Have you ever said to yourself, “What was I thinking?” Generally it is after we have not thought something through, and the corresponding action was not well received or the best action to take. I am prone to say it gets worse with age, but that is not necessarily the ...
Let’s Start Churches Together: Four Ways to Get Involved
The mission of Living Hope International Ministries is to make disciples of all nations. To arrive at this mission statement, we did not hold a vote, consult experts, or run focus groups. No, we have a higher authority than public opinion—a direct command from our Lord ...
There are two records of the parable of the Good Shepherd. Both
are very similar. The message is the same.
Luke 15:4-7. “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the other ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one ...
Matthew 22:35-40. One of them [pharisees], a lawyer, asked Him [Jesus] a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “’YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ ...
Unlock Superhuman Self-Control with Two Simple Steps
Struggling to resist temptation or control your impulses? You’re not alone. Self-control is one of the most challenging yet essential skills to master in life. And yet—with God’s help—you can do it. In this article, you’ll discover practical, actionable ways to strengthen ...
My cell phone tells me every so often that I am a candidate for falling. Evidently, the phone does not feel secure in my pocket. As I age, I look more and more carefully at my path ahead. I can be mad at myself or the universe that I am not as nimble of foot as in my youth, ...
What Would You Do for God’s Blessing? Jacob says: “Anything.”
Multiple times, Jacob performed feats of daring, strength, and desperation to get God’s blessing. Will you value God’s hand on your life like he did?
As the grandson of Abraham, Jacob must have heard repeatedly about the God of his fathers and about that God’s covenant ...
God’s Word is filled with verses stressing the importance for the continuation of our faith, values and teachings that we know in our hearts from one generation to another generation. Our lives are a witness to those who see us now and to future generations whom I might ...
When Jesus read the Old Testament prophecies about himself, it must have been illuminating, awe-inspiring, and at times exhilarating. Yet, it also must have been daunting and even terrifying. Through the prophecies, he gained a clear understanding of God’s will and the ...
This One Trait Can Change Your Life – And Jesus Had It
Once in a while, my wife, Ruth, makes a homemade dessert before dinner. The kids and I can smell it, can almost feel it calling to us, “eat me”. Inevitably, I’ll find myself standing over it in the kitchen. I’m looking at it, and it’s looking at me. I start to consider if ...
The third beatitude in the Sermon on the Mount is “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). The Greek word “praus”, translated as “meek” in the ESV and most English Bibles, is sometimes rendered as “gentle”. In contemporary non-biblical ...
The Abolitionist Jesus: Lessons from the Road to Emmaus, Part 2
In this three-part series, we walk with two of Jesus’s followers who had such strong preconceived notions about the Messiah that they failed to recognize the resurrected Christ when he was staring them in the face. In part 1 of our series, Jesus approached two disciples of ...
