It was painful to see my dad losing his memory Dementia is cruel taking away all the recollections of people until there rsquo s no remembrance left of the life they lived One night I had a dream I believe God used to encourage me In the dream He had a small treasure chest in His hands ldquo All your dad rsquo s memories are safely stored here rdquo He told me ldquo I rsquo ll keep them in the meantime Then one day in heaven I rsquo ll return them to him rdquo In the following years this dream [... more]

Weary That rsquo s how Satya felt after nine months in his new job As a believer in Jesus he rsquo d sought to follow God rsquo s principles in the way he solved problems and directed the work But people-related problems persisted and little organizational progress seemed to have been made He felt like throwing in the towel Perhaps like Satya you rsquo re feeling tired You know the good that you ought to do but simply feel too emotionally and physically drained to carry on Take heart The apostle Paul encourages us with these words ldquo Let us [... more]

When Heather rsquo s job took her to Tim rsquo s house to deliver his take-out meal he asked her to help him untie the knot in the food bag Tim had suffered from a stroke a few years prior and no longer had the ability to untie the knot himself Heather cheerfully obliged Throughout the rest of her day Heather rsquo s thoughts returned to Tim frequently and she was inspired to assemble a care package for him When Tim later found the hot cocoa and red blanket she rsquo d left at his door with an encouraging note [... more]

If the universe is without a designer if life holds no purpose if we are only material and all of life's happenings are random acts of chance what hope do we have But the Bible teaches us that we don't have to live in such despair What delight to know that even in the face of great difficulty we need not lose heart God's character and purpose reverberate loudly through the pain and frustration of this fallen world Let's listen as Pastor Rich unpacks Cor - in this message titled Delight instead of Despair [... more]

If the universe is without a designer if life holds no purpose if we are only material and all of life's happenings are random acts of chance what hope do we have But the Bible teaches us that we don't have to live in such despair What delight to know that even in the face of great difficulty we need not lose heart God's character and purpose reverberate loudly through the pain and frustration of this fallen world Let's listen as Pastor Rich unpacks Cor - in this message titled Delight instead of Despair [... more]

If the universe is without a designer if life holds no purpose if we are only material and all of life's happenings are random acts of chance what hope do we have But the Bible teaches us that we don't have to live in such despair What delight to know that even in the face of great difficulty we need not lose heart God's character and purpose reverberate loudly through the pain and frustration of this fallen world Let's listen as Pastor Rich unpacks Cor - in this message titled Delight instead of Despair [... more]

If the universe is without a designer if life holds no purpose if we are only material and all of life's happenings are random acts of chance what hope do we have But the Bible teaches us that we don't have to live in such despair What delight to know that even in the face of great difficulty we need not lose heart God's character and purpose reverberate loudly through the pain and frustration of this fallen world [... more]

Nora went to the peaceful protest because she felt strongly about the issue of justice As planned the demonstration was silent The protestors walked in powerful quietness through the downtown area Then two buses pulled up Agitators had arrived from out of town A riot soon broke out Heartbroken Nora left It seemed their good intentions were fruitless When the apostle Paul visited the temple at Jerusalem people who opposed Paul saw him there They were ldquo from the province of Asia rdquo Acts and viewed Jesus as a threat to their way of life Shouting lies and rumors about [... more]

When I was studying in seminary years ago we had a weekly chapel service At one service while we students were singing ldquo Great is the Lord rdquo I spotted three of our well-loved professors singing with fervor Their faces radiated joy made possible only by their faith in God Years later as each went through terminal illness it was this faith that enabled them to endure and encourage others Today the memory of my teachers singing continues to encourage me to keep going in my trials To me they rsquo re a few of the many inspiring stories of [... more]

I don rsquo t remember a time when my mom Dorothy was in good health For many years as a brittle diabetic her blood sugar was wildly erratic Complications developed and her damaged kidneys necessitated permanent dialysis Neuropathy and broken bones resulted in the use of a wheelchair Her eyesight began to regress toward blindness But as her body failed her Mom rsquo s prayer life grew more vigorous She spent hours praying for others to know and experience the love of God Precious words of Scripture grew sweeter to her Before her eyesight faded she wrote a letter to [... more]

ldquo The tent is tired rdquo Those were the words of my friend Paul who pastors a church in Nairobi Kenya Since the congregation has worshiped in a tent-like structure Now Paul writes ldquo Our tent is worn out and it is leaking when it rains rdquo My friend rsquo s words about their tent rsquo s structural weaknesses remind us of the apostle Paul rsquo s words regarding the frailty of our human existence ldquo Outwardly we are wasting away While we are in this tent we groan and are burdened rdquo Corinthians Though the awareness of our fragile [... more]

The Pros and Cons of Ministry [... more]

Church leaders are familiar with the frequent pressures and challenges that accompany the wonderful privileges of ministry work Investigate these challenges and find out how to prepare for them when you study along with Alistair Begg on Truth For Life Listen [... more]

A man named James took an adventurous -mile journey down the West Coast of the US mdash biking from Seattle Washington to San Diego California A friend of mine met the ambitious biker near the cliffs of Big Sur miles from his starting point After learning that someone had recently stolen James rsquo camping gear my friend offered his blanket and sweater but James refused He said that as he traveled south into the warmer climate he needed to begin shedding items And the closer he got to his destination the more tired he became so he needed to reduce [... more]

Get encouragement with this special reading of Pastor Greg's daily devotion Learn more and subscribe at https harvest org resources devotions --- And let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart Galatians When we hear the statement You reap what you sow we tend to think of it in a negative sense And there is a negative way that it can play out in our lives But the Bible says For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption but he who sows [... more]

A fierce thunderstorm lashed Memphis Tennessee on the evening of April Weary and feeling ill the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr decided not to give his planned speech for striking sanitation workers at a church hall He was surprised by an urgent phone call saying a large crowd had braved the weather to hear him So he went to the hall and spoke for forty minutes delivering what some say was his greatest speech ldquo I rsquo ve Been to the Mountaintop rdquo The next day King was killed by an assassin rsquo s bullet but his speech still [... more]

Lean food rations waterproof boots and a map are some of the essentials carried by hikers on the John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail is a -mile path in the western United States that winds across creeks around lakes and woods and up and over mountains encompassing feet of elevation gain Because traversing this trail takes about three weeks carrying the right amount of supplies is critical Too much and you will run out of strength to carry it all too little and you won rsquo t have what you need for the journey nbsp Finishing well on our [... more]

Its easy to lose heart waiting for God to come through when your situation looks more impossible by the minute But in this lesson Dr Tony Evans has some encouragement thatll help you hang on during the hardest of times [... more]

Becoming a People of Grace An Exposition of Ephesians [... more]