Today's Christian Living July 2022

Focusing Our Gaze • Spiritual Growth Resource Guide • The Quiet During the Storm

Encourage • Equip • Engage

THE GUADALUPE

A Lesson in Faith

JONI AND FRIENDS

How God Transformed an Accident Into a Ministry to the Disabled

Dianne Derby

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The Unlikely Friendship Between a News Anchor and a Pearl Harbor Survivor

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On the Cover: Dianne Derby, author of Two Hundred Tuesdays. Photo taken at Glen Eyrie by Don Jones, Studio 9 Commercial Photography (studio9commercialphotography.com)

JULY 2022

VOL. 60 NUMBER 4

Features

6 Two Hundred Tuesdays

by Stephanie Rische News anchor Dianne Derby was looking for a quick story about a Pearl Harbor survivor, but what she found changed her life.

12 Joni and Friends

by Dan Brownell When Joni Eareckson Tada became a paraplegic at 17, she thought her life was over. But God redeemed her suffering to create a dynamic ministry to the disabled with a worldwide impact.

18 Focusing Our Gaze

by Max Wilkins Everyone experiences troubles in life, but the key to overcoming them is knowing where to look for answers.

24 Loving Relationships Can’t Be Legislated

by Gary Chapman and Clarence Shuler Gary Chapman and Clarence Shuler broke racial barriers decades ago, not based on following laws and regulations, but on adhering to God’s eternal principles.

28 The Quiet During the Storm

by Naomi Vacaro Discover the secret of the live oak and how it illustrates a tenacious faith that endures the storms of life.

32 Spiritual Growth Resource Guide

God calls us to grow in faith. Find resources here to help you mature in your walk.

36 Set Free Through Jesus

by Dan Brownell For generations, the Tagbanwa people of the Philippines lived in terror of demons that controlled every aspect of their lives. Read the amazing story of how the Savior set them free.

36 Columns

Departments

10 Living in Wisdom The Guadalupe: A Lesson in Faith

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16 Ask Dr. Walt Are Non-Stick Pans Safe?

22 Dave Says Principles for Financial Health

The Fine Print

11 Daily Bible Connection 31 Quips & Quotes 35 Laugh Lines 42 Quick Takes 44 Kids of the Kingdom

27 Turning Point I Can’t Do It on My Own 40 Persecution Report Christians in Eastern Uganda Experiencing Violent Persecution 46 Grace Notes Open Hands, Open Heart

12 TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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THE FINE PRINT

The Cure for Conflict

D

ay by day, conflict is increasing in America and around the world. It comes in various forms, but it has a common source: selfishness rooted in opposition to God. Attitudes and behaviors flow from their source. As the old adage says, “What’s down in the well, comes up in the bucket.” Selfish ideas and philosophies produce selfishness, while respect for God’s authority and trust in Him produce unselfishness. This principle is clearly stated in the book of James:

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures…. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4: 1-3, 7-8a NIV).

The articles in this issue illustrate God’s prescription for peace. For example, news anchor Dianne Derby and Pearl Harbor survivor Jim Downing came from different generations and worldviews, but God helped them build a bridge of friendship through a shared faith in God. Gary Chapman and Clarence Shuler share a similar story; as men of different races, their common faith forged a lifetime of friendship.

And the power of the gospel isn’t limited to a particular people or part of the world.

As you’ll discover, the Tagbanwa people of the Philippines were terrorized by demons for generations until they turned to Jesus, who set them free.

On to New Adventures

Nine years ago, when I took over the helm of Today’s Christian Living, I mentioned in my first editor’s letter that I was a 21-year-old agnostic when I spotted a Joni Eareckson Tada painting (New Life, shown on page 15) on the wall of a store.

I didn’t know who Joni was at the time, but after reading the tag on the painting explaining that she was a paraplegic who painted with a brush in her mouth, I was so astounded at her talent that I thought, There must be a God! It was several years before I became a Christian, but it was that moment that was the crucial turning point for me. So it seems fitting that we’re covering Joni and Friends in my last issue before I turn the reins over to a new editor. I’m headed off to new adventures with a couple of aviation magazines in a different department in our company.

We welcome aboard the new editor, Michelle Adserias, who will continue sharing stories about Jesus’ work in the lives of His followers. We encourage you to share your stories with others, too, because you never know how they can make a lifechanging impact on someone — like me!

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President/Publisher Diana Jones dianaj@jpmediallc.com Editor Dan Brownell danb@jpmediallc.com Contributing Editors Walt Larimore, M.D. Dave Ramsey Jerry Rose Shirley Rose Jeff Sellers Sales Account Executive Jill Maggio jillm@jpmediallc.com 800-397-8161 ext. 5 Graphic Designers Bill Kuffel Beth Krogwold Editorial Director Rocky Landsverk Bulk Circulation Nancy Plaski 800-397-8161 ext. 2 Founder Kenneth N. Taylor Letters to the Editor: Write Today’s Christian Living, PO Box 282, Iola, WI 54945. Or e-mail: editor@todayschristianliving.org Individual Subscriptions: Visit www.todayschristianliving.org/subscribe or call 800-223-3161.

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Today’s Christian Living

In Christ, Dan Brownell, Editor

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Vol. 60

JULY 2022

P.O. Box 282 Iola, WI 54945 Phone: (800) 223-3161 www.todayschristianliving.org Copyright 2022

The Good News

A man accused of murder was brought before a judge. The man admitted to the crime, the guilty verdict was read, and the death penalty pronounced. Even though the guilty man was his own son, the judge could not dismiss the verdict or he would be a corrupt, unjust judge. So great was the judge’s love for his son that he decided to pay the debt for him. The judge stepped down from the bench, removed his robe, traded places with him, and was executed in his place.

This is what Jesus has done for us. Jesus was sinless, but paid the penalty for our sin, dying on the cross in our place. This is called substitutionary atonement, but the atonement only takes effect if we are willing to accept this incredible gift; God won’t force His love on us. To receive this forgiveness, we must admit our guilt and sins and repent of them. If you have never done this, you can do it now. Tell God that you are sorry for your sins and want to turn away from them. If you truly repent, He will wash your sins away and give you a new life. He will send the Holy Spirit to live inside you and to change you from the inside out.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

(2 Cor. 5:17 ESV)

FIND US ONLINE with fresh content and encouraging words at

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Two Hundred Tuesdays The Unlikely Friendship Between a News Anchor and a Pearl Harbor Survivor

By Stephanie Rische

Jim Downing and Dianne Derby after an interview with Jim at his home in Colorado Springs. Photo courtesy of Brett Clark

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TODAY’S CHRISTIAN LIVING

JULY 2022

W

hen Dianne Derby met Pearl Harbor survivor Jim Downing, she was looking for a sound bite for the news. She had no way of knowing that interview would mark the beginning of so much more: a friendship, a journey of faith, and a transformed life.

Dianne had recently moved to Colorado as a news anchor, and she was eager to find ways to connect with her new community. When she heard about an opportunity to attend a meet-and-greet with World War II veterans, she immediately said yes.

“I just had five minutes to do a quick interview in the foyer of a restaurant,” Dianne said. “When I met Jim, I kept thinking, Wait, there’s so much more to this guy than a sound bite.” In the first few minutes of their conversation, she noted how he focused on others, not himself. “I wanted to hear about the war hero in front of me, but he turned the conversation to the war heroes of today instead. Even at the end of his life, when he had every reason to talk about himself, he chose to honor others with his words. I was enamored with that.”

At the end of their conversation, Jim handed Dianne a business card. “I chuckled about that. He was 99 — why did he need a business card?”

At the time, Dianne had no idea that Jim was a leader with the Navigators, a ministry that trains Christians in discipleship. All she knew was that he was the secondoldest survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack.

“I thought it was sweet that he wanted me to contact him. I emailed him that afternoon, not knowing what to expect. To my surprise, he got back to me right away.” That connection led to weekly conversations with Jim over the next five years, during which they studied Scripture together and Dianne learned lessons about slowing down, finding her identity in Christ, and living a life of significance.

In the Footsteps of a Mentor

When Dianne met Jim, she was well established in the news world. “I have always been drawn to people’s stories of overcoming — that’s what I love reporting about most.” The spark for sharing news was lit for her in second grade, when she sat in the principal’s office to give the morning announcements.

“My uncle Ed always said that from the age of 3, I was reporting on the wrongdoings of the world — especially my brother and cousins! Beyond tattling, I suppose I’ve always been curious about how people get through the hard parts of life. I’m naturally anxiety-ridden and always preparing for the worst, so those stories are amazing to me.”

At their first lunch together, Jim’s son joined them, and he got straight to the point: “Tell me about your relationship

Above: Dianne’s baptism with Jim Downing in Pueblo, Colorado. Photo courtesy of Katie DiFelice Left: Jim Downing and Dianne Derby at the Navy Ball, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo courtesy of Eric Enger.

with Christ,” he said to Dianne and her husband. Dianne wasn’t sure how to respond. She grew up Catholic, but she hadn’t read the Bible herself, and the concept of a personal relationship was foreign to her. Although Dianne was taken aback by Jim’s question, she accepted his offer to study the Bible each Tuesday. She was drawn to the contentment and fulfillment she sensed in him — things she wanted for herself.

Throughout her life, Dianne has placed great value on being mentored. “Whenever I meet someone who is the best at something, I move toward them and I’m not afraid to ask questions.”

When Dianne and Jim studied the Bible together, she noted the way he showed up ready to learn each week. “There he was, almost 100 years old, with so much of the Bible memorized, and he still came to learn. I was a baby student at the time. I didn’t even know where to find the book of John. But I kept coming back, saying, ‘Teach me.’”

Life Lessons From a Centenarian

In the five years Dianne was discipled by Jim, she learned many lessons about faith and life. Thanks to their conversations and what she read in the Bible, she has become more purposeful about her daily choices and what she says yes to. “Busyness is something I consistently struggle with. From the moment I wake up, I have commitments with work and family. I’m organizing stories, and I get requests for coffee or lunch dates every day. It can be overwhelming. Jim had people who wanted to be TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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with him all day long too. His schedule was so busy until the last days of his life that his assistant wrote on the top of his calendar, ‘Where in the world is Jim Downing?’”

But even with such a full schedule, Jim was able to keep first things first. “Jim would say to me, ‘What do you start and end your day with?’ Busyness is often a way we avoid a relationship with God. But when you meditate on God’s Word, it helps you slow down and determine what’s most important.

I’ve found that when I take time to read the Bible, that’s when true meaning takes place.”

As someone who has been in the public eye for years, Dianne has faced her share of criticism from strangers. As she has discovered her identity in Christ, she’s learned to give less priority to those negative voices. “I’ve had a Bible verse posted on my desk for years: ‘Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult’ (Prov. 12:16).

That’s what carries me. I decided to no longer look at my news station’s Facebook page. That has been a deliberate choice, because even after all these years, the negative comments still hurt my heart. Even so, I’ve received more love than hate over the years — I have to remind myself of that when I get negative feedback.”

Of all the lessons Dianne learned from Jim, there’s one he shared in all his interviews: life is about a meaningful relation-

A LEGACY OF LOVE

Dianne Derby’s book, Two Hundred Tuesdays, was released earlier this year. In it, she recounts her friendship with Jim Downing and what he taught her about life, love, and faith. While Dianne hopes that other people will resonate with the message of the book, one of her greatest desires is to pass on Jim’s legacy to her young daughter, Claire.

“Basically, I hope she learns everything in the book. There’s nothing I would want to leave out about what Jim taught me. And I would tell her, ‘Don’t mess up in the ways your mom did!’ There are parts of my story I will be embarrassed for her to find out about — the darker side of her mom. But no matter who reads this book, I hope they won’t focus on what I did but on what Jesus has done. I felt like I had to tell truth, no matter the cost.”

If Dianne had to boil down the lessons she’s learned, she says, “It comes down to this: God is love. If you can focus on love in everything you do, you will have so much fulfillment in your life. Love is the center of it all.”

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TODAY’S CHRISTIAN LIVING

JULY 2022

Above: Dianne Derby interviewing Jim Downing about the attacks on Pearl Harbor at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Photo courtesy of Brett Clark Left: After Dianne came to know the Lord because of Jim Downing’s influence, she met and married Chip Surratt, who was already a Christian.

Having been previously divorced, Dianne committed her new marriage to the Lord, determined to apply the wisdom from Scripture she learned through Jim’s guidance. Here Dianne and Chip share a moment from their wedding at Glen Eyrie, November 2015. Photo courtesy of Teresa Lee Photography.

ship with God, family, and friends. “That sums it up,” Dianne said. “I’ve tried to be intentional about each of these areas. I’ve found that when those priorities are in order, that’s when true fulfillment happens.”

A Friendship From Heaven

As a news anchor with an NBC affiliate, Dianne couldn’t talk about her faith much publicly. But she wondered, How can I share Jim in a way that will resonate with viewers? So a couple of years after meeting him, she invited her social media followers into their conversations, hosting Facebook Live sessions with her centenarian friend.

“This friendship was a gift from heaven — there’s no doubt in my mind. The lessons I learned from Jim nourished my soul on a daily basis. Of course, he would say, ‘It was Jesus teaching you,’ but he was the one who got me going.”

