"TRUST" is the word for this year at Jacob’s Well Fellowship. We can "Totally Rest Under Sovereign Testing". 

We are declaring without apology the freedom we have to boast in the cross. It is the supernatural edge God has given His people to rejoice, pray, and give thinks without pause, without permission, and with unparalleled power. It sets us apart from Satan and all his world worshipping cronies. It declares that we are indeed different, deliberate, defiant, and yes detestable in the eyes of the world worshippers. We have been changed . . .

Eph 2:1-6   It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. (MSG)

NOTE:   there is no ambiguity when it comes to knowing Who is the ultimate Authority in any and every circumstance. The World may want to have a conversation, but the Church will say, “Look out, lest God give you a painful demonstration”. We will not backup, shut up, nor put up with the whims of a cursed world that boasts in its fleshly arrogance. We submit to man’s law as long as it is in accordance with God’s Law. When that ceases, they cease to be His avenger and become those who must be avenged .

Rom 13:3-4   For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”     ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Rom 12:2    Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (MSG)

NOTE:   Christians are “Saved Not Soft”. We have been called to expose the worthless deeds of evil and darkness, not simply be appalled. JWF will continue to call out the evil of cultural norms and political regimes that seek to defy the authority of God’s Word. We will celebrate with love the things the Lord loves and we will defy with disdain the things that the Lord HATES . . .

Eph 5:10-11   Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. (NLT)

“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”                                   ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Prov 6:16-19   There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

Psalm 94   Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs, let your glory shine out. Arise and judge the earth; sentence the proud to the penalties they deserve. Lord, how long shall the wicked be allowed to triumph and exult? Hear their insolence! See their arrogance! How these men of evil boast! See them oppressing your people, O Lord, afflicting those you love. They murder widows, immigrants, and orphans, for “The Lord isn’t looking,” they say, “and besides, he doesn’t care.” Fools! Is God deaf and blind—he who makes ears and eyes? He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you? He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing? The Lord is fully aware of how limited and futile the thoughts of mankind are, so he helps us by punishing us. This makes us follow his paths and gives us respite from our enemies while God traps them and destroys them. The Lord will not forsake his people, for they are his prize. Judgment will again be just, and all the upright will rejoice. Who will protect me from the wicked? Who will be my shield? I would have died unless the Lord had helped me. I screamed, “I’m slipping, Lord!” and he was kind and saved me. Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer. Will you permit a corrupt government to rule under your protection—a government permitting wrong to defeat right? Do you approve of those who condemn the innocent to death? No! The Lord my God is my fortress—the mighty Rock where I can hide. God has made the sins of evil men to boomerang upon them! He will destroy them by their own plans. Jehovah our God will cut them off.