Articles Tagged 'Ray'

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Prayer and Mission

So if they didn't and couldn't, how dare we?

Mark Frost continues the series on discovering your mission before finding your minister with the Interim Ministry Partners team and he focuses on prayer.

In Everything Give Thanks... in EVERYTHING!

And there I began hunting out places of worship through tears of joy in pain.

Melissa Troyer reminds us that giving thanks -- and finding reasons to give thanks -- is a decision we make every day in all circumstances, especially when it is hard to be thankful!

Please, Help Me Learn to Pray

I feel like I am launching my prayers upward, as if I was shooting bbs toward heaven, only to have them hit a metal ceiling and fall at my feet, mocking me with their ineffectiveness!

Phil Ware provides a host of resources on prayer and how to grow our prayer lives.

I Doubt It: World Changers

Despite early Jewish opposition and later Roman persecution and martyrdom, their passion, conviction, and impact could not be stopped.

Phil Ware continues his series called 'I Doubt It' and focuses today on Jesus' call and promise that his eleven apostles and those that followed them would turn the world upside down with their message of good news and hope and grace.

Until...

I dreamed of traveling the world, getting married, and sailing off into the horizon. And I am, only it's a whole lot nittier and grittier than I imagined.

Melissa Troyer looks at her life, the gray in hair, the wrinkles around her eyes, and reflects that things are not quite what she dreamed, but then, in a way, they are better and God is not through with her yet.

And It Was Night?

Is there any hope, any light, for our darkness?

Phil Ware talks about the triumphal entry of Jesus and the darkness that Jesus faced for all of us to defeat the darkness and bring us to light.

Seed, Towel, Promise, & Torchlight: The Promise

Jesus gave his promise to speak comfort and hope into this place of deep longing in their hearts

Phil Ware continues his series on Seed, Towel, Promise, and Torchlight, focusing this week on the power of Jesus' promise in the face of his own impending death.

Unless a Seed

Jesus had many opportunities to walk away from the shame and pain of the cross, but he chose the Father's will and our need over his comfort.

James Nored and Phil Ware remind us of the dark night that began the long, painful, and lonely journey of Jesus through his Passion to bring us to God.

Affirming Their Best and Not Giving Up in Their Stumbles

I can't help but believe that every time Peter heard a rooster crow, he also remembered the Lord's words of affirmation and assurance.

Phil Ware reminds us that Jesus affirmed Peter's value and his return to useful service BEFORE Peter's stumbling denials by the fire.

Hope in our Messy Days

Parenting cuts deep to the core. It lays open our needs before God, and we can either resent it or embrace the powerful cleansing that comes from God's purifying fire

Melissa Troyer reminds us that life's messes should drive us to our knees and open our hearts to the love, grace, and freedom of God!

At the End of Ourselves

Why do we limit our lives to the mundane of only what we can see? Why, oh why, do we cling to safety over being truly alive?

Melissa Troyer talks about coming to the end of our own abilities, resources, and power to fix ourselves, our problems, and deal with our difficult situations on our own, and then we ask for help and prayer.

God-skin!

Without hesitation, no warm-up required, she told her story of betrayal and rejection.

Ron Rose is back at Black Rifle Coffee, being the available friend and pastor to folks who drop in with a story to tell, this time it's a lady who's been dumped and betrayed and Ron Reminds her of her need for God, and he will be available to be the skin

FEPDO

In cornbread English, these loose lug nuts didn't have a clue about what to do next, so they looked to God for guidance.

Phil Ware talks about a discovery he made in Acts 1 -- that the early disciples chose to depend upon God's guidance for their direction, decisions, and future.

Seed, Towel, Promise, & Torchlight: The Promise

Jesus gave his promise to speak comfort and hope into this place of deep longing in their hearts

Phil Ware continues his series on Seed, Towel, Promise, and Torchlight, focusing this week on the power of Jesus' promise in the face of his own impending death.

Willing 2-B-Crucibled

Ever notice that the most challenging madness happens right on the border of the Promised Land?

Ron Rose reminds us that true faith has to go through the B-crucible to be real and lasting.

Finding Jesus' Heart for Ministry: Purpose

If we are honest, so much of what we choose to do is based on our self-interest, while Jesus invites us to live life centered in God's purpose for us!

This post continues Phil Ware's look at the man with leprosy in Mark 1:35-45 and Jesus' loving interaction with the man after he had committed to live out the Father's purpose in his life.

Finding Jesus' Heart for Ministry: Prayer

To touch the broken as Jesus did, I must learn to pray as Jesus prayed!

Phil Ware looks at Mark 1:35-45 and learning how to touch the broken as Jesus touched them by learning to pray as Jesus

Don't Just Do Something

He was oblivious to the truth that our attempts to live for Jesus will succeed only if we have the power of the Holy Spirit released to us through prayer.

Phil Ware reminds us that the phrase 'don't just stand there do something' is absolutely wrong: we must pray first, then let the Lord lead us to know what to do!

Is God Listening to My Prayers?

Prayer that the Father hears is directed to him in faith with an unselfish attitude, seeking to bless and honor God's will because of our love for the Father.

Bill Sherrill reminds us about the importance of prayer and how we should pray to honor God.

ToGather: The Wisdom God Longs to Give Us! (January 23, 2022)

We know that our God showers his grace upon us. One of his greatest gifts is heavenly wisdom, given when we ask for it in faith.

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in virtual worship through words and music using YouTube videos encouraging us to recognize that God is our Father who longs to share His heavenly wisdom with His people.

Mothers Pray for Their Children

What is more powerful in shaping the heart and faith of a child than a mother who prays for her children?

Melissa Troyer shares a prayer all mothers of deep faith can pray over their children, and the children of others.

Stooping to Serve, Not to Shame

God brings me to my knees, both in honesty and in choosing joy, as I pick up a careless mess made by the precious, but oblivious little stampede that lives within my walls.

Melissa Troyer shares the worship in stooping to clean up the messes that are part of a mom's everyday experience with little children she is trying to mold into followers of Jesus.

Before the Red Sea Parts

Life is as full of beauty as it is uncertainty if we open our eyes to see the divine fingerprints of grace.

Melissa Troyes writes with beauty about God’s touches of grace on a trip to New England with her family as she wrestles with the grief over an aunt who is gone too soon and the uncertainty of the future of her family and where they will live.

Family in the Fire

Jesus is among the familiar trappings of his heritage of faith and immediate family, both of whom are dangerously toxic to him and his ministry at this point in his journey.

Phil Ware continues his reflections and convictions on becoming a JesuShaped disciple, this time focusing on the dangers and difficulties the Lord faced from his religious adversaries.

Give Your Fears to the Father

How remarkable that Jesus felt such fear. But how kind that he told us about it.

Max Lucado reminds us that Jesus made all sorts of faces as he lived life much as we do, and because he has been where we are, even in the darkest of times, we can turn to him and find grace to help us in our times of need.