Articles
Faith in the Midst of Doubt: A Pastor’s Journey
“If you take my son, we’re done!” Drew screamed as he sobbed into the steering wheel of his car in the hospital parking lot. Drew had just come from the neonatal intensive care unit, where his son, Linden, lay in his mother’s arms. Linden had been born prematurely and...
Redefining Ministry Success: A Biblical Perspective
I was devastated when one of my seminary students, a pastor of fifty-plus years, said, “I feel like neither my life nor my ministry has made any difference.” This thoughtful, kind, and intelligent man believed his efforts had been all for naught. Yet he had served his...
Discover Your Unique Prayer Style
When I stepped down from the platform, a lady approached me. I knew what she was going to say. I had just finished an enthusiastic and biblical rationale for prayerwalking as an intercessory practice for our communities. I greeted her, and then she said it. “Janet, I...
Faith’s Tapestry: Memory’s Profound Role
Why can I remember the hospital transport person who graciously pushed my wife’s wheelchair as we left the hospital when my daughter was born, but for the life of me, I cannot remember his name? While his name might escape me, his gentleness and candor do not. I do...
Laboring with Purpose: A Pastor’s Insight into Faith at Work
WORK IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY many of us have for fulfilling the calling of Christ and his command to love our neighbors as ourselves. Reflect on that statement. What if every Christ-follower really believed that? Building sewage systems, creating businesses,...
Unlock Spiritual Growth: Embrace Bible Memorization
Most Churches Ignore this Important Spiritual Discipline It felt like any other Sunday when pastor Levi Lusko stood in front of his congregation and asked them to turn in their Bibles to the book of James. While the sound of pages being flipped filled the auditorium,...
The Power of Prayer in Ministry
We have been in the ministry, David for more than 30 years, Maxie for more than 60. In every church we have served, the assumption was that if an area was growing then we should do more of it! Add another worship service! Expand the Sunday school! Do another Outreach...
Encountering God’s Love in Near-Death Experiences
Never in history, until now, have we been able to hear from so many people around the world brought back from clinical death. I believe NDEs are God’s gift to our globally connected world—widespread evidence of God’s reality and his great love for people of all...
Healing Hearts with Pet Therapy
As the founder of Canines for Christ, an international therapy dog organization with over 1,200 Spirit-filled volunteers, I have personally made thousands of visits with my therapy dogs over the years. I have seen the profound impact that therapy dogs have on people’s...
Navigating Christian Ethics
In many people’s minds today, the most offensive thing about Christianity is no longer Jesus’ exclusive claim to be our only hope for right relationship with God (John 14:6). Rather, it’s the New Testament’s uncompromising claim that sex belongs only in lifelong...
Building Sacred Foundations
As parents, we want to build a foundation of faith for our families, but figuring out where to begin can feel overwhelming. When you sketch out a rule of life, you create scaffolding to give your family stability as you build your life together. Creating a rule of...
Unlocking Generosity
As a church leader, you desire that the congregation be recognized as a truly generous church. You desire the members of your church to be renowned for their open-handedness. This aspiration is driven by the understanding that this not only benefits the individuals...
Healing Prayer Testimony
I had never met one! Not one. After being a Christian for fully eight years, I had never personally met anyone who had experienced divine healing, whether that was physical, mental, or emotional healing sent from God and activated through prayer. In fact, I had never...
Jesus’s Prayer Ministry
We have been in the ministry, David for more than 30 years, Maxie for more than 60. In every church we have served, the assumption was that if an area was growing then we should do more of it! Add another worship service! Expand the Sunday school! Do another Outreach...
Crafting a Church End-of-Year Giving Letter
The end of the year is a special time for churches and their congregations. It's a time for reflection, gratitude, and giving. One important tradition during this season is the end-of-year giving letter, a sincere message from the church to its members and supporters....
Transformative Scripture Meditation
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy . . . on . . . my way to work I need to swing by the ATM and pull out some cash. We need cash to get into...
Ḥesed: God’s Heart in Us
V. What God Wants Thoughts on ḥesed God is present through the Holy Spirit in everyone who belongs to Him, working to install and grow the heart that is like His, the heart full of ḥesed, and to drive out the stony heart that is full of sin and the world’s concerns,...
Reading for Transformation
Formation versus Information About five years ago I was having coffee with a local pastor, and we were discussing literature and my passion for reading. I was telling him about how vital I believe reading to be for us as ministers, and, after hearing me out, my pastor...
Listening for Formation
Listening to the Word of God makes us aware that we cannot simply adapt and adjust to the realities of a divided society. But especially in a society that is divided in the way ours is, the church’s work of formation is about listening to the Word of God in a way that...
The Vitality of Christian Community
With church attendance rebounding since the pandemic, Christians need to be encouraged to recall and remember what the writers of the Bible say about the vitality of Christian community, not to mention the command from God to meet together. Now more than ever,...
