We all long to be close to others. What if we were designed to be close with God? This episode describes this longing and how to make practical steps forward in our relationship with God.
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In this episode, get to know the women behind Corner Pillars. We each have a unique story, which helps us to adorn the palace of the King. We share the ways that God has been at work to shape us into Corner Pillars, identifying the areas of strength and beauty that have been woven into our lives.
If you are a rural church pastor, you may be wonder, “Can my church successfully grow generations of disciplemakers?” The question is understandable. Often, disciplemaking strategies are geared toward churches in urban settings where diversity and population density are significant factors in planning. While conversations regarding the urban church are vital, the rural church faces its own unique challenges (and some advantages) in making disciples. The term “rural church” does not simply apply to properties hewn from the edges of Midwest corn fields. It refers to churches situated in any community with fewer than 2,500 persons. One in seven Americans…
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African Proverb As Navigators, our collective desire is to advance the gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost. This means attuning ourselves to the ways God is leading us to new geographic areas for ministry, watching for His activity, and joining Him in His work. One such area is Fort Wayne, Indiana, where, to the best of my knowledge, Navigators has never previously placed a field representative. When God called me to be part…
I am so proud of each of you as you follow God’s call on your lives! My greatest prayer is that you learn to hear from Him, cultivating a deep and abiding relationship with the one who loves you perfectly. As He leads you further into your calling, be the kind of leader who will inspire others to follow. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, don’t seek to be flattered, but seek to imitate the life of Christ, that it may be multiplied in others. Be courageous.Women God uses display resilience in the face of hardship and opposition….
Desperate. She was desperate. The hope she once held had dried up like an autumn leaf: fallen, blown about, and trampled underfoot. Pain and longing replaced the hope she had once known. When would relief come? Thirst. It was as ravaging as anything she had ever known. At times, it consumed her. But her thirst wasn’t for the water she drew out of the well that day. Shame. It kept her from meaningful life. She could no more escape the shame in her heart than she could the side-glances of the locals when she dared rub shoulders in public….
#womenofthebibleseries A frigid wind struck me head-on as I climbed out of the car and turned to face the door of a century-old church building. Trying to keep from spilling myself on the freshly powdered snow (and whatever lay beneath it), I tightened my coat around my neck with both hands as I ran for the entrance. Linda, a woman at least a decade my senior, had been expecting me, and I felt warmth in her welcome from the moment I set foot in the door. After brief introductions, she escorted me to her office and held an open hand…
It took me by surprise. I hadn’t expected to connect with my daughters’ choice of movies. Super Heroes? Not my genre. Woman Power? Not my mantra. War and destruction? No thanks. There were many reasons to find something else to do while the family streamed Wonder Woman 2017, but wanting to be present with my family, I engaged in the movie. As I sat resisting the temptation to over-analyze the movie’s metaphors, I found myself drawn into the storyline. The heart of the iconic Diana became surprisingly believable as the creators showcased not only her warrior prowess (a common contemporary…
Shame can be a powerful enemy. It lurks unseen around the pain in our hearts, devising its evil game of hide-and-seek unbeknownst to our conscious minds. Shame, which was meant to be a barrier between us and evil, has been twisted by the enemy since our days in the garden, degrading our souls with a message: “You are unworthy and unloved.” That crafty serpent, indwelt by the devil himself, would not only twist what God had said, but would sink his teeth into the protective measures God had put in place. Shame, one of the most primeval reactions we experience,…
Wisdom from Mary#womenofthebibleseries Mary was young and innocent, a mere teenager. Promised to a man of her father’s choosing, her hopes and dreams were like any other girl her age. She would marry, bear children, and enjoy watching them grow. One day Messiah would come, and if it were in her lifetime, she would see her children ushered into an age of freedom. Her people had awaited this promised Messiah for centuries. Never did Mary imagine a visit from a heavenly being. Those were the things of legend. Yet there Gabriel stood, calling her “favored,” and announcing that God was…
All That Glitters: Thoughts about Phoebe, the Deaconess from Cenchreae#womenofthebibleseries We know only a little about Phoebe, benefactor of the Apostle Paul. We do know she was highly regarded by the veteran apostle, trusted to carry his letter to the church in Rome. This letter, e.g. the Book of Romans, would later become the quintessential book for understanding Christian doctrine. Although her mention in Scripture is brief, we are told that Phoebe was a deaconess of the church in Cenchreae, an ancient Greek city, about 8 miles from Corinth (see Acts 20) where Paul resided as he wrote to the…