How do we survive heart-rending grief?
When we go through a dark night of the soul, it can feel like God has abandoned us, like He’s hiding from our troubles. Join us today with our special guest, Jean Syswerda, as we learn how to pray the psalms during times of pain.
When It is Frowned Upon to Share Your Faith
One of my most vivid memories of college was my Sunday morning routine. I would wake up at 7:00 a.m. to attend a rehearsal before the early service at my local church, where I played the cello in the ensemble.
Not Saying Goodbye
Francis Allen led me to Jesus, and now it was nearly time for Francis to meet Jesus face to face. I was at his home as it grew time for him to say goodbye. I wanted to say something memorable and meaningful.
For nearly an hour I stood by his bed. He laughed hard at the stories I told on myself. Then he got tired, we got serious, and he spent his energy rounding off some rough edges he still saw in my life. I listened, even as I tried to sort out how to say goodbye.
He stopped me before I…
Seeing Beyond Loss
Author William Zinsser described his last visit to see the house where he grew up, a place he greatly loved as a boy. When he and his wife arrived at the hill overlooking Manhasset Bay and Long Island Sound, they found that the house had been demolished. All that remained was a huge hole. Disheartened, they walked to the nearby seawall. Zinsser looked across the bay, absorbing the sights and sounds. Later, he wrote of this experience, “I was at ease and only slightly sad. The view was intact: the unique configuration of land and sea I remember so well…
Desert Places
Dry. Dusty. Dangerous. A desert. A place where there is little water, a place hostile to life. It’s not surprising, then, that the word deserted describes a place that is uninhabited. Life there is hard. Few people choose it. But sometimes we can’t avoid it.
In Scripture, God’s people were familiar with desert life. Much of the Middle East, including Israel, is desert. But there are lush exceptions, like the Jordan Valley and areas surrounding the Sea of Galilee. God chose to “raise His family” in a place surrounded by wilderness, a place where He could make His goodness known to His…
Why I Came Out Of My Comfort Zone
Written by Sukma Sari Cornelius, originally in Bahasa Indonesia “There is no comfort in growth zone, there is no growth in comfort zone.” I cannot help but think about pearls when I read this statement. The beautiful gems are formed not in the midst of comfortable situations. Instead, they are formed from many layers of […]
A perspective that can help in difficult times
The famous preacher, Charles Spurgeon, once said that for Christians, even death is gain. “No evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good.” Listen in today as we conclude our study in Psalm 91.
Help for a Heavy Load
It’s amazing what you can haul with a bicycle. An average adult with a specialized trailer (and a bit of determination) can use a bicycle to tow up to 300 pounds at 10 mph. There’s just one problem: Hauling a heavier load means moving more slowly. A person hauling 600 pounds of work equipment or personal possessions would only be able to move at a pace of 8 miles in one hour.
Moses carried another kind of weight in the wilderness—an emotional weight that kept him at a standstill. The Israelites’ intense craving for meat instead of manna had reduced them…
How can we be confident in the security of God?
Even though God has promised to always be with us, we still experience pain, suffering, and hardships. So how can we be confident in the security of God? Discover the answer to that question today in our study of Psalm 91.
How I Discovered My Spiritual Gift
“Do you have a spiritual goal in your life?” the guest speaker asked us during a youth ministry meeting one Saturday evening. He then explained that if we were born just to grow up, study, get married, have children, become old, and finally die, this meant that we would be living only to meet death.
Grace in Our Hearts
A few years ago, four-star General Peter Chiarelli (the No. 2 general in the US Army at that time) was mistaken for a waiter by a senior presidential advisor at a formal Washington dinner. As the general stood behind her in his dress uniform, the senior advisor asked him to get her a beverage. She then realized her mistake, and the general graciously eased her embarrassment by cheerfully refilling her glass and even inviting her to join his family sometime for dinner.
The word gracious comes from the word grace, and it can mean an act of kindness or courtesy, like the…
Can we claim the Bible’s promises for ourselves?
The Bible is full of what sound like amazing promises from God. but do all those ancient assurances apply to us today? Join us as we continue investigating Psalm 91, and discover whether it contains promises we can claim for ourselves.
What It Takes to Have Strong Faith
Have you ever felt like you’re up against a tsunami wave with nowhere to turn? Have you ever proclaimed and declared that God is sovereign, but found it a little hard to hold on to this truth when there’s a huge wave or a mountain in front of you?
