Welcome to Trinity Fortress Christian Ministries

At Trinity Fortress, we hope to reach the people we touch as a ministry of teaching, healing and hope. We will go forth as God leads us in outreach, but also strive to reveal as much of God's Word and Will as possible along the way. That includes this website, where we will be regularly posting devotional material and prayerful insight. We just revised the site, and this part is new, so join us as we grow in God's Word and check in regularly for brief spiritual updates and scriptural commentary as part of your day's walk with the Lord.

We typically post our own messages here, driven by our inspirations and experiences as we feel led to relate them. However, Andrew Wommack has posted a message on his website that we wanted to share, and we are re-posting it in its entirety here with all due credit to him and his ministry. I do not want to run afoul of any copyright laws, but I don't believe Mr. Wommack will mind us spreading his message for him as long as we acknowledge him as the source.

At our Gospel Truth Seminars, I always take time before meetings to talk with friends and partners. One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “What do I need to do to receive the blessings of God?” It is usually followed by this explanation: “I have been praying, reading my Bible, going to church, and paying my tithes, yet I don’t seem to be able to get my prayers answered.”

In that question and explanation lies the root of the problem: They have fallen into the trap of linking God’s response to their performance. They have not properly understood the balance of grace and faith and their relationship to each other.

By definition, the word grace means unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor. Therefore, the good news is, grace has nothing to do with you. Grace existed before you ever came to be. Another way of saying it is, grace is God’s part. Faith is defined as being a positive response to what God has already provided by grace. In other words, faith is your positive response to God’s grace, or faith only appropriates what God has already provided for you. Therefore, faith is your part.

Grace and faith work together, and they must be in balance. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Sometimes we read a passage from Scripture that is so familiar, we don’t stop to think about what it is really saying. In this verse, a profound truth is being declared. It says we are saved by grace through faith, not one or the other. Think of it this way—grace is what God does; faith is what we do. It takes both working together to receive salvation.

Salvation is not dependent on grace alone. If it were, everyone would be saved and going to heaven, for God’s grace is the same toward everyone (Titus 2:11). He has already brought the gift of salvation to everyone through Jesus. It is by faith that a person receives what was done 2,000 years ago.

Most of us believe that in order to be saved, we need to ask God to forgive us of our sins. But that isn’t what the Bible teaches. In 1 John 2:2, it states that Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. Jesus didn’t just die for those He knew would accept Him; He died for every sinner who has ever lived on this earth. And He died before you or I ever committed a single sin.

Here is a radical truth that would get me kicked out of most churches: Sin is not an issue with God! The Lord isn’t waiting for us to ask Him to forgive us of our sins. The sins of the entire world—past, present, and future—have already been forgiven. Even a man like Adolf Hitler had grace extended to him! Jesus loved Hitler and paid for his sins just as He did for you and me. God is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:4).

God has already done His part; it is now up to you to receive the truth by faith and make it a reality in your life. Amen!

John 1:29 states, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (New International Version).

In John 16:8-9, Jesus said, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me.”

The church often misinterprets this scripture and preaches that the Holy Spirit is here to convict you of all your sins. That is not what the Holy Spirit is here to do. He is here to convict you of the single sin of not receiving Jesus as your Savior. The only conviction is that of believing in Jesus Christ.

People do not go to hell for committing adultery, stealing, or even murder. Those, like all sins, have already been paid for. This is what the Bible says in John 16:8-9—the only sin that is going to send people to hell is the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. So stop magnifying sin in your life!

The message that much of the church is preaching causes us to become conscious of sin instead of conscious of righteousness (Rom. 3:19-20). It also causes us to link our performance to all the other blessings of God.

God’s grace has provided not only for salvation but also for every need of your life. That provision is not based on whether you are reading the Bible enough, praying enough, going to church, or even paying your tithes. Before you ever had a financial need, God created the provision. Before you were sick, God, through grace, provided your healing (1 Pet. 2:24). Before you ever became discouraged, God blessed you with all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3). God anticipated every need you could ever have and has met those needs through Jesus before you existed. That’s grace.

Jesus hasn’t saved, healed, delivered, or prospered a single person in the last 2,000 years. What God has provided by grace 2,000 years ago now becomes a reality when mixed with faith. Faith appropriates what God has already provided. Faith doesn’t move God; He isn’t the one who is stuck. Faith doesn’t make God do anything. Grace and faith work together, and our part is to accept what God has already done. Grace must be balanced with faith.

Many Christians believe that God moves sovereignly as He wills when He wills. That is because religion teaches that God controls everything, and nothing can happen without His permission. However, it’s not true; everything isn’t up to God. I have a teaching called The Believer’s Authority that explains this more in detail.

For instance, when my father died, I was told God needed him in heaven more than I needed him here. Even at twelve years old, I knew better than that. Why would God need my dad in heaven? God didn’t kill my dad. That is not what the Word of God teaches. The Scripture makes it very clear that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (Heb. 2:14 and 1 John 3:8). Satan is the one who goes about seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Satan is the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

God is being misrepresented. If He was guilty of all the things we blame Him for, there isn’t a civilized nation on the face of this earth that wouldn’t convict Him of crimes against humanity. I think the idea that God either causes or allows evil so that somehow, we will grow spiritually is the worst heresy in the body of Christ. It renders people passive and takes away their hope.

