“Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.” -Proverbs 27:2 One does not need to observe the current American political process for long to see that it often brings out the worst in people. By its nature, it encourages self-promotion. Each election cycle involves endless interviews…
2020 Entering a new year is generally accompanied by large doses of optimism and hope as people consider the various opportunities and possibilities that lie before them. But 2020 carries with it a certain foreboding. Many people are concerned about what the future holds. Issues There are obvious reasons for this apprehension. On November 3,…
My father used to say that partial obedience to God is disobedience. There is an interesting account found in Genesis chapter 12. God told Abram, “Get out of your country, from your family and from you father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). Verse four states, “So Abram departed as…
On May 10, 1940, Winston Churchill became the prime minister of Great Britain. It was Britain’s darkest hour. The former prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, had tried to reason with Adolph Hitler. He failed, and Europe lay devastated before the German Wehrmacht. Nothing could stop the onslaught of Nazi Panzer divisions racing across France. At last,…
I grew up in a sparse mission setting in Canada. My father pastored a small church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. During his twelve years as pastor of Faith Baptist Church, God led us and our mission churches to plant dozens of new churches and mission posts across that vast territory. One Christmas, we drove south to…
God has an answer for churches that are struggling, but people are often unwilling to embrace His prescription! Throughout twenty centuries, the Church has regularly faced trials, persecutions, heresies, division, and hostile secular forces, yet God has always had a response for whatever ailed His Church. Those churches that heeded His voice, found hope and…
God is a shrewd investor. As a vinedresser, He expects each branch to bear fruit (John 15:8). He prunes branches that produce little to enable them to grow more (John 15:2). He casts away fruitless branches.
by Dr. Richard Blackaby Every Christmas season we are inundated with images of Mary and her baby, Jesus, wise men and their camels, or shepherds and their sheep. These images of Christmas past remind us of the magical occasion when the Son of God became flesh and dwelt among us. Catholicism has fixated particularly on…
by Dr. Richard Blackaby We live in a world that is deeply divided by strong and competing passions. Many people assume that if they are passionate enough about their opinion, it must be true. Politicians seem to spend more time demonstrating their anger or disgust about an issue than they invest in making a logical…
by Dr. Richard Blackaby I don’t believe God designed people to be indifferent. In fact, I have strong feelings on the subject! God created us to be passionate about what we do and believe. Life is an adventure, not a sentence! We should live enthusiastically. In the first chapter of the Bible, God repeatedly recognizes…