Enjoying the Journey
Posts Tagged ‘Salvation’
Big Picture Evangelism
In “Christian” America you would imagine that you could walk up to anyone and begin to talk about Jesus Christ and everyone would have some context. Perhaps at one time that was true. We are now living not only in what is “post modern” but in what has been referred to as a “post truth” culture. Divine absolutes are out and self-awareness is in. This is the world we have been called to evangelize. But this is not the first society to have such a spiritual landscape. When Paul spoke to the people of Athens at Mars Hill regarding “THE UNKNOWN GOD” he began this way: “God that made the worlds and all things therein…” (Acts 17:24). This most intelligent…
Read MoreTuesday’s Thanksgiving Thought: “God’s Greatest Provision”
Over the last few days we have been building a list in our home. We live by lists! Grocery lists, to do lists, special event lists. This one is different. It is a “thanks list.” Every week this month each of us have written down one thing for which we are grateful to God. The list hangs in our kitchen where every one can see it and be reminded of the Lord’s goodness to us. A wide variety of items and people are on our list this year. No doubt many of you have made such a list or will sometime this week. (To download the Thanksgiving list template we are using with our family click here.) It is a…
Read MoreMy Struggle with Doubt and the Victory I Found
It was the darkest time of my life spiritually. Like many believers, I struggled through a period of tremendous doubt about my salvation. There were many factors that contributed to my lack of assurance. Because I had trusted Christ as my Savior as a young child my memories were not extremely clear. And a “changed life?” I was no drug addict or criminal at five years of age! Had I believed enough? Did I truly understand? Could I have failed to pray the right prayer? Everything reproduces after its own kind: questions only lead to more questions. Well do I remember the day Dr. Frank Sells said in my hearing, “Drive a stake a mile deep in the ground about…
Read MoreIt Works!
I received a most encouraging phone call yesterday from a man who attended a men’s conference that I was privileged to be in last week. He took part in a training session on witnessing where we challenged men to share their personal testimony with someone over the next seven days. My friend had been praying for a man over the age of eighty for the last three years. Though he has witnessed to him many times, he had never shared his personal story of salvation. A few days ago he went to see the man for whom he had been so burdened. He shared with him how he personally came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. When he finished the…
Read MoreFor Christian Young People: You ARE Missing Out!
“A prudent wife is from the Lord.” This verse means more to me the longer I am married. Tammy and I were driving along in the car recently. The kids were strangely quiet in the back seat and we were talking. About nothing. About everything. I really don’t remember how we came to the topic but she began to talk about how much she appreciated all that her parents had instilled in her. They were saved when she was just a little girl and had worked hard to teach her and her siblings that the world held nothing for them. The scars of sin were not worth the pleasure of sin. With emotion she said to me, “People without God…
Read MoreTop of the List: Why Was Jesus Thankful?
Like most of you I try to make a list each Thanksgiving of reasons for which I am grateful to God. Obviously it is never complete because the blessings never end. This year I have decided not to make a list. I am taking the list of Another who is far better at thankfulness than I. The Gospel records provide insight not only into the prayer life of the Lord Jesus but into His “praise life.” The Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief was constantly thanking His Father. His thirty-three and a half years were spent not only considering the joy that was before Him (Hebrews 12:2) but also the joys that were all around Him. This is where…
Read MoreChristianity is a Crutch
Recently I was in Vancouver, British Columbia for a meeting. On Saturday night I had a little time alone at the hotel and decided to do the Christian (and Canadian) thing: walk across the street to Tim Horton’s for a cup of coffee and a donut. It is good to immerse yourself in the culture when you are traveling! (At least this was how I justified the donut.) It was a beautiful evening in downtown Vancouver and I enjoyed the walk. As I waited at a crosswalk to return to my room, a distinguished looking man nearing seventy years of age came and stood beside me. A conversation was initiated and very soon I realized that the Lord had given…
Read More3 Days I Never Want to Forget
Every day is a precious gift from God. Even difficult days are reminders of God’s mercy and grace. I have enjoyed some wonderful days along the journey. June 13, 1997 was a great day. It was the day I married my best friend. (It was Friday the 13th, proving that good things do happen on that day!) I remember well the days that our three children were born. Amazing days! Christian people should seek to make the most of every day. There are three days that I remind myself of often – three days I never want to forget. Thinking about these days helps me to make the most of this day. 1. I never want to forget the day…
Read MoreIt Must Be Personal – The Story of a Young Skeptic
Adoniram Judson was born August 9, 1788. I first met him as a freshman in college through the pages of his life story. Growing up in church I had heard the name of Adoniram Judson. To me, he was a pioneer missionary to Burma. Judson and his wife Ann were some of the first Baptist missionaries to be sent out of North America. (Actually, they did not leave as Baptists but they arrived that way!) Yet Judson was not always a missionary. Adoniram Judson learned to read at the age of three. He had a brilliant mind and a personality that attracted others to him. By the time he was a young man many considered him a free thinker. He…
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