Jesus advised a man to “count the cost” before following Him. The WIGtake question is “What’s It Gonna take to reach Missouri with the gospel?” Prayerfully ask the WIGtake question needed to spiritually transform your community. Here is a bold seven-part plan. God invites us to join Him in His mission. If we could actually do this already, we would not rely on the Lord. 1. END/VISION Imagine a state in which 4.5 million lost people (74.6 percent) heard the Good News so that they … [Read more...]
Children reflect home, church
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” – II Tim. 2:15 As children return to school, they will demonstrate their upbringing at home. Those who attend church will show their church teaching as well. Most teachers can tell, rather quickly, the kind of environment and teaching a child has had. Our church children are a witness – either a good witness or not. If parents and churches want their children to … [Read more...]
Unforgetting the glorious things God has done
Have I ever mentioned that I have a terrible memory? Maybe I did. Or maybe it slipped my mind. But hey, I remembered to buy all those vitamins that are supposed to help with memory. I’m pretty sure I’ve been forgetting to take them though. In the old days, people tied a string around their finger to help them remember. Guess I could try that. I’ve always wished I had a photographic memory. Someone told me I actually do have one – it’s just not developed. That’s probably it. I always seem … [Read more...]
God works in us, therefore we work
From the earliest days of the church Christians have been debating the relationship between the power of God and our responsibilities as human beings in living the Christian life. Is the Christian life essentially a matter of passive trust, of getting out of the driver’s seat and letting Jesus take the wheel, or is it active obedience, just applying more discipline and effort to spiritual matters? Is living the Christian life all of God, all up to us, or some combination of both? This isn’t … [Read more...]
When to stand, when to flamin-go
Have you ever awakened in a morning to find that an entire flock of pink plastic flamingos migrated into your yard in the night? Weird nesting behavior, right? It makes me sound old when I say it, but when I was a teenager, all we knew how to do was TP. I respect the creativity that rules the pranks of the day – those that are truly non-vandalous, of course. In the past few years, our property has not only been toilet-papered, but we’ve been plastic forked, we’ve been feathered, we’ve … [Read more...]
Living a Christian life marked by contentment
I have been a baseball fan all my life. Growing up for many years on the Middle Tennessee farm owned by Uncle Paul and Aunt Janie Benton, there were no friends within miles. So my days were filled with playing make believe games in which I fantasied being a Major League Baseball player – an Atlanta Brave to be precise. All day long I would throw a bald tennis ball against the side of our brick home, fielding grounders by the hundreds. I had an old infielder’s glove made in the 1950s that I … [Read more...]
What does God bring into focus?
In the third grade, my buddy Jimmy let me borrow his new glasses. I shouted, “Hey Mom, when you wear these glasses you can see every leaf and every blade of grass!” Mom said, “And you can’t?” Let’s just say that I had my first pair of glasses within a couple of weeks! We sometimes need to borrow others’ glasses to help us focus. In International Mission Board missionary Nik Ripken’s book, The Insanity of Obedience, there were a few pages that addressed the focus of mission work. He … [Read more...]
To the finish due to Christ’s finished work
Ever had one of those days? I had several in a row. And by “several,” I mean at least 10 years’ worth. They were days of never feeling quite … finished. I would get to the end of the day and think, what did I actually get done? It wasn’t that I hadn’t accomplished anything. But when you have five children in seven years, there will no doubt be days when, while you’re trying to salvage the toaster (the one someone used to try to toast Milk Duds), one of the other kids tells you your toddler … [Read more...]
Two pods in a pea – but loving anyway
According to the Sammy-cat, there’s no container that’s not worth sitting in. If there’s a bag, box, bowl, bin, basin or bucket that he can reach, there’s an understood “Dibs!” from Sammy as he slowly fills the container with himself. I had a rectangular basket sitting out the other day and Sammy poured himself inside it – well, poured most of himself inside it – and when I looked over, all I could see was a loaf of Sammy. So weird. Incidentally, Sammy has a thing about his personal … [Read more...]
What is ‘finding answers’?
Maybe I don’t need to tell anyone this, but there are a lot of reasons I’ll never be on Jeopardy. One big one is that I can very reasonably imagine Alex Trebek saying something like, “Please remember to phrase all your ignorance in the form of a question.” Um, I’ll take “No Way I’ll Ever Get Any of These Right” for 200 please, Alex. What if the question that’s the answer, isn’t my answer? What if my question is just really a question? Because I don’t know the answer to the question – or … [Read more...]
Preparing our children for the future
“Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” I Peter 2:17 As Independence Day approaches, we turn our thoughts again to the condition of our country and speculate as to what the future holds for our children. We are seeing more and more conflicts in rendering unto Caesar and at the same time being able to render unto God. No one knows exactly what the future holds, but certain trends seem quite evident. We are seeing greater antagonism … [Read more...]
Plan to make disciples
Editor’s note: The following material was first introduced several years ago in a Discipleship Training Resource entitled, “Becoming a Disciple-making Church” by Steve J. Williams. It has been updated and is used by permission. This is the second of three articles. This article will look at four steps for making disciples: Step 1 – Refine your vision. All great disciple-making begins as a vision in someone’s heart. Every church needs a vision for disciple-making. It needs to be written … [Read more...]
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