On The Way,Van Nuys, Caliornia

The culture o the 21st century (dened by Dr. George Hunter as TheNew Apostolic Age) is almost identical to the culture o the rst-centuryChurch. Today is truly the age o the clash o cultures. Concerned peopleare asking questions that do not have easy or simplistic answers. RobertStearns, in his proound new book, No, We Cant, gives us an assessmento the vital issues the Church aces in this complex and diverse world. Itis a book born to be read by every thinking person attempting to nd hisor her way in this unbelievably complex world.

Tommy Reid, ounding senior pastor, The Tabernacle, Bualo, New York

Robert Stearns presents provocative approaches to some o lies dicult

dilemmas, and to the deeper questions o meaning that touch us in themodern world.

David Wolpe, rabbi, Sinai Temple, Los Angeles, Caliornia

Robert Stearns does or us in this book what the very best real estateagents do or us when we seek to nd a home. He walks us through theneighborhood o worldview thinking, lets us enter the houses and lookaround and then honestly points out the dierences. But this book is not

about real estateit is about lie and eternity. Robert chooses the hardroad o stating his mind and convictions based on a biblical worldview.Sometimes that is dicult, but ater reading what Robert has to say, I amgrateul we have his voice.

Jerry Gillis, lead pastor, The Chapel at CrossPoint,Getzville, New York

This book is such a timely, awakening word or Christians to understandthe three primary worldviews that are prevalent today and how we must

respond by Gods leading. We cannot ignore what is in opposition to ourChristian aith and hope it will just go away. The love o Christ compelsus to reach this world, and I believe you will be inspired as you read No,We Cant to live, to demonstrate and to speak to others the Gospel oJesus Christ.

Sharon Daugherty, pastor, Victory Christian Center,Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Conens

Foreword by Robert Morris 11

Acknowledgments 13

Introduction: No, We Cant What? 15

1. What the World Needs Now 19

2. The End o the World As We Know It 33

3. Cultural Kingdoms 48

4. The Three Houses 61

5. The Myth o Coexistence 79

6. The House o Radical Islam 97

7. The House o Militant Secularism 115

8. The House o Judeo-Christianity 132

9. The Spirituality o the Three Houses 148

10. Will the Real World Please Stand Up? 164

11. Gods House 186

12. Shalom 200

Notes 217

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InroducionNo, We Cant What?

In 1981, Harvard-based business guru William Ury co-wrotea bestselling book on the strategies o negotiating. He called

his book Getting to Yes. In it, he detailed all the constructive

strategies that could be employed to help dierent parties over-

come their obstacles and come to a place o agreement, even

those parties who may long have been at odds with one another.

The business world rejoiced, and more than ve million copies

o his armative message were sold.In 2007, however, Ury released a new work. The title? Quite

shockingly, The Power of a Positive No.

To explain what could be perceived as an about-ace, Ury

states that, in the years between the writing o the two books,

he had come to some startling revelations. All too oten, he

states, we cannot bring ourselves to say No when we want to

and know we should. . . . For even when agreements are reached,

they are oten unstable . . . because the real underlying issues

have been avoided or smoothed over, the problem only deferred

(emphasis added).1

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Introduction

Over the years, I have come to some startling revelations on

the topic o saying no mysel. I used to be a yes guy. I used

to think that we all really were headed toward a place o agree-ment, o synthesis. And as oten as I am tempted to think about

how easy my lie would be i I simply went back to this state o

contented delirium, I cannot.

I still hope, I still believe, I still dialogue and I denitely still

pray. Nothing brings me greater joy than to see harmony and

true agreement between those who were ormerly on opposite

sides o the table. But in my twenty years o involvement with

civic issues in America and discourse in the Middle East, I have

come to the simple conclusion that, sometimes, no is the only

honest, viable, positive answer one can give.

Titling a book is an interesting process. Words and phrases

are examined, parsed and evaluated. When I rst proposed this

title or the book, it immediately raised some red fags. Did I

want to send what could be perceived as a negative message?

Did I want to risk coming across as divisive, discordant, close-minded? Ater all, no one was ever elected to political oce by

using No, We Cant as a campaign slogan! But gradually, the

team working on the title came to believe that, indeed, someone

needed to stand up and make this dicult, unpopular statement.

