The Disciplemaker Team 
Most of us give things to people from time to time. But is our giving truly charity? Do we give because we love others? “Alas for the rarity of Christian charity under the sun!” – Thomas Hood (1799–1845) When I …
A friend told me how her father abandoned her family in the late 1950’s. She was just a little girl. He vanished from their lives, never paid a dime to help, and acted like they never existed. My friend’s mom …
Won’t daily family devotions eventually become a meaningless ritual? by Harriet Beecher Stowe This article was originally published in issue 71 of the Discipleship Journal. It is a classic piece from Harriet Beecher Stowe, best known for her novel Uncle Tom’s …
In the Old Testament, a thank offering represented an act of thanksgiving for answered prayer and blessings given. It expressed a voluntary desire on the part of the offerer(s) to thank God. Usually, thank offerings were given in gratitude for …
I could tell something was bothering my wife one evening—she was quieter than usual and didn’t look at me as much. Finally, after the kids were put to bed, she said, “I don’t know what’s wrong.” “What do you mean?” …
Two people stood at a fork in the road. To the left, the way of love. To the right, the way of truth. “I will take the way of love,” said the first, “For surely love, which all people crave, …
I attended a weekly prayer meeting that was billed as a time to seek God for the church. I was really looking forward to it. Imagine a gathering to focus on asking God to move within a local body, to …
It was in the desert that the Creator knelt to plant a lush and fertile garden. It was in the wilderness that the Good Shepherd left behind a flock to find the one who was lost. And it was that …
The ancient Celts used to say that there are only a few feet between heaven and earth and at times, that distance can be even smaller. When this happened, they called it a “thin place.” A thin place is that Kairos moment, …
When I was growing up, it was stylish to declare a life verse, as one might declare a major at school. We slipped this verse into casual conversations, résumés, or testimonies like a personal brand. The Bible contains 31,102 verses, …