FINISHING WELL According to Professor Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary, there are 100 or so leaders in the Bible, two-thirds of whom did not finish well. —Go the Distance p. 4 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson When King David fell, he brought shame to his entire house and his kingdom. His…

STEWARDSHIP After terrorists attacked America on September 11, 2001, people opened up their hearts and their pocketbooks to give to those directly affected by the tragedy. The American Red Cross received $547 million dollars for the cause, but until there was a public uproar, the Red Cross was not planning…

Faithfulness brings God's blessings upon our lives. It was a stormy night in Birmingham, England, and Hudson Taylor was to speak at a meeting at the Severn Street schoolroom. His hostess assured him that nobody would attend on such a stormy night, but Taylor insisted on going. “I must go even if there…

The emblem of the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society is an ox standing between a plough and an altar, with the motto, “Ready for either”—ready to spend and be spent in labor, or to be a sacrifice; whichever the Lord pleases. Spurgeon, C. (2014). Spurgeon Commentary: Philippians. (E. Ritzema,…

SMALL THINGS Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines recently said, “We’ve never been focused on gigantism. We’ve focused on being the best.” Though it is only the seventh largest airline, Allan Sloan, Newsweek’s Wall Street editor calls Southwest Airlines “the nation’s most successful [airline].” —Newsweek,…

In A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson says, “Perseverance is not the result of our determination; it is the result of God’s faithfulness.” So when we are tempted to compromise our faith, or when we think we have no strength left to endure—we should remember God’s faithfulness. ––Jim…

The brother of Ravi Zacharias said this: “Love is as much a question of the will as it is of the emotion. And if you WILL to love somebody, you can.” That was not just a meaningless statement for him. He actually experienced it. You see, Ravi’s brother married the woman arranged for him by his parents,…

There were five of us traveling across the Sahel of Africa, just south of the Sahara Desert. We had started out in Niamey, Niger, and we were working our way toward the Dogon in Mali. We were traveling through Burkina Faso in a Toyota Land Cruiser. The air conditioning system was broken, and the temperature…

MISSION In his book, “An Unstoppable Force,” Erwin McManus writes, "The gospel flows best through the establishing of significant relationships that are authentic and healthy. When relationships become stagnant and the community of Christ closes itself to the outside world, the result is an institution…

The Sonic restaurant in Raymore, Missouri hopes to give their customers a little something extra by including verses from the Bible with their food. The store used to print the verses on customer’s receipts, but a recent software upgrade eliminated that possibility. In order to continue the tradition,…

Commitment A chicken and a pig were walking through the streets of New York city one day. They enjoyed the new sights and strange aromas as they casually strolled through the "Big Apple." Their fascination turned into conversation when they noticed a small boy playing at the bottom of a tenement stoop.…

LITTLE THINGS Rev. Andrew Jensen's first Sunday at his new church coincided with an appeal to the membership to give to a fund to aid the victims of a hurricane. Due to a clerical error, the center page of the bulletin was missing, so those in attendance reading from the bottom of the second page to…

C.T. Studd knew what priority was all about. He was the son of a wealthy planter, but when he was converted to Christ, he really sold out to Him. He held nothing back. He was one of the Cambridge Seven who volunteered to go to China at the plea of Hudson Taylor. When his wealthy father died, he inherited…

The children of Israel were ready to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. But there was a barrier between them and the city of Jericho. The people of Jericho worshipped Baal. Baal was the god of water, rain, wind, storms, etc. At this time, the Jordan River was at flood stage. To the people of Jericho,…

Blest Be The Tie That Doesn't Cramp Pillow of Ages, Fluffed for Me I Surrender Some I'm Fairly Certain That My Redeemer Lives Sit Up, Sit Up For Jesus Take My Life and Let Me Be What An Acquaintance We Have In Jesus Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following He's Quite a Bit To Me Oh, How I Like Jesus…

I have sometimes thought of the contrast between the poor man’s funeral and the rich man’s funeral. When the poor man dies, his sons and daughters weep with real distress, for the death of the father brings sadness and sympathy into that house. The poor man is to be buried, but it can only be managed…

A Nurses’ Health Study analyzed by Harvard University researchers discovered that people who attend religious services a couple of times a week may live longer. The study was a survey of 74,534 healthy women beginning in 1992. Researchers tracked them for 20 years. By 2012, 13,537 of the women had died.…

In an article in Relevant magazine, Debra Fileta, a licensed Counselor, lists five ways couples can invest in their marriage. She says, couples need to connect spiritually, and the best way to do that is to pray with each other about the concerns of the day. The second is to communicate meaningfully…

When President Jimmy Carter announced on Meet the Press, January 20, 1980 that he intended to boycott the Moscow Olympic Games, it altered the lives of many American athletes, like Bob Bugg. He had qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials already, unlike many others, and could have earned a place on the…

MARRIAGE Captain Caleb Holt is a firefighter who loves his job, and thinks he knows what it means to love his wife, Kathryn. While he is valiantly fighting fires and saving lives in the community, a fire of another kind threatens to destroy his marriage. As a firefighter, Caleb knows it is important…

What is the impact of our lives and our churches on our communities? Are we fulfilling our mission to reach the world with the message of the Gospel? Or are we just marking time and creating wonderful, peaceful communities of believers who are not impacting the world? The Barna Group has released a 2015…

In the 100 years since the tragic sinking of the Titanic, movies, documentaries, and books have told the story of many of those on the ill-fated voyage across the Atlantic. One of the lesser known stories is the account of Pastor John Harper who was traveling with his six year old on a mission to become…

There are so many good ones. Lottie Moon was a Southern Baptist missionary in the late 1800's and early 1900's. When she returned to China as a missionary after her second furlough in 1904, her area of China was impoverished and undergoing a famine. She begged for more money to help, but the mission…

Love that is special, and a marriage that lasts, are not automatic. Many of the celebrities we are fascinated with wish they could have found lasting love. Jack Nicholson, now in his 73rd year, admits that “his wandering attentions haven’t made for lasting relationships. ‘I’ve been in love in my life,…

PERSISTENCE/PAIN On August 19, 2003, 15-game-winner, Mark Mulder left the mound against The Boston Red Sox with a stress fracture in his hip. And when he did, the hopes of a 4th straight playoff bid for the Oakland Athletics left with him—or so the pundits said. Even with their usual push toward the…