Here’s a faith-building exercise: Take one of the miracles of the Bible—any miracle will do—and write a list of reasons why it couldn’t be done.

Have you ever made a purchase at the store and realized later that you were overcharged by several dollars? The happiness of the shopping excursion was soon replaced with frustration. Just as Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup, we often sell our happiness for a few dollars!

It is impossible for any local church to carry out the Great Commission without missionaries. Missionaries, then, are our co-laborers in the harvest.

One of the great privileges of serving God is that we are laborers together with Him. Sure, He has given us the command to preach the gospel, but He didn’t leave the work entirely up to us. While we find the ears to hear, He is working on hearts.

As much as we wish it wasn’t so, the truth is, all of us have a mean streak. The “works of the flesh” (our flesh) include “hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife” (Galatians 5:19–20). We all have flesh, our flesh is selfish, and the selfishness of our flesh often comes out in meanness.

I often tell parents, “Christian education doesn’t cost—it pays.” I believe this is true, not only for parents, but also for the local church that invests labor in building the Christian school as a ministry of the church.

In 1956, I became the pastor of the Silent Run Baptist Church in Hopkins County, Kentucky. I was a student at Bethel College in Hopkinsville, and my wife and I were the youngest couple in the church. I knew practically nothing about pastoring a church, but I knew that God had called me to preach.

Seth Godin did a study about marketing to Generation Y—today’s teens. The study showed this generation is very selective about who they listen to and that they want to know why before they obey.

You know the traction-gaining tool for social media: hashtags. Whether it’s #WeAreN or #icebucketchallenge, people turn to hashtags to use their Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram posts to make a difference.

Every time I think I have it rough, the Lord causes me to think about Job. I am not sure there was another man who was tried to the breaking point like Job was.