You’ve probably heard the old fable of the man and his son bringing their donkey to market. En route, they encounter so many people who give their opinions as to who should ride the donkey and who should walk that by the time they reach the market, the man and his son are carrying the donkey.
Understanding What It Means to Be Loyal to Your Pastor
There are a lot of different opinions—some that can be very strong—concerning the matter of “loyalty to the pastor.” One extreme is pastor-worship and the other extreme is no loyalty to the pastor at all.
Someone wisely said, “Aim for nothing, and you’ll hit it every time.” When it comes to goal setting, there are no more important areas for Christian men to set goals than their personal walk with God, their spiritual leadership in the home, and their relationships and service in the local church.
Bringing Hope to Those Who Desperately Need the Gospel
I can hardly imagine a more difficult task than the one Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, was given. Eliezer was to find a bride for Isaac. He was given the full trust and confidence of his master Abraham in this important mission. The way he handled the request is instructive to those of us who want to be faithful servants to our Master.
In truth, we serve a God of miracles (hello, just read Luke 2), but our tendency when peering into the future is to predict it based on the rate of past progress. We pray desperately for God to do what we can’t, then we rise from our knees, look at the date the prayer request was first entered, and sigh. “Not gonna happen, at least anytime soon,” we feel, even if we don’t say.
It’s a strange thing about Christmas. We celebrate Jesus’ birth, and we use the celebration to further our efforts in sharing the gospel. But somehow we seem to easily lose focus this time of year more than any other.
Christmas is coming! It is the most wonderful time of the year! Even the unsaved are singing about the Lord! During this season, you are able to freely say, “Merry Christmas,” to everyone you meet! Use this season to tell of the Reason for Christmas.
Thoughts on Presenting the Gospel Gift This Christmas
One of the blessings of the Christmas season is people’s openness to talk about Jesus. In my experience, it’s one of the best times of the year in terms of tender hearts and responsiveness to gospel invitations in the community.
What single word best describes your walk with the Lord? I think all of us would love for that word to be passion. And not just today, but every day. We’d like consistent passion in our walk with God.
All of life is a stewardship. It’s not about what happens to us, but what we do with what happens to us. Of all the things we cannot control, there are two things we can—our mind and our mouth.
4 Tips to Keep Your Communication from Breaking Down
We are all aware of our need to communicate—it starts early in life. In order for a baby to communicate that he needs something, he will cry. It is amazing how effective a baby can be at communicating without words. After a while, we learn our first word, and then it isn’t long before we are talking a blue-streak.
In early 1940 the British and their allies sent a force of some 350,000 men into the low countries of Europe to stem the tide of German advance into France, Belgium, and Holland. Caught in a brilliant pincer movement by the invading German forces, the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force was pushed back to the beaches of the small Belgian town of Dunkirk.
Your Attitude, Behavior, and Compassion Make a Difference
You know those seasons when you are so busy you hardly feel you have time to even look at your to do list? And you consider what would happen to your family if you actually lost your mind?
Peter was a man who, like all of us, was hindered by his flesh. He often spoke too soon, made promises he could not keep, and allowed his temper to get the best of him.
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.
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.