Category Archives: Soulwinning

Words for the Week: Go Ye

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bejing-china

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.—Mark 16:15

This week is Missions Conference at our church, so my thoughts are wrapped in what I’m hearing and seeing.

Specifically, I’m thinking on the command of Jesus to share the gospel with the billions of people who haven’t yet heard it once.

And then there’s the lady who lives just several blocks down from my church. She had actually been to my church once and heard the gospel, but she was confused. Very confused. She was also ready to hear God’s Word. Today I had the opportunity to open the Bible and share the sweet story of salvation with her. An hour and a half later, she trusted Christ. Continue reading →

Book Review: Plowed Under by Amy Carmichael

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Plowed-Under

I “read” my first Amy Carmichael biography when I was probably about five years old. My mom read With Daring Faith to my sisters and me at the lunch table—a chapter every day.

I was not only fascinated—I was changed. Although I couldn’t have articulated it at the time, Amy’s walk with the Lord, commitment to pure motives in spiritual work, and passion to reach “the least of these” made a deep impression on me. As a teenager, I read a fuller biography of her life, A Chance to Die.

This summer, I had the opportunity to read a newly republished book Amy wrote in 1935: Plowed Under: A Young Girl’s Obedience. God’s Ever-Present Grace.

This relatively short read (140 pages—I read it during a day of travel) was encouraging on multiple levels. Continue reading →

My Greatest Highlight of 2012

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[I wrote the article below for the website Ministry127. It’s a great website with free resources and ideas to encourage and equip leaders in church ministry.]

March 7, 2012—it was the beginning highlight for what would become the delight of my year.

That evening, I had the joy to begin leading a young Christian through our church’s formal discipleship program.

What is discipleship?

  • It is a front row seat in seeing God’s Spirit bring growth.
  • It is a fresh reminder of the depth and grace of God’s love.
  • It is spiritual energy as you observe a tender heart for God and growth in His grace.
  • It is the incredible opportunity to work with God’s Spirit in pressing the button to watch a miracle of His grace unfold in a life.
  • It is the perfect vantage point from which to watch God’s Word change a life…at the deepest levels of the heart.
  • It is an indescribable joy to participate with God in His work.
  • It is…my favorite event of the week!

Continue reading →

God Doesn’t Have to Be Kind to Me

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Note: This blog is part of a Thanksgiving series of blogs highlighting attributes of God for which I am thankful.

Have you ever been kind to someone because you had to be? Or because it was to your best advantage to be?

I have.

But God’s kindness to me (and there is a lot of it!) is prompted by a higher, purer motive—love.

That’s right. God is kind to me because He loves me. It’s called lovingkindness.

Perhaps you have heard that the God of the Old Testament is harsh. Vindictive. Angry.  Continue reading →

Things as They Are: Book Review (and Free Ebook)

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When you read missionary prayer letters, what do you expect? Sensational stories? A string of unbroken triumphs?

Would you like to know things as they really are?

Here’s the truth: Missionaries do see victories. But the mission field isn’t romantic in the least. Sometimes it’s downright heartbreaking. The daily reality of the mission field is grueling and often disappointing.

I know this because I know missionaries personally (and even familially). But I recently read Amy Carmichael’s Things as They Are, and I was reminded in a fresh way of the real spiritual warfare missionaries face. Continue reading →

A Good Day for Me

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Several years before I was born, an eighteen-year-old girl was visited in the hospital by an old friend from high school friend named Dody. In the time that had passed since they had seen each other, Dody had changed, and Joanne couldn’t help but notice.

“Dody, your face looks so…so pretty.”

“That’s because Jesus has changed my life. I trusted Him, and He has changed me.”

Dody’s countenance of joy was so compelling that as soon as Joanne was released from the hospital, she made a call to the Baptist pastor of the church where her grandmother had attended and asked for an appointment. Continue reading →