In the letter to the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13, we read the second of two letters that contains only praise and encouragement from Jesus for the church. Although the church in Philadelphia looked weak, it was actually strong, because it had done the one simple thing that all churches and all Christians must do: keep Christ’s word. Jesus’ instruction to them (and to us) was correspondingly simple: hold on to what you have.
In the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 and in the two preceding parables, Jesus prepared his followers for his absence. He wanted...
If we invest in making disciples, our lives become bound up with theirs to die and live together.
In Revelation 2:18-29, Jesus sent the longest letter to the church in the least important city, Thyatira, perhaps because its situation was complicated. In...