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Gospel Advance in Rome and an Ethiopian Hospital
When hard times come, what do people hear from your lips? Suffering in Rome Those who saw Paul in Rome under house arrest awaiting trial (see the end of Acts) probably didn’t think he was doing so well. After all, he was in chains! I can imagine the guards who were chained to Paul in four hour shifts initially thought Paul would be like any other prisoner. Even the believers throughout the Roman Empire who were aware Paul was in…
How Do You Recover From This?
When a child leaves the home abruptly and angrily, with a vow not to return, how do you recover? When you receive termination papers from your work with no prospects of another job, how do you keep from losing it all? When bills pile too high and the income is too low, where do you turn? When your companion of decades has a stroke and leaves you alone, what can help you keep balanced through the lonely days and nights?…
$833.33 Exactly: A Letter From Jim
Dear CCW family, Just a few years after we married, we decided we would never ask for support for our work or for our personal expenses, or for any CCW ministry expenses. Rather, we would look to the Lord alone for such provision without telling anyone about our needs. We wanted to demonstrate through our dependence on Him how God loves His children and answers prayer. This decision to live life this way didn’t come out of nowhere. There was…
A Broken Relationship with Dad
Over many years I have seen that a person who has a rupture in relationship with his or her father and does not know how to find acceptance and peace with God through Jesus Christ, may be susceptible to many difficulties in this life. Broken child/parent relationships of any kind very often present in ongoing bouts of rebellion and anger or crippling despair and perceptions of inferiority, outside of God’s help. Some carry these attitudes internally while weakening them, and…
What Happens When We Share the Gospel? Six Encouragements
When I found out that I was going to speak at a college in Malang, Indonesia, and perhaps 300-400 students would be waiting for me, I quickly organized in my head how I could share the gospel most effectively. We have to be ready in our travels for such times. There they were when we walked in the gymnasium, sitting on the floor quietly waiting for me to speak. There was only one blaring mic, so I gave it to…
Reading Scripture Rightly: A Letter From Jim
Dear CCW family, The New Year is upon us! The New Year to most of us presents something fresh with prospects beyond the normal. As a believer you may say, “This is a new start for me to go further into understanding God’s word.” That is a healthy desire and one you can certainly accomplish because it is God’s desire also. This practical article,“Reading Scripture Rightly,” may help. For more help, read “My Preferred Way to Read the Bible,” under…
What About the Relatives?
For many of us, the Christmas/New Year season is a time not only to think about Jesus’ incarnation but also to enjoy our relatives and friends. Perhaps we see them only at this time of the year. Some time ago I wrote this short article to guide us about speaking the gospel to those relatives we love. Take a few moments to ponder these ideas: Can you find Jimmy in this photo? Some of you may see Tommy and Billy,…
The Mistake of Being Quick to Strategize and Slow to Pray
My wife and I recently realized we’ve become quite the “strategists” with our children. When they share dilemmas with us, we are quick to offer (oftentimes) dogmatic counsel without asking clarifying questions and, more shamefully, without praying. We eventually get to prayer, but not as soon as we should. You would think that now that our kids are moving into adulthood, we wouldn’t still fail in this area. Yet, here we are, so we need the following two reminders from…
Ten Correctable Mistakes We Make When Preaching and Teaching
I’ve been teaching the Bible regularly and often since 2001, and I’m still surprising myself, sometimes in the worst ways. I went back to listen to a message on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, a story that everyone should find riveting. The first half or so seemed engaging, but about 60% of the way through, my tone and word choices communicated a major reduction of awe and wonder. This led me to reflect on this question: “What…
Responding to Admonitions
I knew I was going to miss my connecting flight. Still, I sprinted through one of the world’s largest airports to get to my departure gate. As predicted, I was too late and put on the stand-by list for a flight three hours later. As I sat at my new gate, tired from a weekend of ministry, I noticed an unfriendly ticket agent who never quite made eye contact with anyone, even people speaking directly to her. The wrinkles on…
The Surprising Story of Bill Beery
My brother pastored an unconverted man on the rolls of the church. When it was discovered, some of the men in the church began to share Christ with him and soon he became a true believer in Christ. His name was Bill Beery, a direct relative of the famous deceased actor Wallace Beery. Bill was a physically imposing mechanic at 6’ 6”. But Lou Gehrig’s disease, the illness that physicist Stephen Hawkins endured, soon wilted him into a shadow of…
Seriousness In Children and Teens
It is increasingly obvious that children and young people in many evangelical churches are anything but serious about Christ. There are notable exceptions, but in many churches a cursory look at the behavioral signals put out by the young people reveal a profound disinterest. On the one hand there is a sort of giddiness and silliness by some who believe that church is there only to provide them a place for enjoying friends and impressing the opposite sex. On the…
A 12 Point Cure for Complaining
Complaining is unbecoming of the true Christian and yet we are proficient at it. The cure is found in these verses. In Christ we are never hopeless or forsaken. Every trial has meaning. Meditate on this cure in order to change both your language and your heart. 1. God commands me never to complain. Do all things without complaining and disputing. (Philippians 2:14) 2. God commands me to give thanks in every circumstance. In everything give thanks, for this is…
Drifting From Christ: A Letter From Jim
Dear CCW family, Think about this verse: “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Hebrews 2:1). Some years ago, I spent a day on a Florida beach with my family. Nestled in my inner tube, I paddled out a little from the land to tune out the world and to rest on the soothing undulations of water beneath me. All was perfect for a while. Yet my…
Burrus the Deacon and the Meaning of Diakonia in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch
As Ignatius of Antioch made his sunset journey from Antioch to Rome, he passed through the city of Smyrna, stopped in Troas, and continued his journey through Neapolis to Rome. The first four of Ignatius’ letters are the product of the Antiochan overseer’s stay in Smyrna (Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, and Romans). The remaining letters were penned in Troas (Philadelphians, Smyrneans, and probably the Letter to Polycarp). Unable to write to all the churches from Troas because of his sudden evacuation…
How to Find a Wife
The proverb says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Prov. 18:22). But wisdom also tells us that one should seek this blessing from the Lord at the appropriate time and in a godly way. Many Christians enter the dating scene while they are still in their teens. This practice is fully endorsed, and even expected, by a society that holds a completely inadequate understanding of what it actually means for a…