“God With Us”
In the Garden of Eden, God walked with Adam and Eve. And ever since then, He’s been finding new ways to dwell with His creation. Today on Discover the Word, we’ll take a big-picture look at Scripture and God’s overall plan to dwell with us from Genesis to Revelation. Listen today to Discover the Word!
“Not by Might nor by Power”
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power . . . —1 Corinthians 2:4
If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people …
Thanks for Being You!
When I served as my mom’s live-in caregiver at a cancer center, I got to know Lori, another caregiver who lived down the hallway from us with her husband, Frank. I would chat, laugh, vent, cry, and pray with Lori in the shared living areas. We enjoyed supporting each other as we cared for our loved ones.
One day, I missed the free shuttle that took residents to buy groceries. Lori offered to drive me to the store later that evening. With grateful tears, I accepted her offer. “Thanks for being you,” I said. I truly appreciated her for who she…
6 Ways The Church Can Help Sexual Abuse Victims
“Who’s going to believe me?” she asked wearily, her head cradled on one hand. She was seeing me for counselling after being sexually abused for many years by a pastor. We were processing her childhood experiences of sexual abuse at the hands of the man who first led her to our Savior, and her feelings of helplessness all those years. “He’s a pastor!” she cried out vehemently.
Christian Perfection
It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, “It could never be God’s will for me to be sick”? If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn’t He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.
The Law and the Gospel
The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy.
Mary’s Risky Calling
“May everything you have said about me come true” (Luke 1:38). With those words a young (probably teenage) Mary responded to the greatest discipleship call ever given. She had been chosen to give birth to the Son of God. The ramifications…
