Blog: February 2021

Paul assures Christians of God’s faithfulness:  God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor 1:9).  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (10:13). God is faithful—you often hear believers say this, especially in times of adversity.  The idea is to reassure us that, even if every­thing is falling ...

Habakkuk the Prophet wrote down his prayer-dialogue with God when the Babylonian invasion of Judah was on the horizon (i.e., around 600 BC).  He begins with a complaint:  Lord God, how long will your people indulge in sin and defy your justice?  Answer:  not much longer; the Lord will put a stop to it.  But the way God acts drives Habakkuk up the wall:  The holy God will use the more-wicked Babylonians to punish the less-wicked people of Judah (1:13).  The Lord warns his prophet, “You won’t believe what I’m going to do!” (1:5).  God ...

A perennial question we all grapple with is why—why do bad things happen, why do we suffer?  What are we to make of a world in which disease and violence and accidents and disasters are par for the course?  How are we to understand the power, love, and wisdom of God while we walk this dangerous road on our way home to heaven? The “why” question is complicated by the very uneven distribution of suffering in the world:  some people seem to breeze through life relatively unscathed while others endure harrowing, devastating trials.  And it’s ...

In these days of information overload and instant access to every kind of media message, with so many voices clamoring for attention, and amidst all the fear and rage, followers of Jesus need to keep their focus:  Fix your eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).  The soul is not equipped for multitasking. Missionary doctor Helen Roseveare calls believers to a life of FOCUS--rivet your attention on "one thing": What to know: "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25).  It's Jesus who transforms our lives. What is ...

Our Goshen staff team spent time today discussing 2 Corinthians 4:14-18.  God inspired the Apostle Paul to write a remarkable word of hope for when we face affliction and even death.  This is a passage that puts our brief lives into eternal perspective: 14 [We know] that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our ...

Ladies, Perhaps you have participated in a Women's Bible Study in the past but are not able to do so in person at this time? Don't you miss getting together to study and fellowship?  Or maybe you have never been part of a Bible Study group but would like to check one out?  It could be that you are tired of being home and want to meet up with other ladies?  Well, this is your invitation to join us on Zoom for a weekly Bible Study on Monday evenings at 7:00 starting on Monday, February 22.  We have selected a study by Cynthia Heald, Becoming ...

The believers in the early church faced intense persecution. After Stephen was killed, Jesus’ followers at the church in Jerusalem scattered; however, they did not stop talking about Jesus. They continued to share the good news. One man, Philip, took the gospel to Samaria. The crowds there listened and believed, and they had great joy. In today’s Bible story, Philip was instructed by an angel of the Lord to go to a certain road in the desert. Philip obeyed. The Spirit led Philip to a chariot, where an Ethiopian official was reading the ...

Hebrews 11 tells the story of believers in God during Old Testa­ment times—Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David, and the list goes on.  These saints had their faults, to be sure, but they put their hope in God and walked by faith, making their way toward “home.”  In the midst of the long list of faith heroes, we’re told… These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For people who speak thus make it ...