Author Archives: Joseph LaFauci

The Armor Of God

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In a recent post, Leigh asked if my book discussed the armor of God. After considering the question, I decided to write this reply, which I hope will be helpful to everyone.

If you read my book, you will not find a topical discussion of the armor of God. Nevertheless, if we take a look at the verses which list the elements of this armor, we learn that they are discussed throughout the book. The armor of God is an integral part of our Christian life. Here is a synopsis of how I believe I cover the various aspects of the topic.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

(see the chapters: “God Is Light” and “From Glory To Glory”)

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

(see the chapters: “God IS Light” and “Building The Church”)

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

(see the chapters: “Words Of Faith”, “Rulers Of Darkness” and “Resistance Is Crucial”)

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

(see the chapters: “God Is Light” and “Resistance Is Crucial”)

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

(see the chapter: “Natural And Supernatural Prayer”)

Ephesians 6:14-18 (KJV)

In general, you will notice that over twenty-five percent of my book is scripture. My goal throughout the book is to show you how various principles and practices flow throughout The Bible. In other words, it is important not only to read scripture, but to connect the right verses together.
I appreciate and welcome your comments and questions!

Will Eternity Be Boring?

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Whenever you see a movie or hear most discussions about heaven or life in eternity, you are given images of floating on a cloud somewhere, listening to the angels singing praises to God.

I don’t know about you, but as much as I love God and enjoy praising him, I think that spending eternity like this could become rather uneventful after awhile. Rememver: we’re not talking about minutes, hours, days, months–or even years–we are talking about something which never ends! So from a biblical perspective, exactly what will we be doing for eternity?

I can not give you exact details, but if we consider Jesus, who is the first man to emerge victorious over death, we get a glimpse of what our future holds. According to 1 John 3:2, when Jesus returns (appears), we will be changed and be like him. So if we pay attention to the way he was after he was raised from the dead, we can learn a bit about the things we will be able to do in our new, glorified form when he comes to rapture us out of this current world. Remember when the apostles were huddled together in a room with the door locked tight for fear of the Jews who had crucified The Lord just three days earlier? While they sat there, Jesus appeared in their midst–seemingly out of nowhere!

In his new glorified body, he had the ability to zip around from one place to another with ease! Obviously, he could move through walls without any problem. When he walked with the men on the road to Emmaus, he was able to appear so that they did not recognize him. We also know that he ate fish with the apostles when he prepared breakfast for them by the sea.

At the end of the age, when God brings forth the new heaven and earth, everything will be perfect! We will have a new paradise much like the garden of Eden described in Genesis, only this time, it will never end!

Although our images of eternity are generally limited to views of heaven, we will also have a wonderful earthly paradise to enjoy! We won’t need air travel as we know it in order to travel all over the globe–or the universe! We will have spiritually powered bodies without the limitations of our current model. Our incorruptible and immortal bodies will last forever! Think about it: Jesus is already around two thousand years old!

This topic is fresh in my mind because of a stimulating discussion I had at our August Prayer Breakfast. Obviously, we can not make definite statements concerning how our new life will be living in the new heaven and earth, but the thoughts in this post seem to line up with scripture. I think we can look forward to an exciting adventure!

Awakened To Pray

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I remember several years ago, waking up in the middle of the night. Suddenly, I was led to pray for my grandfather. There was no audible voice, but the message was clear.

I had no detail on why I was supposed to pray, but when I did, I felt peaceful and had a strong impression that the prayers were important and were accomplishing something. I prayed with my understanding as well as with my spirit. After awhile, I relaxed and fell back to sleep.

The next day, I received word that my grandfather had suffered a heart attack. He was stable and ultimately recovered and lived for many more years. When I learned that the attack occurred around the time I was awakened in the night, I was amazed and thankful. I praised God for working to help my grandfather and began to learn about the importance and power of our prayers.

The Poor Butterfly

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If you look at my book cover, you will see a butterfly divided into two parts, representing good and evil.

The idea was inspired by a beautiful photo taken by a friend. With her permission, we posted it on our personal homepage.

During the production process of my book, my cover designer asked for our ideas on how the cover should look. My wife pointed out that she thought we should try to show the contrast between the beauty and goodness of God and the evil of the devil. She offered the butterfly photo as an illustration of God’s beauty.

What do you see when you look at the cover? Does it communicate to you? I’d love to hear your comments.

My short book trailer video is also based on the butterfly from the book cover. It is very brief so there isn’t much time to communicate the message. Once again, I would enjoy hearing your comments on its effectiveness.

God’s Work Requires Supernatural Power

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Last week, I enjoyed some time away from work. My wife and I spent time together and also enjoyed visiting with some dear friends. We encouraged one another to persevere. At times, the evil in the world seems overwhelming. Even God’s people are divided and confused. Some believe that God is in control of everything, so they just need to sit back and enjoy the show. Others are discouraged because they believe they need to partner with God to bring his will to earth, but they fail to see how their small contribution can make any significant difference.
In our discussions, I told my friends that I believed I had a message of hope to teach through my book. When we become children of God, we are transformed. We become supernatural people. In an earlier post, I shared that the significant issues in life originate from the spiritual realm. For this reason, we need spiritual power in order to succeed in life. David didn’t defeat the giant because he hit him with a stone. He defeated him because he was backed by almighty God!
As I read and listen to the news, I am often frustrated and even angry as I observe evil men and women gaining more and more power on earth. Many Christians believe that God’s judgment is bringing this evil upon us. Really? My bible says that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all! In Ephesians chapter five we are told that we are supposed to expose the works of darkness. This doesn’t mean we sit back and take our punishment. Jesus took everything we deserve upon himself. Too often we are deceived into believing that God is doing terrible things when it is actually coming from evil forces. If we can be tricked to stay out of the fight, evil simply continues to increase.
In my book, I systematically show you how and why we are in our current situation. But I also give you some practical information on how to become a child of God and begin to function in the supernatural world. We must learn to recognize and oppose evil and we must do it with supernatural power!
The news is filled with injustice, violations of privacy, lies, abuse of power in government and more. No matter what anyone tells you: if an action, initiative or law seeks to steal, kill or destroy our health, wealth or freedom, then it is based in evil. These are the criteria which Jesus set forth in the bible in John 10:10.
My mission is not to list the specific current events which are good or evil. Instead, I am giving you the means by which you can think for yourself, using godly standards to categorize things accordingly. Then, it becomes a matter of promoting that which is good and opposing that which is evil.