If you really believe that God controls everything, what’s the use of doing anything? After all, it’s all up to God. If you believe that God is trying to teach you something through sickness or poverty, why see a doctor or look for a good job? Why not suffer as much as you can and really learn the lesson? I mean, how dumb can you be and still breathe?

Brothers and sisters, that is terrible doctrine. The Bible says that in the last days, people will call evil good and good evil (Is. 5:20). There are denominations today teaching that when you get sick or experience financial problems, God is causing it so that He can teach you something or humble you. That is an example of calling evil good.

God is not responsible for killing babies, for rape, violence, poverty, or sickness. Satan is the author of evil, and the Bible clearly states that we are to resist the Enemy (James 4:7). Resist means to actively fight against something. If we aren’t fighting against sickness, for example, then we are submitting to it. To casually say to Satan “Please leave us alone” is not resisting the devil. We need to get angry at the devil, and we won’t get angry if we believe that God is the one either causing or allowing the problem.

God’s will doesn’t automatically come to pass. Jesus said that not everybody will be saved (Matt. 7:13), yet Scripture says it is the will of God that none should perish (2 Pet. 3:9). God has provided salvation, healing, financial provision, and everything else we need. But if we don’t respond in faith to what has been provided by grace, we won’t receive.

God’s will is for everyone to be healed. Acts 10:38 says that Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, and it called what He did “good.” And 1 Peter 2:24 tells us that we were healed by His stripes, yet most of us still do not receive His healing into our lives.

It is not the truth that sets you free; it’s the truth you know that will set you free (John 8:32). And the truth is that you need to put your faith in what God has already done, not in what you do. God, by His grace, has already provided healing, prosperity, forgiveness for sin, and much more. However, it must be appropriated by faith.

God has done His part by giving His Son, Jesus. His grace has provided everything through the sacrifice of Jesus. This is nearly too good to be true because there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn it and nothing we can do to lose it. Our part is simple: We respond to His grace by faith and appropriate what has already been accomplished.

As simple as this sounds, most Christians don’t understand this concept. Make sure that is not you. This is foundational to your relationship with God and the reason you may not be seeing your prayers answered. To help, I have just released my new book, Living in the Balance of Grace and Faith. It is also available in CD and DVD formats.

Don’t confuse this with my very first book, which I wrote in 1987, entitled Grace and Faith. This was a short version of what has now evolved into a more complete teaching, Living in the Balance of Grace and Faith. I believe this message is at the heart of the Gospel, and it’s the heart of the message God has given me to help transform the world. Because of that, I am releasing this new book in hardcover version.

Many emphasize grace and others emphasize faith. But too few emphasize balancing grace and faith. It’s like sodium and chloride: Taken individually, both are poisons and can kill you. When mixed together, they become salt, which you must have to live. Grace without your positive response of faith won’t save you. And faith that isn’t a response to God’s grace will bring you into condemnation. But put your faith in what God has already done for you, and you have the victory that overcomes the world (1 John 5:4).

Much is being said through the prophets in these days about true Christianity and the Lord’s followers walking in that which He originally created us to be. The Lord has also been impressing that upon me for quite some time now as well.

Genesis tells us that we’re created in the image of God. The word ‘image’ in this context is derived from a Hebrew word that means, ‘likeness,’ ‘semblance of’ or ‘a shadow of.’ God made man to be like Him – not just in the physical, which is how we most often interpret it, but in the spiritual as well. However, even though Adam and Eve were told by God that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “…in that day you shall surely die,” they did eat of it. And they did die – not physically, but spiritually.

This is why, throughout the entire Old Testament times, man had to exist and operate under the law and separated from the original union with God for which he was created. However, Jesus Christ came as a man under that law, and gave his life on the cross to restore man to relationship with God and to make it possible for man to be indwelled with the Holy Spirit (born again) once more.

Before He did that, though, Jesus, in his earthly ministry, gave us the example of what and who we are supposed to be in this earth. He told us in Matthew 10:8 to “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.” These are the things that He did, and He in fact said that we would do greater works than these. In John 14:12, He said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”

Unfortunately, this is not happening in most of today’s churches or by the majority who call themselves Christians. The message and example of Christ has been so watered down that, not only are these works no longer expected, but most people – even Christians – are amazed if and when they actually do happen. The original disciples of Jesus were not only recognized by their power, but were feared by many people because of it. How many of us are recognized as followers of Christ today outside of the surroundings of the church by our words and conduct, let alone our power and works in his Name? (And I include myself in that.)

I believe that the Lord is calling his people to return to Him fully - to seek his face, to spend time alone with Him, to desire intimacy with Him with all of our hearts – to return once again to what He created us to be in Him, and to do the greater works that we should be doing through Him. I pray for that to happen.

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." - 1 Corinthians 4:20

Chaos and confusion swirl around you, and you are weary and worn by the troubles in your life. Worrying about what to do next is only adding to your stress and you feel lost.

Know in your heart that our God is not the author of confusion, but rather the author of peace. The chaos and confusion are getting you down because you are focusing on them and not on Jesus Christ. You have to learn to let go of the stress, let go of the troubles and give them up for God to resolve. As long as you focus on the trouble, you will have trouble. As long as you focus on the peace that Jesus offers, you will have peace.

And worrying is only making worse. Does your worry go one single step to resolving any of the problems in your life? Of course not, it only adds to your misery, even amplifying it and you have to learn to refuse to worry about things. Trust God, not yourself or your own devices for answers.

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace ..." - 1 Corinthians 14:33

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6:25-34