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It’s not common these days to listen to hymns. Our worship culture has shifted to use more contemporary songs in churches, and many of them I truly love. Still, there remains a special place in my heart for “old” songs. They represent the wells dug by a former generation, a people hungry for more of God to be visible in and through them so that they could reach their world. One example of this is “Love Divine,” by Charles Wesley. It’s fourth verse goes like this: “Finish, then, Thy new creation; Pure and spotless let us be. Let us see thy great salvation, Perfectly restored in Thee; Changed from glory into glory, Till in heaven we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before Thee, Lost in wonder, love and praise.” What a beautiful picture this song paints of the Bride of Christ! Pure and spotless, saved by grace,…

“I have prayed for you… that your faith may not fail.” ~ Luke 22:32 The only way that we as believers can receive anything from God is by faith. The Word of God is clear that a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways, and “should not expect to receive anything from the Lord (James 1:7).” This is why Jesus told Simon, “I’ve prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.” He knew that the devil was sifting Simon like wheat, meaning that he was being vigorously shaken by thoughts and experiences. You’ve felt that before, haven’t you? Circumstances come from time to time that shake us. We question ourselves, others – even God! We become unstable in our thinking, and it seems that our prayers stop at the ceiling. We can’t prevent sifting from taking place, but we can determine how we will respond to the…

Philippians 4:5 reads, “Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.” (NKJV) You know how it is when something piques your interest. You have to look deeper into it and satisfy the craving of your mind to know more. This verse caught me, and I had to devote some time to refreshing my understanding of all it means. I checked a variety of translations and studied the etymology of the word. Here’s what I discovered: Unselfish. Considerate. Patient. Restrained. Fair and impartial. Reasonable. These are examples of gentleness. Not the first pictures that formed in your mind when you read the word, were they? Most likely, you thought of handling something tenderly and with care. I did! And while this is a part of gentleness, we must train our minds to recognize these other virtues as well. Gentleness considers others above itself. It holds back when…

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” ~1 Corinthians 15:58 Have you ever felt like all you’re doing is getting nowhere? The Bible refers to this as laboring “in vain.” In other words, your work has produced no results and there’s no real meaning behind what you’ve done. That’s a horrible way to feel, and that’s exactly why the enemy of our souls attempts to convince us of it! My friend, we must not weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9). We must be resolute and unwavering in our faith that God is a just God, and He will reward each person according to their actions (Matthew 16:27, Romans 2:6). We must develop the habit of pressing in and pushing forward when we feel like giving up and getting out. There is…

The change to a new year always prompts new resolutions, goals intended to be met within the confines of a year. Anything can be a resolution: losing weight, talking more frequently to your mother, taking a long-desired trip, learning to play the guitar, quitting smoking. A resolution requires you to do something, to change a behavior or routine. You cannot keep your resolution if you do not change your ways, but changing is the hardest thing you will be faced with doing. As people, we all have a love/hate relationship with ruts. We want something different, but we don’t want to do anything new to get it. We’re creatures of habit – good or bad – and it takes a strong commitment to shore up weak or sloppy places in our lives. One of the most powerful resolutions that I think we can make is found in Lamentations 3:40-41. It…

One of the most powerful experiences we have during a crusade week is encouraging the local churches. During the first two days of distribution we visited a small church in an area called Kilometer 27 1/2. It was a very small church in a very poor area of Mexico City. The building was made of a simple concrete structure covered with a tin sheet roof. The interior was dark but inviting. There were chairs set-up for the congregation of 20. Pastor Eduardo, the senior pastor, became the senior pastor of this church about a year earlier. He and his small congregation have such a burden for their community that was demonstrated by their excitement during distribution. When we arrived, we prayed with the Pastor, his wife, and several members of his congregation. During the prayer, Pastor Eduardo broke down in tears. He told us that he had been waiting for…

Monday, November 17th, was the culmination of a powerful week of ministry as Light of Life International partnered with the pastors and churches of Mexico City in the 10th annual National Day of Prayer for Mexico. It was a privilege to join with believers in Mexico City on this occasion, which marked a decade of gathering together by the thousands to pray for their nation! The crowds began to arrive at noon at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico, a very modern facility that seats around 25,000 people. The meeting continued well into the evening as believers prayed, worshipped and heard the preaching of God’s Word. In the early evening, Stephen began to preach. The message was from 2 Chronicles 7:14, and it called the nation to humility, prayer, repentance and to seek the face of God. Tensions were high due to the 43 students that were killed recently, and a…

THERE IS SOMETHING BETTER… One of the most exciting aspects of a Light of Life International crusade week is experiencing divine appointments. These are very special encounters that people have with the Lord that we get to experience. On Friday of the Mexico Prays week, we experienced one of those divine encounters. A woman who was ready to give up on life, discovered real life. During distribution, one of our LOLI teams went to a neighborhood park that was surrounded by apartment buildings. As the team set up in the park, the members of the local church went into the apartments to invite people to come to the park to hear about the love of God. The team ended up preaching the Gospel to over 100 people that day and most of them made a decision for Jesus. But there was one particular woman who shared with one team member…