Worthy Words

Success is what most people strive for. Products on TV infommercials promise instant success in everything from weight loss to financial freedom. Schools promise success in producing well-educated students who will succeed in college and the working world. In fact, there is a promise that if you are successful in work, business, education, sports or the arts, you will have lived a successful life. I want some of that! Sign me up! This idea of success sadly has infiltrated the church in almost all aspects. A successful church is often measured by the number of members, by Sunday morning attendees, by the number of staff members, or by the number of people who prayed at the altar on a given Sunday. I would like to offer the idea that the church is not called to be “successful” in the way success is measured today. Instead, we are called to be faithful. Jesus told a parable in Matthew 25:14-30 about three servants who have been given responsibility over differing amounts of money or “

Paul wrote to his fellow Christians in Corinth, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). There is no one in this world who can be in love with God and remain the same. Someone sent me a card that said, LOVE is the Great Transformer…LOVE transforms: Ambition into aspiration, Greed into gratitude, Selfishness into service, Getting into giving, Demands into dedication, Loneliness into happiness. Love transforms you into becoming a person with more of the qualities of Jesus Christ. Dedicate your life to love. Don't let our culture cheapen the meaning and transformation that takes place with agape love, God's highest form of love. When you seek the higher level of love you can rest assured that your life will never be the same. “These three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13:13

The other day I was coming out of a parking space at the hospital, a driver in the space behind me flashed his lights then pulled up next to me and motioned for me to roll down my window. My thoughts raced. I didn't think I had cut him off, or interfered with his right of way. What had I done? With apprehension, I rolled down my window without any indication of the problem. The driver, friendlier than expected, informed me that my backup light on the right rear side was out. As I drove away, I became aware that I would never have known my backup light was out without that person making the effort to tell me. I needed someone with a different viewpoint and angle to see what I couldn't. I would have continued to drive unaware of any problem. The failed light was in a spot I could not see. You and I both have blind spots in our lives, don’t we? Just like the driver who helped me that day, the Lord uses other people in our lives to give us wisdom and correction. It is easy to g

There is no doubt that you will experience trials in your Christian life. Some new Christians mistakenly believe that being a Christ-follower means living a life free of hassles and struggles. God never promised us freedom from trials; He promised us that He would walk with us through the trials and help us to endure our hardships. No one looks forward to trials, but trials can produce a stronger faith. You can withstand anything that comes if you remember that every trial is actually a test. Before gold is pure it must be tested in the fire. The trials which come your way will test your faith, and out of your struggles your faith can emerge stronger than it ever was before. The apostle Peter said; “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor