“Therefore, in the present case, I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5: 38-39)

            This advice came from someone  outside the Christian faith who nonetheless knew something about the power of God. The power of God was something to understand and come into alignment with; it is not a thing to be overcome.

            What surprises me isn’t that there are so many people in the world who know nothing about the power of God. It’s the fact that so many followers of Christ have forgotten the power of God as well. Too many of us wring our hands over the latest Barna statistic, or the latest poll from “Time,” convinced that the assessment of a few tweed-bound academics that America is now a “post-Christian” nation is accurate. We wring our hands over “these kids today,” or “this generation,” forgetting that the future isn’t actually in their hands, any more than the present is in our hands. All of us, believers and non-believers alike, rest in God’s hands. We have what we call a “Gospel.” The term means “good news.” And we are guaranteed by Jesus, that nothing can stop the Gospel. All the “bad news” in the world cannot overcome the “good news” of God. Those who oppose the Gospel do not fight in opposition to us; they are in opposition to God, a position doomed to failure. It is that destiny, the destination of heaven that should inform our hearts, and make us both brave and optimistic for his kingdom.