S Is for Sacrifice (Part 2)
(Continued from Part 1) If we want to build Christian character, we will sacrifice.“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:39). One of the paradoxes of the Christian life is that the losers are the winners, provided that they sacrifice their own will
S Is for Sacrifice (Part 1)
In a sudden burst of pride that was most unlike him, David disobeyed the Lord and ordered Joab to take a military census of Israel (2 Sam. 24:1; 1 Chron. 21). God disciplined the nation by sending a plague that killed 70,000 people, and David confessed his sin and humbled himself before the Lord. God
In Praise of Plodders
Although he had only an elementary education, by the time he was in his teens, he could read the Bible in six languages. He later became Professor of Oriental Languages at Fort William College in Calcutta, and his press at Serampore provided Scriptures in over 40 languages and dialects for more than 300 million people.
Claim Your Inheritance! (Part 2)
Praise and worship please the Lord.“I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs” (Ps. 69:30-31). The Lord is not a celestial egotist who thrives on compliments; that’s not the point at
Claim Your Inheritance! (Part 1)
If you want to abandon your ministry inheritance on earth and lose your rewards in heaven, then follow the bad example of the people of Israel when they arrived at Kadesh Barnea, the gateway into the Promised Land (Num. 13-14). Instead of claiming God’s promises that He would defeat all their enemies and give them
It’s Carnival Time! (Part 2)
One of the most popular rides at the carnival was the roller coaster. In my preaching and teaching, I have more than once referred to “roller coaster Christians,” people who are always looking for a new “spiritual high” but do nothing but go up and down, never really maturing in the Christian life. They don’t
It’s Carnival Time! (Part 1)
Perhaps it’s my age, or maybe it was the weather, but recently on a hot summer’s day I got to thinking about my boyhood in northern Indiana when every summer the carnival came to town. It was a big event and teh equipment always set up on a large vacant lot at the corner of
When the Pastor Hurts (Part 3)
Pastors hurt because God wants us to become more like Christ “If the world hates you,” Jesus told His disciples, “keep in mind that it hated me first. . . . If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:18, 20). If we aren’t careful, the world can get into the church and
When the Pastor Hurts (Part 2)
Pastors hurt because they care During our Lord’s three years of ministry, He sought to teach His disciples what they needed to know in order to carry on the work after His return to heaven. One of the most difficult lessons in the curriculum was the cultivation of a tender heart, and the record indicates
When the Pastor Hurts (Part 1)
“When doesn’t the pastor hurt?” may be your response to this title, but honest reflection will remind you that there are joys in the ministry that more than compensate for occasional times of pain. Seeing sinners come to Christ, helping people mature in the Lord, studying and teaching the Word faithfully, watching God answer prayer,
P Is for Prophet (Part 3)
The Ministry Unless you walk into a crisis that threatens the very life of the church, the wise prophet spends the first year getting acquainted, sensing the dynamics of the church family, identifying the movers and shakers and praying for the sanctified obstructionists. During that year, you make a list of the things that must
P Is for Prophet (Part 2)
The Price We admire the ancient prophets from afar, and perhaps some of the prophet-like servants of God today, but we sometimes forget that each of them had a price to pay. Being a prophet means harder work. Jeremiah, Ezekiel and John the Baptist were born to be priests, but the Lord called all three