Joy
By Jesse Jost
“Always be joyful.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16 NLT
The rain beat down while the husband and wife wept softly as they watched the casket being slowly lowered into the black hole. The wooden box contained the physical remains of their twelve year old daughter who had passed away in a tragic accident. The young woman’s mother, turned to her husband, Dr. R. A. Torrey, and quietly said, “I’m so glad Elizabeth is with the Lord and not in that box.” But even knowing this to be true did not remove the terrible sting of the moment. The next day as Dr. Torrey thought of the loneliness without her presence, he was again overwhelmed by the horrible pain of his daughter’s
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Gratitudes Secret
By Jesse Jost
“Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Ephesians 5:20 NKJV
What do you need to be happy?
Two ladies were discussing this subject and one lady said, ‘If I had fifty dollars, I know I would be happy”. A wealthy man overheard their conversation and thought to himself, ‘if that lady only needs fifty dollars to be happy, I can help her’. The man walked up to her and gave her a fifty. The lady was overt in her show of gratitude, but as the man walked away he heard the woman mumble, ‘Man, why didn’t I say a hundred dollars!’
I think most of us have our own list of things we “need” to be happy, but will getting those
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Pleasure
by Jesse Jost
“If anyone desires to come after Me,
let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.”
Matthew 16:24
What comes to your mind when you think of pleasure? Do you feel the same way Walter Bagehot felt when he quipped, ‘The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.’
Or do you think of God?
Think about it. Who created pleasure? Was it Satan’s idea, or God’s? Satan gives us the false impression that
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The Faith to Defend – The Case for Apologetics
By Jesse Jost
“Jesus was not buried, but left on the cross to be eaten by birds and wild dogs.
” The resurrection story was borrowed from eastern pagan cults.”
These and many other audacious claims were conveyed in the ABC special Peter Jennings Reporting: The Search For Jesus, which aired in June of 2000. This is just a sample of the attacks that are constantly being made on Christianity. From the learning institutions to the media, the Christian faith is perpetually ridiculed and belittled.
There is the idea in today’s culture that Christians have a
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Even Oak Trees Fall
Dale Jost
No tree falls suddenly. No marriage breaks overnight. No son or daughter rebels with one act of hurt. No Church splits without warning. There is always a weakening of some kind, there are seeds of disintegration implanted before something falls or breaks down. Our moral standards do not “all of a sudden” change. The tempter of our souls is far too clever to get us off the path too quickly and blatantly. He would rather use subtle influences of change, little compromises, to begin a slow process of decay. The Bible warns us that it is “the little foxes that spoil the vine.” (Song of Sol 2:15)
All of us have been shocked or disappointed to discover that another well-respected Christian leader has fallen morally. How could someone who appeared to be so strong spiritually
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True Body Building
by Dale Jost
As followers of Christ, one of our most important priorities and
purposes is to maintain and build up our relationships within our local body
of believers. The quality of our local fellowship is based on the genuiness
of our relationships with each other. The Body of the Lord is not known by
merely talents and skills of leadership or members, nor by the creativity
and diversity of our programs, but rather by our love one to
The Chief End of God
By Dale Jost
We may have memorized the chief end of man as, “to Glorify God and enjoy Him forever,” but have we considered the chief end of God? My mind has been challenged and stretched as I have considered this question and the implications of the answer.
Listen to these words of John Piper from his book, Brothers We are Not Professionals, “God’s first commitment is to His own glory, and this is the basis for ours.”.”God’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy His glory forever.”
Jonathan Edwards wrote a book entitled
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Loving Your Children
by Lisa Jost
“…admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children…”Titus 2:4
Do sparrows need to be admonished to fly? Do cows need to be instructed to graze? You would think that mothers would not need to be so commanded, to love their children should be as natural as breathing!
Since these words in Titus 2 have been written, it must be assumed that we need to hear them. What is it about human nature that somehow prevents us as mothers from loving our children as we
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Reaching The Heart of Your Child
By Lisa Jost
As a Christian, I believe that the Scriptures have a lot to say about the goals we must have for our children. They are God’s gifts to us, and He knows best where to begin in training them for Him, and to be all that He designed them to be. The last verse in the OT gives us a clue about God’s desire for us as parents. “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” Also, Ezekiel 11:19,20 “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh. that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgements and do them, and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.” Psalm 16:7, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. “Prov. 23:7, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.’Prov. 27:19:’As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.’
The heart is the seat of all that we are, and God is very concerned about that…in us, and in our children. Reaching the heart of our childre
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Light From Home
By Lisa Jost
Our desire for this issue was to have more of an emphasis on reaching out to those around us, to encourage you to keep that important aspect of your walk with the Lord ever before you. As we study how to make disciples, it keeps coming back to maintaining a light that can be shone, salt that hasn’t lost it’s savor! How we darken our testimony when we neglect our primary responsibilties. Children are our arrows, the evidence as it were, of His reality and power.
I have had many opportunities
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