PTL Wednesdays

“Lord, surely this can’t be the rock  you want me to move,” the old man said with a bewildered look. He stood next to the giant boulder waiting for God to answer, but several minutes passed without a reply. “You know I can’t move it without you!” he shouted as he grew more exasperated by the minute. Still, no answer. He couldn’t understand why God remained silent, but he was a faithful servant so he began to push. After several unsuccessful attempts to move the immense stone he walked away. He returned the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, but the only thing he had to show for his efforts were blisters. Life can often be like moving that boulder. We face challenges that seem insurmountable, and no matter how hard we try, nothing changes… or does it? You may have spent years trying to improve your marriage, but your spouse still seems distant. Perhaps your boss, to put it mildly, isn’t your favorite person despite your efforts to be a team player. We try to d...

"Are you sure this is the right move?" his wife asked nervously. He barely looked up from the job offer on his laptop. It came with a title and salary he could've only dreamed of a few years earlier. He gently rubbed her shoulder. "I know this isn't easy," he said softly. "But I believe God's opened this door for a reason. We'll get through this together." She forced a faint smile. "I hope you're right," she whispered. Months later, the boxes had been unpacked, but life hadn't unfolded the way he'd imagined. He found himself replaying that conversation over and over. His wife never once said, "I told you so." She didn't have to. Every time life became difficult, those words echoed in his mind. Have you ever replayed a decision over and over? Regret convinces us that if we dwell on yesterday long enough, somehow we can change it. But we can't. The enemy’s greatest tactic is keeping our attention fixed ...

Families were stretched out along the shore enjoying a beautiful sunny afternoon when several young women walked by in bikinis that left very little to the imagination. It didn’t take long before heads began to turn. A group of young men suddenly lost interest in their volleyball game. As the women moved toward a row of lounge chair a few noble husbands quickly looked away while others were nudged by their wives before finally breaking their gaze. The young women giggled and smiled as the attention confirmed their choice of swimwear had done exactly what they’d hoped for… get the guys’ attention. Our culture says there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look sexy. But have you ever stopped to think about what that actually means? To look sexy is to present yourself in a way that invites sexual attention. It encourages others to focus on your body before they focus on you. People often call it confidence, but it’s really allowing your body to become the source of the attention you receive....

It wasn’t long after I posted a message on an atheist platform that my phone lit up with notifications. It started pinging so fast I couldn’t keep up. I expected pushback and disagreement, but one message in particular didn’t sit right with me. The reply was personal and disrespectful. Before I thought it through, I typed a response that matched their tone. As soon as I hit send I regretted it. I knew I hadn’t responded out of wisdom but out of emotion. By the time I went back to fix it, the damage of that quick reaction had already been done. He replied, “I thought Christians were supposed to be different and not trade insult for insult.” That moment showed something deeper than a bad reply. It showed how fast the flesh takes over when we feel attacked. In those instances, truth takes a back seat and pride takes over. We stop responding with wisdom and start defending ourselves. James 1:19 tells us to be slow to speak and slow to anger, but emotions flip that order in seconds. What sh...

“Once upon a time” (I always wanted to say that 😊), you heard the gospel and gave your life to Christ. That part may have seemed simple enough, but how do you go from living for yourself to living for Him? Faith marks the beginning of the Christian life but it was never meant to stop there. Faith is meant to grow into something more. It’s like the foundation of a house. The foundation matters, but it was always designed to support a finished structure. Faith is the foundation and love is the house that mature faith becomes. That’s the picture we see in 2 Peter 1:5-7. Christians are encouraged to build on their faith with qualities like virtue, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. These qualities are not replacements for faith. They’re the evidence that faith is alive and growing. Genuine faith doesn’t stay stagnant. Over time, it becomes visible in the way a person thinks, lives, and treats others. Virtue matters because it’s the first visib...

Motherhood gives a clear picture of sacrificial love. A godly mother puts her children first in ways that often go unseen. Her time, energy, and comfort are regularly set aside for someone else’s good. I remember a time when my mom bought coats for my brother and me. As I was hanging mine up in the closet, I noticed hers was showing signs of wear. She just smiled and said she’d get herself one soon. She wore that same coat all winter. That’s the kind of love that carries a real cost. That moment stayed with me because it reflects something Scripture also reveals again and again. You see it in the story of  Moses . His mother, Jochebed, despite Pharaoh’s command to kill Hebrew baby boys, chose to trust God by placing her son in a basket and sending him down the Nile. You see it in Hannah, the mother of  Samuel , who prayed for a child and then gave him to serve God in the temple. You also see it in Mary, mother of our Lord and Savior, who endured the agony of watching her Son s...

Have you noticed how easy it is for people to build entire beliefs from just a couple of Bible verses? A big reason false ideas spread is that people take isolated passages and turn them into full doctrines while ignoring everything else scripture says. That kind of selective reading works great for the scammer in the pulpit telling you to take out a loan to get a “blessing,” but it doesn’t work when it comes to knowing the truth. That’s why it’s important to slow down and read the Bible as a whole instead of pulling isolated lines into a system built around one idea. Take for example how some verses seem to emphasize faith alone, while others emphasize works. Ephesians says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith…not of works” (Eph 2:8-9). If you stop there, it can sound like works have no role at all. But then the book of James says, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (Jas 2:17). James even says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by fait...