Ministry > Our Daily Bread
NEW: What difference does God make when I feel anxious?
How do you stop anxiety? Maybe we can’t. After all, anxiety isn’t just a switch we can flick on or off. But maybe we can bring our anxiety, stress and panic attacks to the God who is so much bigger than us. These Bible readings are not here to give you a quick-fix recovery programme. They are here to show…
NEW: Big Questions about . . . having fun
You want to live your best life. We all do. But doesn’t God kind of get in the way of that? Isn’t He all about “do this”, “don’t do that”, “I’m watching you . . .”? Is a life with Him full of misery and boredom?
Get answers to the big questions about having fun, and you might just find…
NEW: Big Questions about . . . God
Is there a God out there? How can we know for sure? And if he is there, what’s the plan?
Who God is and what he’s got to say to us is hugely important! If he is speaking loud and clear, then the worst thing we can do is shrug our shoulders and ignore him. But where do you start?…
Honest to God
My three-year-old grandson’s day was off to a rotten start. He couldn’t find his favorite shirt. The shoes he wanted to wear were too hot. He fussed and fumed at his grandmother and then sat down to cry.
“Why are you so upset?” I asked him. We talked for a while and after he calmed down, I gently inquired, “Have you been good for Grandma?” He looked thoughtfully at his shoes and responded, “No, I was bad. I’m sorry.”
My heart went out to him. Instead of denying what he had done, he was honest. In the following moments we asked Jesus…
How to Find Peace
“What do you think about peace?” my friend asked as we ate lunch together. “Peace?” I said, puzzled. “I’m not sure—why do you ask?” He answered, “Well, as you jiggled your foot during the church service I wondered if you’re agitated about something. Have you considered the peace God gives to those who love Him?”
That day some years ago, I was a bit hurt by my friend’s question, but it started me on a journey. I began exploring the Bible to see how God’s people embraced this gift of well-being, of peace, even in the midst of hardship. As I…
Are You Hungry Now?
Thomas knew what he needed to do. Having been born to a poor family in India and adopted by Americans, upon a return trip to India he witnessed the dire needs of the children in his hometown. So he knew he had to help. He began making plans to return to the US, finish his education, make a lot of money, and come back in the future.
Then, after reading James 2:14–18 in which the apostle asks, “What good is it . . . if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?,” Thomas heard a little girl in his…
Through a New Lens
“It’s amazing to look at a tree and see the individual leaves instead of just a blur of green!” my dad said. I couldn’t have said it better. I was eighteen at the time and not a fan of my new need to wear glasses, but they changed the way I saw everything, making the blurry beautiful!
When reading Scripture, I view certain books like I do when I look at trees without my glasses. There doesn’t seem to be much to see. But noticing details can reveal the beauty in a boring passage.
This happened to me when I was reading…
When Sharks Won’t Bite
My children were thrilled, but I felt uneasy. During a family vacation, we visited an aquarium where people were encouraged to pet small sharks kept in a special tank. When I asked the attendant if the creatures ever snapped at fingers in the water, she explained that the sharks had recently been fed and then given extra food. They wouldn’t bite because they weren’t hungry.
What I learned about shark petting makes sense according to a proverb in the Bible: “One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet” (Proverbs 27:7). Hunger—that…
Divine Diversions
It can be difficult when we’re told “no” or “not now,” especially when we sense God has opened a door for us to serve others. Early in my ministry, two opportunities came my way where I thought my gifts and skills matched the churches’ needs, but both doors eventually closed. After these two disappointments, another position came along, and I was selected. With that ministry call came thirteen years of life-touching pastoral labors.
Twice in Acts 16 Paul and company were redirected by God. First, they were “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia”…
Reading John
The Gospel of the Son Who Reveals the Father
John and the Synoptics
While each of the four gospels is unique in many ways, the first three—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—have a great deal in common. We call these three the “Synoptic” Gospels (synoptic means “viewed together”) because they have so much in common. Approximately 90% of the stories and teaching in Mark’s…
Reading Luke
The Gospel of the Savior for Lost People Everywhere
Have you ever walked out of a movie or finished a book and said, “There has to be a sequel!” Something about the story just wasn’t quite finished; there were loose ends to tie up, more angles to explore, a conflict yet to be resolved.
One of the most important keys to…
Reading Mark
The Gospel of the Suffering Son of God
Sometimes the best stories have surprising twists in their plots. In Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery, And Then There Were None, the killer turns out to be someone you would never suspect (I won’t spoil it for you). In Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, the selfish and self-loathing Sydney Carton shockingly…
Untying the Rope
A Christian organization works to promote the healing nature of forgiveness. One of their activities involves a skit in which a person who has been wronged is strapped back to back with a rope to the wrongdoer. Only the one sinned against can untie the rope. No matter what she does, she’s got someone on her back. Without forgiveness—without untying the rope—she cannot escape.
Offering forgiveness to someone who comes to us in sorrow for their wrongdoing begins the process of releasing us and them from the bitterness and pain that can cling to us over wrongs we’ve suffered. In Genesis,…
Introducing the Gospels
We all love getting good news. Sometimes good news comes that only makes a good situation better. Sometimes we get good news that is what we have been hanging our hopes on, something that will fix a bad situation, bring hope where there seems to be none. That’s what the gospel is. It’s the good news that brings hope to…
Reading Matthew
The Gospel of the Messianic King of the Jews
When I was growing up, the most anticipated day of the year was... Christmas! I loved everything about Christmas: decorating the tree, hanging up lights, roasted turkey and cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie! And of course, there was the anticipation of the toys underneath the tree on Christmas morning. The Sears mail order…
