Our Purpose

We're now 10 days into 2022. Do you have a clear vision for what God has in store for this year? If you're like me and most of us the answer would be of course not. Just look at the last couple of years and you'll understand how uncertain the next minute is. I'm not so sure there are any 100% certainties in this life. The only certainty I can point to is an eternal one with Jesus. But....... as I wrote in a recent blog, we still have the ability to…

We feel that God is not only unconcerned with our plight, but that he is actually working against us. And sometimes, we are right… Indeed, in the seventeenth chapter of Acts, Paul gives the Athenians the stunning news that every single thing in the lives of both nations and individuals is orchestrated with this sole objective that they might seek God (vv. 26-28). This revelation requires some reflection. We are used to thinking of the great movements of history, even…

Christians use the word burden to refer to a spiritual weight placed on their heart, usually because God wants their attention focused on a certain matter. For example, Nehemiah was burdened to intercede for the Jewish people left vulnerable by Jerusalem’s crumbling walls. The Lord already knew the Israelites’ troubles, so He certainly didn’t need the prayers of this one man. Rather, the burden was for Nehemiah’s sake. He made himself available for…

In 2010, at the age of ninety-four, George Vujnovich was awarded the bronze star for organizing what the New York Times called “one of the greatest rescue efforts of World War II.” Vujnovich, son of Serbian immigrants to the US, had joined the US Army. When word arrived that downed American airmen were being protected by rebels in Yugoslavia, Vujnovich returned to his family’s homeland, parachuting into the forest to locate the pilots. Dividing the…

First, the man selected a tackle box. Standing in his town’s small bait shop, he then filled a shopping cart with hooks, lures, bobbers, line, and weights. Finally, he added live bait and selected a new rod and reel. “Ever fished before?” the shop owner asked. The man said no. “Better add this,” said the owner. It was a first-aid kit. The man agreed and paid, then headed off to a day of not catching a thing—except snags on his fingers…

As a child, Tenny felt insecure. He sought approval from his father, but he never received it. It seemed that whatever he did, whether in school or at home, it was never good enough. Even when he entered adulthood, the insecurity remained. He continually wondered, Am I good enough? Only when Tenny received Jesus as his Savior did he find the security and approval he’d long yearned for. He learned that God—having created him—loved and cherished him as His.…

God is in complete control over every circumstance; even in our trials, He’s working all things to accomplish His good purpose in our life. When we’re going through hard times, it’s comforting to know that nothing can touch a believer’s life unless the Lord allows it. He has complete control even in our most difficult and painful circumstances. Through it all, we’re being held firmly in our Father’s loving hand, and His good purpose is…

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” (Mark 8:35 NLT, second edition) How do you know if you are living for your dream or God’s dream? You may think you were created to get up, go to work, come home, watch TV, and go to bed, to make a little money, retire, and die. Really? You think that’s all God put you here for? If your dream is truly…

We haven’t yet seen anyone in their true glory. Including you. Yes, Mozart did start writing symphonies as a child, and Picasso could draw before he could talk. But most human beings are profoundly thwarted in their “calling” here because of wounding, assault, envy, or circumstances that would never let them fly. For most human beings on this planet, work ranges from disappointing to oppressive. What does the kingdom offer those men who work the Indonesian…