I. INTRODUCTION The location was Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. I’d arrived to teach a class to pastors, but God had a lesson for me, a lesson in trust and God’s power in response to prayer. Throughout the week, I stayed with missionaries Gavin and Jill Fothergill and their two young children, Macy and Connor. Because the seasonal rains had not come, they carefully rationed their water, choosing daily either to wash their dishes or to take a bucket bath. The slow trickle from...

The opening of this Psalm seems quite cheerful and inviting for a rather somber season representing a journey to the cross. The congregation is encouraged to join and sing joyfully to the Lord during the third Sunday of this Lenten season.  Having grown up not celebrating or observing this 40-day journey in my rural Nazarene church in a Southern Illinois setting, Lent has been a season in the church year that continues to challenge me. There is mystery in Christ’s journey to the cross that I...

Moving from universal concepts to specific realities is a jarring experience. It’s one thing to talk about poverty; it’s another to walk...