Be good to your servant while I live, that I may obey your word. (Psalm 119:17) Not Just Pointing at People Pastor David Roseberry went to see a doctor for pain in his shoulder. It hurt whenever he moved it. The doctor diagnosed it as “frozen shoulder” and said it comes with age and over-use. The doctor prescribed physical therapy …
Teaching and Preaching the Bible (Part 1)
How can a person stay on the path of purity? By living according to the Lord’s word. (Psalm 119:9) A God-blessed Message Stuart Briscoe, author and long-time pastor tells this story: In the 1990s, I traveled to Poland for itinerant ministry while Poland was occupied by Russia (USSR). One winter day my sponsors drove me in the dead of night …
Compassionate Service
Isaiah prophesied about Jesus the Messiah: “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out, till He has brought justice through to victory. In His name the nations will put their hope.” (Matthew 12:20-21, quoting Isaiah 42:1-4) Compassionate Christians Point to our Compassionate Lord Jim Petersen of The Navigators had a friend from …
Humble Servants of Jesus
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven….In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made …
Depending on Jesus
Christ said: Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38) Luther’s Advice on Service Martin Luther (1483–1546) was a German pastor, author, and composer, best known as one of God’s …
Jesus-like Service
Christ said: I am among you as one who serves….You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. (Luke 22:27; Galatians 5:13) Paderewski and Chopsticks Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941) was a Polish musician and composer. At his peak, he was the world’s …
An Evening at Jester III Prison
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters….Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. (Hebrews 13:1-3) This is adapted from an article by a man who visited the prison with us. It first appeared in Frontlines, the newsletter of Cornerstone …
Love God and Obey
If you love me, keep my commands….Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. (John 14:15,21) This builds on a previous post titled Trust and Obey. Loving God is Crucial C. S. Lewis …
Trust and Obey
You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. (Psalm 119:4) Obedience Better Than Carefulness Aretta Loving served with Wycliffe Bible Translators for fifty-seven years. One day as she was washing her breakfast dishes, she saw Jimmy, the five-year-old neighbor, coming toward her back porch. She had just finished painting the porch handrails and they needed to dry. …
Power for Living
God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:20) Over President’s Day weekend, Winter Storm Uri hit Texas and other parts of the USA with record setting low temperatures. Millions of people lost electricity, water, and heat. It reminded me of a story told …