No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes are in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is […]
1491) Keep Trying Until You Get Home Read More »
What’s the number one thing we can do to fill our churches? It’s probably not what you think. By John Stonestreet, at http://www.breakpoint.org, May 9, 2017 According to a new Gallup survey, the quality of the worship band isn’t the main reason people go to church. Neither is it thriving kids’ programs. Or
1490) What Do People Want? Read More »
(…continued) What we are told in the Bible is that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28). That being the case, there are a few things we should keep in mind. First of all, knowing what God’s three-part agenda is for us, we
1489) God’s Agenda for You (part three of three) Read More »
(…continued) Many stories in the Bible teach us that problems are a necessary part of the agenda, and, in the long run, the problems do everyone a lot of good. Let’s begin with the one fellow that was allowed to escape part #2 (at first, anyway), the Prodigal Son. He had the promise of
1488) God’s Agenda for You (part two of three) Read More »
When I go to a meeting or a class or a conference, I like to know what to expect. I like to see a program or an agenda or a schedule, so I can know when the sessions will begin, when they will end, who the speakers will be, when we will have
1487) God’s Agenda for You (part one of three) Read More »
Many Mid-East nations have (or, once had) significant Christian minorities. Many of the refugees you see on the news are Christians fleeing not only the wars, but genocidal persecution specifically targeting them as Christians. Recent victories by the Iraqi army over ISIS forces have allowed some of these Christians to return home. The fifteen photos
1486) Images of the Persecuted Church Read More »
By Will Campbell, Baptist minister, author, unconventional civil rights activist, and ‘pastor to bigots,’ (1924-2013); in Brother to a Dragonfly, 1978, pages 38-40. —————— Joe was the worker. I was the sickly one. Sister was just that– Sister. Paul was the baby. We lived that way and if those categories and designations and
1485) The Way Things Were Supposed to Be, I Suppose Read More »
Many people complain that life is just not fair. But actually, when you think about, that’s a good thing. The way to begin thinking about this is to ask ourselves what we had before God entered the picture; and of course, God entered the picture at the very beginning to
1484) The Good News is Life Isn’t Fair Read More »
From Rick Warren’s Daily Hope devotional blog, April 28 & 29, 2017, at: http://www.pastorrick.com —————————— Our natural tendency is to hate our enemies or at least to avoid them at all cost. But if you run from conflict, you’re going to be miserable most of your life. Jesus calls us to a higher
1483) Blessed Are the Peacemakers Read More »
In the final petition of the Lord’s prayer we ask God to deliver us from evil. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism also refers to such protection from evil in Luther’s explanation to the First Article of the Apostle’s Creed where he says God, “defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all
1482) Deliver Us From Evil Read More »
