Encouraging and Supporting Your Friends – Training Partners

Key Bible Verse: If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.  – Ecclesiastes 4:10

Bonus Reading: Proverbs 27:6, 9, 17

For a runner, there is nothing as wearing or as boring as a solo workout. The workout seems endless. For this reason, I always appreciated having training partners. When I ran with them, I was stretched, pulled, and extended beyond what I thought I could do. That’s the benefit of having quality training partners. They push and press us to better performances.

To me friendships are life’s training partners; they push and press us through everyday life. Henry Van Dyke once wrote that the mark of a friend is that he makes you wish to be at your best while you are with him. Good friends, like good personal training partners, pull us forward. They make us better. They stretch us.

Good friends challenge us when they see blind spots in our lives. Poor friends have the exact opposite effect—they drag us down. That’s why I believe friends are such a critical component to a successful life and are to be chosen wisely. It does matter who we hang out with.

Proverbs 13:20 reads: “He who walks with wise men will be wise. But the companion of fools will be destroyed” (NKJV). Let us be wise people in the company that we keep and the friends that we make.

—Jim Ryun in The Courage to Run

My Response: How am I encouraging and challenging my friends? How are my friends encouraging and challenging me?

Adapted from The Courage to Run (Regal, 2006)

Prayer for the Week: Dear Father, show me how to best encourage and challenge my friends to deeper faith; show me how to support them during their struggles.

 

 

 

Encouraging and Supporting Your Friends – Push Each Other to the Top

Who Said It … Max Lucado

Max Lucado grew up in west Texas and pretty much partied his way through high school—giving little attention to God. But then he encountered Jesus through a required Bible course at Abilene Christian University.

Today, this best-selling Christian author has sold more than 65 million books—including Bible studies, commentaries, devotionals, and books for kids. Max regularly preaches his down-home, story-driven sermons from the pulpit of San Antonio’s Oak Hills Church.

What He Said … Push Each Other to the Top

Every Thursday during a Young Life summer camp, four hundred students make the fourteen-thousand-foot climb up Colorado’s Mount Chrysolite. Several Young Life leaders and I walk with them.

On a recent trip, somewhere around the number four thousand, Matthew decided to call it quits. I coaxed him, begged him, negotiated a plan with him: thirty steps of walking, sixty seconds of resting. Finally we stood within a thousand feet of the peek. But the last stretch of the trail rose up as straight as a fireman’s ladder.

We got serious. Two guys came up beside Matt, each taking an arm. I pushed from the rear. We all but dragged Matt past the timberline and to the awesome view at the top.

That’s when we heard the applause. Four hundred campers on the crest of Mount Chrysolite gave Matt a standing ovation. As I slumped down to rest, a thought steamrolled my way: There it is, Max, a perfect picture of my plan. Do all you can to push each other to the top. Was this a message from God? Well, it does sound like something he’d say.

Adapted from The Cure for the Common Life (Thomas Nelson, 2006)

Prayer for the Week: Dear Father, show me how to best encourage and challenge my friends to deeper faith; show me how to support them during their struggles.

 

 

Converting to Wind Power – The Holy Spirit

Central Church’s Holy Spirit Stained Glass Window

Jesus described the Spirit he was promising with an unusual word (Greek parakletos, “called alongside”).

This term, used for a legal representative who spoke in a person’s defense, is translated “Advocate” in the New Living Translation.

The current therapeutic connotations of “Counselor,” another translation, have rendered it misleading. And “Comforter” is accurate only in its older English meaning of someone who strengthens or encourages.

Interact with God’s Word:  John 14:15-26

1. What is Jesus’ basic assignment to his disciples (vv. 15, 21, 23) in these paragraphs?
2. What unspoken fear of the disciples (v. 18) is his disclosure about the Holy Spirit addressing?
3. How is the sending of the Spirit equivalent to Jesus again being with them?
4. Why are many (vv. 17, 19, 22) unaware of the Spirit’s activities? How have I experienced the Spirit recently?
5. When (vv. 17, 20) did the Spirit’s presence shift from external to internal for Jesus’ disciples?
6. On what is the Spirit’s teaching and reminding (v. 26) based?
7. Are you confident (v. 21) that Jesus is revealing himself to you? Does this affirm that you know the Spirit?

Spend Time in Prayer:  Ask God for strength to obey his commands through the instruction, encouragement, power, and sustaining presence of the Spirit in your life.

John 14:15-26

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”

23 Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. 24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

Prayer for the Week: I’m not strong enough, Lord, to live up to your standards on my own. Teach me how to rely on the internal power your Spirit provides.

 

Converting to Wind Power – A Life of Its Own

Central Church’s Holy Spirit Stained Glass Window

Key Bible Verse: But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.  – Romans 8:9

Bonus Reading: Romans 8:12-14

My hand moved like it had a life of its own, as if detached from my arm. It was flat, horizontal to the ground, and floating like a leaf on the water. If there was a ripple of air, it flowed with the ripple.

For an eight-year-old boy, that’s what it was like when I’d put my hand out the window of our car while traveling at 55 miles an hour. Somehow my hand didn’t belong to me. I just stuck it in the wind and the wind gave it life and power.

The wind had control of my hand, making it go up or down, forward or backward. That’s why it didn’t seem like it was mine, because I’d surrendered control to the wind.

How then do you convert your life to wind power, to God’s power? Like my hand, you let the wind of God’s Spirit blow over your life. You detach your life from your own control. You let go.

You place your life so that it floats on the wind of God’s power, and let him empower you. You place your life in the wind of God’s power, and let him control you. You place your life with the wind of God’s power, and let him lead you.

—Joe Williams in Ohio

My Response: Am I increasingly becoming an instrument in God’s hand (Rom. 6:13)?

Thought to Apply: The Spirit’s control will replace sin’s control. His power is greater than the power of all your sin. —Erwin Lutzer (Illinois pastor)

Prayer for the Week: I’m not strong enough, Lord, to live up to your standards on my own. Teach me how to rely on the internal power your Spirit provides.

 

 

Converting to Wind Power – Sputter or Hum?

