Guest Post by Jean Kingery The Crimson Thread Through Loss: Discover God’s Hope on Life’s Carousel invites you to discover God’s design for ‘good grief’ when a loved one passes away. From Genesis to Revelation a beautiful story unfolds on loss in this book. At some point in each of our lives, we will all be personally affected by loss. The Crimson Thread Through Loss shares God’s design for death from a biblical perspective. You will get a glimpse into Jean’s personal stories of what it feels like to grapple with the deaths of loved ones. This book will explore how to travel though a grief ..read more

Guest Post by Dan O’Deens God’s design and desire for us is health. He created us and breathed His life into us so that we might fully live. How do we survive and even thrive in a broken and fallen world? We hang on to the promises of God. Scripture says, “For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds” (Jeremiah 30:17, emphasis mine). “I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along with you” (3 John 1:2, emphasis mine). Is your soul healthy? Your soul represents your whole self. Your soul includes: Your HEART (emo ..read more

Guest Post by Jean Kingery Imagine two stems of red roses, but the buds aren’t yet fully developed. There is compact growth in these buds even though you cannot see the natural process. Flowering roses have a delicious scent, radiant color, and breath-taking beauty. But the truth is that sometimes these buds never open into full, blooming, fragrant flowers. Let’s pretend that the unopened buds are people affected by disabilities. Their blooms are folded, hiding their beauty. Please bear with me as we unpack a foundational biblical truth. The Great Commission is given to the disciples by th ..read more

[featured_image] Guest Post by Murray Moerman Is it possible to bring together not admirers, but disciples of Jesus in such a way that every person on earth finds equal opportunity to meet and follow Jesus? Indeed, it is. But it takes more than technique. It takes more than purposefulness. It takes more than individual effort or a focused sprint. As Kierkegaard pointed out… “The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe.” What then are vary ..read more

[featured_image] Guest Post by Tim Roehl Almost everyone who has started something new—especially planting a church or launching a different type of ministry—deals with the tensions of expectations. Expectations come from all kinds of sources. Some come from those above us in positional leadership. Some come from those around us—family, peers, church folks. Some come from inside ourselves. Expectations can come in all kinds of “sayings,” too. Maybe you’ve heard some of them personally… How many do you have coming to church? You haven’t started church services yet? When are you going to start ..read more

Guest Post by Dan Moushey Why did I write Crazy Hope? To impact people with the gospel I wrote Crazy Hope as a vehicle to lead people to the gospel because it alone is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). Although it is the gospel that changes lives, more often than not, God uses our personal testimony as the vehicle through which it is delivered. After preaching at my first men’s conference in 2014, it became apparent that my story resonated with many and, although my testimony is somewhat dramatic, most were able to relate to my confusion, pain and sufferi ..read more

[featured_image] Guest Post by Discover App In my previous article I explained that facilitating a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) is very simple. So you may be wondering: why do you need an app? I must confess I once thought that it wasn’t necessary myself–until we were contacted by some people who desperately needed it. The Discover App was actually requested by a group of believers in a place with restricted access. They wanted an app for three main reasons: Security It was not easy to get your hands on a printed Bible–and being caught with one could be a death sentence. Carrying the ..read more

[featured_image] Guest Post By Discover App “I’ve never shared my faith with my children, but having done this study I really feel I can do it!” We were just finishing a Discovery Bible Study (DBS), asking each participant to explain “with whom do you plan to share what you just learned?” when a father with adult children shared this. Other people around the room nodded. Although some had been Christians for a long time, this was the first time that they’d been encouraged to retell a Bible story until they actually knew it. Someone else said that for the first time she “owned” the ..read more

[featured_image] Guest Post by Janae Dueck A Glimpse Into Why I Wrote Sitting with My Lions Being only 24 years old, with two self-published children’s picture books, I still felt uneasy. While these two books have served as a huge blessing in my life (expanding my skills in ways I cannot imagine and allowing me to humbly speak into so many lives), I felt like God had put another story on my heart that just needed to be shared. This story would be a more personal one, one that reflected my own life’s experience of what I’ve learned over the years. It would be on a topic that had a lot of scar ..read more

[featured_image] I met for lunch recently with a pastor who is a hero of mine. He has pastored for decades – yet he continues to preach every Sunday to a congregation that he planted a few years ago (at a time when most pastors would be enjoying retirement). As we enjoyed lunch together, he made the comment that he was either “a mentor or a tormentor.” I laughed out loud at the table. Leaders have the opportunity to mentor future generations of leaders. This is such an important priority for pastors and spiritual leaders. Yet many abdicate this responsibility. Instead, they torment young, e ..read more