July 1, 2023
God’s Answer in My Distress
My Cancer Battle Has Made Me a Better Preacher and Leader
Articles for tag: New English Translation
September 12, 2022
Every Time
As with track runners, we Christians also have a finish line upon which we focus.
The Pledge
By Stuart Powell In many American schools, a student’s day starts by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. We publicly recite the pledge to our flag and republic to proclaim our trust in those we’ve elected to ensure the safekeeping of our civic freedoms. Top among those freedoms are living our faith and speaking candidly about our government. A pledge is a public declaration of personal conformity to the rule of law in our country. Those who hear our pledge should be confident that we intend to live out the call of “justice for all.” Peter wrote that the Christian life
March 17, 2020
Remembering Amazing Things
By Stuart Powell Asaph son of Berechiah was a Levite musician (1 Chronicles 15:17) credited with writing Psalm 77. He lived in the time of Israel’s prosperity under Kings David and Solomon. Yet this psalm laments a time of pain in his life. The psalm begins with his petitions for help from a seemingly distant God. Asaph didn’t detail the source of his difficulty but described how he suffered most when, as he said, “my strength leaves me” (v. 3), “during the night” (v. 6), and when he felt cut off from God (v. 9). In those times, Asaph sought
February 25, 2020
Manifestations
By Stuart Powell God used visible signs throughout the Old Testament to confirm the message of his revelation; three examples included the rainbow, the tabernacle, and feasts. When people of faith encountered these visible signs, they would recall the stories behind them. They would retell the words God shared with earlier believers. All of these signs accompanied a promise God made to his people. So each sign became the physical manifestations of the promise God made. Two of the most prominent signs representative of Old Testament promises were the rite of circumcision, a reminder of God’s promises because of the
February 18, 2020
Once For All
By Stuart Powell Many people see wooden fences as a nice accent in a rustic setting. Ranchers may use them to contain their livestock. But there is a problem with wooden fences: they are temporary. Rot-resistant wood can be selected and treated with all sorts of chemical preservatives but, in the end, the rails will begin to break and the posts will start to lean. If the fence is not maintained, it is only a matter of time before it falls to the ground in uselessness and decay. It’s the same way with every work that mankind attempts. Our work
January 21, 2020
Do You Understand?
By Stuart Powell John 13 describes the interaction between Jesus and his followers on the night he was betrayed. As the meal progressed, Jesus got up from the table, removed his outer clothing, tied a towel around himself, and began washing their dusty feet as a servant would do. “So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them,’Do you understand what I have done for you?'” (John 13:12, New English Translation). Peter didn’t understand. He thought it might be Jesus’ way of elevating
January 7, 2020
The Bond of Believers
By Stuart Powell When the apostle Paul wrote his first letter to the believers in Corinth, he wanted to correct some wrong practices that tarnished their gatherings. Among the many details he called out was their disrespect toward each other when they gathered together at the Lord’s table. Paul desired that they focus less on themselves and more on the other believers who gathered to partake. He wrote, For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given
December 24, 2019
Marking Time
By Stuart Powell In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on this very day, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me there. By means of divine visions he brought me to the land of Israel and placed me on a very high mountain, and on it was a structure like a city, to the south (Ezekiel 40:1, 2, New English Translation). In exile, Ezekiel measured the passing of time from two national
December 3, 2019
The Right Reason
By Stuart Powell At this time of year, Christians proudly proclaim, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” The statement is intended to counteract cultural forces that are attempting to remove Jesus as the foundation of Christmas. Many people push to make the celebration about family, children, and giving gifts. Christians know there is more to Christmas—and we want to share that knowledge. We celebrate with confidence Jesus’ birth, a historical event and a major part of our identity as Christians. As believers we continually focus on the Son of God’s indescribable birth in Bethlehem. We display our conviction that
October 29, 2019
The Inspiring Leader
By Stuart Powell After Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Messiah the Jews had long anticipated (Matthew 16:16), Jesus began explaining God’s plans for this long-promised deliverer: From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” (Matthew 16:21, 22, New English Translation). Matthew didn’t record all of
September 10, 2019
Blood and Victory
By Stuart Powell An 8-year-old girl had tried for months to learn to ride a bicycle. Finally, while visiting her cousins one day, she succeeded. Unable to contain her excitement, she ran to her mother shouting, “I know how to ride a bike! I know how to ride a bike!” The mom beamed. And then she saw blood covering part of her daughter’s foot. The girl had cut her toe on a curb while trying to avoid a bush. The concerned mom began asking questions about the foot and the blood, but the daughter ignored the concerns. “I’m OK!” she
September 3, 2019
Better Promises
By Stuart Powell Much of Christianity is understood best through the lens of the Old Testament. The history of Israel and the Law of Moses reveal how far humanity fell from the ideal God created. The earliest believers were devout Jews who had spent their lives looking forward to the Messiah spoken about in their Hebrew Scriptures. Considering all this, this New Testament passage is striking: “But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6, New English Translation). How did Jesus’ sacrifice usher in
August 20, 2019
Washed, Sanctified, Justified
By Stuart Powell As Christians, we must choose how to express ourselves. We all are tempted to display the sins in our relationships with people inside and outside of the faith. Paul wrote about this battle in his letter to the believers in Corinth: Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and
August 6, 2019
Faith of the 21
By Stuart Powell Some images in life are so tragic, we struggle to process what we’ve seen. In early 2015, 21 young Christian Egyptian men clad in orange jumpsuits were marched single file onto a beach in Libya. The men stopped and faced the camera and were forced to their knees. Behind each Christian was a masked radical Islamist holding a knife. We all know what came next, and most of us recoil at the thought. Many people living in Western cultures that developed from Christianity’s influence are tempted to believe martyrs are people we read about only in the