Central Church’s Holy Spirit Stained Glass Window

Key Bible Verse: I … pray to the Father … that … he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.  – Ephesians 3:14-17

Bonus Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14

A couple of summers ago, my two boys and I bought a lawn mower. They earned spending money mowing lawns with it. The mower operates on a mixture of gasoline and oil. If it runs on gasoline alone, it’s just a matter of time before it burns up.

Living without the presence of God in our lives is like running the mower that way. We function as best we can but never achieve our potential and eventually break down. The coming of the Spirit of God into your life is like putting oil in the machine. If his Spirit is in us, we live life to the full, even beyond the grave.

Here’s how what Paul prayed for his friends [in today’s Key Bible Verse] happens. Jesus said a change must take place in your life every bit as dramatic and important as your own physical birth. Maybe this is what Tennyson had in mind when, frustrated with himself, he cried out [today’s Thought to Apply]. In a sense that’s what happens. Who we are doesn’t cease to be. But the presence of Christ comes into our lives and helps us become who we want to be.

—John Yates in Preaching Today

My Response: I’ll thank God that the Spirit in my life guarantees that “these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life” (2 Cor. 5:4).

Thought to Apply: Oh, that a man might arise in me, that the man I am might cease to be!—Alfred Lord Tennyson

Adapted from Preaching Today (#87).

Prayer for the Week: I’m not strong enough, Lord, to live up to your standards on my own. Teach me how to rely on the internal power your Spirit provides.

 

Converting to Wind Power – The Force Be with You?

Central Church’s Holy Spirit Stained Glass Window

Key Bible Verse: “The world … doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”  – John 14:17

Bonus Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:9-12; 12:11; Ephesians 4:30

Several years ago, I attended a bizarre weekend at a retreat center in the Colorado mountains. Two groups—leaders from the evangelical Christian community and leaders from the new age movement—had been invited to see if any bridges of understanding could be erected.

Both groups referred to “the spirit” to articulate their positions. But it soon became obvious that to the new age group the “spirit” was some kind of impersonal cosmic energy force. You could possess more or less of this force, and of course, it was always with you. Their explanations gave me the sensation of entering a theological “Twilight Zone” or of becoming an extra on the set of Star Wars.

But the Holy Spirit is not a force. He’s a person. As Jesus told his disciples [in today’s Key Bible Verse] he’s a he, not an it. Consistently throughout the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is referred to with masculine personal pronouns. The significance of the pronoun isn’t so much in its gender as in its being personal. It’s possible to become a modern gnostic, even as a Christian, when we think of the Spirit in terms of a force or entity rather than person.

—Bob Beltz in Becoming a Man of the Spirit

My Response: How do the Bonus Readings demonstrate the intellect, volition, and emotion of a person?

Thought to Apply: No human power can replace the power of the Spirit. —Lewi Pethrus (Swedish pastor)

Adapted from Becoming a Man of the Spirit (NavPress/navpress.com, 1999)

Prayer for the Week: I’m not strong enough, Lord, to live up to your standards on my own. Teach me how to rely on the internal power your Spirit provides.

 

Converting to Wind Power – Reality Check

Central Church’s Holy Spirit Stained Glass Window

Key Bible Verse: Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind … so you cannot understand the activity of God.  – Ecclesiastes 11:5

Bonus Reading: John 3:3-9

When trees are waving wildly in the wind, journalist G.K. Chesterton once observed, people have historically thought that it is the wind that moves the trees—that the invisible gives energy to the visible. More recently others have concluded that the motion of the trees creates the wind—that what they see and hear and touch is basic reality and generates whatever can’t be verified with the senses.

The word translated “spirit” in our English Bibles carries in Hebrew the primary meaning of “wind” and “breath.” Imagine how our perceptions would change if we substituted these words for “spirit” in our language. For our ancestors, spirit was not “spiritual”; it was sensory. Although invisible, it was not immaterial. It had visible effects. Air, after all, provides the molecules for the quiet breathing that is part of all life, the puffs of air used to make words, the gentle breezes that caress the skin, the brisk winds that fill the sails of ships, the wild hurricanes that tear roofs off barns and uproot trees.

It would clarify things enormously if we could withdraw “spirit” and “spiritual” from our language stock for a while.

—Eugene Peterson in Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

My Response: Can I honestly repeat Paul’s claim that “we live by believing and not by seeing” (2 Cor. 5:7)?

Thought to Apply: Those who have the gale of the Holy Spirit go forward even in sleep.—Brother Lawrence

Adapted from Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places (Eerdmans, 2005).

Prayer for the Week: I’m not strong enough, Lord, to live up to your standards on my own. Teach me how to rely on the internal power your Spirit provides.

 

 

Converting to Wind Power – The Impossible Challenge

Central Church’s Holy Spirit Stained Glass Window

Key Bible Verse: “I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.”  –  John 14:18

Bonus Reading: John 14:15-17

Life is difficult.” That’s the opening sentence of M. Scott Peck’s best-selling book, The Road Less Travelled. The opening words of Peck’s sequel,Further Along the Road Less Traveled are “Life is complex.” Let me take these observations one step further: “Life is impossible.” This statement is always true when we view life from the perspective of a man who desires to be the kind of man God wants him to be.

“You are to be perfect,” Jesus instructed.

“I can’t,” the honest man replies.

One night, Jesus met with 12 ordinary men in an upper room in Jerusalem to share the Passover meal. Jesus startled them by assuming the household slave role of washing their feet, and then telling them that they were to serve one another in the same way. He then told them that the guiding rule of their lives was to have a love for one another that equaled his love for them. These ordinary men should have been thinking, “This is impossible!”

This is the dilemma of the spiritual man living in a fallen world. You and I don’t have the ability to live the way God intended us to live. That is, not under our own power. We need help. We need a helper.

—Bob Beltz in Becoming a Man of the Spirit

My Response: How could Jesus say “It is best for you that I go away” (John 16:7)?

Adapted from Becoming a Man of the Spirit (NavPress/navpress.com, 1999)

Prayer for the Week: I’m not strong enough, Lord, to live up to your standards on my own. Teach me how to rely on the internal power your Spirit provides.

 

 

Chinese Churches Forced to Replace 10 Commandments

Chinese officials have replaced the 10 Commandments with quotes from President Xi Jinping in just about every Three-Self church in a county of Luoyang city in Henan province. This is just another in a series of steps the government is taking to systematically destroy all of the country’s churches, one pastor told Bitter Winter, which monitors religious and human rights violations in China.

