February 4, 2022 | Philippians 1:12-18 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Some churches approach ministry like they are planning a marketing campaign. They talk about platforms and branding. They use social media to create a positive public image. The more people who know about the church, the better their image and the more successful they […]
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February 3, 2022 | Philippians 1:9-11 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Many parents love to track the growth of their children by marking their height each year on their birthday. But is it possible to measure our growth as believers? More importantly, how does spiritual growth take place? And this is my prayer: that your love […]
February 2, 2022 | Philippians 1:7-8 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Minutes after my wife Jane and I pulled into the driveway of the church parsonage in our rental van loaded with all our worldly possessions, church members appeared to help unload it. I remember seeing their faces for the first time. They were all strangers […]
Mentiasie wishes everyone a happy new month. (February, 2022)
January 31, 2022 | Matthew 11:25-30 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue “My dad pointed out to me something that Charles Spurgeon pointed out to him,” wrote pastor Dane Ortlund in Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. “In the four Gospel accounts given to us in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John— eighty-nine […]
January 30, 2022 | Psalm 89:1-18 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue “Stop praying for stuff and start praying for God,” wrote pastor David Platt. “The primary point of prayer is not to get something—it’s to know Someone. When you go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, there […]
January 29, 2022 | James 1:2-8 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue For many years I had a love-hate relationship with today’s Scripture passage. The “love” part related to testing, perseverance, maturity, and wisdom. That made sense to me. The “hate” part related to the first line, “Consider it pure joy” (v. 2). “Seriously?” I thought. […]
January 28, 2022 | Mathew 9:9-13 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Calling of Saint Matthew pictures Matthew as an older man engaged in counting money from his tax collecting. He has just realized Jesus is summoning him to become His disciple, and he’s pointing to himself as if to say, “Who, me?” […]
January 27, 2022 | ProVerbs 9:1-12 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Jesus told a parable about a man going on a journey. He gave his servant five bags of gold and the man set to work, gaining five more for a total of ten. Another servant was given two bags of gold and increased his total […]