What follows is an excerpt of my new book When Prayer Is a Struggle: A Practical Guide for Overcoming Obstacles in Prayer. Several years ago, while on a trip in order to train pastors in Latin America, I sat in a pastor’s office in one of Ecuador’s largest cities while preparing my heart to preach […]
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Darlene Deibler Rose: Life as a Missionary and World War II POW in the Presence of God
It was 1938 when Darlene Deibler set sail with her husband for life as missionaries in Papua New Guinea. I can imagine she dreamt of what any young newlywed on such a journey would dream of: Accomplishing great feats for the Lord, learning the ins and outs of a new culture, starting a family. Little […]
The Amazing Potency of God’s Word (or, That’s the last time I’ll ever make fun of George Whitefield)
Puritan preacher George Whitefield was the best-known preacher in the American colonies during the 1700s and preached an estimated 18,000 sermons in his lifetime, reaching many for Christ and in God’s providence, helping usher in the First Great Awakening. I came across an anecdote from Whitefield’s life that shows the truth that God’s Word doesn’t […]
The Why and the How of Scripture Meditation
The main reason we struggle to remember what we read in Scripture is not a faulty memory, but a faulty Bible-intake method, says professor Donald Whitney. Whitney’s solution is meditating on Scripture, and in chapter three of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, he provides two helpful illustrations to prove his point. Why is meditation […]
The Cross (and Nothing Else) is the Ultimate Proof of Christ’s Love – D.A. Carson
Never settle for second best when God offers us something so much greater and more certain. D.A. Carson shared the following illustration in a lecture on Revelation to apply the truth of Revelation 1:5 (“To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood”) and explain how the cross is the ultimate […]