Celebrating Our Freedom

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As we celebrate another year as a nation, I am thankful for the men and women who have sacrificed so much to secure and preserve our freedom. It is easy to take our quality of life for granted. Instead, we should pray earnestly for God’s hand of blessing to remain upon us. Our prayers accomplish amazing things. As workers together with God, we can literally change the course of our nation.

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
Ezekiel 22:30

This verse, taken from the Old Testament, gives us some insight on the power of our prayers. If you read the verses preceding this one, you see a glimpse of the evil which was taking place in the city. Yet, God, by his proclamation, shows us that the fervent prayer of just one person could have saved even this land which was filled with corruption. Now that Jesus Christ has come and paid for our salvation, how much more can we accomplish when we partner with God through prayer?

There is a great deal of corruption in our nation. We are surrounded with moral decay, spiritual weakness, economic termoil and greed in government and business. Nevertheless, we need men and women who are willing to stand with and for God in prayer, knowing that as we remain steadfast, our God will bless us.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Psalms 33:12

Comments: Library Presentation

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My book signing at the library on Thursday included a presentation in which I gave an overview of my book, its message and the motivation behind it.

Most people reacted positively to it and there were some good questions. One man asked why he felt like his fight was against flesh and blood, even though I had mentioned the reference in Ephesians 6:12 where we learn that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces in high places.
This is a good, honest question. I explained that indeed, on the surface, our battles involve people and physical things, but that there is a spiritual component behind them. The origins of both good and evil are in the spirit realm.

At the end of the presentation, another person in the audience had a much different view on what she had heard. She was rather annoyed and her comments were, to say the least, haughty. She sharply proclaimed that mature Christians do not ask why because God is sovereign. Her implication was that god does everything and does it the way he wants it done.

I did not respond to the comment because at the time, my words would not have been properly measured. Rather than giving an answer of anger, I will now give an answer of truth based on scripture.

I would like to show you three verses which, I believe, are related on this topic. This is a major reason for my book. Basically, we can summarize these verses by asking three questions about God: What does he want us to do? What does he want to do for us? What kind of relationship can result?

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
James 2:23 (KJV)

In the verse from Hebrews, we see that God wants us to believe that he exists, and that he is able and anxious to bless (reward) us as we diligently seek him. As we observe and experience things in life, we must consider why they occur, and how we are supposed to respond to them.

In Jeremiah, we clearly see that God’s nature and plan for us is to prosper us and not to harm us. Therefore, in seeking to know and love God, we must also ask why there is so much death and destruction taking place in this world. Based on this verse, we know that it can’t be God who is doing these things.

The verse in James refers to Abraham as the friend of God. The way to become friends with someone is to visit with them, get to know them and talk with them. You can’t cultivate a friendship with God by merely sitting back and assuming that everything in life comes from him. If we believe that God’s desire is always to prosper us and never to bring us harm, then we must diligently seek to understand why there is so much sickness, death and destruction in the world at times. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t become very good friends with anyone who would love me at one turn and destroy me at another! Yet, many people who believe in God are presenting him as that kind of being. Their descriptions make God impersonal and distant.

There is a great deal more which can be written on this topic. Jesus said that he always did the will of God. He always healed people and brought them joy. He never harmed anyone. That is the standard and that is the nature of the God I serve!

Soothing Music

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We all have days when it is difficult to be peaceful. Life can deal its share of stresses and sorrows. One of God’s prescriptions for calming the soul is quiet, soothing music. I often find relaxation in sitting at my piano and simply playing a couple of songs. At other times, I pick up my MP3 player and headphones, and sit quietly, listening to some of my favorite selections. When I settle down, it is much easier to think, pray and otherwise function.

The past few days have been difficult. In times like this, I need to experience things such as beautiful music so that I can focus on God and his goodness. I would like to share some of my music with you for your enjoyment. I hope it will serve to settle and quiet your heart.

Click here and enjoy!

Book Signing — June 20, 2013

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If you are in the area, I invite you to join me at my next Book Signing event. The details are as follows:

When: June 20, 2013, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Where: Bartholomew County Public Library, Red Room

Notes from the library newsletter:

Local Author – Joseph LaFauci
June 20, 6:30 p.m., Red Room
In his new book Wanted in Hell: Named in Heaven, LaFauci deals with questions such as is there a God? Is there a devil? Do miracles happen? He also discusses the nature of God which at times seems contradictory. LaFauci will chat about his book and answer questions during this session. The author has been involved in biblical research for over thirty-five years.

Greetings!

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Welcome to my blog!
I have been a Christian for many years, and have recently written a book on Christian living which is a major focus of this site.
Since I am involved in a variety of activities, this blog may head in many interesting directions.
I enjoy music and play the piano. I am an Amateur Radio (ham) operator and appreciate it as a hobby as well as the value it adds in public service.
I am looking forward to posting and hope others will contribute as well.