When we stand at the altar of Christ on the final day, we will appreciate the influence of those who stepped out and spoke up to help us. You can do this.  Do not shrink back.  Step out and speak up. After all, you are an ambassador for Christ.  Can the ambassador stay silent?  You are a coheir with Christ.  Can the heir remain silent while blessings are available?  Of course not. After Jesus admonished Martha, he did the unthinkable.  He went to the tomb, wept for his friend, and then shouted for the dead Lazarus to come out.  And … Listen Now

The faith-filled prayer is a prayer of admonishment.  The prayer of faith invites God to be God, to be sovereign over a tumultuous time. Dennis McDonald models this type of admonishment.  He was our church’s hospital chaplain for many years.  I was always struck by the transformation that came over him as he began to minister.  When he entered the hospital room, he went straight to work.  Dennis would anoint the sick person with oil and pray, “Lord, this is your servant, whom you love and whom we love.  Let your healing happen in this room.  Satan, you must leave.  … Listen Now

I recently met a ten-year-old boy by the name of Joshua.  His mother explained that Joshua’s father was no longer a part of the boy’s life.  I squatted down eye level with Joshua and I asked, “Do you know the story of your namesake?”  He nodded. “You will do what he did,” I admonished. “You will bring down Jericho’s walls and pray prayers of great faith.” He wasn’t quite sure how to respond.  But his mom?  She was wiping away tears. Strugglers don’t need our opinions.  They don’t need our philosophies on suffering.  They need someone to admonish them with … Listen Now

“His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey.  Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word.  We can’t get away from it—no matter what” (Hebrews 4:12–13 MSG). Unsheathe God’s sword, the Word of God, and brandish its glimmering blade in the face of evil. When you read or quote a scripture in the face of pain or doubt or evil, you activate a weapon of the Spirit.  Say… I know a verse in the Bible that might help.  Or… A scripture that means much to me … Listen Now

Not only did Jesus not make it to the deathbed of Lazarus, he didn’t make it to the burial.  He was four days late.  Martha was forthright.  “Lord, if only you had been here my brother would not have died” (John 11:21).  Martha was to Jesus what your hurting friend is to you.  How can we respond when our friend is undone? Here is what Jesus did.  He looked Martha in the face and said these starchy words: “I am the resurrection and the life. . . . Do you believe this?” (vv. 25–26).  The Bible’s word for such a response is admonishment.  Above … Listen Now

Brian Reed served in a military unit in Baghdad, Iraq, in the fall of 2003.  He and his unit went on regular street patrols to protect neighborhoods and build peace.  It was often a thankless, fruitless assignment.  Brian said his unit battled low morale daily. An exception came in the form of a church service his men stumbled upon.  It was filled with Arabic-speaking Coptic Christians who invited the soldiers to partake in the Lord’s Supper with them.  Brian wrote, “Celebrating the Lord’s Supper and remembering Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins was the most important bridge builder and wall destroyer … Listen Now

The catchphrase “hate the sin and love the sinner” fits nicely on a bumper sticker, but how do we embed the principle in our hearts?  Maybe these ideas will help. Reserve judgment.  Let every person you meet be a new person in your mind.  None of this labeling or preconceived notions.  Listening is a healing balm for raw emotions.  Happiness happens, not by fixing people, but by accepting people and entrusting them into the care of God.  Jesus did this. Resist the urge to shout.  It’s better to keep quiet and keep a friend than to be loud and lose … Listen Now

How does Jesus receive us?  I know how he treated me.  I was a twenty-year-old troublemaker on a downhill path.  Though I’d made a commitment to Christ a decade earlier, you wouldn’t have known it by the way I lived. Finally I came to Jesus, and he welcomed me back.  Please note– he did not accept my behavior but he accepted me, his wayward child.  He said, “Come back.  I’ll clean you up.”  He was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  Not just grace, but also truth.  Not just truth, but also grace. Grace and truth. Grace told the adulterous … Listen Now

Matthew was an apostle, a gospel writer.  But before he was Matthew he was Levi, a Jew who worked for the Roman IRS.   As long as Rome got its part, the tax collectors could take as much as they wanted.  They got rich by making people poor. One of the most difficult relationship questions is “What do we do with a Levi?”  Your Levi is the person with whom you fundamentally disagree.  You follow different value systems.  Your Levi is your “opposite you.”  What if your “opposite you” is your boss?  Your parent or child? How does God want us … Listen Now

In the hallway of my memory hangs a photograph.  It’s a picture of two people— a man and a woman in the seventh decade of life.  The man lies in a hospital bed in the living room, not in a hospital room.  His body, for all practical purposes, is useless.  Muscles have been ravaged by ALS.  And even though his body is ineffective, his eyes scan the room for his partner, a woman whose age is concealed by her youthful vigor. She willingly goes about taking care of her husband.  With unswerving loyalty she does what she’s done for the … Listen Now