In the coming pages, we are not only going to discover pre-

cisely why we cannot do what many are claiming we can do, we

are also going to discover what we truly can do to eect positivechange in the world. I rmly believe there are countless people

out theregood people, caring people, intelligent people, com-

mitted peoplewho sincerely desire to make a dierence in the

world, but whose eorts are stifed because they lack the one

small key needed to unlock a giant door.

The world is shiting. The landscape o nations is changing

rapidly. Every morning I wake up and wonder what political

revolution, border skirmish or socioeconomic catastrophe will

have broken out overnight. The world is dissatised, bafed and

craving transormation. Its search or answers has it roiling with

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Introduction

17

ardor, animosity and zeal. Conversely, some who see no hope

or transcendence are nding themselves mired in apathy and

even despairdedicating their lives to discrediting any trace oconviction, passion and aith others may hold.

It is against this backdrop that we emerge as those willing

to search or and accept the true answerseven i they are not

the warm, uzzy ones we wished or. The temptation to pull the

covers over our heads and go back to sleep remains enticing. I

cannot help but recall the exchange that takes place between

Frodo and Gandal in the lm adaptation o J. R. R. Tolkiens

Lord of the Rings. Ater discovering that his lie is about to get

more dicult and uncomortable than he ever could have imag-

ined, the young protagonist petitions the wise, old counselor to

see i there is any way out.

Frodo: I wish none o this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not

or them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with thetime that is given to us.2

Like this small, lone mortal who is put in the position o

navigating a perilous world, we too have a choice:

Do we want to deny reality, or ace it?

Do we want to pretend, or get real?

Will we have the courage to say no, so that we can be empow-ered to say yes?

This a very exciting and liberating place to be. Who would

want to live inside a ake, supercial and ultimately unsustain-

able myth when we can begin to fourish in a genuine, secure,

ceaseless reality? Once you reject the alse, you can embrace the

true. I you allow yoursel to say no, you can learn how to say

yes. And the best part is that we are being given the chance to

say yes to something that has the power not only to change our

lives, but to change the world as well.

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1

Wha he World Needs Now

there is a popular ad campaign I have oten seen in large,

international airports. One o the worlds biggest banks

HSBClaunched its dierent values advertising campaign

a ew years ago, and by the way it has spread, I imagine it has

brought them a lot o success. The message they communi-

cate is a simple one: Dierent values make the world a richerplace. They suggest that people all over the world embrace a

broad spectrum o ideas, and that no matter what you hope

to accomplish in lie, theyre the ones to nance it. A perectly

logical assertion or a bank to make to potential customers.

Sheer marketing brilliance.

Several times, walking down an immense corridor in a London

or New York airport, I have looked up and seen these ads. Each

ad consists o three gigantic posters that all repeat the exact same

image. The only dierence is that each poster bears a dierent

word describing the image. One o these ads, or example, depicts

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three identical photos o the back o a persons shaved head.

You cant tell i the person is male or emale; the photograph is

stark and neutral. Printed across the center o the rst poster isthe word Style, over the second poster Soldierand over the third

Survivor. This illustrates, in a very concise and compelling way,

how easy it is to have three dierent views o the exact same thing.

How about you? What word would you use to describe the

many images you encounter? Have you taken a good, hard look

at the world today?

By asking i you have looked at the world today, Im merely

pointing out the obvious act that each o us has a view o the

world, but ew o us stop to contemplate it.

Shedding Some Light

I you got out o bed this morning, i you walked out your door,

i you stood in line or a cappuccino or drove your car across

town, you saw the world in a certain way while doing so. In act,

I would venture to say that the way you see the world is the very

reason you got up this morning in the rst place; that the way

you see the world was your motive or leaving the house, your

purpose or driving wherever it is you went. Rarely do we call into

question the way we see the worldwhy we see it the way we do.

Rarely do we question why we are thinking what we are thinking.

This book is my humble attempt to help change that. In thecoming pages, I am inviting you to take a good, hard look with

me at the world in which we live.

Jesus rebuked the religious cohorts o His day, saying,

When it is evening you say, It will be air weather, or the sky

is red; and in the morning, It will be oul weather today, or

the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You know how to

discern the ace o the sky, but you cannot discern the signs o

the times.