Jim died several years ago, at the age of 104, and Dianne spoke at his funeral. “I know I only had access to this gift because I was a journalist and because Jim was so committed to bringing disciples to Jesus. I was the last person he discipled, but in reality, I wasn’t the last. His story lives on through all the people he mentored over the years, as well as in my book. His words are now influencing people we’ve never met, and I know he would love that.”  Stephanie Rische edits and writes in the Chicago area, where she lives with her husband and two sons. When she isn’t chasing down commas or little boys, she blogs at stephanierische.com.

Her memoir, I Was Blind (Dating), but Now I See, recounts how God surprised her with his grace and love.

Filled with articles and columns that encourage, equip and engage Christians of all ages!

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LIVING IN WISDOM

By Jerry and Shirley Rose

The Guadalupe: A Lesson in Faith Jerry Rose is an internationally known Christian broadcaster and is former president/ CEO of the Total Living Network. He currently serves as TLN’s chairman of the board and hosts the Emmy awardwinning program Significant Living. Jerry is an ordained minister and the author of five books, including Deep Faith for Dark Valleys and Significant Living, co-authored with his wife Shirley. He is the past president of the National Religious Broadcasters and currently serves on its board of directors. Jerry is an avid golfer, equestrian, photographer, and grandfather of 20.

Shirley Rose has been in ministry with her husband, Jerry, for more than 30 years.

Her career in Christian television focused on hosting several programs, including the Emmy Award-winning women’s program Aspiring Women. She has authored five books, including The Eve Factor, A Wise Woman Once Said…, and Significant Living, and has contributed to numerous anthologies and periodicals. She is actively pursuing her calling to help other women through writing, speaking, and hosting women’s groups in her home. Her favorite pastimes are country line dancing, travel, and spending time with her 20 grandchildren.

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Y

ears ago, when Shirley and I were younger and more adventurous, we decided to try whitewater rafting on the Guadalupe River.

We wanted to enjoy, from the river, the incredibly beautiful Texas Hill Country, with miles of hilly and wooded pristine shoreline. The Guadalupe River is known for its numerous rapids and is popular with tourists and locals alike. We rented a two-person rubber raft and life jackets at the local gear outfitter.

We couldn’t miss the warning sign at our entry point that stated many people had died on this river. The sign accomplished its purpose. The underlying message was to be careful, wear life jackets, don’t mix alcohol with rafting, and respect this amazing piece of turbulent nature. With a tinge of anxiety, we submitted ourselves to the river.

The first rapids came quickly. We paddled furiously in a futile attempt to keep control as ice-cold river water flooded our raft. Above the deafening roar I shouted to Shirley, “Watch out for the rock,” as we slid sideways, glancing off an elephant-size boulder.

Then as suddenly as it had begun, the fury ended and, for the next few minutes, we floated lazily through the majestic beauty of our Hill Country surroundings.

Suddenly the current changed, and the raft lurched ahead. We were swept into more rapids, twisting, turning, and bouncing from boulder to boulder. Near panic set in as we saw a waterfall ahead and realized there was nothing to do but hang on for dear life. We hurled over the falls spinning out of control again, soaked by the frigid water.

Then just as suddenly as they had begun, the rapids ended, and we were once again floating gently down the river enjoying the peaceful interlude.

Looking back, the waterfall that looked so intimidating was actually only about 2 feet high, but the Guadalupe wasn’t through with us. We were to experience several more scary waterfalls that day, but we survived them all. Feeling good about our adventure, we paddled ashore for our slightly soggy lunch.

Our car was parked a few miles downriver, and we could choose to avoid the rapids by hiking the wilderness along the shore, carrying the raft instead of allowing it to carry us. To avoid getting lost, we would have to stay alongside the river, but its tangled woods, rattlesnakes, and sheer cliffs made the likelihood of injury great. The answer was to stick with the river. The Guadalupe had been flowing toward our car for centuries, and despite

TODAY’S CHRISTIAN LIVING

JULY 2022

the unknowns, the turbulence, and the danger, we could trust it to get us to our destination.

God clearly spoke to me that day about faith and trust. Our experience on the Guadalupe is a metaphor for our faith in God. He has a plan for each of our lives and, as we submit to the river of His will, He will keep us on the right track. We all face struggles and crises that are sometimes so severe that we’re tempted to give up or try another path.

We’re tempted to get out of the river thinking there must be a better way. But God calls us to trust Him completely — with our families, our health, our finances, and yes, our eternity. Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (NLT).

But how do we completely trust an invisible God with very visible, tangible, and painful struggles? It comes from knowing God well enough to fully believe we can trust Him. It starts with asking His forgiveness of sin and submitting ourselves to His divine leadership. Then trust is built by spending time in God’s Word and getting to know His character and promises. And it’s also essential to keep the communication open through daily prayer and meditation.

Christian author Brittany Yesudasan says trusting God means truly believing in His reliability, His Word, His ability, and His strength.” She goes on to say that “Trusting God is more than a feeling; it’s a choice to have faith in what He says even when your feelings or circumstances would have you believe something different.”

As Shirley and I trusted the river to get us to our earthly destination, we daily trust Him to guide us to our eternal home. I encourage you to do the same. If you feel you have lost your way, get on your knees, and ask for direction and guidance. You may have to step out in faith into a turbulent, rushing river. But when you do, the Lord will be in the raft right beside you. 

DAILY BIBLE CONNECTION

Developed by R. M. M’Cheyne and D. A. Carson

If you follow this reading calendar, you will read through the Old Testament in two years and the Psalms and New Testament in a year.

SUNDAY

MONDAY

JULY 3

Joshua 5-6:5; Psalms 132-134

10

Joshua 40890; Psalm 145

17

Joshua 24; Acts 4

24

Judges 7; Acts 11

4

Joshua 6:6ff; Psalms 135-136

11

Joshua 14-15; Psalms 146-147

18

Judges 1; Acts 5

25

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

1

Joshua 3; Psalms 126-128

5

Joshua 7; Psalms 137-138

12

Joshua 16-17; Psalm 148

19

Judges 2; Acts 6

26

6

Joshua 8; Psalm 139

13

Joshua 18-19; Psalms 149-150

20

Judges 3; Acts 7

27

7

Joshua 9; Psalms 140-141

14

Joshua 20-21; Acts 1

21

Judges 4; Acts 8

28

8

Joshua 10; Psalms 142-143

15

Joshua 22; Acts 2

22

Judges 5; Acts 9

29

SATURDAY

2

Joshua 4; Psalms 129-131

9

Joshua 11; Psalm 144

16

Joshua 23; Acts 3

23

Judges 6; Acts 10

30

Judges 8; Acts 12

Judges 9; Acts 13

Judges 10-11:11; Acts 14

Judges 11:12ff; Acts 15

Judges 12; Acts 16

Judges 13; Acts 17

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

31

Judges 14; Acts 18

SUNDAY

1

Judges 15; Acts 19

7

Judges 21; Acts 25

14

1 Samuel 4; Romans 4

21

1 Samuel 13; Romans 11

28

1 Samuel 20; 1 Corinthians 2

8

Ruth 1; Acts 26

15

1 Samuel 5-6; Romans 5

22

2

Judges 16; Acts 20

9

Ruth 2; Acts 27

16

1 Samuel 7-8; Romans 6

23

1 Samuel 14; Romans 12

1 Samuel 15; Romans 13

29

30

1 Samuel 21-22; 1 Corinthians 3

1 Samuel 23; 1 Corinthians 4

3

Judges 17; Acts 21

10

Ruth 3-4; Acts 28

17

1 Samuel 9; Romans 7

24

1 Samuel 16; Romans 14

31

1 Samuel 24; 1 Corinthians 5

4

Judges 18; Acts 22

11

1 Samuel 1; Romans 1

18

1 Samuel 10; Romans 8

25

1 Samuel 17; Romans 15

5

Judges 19; Acts 23

12

1 Samuel 2; Romans 2

19

1 Samuel 11; Romans 9

26

1 Samuel 18; Romans 16

6

Judges 20; Acts 24

13

1 Samuel 3; Romans 3

20

1 Samuel 12; Romans 10

27

1 Samuel 19; 1 Corinthians 1

AUGUST TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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Joni & Friends

Accelerating Christian Ministry in the Disability Community

By Dan Brownell

“S

ometimes God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves.” This profound truth is dramatically illustrated through Joni and Friends, a ministry for the disabled that has touched the lives of millions in 50 countries since its founding in 1979.

Joni and Friends was inspired by a tragic diving accident that left 17-year-old Joni Eareckson Tada a quadriplegic. On that heartbreaking summer day in 1967, Joni couldn’t have foreseen how her willingness to surrender her paralysis and future to Jesus would someday bring peace and joy to countless disabled people around the world. But God knew because He specializes in redeeming pain and suffering to bring hope and salvation.

Not long after Joni’s accident — while she was struggling to cope with the devastating realization that she would never recover the use of her arms and legs — her friend Steve Estes encouraged her with those now famous words of wisdom: “Sometimes God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves.” That quote has brought her great comfort over the years, and she often shares it to encourage others who are suffering.

In the years following Joni’s paralysis, her inspiring story of faith, perseverance, and optimism captured the nation’s attention. She appeared on The Today Show in 1974, and her autobiography Joni: An Unforgettable Story was published 12

TODAY’S CHRISTIAN LIVING

JULY 2022

Above from left: Cause4Life (intern program) in Uganda. • International Family Retreat in Ghana. • The 100,000th recipient of a wheelchair in Ghana. • Family Retreat at Camp Allen in Pennsylvania.

in 1976. But it wasn’t until the book was released and she received an overwhelming response from readers that she truly understood the need for disability ministry.

“After the Joni book came out in 1976, I started getting thousands of letters,” Joni said. “People asking, ‘How did you rise up out of depression? How did you get your church involved with your family? What about miraculous healing?’ Just on and on. All kinds of questions.” At that point, Joni realized she had been given a huge sphere of influence and she needed to steward it wisely.

“I had just finished doing the Joni movie with Mr. Graham’s film company out in California, and I had gone to a church — John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church that has a really great, thriving disability ministry. I said, ‘Mom and Dad, I’ve got to take advantage of this. I’m going to move to California. I’m going to start a nonprofit organization. I’m going to answer these people’s questions. I’m going to gather around me good leadership, people who are smarter than I am. And I am going to make certain that I don’t waste this incredible gift that’s been dropped into my lap.’

“So within a year, Joni and Friends was up and running in California. And I gathered around me some volunteers who could help me respond to those letters. And then I started working with a couple of churches to create a network of other congregations that reached out to special needs families like mine. So that’s how it got started. That was 43 years ago.”

The need for disability ministries in America and around the world is vast, as nearly one in seven people worldwide — around a billion people — live with a disability. Joni and Friends set out to meet needs as quickly as possible and grew rapidly, but Joni never expected it to have the impact that it has experienced.

“Over the last month, we have been rescuing Ukrainians with disabilities out of that war-torn country. We’ve rescued over 350 disabled people. Never, ever did I dream that Joni and Friends would have an influence on such a global scale.”

Disability Ministry in the Local Church

But Joni readily acknowledges that the ministry was prompted and enabled by God. “I know it’s all of the Lord Jesus and I’m exceedingly grateful,” she said. “I just know that I’m weak and needy and I need to rely on the Lord God every single day and also listen to people who are wiser than I am. It’s called Joni and Friends for a reason. I’ve got good friends who surround me and great leadership and a great team of volunteers. We employ 180 people, and we work with in-country regional coordinators in developing nations. We distribute wheelchairs, Bibles. We train churches around the world. We do everything we can to help create a different culture of disability to help people see that God’s power always shows up in their weakness.”

Joni shared the story of Chuck Colson’s grandson Max as an example of how ministering to the disabled can transform a church. “When worship service starts, Max is in the back in this broad flat walking area — the space between the narthex and the congregation in the sanctuary — and he’s jumping up and down and dancing, and he’s calling out to anybody who will come dance with him. The first few weeks, this was terribly unnerving to the church. It was like, ‘Max, sit down” or ‘Go someplace where your enthusiasm can be contained.’

“But now half the church gets up and dances with him. And it’s just changed the whole culture of that church. They are a happier church. They are a church that feels more free and less

Joni and Friends ministers through a wide variety of venues, but one of the main ones is through local churches. The ministry offers extensive training and other resources to help churches assist the disabled in their congregations and communities.

“A lot of churches use our curriculum, a lot of churches have gone through our Beyond Suffering training, a lot of churches have started disability ministry,” Joni said. In fact, she estimates Joni and Friends has impacted between 15,000 and 20,000 churches. “When young people come and serve at our Family Retreats, we have disability awareness training summits, where we gather church leadership and walk them through what it looks like for a church to reach out to a family with special needs.”

Church ministry involves more than just providing handicap parking spaces and wheelchair ramps. It’s making those with disabilities feel wanted and needed. “People with disabilities want to belong. They want to know if they don’t show up next Sunday at worship service, somebody is going to miss them,” she said. But congregations are also shortchanged if the disabled aren’t there. “The church really is missing out unless people with disabilities show up — kids with Down syndrome, special needs mothers of children with autism. The church has so much to learn from serving families affected by disability.”

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JONI AND FRIENDS MINISTRIES AND RESOURCES

Joni and Friends has an enormous worldwide impact, including the following ministries, education and training, media, and help and inspiration programs: Ministries • Joni’s House is an international disability center located in some of the poorest areas to serve families living with disability. Through local church, community, and government partners, Joni and Friends provides medical and mobility support, patient advocacy, essential resources, and spiritual care to entire families living with disability.

