Month: September 2025

weekly words of encouragement

Find A Bridge To Unbelievers

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You overhear a co-worker talking about their belief that people go through reincarnation until they eventually become god. You are friends with them, and you want to talk with them about your faith. So how do you bring up the topic without coming across as combative? How do you say something that they would actually listen to? Do they have any ideas that you agree with that could be a bridge to unbelievers? What doors are open to them? Consider the following list of traits that Christians value: Now here is the surprise. This list is not from a Christian or a Christian book. It is from the secular book Positive Psychological Assessment, by Shane Lopez and C. R. Snyder, published in 2003 by the American Psychological Association (“APA”). The APA is a large secular association and we don’t know the personal beliefs of the authors. This book comes from the Continue Reading →

humility

The Deep Humility Of William Seymour

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In 1906 something very unusual began happening in a small meeting in Los Angeles. People testified that the Spirit of God was coming upon them and filling them with joy and power and praise for God. Their lives were transformed. It was the beginning of the Azusa Street Revival, which was the leading contributor to the biggest movement in the Christian church in centuries: Pentecostalism. It was also the second largest social movement of the 20th century after communism, and unlike communism, it was still skyrocketing by the end of the century. In the year 2000 over 500 million Christians worldwide considered themselves Pentecostal or charismatic. Yet, Azusa was led by someone possessing deep humility. The pastor of the church that hosted these meetings on Azusa Street was an African-American man named William Seymour. The meetings were filled with whites as well as blacks and many other nationalities. As news Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

God Hears Our Tears – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“The Lord has heard the sound of my weeping” (Psalms 6:8, ESV). We don’t have to be consciously communicating with God before God hears our tears. Of course, he wants us to pour out our hearts to him in conscious prayer, and this is our lifeline. But when we abide in Christ, then God hears our tears when we cry, and that moves his heart. He is like an earthly father who hears his child sobbing in their bedroom and goes to the door to listen for the reason. Will not the father try to rectify the situation in order to relieve the suffering? In the same way, our heavenly father hears our tears and they move him to action. Maybe he will rectify the problem, or maybe he will comfort us in our pain, reminding us of our ultimate destiny. (Tears won’t be eliminated until the second phase of Continue Reading →

searching God distant sky night telescope

If God Seems Distant, It’s An Opportunity!

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God is very big on faith. It is the way we connect with him, and it is even the way we are saved. In human relationships faith, or trust, is a precious commodity as well. We might love someone with all our hearts but still not trust them because we deem them untrustworthy. A mother may be willing to die for her wayward adult son, but not trust him enough to let him live with her because of his destructiveness. God is not destructive, but he is mysterious and challenging, and trusting him takes time. If God seems distant it is even more challenging. This is why he goes to great lengths to develop faith in us. After we have been following Jesus for several years, God will typically take away our sense of his presence in order that we might learn deeper faith. He does this because he loves Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

Wrapped Up In The Favor Of God – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield” (Psalms 5:12, ESV). In the same way that a shield covers our body God’s blessings blanket our soul. The favor of God wraps the righteous. Consider the immense favor of God in all he does for us. Even if our “outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16, ESV). We have friendship with God, he Fathers us and guides us, he guarantees a new destiny for us, his Spirit lives in us, he gives us the inner peace that the rest of the world seeks, he gives us a place in his family with gifts to bless others, he gives us joy because we live in his kingdom. In all these ways we are covered, wrapped and engulfed in the favor of God. How often Continue Reading →