Every morning, before I leave for work, I grab my massive ESV Study Bible and spend time reading God’s word. If I am traveling, I take my smaller Bible. If a friend is staying with us and needs a Bible, I grab one of the many of the shelf. We have a plethora of Bibles in our home. And if a new one is released, we can run to the local Christian bookstore to grab one of the latest “stylish” Bibles. Bibles are everywhere. They are an accessory, even.
Missions Wednesday: Philippines
It has been said that there are more slaves in the world today than all of the slaves combined during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. I suppose the argument could be made that there are more people in the world today than there were 250 years ago. But that doesn’t change the issue. People are in chains. People made in God’s image. People who are just like you and me, robbed of their freedom, dignity, and often times purity.
Missions Wednesday: Spain
Developing a Long-term View of Life
Seminary can be hard on a married couple. Sure it seems romantic and exciting to pledge to work and support your husband while he slaves away at his studies for three or four years (or maybe more). Once reality sets in the anticipation can fall flat with the papers, late nights, and often other work that commands his attention. For some life as a seminary couple is a breeze. But for many that is simply not the case. It takes hard work and commitment—and it most definitely takes a good dose of the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work.
Missions Wednesday: Albania
Psalm 119 and Loving God's Word
The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119. For a long time all I knew about this particular Psalm was its length. I skimmed over it in my devotion time because the amount of verses in one sitting scared me. They were intimidating. But God is so kind to change hearts, and he sure did with mine. A closer reading of this Psalm reveals the pleasure of treasuring God’s word and the sufficiency of his word for our daily lives.
Repost: Celebrating Dependence
I always look forward to the 4th of July. But as I prepared for the festivities today it caused me to think about what independence means for me as a Christian. Though I am very thankful today, and every day, for the freedoms that I have as an American citizen, I am not really a free and autonomous person. Nobody is. We are under the rule of the One who rules the universe. Psalm 24:1 says “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” As a Christian, my celebration of independence should be one of gratitude for the men who died so I can have basic liberties, but I also should recognize that I cannot get caught up in the rhetoric of rights. I belong to the Lord first, America second.
Missions Wednesday: Sweden
With the rise of secularism across much of Europe, it is no wonder that in a 100 year span the percentage of professing Christians in Sweden could go from 99% to a mere 48% believing in the existence of God. But it has happened. Since 2000 the Church of Sweden has ceased to be the official state church, leaving the country of Sweden with now complete religious freedom.
Missions Wednesday: Somalia
In college I had a professor tell my class that we were facing an unprecedented missionary opportunity among the Somali people simply because thousands of them have had to flee to places like America. Often, he said, American Christians will bemoan the fact that missionaries are unable to enter countries like Somalia (or any closed country), while ignoring the reality that many of those very people are living right in their neighborhoods. I think he is right in a lot of ways. And if this is true about the increasing numbers of people from the nations literally coming to our doorstep, then we should be informed about our new neighbors.
Missions Wednesday: Kyrgyzstan
Sadly, up until a few years ago I knew very little about the former Soviet country of Kyrgyzstan. But Kyrgyzstan has been in the news in recent days and many in the world are now looking at this nation as they deal with ethnic clashes and violence. Reports say that as many as 77 people have died in the fighting between the ethnic Uzbeks (natives of Uzbekistan) and Kyrgyz, this has forced many Uzbeks to flee to the border of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Due to the influx of people attempting to enter the country, those trying to flee have been stopped at the border because Uzbekistan simply cannot handle anymore people coming in—many of them are women and children.