Matthew 16:23

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21

Strong words! I, or one, dont want to all into a religious

mind-set that only operates within its own narrow rame o

reerence. The men Jesus addressed here were so adept attracking something as mundane as the weather, but they were

clueless about matters that carried dire consequences. Are we

like that at times? Our radar is so acutely attuned to coughs

coming rom our childrens bedrooms in the middle o the

night, but we are oten unable to discern how certain video

games are desensitizing these same children to violence and

cruelty.

Or perhaps the cares o this world have overwhelmed us

to such a degree that we have grown too weary to challenge

the ideas and practices that work overtime to uproot what

we should be holding sacred. In all our busynesstaking the

kids to soccer practice, balancing the checkbook, managing

projects at the oce and a thousand other important activi-

tieshave we orgotten why we are here in the rst place?

Have we orgotten about the hope we have within us to oerthe rest o the world?

I dont want to be blind to what God is doing in my generation.

I want to understand what is going on around me so that I can

oer aresh to the world the eternal answer it is truly seeking.

Followers o Jesus know deep in their hearts that He is Savior,

Redeemer and the true Light o the World. We know there is a

truth that transcends the circumstances we witness on a dailybasisdark and impossible as they may seem. Yet all too oten,

we have abdicated our position o responsibility and opted not

to shine His light into the very darkness we are here to diminish.

Part o what it means to have an eective worldview is to

take the time to actually view the world and what is happening

in it. We need to intentionally bolster our understanding and

alertness to how we can make a real and enduring dierence in

our world. And this is precisely what we are about to do.

Jesus said to those who ollowed Him, You are the light o

the world (Matthew 5:14). Being acutely aware o the darkness

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22

that permeates the global landscape should not cause us to

shrink back rom living courageously. The presence o darkness

should not weaken us, surprise us or intimidate us. Rather, itshould propel us orward into our purpose as sons and daugh-

ters o the Light (see Ephesians

5:8). As we explore what is going

on in the world around us and the

role we have been given to play in

it, we will be equipped to let our

light shine to a world in desper-ate need.

Now that we have established

that we all have a particular way o viewing the world, let us

proceed to examine three specic value systems. Each one is led

by a distinct mind-set. By identiying these three seminal world-

views, and by observing how they interact with one another, we

will be better able to understand the place we have been called

to occupy in the battle o lie.

Threes Company

The HSBC people got it right when they so clearly presented

us with three dierent views o the same thing. I am writing

this book because, in the twenty years I have spent traveling,

collaborating, preaching and serving throughout the nations, I

have noticed the exact same trend. Whether looking at a photo-

graph or looking at the world, I nd that most people tend to see

it in one o three distinct ways. There are, o course, countless

points o view, and endless variations on the same theme, but

there happen to be three primary worldviews that I encounter

across the continents, generations and societies o our time.

The more similarity that exists among individuals worldviews,

and the more these like-minded people unite together, the more

powerul a orce they become.

The presence o darkness

should not weaken us,

surprise us or intimidate us.

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That said, I see three major players that have emerged rom the

stage o world history and are acting out the principal dramas

o our present day. These are: a radicalized Islamic religioussystem; an aggressive, humanistic secularism; and a oundational

biblical aith in the God o Israel. Most o the important events

we hear about day to day could be traced back to one o these

three superpowers.

When I describe these paradigms, I oten nd it helpul to

reer to them as houses. Houses are structures; and these

structures are houses of thought. As in any house, these thought

structures have entrances, exits, weight-bearing walls and sup-

porting edices. And perhaps

more importantly, these thought

structures, like physical houses,

have people. What house would

be complete without providing

shelter or individuals, amilies

and all those weary pilgrims whowander into the connes o its

walls? Some people are born into

a particular thought-house, and

raised up to be products o their environment. Others move rom

one house to another because they are not satised with their

view. These ideological structures are where thoughts pertain-

ing to a specic worldview grow to ruition. They are also theoundational residences rom which their respective systems o

thought are subsequently lived out by those who believe them.

Three schools o thought. Three global perspectives. Three

cultural kingdoms. I oten call them The Three Houses. It

may sound like a childrens storybook, but I assure you, it does

not read anything like one. Much o our conversation together

will grapple with the nature o each househow its infuences

shape and deneand what this translates into meaning or our

everyday lives. The three primary ideological power structures

responsible or ueling global aairs are:

These ideological structures

are where thoughts

pertaining to a specic

worldview grow to ruition.