(The Three Self Patriotic Movement, 三自愛國運動). is the “united Protestant Church”, established in 1954 and strictly controlled by the CCP

Converting to Wind Power – Sweat, Drift, or…

Central Church’s Holy Spirit Stained Glass Window

Who Said It … John Ortberg

John Ortberg is the senior pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. He is passionate about “spiritual formation,” which is how people become more like Jesus. His teaching brings Scripture alive and invariably includes practical applications and warm humor.

The latest of several books John has written is Faith and Doubt. He and his wife, Nancy, have three teen and young adult children.

What He Said … Sweat, Drift, or …

Significant spiritual transformation is a long-term endeavor that involves both God and us. I liken it to crossing an ocean.

Some people try, day after day, to be good, to become spiritually mature. That’s like taking a rowboat across the ocean. It’s exhausting and usually unsuccessful. Others have given up trying and throw themselves entirely on “relying on God’s grace.” They’re like drifters on a raft. They do nothing but hang on and hope God gets them there. Neither trying nor drifting are very effective in bringing about spiritual transformation.

A better image is the sailboat, in which if it moves at all, it’s a gift of the wind. We can’t control the wind, but a good sailor discerns where the wind is blowing and adjusts the sails accordingly. Working with the Holy Spirit, which Jesus likened to the wind in John 3, means we have a part in discerning the winds, in knowing the direction we need to go, and in training our sails to catch the breezes that God provides. That’s true transformation.

Adapted from our sister publication Leadership Journal (Summer, 2002)

Prayer for the Week: I’m not strong enough, Lord, to live up to your standards on my own. Teach me how to rely on the internal power your Spirit provides.

 

 

Fuel Your Soul with Encouragement

The 23rd Psalm is quite possibly the best loved and most quoted psalm in the Bible. Penned by King David, this psalm provides comfort for the grieving, hope for the hopeless, and encouragement to persevere through dark and desperate times.

As you read, study, and mediate on these familiar words, look for fresh insights that will deepen your trust in your good and loving shepherd.

Key Study Passage: Psalm 23

1. In verse 1, David claims, “I have all I need.” How is that possible? How do you think David defines “need”?
2. Consider the image created in verse 2: “He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.” When was the last time you experienced the kind of peace and tranquility pictured in this verse?
3. What is your role in having your strength renewed (v. 3)? (See Job 17:9; Ps. 138:3; Isa. 40:31; 2 Cor. 12:9-10.)
4. List ways that a shepherd might “protect and comfort” his sheep (v. 4). When have you recently felt protected and comforted by God? What did God’s protection and comfort look like in this situation?
5. Look for ways you experience God’s “goodness and unfailing love” (v. 6).

Spend Time in Prayer: Read Psalm 23 slowly, letting God use each verse to speak life-giving truth into your heart. Read the psalm a second time, turning each verse into a prayer of thanksgiving, confession, or supplication.

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, thank you for comforting the hurting and encouraging the discouraged; thank you for caring friends who speak words of encouragement into my life; this week help me to look for ways to be an encouragement to my family, friends, and coworkers.

 

 

Fuel Your Soul with Encouragement – Ultimate Life Coach

Key Bible Verse: The Eternal One will never leave you; he will lead you in the way that you should go. When you feel dried up and worthless, God will nourish you and give you strength.  – Isaiah 58:11, The Voice

Dig Deeper: Isaiah 58:7-14

Believe in God’s ability to mentor you, to teach you, to groom you, and to be your life coach. You have heard of the coach-of-the-year award. Well, God is the coach of all generations, and he is offering to teach you to live life as he intends.

God’s inspiring Word contains compelling evidence of his desire to be your companion for life. He is there when you need to grow. When you call on him for a lift, he will hear. He is always with you.

Let these additional words of encouragement inspire you to turn to your heavenly Father:

• “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deut. 31:8).
• “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope'” (Jer. 29:11).
• “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast” (1 Pet. 5:10, NIV).

—Steve Kubicek in Up and In

My Response: What verses from this week’s readings have encouraged or helped me the most? I will try to commit at least one of those verses to memory.

Thought to Apply: Without the message of the Scriptures we would have nothing with which to encourage one another.—Gene Getz (pastor, writer)

Adapted from Up and In (Thomas Nelson, 2013)

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, thank you for comforting the hurting and encouraging the discouraged; thank you for caring friends who speak words of encouragement into my life; this week help me to look for ways to be an encouragement to my family, friends, and coworkers.

 

Fuel Your Soul with Encouragement – Best Guide Ever

Key Bible Verse: The humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged.   – Psalm 69:32

Dig Deeper: Psalm 69

God encourages us. We may not be able to meet with a mentoring friend each time we need encouragement, but at any time we can chat with our heavenly Father. He listens to us and promises to meet us in our time of need. As David declared in Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (NIV, et al.).

Your Lord genuinely desires to hear from you and develop an intimate, hope-filled relationship with you. Talk to him through heartfelt prayer, and let his Spirit affirm you.

God is a holy mentor. Are you skeptical that God wants to play the role of mentor in your life? Consider what he intends when he says in Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Jesus promised his support, too, when he stated this in John 14:26: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” These Scriptures confirm the truth that God desires to guide us throughout our lives. Trust him; you could have no better guide.

—Steve Kubicek in Up and In

My Response: In what areas of my life do I need God’s guidance right now?

Thought to Apply: I think God is nearer to suffering than to happiness, and to find God in this way gives peace and rest and a strong and courageous heart.—Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German theologian, pastor)

Adapted from Up and In (Thomas Nelson, 2013)

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, thank you for comforting the hurting and encouraging the discouraged; thank you for caring friends who speak words of encouragement into my life; this week help me to look for ways to be an encouragement to my family, friends, and coworkers.

 

 

Fuel Your Soul with Encouragement – Encourage Yourself

Key Bible Verse: Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  – Philippians 4:8

Dig Deeper: Philippians 4:4-9

As beneficial as the support of positive companions is, we still need to encourage ourselves.

