Month: June 2016

In His Presence

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Forgiveness for those who hurt us the most

Is there a family hurt you can’t seem to get past? A word, an action, or a mistake that makes forgiveness seem impossible? Today on Discover the Word, we will discuss how to offer God’s forgiveness to those who’ve hurt us the most. We’re finding “The Beauty of Broken” today  on Discover the Word!

His Loving Presence

Our hearts sank when we learned that our good friend Cindy had been diagnosed with cancer. Cindy was a vibrant person whose life blessed all who crossed her path. My wife and I rejoiced when she went into remission, but a few months later her cancer returned with a vengeance. In our minds she was too young to die. Her husband told me about her last hours. When she was weak and hardly able to talk, Cindy whispered to him, “Just be with me.” What she wanted more than anything in those dark moments was his loving presence.

The writer to…

God loves your child

When our son wanders off course or our daughter makes poor decisions, we may wonder if they have completely missed God’s plan for their life. Today on Discover the Word, we will offer hope and encouragement for worried moms and dads. A hope-filled reminder about how much God loves your child . . . today […]

Serving Christ

“I’m a secretary,” a friend told me. “When I tell people this, they sometimes look at me with a certain pity. But when they find out who I am secretary for, they open their eyes with admiration!” In other words, society often defines some jobs as less important than others, unless those jobs happen to relate in some way to rich or famous people.

         For the child of God, however, any occupation, regardless of the earthly boss, can be held proudly because we serve the Lord Jesus.

In Ephesians 6, Paul talks to servants and masters. He reminds both groups that…

When I was 9 years old I was involved in a car accident. I had a traumatic brain injury, four rather painful brain surgeries later, the last of which was a frontal lobotomy, they removed the front 5th of my brain because it was all scar tissue. I have had no side effects following the surgery, an occasional migraine, but God has spared me from the usual loss of depth perception, and loss of character. I was forced to face eternity and come to grips with the fleeting life that we all face. I am often reminded of David, but not comparing myself to him. When he was a young boy he was anointed king by Samuel. This all played out in 1 Samuel 16, we see Samuel called by God to Bethlehem to anoint a king that would be too young to drive in our day and time. Samuel viewed each of Jesse's children, they were tall, strong and fit all the requirements you would expect of a king; ” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” My heart was changed from the time I had the car accident as a small boy, I have used my story to share the greatness and saving power of God more times than I can count. David was a man after God's own heart, he told everyone he met of God's power and influence in his life, he was quick to give God glory for his victories. David heard God's call early in life, and it changed his perspective, the saving power of Christ changes us. No matter what you look like, or your past, remember that outward appearance means nothing when it comes to matters of the heart.

When I first joined Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA in 1973, I attended Sunday School with my two kids, David who was age 5 and Linda who was age 2. I did not know anything about the bible. I learned quickly from my teacher, Mrs. Annie B. Mahone. She had taught the adult ladies class for years and loved every minute of it.. She was my inspiration. She took it upon herself to mail out our church bulletins to the sick and shut in of our church at her own expense. As fate would have it, she became ill and found that because of poor circulation in her legs, she had to make some decisions. She would either have to live with the pain or have both her legs amputated. The pain was horrific so she allowed them to be amputated. When I found out she was in rehab, I went to see her preparing myself for the worse. Now this woman was 85 years old when this happened so I didn't know what to expect. She was calm and confident and so rooted in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that she put everyone around her at ease. No tears, no frowns just praising the Lord for his goodness. Wow! what a testimony. once she came home, I decided to ask her if she wanted to continue sending out the bulletins. She said yes so every Wednesday or Thursday I go over to her house and we sit and get the bulletins ready to be mailed out. Mrs. Mahone has learned how to get in and out of bed, go to the bathroom and even walk a little on her stubbies. Her son and daughter-in-law each take turns staying with her at night. She is a wonderful person who has not let her disability dampen her spirits for life. She is now 90 years old and doing fine. People need to know that with God's help, anything is possible.

Healing found in surrender

How do we respond when a loved one doesn’t live up to our expectations? Today on Discover the Word, the group shares personal experiences with letting go and allowing Jesus to touch their family members’ hearts. Discover the healing found in surrender with the Discover the Word!

A Remote Location

Tristan da Cunha Island is famous for its isolation. It is the most remote inhabited island in the world, thanks to the 288 people who call it home. The island is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, 1,750 miles from South Africa—the nearest mainland. Anyone who might want to drop by for a visit has to travel by boat for 7 days because the island has no airstrip.

            Jesus and His followers were in a somewhat remote area when He produced a miraculous meal for thousands of hungry people. Before His miracle, Jesus said to His disciples, “[These people] have…

Every family needs the healing touch of Jesus

Whether it’s a troubled marriage, rebellious children, or generational sin, we may think our brokenness is unusual for a Christian family. But today on Discover the Word, we’ll discover that family fractures are typical in every home! Join the team as they look at why every family needs the healing touch of the Savior. A […]

Learning to Love

Love does more than make “the world go round,” as an old song says. It also makes us immensely vulnerable. From time to time, we may say to ourselves: “Why love when others do not show appreciation?” or “Why love and open myself up to hurt?” But the apostle Paul gives a clear and simple reason to pursue love: “These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Follow the way of love” (1 Cor. 13:13–14:1).

            “Love is an activity, the essential activity of God himself,” writes Bible commentator C. K. Barrett, “and when men…

Matthew

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God’s restoration process for the broken

When we ask for healing in our families, often our expectation is that our prayer will be answered instantaneously. But when it’s not we can feel like God has let us down. Be sure to listen today on Discover the Word, when we study God’s restoration process for broken families. Explore the process with us today on […]

Hoo-ah!

The U.S. Army’s expression “hoo-ah” is a guttural response barked when troops voice approval. Its original meaning is lost to history, but some say it is derived from an old acronym HUA—Heard, Understood, and Acknowledged. I first heard the word in basic training.

            Many years later it found its way into my vocabulary again when I began to meet on Wednesday mornings with a group of men to study the Scriptures. One morning one of the men—a former member of the 82nd Airborne Division—was reading one of the psalms and came to the notation selah that occurs throughout the psalms. Instead…

Abba, Father

The scene belonged on a Father’s Day card. As a dad muscled a lawn mower ahead of him with one hand, he expertly towed a child’s wagon behind him with the other. In the wagon sat his three-year-old daughter, delighted at the noisy tour of their yard. This might not be the safest choice, but who says men can’t multitask?

            If you had a good dad, a scene like that can invoke fantastic memories. But for many, “Dad” is an incomplete concept. Where are we to turn if our fathers are gone, or if they fail us, or even if…