Body

Newsletters

  • Brokenness

    David wrote about brokenness often in his Psalms. He spoke of God’s nearness to those who are broken: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). “The Lord is near unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (34:18).

  • The High Cost of Mercy

    “Love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36, my italics).

  • The Importance of Having the Peace of Christ

    Jesus told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:27). This word had to amaze the disciples. In their eyes, it was almost an unbelievable promise: Christ's peace was to become their peace.

    These twelve men had marveled at the peace they'd witnessed in Jesus for the past three years. Their Master was never afraid. He was always calm, never ruffled by any circumstance.

  • The Ministry of Beholding His Face

    Every Christian is called to ministry. The Bible makes this very clear. Paul writes, "We [all] have this ministry" (2 Corinthians 4:1).

    Yet most Christians' concept of ministry today isn't very biblical. We often see ministry as something that's done only by ordained preachers or missionaries. We think of ministers as seminary graduates who marry and bury people, build churches, lead worship meetings and teach doctrine. We see them as spiritual doctors who are meant to heal the wounds of the sick and hurting.

  • Touch Not Mine Anointed

    "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm" (Psalm 105:15). This brief verse contains a powerful warning from our Lord. And he means every word of it: woe to any nation or individual who lays a hand on those who are chosen of God. And woe to anyone who does harm to his prophets.

    This severe warning has a dual application. First, the "anointed" and "prophets" here refer to natural Israel, God's people of the Old Testament. Yet God's warning not to harm his chosen continues to apply today. It also covers his spiritual Israel, that is, his church.

  • Who is Guarding the Front Door?

    America's children today are a lost generation. No other generation in history has been so plagued by sex, drugs, alcohol, greed and murder at such a young age. My question is, who is to blame?

    Everyone knows something terrible has happened in our nation's schools. Crime and violence have become so common, many school buildings now have metal detectors. Seventh-grade boys are able to obtain guns and mow down their classmates with no sorrow at all.

  • Turn Off the Stew!

    Everyone knows what stew is. It's the meat-and-vegetable dish you put in a pot, simmer in a slow boil, and then eat. Yet Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary offers another definition. It describes stew as "a state of being agitated, disturbed." This same definition also includes the phrase "stewing in one's own juices" - meaning, "to allow trouble and agitation to simmer; to continue in a disturbed state of mind."

    We Americans tend to overlap these two meanings of the word "stew." Whenever we want to describe our troubled emotions, for instance, we use cooking terms. For example:

  • Blessings From Christ Our High Priest! (Part Two)

    The Bible tells us that when Christ ascended to heaven, He took up the ministry of High Priest to all who come to Him by faith. "...this man [Jesus], because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood" (Hebrews 7:24).

    Jesus is unchangeable! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. As long as you live, He will be your High Priest in heaven, interceding on your behalf. And He will remain your High Priest until you go home to be with Him.

  • The Zadok Priesthood

    The book of First Samuel tells us that an unnamed prophet came to Eli with an awful message. This unknown man delivered an amazing prophecy — one that has everything to do with what we see going on in the church today. It is a word that reveals much about dead, dry, ungodly ministers and churches in operation right now!