For my own self-encouragement, I have an expandable folder labeled “When I Need a Lift.” I keep my folder in a drawer next to the desk in my home study.

This folder contains numerous letters and cards from loved ones and friends that I have accumulated over the years. It serves as tangible evidence of lives I have touched or lives that have reached out to touch me. It is a reminder of joyous moments when I let the Lord work in me and through my life. Flipping through this folder brings joy to my heart when I need it most.

Perhaps the best part about this encouraging tool is that it takes no effort at all to start and maintain. Just grab a folder and start filling it with Scriptures highlighting God’s promises to you, notes from family members sharing their love for you, special cards from birthdays and other occasions, e-mails of special significance to your life, photos that remind you of your blessings and value, and whatever else tends to lift your spirit when you’re down and not thinking clearly.

—Steve Kubicek in Up and In

My Response: What do I usually do when I’m down or having a bad day? How might I benefit from creating and maintaining a “When I Need a Lift” folder? What would help me get the most out of this “encouraging tool”?

Thought to Apply: Encouragement is oxygen to the soul.—George M. Adams (politician)

Adapted from Up and In (Thomas Nelson, 2013)

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, thank you for comforting the hurting and encouraging the discouraged; thank you for caring friends who speak words of encouragement into my life; this week help me to look for ways to be an encouragement to my family, friends, and coworkers.

 

 

Fuel Your Soul with Encouragement – Spiritual Nourishment

Key Bible Verse: So encourage each other and give each other strength, just as you are doing now.  – 1 Thessalonians 5:11, NCV

Dig Deeper: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Companionship with those who trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is a tool God often uses to nourish us with encouragement. Fellowship with believers is a divine resource that we should not miss.

The Lord also uses fellow Christians who have suffered a hardship or endured a painful experience to encourage others who are going through similar situations. Let them love on you and restore you.

And one of the ways God works all things for good (Rom. 8:28) is by comforting us in our times of trouble and so equipping us to comfort others: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4, NIV).

Whether you start with an encouraging friend, an uplifting mentor, or the companionship of other believers, make sure to regularly feed your mind, heart, and soul with encouragement. Take the necessary measures to guard against becoming mentally and spiritually malnourished.

—Steve Kubicek in Up and In

My Response: When have I been comforted or encouraged by someone who has faced past difficulties or struggles? When has God used my own struggles to comfort and encourage someone else?

Thought to Apply: Often the most loving thing we can do when a friend is in pain is to share the pain—to be there even when we have nothing to offer except our presence and even when being there is painful for ourselves.—M. Scott Peck (psychiatrist, writer)

Adapted from Up and In (Thomas Nelson, 2013)

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, thank you for comforting the hurting and encouraging the discouraged; thank you for caring friends who speak words of encouragement into my life; this week help me to look for ways to be an encouragement to my family, friends, and coworkers.

 

 

Fuel Your Soul with Encouragement – Listen to Your Heart

Key Bible Verse: The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain.  – Proverbs 10:11

Dig Deeper: Proverbs 10:10-14

When we need the nourishment of food, our stomachs get our attention, either with hunger pains or the sounds of gurgling. We tend to respond to these signs of hunger like responding to the call of a dinner bell. We seek snacks and sit down for meals like clockwork. However, we often ignore the longing of our hearts for a serving of life-sustaining encouragement.

When we deprive ourselves of encouragement, our attitudes and self-esteem dwindle. A shortage of inspiration negatively affects our performance and severely stunts our growth. A lack of affirmation shrivels our confidence and hope.

Are your mind and soul starving for encouragement? Listen to your heart. Is it signaling that it is feeding time? If so, take the initiative, and tend to this need.

This is my challenge: find a dependable, encouraging friend or mentor to build you up with affirming words and needed encouragement. Strive to meet with this person at least once a month. Let your mentor’s uplifting spirit feed you with right thinking and positive motivation. Consume that fruitful energy as if you were drinking a high-impact smoothie. Let your friend’s encouraging words satisfy your inner hunger and thirst.

—Steve Kubicek in Up and In

My Response: A friend who speaks words of encouragement into my soul is … Who needs to hear words of encouragement from me?

Adapted from Up and In (Thomas Nelson, 2013)

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, thank you for comforting the hurting and encouraging the discouraged; thank you for caring friends who speak words of encouragement into my life; this week help me to look for ways to be an encouragement to my family, friends, and coworkers.

 

Effective Stewardship – Month #13

Money is a means to the greater end of glorifying God

as we demonstrate practical Christianity in our lives.

 

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,

do everything for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

We’ve all heard the expression, “Money talks.”

That’s true. Money does talk.  Oh, not in words or phrases that constitute a language, but money talks.

Because it is valuable to us, how we use it communicates volumes to those about us.  People tend to spend their money on things that are important to them.  With the exception perhaps of taxes, all of us vote with the contents of our purses, wallets and checkbooks concerning what means the most to us.

In fact, we could even go so far as to say that a person who does not spend money on something which is supposedly very important in his or her life really does not place much value on that item or activity.

Suppose for a moment that you think “little league” baseball for kids is very important.  You talk about it wherever you go.  You attend the games.  You enroll your own children in the program.  But when someone calls you to ask you to be a sponsor of a team, or when someone “passes the hat” at a game to pay for equipment, you refuse to participate.

Would you not agree that an impartial observer of such behavior would conclude correctly that little league baseball really does not mean much to you?  Your lack of financial support would outweigh the other positive aspects of your attendance, enthusiasm and participation.

The same thing is true in the spiritual realm.  It is one thing to talk about Christianity.  It is yet another to demonstrate our faith by how we use the money which God has entrusted to us.  And that is especially true in our support of the ministry of Central United Methodist Church.  As someone said recently in one church just before the offering was received, “Lord, in spite of all we say and do, this is what we think of you.”

Or as the Lord Jesus put it, “ . . . let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

 

 

 

 

Fuel Your Soul with Encouragement – Like a Cool, Refreshing Drink

Key Study Passage: Psalm 23

Who Said It … Steve Kubicek

Steve Kubicek has more than 30 years of corporate experience, including 18 years as an executive with Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Company—the world’s largest publicly traded copper company. Retired since 2005, Steve leads a men’s group at his church and is involved in various other ministries. He is the author of Up and In.

