I can remember the moment when I received a call from God to dedicate my life to ministry. I was attending the World Gathering of Young Friends in Lancaster, England, and I had a life-changing encounter with the living power of God. From this time on, there was no going back. The Spirit had laid …
…Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:33 As many Christians react to the emotionally tone-deaf excesses of fundamentalism, some of us have come to believe that we should “not take the Bible literally.” When I hear folks say this, I generally think I …
Jesus told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store …
Sunday marked the beginning of Advent, a time of remembrance and preparation for the coming of Jesus into the world. Especially for those of us who do not attend liturgical worship services, it is easy to forget about this special period of hope and expectancy in the midst of darkness. Advent is mostly obscured by …
Throughout the gospel accounts, Jesus tells us that good works are an essential demonstration of faith. Good trees cannot bear bad fruit, and every branch that is connected to the True Vine will bear fruit. We know that bearing fruit involves a process of pruning, transforming all those things that get in the way of …
To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. – C.S. Lewis Do we cherish a forgiving spirit, and strive to “walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us”? – from the 2nd Query of Ohio Yearly Meeting Forgiveness is the heart of my faith. Throughout the Bible, …
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. – Isaiah 60:1-2 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in …