From the Standing Strong Through the Storm daily devotion, August 30, 2018, at: http://www.oopendoorsusa.org ***************************** Prior to her Christian husband being released from prison in Iran, Maheen, feared that she might be arrested too. So she seriously prayed, “Dear Lord, I am not ready to go to a solitary confinement because of my Christian faith. It […]
2962) “You Can’t Evangelize Me” Read More »
From The Last Word, by William Willimon, pages 119-121. In one of my congregations, we decided that we needed to grow. We voted to launch a program of evangelism. We studied a program from our denomination telling us how to get new members. Among other things, the church-growth program advocated a system of door-to-door visitation. So we organized
2784) Church Ladies Learn About Temptation Read More »
Bill was one of the volunteers for the ‘Meals on Wheels’ program in his small town. He had recently retired and enjoyed delivering the meals three days a week to several of the elderly folks in the community. One of the folks he delivered to was his old fishing buddy, Jake. Bill would
2689) Bill and Jake (a) Read More »
The following was adapted from a 2010 sermon by Lutheran seminary professor and pastor Walter Sundberg. ————————- Romans 10:9 — If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Confess with your mouth, it says. To
2508) Confessing Christ (a) Read More »
A story told by Tom Housholder, pastor/evangelist in the former American Lutheran Church. The story took place in the 1950’s in Housholder’s first congregation. I heard him tell this story when I was on internship in Sisseton, South Dakota in 1979. ————————— Elmer lived the life of a hermit in a remote cabin
2414) “Lord, Get A Hold of Elmer” Read More »
Above: The bad white cop and the innocent black man– why are they smiling? —————————— While many non-Christians in our society are becoming increasingly anti-Christian, the power of Christian forgiveness can still astound and inspire everyone. No other belief system has the equivalent of forgiving your brother “seventy times seven,” much less commands you to love your
2412) Bad White Cop Frames Innocent Black Man; and Then… Read More »
Posted December 25, 2019 at http://www.opendoorsusa.org , in the Standing Strong Through the Storm daily devotional. ———————————– A depressed Chinese communist local party boss went to a church to hear the preaching of a very sincere and learned elder he knew. Here is his story in his own words: It was the
2188) Christmas for an Atheist Chinese Communist Read More »
Voice of the Martyrs is an international organization that supports and encourages Christians wherever they are persecuted– which is in many countries, the very worst which is North Korea. Each year VOM produces an short film for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church in November. This year’s video tells the story
2082) Evangelism in North Korea Read More »
From the August 15, 2018 Open Doors daily devotional Standing Strong Through the Storm. —————————————– Perhaps the most difficult of Jesus’ commands is to love even our enemies. A true Christian always seeks another person’s highest good—even when mistreated. Brother Andrew says “The Christian’s only method of destroying his enemies is to ‘love’ them
1954) “The Next Time We Meet” Read More »
F. Kefa Sempangi (above) was pastor of the large Redeemed Church of Uganda. He tells this story in his 1979 book A Distant Grief. Easter Sunday 1973 was his first serious brush with death at the hands of Idi Amin’s goons. After an all-day worship service he went exhausted to the vestry to change clothes—
1872) “I’m a Dead Man” Read More »
