One of the most popular “discoveries” in Scripture of all time has been the prayer that Jabez prayed in the fourth chapter of the Old Testament book of I Chronicles. His prayer request was obviously noteworthy, or the Holy Spirit would not have included it in the Old Testament. But for what reason was it […]
This message is for those of you who wonder if you have what it takes to do God’s work or to lead God’s people. Because the Bible is literally God’s Word to us, the careful reader will find intriguing insights scattered throughout the scriptures. One of these is found in I Samuel 10:6-7 and I […]
Note from the President: May God bless you today. Many have asked for a copy of my message from Shift in which I challenge the Missionary Church to explore a path toward wider participation by the body of Christ, rather than just having our pastors shoulder the entire load. In II Samuel 6, a […]
I recently was asked to give this “Ted-Talk” style presentation at our Western Region Conference, and people have continued to ask me to reprint this for them. For that reason, I have decided to share it with you today in this June edition of Priority. I have challenged myself today to an IMPOSSIBLE task. I […]
When your airplane clears the runway and rises, banking on its way out of the restricted airspace of the airport, you can look out your window and see the buildings and cars and streets shrink in size. Homes become dollhouses, skyscrapers become little towers, highways become ribbons of gray, and cars become dots crawling on […]
(Moving from Worrier to Warrior) I am writing today to those who have been plagued for most of their lives by worries and fears. Some worries are obvious to others (such as germaphobia or a fear of flying), while others may plague the secret places of the mind (e.g., concerns about falling into poverty […]
A few days ago someone handed me an article that I wrote 16 years ago. As I re-read it later (while wondering why it had been handed to me), I felt impressed to reprint it in this month’s Priority to help our pastors and teachers begin thinking about their Good Friday and Easter themes. God […]
Jesus had twelve disciples, and one day, nine of them got into a serious situation which God used to answer the question which we have all wondered: “Do I have enough faith?” It happened this way: Jesus had divided the disciples into two groups—three in one group and the remaining nine in the other. He […]
Can you remember when the news was something you had to wait for instead of something you couldn’t avoid? (For those of you born in the digital generation, we used to catch up on the news by holding sheets of printed paper up in front of our faces … sheets of paper so large that […]
There is no doubt that it is more blessed to give than to receive because Jesus said so. But it doesn’t always feel like blessing. In fact, giving is high-risk behavior … a high-stakes proposition. How could that be? The answer may surprise you: Giving is a huge act of vulnerability. Have you ever thought […]