When Work is Routine and Life is a Bore
Disappointment. Boredom. Routine. These three words aptly described how I felt towards my job at the beginning of 2017.
Waiting in Anticipation
Every May Day (May 1) in Oxford, England, an early morning crowd gathers to welcome spring. At 6:00, the Magdalen College Choir sings from the top of Magdalen Tower. Thousands wait in anticipation for the dark night to be broken by song and the ringing of bells. Like the revelers, I often wait. I wait […]
Spontaneous Love
Love is not premeditated—it is spontaneous; that is, it bursts forth in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of precise certainty in Paul’s description of love. We cannot predetermine our thoughts and actions by saying, “Now I will never think any evil thoughts, and I will believe everything that Jesus would have me to believe.” No, the characteristic of love is spontaneity. We don’t deliberately set the statements of Jesus before us as our standard, but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without even realizing it.
Invitation From The King Of Kings!
Imagine you went to the mailbox today and found a personal invitation to the upcoming Royal Wedding. How would you respond? Well, today on Discover the Word, the team kicks off a new series of discussions about an invitation that has been extended to you from the King of Kings. How are you going to respond? Be at […]
Where Is God In The Midst Of Heartbreak?
I lay face down on my bed, soaking my pillow with tears. Crickets chirped and whirred, cloaked in the darkness outside my window. I drew the warm blanket over my head, wanting to keep the world out.
Breaking the Chains
We found our visit to Christ Church Cathedral in Stone Town, Zanzibar, deeply moving, for it sits on the site of what was formerly the largest slave market in East Africa. The designers of this cathedral wanted to show through a physical symbol how the gospel breaks the chains of slavery. No longer would the location be a place of evil deeds and horrible atrocities, but of God’s embodied grace.
Those who built the cathedral wanted to express how Jesus’s death on the cross provides freedom from sin—that which the apostle Paul speaks of in his letter to the church at…
Gracious Uncertainty
…it has not yet been revealed what we shall be… —1 John 3:2
Our natural inclination is to be so precise– trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next– that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual…
What Does It Mean to Be Sanctified?
Someone recently wrote “#holy” on my dorm room door. I live in a dorm at a Christian college and facilitate a weekly Bible study on my floor, so this innovative hashtag made me smile. It also brought to mind a question I have been wrestling with for the past several weeks.
Take Another Look at Jesus!
If there ever was a faithful person, it was Brother Justice. He was committed to his marriage, dedicated to his job as a postal worker, and stationed each Sunday at his post as a leader in our local church. I visited my childhood church recently, and perched on the upright piano was the same bell that Brother Justice rang to notify us that the time for Bible study was about to end. The bell has endured the test of time. And although Brother Justice has been with the Lord for years, his legacy of faithfulness also endures.
Hebrews 3 brings a…
What You Will Get
I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go. —Jeremiah 45:5
This is the firm and immovable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him– “I will give your life to you….” What more does a man want than his life? It is the essential thing. “…your life…as a prize…” means that wherever you may go, even if it is…
Submission: A Blessing or Bane?
I grew up in a very lenient family where my parents would give me advice, but let me make the final decision. As a result, I learned to pursue after my own interests, feelings, and dreams.
On-the-Job Training
When my son’s teacher asked me to serve as a chaperone for their science camp, I hesitated. How could I be a role model when mistakes littered my past, when I still struggled, stumbled, and slipped into old bad habits? God helped me love and raise my son, but I often doubted He could use me to serve others.
Sometimes I still fail to recognize that God—the only perfect One, the only One who can change hearts and lives—transforms us over time. Then the Holy Spirit reminds me how Paul encouraged Timothy to embrace his on-the-job training, persevere in faith, and…
Celebrating The Beauty Of Unity In Diversity
Today on Discover the Word, we conclude our two-week series on building unity within the church called “Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?” As we’ll see, it’s not about getting everyone to think the way we do, but letting God transform our hearts to be like His. Learn to celebrate differences and the beauty […]
What Do You Want?
Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person? God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts— He wants you to get to know Him. Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.
If you have only come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means.
5 Reasons I Believe in the Trinity
Ten years ago, I rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. I grew up with the concept that there is one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
