Follow Jesus as He makes His way to Calvary!
Before we can celebrate the miracle of the empty tomb, we have to journey back to the path of the cross. Join us this for a special reading of one of the most poignant, yet triumphant stories in history!
God changes a heart of stone into a heart of compassion–James’ Story
Without the hope of Christ, life can be so overwhelming . . . even bringing someone to the point of despair. That’s how James felt when he landed himself in prison one more time. Hear how God reached out to a man at the end of his rope . . . and gave him a...
“And It Was Night”
During a business trip to Philadelphia, I attended an evening service on the Thursday before Easter—a service of Communion and Tenebrae (darkness) held in a small chapel lit by candles. Following the bread and the cup, a passage was read aloud from the gospel of John, one candle was extinguished, and we sang a verse from a hymn about Jesus’ journey to the cross.
exercised
On all fours with the grass pressing into my hands and knees, I was already backing out of my goal. I had recently enlisted the help of a friend to improve my muscle strength and endurance. On this particular night, we were at a local park doing conditioning exercises and cardio. While my legs were completing the lifting exercises to strengthen my muscles, my mind desperately looked for a way out of having to run the last lap of our workout. I was convinced I had nothing left.
A special message about the problem of suffering
Why would a loving God allow bad things to happen to good people? Alice Mathews delivers a special message about the problem of suffering. Perhaps you’re going through a rough time right now.
Out Of Context
When a friend started making random despairing statements, people were concerned for him and started giving advice and offering encouragement. As it turned out, he was simply having fun by quoting song lyrics out of context to start a conversation.
How to Prepare Our Hearts for Easter
By William Lukman, Indonesia When you watch a movie, do you pay particular attention to the ending? Well, I do. When I watch movies that do not have a good ending, I often feel frustrated and wonder why I bothered spending the past one-and-a-half hours or so watching that movie! What about the life of [...]
why the Bible matters
In his article Does the Bible Matter in the 21st Century? author Vishal Mangalwadi lifts up the inestimable worth of God’s Word. He also notes that bad things happen when a country chooses to ignore the Bible’s wisdom. He writes, “[The US] was built by an ethic—a spirituality that taught citizens to work, earn, save, invest, and use their wealth to serve their neighbors. This biblical ethic has been replaced by secularism’s entitlement culture that teaches people that they have a right to this, that, and the other without corresponding obligations to work, save, and serve.”
How to Prepare Our Hearts for Easter
By William Lukman, Indonesia When you watch a movie, do you pay particular attention to the ending? Well, I do. When I watch movies that do not have a good ending, I often feel frustrated and wonder why I bothered spending the past one-and-a-half hours or so watching that movie! What about the life of [...]
Turn to the Lord’s Prayer and discover how to communicate with God
Have you ever gone to a church meeting and felt the prayer time went too long? Perhaps you’ve run out of words to say, and fear your prayer loses meaning because of its brevity.
Our Father’s World
When Amanda Benavides was a sophomore at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California, she began to rethink her views on Christian stewardship of the earth. Amanda had grown up thinking that being conscious of the environment had nothing to do with her relationship with Jesus. All this changed when she was challenged to consider the Christian’s role in caring for the planet—especially how that relates to reaching the most needy in the world.
Are Jesus’ Words in Mark 10:18 a Denial of His Divinity?
In Mark 10:18, Jesus asks, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” It would be wrong to interpret Jesus’ words here as a denial of His divinity. He asserted His divine authority in other passages (Matthew 25:31-46; 26:63-64; John 8:58). No one knows Jesus’ exact reasons for [...]
rescued from darkness
In Clint Eastwood’s movie Gran Torino, Walt Kowalski is a cranky Korean War vet disgusted by the gangs now running his neighborhood. He gets to know Thao, a teenager living next door, after catching him trying to steal his Gran Torino car—an act forced onto the young man by a local gang.
What can we learn from Jesus’ model for prayer?
At a little over 50 words, the Lord’s Prayer is a brief passage of Scripture. Yet these verses contain an abundance of insight on how to communicate with our heavenly Father!
Too Heavy
As I started up my car in the dark hours of early morning, I noticed a seatbelt light on the dashboard. I checked my door, opening and pulling it shut again. I tugged on my seatbelt to test it. But the sensor light still beamed. Then, in slow realization, I reached over and lifted my purse a few inches above the passenger seat. The light clicked off.
