Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, Today I offer you a "thought" which may be hard for some to follow, for two reasons: Contrary to Scripture, which makes much of God and much less of us, our present day culture tends to do just the opposite. And similarly, because we have tended to shift the focus to us rather than God, we struggle with verses and concepts such as, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matt. 5:3), or "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5), or the words of Jesus which assure us, "apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). They are all a bit contrary to the beliefs and spirit of our age. Yet, I will share this thought anyway. It comes from a man named, "Thomas Merton" and is found in a tiny pocket-sized book called, "Thoughts in Solitude." I cannot say I agree with Merton on everything, but that does not mean we should ignore all he has to say! He walks in the tradition

Dear Friends, Today's "thoughts" (plural!) come to you from the down to earth wisdom of the great Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther (1483-1586). They are taken from his sermons, letters to friends, and books. I have divided them up by category. I trust you will be encouraged, inspired, or convicted (if necessary) by one or more of them. They display his wit, wisdom, and relevant application of the Word. Enjoy. Luther on Prayer: "To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing." "I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer." Luther on Speaking Out: "Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times." "I know not the way God leads me, but well do I know my Guide." "I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God'

Dear Friends, Today's entry is the conversion story of E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973) a very great man of God. Although not so well-known these days, in 1938, Time Magazine honored him with the title of, “The World’s Greatest Missionary Evangelist.” His approach to evangelism was to present Christ as the universal Son of Man without the trappings of Western culture. He delivered tens of thousands of sermons and lectures, traveled 50 weeks a year, and often spoke two to six times a day! He was a man of grace who believed that, "the chief business of the Christian is reconciliation." Therefore, he spent a lifetime (primarily as a missionary in India) trying to reconcile East and West, white and black, and the world to the Lord Jesus Christ. His message centered around the need for a “surrender” to Jesus Christ as Lord, and he believed that if Christians were truly to win the world to Christ, they must be more willing to listen, love, and imitate the Christ they claime

Dear Friends, Today's "thought" presents an interesting perspective on a very familiar verse of Scripture. It's one of the reasons I tend to read widely. We can often gain new insights on verses of Scripture whose message we thought we knew entirely, and thus tended to skim right over. The following devotion about Jesus' well-known words regarding our treasure and its relation to our hearts, is taken from "The Gospel In Miniature" by Martin Copenhaver. I have sent out selections from his book before, as I have enjoyed his perspective, and his many down-to-earth insights. Today's selection is no different. Enjoy.    Your Heart Will Follow “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 “Jesus’s statement, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” may sound familiar, but if we don’t read it with care, we might reverse the statement through a kind of scriptural dyslexia. We might read it to sa

Dear Friends, Today’s ‘thought’ has to do with what to do when we seem to have lost touch with God. It’s by Ray Ortlund, and was taken from his blogsite ‘Christ is Deeper Still.’ The entry was posted October 30, 2015, and is titled, “When God Seems Unreal.” Most every believer I have ever broached the topic with (except those who have not yet broken free from, “our need to be impressive” as Ortlund puts it) have confessed to going through times when God felt “distant,” “unreal,” or “far away.” Times when it felt as if He had “abandoned” them or “turned his face away” from them. Times when that sense of closeness and intimacy they once knew with Him seems to have evaporated. It’s an experience that can be doubly painful for those who have known the pleasure of His presence in the past, yet go through an extended period of time where they have to lament its loss. Over the years I have discovered that the reasons for such ‘desert experiences,’ ‘spiritual winters,’ or ‘d

Dear Friends, This week's "thought" has to do with follow-through. Something many people struggle with! We are often good at dreaming, but fall short of doing. We can be well-intentioned, but as time passes we can be tempted to simply let things slide. After all, doing takes more effort, involves more time, means taking more risks, and leads to greater sacrifices. It's more costly. Yet, on the brighter side, it 's also more satisfying, leads to greater growth, and brings more glory to God. The author, Bob Goff, is right. We will never be remembered for what we simply planned to do! In fact, chances are people will never even know we ever planned to do things if we don't follow through! This entry is found in Goff's book, "Live in Grace. Walk in Love." Enjoy. No One Is Remembered For What They Just Planned To "Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22 Have you e