“I have been betrayed.” Everyone has uttered those words at one time or another in life. A friend of mine recently wrote her dissertation on the premise that anyone who is serious about being a leader in the Body of Christ has experienced a major betrayal from someone close to them – and we know of the betrayal Jesus Himself experienced. A few years ago, I attended a spiritual retreat at a place called Shrine Mont in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The experience and the a

Excerpt from Seven Keys to Hearing God's Voice by Craig von Buseck. What am I going to do with the rest of my life? Where should I go to school? Should I take this job, or is there something better on the horizon? Who should I marry? Life is a never-ending series of choices. Can we know whether we are making the right decisions? Should we consult our horoscope? Maybe we should call the psychic hot-line? Do we go with what the experts are saying or rely on our gut-feeling? Sho

Craig von Buseck: In your testimony you talk about the balance between your sins and your good works. When and how did the light go on for you in understanding salvation through the grace and love of God? Isik Abla: After I became a Christian it took awhile for me to stop performing because I was so ‘works-oriented’ – only this time it was to gain good points from Jesus. So it was very tiring because I possibly served in every ministry in the local church. I became this ‘supe

One of the most interesting and dynamic relationships that we see in the Bible is between Jesus and Peter. There are some key places where we witness special interaction between them. The first is when Peter is still a fisherman on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch many fish." "Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thin

You can seek the Lord through soaking prayer anywhere, and at any time. Soaking prayer can be done in a church service, or in a cell group, youth group, or Sunday school class. You can be alone, or with your spouse, or children. Or you can invite friends to your home and you can take turns praying for one another. Many people like to go into a private room, lock the door and lie down on the floor as they prepare to enter into the presence of God. When you soak, you might want

The Holy Spirit is moving in the earth today and God is inviting His people to pursue Him like never before. Our Heavenly Father desires communion with His children. He desires for believers to come into a place of intimacy with Him through prayer, worship and meditation. As the psalmist declares: This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face… (Ps. 24:6a, NASB) King David was a man after God’s heart and he longed for the presence of the Lord. He wrote of th

"You have a traitor there, Aslan," said the Witch. Everyone present at this confrontation between Aslan and the White Witch knew that she meant Edmund. For you see, Edmund had been seduced by the White Witch with enchanted Turkish Delight, which caused one to go on eating it till they killed themselves – or are stopped by someone. She had given him just enough to make him yearn for more, a ploy to connive Edmund into luring his brother and sisters to the Witch so that she mig

My middle son had fallen asleep on the floor in front of the TV and I had just put my daughter in her crib. But it had been a rough night for my oldest son, Aaron. A short time earlier I had caught him in the baby's crib with an ink marker in his hand. He had written on important papers, his shoes, and on the wall. I had to send him to bed early. It had been a half-hour and he was still whimpering in his bed. Finally, he came out to the living room where I was reading to t

He was a relatively successful businessman -- a tradesman, heartily plying his craft with a small fleet of fishing boats that he shared with his brother and his friends. He knew the sea, his boats, his friends, his family -- and as a God-fearing Jewish man, he knew his religion. But religion was more for the formative years. It was for his wife and his children. It's not that he didn't believe, but he was a busy man, trying to earn an honest living and put bread on the table.

What an unpleasant scene I witnessed one day. Right outside the door of our church a small pothole had developed. Some people don't notice potholes until they are large enough to cause alignment problems. Normally I don't either, but this one was slowly expanding in a precarious place. Being the associate pastor, my job was to make sure that everything was in order around our building. A pothole right outside the door was definitely out of order, no matter how small. An alley