I remember, as a boy, the day my parents brought home our first television set. The picture was in black and white, and very “snowy” because the closest stations were fifty miles away. It was a huge technological jump, however, from listening to a religious broadcast or the news on the radio that sat in the corner of our kitchen.

Every spiritual leader, including the pastor (actually, especially the pastor) needs personal and spiritual accountability. I have gathered a team of godly men with whom I meet (sometimes on the phone, but often in person) on a regular basis for accountability.

Hannah’s story is about far more than intensity in prayer. It is about a woman who poured out her heart to everyone but God. And it is about the change God worked in her when she poured out her heart to Him.

Each year, as a part of our stewardship campaign, we have men from our church give stewardship testimonies. We generally have a testimony every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night for a month, and two or three additional testimonies at our stewardship banquet.

Preaching of the Word of God has been central for us. The Bible reminds us in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” God has chosen to change lives through the preaching of His Word. God uses His Word to build the lives of His people.

It seems obvious that whenever we take a step of faith we are going to be attacked. The devil hates it when men obey God and live by faith. I have seen those who are faithful to God go through great tests, but gold must be tried and purified. When we face the trials, we must remember that we are to count it all joy (James 1:2).

Written communication always carries more weight than spoken communication. And once that weight is attached to the wings of social media, it easily spreads far and wide. If you let a snide remark out in personal conversation, that’s too bad. But if you post it to Twitter, that’s like saying it over a worldwide PA system.

According to a popular Christian magazine, only approximately 20% of evangelical churches in America have a missions conference. I seriously doubt that the percentage in independent Baptist churches is much larger. I have had the opportunity to participate in over 1,300 missions conferences in the past 30 years.

I have always enjoyed the story of Moses sending the 12 spies from the 12 tribes of Israel when they were on the verge of entering the Land of Canaan. I was taught the song in Sunday school as a little boy, “Twelve men went to spy in Canaan; ten were bad and two were good!” I am sure many of you remember that song as well! I would like to draw your attention to 4 things the spies saw.

Peter knelt in the water, intent on washing his nets. Unaware of the crowd of people thronging Jesus, he, along with James and John, continued the task of rinsing grime from the Galilean Sea off their empty nets. The night had been long and fruitless. They had not a single fish to show for their efforts.