• Topic > Christian Living

    Hurtful Words I Needed To Hear

    Every Wednesday, I meet with a team leader and my colleague Abigail* for lunch fellowship. Though it’s just the three of us, we thought to heed the call in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

    Mayday!

    The international distress signal “Mayday” is always repeated three times in a row—“mayday-mayday-mayday”—so the situation will be clearly understood as a life-threatening emergency. The word was created in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer at London’s Croydon Airport. That now-closed facility once had many flights to and from Le Bourget Airport in Paris. According to The National Maritime Museum, Mockford coined Mayday from the French word m’aidez, which means, “help me.”

    Throughout King David’s life, he faced life-threatening situations for which there seemed to be no way out. Yet, we read in Psalm 86 that during his darkest…

    Discovering the true riches of life

    The Bible has a lot to say about money. And John Cortines has always had a knack for handling it. He graduated high school with $10,000 in the bank. He finished college with $100,000 in his account. But it was while he was in Harvard Business School getting his MBA that he says he discovered […]

    When I Don’t Agree with the Bible

    Recently, a Christian friend of mine shared that she was going through a very rough patch in her life. Why would God, described in the Bible as the God of love, allow her to go through all that? she asked.

    Being a servant of the wealth God gave you

    When it comes to money, are you naturally a spender or a saver? Do you tend to sock it away, or buy a lot of stuff? Well, there’s actually a third option. Today on Discover the Word, we are joined by John Cortines to talk about how, as followers of Christ, we can be servants […]

    How Long Should I Wait for Marriage?

    At my Christian college, I quickly learned that most Christian couples marry young. We even have a phrase for it, “ring by spring”, which refers to two people getting engaged (ring) before graduating from college (by spring).

    Generosity is the cure for selfishness

    Today on Discover the Word, the group sits down with John Cortines to continue our week talking about “God and Money” by focusing on a sure cure for thinking selfishly about our money—generosity. It’s an encouraging look at the heart of our Father and it has some practical implications for your life as well. Grab […]

    Painting a Portrait

    The National Portrait Gallery in London, England, houses a treasure of paintings from across the centuries, including 166 images of Winston Churchill, 94 of William Shakespeare, and 20 of George Washington. With the older portraits, we may wonder: Is that what these individuals really looked like?

    For instance, there are 8 paintings of Scottish patriot William Wallace (c. 1270–1305), but we obviously don’t have photographs to compare them to. How do we know if the artists accurately represented Wallace?

    Something similar might be happening with the likeness of Jesus. Without realizing it, those who believe in Him are leaving an impression of…

    How your perspective and focus can change

    Everyone has an “ideal” plan for how their life should go. For John Cortines, that meant making a lot of money and retiring at 40. But today on Discover the Word, the group joins John in discussing how his perspective and life’s focus changed while getting his MBA at Harvard. It’s part of the weeklong […]

    Taking the Next Step

    When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.

    God and money

    Today on Discover the Word, the group is joined by special guest and author John Cortines. They’ll be discussing the topic of “God and Money,” as John shares how he discovered something he didn’t expect at Harvard Business School. Listen today to Discover the Word!

    Should We Give Help but Not Receive it?

    During dinner some days ago, my father lamented about how times have changed. It used to be that bosses care about their workers even outside of work.

    Loving Perfectly

    Her voice shook as she shared the problems she was having with her daughter. Worried about her teenager’s questionable friends, this concerned mum confiscated her daughter’s mobile phone and chaperoned her everywhere. Their relationship seemed only to go from bad to worse.

                When I spoke with the daughter, I discovered that she loves her mum dearly but is suffocating under a smothering love. She longs to break free.

                As imperfect beings, we all struggle in our relationships. Whether we are a parent or child, single or married, we grapple with expressing love the right way, saying and doing the right…

    The Gift of Welcome

    The dinner where we hosted families from five nations remains a wonderful memory. Somehow the conversation didn’t splinter into twos, but we all contributed to a discussion of life in London from the viewpoints of different parts of the world. At the end of the evening, my husband and I reflected that we had received more than we gave, including the warm feelings we experienced in fostering new friendships and learning about different cultures.

    The writer of the book of Hebrews concluded his thoughts with some exhortations for community life, including that his readers should continue to welcome strangers. For in…

    Loving like Jesus loves

    Tough love is true love. But it’s not always comfortable. Today on Discover the Word,  the group will finish their two-week look at Paul’s short New Testament letter to Philemon and examine how we love. It’s the last conversation exploring a “Plea from a Friend”! It’s a tough request that tests how serious Philemon was […]