First penned twenty years ago for Lifeway.com. the story and message below captured a moment in my life when the act of thanking God became a deeply personal and profound act of faith. I have never viewed my problems in the same way, as each has become a fresh opportunity to trust Him... and to …
Tag: Spiritual Formation
How Every Ministry in the Church is to Fulfill the Great Commission
A small group of senior adults met early at the church on Sunday mornings to pray for the classes and worship services that would follow. Theirs was a ministry of prayer for the pastors, deacons, Sunday School teachers, and workers who would soon be filling the church hallways and walkways. One week they invited me …
Continue reading How Every Ministry in the Church is to Fulfill the Great Commission
On Hearing a Sermon
When I was young in the Lord — without being told that I should — I listened eagerly to preachers as they picked up Scripture. It was rarely because I knew the speaker and who they really were as people, but rather it was because I anticipated that He was about to speak to me. …
The Master “Group Plan” of Discipleship
“(Y’all) Go therefore and (y’all) make disciples of all the nations, (y’all) baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (y’all) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you (i.e. y’all)…” ~ Matthew 28:19-20 PRV (Pucik Revised Version) In Greek and Hebrew and …
The Walk
1. It is waiting on the Lord who renews and sustains me (Psalm 103:5, Isaiah 40:31). 2. It is a walk He sustains (Psalm. 63:8). 3. It is a walk that originated in the Garden and was damaged and destroyed by sin. Man no longer naturally longs to walk with God. Man would rather wander …
He Guides the Heart
Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:5 a prayer that He will guide my heart to two destinations... 1. the love of God & 2. the patience of Christ personal experiences with Him that become observable qualities in me only …
You Can’t Have Two Altars in Your Heart
The book of Judges is an account of one of the darkest periods in the history of God's people. Armed with His promises but weak in faith, the first generation to enter the Promised Land convinced themselves it was too hard to drive out the Canaanites. Defeat became a way of life. Settling down to …
What God Starts, God Finishes
"...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6 Does the Bible really say that? I was stunned sitting in that pew on a Sunday night... and deeply moved. A few months earlier I had been sitting …
The Inner Vision
"...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or …
Bible Reading Strategies for the New Year
In the summer of 1980 I worked as a night watchman for an airline. As a new Christian and college student, I spent long hours reading God’s Word for the first time. Tears and laughter filled my nights as the Lord opened up the Scriptures to my young heart. Early in my Christian walk I …
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