What he Said … Like a Cool, Refreshing Drink

Encouragement spurs on the downtrodden and heavy-burdened like a cool, refreshing drink can restore a weary traveler on a sunny day. Imagine packaging liquid encouragement in bottles and offering it to the masses. Just think of the spirit that would prevail throughout the world if we could all reach into our cabinets or refrigerators and pull out a bottle of refreshing encouragement, the lemonade for the soul, which truly would be an uplifting drink.

Medical science has observed that our bodies require a balanced supply of nutrients for good health and long-term sustainability. When the body lacks an essential nutrient, physical symptoms appear that highlight the deficiency. These symptoms serve as warning signals so that we can recognize the issue and take remedial measures. Does the same principle hold true for the essential life ingredient of encouragement? I contend it does. Our bodies signal us when we need to correct our encouragement deficiency. We receive warning messages when we are about to go down like a sinking ship.

Adapted from Up and In (Thomas Nelson, 2013)

Prayer for the Week:  Heavenly Father, thank you for comforting the hurting and encouraging the discouraged; thank you for caring friends who speak words of encouragement into my life; this week help me to look for ways to be an encouragement to my family, friends, and coworkers.

 

Live the Adventure – The Christian Life

Key Study Passage: Matthew 28:16-20

With Judas out of the picture, the 11 remaining disciples gathered at the mountain where the resurrected Jesus had told them to meet him. When Jesus showed up, they all worshiped him, even those who struggled with their doubts. Then Jesus prepared them for the most exciting adventure ever with these words:

“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

1. Before Jesus gave his disciples specific instructions for reaching the world, he said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.” Why is this significant? (See Luke 10:22; John 5:19; Eph. 1:19-22; Col. 1:15-19.)
2. Do you believe the instructions in today’s passage apply to every Christian? Why or why not? (See John 8:31-32, 15:4-9, 17:9-26.)
3. Why is it essential to realize that we can’t live the faith adventure on our own power? (See John 15:5; Eph. 2:4-10; James 4:4-10;2 Pet. 1:2-4.)

Spend Time in Prayer: Pray for two or three men you’d like to see come to faith or live as better disciples. Ask God to show you how you might help at least one of these men on their faith journey.

Matthew 28:16-20

The Great Commission

16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Prayer for the Week: Dear God, whether my adventure is in a 9-5 office, on a foreign mission field, or someplace else, may I live in a way that draws others to you and to the adventure you’ve prepared for them.

 

Live the Adventure – Never a Dull Moment

Key Bible Verse: Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God.   – Luke 9:2

Dig Deeper: Luke 9:1-6

When Jesus called the disciples to follow him, the average person in the first century never traveled outside a 30-mile radius of their birthplace. These men were planning on living their entire lives fishing the Sea of Galilee, but Jesus sent them to the ends of the earth. He took them adventuring with him—they hiked the Mount of Transfiguration, sailed the Sea of Galilee, and went on long camping trips.

Along the way, they witnessed remarkable miracles on a regular basis. And they did more than witness them. They filleted the miraculous catch of fish and ate it. They toasted the water that Jesus turned into wine and then drank it to the dregs. They hugged Lazarus while he still had his grave clothes on. You can’t put a price tag on those kind of experiences, but once you’ve had them, they define you forever.

The very nature of the gospel is Jesus inviting the disciples on an adventure. To do what they’d never done and go where they’d never gone. Never a dull moment!

Jesus is calling you to the same adventure as his original disciples. He is offering you a life full of daring. Don’t you want in on the action? The moment you say yes, the adventure begins.

—Mark Batterson in A Trip Around the Sun

My Response: What adventure might Jesus be inviting me to? What would keep me from taking on this adventure?

Thought to Apply: I am discovering that in trying to find God’s will and the shape of the Christian life I have begun an adventure so great that its total completion will always be ahead. —Keith Miller (Christian writer)

Adapted from A Trip Around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime by Mark Batterson and Richard Foth with Susanna Foth Aughtmon.

Prayer for the Week: Dear God, whether my adventure is in a 9-5 office, on a foreign mission field, or someplace else, may I live in a way that draws others to you and to the adventure you’ve prepared for them.

 

 

Live the Adventure – Join the Adventure

Key Bible Verse: Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  – John 8:12, ESV

Dig Deeper: John 12:44-46

Jesus was the quintessential adventurer. Leaving the comfort of heaven, he entered the four dimensions of space and time. He created and set out on the craziest adventure of them all: restoring broken image-bearers to himself. He didn’t do it with angel armies. He didn’t overthrow the Roman government or claim the kingship that was rightfully his. He was a middle-of-the-marketplace Messiah, who rubbed elbows with the masses.

He hung out at wells and in living rooms and on hillsides and invited anyone and everyone to join him. Jesus didn’t come with an agenda; he was the agenda. He came that he might draw all men unto himself. With his grace, with his truth, he lets us get in on the action with a life-altering invitation: “Come, follow me” (Matt. 4:19).

When Jesus invites us to do life with him, he invites us to rub elbows with those he loves: the lost, the broken, the misled, and the misfits. Just like Jesus, we need to find ourselves in the middle of the marketplace. If we are separating ourselves from the world around us, we are off mission. And even worse? We are missing out on the adventure Jesus has for us.

—Mark Batterson in A Trip Around the Sun

My Response: What ministries in my church or service programs in my community might help me more consistently “rub elbows with those Jesus loves: the lost, the broken, and the misfits”?

Thought to Apply: We can find and fulfill our purpose by responding to the clear, simple call of Jesus Christ: “Follow me.” He is the doorway to fulfilling our destiny, where our divine design and God-ordained purpose live in perfect harmony. —Charles Swindoll (pastor, writer)

Adapted from A Trip Around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime by Mark Batterson and Richard Foth with Susanna Foth Aughtmon.

Prayer for the Week: Dear God, whether my adventure is in a 9-5 office, on a foreign mission field, or someplace else, may I live in a way that draws others to you and to the adventure you’ve prepared for them.

 

 

Live the Adventure – Boldly Go

Key Bible Verse: The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”  – Mark 4:41

Dig Deeper: Mark 4:35-41

Jesus meets us where we are and says, “I’ve got a place for you. A new life. A new character. A new way of seeing things. How would you like to go on an adventure?”

