You Will Never Be Able To Marry

I have known Christopher for over a year now.  When he first started to attend our church, I watched him from a distance and occasionally spoke to him either for greeting or for the goodbyes in the church.  But things began to change when I noticed him paying full attention to what I had to say every Sunday; he often came around and made some encouraging comments on my sermons, illustrations and gestures. 

21 Skills of Great Preachers by Keith Drury

The one thing most of us would rather do than preach, is hear another great preacher. I mean a "Great" preacher. I've learned plenty from hearing the best preachers, especially in a live setting. For most of my life, when sitting under a great preacher, I've taken dual sets of notes, including content on one list, and a separate set of notes on their communication skills. What have I discovered in these 40 years’ worth of notes? Here's my summary:

1. Content:

All of my "Great Preachers" had something to say. Even as "great communicators," they didn't substitute style for substance.

Finance, Spiritual Leadership and Universal Fellowship

Daily Blog

So far as I can, I hope to post a daily devotional.  You can click on the tab above on the Daily Devotional and it will take you to that page.  Depending on my time, place and the availability of internet connection, I hope to share with you what God prompts in my heart from reading his world.  

I know most of us do have our personal devotional time with God, but many don't really take it seriously and some never have any devotional time at all.

Patronage, Poverty and Powerless Gospel

Paul and company turned the ancient world upside down by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The gospel they preached was summarized in the death, resurrection and the imminent return of Christ.  Such was the power of this gospel; it brought the ancient world to its knee in worship of Jesus Christ our Lord.   It transformed lives, families, villages, cities, nations and empires for the better.

When the Passions for the Harvest Dislodge the Hunger for God

Passion for the harvest without the hunger for the Lord of the harvest can have disastrous consequences; personally and collectively.  Many mission movements were birthed out of the hunger for God.   But the passion for mission eventually dislodged the hunger for God in these movements creating manmade/controlled/driven organizations and structures that valued political loyalty and financial security more than the foundation of the word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The missionary era of the 19^th Century gave birth to a church still struggling to free itself from the shackles of spiritual colonialism.  The church growth movements of the 20^th century gave birth to a market driven spirituality of the mega-churches currently reeling under the quest for humanism and sensual pleasure promised by the prosperity preachers of success.

First Advent Sunday: Divine Interruptions Luke 1:5-25

Orthodox Disturbance: The State of Nepali Church at Present

Ever since Nathan, one of the precious friends we were able to meet while ministering in Korea, made the transition into Orthodox Church, my wife and I have been studying orthodoxy; have watched every available documentary in the internet about Mt. Athos, Meteora and the desert monks of the Coptic tradition.  The common thing that marks these monastic communities is their quest for purity from the evil that is within each of us.  Holy mountains of Athos, the roof top monasteries of Meteora, and the desert caves of saint Macarious have witnessed for centuries the tenacity of human spirit in overcoming unimaginable hardships and suffering of all kinds for the purpose of attaining purity, holiness, serenity and blessed union with Christ. 

Seasons and Rhythms of Life

There is time for everything, and life has a way of finding its own rhythm. God who created the time allows the seasons of life to play out His divine plan in a person's life. Just as he allows the time to take its own course of action in fulfilling his divine plans, he even allows the finite human beings to choose the course of action during the allotted time in this life. The nature of human beings is such that because we have this choice, we want to set our own clock, fix our own course of action and decide our own season without giving heed to the one who controls all. Because of this choice, life becomes a struggle when we give too much importance to the finite human will. A human being is free but not all powerful, s/he can only choose how s/he reacts to the seasons and rhythms of life, but s/he cannot change them. S/He can either choose to rejoice at the beauty of the fall season or be resentful of the falling leaves; s/he can either choose to dance with the rhythms of life or refuse to buzz, but s/he can change neither the season nor the rhythm of life. What happens outside of a person is not in one's control, but to some extent a person is in control of what happens inside of him/her.

Unity in Diversity Overcomes Adversity (1 Cor. 12:12-31)