• Wheels for the WorldTM provides wheelchairs for people around the world. More than 200,000 have been distributed so far.

• Retreats and Getaways include U.S. family retreats, international family retreats, warrior getaways for veterans, and marriage getaways.

• Global Missions and Internships give students and young professionals hands-on experience in ministering to people and families living with disability.

• Christian Institute on Disability exists to impact the church, Christian and public institutions, and societies with a biblical worldview and life-giving truth on issues pertaining to life, dignity, justice, and equality that affect people with disabilities.

• The Luke 14 Project is inspired by Luke 14:21–23: “Go out quickly...and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame…so that my house will be full.” It provides medical and mobility support, essential resources, patient advocacy, and spiritual care to entire families living with disability across the globe.

Education and Training Joni and Friends offers in-depth church training resources and online courses, such as Beyond Suffering and The Gospel in Hard Times.

Help and Inspiration Joni and Friends produces numerous media and inspirational resources such as a daily devotion, blogs, podcasts, videos, newsletters and, through partner stations, airs a television series produced from 2007 to 2014, in which Joni shares stories of God’s goodness in the lives of real people enduring heart-wrenching trials. constrained by traditions. They make a joyful noise unto the Lord. They dance before the Lord, before the Ark, as David did.

They’re just a happier church, all because of Max. And I think that’s pretty awesome.”

Some churches may think they’re too small to have a disability ministry, that it takes a large facility, staff, congregation, and budget, but that’s not necessary. “A church is never too small to just serve,” Joni said. “People with disabilities 14

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simply provide a context for service. For instance, you don’t need a big church to see that here’s a special needs mother and, if a couple of people in the women’s group learn the kid’s routine, they can sit with that child on a Saturday morning while mom goes to get her nails done or has coffee with a friend or just gets out of the house.

“It doesn’t take a lot to provide a ministry that makes a huge and a lasting difference. It’s just looking at people’s needs, scratching your head and praying, God, show me how I can meet that need. And mostly it’s just friendship, it’s just connections, it’s just making your church be a place of belonging.”

One of the biggest needs for families with disabilities is the need to get a break from their overwhelming responsibilities.

“We did a needs assessment study during COVID,” Joni said.

“We interviewed 800 to 1,000 families that we serve and we asked them, ‘What of all things is your greatest need?’ and 75% responded, ‘Respite.’ So I think our greatest accomplishment at Joni and Friends is bringing the awareness of a need for respite in churches because it’s so simple. It’s creating a program on Saturday morning for an hour where you get a couple of teenage volunteers to play games with the children with disabilities, while moms sit around the lunch table and talk about resources or pray together or just have a donut and coffee, orange juice or listen to a speaker or get educated on setting up a trust fund for their adult disabled child.

“There are all kinds of ways to minister and provide that respite and give moms and dads a little bit of time off and meet their needs, either socially, emotionally, or informationally, while that child is being taken care of. So respite is a big deal, and I’m glad that we have seen so many churches get on board with this.”

People don’t realize how tiring it can be to take care of someone 24 hours a day year-round, year after year. And that can affect their ability to attend church to get spiritual care.

“Most families who have children with significant disabilities are too tired to go to church,” Joni said. “They’re exhausted

by Sunday morning. They never get a break. As soon as mom is off duty, then dad is on duty. I know countless couples who have yet to have a solid night’s sleep because the spouses are sharing the duties of getting up and turning that child, just doing everything that they can do. So sometimes you have to seek these people out. It’s just a matter of asking questions.

Because often families have a nephew or a niece or a grandchild with a disability, and it’s a wonderful way to spread the love of Christ, to get the gospel to people who otherwise wouldn’t know anything about the Lord Jesus.

“And families can always come to any one of our 36 family retreats around the U.S. They’re a great way to give the gospel and to give churches a vision of what can happen in their congregations. I love it when about four or five people from the college and career group come and volunteer at our Family Retreats because they have such fun. They go there to be a blessing and they end up becoming blessed. And they go back to their churches and say, ’We can do this. This is something

behalf, and she’s emerged from each trial with a stronger, deeper faith than before.

Joni is grateful that the Lord gave her creative gifts to be able to share the message that, through Jesus, we can rejoice even in suffering, as Scripture proclaims: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom. 5:3–4: ESV).

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4 ESV).

THE ART OF SUFFERING Joni is best known for her work on behalf of the disabled, but she’s also a gifted artist. Although she’s earned many accolades for her artwork, her goal isn’t to draw attention to them or to her skill, but rather to God, who blessed her with her amazing gift. In fact, Joni always includes PTL — which stands for Praise the Lord — in her signature. Her mission statement: “I want to be God’s best audio-visual aid of how his power shows up best in weakness.”

That Joni can so joyfully praise the Lord is a testament to a deep faith forged through more than 50 years of intense suffering. She spent the first year after her accident enduring multiple surgeries and confined to a Stryker bed, a metal-framed, claustrophobiainducing canvas cocoon that had to be flipped every few hours.

She spent that year in such deep despair and lost so much weight that her bones began protruding through her skin, creating pressure sores that were slow to heal.

Eventually, Joni was able to move to the relative freedom of a wheelchair, but her suffering continues to this day. She deals with chronic pain, sleep apnea, and difficulty breathing even during waking hours because of compromised chest muscles. In 2004, she suffered a broken leg in a car accident. In 2010, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, requiring chemotherapy and surgery, and in 2018, she developed and recovered from breast cancer again. In 2020, she contracted COVID-19, which is challenging enough for anyone, but for a paraplegic who already struggles to breathe, the thought of slowly suffocating is terrifying. But through it all, she’s had a legion of committed prayer warriors interceding on her

Joni was already a budding artist as a little girl, developing her love for art from her father, John, for whom she’s named. She recalls the many evenings her father sat at his desk painting beautiful scenes inspired by National Geographic photos. Joni often sat on the floor nearby with her coloring book and crayons, while he dabbed away at a canvas. Sometimes she would sit on his lap and paint with him, or at least she thought she was doing the painting as he held her hand and guided the brush strokes. Years later she realized what an appropriate metaphor that was for God’s guiding hand in her life.

Yet after her accident, her early love for art was lost in her grief over her paralysis. She believed her days of creativity were over.

But a persistent occupational therapist prodded her into painting ceramic candy dishes with a paintbrush clenched in her teeth. Joni was initially skeptical that she could turn out anything worthwhile, but both she and her therapist were pleasantly surprised with the results. Joni discovered that painting was cathartic and that she had retained her talent despite her injury, so she continued with her artwork. Over the years, Joni has created over 200 paintings and drawings, and produced a Joni and Friends Christmas card annually for 39 years.

Her paintings and drawings serve as a ministry in themselves in several ways. They primarily point to the overwhelming grace of God. In addition, sales of the prints help support the financial needs of Joni and Friends as the ministry seeks to meet the vast needs of the disabled around the world.

we can do.’ They catch a vision and before you know it, the spark has been ignited and ministry starts happening.

“Very rarely now do we hear, ‘Our church can’t do this. This family is going to have to go someplace else.’ Now we hear, ‘Yeah, we can’t do this, but would you help us? We’d like to learn.’ And I love that kind of attitude.”

Joni and Friends has made a huge difference to countless families around the world over the last four decades. There’s much more to be done, but the ministry is well positioned to tackle the challenges and continue changing lives through Christ in the years to come. For more information about Joni and Friends, visit joniandfriends.org.  TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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ASK DR. WALT

Are Electric Blankets Safe?

Dear Dr. Walt, Can electric blankets cause cancer?

—Burrowed in Bed in North Dakota

Walt Larimore, MD, has been called one of America’s best-known family physicians and has been named in “The Best Doctors in America” and “Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare.” He’s also an award-winning medical journalist and the bestselling author of 30 books. You can find Dr. Walt’s health blog and free daily devotional at www.DrWalt.com.

You can also watch him on Liftable TV at Liftable TV.com/ DoctorWalt. Have questions for Dr. Walt?

Email them to editor@ todayschristianliving.org.

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Dear Snuggled, In the past, some researchers and consumer groups wondered about a possible connection between electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute, there are two types of EMFs: • Higher frequency, such as X-rays, which can damage cells and DNA. • Low- to mid-frequency, such as power lines and electrical appliances, which do not damage cells or DNA. Electric blankets are a source of extremely low frequency EMFs. Multiple studies have found no links with cancer (including thyroid and breast cancer).

There are two types of electric blankets on the market. One fits directly on the mattress and the other is a traditional blanket. Modern electric blankets are much safer than their predecessors primarily because of an automatic shut-off. Nevertheless, Columbia University offers this advice (tinyurl.com/yvk9nu76): • Never use both types of blankets at the same time because it may present a significant fire hazard.

• To avoid any chance that they will get too hot or cause burns, only use an electric blanket before bedtime and turn it off before going to sleep.

• Avoid using an electric blanket on a waterbed, bunk bed, mechanical bed, or sofa.

If you have a newer electric blanket, store it correctly, and use it properly, an electric blanket is safe. However, it is recommended that children, pregnant women, and those with diabetes or circulation issues not use them. You can read why at tinyurl.com/yvk9nu76.

TODAY’S CHRISTIAN LIVING

JULY 2022

By Walt Larimore, MD

Are Non-Stick Pots and Pans Toxic?

Dear Dr. Walt, Are Teflon pans safe? Are there better nonstick alternatives?

—Kitchen Cookin’ in Kentucky Dear Chef, It’s estimated that about 70% of all cookware sold has a nonstick coating — of which TeflonTM is the most common. That’s understandable, as nonstick pans need less oil or butter and have almost no food that sticks during cooking and are super easy to clean.

However, consumers have concerns about toxic chemical emissions. Dozens of reports and studies from both industry and outside sources have turned up conflicting conclusions. Good Housekeeping (GH) interviewed numerous experts asking about the safety of nonstick pots and pans. The answer was a qualified one. “They’re safe,” said most experts, “as long as they’re not overheated.”

GH looked at all the major studies and concluded the danger begins when pans overheat. At temperatures above 500º F, a breakdown of the coating can begin, releasing chemical fragments and fumes. Therefore, 500°F is the recommended maximum for cooking.

The Good Housekeeping Institute conducted testing. The results? “Even we were surprised by how quickly some of the pans got way too hot.”

You can find their results at tinyurl.com/4wk2xew4.

GHI concluded, “You can use nonstick [coated cookware] safely, as long as you follow some precautions to use it properly. Any food that cooks quickly on low or medium heat and coats most of the pan’s surface (which brings down the pan’s temperature) is unlikely to cause problems, which includes foods like scrambled eggs, pancakes, or warmed-up leftovers.”

GH recommends: • Never preheat an empty non-stick pot or pan.

• Don’t cook on high heat and don’t broil or sear meats.

• Always choose heavier nonstick pots and pans.

GH also recommends, “Avoid chipping or damaging the pan.” They add, “To prevent scratching, use wooden spoons to stir food, avoid steel wool, and don’t stack these pans. (If you do, put a paper towel liner between them.)”

One last common question is, “How long can you expect your nonstick cookware to last? Most

manufacturers recommend not using nonstick pots and pans more than three to five years with moderate usage. However, some of the experts GH interviewed advised replacing the nonstick cookware every couple of years. What should you do if the pan does become damaged? The experts had a unanimous answer: “Throw it out.”

Avoiding Nail Care Fungus Dear Dr. Walt, What are the health risks of getting a manicure or pedicure? I’ve heard they can spread fungal diseases. Is that true?

—Wanting a Mani-Pedi in Maryland Dear Esthetic, Some Christians argue against makeup or mani-pedis by quoting verses like: “In vain you beautify yourself ” (Jer. 4:30 ESV). My wife and resident theologian, who is beautiful inside and out, would say, “Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control” (1 Tim. 2:9, ESV).

My wife loves when I pamper her by funding her mani-pedis!

As to the physical risks of mani-pedis, such as infection, the Cleveland Clinic opines, “When you head to the salon for a little pampering and self-care, you want to walk out with freshly painted toenails — not an injury or infection. So, it’s important to make sure the salon you choose is clean and that the staff routinely sterilizes the instruments. If you can’t tell, don’t be shy to ask about cleaning procedures.” They have more recommendations at tinyurl.com/2p92866j. The health experts at Yale also have advice, “What to Know Before Heading to a Nail Salon,” at tinyurl.com/yckwc88y.

This is important advice, because if mani-pedi tools aren’t sterilized properly or if the technician damages your skin, you can get skin and nail infections — and not just from fungal infection, but also bacterial or viral infections — which may not show up for days or months.

As to the spiritual implications of mani-pedis, Christian blogger Fritz Chery writes this to women: “God is more concerned by your inner beauty. He wants you to be confident in Him. He wants you to know how beautiful you are in Christ.

There is nothing wrong with feeling beautiful and getting your [nails] done. Women should feel beautiful. However, we must remember where our true identity lies. Our worth is found in Christ. When we forget that we start believing the lies of the world. ‘I don’t look good enough. ‘I’m ugly without makeup.’

No! You’re beautiful.” (tinyurl.com/2ursy75m) She adds, “God looks at the heart. God is more concerned about you knowing where your true identity lies. He is more concerned about you growing in Christ and bearing good fruit.