Sometimes getting a clear view of Jesus is the greatest challenge to following him. Time and distance can obscure him and make him insipid.

Dorothy Sayers said:

The people who hanged the Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore—on the contrary; they thought him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality. … We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him “meek and mild,” and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.

I don’t want to muffle up the shattering personality. I want to revel in it, then reflect it.

When we go adventuring with Jesus, he takes us places we never dreamed we could go and gives us ideas we never thought we could have.

Source of quote: A Matter of Eternity: Selected writings of Dorothy L. Sayers.

—Richard Foth in A Trip Around the Sun

My Response: In what ways has the church in America tamed Jesus? According to the four gospels, what is Jesus like? What sets him apart from other religious leaders?

Thought to Apply: “Here be dragons to be slain, here be rich rewards to gain; if we perish in the seeking, why, how small a thing is death!”—Dorothy Sayers (British crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist)

Adapted from A Trip Around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime by Mark Batterson and Richard Foth with Susanna Foth Aughtmon.

Prayer for the Week: Dear God, whether my adventure is in a 9-5 office, on a foreign mission field, or someplace else, may I live in a way that draws others to you and to the adventure you’ve prepared for them.

 

Live the Adventure – Gather Experiences

Key Bible Verse: “But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.”  – Matthew 6:20, NET

Dig Deeper: Matthew 6:19-24

May 27, 2005, ranks as one of the most memorable days of my life, and I learned a lesson that has defined my life ever since. It was the last day of our mission trip to Ethiopia.

The date is stamped in my memory because it was one of the craziest days of my life. After a week of intense ministry, our team journeyed into the wilderness of the Ethiopian outback. We got held up at gunpoint by shepherds with AK-47s, went swimming in a natural spring heated by a volcano, and did a game drive through Awash National Park—all in a day’s adventure. We ended the day worshiping God around a campfire.

That night, tucked away in my pup tent, I was journaling about the amazing day I had just experienced and I heard the still small voice of the Holy Spirit say, “Mark, don’t accumulate possessions, accumulate experiences.” That moment, in the middle of an African game park, reshaped the way I viewed life.

That two-word mantra—accumulate experiences—is my modus operandi. It frames my life. It also frames our family. Lora and I want our kids to get in on the action, and it’s our job to engineer those experiences.

—Mark Batterson in A Trip Around the Sun

My Response: What are the benefits of accumulating possessions? What are the benefits of accumulating experiences?

Thought to Apply: The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped—it requires an active participation in following Jesus as he leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory.—Eugene Peterson (pastor, scholar, writer)

Adapted from A Trip Around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime by Mark Batterson and Richard Foth with Susanna Foth Aughtmon.

Prayer for the Week: Dear God, whether my adventure is in a 9-5 office, on a foreign mission field, or someplace else, may I live in a way that draws others to you and to the adventure you’ve prepared for them.

 

Live the Adventure – Designer Destinies

Key Bible Verse: Now you’ve got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way.  – Psalm 16:11, The Message

Dig Deeper: Psalm 16

I have come to believe that from the moment of conception, we are being formed with an adventure in mind. We were created to touch, taste, smell, see, and hear life. Our Creator has big plans for us. No settling for mediocrity. Rather, we have a high calling etched into our bones and written on our hearts.

God wants to engage us from first squall to last drawn breath and deliver us into a life he has dreamed for us. Whether our earliest memories are sailing the high seas in a steamship or walking in a kindergarten class by ourselves for the first time, the exploration of the world within us and around us is a drumbeat. And the beat goes on.

We were made to explore. For some of us that exploration is more outward than inward, like Admiral Robert Peary going to the North Pole. For others it is more inward than outward, like Blaise Pascal and his thoughts or Thomas Merton’s contemplations. Whichever it is, we were made for curiosity and more. That design drives us. It shapes our thinking and our dreams. It forms expectations of what life should be and lays the foundation of who we will become. It shapes our destiny.

I would submit it is our destiny.

—Richard Foth in A Trip Around the Sun

My Response: What specific experiences have shaped my life and faith?

Adapted from A Trip Around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime by Mark Batterson and Richard Foth with Susanna Foth Aughtmon.

Prayer for the Week: Dear God, whether my adventure is in a 9-5 office, on a foreign mission field, or someplace else, may I live in a way that draws others to you and to the adventure you’ve prepared for them.

 

Live the Adventure – Defining Moments

Key Study Passage: Matthew 28:16-20

Who Said It … Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. He is The New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker and The Grave Robber. Mark lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Lora, and three children. Visit him at markbatterson.com.

Mark and his friend Richard Foth, minister-at-large in Washington, DC, coauthored A Trip Around the Sun—the source of this week’s readings.

What he Said … Defining Moments

Alfred Adler, the famed psychologist, is said to have begun every counseling session by asking his clients to tell him about their earliest memory. They would share those memories, and no matter what their answer was, Adler would say, “And so life is.”

If your earliest memory is flying in an airplane to visit your grandparents, life is a journey. If your first recollection is huddling under the covers on a summer’s night as thunder claps and lightning strikes, life is a storm.

I genuinely believe our outlook on life is determined by a few defining moments when God meets us and we meet God. It’s Jacob’s wrestling match with God. It’s Moses at the burning bush. It’s Peter walking on water. Those moments are more than memories. They are the lenses through which we perceive the present and dream of the future. Those are the moments when God helps us see ourselves for who we really are.

Adapted from A Trip Around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime by Mark Batterson and Richard Foth with Susanna Foth Aughtmon.

Prayer for the Week: Dear God, whether my adventure is in a 9-5 office, on a foreign mission field, or someplace else, may I live in a way that draws others to you and to the adventure you’ve prepared for them.

 

Missions: From Start to Finish

Caleb provides the biblical ideal for a “finisher.” Over a lifetime he has consistently served as a tribal leader for Judah.

At age 85, he is still alert and fit. What’s more, he is chomping at the bit to take on a fresh challenge. What a model to emulate!