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ThehouseofRadicalIslam

ThehouseofMilitantSecularism

ThehouseoftheJudeo-Christianworldview

Although we will, in a later chapter, examine the inner work-

ings o each house in detail, I would like to briefy expand on

them one by one.

The House of Radical Islam

Based on a committed devotion to the teachings o the Quran

and the Prophet Muhammad, this ideology combines radicalized

religious obedience to the god Allah

with sociopolitical orce, using many

dierent tactics (including violence)

to assert Muslim supremacy in the

world. The ultimate goal o this house

is to establish an Islamic caliphate, aruling kingdom that holds all lands

under its sway. Although Radical

Islam is quickly becoming a house-

hold phrase in Western circles, just over a decade ago, it was

largely unheard o.

The House of Militant Secularism

Perhaps the least clearly dened house at rst glance, Militant

Secularism is nevertheless one o the most infuential orces

in the world today. Rooted in humanistic philosophy whose

origins can be traced back to early Greek thought, this para-

digm is all encompassing and deeply entrenched in prevailing

cultures across the developed world. Its militancy is not usually

a literal militancy. Rather, its aggression lies in its appeal to the

independent, prideul human spirit and the power o human

accomplishments. Its prevailing belie is that it is unlikely there

I am writing this book

to provide believers

with a strategic, up-to-date road map.

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is a god, and i there is, this god can be dened by us, because

human beings determine their own destinies.

The House of the Judeo-Christian Worldview

Even though this house is my home, it is still by ar the most

dicult or me to dene. Adhering to the basic moral code derived

rom the Ten Commandments and Jesus teachings, this unique

value system has grown to become the worlds single largest reli-

gion. Its root system is very clearspringing out o the Old and

New Testamentsbut what is less clear is the actual expressiono this worldview in what is commonly called the post-Christian

West. Historically, the creeds o the aith have kept it strong and

served as guardrails along the way. In recent times, cultural expres-

sions labeled Christian but lacking real devotion and biblical

truth have diluted the strength o the aith in this house.

Pretty sobering stu.

I am writing this book to provide believers with a strategic,up-to-date road map that will help them navigate their lie pur-

pose. Broadly speaking, our purpose is to ully utilize the lives

God has given us to gloriy Him and inspire as many others as

possible to embrace His Lordship. Too oten, we Christians

who should be courageously serving, understanding and lead-

ing as representatives o the Kingdom o Godnd ourselves

marginalized and silenced in our quest. I we seek God, how-

ever, He will let us nd Him (see Jeremiah 29:13). He will give

us everything we need or lie and godliness (see 2 Peter 1:3),

everything we need to live eectively or Him.

I believe the rst step in that process involves Him giving us

an understandingindeed, His understandingo our world.

The View

Does the term worldview still sound theoretical to you? Abstract?

Inconsequential? Cerebral? Does it sound like a mere concept

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that only exists in undergraduate sociology textbooks? I assure

you, it is anything but. In act, there is no action, thought or de-

sire we have ever had that has nothad a worldview attached to it.

You are living inside a world-

view right now. (Your own.)

Wherever you are sitting, stand-

ing, leaning or reclining, you

are, right now, viewing the world

rom a certain vantage point thatis uniquely yours. And I am not

reerring to what objects you can or cannot see within the rest

o the space. I am reerring to the act that the reaction you had

when you saw the cover o this book might have been completely

dierent rom the reaction the nearest person to you had when

he or she rst saw it.

This dierence, in and o itsel, would not serve as a signi-

cant cause o confict in our world today. Im sure youve never

come to blows with other shoppers because you liked a book

cover they didnt. It is ridiculous even to imagine such a thing!

Yet it illustrates an important point. Because we are so im-

mersed in our own ways o thinking, we oten orget that other

worldviews exist, and that they are closer to colliding with our

own than we may realize.

You Are Here

Picture a giant world map sprawled across the length o a wall.

The most prominent eature o the map is the myriad dierent

nations scattered across the continents. These multicolored,

jagged-edged shapes make the earths surace look like a hap-

hazard checkerboard. Some nations are enormous; some are

small; some are touching the sea; some are landlocked. A ew

nations are so tiny the names they bear have to be strategically

There is no action, thought

or desire we have ever

had that has not had a

worldview attached to it.

