As followers of Jesus, how can we go from fear to faith in the midst of the constant changes, challenges and chaos that define our world today? Under these circumstances, how can we continue to look to a brighter future?
In his 9th annual Understanding The Times Tour, Dr Kameel Majdali addresses these issues and more, sharing his belief that it’s God’s will for us to be situationally aware. As Christians, we need to know how to respond to some of the big cultural and social shifts that are occurring around us.
Be Aware
‘We do ourselves no favours by putting our head in the sand and hoping it will go away,’ says Kameel. ‘The fact is, God wants us to be like the sons of Issachar, understanding the times to know what we need to do. We will of course hear things and see things we don’t like. But that’s not the point.’
Kameel believes that you can’t have a solution until you’re aware of the problem, but we must be wise and discerning when it comes to our sources of information. There are a lot of outright lies and fake news. But the truth is out there, and it’s not hard to find.
Dealing With Fear
‘Most importantly, of course, is your spiritual life,’ says Kameel. ‘If you are guided by God’s Word and filled with this Holy Spirit, you are in the optimal position to do something constructive, not just civically. I do encourage civic involvement. But spiritually, history has been changed through prayer, fasting and prophetic acts by God’s people, led by God’s spirit.’
As we start to become more aware of these things, we may experience some fear. How as Christians can we respond when we’re feeling that sense of fear? God, of course, is the source of all good and perfect gifts. And one of those good and perfect gifts is courage. Another way of putting it is fearlessness.
The Power of The Holy Spirit
According to Kameel, there is more than one way of dealing with fear. ‘Drawing close to Him is a good way to deal with fear,’ says Kameel. ‘Because when the love of God comes in, the fear of God goes out. In fact, it tells us in 1 John, perfect love casts out fear.’
Faith can also cancel out fear and put the backbone of steel within us. In addition to that, being filled with the Holy Spirit helps us deal with fear. ‘Proverbs 28:1 says the righteous are bold as a lion,’ says Kameel. ‘We will see boldness and empowerment when we welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives.’
A Biblical Filter For Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is another thing that we’re hearing a lot about at the moment, but is it something we should be embracing? Does the Bible say anything about artificial intelligence?
‘There’s a sense that it’s already here and it’s not going away,’ says Kameel, ‘and we need to have some boundaries. It’s more important not to be resistant to change, but to have common sense parameters.’
‘We need to be wise and discerning and prudent on where limits need to be placed.’
Watch Finding Courage in a World Gone Mad with Kameel Majdali below:
