Ministry Updates

Over the years I've come to realize that most of the world is cynical about Christianity. In fact, I experience some of that cynicism even in my own small circle of friends and family. In truth, sometimes I feel like an outsider. 

But as a follower of Jesus Christ, during those moments when I feel like a foreigner in a strange land, I know it's then that God can use me to share the gospel.  But He can't do that if my actions or words are unbecoming or lacking respect for relationships and authority.

This month on ...

Just ask any parent, especially this time of year when many are readying their kids for school.  The same can be said about the ministry of FamilyLife!  With the fall season just around the corner, they have heightened their efforts to reach marriages and families for Christ through a number of outreaches.  Just take a look at what's ahead for Dennis Rainey and the rest of their staff.

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood ... the recently released book by Dennis Rainey is the focus of the "FamilyLife Today" broadcasts this month (9/12-14). It's also the subject ...

When do people tune in to the radio?  We could offer several suggestions as to the time of day (morning drive) or likely activity (picking the kids up from school), but what about the emotional state of the listener?

HCJB Global's Ron Cline speaks to this on today's "Beyond the Call" program.

Ron shares a story about a young man in Indonesia who planned to kill himself after suffering financial ruin.  The desperate man decided to turn on the radio, but the only radio station he could find on his mobile phone was that of an HCJB Global ...

I read in the paper this week about the little boy who is the youngest to scale Mt. Whitney in a single day. 

At 7 years old, Tyler Armstrong is missing his two front teeth and is getting ready to start second grade.  But instead of sharing about typical little boy summer highlights in class, he'll tell of his dizzying adventure climbing 14, 494-foot Mt. Whitney. 

He excitedly tells of even bigger plans to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. His father said he is supportive of Tyler's ambition to climb bigger mountains.

 I can only imagine Tyler's ...

Just for fun, I asked some friends to guess how much money was in a bag of change. Full of quarters, dimes and pennies, as well as couple of dollar coins, this was a difficult challenge. The guesses varied from $12 to over $80! The only consistency was the question - "what's the prize?"

Many of us are driven by rewards. I'm certainly geared that way. I do things because there's something 'in it' for ME. Jesus, on the other hand, acted out of a compassionate heart. He wasn't motivated by prizes . . . He simply wanted to reconcile ...

It's not every day I consider dying my hair blue - even though the person holding the can of "Be Wild" blue hair spray guaranteed it would come out in one wash. 

On this particular day, my fellow co-worker Katie Burke had just shared with our team her experience serving as a "Short Term Missionary" (STM) at a Joni and Friends^® Family Retreat.  Part of the retreat experience, she said, was participating in "Crazy Hair Day."  Katie brought photos and a half-empty can of blue hair spray to prove it!

I asked her to share a bit about her experience ...