Peggi Tustan
“He turns coal into diamonds,Sand into pearls,Worms into butterflies.He can turn your life around, too.”-Toby MacDuring their fall migration, monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles south from Canada to Mexico. This majestic aerialist begins its life as a humble caterpillar, a creature who can barely crawl across the sidewalk without...
Check out the So We Speak podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.What has shifted? What has changed in the deconstruction movement?Deconstruction is part of a cultural movement that is growing more violent. Perhaps what has accelerated this deconstruction is the fall of well-known pastors. The thought process can go like this: “This person is not who we thought they were so maybe Christianity is not what it’s talked up to be.” There is an article published by Mere Orthodoxy titled “Observations on
The Apostle John wrote to a man of truth, Gaius in 3 John. The Holy Spirit commends this good man and John requests his ongoing support.
Eliezer Gonzalez
It’s significant that Mark doesn’t mention the young apostle John, who was actually there. He only mentions the women at the cross.
Mike Genung
It’s 2005 and a new guy has walked into our men’s group for recovery from porn/sex addiction in Colorado Springs. He’s dressed in army fatigues and boots. His hair is crew cut, short, salt and peppered. Posture is ramrod straight. His eyes are intense, with Read More
Revive Our Hearts
Priscilla Shirer is an accidental actress of sorts. Well established in her calling as an author and Bible teacher, she has ministered to thousands at her conferences and through her Bible study resources. In fact, she is a New York Times Bestselling author with more than two dozen inspirational books...
J.W. Phillips
I'm sure you know what a wiffle ball is: a little, light plastic ball, full of holes, empty inside, enjoyed by the young, that won’t go very far.In every respect, there are discipleship efforts in our churches very much like this. Let’s consider how this might be so.First, there is—A...
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said,...
April and I watched a great movie over the weekend. If you haven’t seen it, then you should look for it and watch it. It’s worth your time! Just go to Costo or Sam’s Club and buy a pallet of tissue…
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24 NKJV) The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes,” A tightrope walker once would take a wheel barrel across the wire on his high-air act. The tightrope walker points to a man below who enthusiastically affirms he can do it and says, “If you believe you can come up here and get in the barrel, let me wheel you across the wire. In James 2:17-18 NKJV, it says, Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
In Luke 5:1-11, Jesus calls his first disciples. As he’s preaching, people begin crowding around him, so Jesus gets into a fisherman’s boat and teaches the people from there. The fisherman’s name is Simon Peter. Once he is done preaching, Jesus tells Peter, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Peter replies, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” The Greek word that Luke uses for “master” is “epistata”. It means “commander,” “leader,” or “boss
J.W. Phillips
Advanced discipleship training serves the most underserved people in the church: people who reach a midway point in their maturity but don’t get to “the other side.” This problem is predictable, because, by trying to communicate to a congregation with a wide range of spiritual growth, there is a tendency...
There are divine helpers in the Bible. The Bible shares deep information about divine destiny helpers. You need to understand revelation about divine helpers because you will always need the help and support of divine helpers on this earth. Related: 10 secrets of Christian personal development Who are divine helpers in the Bible? […]
Eliezer Gonzalez
Jesus, the disciples and others who were following them were on their way to Jerusalem. Jesus was leading the way. It was an amazing procession. Everyone knew that the rulers in Jerusalem were out to kill Jesus. The disciples also believed that Jesus is probably the Messiah, and that he was heading up to Jerusalem for a great showdown, where he would declare himself as the king sent by God, cleanse the temple, throw out the Romans and the corrupt priests, and re-establish the eternal kingdom of David. The verbs used to describe the attitudes of the people as they walk are very revealing. Mark says that they are “afraid.” They are afraid because they know how the Romans have massacred other crowds who gathered around Messiah-figures.
Eliezer Gonzalez
Jesus was probably busy teaching, and the parents were bringing their little children to him. Anyone who has been to church with little kids knows that it has its challenges! And that’s what the disciples were facing in this story. The disciples rightly saw Jesus as a very special person, and even a holy person. But they didn’t understand his character or what he was about. And they’d forgotten what Jesus had said about welcoming little children.
God wants to use us as vessels: 1. A usable vessel must be whole | 2. It must be clean | 3. It must be available | 4. It must be open.
Eliezer Gonzalez
Jesus confronted his disciples with the reality that the source of their spiritual weakness was their pride and struggle for supremacy. They believed that they were better than others. This pride in their status had been engrained in them by their society and their religion. That was just how they saw the world. They were Jews, which made them a special people. They were men, which made them better than women. And they were, after all, the chosen Twelve! Within their culture, apart from people who were diseased or disabled, children had the lowest status at all. You never recognised or welcomed children. Instead, you welcomed their parents, and again, it depended on how worthy the parents themselves were!
Eliezer Gonzalez
Jesus wanted to spend some time alone with his disciples. I wonder why? What was this most important thing that he wanted to teach them? Jesus wanted to teach his disciples about what would happen to him in Jerusalem. He wanted to point out to them the importance of his death. It was so important that he wanted to be alone with them to focus them on it. But it was no use. Their worldview was so different to his, that they were focused on other things. They didn’t even want to ask Jesus about what he meant when he talked about going to the Cross. The reason why they didn’t understand what Jesus was telling them about the Cross was the same reason why they hadn’t been able to cast the evil spirit out of the boy at the foot of the mount of transfiguration.
Eliezer Gonzalez
From the majesty and glory of the transfiguration on the mountain, Jesus walked into the mess and confusion of this world. Because the crowds were waiting for him down below, and there was quite a commotion! At the base of the mountain, a large crowd was centred around the teachers of the law who argued with the disciples. What were they arguing about? I think we can work it out from the situation. A man brought his demon-possessed son to be healed by Jesus. But Jesus was on the mountain, so instead the man asked his disciples to heal him.