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The Valley of Vision
The Puritan prayer “The Valley of Vision” speaks of the distance between a sinful man and his holy God. The man says to God, “Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision . . . ; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.” Aware of his wrongs, the man still has hope. He continues, “Stars can be seen from the deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine.” Finally, the poem ends with a request: “Let me find Thy light in my darkness, . . . Thy glory in my valley.”
Jonah found God’s glory during his time in…
Unshackled From My Sin For Good
Sin. This three-letter word dominated my life. Although I called myself a Christian, I committed the same sins over and over again: watching pornographic movies, smoking, and drinking strong liquor.
An Exchange
Jen sat on her patio pondering a scary question: Should she write a book? She had enjoyed writing a blog and speaking in public but felt God might want her to do more. “I asked God if He wanted me to do this,” she said. She talked with Him and asked for His leading.
She began to wonder if God wanted her to write about her husband’s pornography addiction and how God was working in his life and their marriage. But then she thought that it might publicly disrespect him. So she prayed, “What if we wrote it together?” and she…
Raise Your Hand
The St. Olaf Choir from Northfield, Minnesota, is renowned for making beautiful music. One reason for its excellence is the selection process. Applicants are chosen based not only on how well they sing but also on how they sound as part of the whole. Another reason is that all members agree to make the choir their first priority and commit to a rigorous rehearsal and performance schedule.
One of the things that intrigues me the most about this choir is what happens during rehearsals. Whenever members make a mistake, they raise their hand. Instead of trying to hide the blunder, they…
Failure Is Not Fatal
Prime Minister Winston Churchill knew how to bolster the spirits of the British people during World War II. On June 18, 1940, he told a frightened populace, “Hitler knows that he will have to break us . . . or lose the war. . . . Let us therefore brace . . . and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire [lasts] for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour!’ ”
We would all like to be remembered for our “finest hour.” Perhaps the apostle Peter’s finest hour was when he proclaimed, “You are…
I am Loved by the One I Despised
Written By Edwin B. Yambot, Philippines Growing up in a poverty-stricken and hostile environment, I was ashamed of my life. And though my grandmother was a devout Methodist, my negative perception about the world impeded my growth in the Christian faith and contributed to my cynicism about God. After graduating with a degree in Social […]
The Blame Game
I’ve been blamed for a lot of things, and rightly so. My sin, failure, and incompetence have caused grief, anxiety, and inconvenience for friends and family (and probably even for strangers). I’ve also been blamed for things that were not my fault, things I was powerless to change.
While listening to the Bible study on May 29th on I Corinthians 1: 3-7, I realized where the Lord has placed me as a Barnabas. 26 years after choosing an abortion for an unplanned pregnancy, I found healing and restoration in a Bible study for post-abortive women at a pregnancy care center. Through that experience, I began to volunteer at a local pregnancy care center. About a year ago, I had the blessed experience of co-facilitating the same post-abortive study (Forgiven and Set Free) with the woman who was the facilitator when I went through the study. I rejoiced in seeing the participants transform as they accepted God's forgiveness and embraced freedom. I still volunteer at our local center and always come home feeling blessed by the clients the Lord brings my way. Not all are post-abortive, but all are on the road I once took. God is so awesome in the plans that He has for us!
ReadAs young adults, Derek and his girlfriend chose to abort four pregnancies. Then they both came to know Jesus as their Savior. “And that’s what literally changed the course of…
WatchAs I grew up, I knew my grandma as a saint. She didn't just get her bible out of the closet on Sunday, go to church and then come home and do her own thing the rest of the week. She went to church every Sunday morning and night, every Wednesday night, until they passed, she did ladies hair for church every Saturday. She was also on the prayer chain at her church. And every morning, she read Our Daily Bread (which is why I started reading it too :) ). But I went too church when I had too, at her house on any weekend. I was baptized at her church at the age of 9, but nothing changed. I kept living the same (not sinful, but not saintly), kept watching the same shows, sleeping in on Sunday mornings, normally, etc. But, at the age of 16, I was in a bad accident that almost, should of, killed me (fell off a bridge off a motorcycle 30 ft; shattered pelvis, broke a leg, arm, a finger and my collarbone and sustained a traumatic brain injury. Spent 4 1/2 months in the hospital, a year in a wheelchair and shattered dreams (Air Force Academy was no longer an option.) But then God orchestrated events that brought me closer to Him. Met a kid in High School at lunch who inspired me to read the Bible, at CU met my current best friend (who's currently a missionary in Spain to North African Nations) who led a Bible Study and with whom I started attending church regularly. Baptized in 1984, bad accident in 1991, started reading the Bible in 1993, attending church regularly in 1994. (Also started reading Our Daily Bread in 1995.) Maybe, not the right way, but better late than never!
ReadAre We Any Different From The Bali Nine Duo?
Photo Source Written by Wendy Wong On 29 April this year, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran died, after what has been a highly fought and watched case involving two big nations that has dragged on for the past 10 years. In 2006, the Bali Nine duo (as they are also known) recruited seven other Australians […]
My husband was involved in a vehicular accident March 2010. A sleepy motorbike rider collided with Fier from behind and they both crashed in one of the busiest sections of EDSA. It was the first miracle that he had that day, no other vehicle was behind him and he had a chance to get up and walked to the side of the road. Second miracle of that day was he never lost consciousness - he was fully alert of what was happening and even had the chance to call and inform me of what happened.
He underwent surgery to put a metal plate to support his shattered right collarbone.
The other guy fled the scene and the third miracle that day was that a fellow motorbike rider helped my husband and they were able to get the license plate of the guy who collided with my husband. After a few months, I was able to trace the guy who collided with him.
We met with him and his mother. He explained that he was up partying all night and fell asleep on the wheel.
If you know who I am, you would expect that I will burst out throwing expletives to the guy for all the trouble that he'd caused. We were neck-deep in hospital bills and my husband wasn't able to work for 2 months. Everyone who knew me back then would expect me to file a lawsuit and wrung-dry the guys family for moral damages.
But lo and behold, I was able to keep calm and let God do all the work. My husband and I agreed to forgive him - which I think surprised both him and his mother. We just told him to be careful next time and that he should not be behind the wheel if he's not in a condition to be. We parted ways and my husband and I both had this heavy weight lifted from us because we have given forgiveness.
The Lord indeed moves in mysterious ways. His love and mercy can soften even the hardest of hearts. There is blessing when we forgive just as the Lord had forgiven our sins.
Thanks be to God!
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Why I Started Thinking About Resurrection
I was having dinner with a good friend one evening, when she suddenly asked, “So what exactly is Good Friday all about?” It was the first time anyone had asked me such a question, and I was caught off guard. Thankfully, I managed to recover from my surprise, and explained to my friend, who was […]
