Hospitality and hospital come from the same Latin word, for they both lead to the same result– healing. When you open your door to someone, you are sending this message: “You matter to me and to God.” Do you know people who need this message? Your hospitality can ...
16 January, 2020Our society is set up for isolation. We communicate via e-mail and text messages. Our mantra is “I leave you alone; you leave me alone.” Yet God wants his people to be an exception, people of hospitality. “Every day in the Temple and in people’s homes they c...
15 January, 2020What if the missing ingredient for changing the world is teamwork? “When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action” (Matthew 18:19 MSG). This is an astounding promise! The Jerusalem church found a way to ...
14 January, 2020None of us can do what all of us can do. Remember Jesus’ commission to his disciples? You (speaking to all of you collectively) will be my witnesses (Acts 1:8). Jesus didn’t issue individual assignments. He works in community. “Jesus is the head of the body,...
13 January, 2020Acts 2:38 records the sermon of the apostle Peter. In it, Peter said, “Turn back to God! Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven. We cherish pardon, don’t we? And God offers it. He does not give us what we deserve. He...
12 January, 2020Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again” (John 6:35). You know, the grain-to-bread process is a demanding one. Bread is the end result of planting, harvesting, and heating. Jesus endured an identical process. He was born...
09 January, 2020From Acts 2 we read: “Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from Heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them where filled with the Holy Spirit ...
08 January, 2020God loves all people groups and equips us to be his voice. He teaches us the vocabulary of distant lands, the dialect of the discouraged neighbor, the vernacular of the lonely heart, and the idiom of the young student. God outfits his followers to cross cultures and touch hearts. Penteco...
07 January, 2020Pentecost was the busiest day of the year in Jerusalem. And Jesus’ followers were gathered in prayer. They were not separated from society but smack-dab in the center of it. Once God had them where he needed them, the Holy Spirit came upon them suddenly; first as wind and the...
06 January, 20201 Corinthians 1:27 says, “God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. I invite you to pray this prayer with me: Loving Father, you made me, so you know very well that I am but dust. Yet you have called me into your kingdom to serve you at...
05 January, 2020