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Word on the Google street is that Black Friday began with a sinister motivation: Retailers make an early profit off of Christmas so they can go into the next year in the black. And all this time you thought it was about you!
Making big bucks off of values
Commercialization overshadows every holiday of American and Christian history that’s rooted in noble thoughts of significant events. Valiant efforts to emphasize the values of gratitude at Thanksgiving, celebration at Easter, and wonder at Christmas have stiff competition from the allure of sirens beckoning at the doors of major retailers.
Go for good deals
We understand that’s how it is and we fight it with minimal success. I say if you can’t beat it, use…
A few Novembers ago, Pastor Lon preached a sermon entitled “Biblical Thanksgiving is NOT a Feeling.” I remember being profoundly impacted by this message, and have listened to it multiple times since then. The truth that he preached was this: If there is a sovereign omnipotent personal God, and if He is in total control of His universe, and if He has a perfect plan for my life, and if He allows every circumstance to touch my life to work towards achieving this good and a beneficial plan; then there isn’t a single circumstance in our lives about which we should not be able to give thanks. There isn’t a single circumstance…
McLean Bible Church supports missionaries around the world. Many of them are serving in locations in which the Gospel is vehemently opposed. For security reasons, we cannot share names, locations or other specifics. These brothers and sisters are living their daily lives sharing the Gospel with men, women and children who have virtually no other chance to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
This week in our house church, a heartfelt testimony was shared about how often believers must endure persecution. It is very common in the lives of those with whom we serve. Working more openly with believers in recent years has caused our own family to begin, in small ways, to experience it firsthand. The Apostle Paul’s…
At a Bible study in my home for English learners, I once asked the group to turn back to the first book of the Bible, intending to make a point about Adam. I said, “Let’s go to the beginning, back to the story of the time when God created the earth.” A mainland Chinese woman looked up at me and said with utter astonishment, “He did?” She had no concept of a creator God, much less of a Savior named Jesus. Months later, she came to Christ and was discipled by an Indonesian believer here at MBC Tysons. Now years later, she is a disciple-maker back in China.
That experience has helped me recognize that discipling the nations is about…
The scent spread rapidly as he peeled back the lid from another can of sardines. I tried hard to avoid showing my disgust as the smell of oily fish quickly saturated the air surrounding our table. Sitting across from me was a man I had only just met. For weeks I had heard rumors of a Bible study group at my college, but I was hardly prepared for my encounter with the leader of this band of believers. Josiah was a cheerful man with a powerful smile–and many eccentricities. A nursing student, he had recently started college in his mid-twenties.
Josiah listened as I shared my story, his large beard parting frequently to let his lunch swim through. During that…
By Doug Peek, MBC Loudoun attendee
Honestly, are you a little bit hesitant to pray fervently about your role in the Global Church for fear of what God may ask you to do, or where He may ask you to go? Perhaps you hear amazing stories about how God is using missionaries around the world, and you’re tempted to think: “Those are special people, not like me,” and you’re left to wonder what it must feel like to be used by God to reach an unreached people group, or to minister to the world’s desperately poor.
Francis Chan, pastor and author of Multiply, reminds us that no one is called to a life that is separate from global missions, and while…
Pastor and author, Francis Chan, said, “Until our vision of the church encompasses the entire globe, we do not have an accurate view of God’s church or His plan of redemption” (Multiply, pg 77). But wait! Isn’t making disciples about face time in the here and now? Shouldn’t our vision be about the work God is doing where He has planted us? Isn’t building the Global Church simply beyond our reach?
Yes, it is precisely because it is beyond our reach that it is so important to our understanding of Him and His ways. It is a God-size task to have the Gospel heard in all languages and embraced by those in spiritual captivity around the world. It is not…