Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, This week's thought is entitled: "Resiliency, or The Art of Bouncing Back" and comes to you from a man named Mike Glenn (written July 24, 2020). In a fallen world that is far from perfect, and where none of us are ever entirely safe from sickness, suffering, trials and struggles, his words hit home. The Bible calls it endurance. But resilience and endurance don't just happen. Resilient people have learned helpful ways to view difficulties, prepare themselves for difficulties, and walk through difficulties. Glenn is no different. The following excerpt tells what he learned. Enjoy. "...We live in one of three places: we are either in the storm, just coming out of a storm, or about to go into a storm. That’s it. How we get through the moments of challenge depends on what we do in those moments of quiet between the storms of our lives. You hear it all of the time. If you attend church at all, you’ve heard someone talk about the necessi...

Dear Friends, This week’s “thought” comes to you from Charles Spurgeon in the excellent devotional, “Beside Still Waters – Words of Comfort for the Soul.” It has to do with trust. It has to do with faith in the midst of a trial. Not before a trial, or after we’ve come out the other end of a trial, but while we are stuck in the middle of a trial. Not when we are walking in the bright sunshine of noon, but when darkness falls, and dense fog and clouds obscure all light, and we must look in faith to the only One who can guide us on our way. We don’t tend to exercise faith when the sun is shining and the trail is clearly laid out before us. It's those times of darkness when we do that. They can test our faith – especially if the darkness persists. As one wise Puritan once said, “It is not the intensity of the trial, but the longevity of the trial, that wears down our faith.” Spurgeon (in his typical fashion) offers hope and encouragement for such times. Enjoy. “Believing in...

Dear Friends, Last week I sent out a “thought” having to do with knowing the heart of God by a man named Dane Ortlund. This week I pass one along from Dane’s father, Ray Ortlund, which has to do with the Gospel and what happens in us when we really believe it. This was posted on ‘The Gospel Coalition’ blog site on March 30, 2017. I share it because it resonates with what my home group has recently discovered as we’ve been going through a book on the “31 Ways to be a “One-Another Christian” – Loving Others with the Love of Jesus.” We’ve come to the same conclusion as Mr. Ortlund. Enjoy. “The beautiful 'one another' commands of the New Testament are famous. But it is also striking to notice the ‘one another’s’ that do not appear there. For example, sanctify one another, humble one another, scrutinize one another, pressure one another, embarrass one another, corner one another, interrupt one another, defeat one another, sacrifice one another, shame one another, ...

Dear Friends, What’s the best way to seek to win people to Christ? The options are plentiful and the answers vary – as you surely know. Yet, today, I want to offer you an answer to that question which I have become more convinced of as I study the Gospel and read how the most effective of the saints preached it in the past. This “thought” is taken from an excellent and rather recent book (2020). It is by Dane Ortlund, and is entitled “Gentle and Lowly, Christ’s Heart for Sinners and Sufferers.” If you want a really good read which is a beautiful combination of scholarly, down to earth, and devotional, I highly recommend it. In this excerpt he focuses on elements of two messages preached by Jonathan Edwards, one of the major players in the First Great Awakening that swept through all the colonies of early America in the 1730's and 40's. Given what little some people know of Jonathan Edwards, from only one of his famous sermons, you may be surprised at his answer. E...