Encouragement

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” Hebrews 6:10 We all need encouragement. Early in my ministry I picked up a book from a sale table entitled “Encourage Me!” by Chuck Swindoll. Perhaps it set the tone for my Christian walk more than any other single volume. Since then, the name Chuck Swindoll has become synonymous with encouragement. Here are just a few bits of his wisdom that might help you: “Vision is the ability to see God’s presence,...

The family is the key to successful living by God’s standards. It is God’s plan for the family to be a loving, supporting team that works together for the benefit of all. When the family works together for common goals, bonds are built that will support a family to overcome many difficulties. Love, selflessness and putting the other family members’ needs ahead of your own desires are vital ingredients to achieve a prosperous unit. Unfortunately, there are many influences that cause families to stray from God’s plan. Parents don’t lead by example, children choose to rebel and break the rules,...

“Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know” (1 Corinthians 8:2, NIV) Lately, I’ve been doing some thinking. Thinking about what? Oh, you name it, I’ve probably had a thought about it. Yet if my wife would ask me the infamous question, “What are you thinking about?” My response would be the typical response, “Nothing.” According to Murdock (2020), “The average person will typically have more than 6,000 thoughts in a single day.” That’s a whole lot of thoughts! But, thinking about thinking brought me to the question: What does Scripture have to say about...

The post-Christian culture we live in today has forced church leaders to evaluate, seeking answers to the questions such as: What happened? Where did we go wrong? What can we do better for the next generation? The search for answers has added words to our vocabulary such as nones, deconstruction, and church hurt. Church hurt is not a new term. I would argue it has existed since the church began. However, church hurt is a term that children’s ministry leaders and parents today need to be acutely aware of. The future church depends on it. In Stephen Mansfield’s 2012 book,...

I credit my mother for fostering my lifelong love of the Bible. She began reading and teaching me Bible stories at the age of five. However, other than my mother, it was certainly children’s church that had the most significant impact on my childhood spiritual development during the elementary years. I looked forward to attending church every Sunday, especially children’s church. My pastor’s son was the children’s church leader, and he had the ability to make it interesting and fun. I still remember a particular lesson he shared; it was the story of Billy Sunday who was on his way...