Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, Today I want to offer you some wise and insightful thoughts which (to the best of my knowledge!) I have never sent out before. Some from current authors, some from antiquated authors – but all very insightful and helpful. I find that reading the insights of people past and present helps widen our perspective and make us realize that godly wisdom runs through the entire 2000 year history of the church, passed down to us from men and women, and from people of different countries, cultures, ethnicities and continents. Therefore I have added some notes regarding each author. Enjoy. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot (1927-1956) wrote this phrase in his journal, before he was martyred in the jungles of Ecuador by members of the Huaorani (Auca) tribe, along with four other missionaries – Ed McCully, Roger Youdarian, Pete Flemming, and Nate Saint, on January 8, 1956. “Every saved person this side of heaven owes the ...

Dear Friends, Recent studies have shown that 32.3% of the U.S. population (110,618,560 people) report dealing with anxiety/stress/worry symptoms (*2023 Household Pulse Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau). That’s down about 10% from November of 2020 when 42.6% of the population (147,260,958 people) reported symptoms. Yet it’s still very high – with the highest percentage of those being between 18-24 years old. Therefore, today, I wanted to pass along some “thoughts” (20 to be exact) that speak to the issues of anxiety/stress/worry. If you happen to be one of the people who wrestles with any of these, I hope you find this selection helpful. Enjoy. “Anxiety is contemplating your future apart from seeing the hand of a loving and sovereign God directing and guiding it.” “Though there is much to be puzzled about, there is nothing to be worried about.” C. S. Lewis “We fly off the handle because we flew away from anything having a handle to hold on to a long time ago.” Gar...

Dear Friends, Today’s “thought” has to do with the nationwide trend affecting evangelically oriented churches in America. This post came to my inbox today, so it is very current, though the statistics have been out there since the Covid shutdown/2020 election polarization that caused a very sizable downward drop in church attendance (which now stands at upwards of about 50% across America). I offer this post as one that concurs with what I have seen and heard in conversations with people inside and outside church circles. Other things could be mentioned here, such as sports involvement, the mixing of politics or nationalism with the Gospel, social media distraction or addiction, or offering remedies (or "saviors") other than Jesus to be the answer to the problems we see all around us. Yet, with that being said, this post by Dr. Gavin Adams which came out today on https://churchacceleratorcommunity.com/blog/ is (in my opinion) a good ov...

Dear Friends, Sometimes spiritual truths are best understood using illustrations that include things familiar to us in our everyday lives. To come up with some of his best illustrations Charles Spurgeon would spend considerable blocks of time walking down the street, through gardens, into the fields and woods, and visiting those places where his parishioners worked and lived. It is surely one of the reasons he has been called, “The Prince of Preachers." One of the best preachers in all church history. He gives some credit for learning to do this to the Puritan Thomas Manton. Speaking of Manton’s writings (which consist of 22 volumes, mostly sermons), Spurgeon says, “There is not one poor discourse in the whole collection; he is evenly good, constantly excellent.” Along with Richard Sibbes (another Puritan) Manton was one of Spurgeon’s ‘mentors’ as a preacher. His first book of illustrations, entitled “Feathers for Arrows” was phenomenally popular, so 13 years later he wrote...

Dear Friends, Today’s “thought” is the true story of a young girl and the unexpected encounter she had with a Christian man who wanted something for her, and not from her. The man is Steve Campbell, who started a ministry to homeless people in 1986 with his wife Wanda in one of the roughest sections of Columbus, Ohio. This is just one of many unexpected ministry opportunities he had over a 30-year ministry. It was a seed-planting opportunity. “I sowed the seed,” said the apostle Paul in I Corinthians 3:6-7, “and Apollos watered the seed, but God made it grow.” That’s our calling – to plant seeds. And in this particular case, God alone knows if the seeds Steve planted grew to bear fruit. It is found in his book, “He Went a Little Further.” Enjoy. The Girl at the Dumpster It was early Christmas morning, 2:30 a.m. to be exact. I awakened and slipped out of our home – unnoticed. At last, I was alone. Christmas is supposed to be a time of great joy and celebration, but fo...

Dear Friends, Today’s ‘thought’ is summarized like this by the author herself: “As a leftist lesbian professor, I despised Christians. Then I somehow became one.” I know this personal testimony is long, but some stories simply suffer too much from leaving parts out. The curious will, I trust, read on. And those who are not curious… well, you will miss out on a very insightful (and true) story of grace and transformation - though I know that some of the 500 or so from many countries who receive these thoughts weekly, will not all receive it in the same way. It is by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield and it is entitled, “My Train Wreck Conversion.” It is found in Christianity Today Magazine, February 7, 2013. For whatever reason, it popped up on my feed today – so I share it. Enjoy. “The word Jesus stuck in my throat like an elephant tusk; no matter how hard I choked, I couldn't hack it out. Those who professed the name commanded my pity and wrath. As a university professor, I wa...

Dear Friends, This week's "thought" has to do with being spiritually “revived” – a loaded term precisely because it's so often misused, misunderstood, or equated with a type of raw, uncontrolled, and sometimes questionable emotionalism. Interestingly the Bible has very few passages that speak about "revival." Yet, one of the more well-known is Isaiah 57:15, where we read: "This is what the high and lofty One says – He who lives forever, whose name is holy; 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" Today’s “thought” from Nancy Leigh DeMoss, in her book "Brokenness - The Heart God Revives" speaks to that topic. We would do well to listen to what she has to say. Enjoy. "Our culture is obsessed with being whole and feeling good. That drive even affects the...