DAILY, WEEKEND, AND HOLIDAY INTERNET EVANGELIZE TO THE WORLD MINISTRY

  December 11: Faithful Decision-Making Jeremiah 21:1–22:30 ; Romans 3:1–20; Proverbs 17:1–28 “I asked God, and He didn’t answer me.” When I hear people say this, I’m often tempted to reply, “Haven’t you read the prophets?” Because sometimes what people are really saying is, “I asked God to do something for me, and He didn’t answer in the wa y I expected, so He must not be listening or He must not care.” Yet the prophets repeatedly tell us the opposite. God is not human, so He does not make decisions like a human. Instead, He sees all possible outcomes and knows the best route. We simply struggle to understand the wisdom of His decisions. One particular event in the book of Jeremiah illustrates this point. When King Zedekiah (the last king of Judah) asks Jeremiah to intercede with Yahweh on behalf of Jerusalem against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Jeremiah gives an unexpected reply: Yahweh has refused to do so. He will not intercede for His own people. Rather, He will make N...

  December 8: The Gospel for Barbarians and Fools Jeremiah 14:1–15:21; Romans 1:1–17 ; Proverbs 15:1–33 It’s dangerous when we feel entitled. We may come to believe our communities are righteous while all those outside are not. This can even occur inside our faith communities—popularity or various achievements can create subtle feelings of superiority. We begin to believe it’s something we’ve done that brings us a favor. As he writes to the church in Rome, Paul explains that it’s not anything we do, anything we are, or anything we obtain that makes us right with God. His calling verifies this: “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. Thus I am eager to proclaim the gospel also to you who are in Rome” (Rom 1:14). Ethnicity was a big obstacle for the early church to overcome, as the church was now made up of Jewish and Gentile believers. God promised Abraham that through him,  “all the peoples on earth will be blessed” ...

  December 5: Do No Harm Jeremiah 7:30–9:26; Colossians 3:18–4:18 ; Proverbs 13:1–25 Love can hurt. Many well-intentioned people have done more harm than good while attempting to care for others. This is especially the case in cross-cultural situations, as well-meaning people attempt to introduce change without understanding the local culture. But it can even be true in our homes. Paul’s words in Col 3:18–4:1 have been misused countless times by those seeking to gain or maintain power. Yet when we examine the passage closely, we find that Paul’s primary goal is to teach the Church in Colossae to help without hurting as he works toward seeing cultural norms in the light of the gospel. When Paul talks about wives “submitting” to their husbands, he frames it in light of the phrase, “husbands love your wives” (Col 3:18–19). The submission he speaks of is not about giving up will or freedom; Paul acknowledges the cultural and economic realities of the time and encourages the Church...

  November 24: The Ties that Bind 2 Kings 13:1–14:29; Galatians 4:1–31 ; Proverbs 7:21–27 We don’t often consider our former lives as enslavement. We characterize our lives before Christ by bad decisions and sinful patterns, but not bondage. We like to think of ourselves as neutral beings. But Paul paints another picture. The things or people we once put our trust in were the things that enslaved us. Paul asks the Galatians why they would ever want to return to bondage. “But at that time when you did not know God, you were enslaved to the things which by nature are not gods. But now, because you have come to know God, or rather have come to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental spirits? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?” (Gal 4:8–9). Paul tells the Galatians that turning back to the things they trusted formerly—whether the law for the Jews or spiritual beings for the Gentiles—is choosing enslavement. For us, it could ...