What is it about physical presence that is so compelling? Why is a live concert always better than the recording? Why is talking on the phone with my daughter not as good as sitting silent in a room with her as she paints and I read?

Dig deeper into this scripture through a few minutes of visio divina, a reflective prayer practice that uses focusing on an image as a catalyst for prayer:

The discoveries of our brain have revealed much about our Creator and how to love like him. Even more, these discoveries have shown how the Church can experience a greater transformation.

When is it that you’re most aware of God’s presence in your life? 

If the gospel really is good news of great joy for all people, then what makes it joyful? Why not “good news of great impact” or “good news of great triumph”? Why joy?

The good news of Jesus Christ carries a supernatural value and impact. To counterfeit it would be a grave error indeed.

“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” –1 Corinthians 2:4–5

Shalom is wholeness and well-being in the fullest sense: right and restored relationship with God, ourselves, our neighbors, and the earth. It’s the lived-out embodiment of God’s justice, mercy, righteousness, love, and peace, between and among everything in creation.

Today, we are in dire need of spiritual fathers and mothers; men and women that will give their time to love, listen to, and encourage the next generation to live this gospel message.

How does God’s Jesus News bring joy when our contexts bring challenge, pain, and wounds? A short but powerful answer is that God’s Good News changes the story we live in.

The gap between the size of the coming Kingdom harvest and the number of necessary workers, heightens the urgency of radical prayer as never before in Church history. 

At first, Simon seemed like an ideal convert, shadowing the preacher Philip day and night, amazed by a power greater than himself. But something serious was amiss. Simon may have believed in Jesus, but what he desired was power and control.