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placed elsewhere so that the words do not completely cover up

the minute slivers o landmass.

With ew exceptions, national borders are long-established,plainly marked, uncontested territories. There is even a com-

mon system in place to allow travel rom one nation to an-

other. I you are a Canadian who wants to tour the vineyards

o Italy, you simply obtain a passport and the proper visa, i

required. You then travel to the country, go through customs,

receive a stamp on your passport, and you are o on your

Italian adventure. It sounds easy, sae and totally risk-ree.

So, whats the problem?

The issue lies in the act that the national borders that clutter

our map do not mean what they did in the past. One can no

longer take or granted that the people one encounters in Italy

will speak Italian, think Italian

or even be Italian in any historic

sense o the term. No, our world

today cannot be categorized intocleanly divided, shaded boxes that

relate to one another in predict-

able ways. The boundary lines

are being erased, and other lines

o division are emerging in which

geography is not the main actor.

Naturally, groups o peoplewho think alike will always tend to remain or gravitate to-

getherresulting in physical regions being colored in a par-

ticular light. The cultural orces we are talking about are by

no means tied down in limited areas o infuence. The ault

lines that naturally exist between those o opposing worldviews

run through national borders as i theyre not even there. They

obscure ethnic groups, divide amilies, separate riends. Now

that the world is at, these worldviews (or houses) are rapidly

becoming the new scaolding upon which the sociopolitical

world is built.

These worldviews (or

houses) are rapidly

becoming the new

scafolding upon which the

sociopolitical world is built.

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ReallyDiferent Values

Lets think back to the international ad campaign I described at

the start o this chapter. You may even have come across one o

HSBCs dierent values ad series yoursel while traveling or

while leang through a magazine in the doctors oce. I we are

going to have an honest discussion o what it means to have di-

erent values, we need to acknowledge that the values illustrated

in the particular ad I mentioned

appeal to universal themes that are

not divisive in nature. For instance,you may have a clean-shaven riend

whom you eel looks sophisticated.

You may also know o at least one

young man you admire who has his

head shaved because he is part o

the armed orces. And, you may

even have a riend who lost her hairwhile undergoing chemotherapy

treatments. The dierent values the ad is conjuring up are all

airly easy to identiy with and understand.

I cannot help but wonder what would happen i one o the

ads eatured a series depicting Manhattans Twin Towers disin-

tegrating in smoke and fames on September 11, 2001. Over the

rst poster, the word Terror, the second Victory, the thirdJustice.No doubt this would strike a deeper chord within passersby.

The reason it would is because the sentiments being expressed

represent opposing views held by vast numbers o people. While

9/11 was a literal collision between planes and buildings, it repre-

sented the collision o intangible orces even more monumental:

worldviews in opposition to one another.

For Christians, we know it is entirely possible or two people

to be living on the same street, yet existing in two entirely sepa-

rate kingdoms. Everyone sets up camp in a particular kingdom

here on earth, wherever that may be. You may have experienced

While 9/11 was a literal

collision between planes and

buildings, it represented the

collision o intangible orces

even more monumental.

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this by going over to the house o a riend who is serving a

alse god. The minute you step oot on his terrain, you are

standing in another kingdom. The atmosphere within his homewill bear the characteristics o that kingdom. Depending on

what belie system is in place, you may nd yoursel eeling

depressed, bewildered, enticed or apathetic. These eelings, i

succumbed to, can go so ar as to maniest in tangible ways,

leaving you exhausted, argumentative, rightened or even sick

to your stomach. By being properly trained, however, as emis-

saries or the Kingdom o God, not only can we withstand the

onslaught o evil, we can bring a blessing that reverses the cursein our riends lie. This is what were here to do!

We are the light o the world, the salt o the earth. We are

to diuse the ragrance o the knowledge o God wherever we

go (see 2 Corinthians 2:14). As we can readily see each time we

turn on the six oclock news, there is no end o mayhem, disas-

ter and heartbreak in this world. We need to begin exercising

our spiritual senses and operating in discernment as we lookat the world around us. It is a spiritual battle we are called to

win. To achieve success, we must allow the Holy Spirit ull and

complete access to our own hearts, minds and bodies. Once He

is enthroned in our souls, our homes, our churches, our com-

munities, we then have a chance to infuence the lives o others.

