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Everyone knows what stew is. It's the meat-and-vegetable dish you put in a pot, simmer in a slow boil, and then eat. Yet Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary offers another definition. It describes stew as "a state of being agitated, disturbed." This same definition also includes the phrase "stewing in one's own juices" - meaning, "to allow trouble and agitation to simmer; to continue in a disturbed state of mind."

We Americans tend to overlap these two meanings of the word "stew." Whenever we want to describe our troubled emotions, for instance, we use cooking terms. For example:

The Bible tells us that when Christ ascended to heaven, He took up the ministry of High Priest to all who come to Him by faith. "...this man [Jesus], because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood" (Hebrews 7:24).

Jesus is unchangeable! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. As long as you live, He will be your High Priest in heaven, interceding on your behalf. And He will remain your High Priest until you go home to be with Him.

The book of First Samuel tells us that an unnamed prophet came to Eli with an awful message. This unknown man delivered an amazing prophecy — one that has everything to do with what we see going on in the church today. It is a word that reveals much about dead, dry, ungodly ministers and churches in operation right now!

"By the fear of the LORD men depart from evil" (Proverbs 16:6).

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil" (Proverbs 8:13).

"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me" (John 14:21).

"And this is love, that we walk after his commandments" (2 John 6).

Nothing baffles me more than Christians who remain fickle, even though they sit under a clear, strong gospel message! I can't understand how some of God's children can be so committed to Him one moment, and then turn around and become so cool the next.

This sin actually baffles God! It both bewilders and frustrates Him! In His Word, God speaks His mind to a people who had received a very clear call to repentance. The Lord sent the prophet Hosea to Israel with this message:

I don't have a television or a VCR, and by God's grace I have been kept from all forms of pornography. But consider the Christians who have TV — and cable as well. It's after 10 p.m., the kids are in bed, and they sit and watch an R- or X-rated movie. Right before their eyes they see adults fornicating and performing every evil thing from hell. Both spirit and body get caught up in it. Or, there might be this scenario: You are away from home and nobody knows you. You are feeling alone and a curious urge comes over you.

We know the Holy Spirit has come to "convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment" (John 16:8). The Puritans interpreted the Greek correctly in rendering it, "When He, the Holy Ghost, shall come, He will give demonstration concerning sin, righteousness and judgment."

How will the Holy Spirit produce this conviction in a Laodicean age? How will He convict a world growing more corrupt and chaotic by the hour? How will He convict our unconverted loved ones, especially when there is so little preaching that is anointed by the Spirit?

There are three great truths I would like to bring to your attention. Each is a definition of what a true Christian ought to be.

Three anointed men of God best exemplify these truths and they are John the Baptist, Stephen, and Peter. John was the voice, Stephen mirrored the glory, and Peter took the daring step of faith. Their examples should be the goal of every true believer who is devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The devil's final strategy in deceiving believers is to make them doubt the faithfulness of God in answering prayer. Satan would have us believe God has shut His ears to our cry and left us to work things out for ourselves.

Christians are strange creatures. They travel the world, preaching the love of Jesus and His forgiveness for any and all sin. They tell the heathen, the addict, the alcoholic, the prostitute - "Come to Christ and be forgiven. He forgave your sins at the Cross - so come and receive forgiveness and healing for all your hurts. You can have peace and be free of guilt." As a result sinners, who have been guilty of every conceivable kind of dark and evil deed, gladly come to Christ and are instantly forgiven and delivered from their guilt.