We should be more concerned about our spiritual beauty rather than our physical beauty.”

Chery concludes, “Our confidence [as Christian women] should not be rooted in jewelry, hairstyles, [manicures or pedicures,] or our clothing. These things fade. Our confidence should be rooted in Christ. It is always better to focus on developing godly character.” 

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The Four Looks That Lead to Abundant Life

By Max Wilkins

W

here do we turn when the inevitable troubles of life come upon us? After all, our Lord assures us that in the world there will be tribulation. Into every life, challenge and difficulty will come. In these moments, where we choose to focus becomes vitally important. Will we choose to focus on the brokenness, the darkness, and the challenge that often surrounds us? Or might we lift our gaze and focus on the Lord and His glory? This decision matters! The choice of our focus will determine the state of our very being.

The prophet Isaiah certainly understood this truth. In the chaos surrounding the death of Judah’s beloved King Uzziah, whose 52-year reign of prosperity, security, and spiritual vitality had been the pinnacle of Judah’s

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success, Isaiah chose to look heavenward. As he lifted his gaze, God showed him amazing truth ... truth about the glory of God, about Isaiah’s own soul, about the way to salvation, and about God’s designed purpose for Isaiah’s life.

The Lord takes Isaiah through all the major moves of a holy and abundant life. This God-encounter has four separate “looks,” all of which are important for those who would like to discover the abundant life Jesus promised.

• Isaiah looked up — and saw the glory of the Lord.

• Isaiah looked inward — and saw the true state of human beings, himself included.

• Isaiah looked outward — and saw the grace of the Lord.

• Isaiah looked around — and saw the mission of the Lord, and his place in it.

Let’s look!

The Upward Look

Isaiah saw the Lord because he was looking for the Lord.

The prophet Jeremiah assures us, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13 NIV).

The Lord wants to be found by us. And His presence is far more limitless than most of us imagine. Even as Isaiah was entranced by his vision of the Lord, he heard the proclamation of the seraphim; “The whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa. 6:3 NIV).

If, as the seraphim proclaim, the whole earth is full of the glory of God, there is no place we can go, there is nothing we can be doing, there is no set of problems so deep, no challenge so great, that we are apart from the glory of God. This reality has implications for every area of our lives. If we can lift our gaze and look for the glory of God… in our challenges, in our marriages, in our child rearing, in our workplaces… we will discover that the Lord is present and at work, and that our lives can be filled with light as His glory fills us. Perhaps that is why Jesus taught us that, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matt. 6:22–23 NIV). If we can lift our gaze, and seek the glory of God in all situations, our souls can be filled with light as we see the Lord at work in even the most challenging situations of our lives.

The Inward Look

While Isaiah was joyfully embracing the glory of the Lord, he also discovered that in the full light of God’s glory, nothing is hidden. When the prophet focuses inwardly, he sees himself as he truly is, perhaps for the first time. He cries out, “Woe to me… I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips…” (Isa. 6:5 NIV).

Isaiah is not casually noting his own blemishes with this cry. He is broken to the core of his being. He would later write, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” (Isa. 64:6 NIV). This moment of enlightened insight was painful and distressing for Isaiah. But as is the case for every human being, God needed to bring Isaiah out of his hiding, expose his shame, and bring him into full recognition of his actual condition in order to begin the process of his redemption.

Isaiah admits before God that he is not alone in this condition. It is the condition of us all.

Painful though it may be, every person of faith needs a moment of clarity, in the light of God’s glory, about the reality of who we are. King David got it right when he asked the Lord to, “Search me, God, and know my heart… See if there is any offensive way in me…” (Ps. 139:23–24 NIV). And taking the inward look, with the Lord, is part of the good news.

Doing so prepares us to not only know our need, but also to receive our salvation.

Do you want to learn from other caregivers?

If so, REASSURING GUIDANCE is the book for you.

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The Outward Look

Even as Isaiah is crying out that he is ruined, his gaze moves from his inward state to the Lord once again. He discovers the source of his help. Touched with a coal from the altar, he hears, “your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for…” (Isa. 6:7 NIV). It is necessary to look to John’s gospel to fully understand what is going on in this moment.

John tells us, “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him” (John 12:41 NIV). God peeled back the heavens and showed Isaiah our glorified King of Kings seated on the throne. And in doing so He also showed Isaiah the way of salvation through the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

As each of us understands our own brokenness and the stain of sin that clings to us, we can also look outward to the amazing grace of our Lord. This grace is unearned by us, and all about what the Lord has done for us. Note how readily Isaiah accepts that he is cleansed, not because of anything he has done, but simply because the Lord pronounces his sin atoned for. That same grace is available to all, as we focus our gaze on Jesus. John tells us, “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12 NIV).

Look Around

Isaiah accepts that he is who God says he is. Cleansed and restored, he immediately learns that God also has new plans for his life. “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?,” Isaiah hears (Isa. 6:8 NIV). In a beautiful moment of recognition, Isaiah looks around and not only sees the need, but also his place in it. “Here am I. Send me!” (Isa. 6:8 NIV). This is the faithful cry of one who sees his place in the mission of the Lord.

The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, “For we [those of us who have been saved by grace] are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10 NIV). Every one 20

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of us who is a new creation in Christ Jesus is called to look around, find our place in the mission of Jesus — those good works that God prepared in advance for us to walk in — and to respond in the same way as Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me!”

We know that this is a prayer God will answer. It is also a key to abundant life.

Abundant Life

Jesus promised His followers abundant life. He assures us that if we will seek first His kingdom and righteousness, we will find these things, and all the other things we so desperately seek as well.

Isaiah was allowed to see the Lord in all His glory. As we unpack this marvelous story of God’s grace, we see how the focus of Isaiah’s gaze truly determined the state of his being.

Isaiah focused his gaze in four different ways, and in the process discovered more about the Lord, himself, the source of his salvation, and his purpose in life. In doing so, Isaiah has also given us a pattern for where and how to focus our own gaze, regardless of our outward circumstances. Focusing our gaze in this way is essential for anyone who wants to experience the abundant life that can only be found in Jesus.

Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, stay focused, and keep seeking the kingdom.  Max Wilkins is the president and CEO of TMS Global, a global mission society that currently has more than 140 workers serving in 39 countries. A native of Kentucky, he grew up in Florida, and studied at Vanderbilt, South Florida, Emory University, Asbury Theological Seminary, and Oxford.

He pastored churches in Florida and Hawaii for 30 years. He and his wife, Dee Dee, have two grown children and live in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. He is the author of Focusing My Gaze: Beholding the Upward, Inward, Outward Mission of Jesus (Seedbed Publishing).

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21

DAVE SAYS

Hope Is a Good Thing Dear Dave, What is the main difference between people who follow your plan, stick with it and succeed, and those who fall off along the way?

—Damon Dave Ramsey is a seven-time #1 national best-selling author, personal finance expert, and host of The Ramsey Show, heard by more than 18 million listeners each week.

He has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today Show, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business, and many more.

Since 1992, Dave has helped people regain control of their money, build wealth, and enhance their lives. He also serves as CEO for Ramsey Solutions.

Dear Damon, I’ve walked with thousands of families through financial problems. Some of them were just speedbumps that needed to be smoothed out, while others seemed like mountains. The biggest factor I’ve noticed separating those who stick with it and gain control of their finances, from those who give up and go back to their old ways, can be boiled down to one simple word — hope.

Hope is stolen when we misunderstand failure and believe lies. One of the biggest lies that robs people of hope is the one that says failure is permanent. The moment we start seeing failures of the past as predictors of our futures, it extinguishes that ember of hope. Failure happens to all of us at times. It’s natural, and it is normal. The way to

By Dave Ramsey

reach your goals, though, is to keep failure in its cage. And failure is caged when we begin to understand it isn’t permanent.

Winston Churchill once said, “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

If we believe failure is here to stay, we lose enthusiasm. And that leads to an inability to refocus on success. People often make dumb, short-term decisions when they’re in financial difficulty. If you talk yourself into believing you’ll never be able to save enough money to pay cash for a car, you’ll lose hope and borrow the money. Debt not only robs you of the ability to build wealth, but it’s also usually the result of losing hope.

Have you done something stupid or wrong in the past that you are still reliving daily? Is that memory haunting you, and stealing your hope? Remember, the past only has power over you if you let it have that power. Don’t get me wrong. The past can hurt, and it can be disappointing. But you can either give in to it and let it control you, or you can learn from it and make a conscious decision to keep moving forward.

The choice is yours!

—Dave

The biggest factor I’ve noticed separating those who stick with it and gain control of their finances, from those who give up and go back to their old ways, can be boiled down to one simple word — hope.

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Think of an Emergency Fund as Insurance

Fixing your car is just a basic part of car ownership, and something every car owner should be prepared for.

Dear Dave, I have decided it’s time to get control of my money.

Your plan sounds workable, but I talked to some friends about it, and they think I would be better off using a credit card for emergencies. Can you explain why you advise saving a separate emergency fund?

—Leslee Dear Leslee, When bad, unexpected things happen, like a job layoff or a blown car engine, you shouldn’t depend on credit cards. If you use debt to cover emergencies, you’re digging a financial hole for yourself. My plan will walk you out of debt forever, and a strong foundation of any financial house includes an emergency fund.

Putting together a fully funded emergency fund is Baby Step 3 of my plan for getting out of debt and gaining control of your money. Before you reach this point, however, steps one and two should be completed first. Baby Step 1 is saving $1,000 for a starter emergency fund. Baby Step 2 is where you pay off all debt, except for your home, using the debt snowball method.

A fully funded emergency fund should cover three to six months of expenses. You start the emergency fund with $1,000, but a full emergency fund can range from $5,000 to $25,000 or more. A family that can make it on $3,000 per month might have a $10,000 emergency fund as a minimum.

What is an emergency? An emergency is something you had no way of knowing was coming — an event that has a major, negative financial impact if you can’t cover it. Emergencies include things like paying the deductible on medical, homeowners or car insurance after an accident, a job loss, a blown automobile transmission or your home’s heating and air unit suddenly biting the dust.

Something on sale you “need” is not an emergency. Fixing the boat, unless you live on it, is not an emergency. Want to buy a car, a leather couch, or go to Cancun? Not emergencies. Prom dresses and college tuition are not emergencies, either.

Never rationalize the use of your emergency fund for something you should save for. On the other hand, don’t make payments on medical bills after an accident while your emergency fund sits there fully loaded. If you’ve gone to the trouble of creating an emergency fund, make sure you are crystal clear on what is and isn’t an emergency.

Also, keep your emergency fund in something that is liquid.

Liquid is a money term that basically means easy to access with no penalties. I use growth-stock mutual funds for long-term investing, but I would never put my emergency fund there. I suggest a money market account with no penalties and full check writing privileges for your emergency fund.

Your emergency fund account is not for building wealth. It’s an insurance policy against rainy days!

—Dave

Budgeting for Car Repair Costs Dear Dave, I am following your plan, and recently became debtfree, but I have a question. When doing a monthly budget, should I figure in a specific category for car repairs and maintenance, or just use my emergency fund?

—Ashleigh

Dear Ashleigh,

Congratulations on becoming debt-free! You know, new cars, old cars, and in-between cars all have one thing in common — they’ll need repairs at some point. Fixing your car is just a basic part of car ownership, and something every car owner should be prepared for.

When life happens, to your vehicle or anything else, an emergency fund acts like an airbag. Only instead of keeping your face from hitting the dashboard, it keeps your finances from getting smashed up. When it comes to car repair costs, I advise creating a sinking fund in your budget. A sinking fund is a special place in your budget where you save up money for specific, big-ticket items — like car repairs.

I know, stuffing money into a sinking fund each month sounds about as enjoyable as waiting in line at the DMV. But look at it this way, if you had a car loan like most people, you’d be putting hundreds toward that debt each month. Instead, you’re one of the smart ones who doesn’t have any debt and can easily create a repair fund for your car by setting aside less than the average car payment each month. Even “reliable” cars need repairs and maintenance, and a sinking fund within your budget for this sort of thing means you’re ready to handle virtually any auto issues that pop up.

You know you’ll need to pay for repairs and maintenance.

It’s a thing with all cars. And when you know something’s coming, that’s not an emergency fund situation. Great question, Ashleigh!

—Dave TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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Loving Relationships Can’t Be Legislated

By Gary Chapman and Clarence Shuler

I

n a world in which racial tensions are high and the cultural climate is to denigrate anyone with whom you disagree, what is a Christian to do? Many look to the government to create laws that will give all people equal opportunity, and that is good. In our history, we have indeed established certain laws that have erased some of the inequality of the past. There is certainly room for additional legislation, and we applaud those who are working for such legislation.

However, loving relationships cannot be legislated.

We believe life’s deepest meaning is found in relationships. Most important is our relationship with God, which impacts everything else in life. Next are our family relationships. At school, work, church, and in other social settings we also build relationships. Our passion is to encourage cross-cultural friendships — not just acquaintances, but friendships. We have been blessed to have been close personal friends for 54 years. We met in the late ‘60s when racial tensions ran high in our town. The Ku Klux Klan marched downtown until the Black Panthers showed up.

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Then the National Guard was called in. School integration had already been legislated, but most schools were still segregated. Even in the integrated schools, blacks and whites hung out with their own race.

I (Clarence) was born of black parents. I (Gary) was born of white parents. Neither of us chose our parents nor our skin color. Nor did we choose the culture into which we were born.

