Topic > Christian Ministry & the Church
“The Character of a Leader”
We all have people we influence—whether we know it or not. And so in that sense, we are all leaders. Today the Discover the Word team invites Dr. John Townsend back to the table to discuss what it takes to be a godly leader. Learn to lead with integrity and wisdom, wherever God has placed you! […]
A Shattered Dream Isn’t the End
A fairy princess? A queen? Those may be some of the typical titles that little girls aspire to, but that wasn’t me. Believe it or not, my dream was to become a “physical therapist missionary in Africa”.
Bringing our passions to the call to worship
As a culture, we sure do get excited about our sports! The Super Bowl, March Madness, the World Series, the World Cup, these are anticipated events that we’d never miss! But often, we don’t bring that same enthusiasm to worshiping God on Sunday! Today on Discover the Word, we’re talking about our passions, and our […]
All Generations
My parents married in 1933 during the Great Depression. My wife and I are Baby Boomers, part of the dramatic increase in births following World War II. Our four daughters, born in the seventies and eighties, belong to Generations X and Y. Growing up in such different times, it’s not surprising that we have different […]
Building Community
“Community” is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives, says Henri Nouwen. Often we surround ourselves with the people we most want to live with, which forms a club or a clique, not a community. Anyone can form a club; it takes grace, shared vision, and hard work to form a community.
The Christian church was the first institution in history to bring together on equal footing Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slaves and free. The apostle Paul waxed eloquent on this “mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God.” By forming a…
Playing in Concert
During our granddaughter’s school band concert, I was impressed by how well this group of 11- and 12-year-olds played together. If each of them had wanted to be a solo performer, they could not have achieved individually what the band did collectively. The woodwinds, brass, and percussion sections all played their parts and the result was beautiful music!
To the followers of Jesus in Rome, Paul wrote, “In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (Rom. 12:5–6). Among the gifts…
“Why, Jesus?”
Have you ever wanted to ask Jesus a question? Today on Discover the Word, the team kicks off a new series from Mark chapter 2 titled, “Why, Jesus?” They’ll examine four key questions asked of Jesus and how His answers clarified His mission. Listen to Discover the Word today!
The Bond of Peace
After I confronted my friend by email over a matter on which we had differed, she didn’t respond. Had I overstepped? I didn’t want to worsen the situation by pestering her, but neither did I want to leave things unresolved before she went on a trip overseas. As she popped into my mind throughout the following days, I prayed for her, unsure of the way forward. Then one morning I went for a walk in our local park and saw her, pain etched on her face as she glimpsed me. “Thank you, Lord, that I can talk to her,” I…
What Missing “My Calling” Taught Me
She had lost the baby. When I heard that she was expecting, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t believe that this woman—whom God had revealed to me a few months prior that she would conceive this year—was already pregnant!
So You Think You Have the Best Bucket List?
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Recently my sons’ school principal addressed his students with this line from Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day”, recognizing that with their best years lying ahead of them, life was full of wonder and possibility.
My Identity Crisis: All I Wanted Was to Fit In
I spent a large part of my adolescence searching for my identity as if it were a lost item to be found. I suppose it was because a large part of my childhood and early teenage years was spent moving between various states in Malaysia before settling in Auckland, New Zealand.
When My Hard Work Amounted to Nothing
I know people who are avid fans of Japanese author Haruki Murakami—his most notable books include Norwegian Wood and 1Q84. But while I don’t understand the extent of their fanaticism, I do see why Murakami’s works are so well-received
Scattering Seeds
I received a wonderful email from a woman who wrote, “Your mom was my first-grade teacher at Putnam City in 1958. She was a great teacher and very kind, but strict! She made us learn the 23rd psalm and say it in front of the class, and I was horrified. But it was the only contact I had with the Bible until 1997 when I became a Christian. And the memories of Mrs. McCasland came flooding back as I re-read it.”
Jesus told a large crowd a parable about the farmer who sowed his seed that fell on different types of…
What is God Calling Me To Do?
There have been so many times in my life when I didn’t know what to do. Sometimes, those moments were silly, and getting the answer wrong didn’t have significant consequences.
Why I Stopped Full-Time Work
Two years ago, God called my husband and I to take a year off work to spend time seeking Him. We had just completed our sixth year of work. So I quit my job while my husband took no pay leave.