 Interact with God’s Word:  Joshua 14:6-14

1. What was Caleb’s role (Numbers 13:3-16) when he was selected for the Canaan scouting expedition?
2. The scouting party majority was intimidated by the Anakites (Numbers 13:31-33). How did the outlook of Caleb and Joshua differ from their “grasshopper complex”?
3. Why (v. 7) were Caleb’s words (Numbers 13:1, 30) a “good report”?
4. How do we know (v. 12) that Caleb was not a naïve optimist?
5. Why did God consider the majority report a rejection of Him (Numbers 14:11)?
6. How does Caleb’s appeal to Joshua (v. 12) contrast with the usual assumption in our day about retirement pursuits?
7. What (vv. 11-12) was Caleb’s assessment of his retirement-age capabilities? What was his ambition?
8. What (vv. 13-14) was the outcome of Caleb’s venture?

Spend Time in Prayer:  Ask God to make you receptive to any assignment He may have for you, regardless of its location, duration, or your age.

Joshua 14:6-14

6 A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, 8 but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. 9 So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’

10 “Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. 11 I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. 12 So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.”

13 So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land. 14 Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.

Prayer for the Week: Prevent me, sovereign Lord, from placing age or place restrictions on my readiness to serve You.

Missions: From Start to Finish – A Nurseryman Finisher

Key Bible Verse: “Let’s go at once to take the land,” Caleb said. “We can certainly conquer it!”  – Numbers 13:30

Bonus Reading: Joshua 14:6-14

The Sahara Desert advancing across Mauritania is forcing this country’s once nomadic population to its two cities. The National Geographic called the result “the largest refugee camp in the world.” The government asked Impact Teams International for help. That’s how Bill Stoffregen, a Christian nurseryman from North Carolina, landed in Mauritania. Appalled at the intense heat and lack of water, Bill questioned if any cash crop would grow there—until he spied a row of green trees. “What are those?” he asked.

“Neem trees,” said his interpreter. Bill knew that neem is an ingredient in insecticides. A computer search divulged that neem products treat wounds and a variety of ailments. And because the tree’s roots grow three feet underground for every foot above, it might hold drifting sands in place.

Excited by Bill’s report, Mauritanian officials agreed to explore the tree’s commercial potential. The research, which Bill funded from his savings, revealed that $1 million invested in planting trees and building a processing plant would create many jobs. Commercial shipments have now begun. Bill has no doubt that God used him to launch this project.

—Anne Garris in Today’s Christian

My Response: To explore ways to invest my experience or resources in Christ’s kingdom, I’ll ____.

Thought to Apply: What we give up for Christ we gain. What we keep back for ourselves is our real loss. ;mdash;J. Hudson Taylor (English missionary to China)

Adapted from our sister publication Today’s Christian(9-10/04)

Prayer for the Week:  Prevent me, sovereign Lord, from placing age or place restrictions on my readiness to serve You.

 

 

Missions: From Start to Finish – The Business Plan

Key Bible Verse: “If you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.”  – Mark 8:35

Bonus Reading: Mark 8:34-35

Rusty met the Lord as a college athlete and accepted His call to penetrate China’s bamboo curtain with the gospel. Convinced that the best entry was through business, Rusty learned sales working for a world-class retailer in Seattle. Next, he spent two years in Taiwan learning the Mandarin language and Chinese culture. He was hired by an international manufacturer and through hard work, Rusty quickly advanced in the company, becoming its lead representative in Beijing.

Today, 15 years on, Rusty is one of the most respected Christian businessmen in China. An article about Rusty in a Beijing newspaper noted his contributions to the Chinese people and characterized him as trustworthy. His business platform provided the basis for a reputation that opened the minds and hearts of many.

He’s witnessed to thousands of Chinese business people and led many to Christ. He’s supported the Chinese church and helped hundreds of mission workers and Chinese believers establish themselves in business and ministry.

—Mike Barnett in The Changing Face of World Missions

My Response: In what arena am I—or could I become—qualified to demonstrate what a follower of Jesus is like?

Thought to Apply: There comes to many of us the choice between a life of contraction and one of expansion; a life of small dimensions and one of widening horizons. ;mdash;John R. Mott (Student Volunteer movement leader)

Adapted from The Changing Face of World Missions (Baker, 2005)

Prayer for the Week: Prevent me, sovereign Lord, from placing age or place restrictions on my readiness to serve You.

 

 

Missions: From Start to Finish – Brief Task, Lasting Results

Key Bible Verse: And you know that the way we lived among you was further proof of the truth of our message.  – 1 Thessalonians 1:5

Bonus Reading: 1 Thess. 1:4-10a

Four university students from Canada partnered with four from Daystar University in Nairobi for six weeks in the summer of 1996. They were assigned to Olepolis, a Masai village in a Kenya area with almost no Christians. Some 80 percent of the population was alcoholic, with women brewing corn beer for their families.

Sarone, my Masai friend, arranged for the team to camp on his family’s farm. Together they built a bridge of rocks across the local river, which annually cut the village off from the outside world for up to four weeks. They also spent hours visiting families in the shade of trees outside their homes, “chewing the news.”

In response to their demonstration of the gospel and God’s love, the villagers requested that another Christian mazungu (white man) be sent to live with them and help them develop their land.

Seven years later, during meetings in Nairobi, I bumped into Sarone, with three elders from the new Masai church in Olepolis. They recalled the impact of seeing young Masai and Canadian Christians living and serving together. Over 300 members, they reported, were the fruit of the seeds the team had planted! Then they shared their plans for evangelizing surrounding villages.

—Randy Friesen in EMQ

My Response: Should I be content to plant seeds, trusting God for long-term fruit, or __?

Thought to Apply: It may be He has only sent me here as a stopgap. Part of a soldier’s duty is to fill gaps, you know. ;mdash;Amy Carmichael (British missionary to India)

Adapted from EMQ (Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 10/05)

Prayer for the Week: Prevent me, sovereign Lord, from placing age or place restrictions on my readiness to serve You.

 

 

Missions: From Start to Finish – From Short to Long

Key Bible Verse: It is right for me to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.  – Romans 15:17

Bonus Reading: Romans 15:15b-21

Straight out of high school, Ken went to work for a water drilling company in the mountains of North Carolina. A believer, he not only loved his work, but he also fell in love with and married Carolyn, the boss’s daughter.