I (Gary) was a youth director in a white church. One night Clarence and his friend Russell walked into our gym — 100 white faces and two black faces. Some of our youth had met them at school and invited them. My adult leaders looked at me as if asking: “What are we going to do?” I held my hand up indicating, “It’s all right.” The students who invited them reached out to welcome them, as did I. I (Clarence) met Gary when he introduced himself to me when he came onto the basketball court. We played a few games. Then, Gary had all of us young people gather for a brief Bible study. He didn’t lecture but asked us questions.

It was different, but cool.

We played some more. Then, we gathered again for food and Gary explained the gospel in a way I’d never heard before. It was a fun evening.

As Russell and I prepared to leave, a teenage girl and her brother offered to drive us home. And, Gary said, “We meet here every Tuesday night, and you are always welcome.”

Russell and I started attending each Tuesday evening.

Two years later, Russell and I were invited to a youth retreat sponsored by Gary’s church. I had carefully watched Gary for two years. I knew he had something I didn’t have. I learned later it was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. At the retreat, one night after dinner we had a brief devotional by Gary. At the end he said: “If something is missing in your life, stay at your table and someone will talk with you. If you are fine, you are dismissed.” Russell and I were the only ones who stayed behind. Sam, a member of a university track team, was sitting with me. He was my cabin counselor. He began talking with me about accepting

Christ, and Gary joined him. Gary shared John 3:16 with me. That night, I asked Jesus Christ to forgive me for my sins and to come into my life. This began our relationship that turned into a lifelong friendship.

I (Gary) was thrilled to see Clarence accept Christ. In the months ahead, we started meeting regularly to study the Scriptures and pray with each other. In the process, our hearts were knit together. I was learning from him, and he was learning from me. Friendship is always a two-way street. When his father died, I met his mother and sister and became somewhat of a substitute father for Clarence. As he spent time with my family, our children started calling him their brother, and prayed for him daily. Now, in adulthood, that bond continues. Clarence and Brenda have three grown daughters who call me Grandpa. I think you’re beginning to see what we mean when we say, “close personal friendship.”

None of us choose our race or culture. By nature, we’re drawn to people who are like us. However, if we limit our friendships to those who are of our own race, we may never TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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Clarence Shuler is the author of 10 books, the co-author of LifeChanging Cross-Cultural Friendships, and is the president/CEO of BLR: Building Lasting Relationships.

Gary Chapman is the best-selling author of The 5 Love Languages series, the co-author of Life-Changing Cross-Cultural Friendships, and is the director of Marriage and Family Life Consultants, Inc.

understand our cultural differences. When we don’t understand, we’re likely to make wrong judgments about each other. Thus, racial tensions develop, which often lead to destructive behavior. When we develop a friendship with someone of a different race, we help each other understand cultural differences. We see them as a person of equal value.

We come to not only recognize our differences, but to celebrate the diversity, and enrich each other’s lives.

Our friendship has led us to write Life-Changing CrossCultural Friendships: How You Can Help Heal Racial Divides, One Relationship at a Time. We share our own story as well as the story of others who have developed close friendships with someone of a different race or culture. We asked ourselves this question: What would happen in our culture, if every Christian had a least one close personal friend of a different race or culture? Based on our experience, we believe it would change the climate of racial tensions in our country.

As Christians, we believe all men are created in the image of God and therefore are of equal value. God desires to have a relationship with all peoples of all races and cultures. He extends his offer of salvation and eternal life to all (John 3:16).

The Scriptures indicate that in heaven there will be people “ from every nation, tribe, people and language” (Rev. 7:9).

Why should we wait until heaven to get to know each other?

Our book is not only about black-white relationships. We’re talking about Native Americans, Asian, Hispanic, Chinese, Korean, and every other culture in our country. We’re not a “melting pot” where everyone becomes alike. We’re a country of diverse cultures. When we develop friendships with those

who are different from us, we broaden our appreciation for our differences. We not only come to understand our differences, but our lives are enriched as we celebrate our differences.

We hope you will read our book and learn the various levels of friendship, and how to walk the road of developing at least one close personal friendship with someone of a different race or culture. We believe it will greatly enrich each of your lives and will lead to building bridges and working together in accomplishing God’s plans for our generation.

Will you accept the challenge of asking God to guide you as you open your mind to the possibility of developing a crosscultural friendship? 

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Gary Chapman — author, speaker, counselor — has a passion for people and for helping them form lasting relationships. He is the best-selling author of The 5 Love Languages series and director of Marriage and Family Life Consultants, Inc. Gary travels the world presenting seminars, and his radio programs air on more than 400 stations. For more information visit 5lovelanguages.com.

Clarence Shuler is the president/CEO of BLR: Building Lasting Relationships. Clarence is a counselor, diversity consultant, speaker, and author of 10 books, including Winning the Race to Unity: Is Racial Reconciliation Really Working?, Keeping Your Wife Your Best Friend, and Single and Free to Be Me. He and his wife, Brenda, reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and have three adult daughters.

For more information, visit clarenceshuler.com.

TURNING POINT

By Shelly Smith

I Can’t Do It on My Own

I Shelly Smith is a writer, travel planner, teacher, singer, pastor’s wife, and mom to three rambunctious boys. She lives with her family in North Carolina where they recently relocated to plant a new church for their denomination.

Contact her at shellylsmith87@ gmail.com.

If you have a turning point in your life you would like to share, email your story to editor@ todayschristianliving.org.

All submissions must be under 800 words. If we print your story, we will pay you $75. We reserve the right to edit for length and content.

All submissions become the property of Today’s Christian Living.

often feel that my life is a chaotic whirlwind that only slows down when I become so overwhelmed that I have no other choice than to stop. As the winds die down, I’m forced to look over the damage and form a new plan of attack.

I found myself in one of these moments as I rushed around my house preparing for our church’s annual vacation Bible school. VBS is always a busy time. This one, in particular, had me extremely stressed. Our director had suddenly decided to quit two weeks prior to our start date.

With no one else to step up, it fell to me, the pastor’s wife.

I knew it would be difficult because I had never directed a VBS before. However, what I didn’t know was that the previous “director” had done almost nothing. When my husband asked her what the theme was for the week, she replied, “Oh it’s about bugs. You know, how God loves bugs as much as He loves us.” My husband and I were both equally flabbergasted with her answer. I felt like saying, “Lady, God loves all of His creation, but Jesus came to save people, not a spider!”

Enter the next stage of crazy. A stray dog suddenly showed up at our doorstep. My kids loved him. My husband was willing to tolerate him. I, on the other hand, had been afraid of dogs since I was a kid. My fear had gotten only slightly better over the years. But for the sake of my children, I agreed that the dog could stay. After all, how much trouble could one beagle be? I could do this.

The week of VBS finally arrived. The overall prep work was finished. I had survived the opening. My kids were happy. Fido was still alive. Go, me! That evening, I was rushing around to finish preparing for that night’s events. It had started raining and I suddenly realized that “our” dog was barking.

I figured that he was just too dumb to get out of the rain, but upon further observation, I realized that in his excitement over the rain, he had managed to wrap his leash around one of the bushes in our backyard and could not figure out how to get himself unwound.

I looked around to figure out who would get the dog out of this mess. My husband was at work.

My dad was playing with my kids, but he didn’t like dogs any more than I did. I made my way outside to try to free the beast from his prison. Unclipping him from his leash would have been the smart idea, but the thought of letting him loose did not appeal to me. The dog was not willing to let me lead him back around the bushes. He was, however, so excited to see me that he repeatedly jumped on me with his muddy, wet paws. By the time it was all said and done, my shirt was ripped, and my clothes soaked.

I made my way back into the house. I’d had enough. The stress of the previous weeks had caught up to me ending in this one little event that became my breaking point. The only way I can describe what happened next is that my heart “clicked.” A click that was followed by rapid beating. I couldn’t breathe. My arm hurt. I thought for sure I was having a heart attack. I called my husband and waited for him to come get me to take me to the hospital. I was scared. All I knew to do was to pray. By the time we made it to the hospital, my heart had “clicked” back into its normal rhythm, and I could breathe again. I found out later that I had just experienced my first panic attack.

I didn’t realize how I had let my anxious heart take over my life. Looking back, I had started doing this long before the events that led to this day.

I had relied on myself. I could do what needed to be done. My breaking point became my turning point. It suddenly became very clear to me that I can’t do anything on my own. I will always reach a point where I find that I need help. I need strength and peace that only comes from Jesus.

When I don’t rely on God and instead depend on myself, I become filled with anxiety.

I worry about everything.

How will it turn out? How will I get it done on time?

But when I rely on Him, I find peace. Peace even in the midst of the storm.

Peace that allows me to face the winds and the rains knowing that my heavenly Father will take control.  TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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By Naomi Vacaro

I

n late 2017, Hurricane Irma tore through our city in Florida.

I’ll never forget that night. My husband, Matt, and I, along with my siblings and their spouses, gathered at my parents’ home and slept on the living room floor as the wind howled outside and nearby branches groaned and then cracked like shots in the dark. When we emerged the following morning, the world looked like a war zone. The streets were so littered with debris that you could hardly see the pavement. Lines were down, electricity was out, and an eerie quiet had settled over the neighborhood.

But what I remember most were the felled trees. Trees that had stood four stories high the day before now lay horizontal, their entire root systems torn up and exposed. These downed monsters were now blocking roads, upturning sidewalks, and crushing houses. However, not every tree had fallen. Many of the trees in our neighborhood remained standing, including the giant oak just outside our front door.

Shortly after the hurricane, my older sister, Emily, wrote a blog post explaining the difference between the felled trees and the trees that remained standing: There are two types of oak trees [in Central Florida]: live oaks and water oaks. They both grow to about eighty feet tall, host a variety of birds and animals in their sturdy branches, and provide more than enough shade with their leafy limbs.

On the surface it’s hard to tell the difference, until a hurricane comes along. Water oaks like the sun and take the rain for granted. Why grow deep roots when water is plentiful?

They shoot up quickly and stand alone, tall and magnificent.

Live oaks grow slower and focus their energy on sending their roots deep into the ground.* 28

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The depth of their roots had made the difference between life and death for these trees, and after Hurricane Irma, it became clear which had shallow roots and which had roots that were secure enough to weather the storm.

These water oaks and live oaks, with their shallow or deep roots, reflect the life of our Christian faith. If we’re wateroak Christians, then we are planted in the shallow soil of cultural Christianity. We may look like we’re flourishing on the outside, but time and testing eventually reveal that the soil beneath us is nothing but the shifting sands of worldly trends. A water-oak Christian seeks nourishment in things that will never satisfy, like success, popularity, outward appearance, or momentary pleasure. We might go through the motions of faith, but ultimately we lack a genuine and transformative relationship with the person of Jesus. When the winds of persecution or the seductive breeze of temptation blow, we become uprooted, just like the water oaks did.

In contrast, when we are living as live-oak Christians, we sink our roots into the bedrock of Jesus Christ. We grow slowly and steadily, and we build our lives on the foundation of God’s Word. We are quietly committed to following Jesus Christ no matter what. When persecution arrives, we only grow stronger in the faith. When temptation knocks, we refuse to be uprooted by lies and misguided loves.

These deeply rooted followers of Jesus can be found all across the globe. They have different personalities, backgrounds, cultures, ages, life stages, and experiences. But there’s one thing they all have in common: they read the Bible and pray.

I would venture to say that there is no mature believer in Christ who does not read their Bible and pray on a regular

basis. While a relationship with Jesus is definitely more than a daily quiet time, it is certainly not less.

The primary way we become rooted, live-oak Christians is by spending time with Jesus. We can’t grow in our understanding of and love for God without reading the Bible, and we can’t develop a genuine closeness with Christ if we don’t communicate with Him in prayer. Without the regular habit of a quiet time, we will become spiritually malnourished and eventually starve. Just as trees need soil and water to grow, we need spiritual nutrients for our faith to mature and deepen.

The truth is, we have all been shallow-rooted, wateroak Christians at some point in our lives. Deep roots take time to grow, and the consistent habits of Bible reading and prayer simply don’t happen overnight. But no matter how dried up we may feel in our current season, Jesus can deepen our roots and bring us — and our love for spending time with Him — back to life.

I know it’s true, because I’ve lived it.

Having a daily quiet time is something I’ve struggled with all my life. Growing up in a Christian home taught me why it was important to read the Bible and pray, but for some reason, I just couldn’t form the regular habit. I saw my lack of consistency as spiritual disobedience, and as a result, guilt gnawed at my soul for years.

Things got better in college when my quiet time became more consistent. Reading the Bible and praying every day became a routine I genuinely enjoyed and even looked forward to. The habit survived my transition into married life a couple of years after graduation. With a flexible schedule and lots of free time on my hands, it was easier than ever to read the Bible and pray.

Then I became a mother.

Naomi had to completely revamp her quiet time after she became a mother. The change helped her realize that having a grace-based relationship with the Lord means that it’s not necessary to meet stringent goals or play catch-up if you miss a day. Leave the guilt behind and just pick up where you left off. Photo courtesy of Hailée Markgraaf

TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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Above: Having a regular, comfortable place to do your quiet time will help you stay more consistent. Photo courtesy of Hailée Markgraaf

Once I had a baby in my arms, my habit of Bible reading and prayer completely fell apart. Instead of reading three chapters a day, I barely opened my Bible once a week. Instead of hour-long conversations with Jesus, my prayer time consisted of impromptu breakdowns as I bounced a crying baby on my hip. At first I found this alarming. Where had all my hard-earned consistency disappeared to? I was tempted to despair, but the Lord was teaching me yet another profound lesson about grace.

