We act as if it doesn't matter how we live or what we think or say. We have moved in with the world, and we have allowed the world to penetrate the way we live. So the things that we used to call sin no longer seem to be sin to us.

The focus on self has led our society into a fascination with pleasure, emotional and sexual stimulation, and "personal fulfillment." America's compulsion for "maximum personhood" is evidenced everywhere.

As Christians, we are not to get our worlds mixed up... We are not to mingle with the world, but we are to witness to the world.

I believe this is one of the tests of the Spirit-filled life. Is Christ becoming more and more evident in my life? Are people seeing more of Him, and less of me?

There are thousands of people who have had some form of emotional experience that they refer to as conversion but who have never been truly converted to Christ. Christ demands a change in the way you live—and if your life does not conform to your experience, then you have every reason to doubt your experience!

As for the world system of evil, we are to be separated from it. This then is our problem: to associate with and love those who are involved in the world without being contaminated, influenced, or swayed by them. This distinction can be achieved only by a close walk with Christ, by constant prayer, and by seeking the Holy Spirit's leadership every hour of the day. We are in the world, but the world is not to be in us.

Memorizing the Bible is most important. "Thinking God's thoughts" will take the place of worried, anxious concerns.

Often, we try to tell God what we want Him to do—but ask Him to help you guard against this, and to seek His will instead of your own. Pray and ask God to guide you.

The cult of self has become an addiction—feeding off the ego of self-glorification. The word cult encompasses many movements and ideas, but simply put, it describes a culture of alternative beliefs, fads, and trends, and tampers with just enough truth to knock many off balance.

Many people ask about Christianity the same [way] they ask about everything else today: "What's in it for me?" In our selfishness, we think of God as we think of everyone else. What can He contribute to us, personally?

While separation does not mean disengagement from the world, there are certain activities and places that God clearly wants us to avoid not only to protect ourselves from spiritual harm but so that the witness we have will not be tarnished.

The church in America has been deeply infiltrated by the "world," and in the process it is beginning to copy and resemble the world in many of its activities.