Fisher of Men

The PBS documentary series Cosmos is back, retooled for a new era. A few days ago, host Neil deGrasse Tyson (the heir of Carl Sagan) talked with political commentator (and former Southern Baptist minister) Bill Moyers about the question of whether the universe ought to make us feel small.Tyson says no. Moyers’ question is a good one, especially in light of the series’ attempt to show us (rightly, I might add) how much bigger the world around us is than previous generations of humanity could ever have imagined. If our little galaxy is just a pin-point in a vast, swirling universe, then why would I think that what happens on this microscopic rock matters all that much? In the sweep of cosmic space, why would my life have much purpose at all? Tyson says the universe doesn’t make him...

June 28, 2018What Difference Does He Make?Sharon Jaynes Today’s Truth And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17 NIV). Friend to Friend If you were going off to war, and knew you’d be put on the front lines and probably wouldn’t be coming back home to your family, what would you tell them? Think of the final instructions you’d give your children, the affirmation of your love you’d whisper to your spouse, and the words of endearment you’d share with your friends. Jesus was in that very situation as He shared His last meal with the disciples in the upper room. All along, He had given them clues about how His earthly life would end and the purpose for His brief life here on earth. But they didn’t...

The Enneagram, as well as being a nine-point geometric figure, is a now well-known, nine-point personality test developed by George Gurdjieff, Oscar Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo and others. According to Cron and Stabile’s The Road Back to You, Naranjo, a psychiatrist from Chile, “brought the Enneagram back to the United States” and introduced it to a group of students, one of whom, Father Robert Ochs, later taught it to seminary students at Loyola University. Thus, the Enneagram entered American Christian circles, rippling outward from there. In addition to being a personality test, the Enneagram promotes self-knowledge and self-awareness. In the words of the Reformer, John Calvin, “Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God.”  Without honest, reflective introspecti...

The Lord hath sent strength for thee (Ps.68.28, PBV). The Lord imparts unto us that primary strength of character which makes everything in life work with intensity and decision. We are “strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” And the strength is continuous; reserves of power come to us which we cannot exhaust. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be”—strength of will, strength of affection, strength of judgment, strength of ideals and achievement. “The Lord is my strength” to go on. He gives us power to tread the dead level, to walk the long lane that seems never to have a turning, to go through those long reaches of life which afford no pleasant surprise, and which depress the spirits in the sameness of a terrible drudgery. “...

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, believers are saved, filled, sealed, and sanctified. The Holy Spirit reveals God’s thoughts, teaches, and guides believers into all truth, including knowledge of what is to come. The Holy Spirit also helps Christians in their weakness and intercedes for them. The following are 10 ways the Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers. 1. The Holy Spirit is a helper who teaches and reminds. In John 14:26 Jesus told his disciples, “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26, ESV). The Greek word “Parakletos” in this passage is translated “Helper” in the ESV, “Advocate” in the NIV, and “Counselor” in the KJV. The meaning of this word relates “lega...

Dr. Ray Pritchard Author, Speaker, President of Keep Believing Ministries At the KBM retreat last weekend, Doreen Mahlstedt who heads up our Anchor book ministry shared these slides with us. To put things in perspective, since 2000 we have given away over 800,000 copies of An Anchor for the Soul. The map only covers the last three years. You’ll see that we have sent books to every state (except Rhode Island). The pie chart shows the breakdown by ministry category. Your generosity makes this ministry possible. Only eternity will reveal the men and women touched by the message of this “gospel book.” Thank you for your prayers and your support. For more information about this ministry, you can contact Doreen at [email protected]. Click here sign up f...

One of the more important personal disciplines as a leader is to have the ability to know what you don’t care about. Or more to the point, what you shouldn’t care about. For example, I don’t care about: … transfer growth from other churches; (we’re after the unchurched) … whether another church in town is bigger or faster-growing; (we’re not in competition with other churches) … people who leave the church because they disagree with our belief in the Bible as the Word of God, our policy of conducting criminal background checks on all children’s ministry volunteers, our belief that lost people matter to God, etc.; (some things are simply non-negotiable) … refusing money from someone who wants to use it to impose their will; (no amount of money is worth that) … denominational politics; (have...

Richard Rorty is not often called upon to diagnose the future of evangelical Christianity. After all, Rorty is a radical neo-pragmatist postmodernist philosopher, a leftist atheist who rejects the idea that there is any such thing as “truth” at all. But the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (ACE) interviewed Rorty in their magazine Modern Reformation, and his answers shed light on the way the contemporary academy views orthodox Christianity. After noting that there is no such thing as “absolute truth,” Rorty is quizzed by the evangelicals as to his views on such obvious evils as the Holocaust. But all Rorty can say is that there is “sadism and malice in all of us.” “I don’t think the presence of such sadism and malice requires any deep explanations, any more than does the presence o...

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re happy to announce that, coming soon, this devotional will be available in audio version as the Your Daily Bible Verse Podcast! Stay tuned for updates… BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10 What the Book of Judges Can Teach the Church Today By Chara Donahue It is a frightening thing to know that churches can grow and find success not because they are close to the heart of God, but because they have learned through tradition and good business how to build an enterprise. The time of the judges was full of rising and falling, disaster and success, but there is a constant refrain of people forsaki...

Peace with God is, at its core, a spiritual reconciliation between family members. It’s a restored relationship between Heavenly Father and earthly child, made possible simply because Jesus wanted it so—enough that He was willing to suffer, die, and rise from death for it. Peace with God in Scripture God is not at war with you. If you were raised in one of the “fire-and-brimstone” denominations (or just spend a lot of time listening to street preachers and reading Old Testament histories), that statement probably made you feel simultaneously irritated and worried. Or maybe you felt a sense of relief? Don’t worry, whatever you felt is OK, because the honest truth really is what the Apostle Paul declared millennia ago (emphasis mine): “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace...

Atonement Definition In Christianity, atonement refers to the needed reconciliation between sinful mankind and the holy God. This reconciliation is possible through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as expressed in Romans 3:25, Romans 5:11, and Romans 5:19. Atonement is the Bible’s central message. “Receiving the atonement is our actual reconciliation to God in justification, grounded upon Christ’s satisfaction,” according to Matthew Henry’s Commentary. “We Christians, we believers, have now, now in gospel times, or now in this life, received the atonement, which was typified by the sacrifices under the law, and is an earnest of our happiness in heaven.”  Atonement in the Bible Atonement is an often-used Old Testament term representing a sacrifice for sin. Leviticus 16 desc...

Of all the prayers prayed throughout the world, few are repeated as often as the Lord’s Prayer. We find it tucked within Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, where he taught at length about living a life that brings glory to God. Yet despite the prayer’s popularity, it is often misunderstood and undervalued. What Is the Lord’s Prayer? Some believers have turned the Lord’s Prayer into something mystical, as if the words themselves hold special sway with God. For others, its statements are spoken out of habit or obligation, making it easy to daydream right through without attaching any meaning. Which, of course, is the exact opposite of his intention for Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matt...