Choose Life.

Matthew 25:12,41 “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you… Depart from me, you who are cursed.” During the Soviet era when the Church endured fierce persecution, a secret prayer meeting was underway. Suddenly, the doors burst open, and two-fully armed guards shouted at those present: “Get out of this place if you’re not…

Watch the video here! 1 John 4:4 “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” David Watson wrote: “Christians in the West have largely neglected what it means to be a disciple of Christ. The vast majority of western Christians are church members, pew fillers, hymn singers,…

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as for the Lord, not for men.” Os Guiness writes: “Along with the truth of the cross of Christ, the truth of calling has had as much influence in the world as any truth in history – and it will again, when it…

Colossians 3:17 “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” John Ortberg wrote: “Western society does not talk much about calling any more. It is more likely to think in terms of career. Yet, for many people a career becomes the altar on which…

John 6:33 “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” Picture two men on a flight, both of them having been given a parachute. One is told it’ll improve his flight, whereas the other one is told he’s going to have to jump. Both of them get ridiculed,…

Romans 7:24,25 “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.” A caricature of modern Western evangelistic preaching is this: come to Jesus and he will bless you. He will satisfy your needs. He’s got a wonderful plan for…

Psalm 19v7: “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” Many of us don’t really understand the role of God’s Law – particularly the 10 Commandments – so we immediately jump to his grace. This shift broadly happened from the beginning of the 20th century. So John 3:16 became our favorite text: “For…

Matthew 9:36 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless.” I was on a short-term mission trip in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We were trying to ‘minister’ to street children. But these weren’t cute little kids. They were tough, hardened, aggressive and dangerous. We were approached by a…

Watch the video here! Ecclesiastes 3:4 “There is a time for everything… a time to weep and a time to laugh.” It was probably malaria. Before dawn, after umpteen hot and cold sweats, and regular dashes to the lavatory, I got ready to go to the doctor. Not only was there no electricity, but the…

Philippians 3:10 “I want to know Christ.” Why would the apostle Paul pray such a basic prayer? Surely he knew him already? He certainly knew him far better than us. But he recognized how far he still had to go. And he knew there was a clear difference between knowing about someone, and truly knowing…