Publisher's Synopsis
This book (also marketed under the name RUN TO THE GIANT) is a study on the development of "Great Faith." Jesus taught that one version of "great faith" was simply the understanding of "authority," something the Church World has mostly ignored. The Centurion in Matthew chapter 8 understood authority and Jesus marveled at his "great faith."
Most everything Jesus did was with the use of "authority." He never asked God the Father to heal anyone. He didn't ask His Father to stop the storm. He didn't ask God in Heaven to raise the dead. He simply spoke with authority and these things were done. Then, He told His followers to go and do the same, but we almost never do. What are we missing? The multiple lexicon definitions for the Greek word, "exousia," used in the New Testament and translated as the word "authority," are as follows: "To be permissible or allowed." "The permission, right, liberty, and power to do anything." "It may be used either as the right or the capability to do a certain action." "It can also involve ability, power, strength, and dominion." "Exousia denotes executive power and represents the authority granting power." "Exousia also means justified, rightly supra-ordinated power." In addition, Exousia can mean "to cover the whole body as the head is covered." It also means, "the power that governs, and/or the power of the throne." CHAPTER SIX of this book, titled "Wear Your Badge, asks this question: What would you think of a policeman who has the authority to stop a crime in progress, but instead of using his authority, he just stands by while a woman is being mugged at the ATM? And while watching, he says, "I wonder why the Mayor is allowing this to happen?" Then, after the mugging, in an attempt to comfort the woman, the same policeman says, "The Mayor is sovereign and he allowed this mugging for a reason and your loss of money is for your own good. It's just not for you to understand at this point in time." Would you think that such an officer fully understands why he was hired (called)? Does that officer comprehend the power and authority that was purposefully assigned to him for the good of the people? Of course, this whole scenario sounds foolish, yet many of us apply this very same thinking to Christian circumstances every day. Why? Because for the most part, we have failed in understanding the Gospel, our job description, our authority, and God's will. There are things you need to "know" before you can choose to believe them, or not. But, if you choose to believe, with the right knowledge, great faith isn't as far out of reach as you might think. In fact, the very word used for "faith" in the original language (pistis), actually means "to know." It is our purpose to help you gain such knowledge. Faith comes by hearing, but you must hear the right things. Religion doesn't bring faith, but the words of Jesus can. Faith can come alive and start churning in your entire being. It can turn you into a person of authority, but again, you must hear the right things. Authority is the power and right to grant or deny permission, and Satan does nothing without permission. Authority is the power and right to allow or disallow; to say "yes" or "no" to anything that concerns a true Believer. It is the power to tell someone, or some thing, what to do. God gave permission to Satan to afflict Job. But now, under the New Covenant, Satan has to get that same permission from us. You probably won't believe that at first, but that's exactly the authority Jesus gave us in Luke 10:19. It is your choice to believe.. Jesus went about destroying the works of the devil (sickness, disease, etc.) That's what the Bible specifically says, and He did it with authority. We're mostly taught to focus on our fallen condition, instead of who we were meant to be. It is time to believe we're really made in His image.
