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God the Absolute Lord of Every Situation

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     One day John Wesley was returning to England from the failure of his missionary work in Georgia. The little ship on which he sailed encountered a terrible storm and Wesley was, as we might put it, “scared to death.” Wesley recorded in his journal that a storm broke the main sail and flooded the decks with water, making it seem "as if the great deep had already swallowed us up". While the English passengers, including Wesley, panicked and screamed in fear of drowning, a group of 26 Moravian Christians (a Protestant group from Germany) onboard remained calm and continued singing hymns. Ashamed of his own paralyzing fear, Wesley asked a Moravian afterward if they were afraid. The leader replied, "I thank God, no," and added that they were not afraid to die. This incident caused Wesley to realize that he did not have the true, saving faith that he was attempting to preach. Later he stated, "I went to America to convert the Indians, but, oh, who shall co...
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The First Apostle Goes Home

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  Kenneth O Gangel wrote “ I have been forced to grapple with the issue of premature death numerous times during the long years of my life. While serving on the faculty at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the early 1970s, Paul Little died in a severe car crash in Ontario. Perhaps you have read some of his books: Know What You Believe, Know Why You Believe, and How to Give Away Your Faith. He died at age 48 leaving a lasting legacy in evangelism training. Paul was one of the greatest personal evangelists I ever knew and a fireball for Christ. Why did he go home so early? How could God need this man in heaven when we so desperately needed them here on earth? The answer of course is that we have no idea and we either give in or cave in to the sovereignty of God”. In the book of Acts we read “Agabus...predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world.   The disciples... decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This th...
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Almsgiving a Church Obligation

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  A young boy complained to his father that most of the church hymns were boring and old-fashioned, with tiresome words that meant little to his generation. His father challenged him with these words: 'If you think you can write better hymns, why don't you?'' The boy accepted the challenge, went to his room, and wrote his first song. He would write 350 hymns in his lifetime.' The year was 1690, and the young man was Isaac Watts. Among his hymns are 'Joy to the World,' 'When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,' and many other classics. In Acts 11:19-21 we are told that those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed sowed the seed of the gospel as they travelled. Men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Antioch was the third greatest city in the Roman Empire, behind Rome and Alexandria. Antioch was known for its commerce, its sophistication and cultur...
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