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"He said unto them...with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath" (Mark 4:24-25).

Jesus knew these words might sound strange to non-spiritual ears. So he preceded his message by saying, "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear" (4:23). He was telling us, in essence, "If your heart is open to God's Spirit, you'll understand what I have to say to you."

A sincere Christian man asked me the following question in a letter recently: "Whom do we believe? Over the years I've read the works of many ministers who were convinced the end was near. Yet over and over they've missed it. I realize now that some were just trying to sell a book. But others truly thought God was telling them the end was upon us.

A crack-addicted mother killed her own six-year-old daughter, Elisa, suffocating her with a pillow.

Four-year-old Nadine starved to death in her mother's house in the Bronx. Police found the girl locked in a bedroom — shriveled, emaciated, curled up in the fetal position. All her cries for help had gone unheeded by her crack-addicted mother.

"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

"They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end" (Psalm 107:23-27).

The devil does everything in his power to make his voice heard in this world. At one point he even had the audacity to interrupt Jesus while the Lord was speaking in the synagogue:

In just a few short years, the Spirit of God has raised up a strong testimony to the power of Christ — right in the heart of America's largest city — New York.

In the Mark Hellinger Theater, one of New York's largest, most beautiful theaters, God has established a church where hundreds of repentant believers from many nationalities are reaching out to the poorest and neediest in this crumbling city.

The press has been surprised by the continual growth and outreaches of Times Square Church. New York City papers ran stories about "Standing Room Only For Jesus On Broadway."

"For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.... Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 6:13,15, KJV).

There is a portion of Scripture that convicts me deeply. It involves a great and terrible responsibility that no true disciple of Jesus Christ can ignore. Jesus said, "I am the vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit...If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned..." (John 15:1-2,6).

"According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day" (Romans 11:8).

"For the Lord hath poured out upon you the Spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your leaders, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed" (Isaiah 29:10-11).

Unbelief grieves the heart of God more than any other sin committed on earth. He considers it a crime to doubt His word or to question His faithfulness. We Christians cry out against the sins of the flesh - homosexuality, alcoholism, drug abuse, adultery. We call them vile abominations, and they are! But God is mostly concerned about the sins of the heart. The real issues of life and death have to do with how a person thinks - with what goes on in his mind.