After two volunteer short-term assignments in West Africa, he and Carolyn started praying about a way to serve overseas. But with no formal training, God’s answer looked to them like a no.

Then a friend introduced Ken to a young man who wanted a well dug at his farm home. Ken remembers saying, “Franklin, if you ever need to find water where you’re working in Africa, let me know.”

Months later Franklin Graham took Ken up on his offer, asking him to go to Ethiopia to explore drilling wells there. Ken launched a major well-drilling program for the National Evangelical Church, showing the love of Christ to thousands with pure, clean, crystal-clear drinking water.

As international director of projects for Samaritan’s Purse, Ken Isaacs now oversees work in nearly 100 countries. How did he land there? “God raised me up,” he marvels, “literally from the mud, as a blue-collar well driller.”

—Melvin Cheatham in Make a Difference

My Response: I’ll pray about using my skills among the world’s poor.

Thought to Apply: In 1944 the Lord called me from aviation to Himself, and now He has sent me back to aviation for Himself.  – Nate Saint (missionary pilot martyred in Ecuador)

Adapted from Make a Difference (W Publishing, 2004)

Prayer for the Week: Prevent me, sovereign Lord, from placing age or place restrictions on my readiness to serve You.

 

 

Missions: From Start to Finish – A Cyclist Starter

Key Bible Verse: The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.  – Proverbs 20:29

Bonus Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:5

Ted Webb of Uxbridge, Ontario, traveled to Malawi three years ago on a mission trip, and discovered the importance of bicycles to impoverished Malawians. With his years of fixing, building, and selling bikes, the 21-year-old avid cyclist observed people walking downhill because their brakes had fallen apart, or uphill because the single gear made it impossible to ride!

Ted saw a great opportunity. “So many bikes collect dust in North American garages,” he says, “and they’re so desperately needed in Africa. Once refurbished, they’re of much better quality than those typically available there.”

Africycle was born in 2004 as Ted and his friends collected 180 used bicycles, restored them to top condition, and packed them in a container. Ted and three friends flew to Malawi to meet the shipment and distribute the donated bikes to pastors, orphans, and trades people.

They offered workshops on repairing and maintaining them. When an Africycle team returned in 2006, they found pastors traveling greater distances and reaching more people.

Africycle sent more bicycles to Malawi last year and set up a sale and repair shop. The small fee for the bikes pays locals to work in the shop and funds a school for orphans and disabled kids.

—Sandra Reimer in FaithToday

My Response: What interest of mine might God harness to advance His kingdom?

Adapted from FaithToday (1-2/07)

Prayer for the Week: Prevent me, sovereign Lord, from placing age or place restrictions on my readiness to serve You.

 

Effective Stewardship – Month #13

Money is a means to the greater end of glorifying God

as we demonstrate practical Christianity in our lives.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,

do everything for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

 

Shortly after World War II came to a close, Europe began picking up the pieces. Much of the Old Country had been ravaged by war and was in ruins. Perhaps the saddest sight of all was that of little orphaned children starving in the streets of those war-torn cities.

Early one chilly morning, an American soldier was making his way back to his barracks in London. As he turned the corner in his jeep, he spotted a little lad with his nose pressed to the window of a pastry shop. Inside, the cook was kneading dough for a fresh batch of doughnuts. The hungry boy stared in silence, watching every move.

The soldier pulled his jeep to the curb, stopped, got out, and walked quietly over to where the little fellow was standing. Through the steamed-up window, he could see the mouth-watering morsels as they were being pulled from the oven, piping hot. The boy salivated and released a slight groan as he watched the cook place them ever so carefully into the glass-enclosed case.

The soldier’s heart went out to the nameless orphan as he stood beside him.

“Son, would you like some of those?”

The boy was startled. “Well, yes, I would.”

The American stepped inside and bought a dozen doughnuts, put them in a bag, and walked back to where the lad was standing in the foggy cold of the London morning. He smiled, held out the bag, and said simply, “Here you are.”

As he turned to walk away, he felt a tug on his coat. He looked back and heard the child ask quietly, “Mister, are you God?”

There’s an old saying that says, “Money talks.” It does, you know. It speaks volumes about our priorities, about the things we think are most important, about our values. Money never speaks more clearly than when we use it to minister to someone in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. When that happens, money sends forth a radiant, powerful message about the love of Christ as we demonstrate our Christian faith in action.

The admonition from God’s Word is clear: Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we are to do it for the glory of God. As you consider what God would have you give to your Church, and as you consider the commitments about money and giving you have made to Him, are you doing what you are doing for His glory?

Remember the young boy’s question of a man who befriended him: “Mister, are you God?” It’s just possible, you know, that someone may experience your faith in action by how you use your money today and ask the very same question about you.

Missions: From Start to Finish – An Accountant Finisher

Who Said It…Jim Reapsome

Jim Reapsome, at 77, has just completed a stint as interim pastor of Western Springs, IL Baptist Church.

That follows retiring from a journalism career: public relations director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, editor of The Sunday School Times and Evangelical Missions Quarterly, and managing editor of Christianity Today. And oh yes, he’s pastored a Pennsylvania congregation.

Jim also gardens, golfs, and roots for the Phillies.

What He Said…An Accountant Finisher

Howard and Marilyn Schmidt represent a host of Christians (called “finishers” in missions lingo) who’ve chosen missionary work as their second career. In 1966, Howard took a year of leave from his managerial job at U.S. Steel, and went to Nigeria with their three children. There he served as a field auditor for Charlotte, NC-based SIM International, traveling among SIM’s bases of operations reviewing their financial books.

This short-term experience was so successful that it proved to be a long-term turning point for this family. Howard stayed with U.S. Steel long enough to qualify for a minimum pension (about the same as SIM’s allowance for a missionary couple). By this time their children had finished their college educations, and the Schmidts were free to rejoin SIM in 1981, bringing their own support.

The Schmidts 21-year second career took them all over the world for SIM. He installed financial systems and trained missionaries in a number of countries.

Adapted from World Pulse (8/6/04)

Prayer for the Week: Prevent me, sovereign Lord, from placing age or place restrictions on my readiness to serve You.