Even before I became a mother, I was starting to realize I’d been treating my relationship with God like a performance.

Deep down, I’d been viewing Bible reading and prayer as a way to earn God’s approval instead of a way to nourish my own soul. Instead of leading me closer to Jesus, my guilt was making it harder for me to come to the Lord. By the time I became a mother and my quiet time had to be completely restructured, I was ready to silence the voice of shame in my soul and embrace the quiet waters of grace.

I was ready to have a grace-based quiet time.

Having a quiet time that’s built on grace means your Bible will still be available to read tomorrow morning even if you don’t get to read it today. It means you don’t have to play catch-up in order to get back on track with your quiet time.

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It means God doesn’t keep a tally of all the days, weeks, and months you’ve failed to spend time with Him. It means there will be seasons when coming to Jesus is more difficult — and He delights in you anyway. It means that yesterday’s failure does not diminish today’s opportunity to know and enjoy Jesus.  Emily Miller, “Oaks,” Wholehearted (blog), June 4, 2019, https://wholeheartedquiettime.com/blogs/blog/oaks *

Adapted from Quiet: Creating Grace-Based Rhythms for Spending Time with Jesus, by Naomi Vacaro, April 2022, Tyndale House Publishers.

Naomi Vacaro is first and foremost a wholehearted follower of Jesus. She grew up as a daughter to missionaries in Outer Mongolia and then moved to Florida at 18 to pursue a college degree. After graduating with a degree in graphic design, she worked as a wedding photographer and soon after felt led to create a journal called the Quiet Time Companion, along with an online ministry that would help Christians develop a daily habit of seeking Jesus. She now spends her time running the Wholehearted community and being a stay-at-home mom. She and her husband live in Florida with their son.

Visit her online at wholeheartedquiettime.com.

QUIPS & QUOTES

Christianity is not about how to escape from the difficulties of life — it is about how to face the difficulties of life.

—Alistair Begg

Tolerance once meant that we could use our reason to discern good and evil in open debate. Today tolerance has been used to call good evil and evil good.

—Charles Colson

I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness.

He cannot resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him.

—Jim Cymbala

g n i h t y n a m o r f u o y t c e t o r p . s t o u s n e l l J i e w k i l e r God o m u o y e t k o a i l l m E l l i h t w e that —Elisab Don’t worry about locating your purpose. If you are seeking after God, your purpose will locate you.

—Tony Evans

The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.

—Oswald Chambers

We have become so engrossed in the work of the Lord that we have forgotten the Lord of the work.

—A.W. Tozer TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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cripture emphasizes the need for us to grow in our faith, not simply to acquire knowledge, which can lead to pride, but rather to gain wisdom and maturity so we can live in a way that reflects God’s character and honors Him. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Ps. 1:1-3 ESV).

“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14 ESV).

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Pet. 2:2 ESV).

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Pet. 3:18 ESV).

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“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7 ESV).

“So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:14–15 ESV).

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2 ESV).

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6–7 ESV).

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:9-11 ESV).

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Future events need not be an inexplicable mystery. After the Rapture presents the perfect primer for you on this critical prophetic event, the ideal witnessing tool for unsaved loved ones, and a resource of biblical direction for those seeking answers in the future. thomasnelson.com/p/after-the-rapture

Reframe Your Shame: Experience Freedom From What Holds You Back

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Irene Rollins will help us discover how facing our underlying pain will allow us to overcome it and move forward. With practical insights and biblical teaching about what it takes to break the cycle of addiction and shame, Reframe Your Shame will set you on the path to freedom. irenerollins.com/ reframe-your-shame

Long Way Home

By Lynn Austin [Tyndale House Publishers]

As soldiers return from World War II, Peggy searches for the truth her troubled childhood friend Jimmy won’t discuss.

As she tries to piece together Jimmy’s time in the service, Peggy finds a photo of a mysterious woman who might hold the key to Jimmy’s pain.

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In this uplifting devotional, Dr. Michelle Bengtson reminds us that despite our circumstances or how we feel, every day can be a good day when we trust the promises of God. Each reading includes Scripture, reflection, prayer, and a recommended playlist song. bit.ly/TodayMB

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Learn to choose between right and wrong every day.

Each of the 365 devotions features fun-filled and inspiring stories, Bible readings, and discussion questions, to help think through difficult issues. For youth and families.

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LAUGH LINES

LAUGH LINES

I

went skydiving today for the first time.

This guy strapped himself to me, we jumped out of the plane.

As we plummeted, he said, “So how long have you been an instructor?”

—From Mikey’s Funnies (www.mikeysfunnies.com)

A

young seminary student went home for Christmas break. A horrible snowstorm stranded the regular minister in another town. The leaders of the congregation asked the young man to substitute for the regular minister.

The young preacher started his sermon by explaining the meaning of a substitute.

“If you break a window,” he said, “and then place a piece of plywood over the hole — that’s a substitute.”

After the sermon, a well-intentioned woman wished to compliment the young man. As she enthusiastically shook his hand, she said: “You were no substitute.

You were a real pane!”

—From Mikey’s Funnies (www.mikeysfunnies.com) If you have a joke or funny story you’d like to share, email editor@todayschristianliving.org.

If we print your joke, we’ll pay you $25.

TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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Set Fre e

Through

Jesus

The Tagbanwa People of the Philippines Escape Demonic Oppression

By Dan Brownell

I

magine living every day in such terror of offending dozens of so-called “gods” that your entire life — every aspect of your existence — requires appeasing them through ritual sacrifices. For hundreds of years before the 1970s, this was the case for the Tagbanwa people of the Philippines. Thankfully, Jesus has set many of them free because three Christian couples answered the call to bring the gospel to this previously unreached people group.

One of the couples was Jody and Barbara Crain. In the mid1970s, Jody Crain attended a missions conference in Florida, where a missionary spoke about the urgent need to share the gospel with thousands of ethnic groups who have never heard it. He emphasized Romans 15:20: “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation” (KJV) and I Cor. 15:34 “Awake to righteousness, for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (KJV). Jody responded wholeheartedly to the call. In fact, the Lord had been working in the hearts of both Jody and his girlfriend, Barbara, to commit their lives to the mission field. Eventually, they married, and the Lord led them to join New Tribes Mission, now known as Ethnos360 (ethnos360.org).

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Above: The Crains in 1981, standing on the stairs of their rebuilt house, which replaced the one that burned the night before they were to move in. Left to right: Brant, Joey, Barbara, and Jody. It wasn’t until 2020 that Jody and Barb realized that rebuilding on the same spot helped the Tagbanwa understand that God is more powerful than the demons they feared.

Above: One of the Tagbanwa men holds a burning ember from the Crains’ house. What seemed like a disaster was actually the catalyst for breaking the demonic stronghold over the people.

A Time of Preparation

Ethnos360 maintains high standards in preparing workers for the mission field, so it took a few years before Jody and Barb were able to start reaching out to the Tagbanwa. “We spent a year and a half in Bible School, one year in actual cross cultural missionary training, then spent another year in language, linguistics, literacy, and anthropological studies and did some study of tropical medicine,” Jody said.

Facing page: The Integrated Tagbanwa Training Center is a one-year discipleship program that integrates agriculture, animal husbandry, community health, and Bible. Its primary focus is training church planters and future church leaders.

Below: The 2020 Tagbanwa Youth Conference with 1,126 attendees.

The ministry requires its workers to converse with the people in their heart language, rather than in English. “You can’t teach a whole ethnic group English,” Jody said. “For example, their word for ‘holy’ is ‘talagang alaid nga alaid kat maski unu nga kasala’an.’

It’s not a single word, but a series of words. The reason is that they don’t have a single word even to describe ‘holy.’ So, it’s important to come to them on their terms, in their language.”

The process of learning their language and culture takes time, but it’s worth the effort, as it not only improves communication but helps win the heart of the people. “Language differences force adults to become like children,” Jody explained. “When you’re speaking their language and you sound like a 3- or 4-year-old, the people pity you. And it softens their heart whenever you’re trying not to be a teacher but a learner. And that’s so crucial for a proper entrance into a people’s worldview and vernacular. Whenever you realize that you’re totally dependent on them for everything, that makes you humble.”

A Turning Point

In 1979, after a year in a town near Manila studying the national language, Jody and Barb moved to the island of Palawan into Tagbanwa land, with their permission.

“We built a bamboo house like theirs, well almost … ours was only about three times larger. The night before we actually moved into the house, around 3 a.m. as we slept at our coworker’s home, we were awakened by shouts that our house was on fire. In less than 20 minutes, it was gone,

burned to the ground. We think a gas fridge that someone in Texas gave us must have developed a leak in one of the tubes during the shipping.

“By morning our coworkers’ porch and yard were full of people.

They were thankful that we were OK, but they were very sad, almost like mourning. They said that they were so sorry that we had to leave, to which we asked, ‘why?’ They said the spirits are upset with us for building on that land, and if we didn’t leave, someone in our family would die.

“We and our coworkers discussed the situation and prayed about what our response should be. We decided that we would dig up the burned-off posts. Most of them were burnt almost level with the ground. We put brand new posts back in the same holes as a testimony to God’s protection over us.

“The people were so fearful that we could hardly find anyone who would work on that property in the village for fear of getting sick and maybe dying. In fact, before the fire, the Tagbanwa people used to walk right past where our porch was to go to the ocean to fish. They decided to cut a new trail around the clearing where our house was so that they didn’t even have to walk on the land where our house had been built.

“It wasn’t until 2020 during an interview with one of the Tagbanwa church elders that we really understood the reason and impact that our house burning down had on the Tagbanwa people. We didn’t know at the time that when we put those new house poles back in the very holes of our original house, it would become a turning point for the Tagbanwa people.

“It was our oldest church elder, Amay Limbuan, who said, ‘Your house became a monument, a marker, that stood in contrast to everything we Tagbanwas feared.’

“We had no idea that God would use a tragedy and a setback from what we thought slowed our progress to actually open the hearts of the people to the gospel. Not only in that village, but many other villages!”

Laying a Foundation

In their traditional beliefs, Tagbanwa are animists, which means they believe everything has a soul: humans, animals, plants, rivers, mountains, and other nonliving things — everything.

The Tagbanwa have a drastically different view of the spiritual world than we do in the West. They believe in 84 spirits. Their TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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Above: The Tagbanwa mother church.

chief god, Ampu’, is distant and cares little about them. Under Ampu’ are 83 other spirits whom they must appease to prevent disaster from coming upon them.

“Crippling fear controlled almost every area of their lives,” Jody said. “They lived in fear of offending the spirits, fear of sickness caused by the spirits, fear of darkness, fear of eating taboo foods, fear of death, and so much more. They were hopeless of ever satisfying all the demands of these spirits, who insisted on more and more sacrifices with no true promise of deliverance from their paralyzing fears…. It’s not worship. It’s trying to balance their world so their crops will grow, their women will give birth without dying, there won’t be floods or famine. Every aspect of life is affected by the spirit realm.”

The Tagbanwa are prisoners of these demonic taskmasters, but when they turn to Jesus, they find freedom just as Scripture promises. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18 KJV emphasis added).

Creation to Christ

Ethnos360 recognizes that it’s ineffective to present the gospel to those who have no knowledge of the Bible without first laying a foundation through pre-evangelism. The Good News is meaningless without an understanding of basic concepts such as sin, justification, and redemption. If people don’t know who the true God is and why they’re separated from Him, they can’t understand the purpose of Jesus’ sacrificial death and how it applies to them. Grace under the new covenant is meaningless without first understanding the penalty of the law under the old covenant. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress summed it up succinctly: “The man who does not know the nature of the Law, cannot know the nature of sin.”

Ethnos360 focuses on unreached people groups with no knowledge of Scripture, so the ministry doesn’t start by teaching the New Testament, but rather uses the “Creation to Christ” model, which begins with Genesis 1. Teachers cover the Old Testament in depth, including nearly 80 prophecies pointing to the coming Messiah. That way, when they finally reach the crucifixion in the 38

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New Testament, the people understand the significance of Jesus’ death on their behalf and are prepared to respond to it.

Jody and Barb began their ministry in Palawan by meeting with some of the Tagbanwa. Jody told them that God had a message for them, but he would only tell them with their permission. The Tagbanwa wanted to know what God had to say, so they accepted the offer.

The next morning, 30 or 40 men and women showed up to hear the message. Jody explained that God’s message was far too long to tell at one time. It would take about two hours a day, three days a week for three months. The Tagbanwa are a patient people, and for three months, they faithfully listened as Jody taught from Creation to Christ. When he finally reached the crucifixion and resurrection, they had enough background to understand what it meant. They had a decision to make about the information they were given, and many did trust in Jesus as Savior. That birthed the Tagbanwa church on the east coast of Palawan.

One of the main differences between the Tagbanwa and people in Western industrialized countries is that the Tagbanwa know they’re spiritually enslaved. Most in the West are in spiritual bondage, too, but we just don’t realize it. Western secular humanism tends to dismiss the spiritual world as unimportant, irrelevant, or just superstition, but the Tagbanwa know all too well its reality.

