Category: CHURCH & MINISTRY
Believing in Jesus Christ, Made Simple
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” That question may well be the most important one in the Bible. The Apostle Paul didn’t take a long time to answer the jailer in Philippi who asked it. His response was straightforward: “Believe in the Lord Jesus,...
The Distraction Dilemma
I thought to myself, “I’ll take a brisk walk outside just for a few moments to enjoy the sunlight and to regain some energy and perspective.“ Well, on the way out of the house, I noticed that some cookie crumbs had been spilled on the floor,...
What People with Intellectual Disabilities Need More than Anything Else
Over fifteen years ago, I was in our unfinished basement painting the concrete floor. The door at the top of the steps opened and my wife came down the stairs with a look I’ll never forget that said, “Our lives are going to be different now.”...
Leaving Your Church for Another Close By
At least initially, no one who believed and was baptized and came into the membership of the church in Corinth could then leave that church and join another close by. That was not an option since there was only one local church in the area. Every...
An Inspiring Tale About the Public Reading of Scripture and its Effects
Jackson was a newly married young man, converted as a teen and eagerly participating in his local church ever since. One Saturday evening as he and his wife were finishing up a documentary, he got a call from one of his pastors. He asked if Jackson...
The Old Church
There is no shame in getting old — not for you, or for churches. It is a bad mistake to demean a person for it, when you are headed the same direction and neither of you can stop it. It’s a double shame to defame a...
What Insufferable Itches Have to Do With the Advance of the Gospel
When hard times come, what do people hear from your lips? Those who saw Paul in Rome under house arrest awaiting trial (see the end of Acts) probably didn’t think he was doing so well. After all, he was in chains! I can imagine the guards...
Your Very Worst Problem
Death is not the worst thing that can happen to you. The worst thing that can happen to you, or to any human being, is to die on the wrong side of God’s judgment. As Jesus said of Judas after he exposed himself as a greedy...
Pain for Him; Gain for Them
Muslim extremists murdered Ayub’s grandmother on one of the islands of Indonesia. We stayed in the home of this warmhearted Christian leader a few years ago. He serves as an elder for the church meeting in a home nearby. We loved this brother and his wife...
Moses, Joshua, Jesus, and Rest
I’m sure you know the feeling of restlessness. There is a longing deep in our bones that desires rest. No nap can fix this lack of rest. Augustine, a prominent Christian from the third and fourth centuries, knew of this restlessness. He prayed, “You have made...
