Articles on Youth
Do You Know God?
Do you know God? Do I know God? Let’s each stop and personally ponder this question. At my place of employment, I have the privilege of working with a group of brethren from my local congregation. We spend hundreds of hours together processing meat in a local butcher shop. Our conversations are many and varied. We have spent many an hour discussing matters of church,…
A Wee Little Prayer
My new job had more things for me to learn than I could count. I absorbed directions and techniques as fast as my co-workers gave them, but I still couldn’t catch up. My brain was overloaded. One day my actions betrayed my bursting brain. It was early evening at the bulk food store, and we had almost an hour until closing time. The store was filled with the usual…
The Poor in Spirit
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven –Mat 5:3. Jesus says the poor in spirit are blessed! This is where the blessing of God begins. To be poor in spirit is the gateway to a blessing that leads to all the other blessings. Without this, no other blessings from God are within our reach. Did you notice that Jesus speaks about heaven in the…
Building Up Relationships
Friendship is a beautiful thing. Meaningful, heart-to-heart friendships influence us greatly and bring stability into our lives, especially if they are grounded in Christ. True friends encourage us when we’re hurting or discouraged, and they rebuke us when we sin, yet they always care for us. Building relationships is hard. It takes a lot of time to build meaningful…
The Inquisition of Jacques Dosie
“My lady, I thank you very much for your affection and favor towards me, but I have given myself entirely to God to be His friend, and with that I hope to live and die,” rang the confident, faith-filled words of Jacques “zhahk” (a French form of the male name Jacob or James). Persecution was fiercely raging in Europe in the year 1550. For their profession of faith…
Morning Meditations from Psalm 40
My Help and My Deliverer Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth,…
Youth at the Crossroads
Originally published in the Pilgrim Witness -September 2013Adapted/Used with permission of the author The onset of adolescence lies behind you, and you are journeying on a path toward manhood or womanhood. You are filled with a zest for life, a quest for knowledge, ambitious goals, and dazzling dreams. Yours is a thrilling age! Life lies before you. You are developing new…
Servanthood – God’s High Calling
God designed us to serve, yet we have a difficult time getting the message that this is God’s call for our lives. Jesus took the time to school His disciples on servanthood. Let’s go to school with them and learn some things that we need to be aware of if we are going to fulfill this part of God’s purpose for our lives. First, if we are going to be a…
Developing a Biblical Value System
Used by permission -see end of article Just a few miles from our home is a large junkyard. It’s out close to the road, and as I drive into town I cannot help but ponder the sight. Junkyards tend to be eyesores. People don’t like to look at them, so usually the local government requires a privacy fence to help the appearance of the neighborhood. Something about the chaos…
Swift to Hear; Slow to Speak
As we think about this subject, what comes to mind about your own life? For myself, as I look back to my teenage years, and even my twenties, I see the lack of this principle – the principle of being “swift to hear and slow to speak.” Now, nearly two decades later, I can see many times when my parents told me something, that I usually had something to say back. I was not…