Unfortunately, Americans are now so biblically illiterate that they’re largely an unreached people group. Research indicates that only 4% have a biblical worldview. The Christian Tagbanwa can’t understand why we’re turning our back on the God who set them free. Why are we turning from light back to darkness?

With America lacking a biblical framework, many Bible teachers here have turned to Ethnos360’s Creation-to-Christ strategy.

“I’ve taught chronologically here in the U.S. It’s just as effective here as overseas. It takes a little bit more for people to be willing to go the long haul, but they’re glad when they do because it gives you a full view of Scripture that’s very different than just snapshots here and there.”

Danger on the Mission Field

While the Tagbanwa are a peaceful people, and missionaries face no danger from them, the work in the Philippines isn’t without risk. Missionaries face health dangers, such as malaria and medical emergencies, as expert medical help can be many hours away. In fact, Jody and Barb permanently returned to the United States in 2007 to recover from severe health issues. By that time, the Tagbanwa had already taken over leadership of their churches and were involved in church planting, so the work was able to carry on without the Crains’ day-to-day presence.

Since Jody’s move to Ethnos360’s Florida headquarters, he has continued work as a culture language acquisition consultant for the ministry. He keeps in touch with the Tagbanwa leaders almost daily and visits them at least annually and sometimes several times a year.

While health issues are a problem in remote Palawan because of lack of easy access to medical care, the greatest danger is from Islamist extremists, and it’s been this way for decades. One incident developed into a major international story, when on May 21, 2001, just a few months before 9/11, Ethnos360 missionaries

have about 80 men and women in leadership who oversee the expansion of the work.”

The ministry Jody and Barb began with the Tagbanwa in 1979 is still thriving more than 40 years later, and the pace of growth is increasing exponentially. Around 3,000 of the 25,000 Tagbanwa are now Christians. Thirty-three villages have a church, with 13 or 14 planted in just the last few years.

“We’re on track to plant two, sometimes three churches in a year,” Jody said.

Typhoon Relief

Above: Jody learning Tagbanwa culture and language.

Right: Barbara with her daughter Courtlin, “Uncle” Limbuan, and “Aunt” Pided.

Martin and Gracia Burnham, coworkers and good friends of the Crains, were taken hostage by Abu Sayyaf terrorists and held for more than a year. Jody, as the field director of Ethnos360, became one of the primary mediators between the terrorists and the Philippine government and was interviewed by major news networks during the ordeal.

After 376 days in captivity, a Philippine army unit tracked down the terrorists and their hostages. In the ensuing firefight, Martin was killed and Gracia wounded. Gracia’s book In the Presence of My Enemies recounts their ordeal and the incredible ways that God used it to point people to Jesus. For more information about Gracia, visit graciaburnham.org.

From a human perspective, it seems like a tragedy — and it was — yet God can work through tragedies to further His Kingdom.

Just as the news of the martyrdom of Jim Elliot and four other missionaries in Ecuador in 1956 sparked a missionary movement, the Burnhams’ captivity brought more missionaries to the Philippines.

“You would think that with hostage situations going on in the Philippines that people wouldn’t want to come to the field,” Jody said. But Martin’s death actually spurred on missions work there.

“We had about 98 missionaries at the time, and we had been communicating that we need some help here, and over the next 18 months, God increased our missionary force to 178. So, God uses very strange things to accomplish His purposes.”

The Tagbanwa Take the Lead

Jody became a field director in 1999. Not long after, he helped establish the Tagbanwa Training Center, which disciples Tagbanwa Christians and prepares some for ministry leadership.

From the day Ethnos360 missionaries start their work, their goal is to work themselves out of a job. They train church leaders who will take over the work, plant churches, and train new leaders, duplicating the process, as the apostle Paul taught and modeled. “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2 ESV). “Our focus is on developing leadership within the churches,” Jody said. “The Tagbanwa

On December 16 and 17, 2021, Super Typhoon Rai (known locally as Odette) hit the Philippines, causing widespread devastation, including the island of Palawan. But once again, God has worked through even the horrors of this situation to bring people to Jesus. The Tagbanwa churches have made major contributions to the relief effort on the island of Palawan. Since the disaster, they’ve helped more than 790 previously unreached Tagbanwa families in rebuilding their homes. Seeing the impact of the Bible on the Christians, many of the families are asking if someone can teach them the Bible, too.

The help has come at a great cost to the Tagbanwa churches, though. In January, a beloved leader, Roniel Dinggo, nicknamed “Dong Dong,” died in a tragic road accident while transporting sheet metal panels for the home rebuilding project. Dong Dong had been the director of the Tagbanwa Training Center and had an impact on at least 20 of the churches. His funeral brought representatives from all 33 churches, with more than 1,000 attending, which is by far the largest funeral Jody has ever attended in the Philippines. This video shows the funeral procession that honored this faithful leader (bit.ly/DD-Funeral).

One might expect a tragedy like this to discourage people from volunteering for ministry, but as with Martin Burnham’s loss, it did just the opposite. “An accident like Dong Dong’s usually scares everyone,” Jody said. “They don’t want to run the risk of being another accident victim. But at Dong Dong’s funeral, the leaders were asking for volunteers for the next typhoon distribution. At the first distribution, they had 32 volunteers, but after the funeral, they had 75 show up. New leaders emerged and took over the organization of the project.

“Whenever there’s a vacuum, there’s the opportunity for God to raise up others. It will probably take two or three to take Dong Dong’s place but there are more than that who are willing and very capable to take on the teaching and discipleship responsibilities.”

Looking Forward

What began as a spark in 1979 is now a powerful light chasing away darkness on Palawan. “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isa. 9:2 KJV). The Tagbanwa church has become a self-sustaining church planting movement that’s gathering momentum and is destined to set many more through Jesus in the coming years.  TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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PERSECUTION REPORT

By Jerry Dykstra and Open Doors contributors

By Jeff M. Sellers

Christians in Eastern Uganda Experiencing Violent Persecution Jeff M. Sellers is founder and editor of Morning Star News morningstarnews.org, the only independent news service exclusively covering persecution of Christians. Previously he was an associate editor at Christianity Today magazine, where he wrote a regular column on persecuted Christians for five years. He worked seven years as an editor at Open Doors International and three years as a writer at World Vision.

With a journalism degree from Arizona State University and a Master’s in Marketplace Theology from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, he has also reported on persecution, economy, politics, and cultural issues for USA Today, The Globe and Mail, and other media as a journalist in Mexico City, Mexico, and Madrid, Spain.

*not real name 40

M

embers of their own families pose the greatest danger. Muslim relatives’ horrific cruelty towards converts to Christianity in Uganda shows the intensity of their hostility.

At the same time, a series of open-air evangelists who engaged mosque leaders in public debates recently became targets of mob fury. At such a debate in eastern Uganda’s Kadungulu village on Feb. 28, John Michael Okero was quoting verses from the Koran about Christ when a Muslim grabbed the microphone from him.

Accusing Okero of blaspheming Allah by saying that he has a Son and misusing the Koran, the Muslim and others beat him to death with iron bars, stones, and sticks and later burned his body.

Okero was 43.

Police were called but arrived after the assailants had fled. Okero had been a frequent preacher and public debater in predominantly Muslim Kadungulu village.

In Muhira village, also in eastern Uganda near Nawaikoke, Muslim relatives of a Christian evangelist on Feb. 6 beat and tied him up to be burned to death after he returned home for a funeral. Malingumu Bruhan, 34, had returned for his grandfather’s funeral and then accepted his uncles’ request to stay and visit. Then Bruhan’s uncle, Ndifakulya Musa, began rebuking him, he said.

“My uncle accused me of embarrassing them by holding Christian evangelistic, open-air meetings and debates with Muslims,” Bruhan told Morning Star News. “He accused me of being an infidel by converting to Christianity, and that Allah will reward them in Jannah [garden paradise] if they kill me.”

Prayer Points: • That police and government authorities in Uganda would hold accountable Muslims who commit religiously motivated violence against Christians.

• That local mosques would teach a moderate form of Islam that tolerates conversion to another religion.

• That Christian converts from Islam facing persecution would be healed, comforted, and strengthened.

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Bruhan remained quiet, he said.

“He said to me that it is now the right time for me to receive punishment from Allah, whereby I was going to be burned alive and the birds of the air will enjoy me as their meat,” he said.

His uncles’ anger grew as he remained silent.

“They started beating me up as others gathered firewood, while another was sent to go for petrol because they wanted to use it to burn me alive,” Bruhan said.

As his uncles were waiting for the fuel, another convert from Islam, who had accompanied Bruhan to the funeral, came looking for him but was told he was nowhere in the vicinity, he said. Spying Bruhan’s shoe, which had come off as his uncles dragged him off for slaughter, his friend gathered others and they found him tied up, surrounded by firewood, behind a house. When they called police, the assailants fled.

An evangelist well-known in Mbale, Iganga, Jinja, and Kampala for his public debates with Muslims about Christianity and Islam, Bruhan was treated for head injuries. He has survived 11 murder attempts, he said.

Following his conversion in 2017, his Muslim relatives had ostracized him, saying that as an apostate he had brought shame to the family. He slept in the wilderness and survived on wild fruits for two months.

“I still trust God to heal me and for divine protection for my life,” he told Morning Star News. “Pray for me so that I recover from the head injuries and will be able to continue with the work of sharing Christ with the lost.”

Most such attacks take place in obscurity in rural areas, but in Uganda’s capital city, Kampala, 43-year-old evangelist Charles Kamy was about 300 yards from the open-air debate site on Jan. 29 when two men stopped his car.

“I stopped my car only to be ambushed by six other Muslims in Islamic attire who resurfaced from the bush at around midday,” Kamya told Morning Star News from his hospital bed. He said one of the assailants told him, “You have been terrorizing our religion.

Today Allah has called you, and you are going to meet him.”

They beat him and cut him with sharp objects, and he was losing blood as they pulled him out of his car and threw him down, he said.

A blow to the head with an iron bar left him unconscious for about two hours. A passerby found him in a pool of blood and called police.

Muslims make up no more than 12% of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country. Reports of violence against converts from Islam in eastern Uganda surface nearly every week, though the country’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another.

Those freedoms helped keep Uganda out of the top 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List, though the country’s violence score is 11.7 on a scale that goes up to 16.7. Thus, while converts from Islam in obscure corners of Uganda face a continual barrage of attacks from family and community, the WWL ranks Uganda overall at 69th.

Open Doors notes that attacks from family and community in eastern Uganda are prevalent. In Intonko village, Namutumba District, Muslim relatives on March 8 sprayed acid on Juma Waiswa, 38, his 32-year-old wife Nasimu Naigaga, and their 13-year-old daughter, Amina Nagudi, after they put their faith in Christ the previous month, Morning Star News reported.

The family had converted to Christianity after a pastor visited their home and shared the gospel with them on Feb. 17. When relatives learned of their conversions, they called them to a meeting with other clan members on March 8 and told them to renounce Christ, Waiswa said.

“When we refused to recant our faith in Jesus, my father, Arajabu, recited some koranic verses, and after that they forcefully started beating us with sticks as prescribed in the Koran, claiming that we were apostates,” Waiswa said. “As if this was not enough, my father went inside the room and picked up a bottle of acid and began spraying it on us while the group started shouting, ‘Allah Akbar [God is greater], you deserve death,’ and then disowned us.”

Initially they did not know what kind of liquid was sprayed on them, he said. As they fled, what began as severe itching turned into intense pain. The pastor took them to a hospital in Mbale, though the 13-year-old girl’s injuries were so severe that she was transferred to a better equipped clinic in Jinja.

On March 9, while the three family members were receiving hospital treatment, their house was set ablaze. 

CRUELTY DRIVEN BY PRIDE AND FEAR The intense hostility behind Muslims’ cruelty to family members who turn to Christ often appears driven by the sins of pride (in clan religion) and fear (of other Muslims coming after them as well if they don’t punish apostate relatives), but at times it seems Satan is personally involved.

After a mother and her two children in central Uganda attended worship services last Christmas Day and the following Sunday and received Christ, the woman’s husband hanged them in their home, according to local sources.

A neighbor on Dec. 28 found Shamira Nakato hanged with her two children, ages 3 and 8, in their house in Bwetyaba village, Kayunga District, after area residents witnessed signs of violence against her. She was 27.

Another neighbor had invited Nakato to attend a Christmas service at her church on Dec. 25 while Nakato’s husband was away on a trip. Nakato and her children returned to the church for the Sunday service on Dec. 26, and afterward she and her 8-year-old put their faith in Christ.

While she and her children attended worship the next day, her husband arrived home earlier than expected, and a Muslim neighbor told him that his wife had attended church services on two consecutive days. Local sources said her husband, Hamidu Kasimbi, went to the church site and, after taking them about 100 yards away, beat her.

At midday, another neighbor heard screaming from Kasimbi’s house, and later that afternoon a neighbor saw two men wearing Islamic prayer caps outside Kasimbi’s house putting together an undefined wooden structure. Late at night, area residents heard brief screaming in Kasimbi’s house.

When a neighbor went to the house early the next morning (Dec. 28) to borrow a tool, he found Nakato and her two children hanged. The wooden structure built earlier was used to elevate the victims before hanging, he and other local sources said. The 3-year-old was likely killed as part of the punishment for the mother leaving Islam and because the father knew he could not care for his youngest.

