Trusting in the Midst of Trouble Psalm 91 offers great comfort to those whose faith is in the Lord. However, if misread, one may take away from it the idea that those whose faith is in the Lord need never fear any adverse circumstances in life. In fact, this appears to be the way that Satan actually misquotes the psalm in Matthew 4:6 when he is attempting to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. In Satan...  Read More

When God Doesn’t Feel Present  In times when God doesn’t feel present it is easy to assume one of two things: either something is wrong with God, or something is wrong with us. While personal or corporate sin can certainly be a cause for disruption of intimacy with the Lord, the presence of pain or trials should not automatically cause us to question if something is either wrong with God or oursel...  Read More

Have you heard of our Kids’ Mission Sundays? They’re new!! On the last day of Sunday School this past summer we had our first Kids’ Mission Sunday. It was such a success that we decided to have them at the end of every semester! This is how it works - on that day, our kids spend time listening to 3-4 of our mission partners share about their ministries. Classrooms are used to set up stations for e...  Read More

Resurrection Refuge  One of the realities for those whose faith is in Christ is that their new resurrected life is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). One aspect of this “hiddenness” is that those who are united to Christ are safe and secure, hidden and protected not only in the midst of the trials and struggles of life, but also against the schemes of Satan and temptations of sin. The w...  Read More

Christmas with Zacchaeus  What does Christmas have to do with Zacchaeus? In Luke 19:7 the crowd grumbles when Jesus becomes “the guest of a man who is a sinner.” The Greek root word used for “guest” here is found in another interesting place in the gospel of Luke. In Luke 2:7 we are told that when Jesus was born Mary laid him in a manger “because there was no place for them in the inn.” The word u...  Read More

Jericho’s Time-Tested Lesson  Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world, as well as being one of the world’s longest continually inhabited cities. It is mentioned in a number of places in the Bible, but two of its biblical references are most noteworthy. The first occurs in the book of Joshua, where God shows up on behalf of his people through a rousing display of worship, demonstrated by m...  Read More