For though we walk in the fesh, we do not war according to the

esh. For the weapons o our warare are not carnal but mighty inGod or pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and

every high thing that exalts itsel against the knowledge o God,bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience o Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:35

Admitting We Have a Problem

I contemplated opening this book with, Hello, my name is

Robert, and Im an optimist. I have yet to nd a twelve-step pro-

gram designed to meet the needs o me and my ellow idealists,

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but true to my nature, I still havent given up hope theres one

out there.

I am an optimistreally, I am. I am a glass-hal-ull kind oguy. My nature and personality are such that I am continually

looking or ways to make things work between people. I am

a bridge-builder, a riend-maker, a peace-seeker.

Just because Im discussing extremely volatile and conten-

tious divisions that exist in our world today, please do not as-

sume Im satised with the status quo. I assure you, I take no

pleasure that our beloved little planet seems about ready to

explode rom strie and discord. I would like nothing better

than to wake up one day and discover that I have been wrong

all along: that the radical Islamists no longer want to kill me;

that the militant secularists are no longer intent on turning my

Christmas tree into a holiday shrub. But I am beginning to

come to terms with the act that hell is more likely to reeze

over than or either o those things to happen. I would like

nothing better than to be wrong, but I ear on this one that I

am, unortunately, very right.

As we will go into in later chapters, it is indeed possible or

those with divergent belies to live peaceably side by side. But to

do so they must agree to abide by a certain set o rules, which

they must acknowledge are supreme and exclusive. I these rules

permit people the right to hold their own opinions and ideas,

everything will go smoothly. It is when the rules are alteredbeyond recognition that the game can no longer be played.

In his 1945 allegorical novella The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis

ollows several characters on a antastical bus journey through

the aterlie, examining the choices they make that lead them to

their nal destinations. In the preace to this ctional journey,

Lewis tells us:

Blake wrote the Marriage o Heaven and Hell. . . . The attempt

[to make that marriage] is based on the belie that reality never

presents us with an absolutely unavoidable either-or; that,

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granted skill and patience and (above all) time enough, some

way o embracing both alternatives can always be ound. . . .

This belie I take to be a disastrous error. We are not living in a

world where all roads are radii o a circle and where all, i ol-

lowed long enough, will thereore draw gradually nearer and

nally meet at the centre: rather in a world where every road,

ater a ew miles, orks into two, and each o those into two

again, and at each ork you must make a decision. Even on the

biological level lie is not like a river, but like a tree. It does not

move toward unity but away rom it.1

I Lewis is right in believing that people cannot, in and othemselves, achieve lasting peace and unity, then the global tur-

moil that has been erupting all around us may be only the initial

tremors o a seismic shit, the likes o which we have never

seen. And i that is what were in or, we as believers need to

be equipped in our prayers, our worship, our liestyles and our

witness as never beore. We will take an in-depth look at simple,

everyday tactics that you and I can use to activate our aith inGod and in His Kingdom. I there ever were a time when we

must let our light shine in the darkness, it is now.

Are you open to joining me on this journey? I am not oering

you nine easy steps to a stress-ree Christmas or our ways to

be liked by everyone at church. I you are looking or someone

to tell you how to have a nice, easy, comortable lie, there are

plenty o books out there that will do just that. This is not oneo them. This is a book or those who want to be awakened,

who want to have their priorities challenged and comort zones

stretched, who want to live a lie worthy o the calling they have

received (see Ephesians 4:1).

We need to become orces or change wherever God has placed

us. I guarantee you that, i you embark with me down this road,

you will be equipped with cutting-edge understanding o what

is going on around you and how you can eectively live out a

biblical worldview in the midst o it. I want us to discover how

our lives can count eternally by the way we live them today.

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No, We Cant

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I believe God is oering us the opportunity to be His ambas-

sadors, His artisans, His educators, His messengers so that the

one true and living God is madeknown in an undeniable way. You

and I have been uniquely selected

to be alive at this strategic hour

in human history. Lives hang in

the balance. Whole people groups

hang in the balance. There are

multitudes, multitudes in the val-

ley o decision (Joel 3:14). They are actively seeking a voice to

guide them toward the only thing that will ultimately satisy

their souls. They are listening or a voice. Will they hear yours?

We need to become orces

or change wherever

God has placed us.

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No, We Can't