Neighbors said injuries suggested that one or more of the victims might have been strangled before being hung.

Police registered a homicide case, but Kasimbi disappeared.

TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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QUICK TAKES

My Yes Is On the Table: Moving from Fear to Faith

By Jennifer Hand [Moody Publishers]

What’s holding you back? The risk? The unknown? The unwillingness to shake up the comfortable status quo? Whatever it is, if you’re not in God’s best place, you’re missing out on something great. The Lord is calling you into a Promised Land. But it’s going to take some faith steps to get there.

Jenn Hand wants you to be able to say to God, “My yes is on the table.” Not halfheartedly. Not half the time. Not halfway there. Jenn wants you to go all in with God — because God is all in for you.

My Yes Is on the Table takes you into the story of the Israelites as they journeyed out of the wilderness and into the Holy Land that God had granted them. Each chapter will challenge you to move from a fear stop to a faith step. And once you›ve started taking those steps with God, there›s no telling where you›ll end up.

For too long, you’ve been paralyzed by fear of the future. You feel God calling. You want to go forward with His plans. Yet fear has stopped you from taking the leap. No more! Instead of letting fear stop you short, let faith call you forward with newfound confidence and holy boldness. Put your “yes” on the table, and watch God do more in your life than you could have ever imagined.

Everyday Prayers for Joy: A 30-Day Devotional & Reflective Journal for Women

Of all the gods, gurus, and good people out there, why Jesus? Why follow some ancient carpenter-turned-philosopher from a podunk town in the Middle East? A man whose own people didn’t believe in him for the most part. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Or does it?

With his signature insight and contagious enthusiasm, Ray Comfort walks you through 12 persuasive reasons to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was who He said He was, did the things the Bible records him doing, and explains why it matters to your life in the 21st century. He covers everything from the virgin birth to Jesus’s miracles and teachings, including His hard sayings, His detractors, His exclusive claims, and His commands to His followers. Through it all, Comfort shines a light on how Jesus stands out and stands above every other teacher, prophet, or historical figure out there.

If you struggle to articulate why you follow Jesus to your friends and family, or if you are a skeptic looking for some way to make sense of the whole Jesus thing, this book is for you.

By Kate Hox [New Growth Press]

What is joy? We can receive fleeting moments of it when we watch sunlight break through the clouds or see a little child laugh as he blows apart the fluff of a spent dandelion. But there is only one source of true, lasting joy — and that’s our Savior, Jesus.

During a season of unknowns, God opened His Word to author Gina L. Smith and taught her His definition of joy so that she could experience it deep in her heart. He helped her realize that she had been finding joy in His blessings, rather than in Him, the source of those blessings. And she learned how to “count it all joy” (James 1:2) come what may.

Everyday Prayers for Joy is a 30-day journey through God’s Word that will help you discover the joy that God wants to share with you. He is with you always and can work out all things for good. Fill yourself to overflowing with God’s joy!

TODAY’S CHRISTIAN LIVING

Ray Comfort [Baker Books]

Who Is Jesus?: 40 Pictures to Share with Your Family

By Gina L Smith [Whitaker House]

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Why Would Anyone Follow Jesus?: 12 Reasons to Trust What the Bible Says about Jesus

JULY 2022

Children learn from the earliest age that Jesus loves them and that they should love Him back, but do they really understand who Jesus is? How do you help a child get to know someone they can’t see and hear?

Thankfully, God gives us a whole Bible of word pictures to help us get to know and love Jesus. In Who is Jesus?, Joe and Kate Hox combine illustrations and deep thoughts simply shared to bring 40 word pictures of Jesus to life.

The Bible is filled with stories and symbols that point us to Jesus as the Savior, the only One who can bring us back to God. God has the best plan, and the biggest and best story. Forty pictures of Jesus — 20 stories from the Old Testament and 20 stories from the New Testament — will guide family devotions and encourage rich conversations about who Jesus is, why he came to earth, and how we can get to know Him now. The pictures tell stories about arks, rams caught in a thicket, snakes, sticks, rocks, shepherds, sheep, water, bread, and so much more.

Each picture of Jesus includes a captivating illustration, a key verse to remember, Bible passages to discuss, a family devotion to read, reflection questions, and a song. Families will explore together the rich imagery of the Bible and learn about God’s great love for his people through Jesus Christ, His Son.

Trusting God in All the Things: 90 Devotions for Finding Peace in Your Every Day

By Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk [Bethany House]

Life is just … a lot. Relationships are hard. Responsibilities are piled high. And it seems like all the things are distracting you from the very best things of all. There’s little time left for yourself — or for connecting with Jesus. No wonder you feel anxious in your mind and hurried in your heart. You desperately long for calm amidst your clamoring duties, stacked schedule, and life’s unexpected circumstances. But where do you begin?

More than anything else, your heart needs a refreshing encounter with God each day. Trusting God in All the Things offers women like you a way forward so you can experience the confident calm you crave. These 90 encouraging devotions will help you face life with God’s peace and renewed strength. Start your day here, on these pages, where you’ll find the calming reassurance of God, who is the only One who can truly be trusted in all the things.

Devotions include: • You Are Not Alone • You Have All That You Need • A Sermonette for Your Soul • When Words Are Hard to Find

Mission Possible: Go Create a Life That Counts

By Tim Tebow with A.J. Gregory [WaterBrook]

Tim Tebow believes that the secret to a truly meaningful life is not more comfort or ease, but recognizing the clear, unique mission that God has set before you. Having a focused sense of your personal, God-given significance will bring you a lasting sense of purpose. That’s why Mission Possible will help you: • identify your priorities • align your responsibilities • elevate convictions over emotions • make decisive, wise, and impactful choices Let this book ignite a new spark in your life. Wherever you are, whatever your work, you can find God’s purpose for your life. Accomplish the mission that you have already been called to and equipped for. It’s never too early and it’s never too late to start living a mission possible life. Find your mission, pursue your purpose, and go create a life that counts.

Chapters include: • Mission Proposal, Mission Purpose • Right Where You Are • Purpose in the Present • Embrace the Grind • Purpose in the Waiting

Songs of Suffering: 25 Hymns and Devotions for Weary Souls

By Joni Eareckson Tada [Crossway]

As an author, speaker, and advocate for people with disabilities, Joni Eareckson Tada has inspired people around the world with her story of faith in the midst of suffering. In this beautiful collection of hymns and devotions she acts as a “song leader,” guiding readers through their own painful seasons with heartfelt praises to God. Songs of Suffering includes 25 hymns with accompanying devotions and photography designed to spark hope in hardship.

Opening with a special message from hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty, this book is a source of comfort for anyone who needs biblical encouragement, prompting readers to seek refuge in the Lord and rejoice in his goodness.

• Beautifully Designed Book from Joni Eareckson Tada: Includes 25 hymns with sheet music, devotionals, and photography • Uplifting Call to Worship: Emphasizes the Bible’s command to sing and leads readers in hope-filled praise • Comfort for the Hurting: Makes a thoughtful gift for friends or family dealing with pain, illness, or loss • Opens with a Message from Keith and Kristyn Getty: Read their reflections on worship and Joni Eareckson Tada’s inspiring ministry

He Is Not Ashamed: The Staggering Love of Christ for His People

By Erik Raymond [Crossway]

Christians belong to God’s own family.

This promise is difficult for some people to believe, and even for some believers to remember in their day-to-day struggles with shame or regret. But it’s repeated throughout the Bible, reflected in Christ’s genealogy, and true of the church today; God’s family is filled with broken people whose stories are a testament to His staggering love.

In He Is Not Ashamed, Erik Raymond takes a close look at the “family portrait” of God — filled with imperfect people throughout Scripture — and shows that God is not repelled by anyone’s shameful past, but delights to redeem and receive those who believe in Him. Studying Hebrews 2:11 and other passages in both the Old and New Testaments, Raymond shows that Jesus’s heart is bent toward those who have an embarrassing history, feel far from God, or struggle with sin. By studying God’s abounding love for undeserving people, Christians learn to accept His grace and confidently embrace their place in God’s family portrait.

Explores Redemptive History: Walks through stories from the Bible, including Jacob the deceiver, Rahab the prostitute, and the “sinful woman” in the book of Luke to reveal patterns of God’s grace.

TODAYSCHRISTIANLIVING.ORG

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KIDS OF THE KINGDOM

A

sixth-grade teacher posed the following problem to one of her arithmetic classes: “A wealthy man dies and leaves 10 million dollars.

One-fifth is to go to his wife, one-fifth is to go to his son, one-sixth to his butler, and the rest to charity. Now, what does each get?”

After a very long silence in the classroom, one little boy raised his hand and with complete sincerity in his voice, answered, “A lawyer!”

—From Mikey’s Funnies (www.mikeysfunnies.com)

If you have a joke or funny story you’d like to share, email editor@todayschristianliving.org. If we print your joke, we’ll pay you $25.

INDEX & WEB LISTING ACTS Retirement-Life Communities.......www.actsretirement.org.............................2 Baker Books............................................www.bakerpublishinggroup.com.............34 Bridget’s Cradles.....................................www.bridgetscradles.com.........................19 CrossLink Publishing...............................www.crosslinkpublishing.com..................19 Hachette Book Group.............................www.hachettebookgroup.com.................34 HarperCollins Christian Publishing.........www.harpercollinschristian.com..............33 Josh McDowell Ministry..........................www.josh.org............................................34 Shell Point Retirement Community.......www.shellpoint.org...................................48 Today’s Pastor..........................................www.todayspastor.org................................9 Total Living Network — TLN.................www.tln.com.............................................47 Tyndale House Publishers.......................www.tyndale.com.....................................33 YWAM Publishing...................................www.ywampublishing.com......................34 Please note: The Advertisers’ Index is published as a convenience to our readers. While every effort is made to obtain accuracy and completeness, last minute changes may occasionally result in unavoidable omissions or errors.

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TODAY’S CHRISTIAN LIVING

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TODAY’S

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GRACE NOTES

Liz Wamsley

Open Hands, Open Heart

I

By Liz Wamsley

Liz Wamsley lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with her five kids and amazing husband.

She relishes opportunities to write and share her heart and things she has learned. Her greatest desire is to know God’s Word and live it fully in thought, word, and action.

f there’s one thing that the pandemic has taught me, it’s how to depend on the Lord for the plans of life. I’m a mother to five kids ages 6, 7, 9, 10, and 20. Our journey together as a family has had many ups and downs, but I’m grateful that we’re still held together by God’s mercy and grace. One continuing teaching moment is “how to plan.” For a month, I stopped putting anything on my calendar because I was so frustrated with constantly having to disappoint the kids with plans not working out as we hoped because of sickness or COVID-19 or even the threat of COVID-19 baring its teeth in our home. We felt pretty beat up having to miss a vacation, a first school experience, not seeing a family member we desperately missed, and so much more. I just couldn’t plan anymore. I knew disappointment and suffering would be on the horizon if I did.

Through all this sadness and grief, I was drawn to a book called Suffering Is Never For Nothing. It was written by well-known author, speaker, missionary, and sufferer Elisabeth Elliot. Her first real encounter with grief was as a missionary in Ecuador when her husband was killed. She recounted that experience and her decision to “do the next thing” which, surprisingly, was to stay and continue the work her husband had begun. From that point until her death in 2015, she dealt with more losses and difficulties, and her book beautifully displays her dependence on the Lord through those struggles. I took a few important notes from her journey, picked up my dry erase marker, and headed over to my empty calendar.

Although I couldn’t depend on the world to get its act together and for plans to start working right, I knew God was trustworthy and dependable and that there are truths He has revealed that I can lean into regardless of plans working out or not. With this in mind, I started filling in my calendar: Sunday: Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

His love endures forever.

Monday: Trust God Tuesday: Do the next thing (a cue from Elisabeth Elliot)

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Wednesday: Believe God loves me and has good plans for me Thursday: Trust God Friday and Saturday: Be thankful for all things in all circumstances For the first time in a long time, I felt like I had something solid to depend on and look forward to. My 9-year-old even found hope in it as well. He had told me that one night he was trying to sleep and was worried something bad would happen.

He said that he then thought about what our calendar said and told himself “to believe God loves me and has good plans for me.” I was encouraged and confident that this truth stuck to him because of his worry. Maybe that’s why we’re called to give thanks in all circumstances. Every circumstance, good or bad, gives us an opportunity to know and trust God more.

With a schedule mentality such as this, we added another practice to our family. When we make plans or face disappointment, we hold out our hands as if we’re ready to receive something. We tell ourselves “open hands, open hearts.” If we can trust that God has good things in store for us even through disappointments, then we will cling to hope with a willingness to receive all that God has. I’ve seen the difference it makes in them to take this posture and move into a place of trust and confidence. In fact, it moves me greatly when they remind me to have an open heart to God’s will and ways when I get stuck in frustrations and disappointments.

I hear Paul’s commentary echo in my heart often these days: “I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills,” he says. If we can find our confidence and assurance in the Lord’s willingness to bring about his Kingdom in our lives, then we can find it easier to navigate disappointments and frustrations that we endure, especially during a pandemic. God loves us.

He is for us. Our lives are in His hands. It’s sobering to realize that even the organization of events is out of our control. However, if we can find the courage to trust the one who is in control, then we will live life to the fullest. Open hands, Open heart. Trust God has good things in store for you. 

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