Text
Jan, 15, 2012 0
It happens several times every week. Someone calls, asking for advice as they try to transition mom or dad to an assisted living facility (ALF) or a nursing home.
Most of my 40 years of pastoral service have been with older adults. However, never has there been a time in my ministry when I have…
Jan, 09, 2012 0
Mark Holcomb is the general president for Nazarene Youth International (NYI). At the General NYI Convention in 2009, he was elected to this role. He is university chaplain at Olivet Nazarene University (ONU). Previously, he was on the ONU faculty and has also served as a local church youth pastor.…
Jan, 08, 2012 0
Nearly 36 months ago, at the beginning of what is now referred to as "the great recession," a pastor invited those in the Sunday morning worship service needing a job or wanting to improve their current employment situation to come forward and pray. Soon, people were kneeling from one end of the…
Jan, 05, 2012 0
"The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:39, NLT).
I am a Nazarene healthcare chaplain. I became a chaplain because of the power of a promise. In 16 years I served five congregations. These frequent moves affected our…
Dec, 20, 2011 0
“I’ll be praying for you!”
We use this phrase often, and that is not a bad thing. We are called to pray for each other, to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2). This is quite a calling and responsibility.
It is an invitation to make God the center of all our relationships, since only He can…
Dec, 20, 2011 0
Sometimes we all feel overwhelmed. Rich and poor, highly educated and barely educated, small organizations and large organizations; all feel overburdened and overworked at times. This is especially true when we try to measure our worth or success by unreasonable and unbiblical standards. There…
Dec, 20, 2011 0
In those places where Christmas is celebrated on December 25, many of us spend the first days of the new year calculating the cost of Christmas. In those global areas where gifting others, including one's immediate family, is practiced, our generosity often exceeds our immediate resources. It is…
Dec, 20, 2011 0
The miracle and glory of Christmas was the wondrous condescension of God in becoming man. “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).
This truth, accepted by reason, is the key that unlocks the gospel. Jesus was not a man who became God; He was God revealed…
Dec, 20, 2011 0
The miracle and glory of Christmas was the wondrous condescension of God in becoming man. “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).
This truth, accepted by reason, is the key that unlocks the gospel. Jesus was not a man who became God; He was God revealed…
Dec, 20, 2011 0
Christian theology is always seeking to balance the transcendence of God – God’s “otherness” – with the imminence of God – God’s “nearness.”
A class example of this striving for balance can be found in a key debate between followers of reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) and those who came to follow…