The biblical answers to some of today’s toughest questions aren’t always what we want to hear. In his new book, Hope for This Present Crisis, Dr. Michael Youssef addresses these tough questions and more. He describes how, in an effort to make God more relatable and appealing, “modern Christianity has presented God as our best buddy” rather than “the almighty Creator of the universe, supremely holy and righteous, whose unveiled face would strike us dead from its glory.”
“Yes, because of the saving work of Jesus Christ, God now calls us friends (see John 15:12-17), but He is also our Lord and King,” Youssef says. “He is a loving and merciful Father, but He is also a just and fierce judge; what He says in His Word, He means.
“Too often, when modern pastors and theologians are offended by Scripture, they explain away the portions that make them uncomfortable, such as passages about the sinfulness of homosexuality,” Youssef says. They reason that the grace of Jesus has altered the standards for righteousness found in the Old Testament. Then, when faced with New Testament passages that also call homosexuality sin, they blame Paul, saying he misunderstood the culture and nature of man.”
Youssef points to this line of thinking as dangerous. “If Paul was wrong about sexual morality in Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1, then what else was he wrong about? Has God’s Word erred?
“Beloved, as author and professor Norman Geisler warned, ‘Once you deny the inerrancy of the Bible, you don’t have any basis for your teaching. And you’ve lost the power of God because if it’s not the Word of God—if what the Bible says is not what God is saying—then how can we preach it with authority and life-transforming ability?'”
According to Youssef, Christians cannot twist the Scripture to serve their purposes. God has been faithful to provide a Scripture that was written over the course of 1,600 years containing hundreds of fulfilled prophecies, corroborated historical events and harmonious accounts.
“The gospel may be challenging and offensive to our pride, but it is the only thing that saves,” Youssef says. “A watered-down gospel is not Good News. But if we give Scripture the authority it deserves in our lives, using it to illuminate the darkness even when it becomes uncomfortable, unpopular and costly, we will become a people who spread the Good News of the gospel to the glory of God.”
Hope for This Present Crisisis available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BAM, Christianbook.com and Leading The Way.
Youssef was born in Egypt and lived in Lebanon and Australia before coming to the United States and fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming an American citizen. He holds degrees from Moore College in Sydney, Australia, and Fuller Theological Seminary in California, with a Ph.D. in social anthropology from Emory University. He founded The Church of The Apostles, which was the launching pad for Leading The Way’s international ministry. Youssef has authored more than 40 books, including popular titles like Jesus, Jihad and Peace and Saving Christianity?
Youssef is the host of the popular TV and radio broadcast Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, which airs more than 13,000 times every week across six continents in 26 languages—reaching audiences in nearly every major city in the world. His programs attract tens of millions of viewers weekly in the U.S. on major TV networks, including TBN, Daystar, Fox Business, Lifetime, GOD TV, CTN, NRB TV and more.
Equipped with a keen understanding of the Bible, the Middle East, sociological trends in the Western world and popular Christian worldview issues, Youssef is a sought-after voice whose expertise is regularly requested on both secular and Christian media, including Huckabee, Fox & Friends, Eric Metaxas, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Christian Post, Fox News, Hannity, Glenn Beck, The 700 Club and more. He and his wife reside in Atlanta and have four grown children and 10 grandchildren.
Hope for This Present Crisis is published by FrontLine, an imprint of Charisma House. {eoa}
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