New Ministry at Vine Ministry Center

Jesus actively calls disciples. He says, “Come, be my follower and proclaim the Gospel.” Each disciple of Jesus is called to proclaim the Gospel in some way. (See Matthew 4:18–22; 28:19–20.) We do that by listening to what God wants us to do, readying ourselves for the mission, then acting on it when his timing comes. 

New Day has been facilitating great kingdom work in our Ministry Center in the Vine neighborhood at 632 Locust St. for nearly 20 years now. Within that time, it has hosted things like young adults ministry, a campus of New Day Church, worship nights, and various groups. We are always asking the Lord what he would like to do next, keeping the building open before him to use however he wants to impact the surrounding community. While we have a thriving men’s discipleship residency program occupying the second floor, it was apparent that the main floor had great untapped potential. 

Well, we have great news. Holy Grounds Meeting Place, led by Amanda Owens and her board, are starting their nonprofit ministry in our space this month! Ultimately the main floor will be renovated to be a coffee shop with a private meeting space for “living room style” Bible studies and space for children to be looked after. 

While funds for the renovation are being raised, Holy Grounds will open their doors to the community right away, offering drip coffee by donation, and a slew of wonderful events and groups. There will be board game nights, worship events, prayer meetings, and a grief support group, to name a few. A variety of Bibles will be on site as well.

This ministry’s connection will reach beyond New Day as a space for churches and others in Kalamazoo to utilize for discipleship, ministry, and the betterment of our community. It will serve as a space for people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus yet to come and experience Christianity in a very approachable setting.

God gave Amanda a big vision for what he wants to do through Holy Grounds in our city, linking arms with dozens of area churches, businesses, and ministries. What a joy to be such a big part of this wonderful ministry as Holy Grounds functions out of our building, under our covering and blessing. Please keep Amanda and her team in your prayers as they step out in obedience to the way God called them to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples.

https://holygroundsmeetingplace.org/

“To everything there is a season…”

“…a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

At a missions conference months after my salvation, I heard God declare, “You are not called to go, but to send.” Since then I, and our church, have sent many individuals, teams, church plants, missionaries, and a large amount of money to world missions. 

I obeyed my call “to send” for 20 years before visiting a foreign ministry at age 40. Since then, many opportunities for sending resources – and sending myself – have opened up. Having so much leadership experience enables me to counsel and encourage ministries and individuals in a vast array of ministries. From planting churches, leading a local congregation long-term, leading a multi-site church, to leading international networks, my resume is broad. 

When asked how I work and travel so extensively, my response is: “The faithful and generous support of people like you.” No longer being on New Day staff allows me to focus on Harvest Alliance (80+ ministries in 20 nations), and many missions and speaking requests. While I was a pastor of New Day, the church funded most of my missions. As Missions Pastor, New Day’s salary covered my livelihood and fundraising, and Harvest Alliance paid for my travel. The BIG change is that I am now fully dependent upon donations for my livelihood and ministry travel. 

My ongoing ministry information can be found at www.cameronwright.org. The missions and church planting schools that I do regularly in Mexico, Africa, and Europe are made up of existing pastors and missionaries and those preparing to go into such ministries. This enables me to directly shape the next generation of pastors and leaders, which is very rewarding. My work with Harvest Alliance enables me to come alongside pastors and church leadership and encourage them leading their churches and navigating the myriad of challenges faced in ministry. I am deeply grateful for the support of New Day in the support the church provides for me to continue serving the greater Church. 

Faith is best expressed by action. October will be another extended ministry trip: Beginning in England for a week at a H.A. church and the annual gathering in London; then over a week in Vancouver, Canada ministering at another H.A. gathering and several H.A. churches. From there, I’ll fly to Mexico to teach a week at a mission school. Additionally I am already filling my 2026 calendar with ministry trips and projects. Please keep me in your prayers.

You Cannot Be Serious

The book of James makes me feel like John McEnroe at Wimbledon in 1981. Check out the clip here to see what I’m talking about: http://bit.ly/46FWpQI. If I’m honest with myself, I just want to say: “James…YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!” 

“Count it pure joy … whenever you face trials of many kinds…” (James 1:2, NIV). ?!? And also: “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4). What?! I don’t want to face trials! And I certainly don’t want to endure them long enough for perseverance to do a bunch of work on me. I want the trial to end! I want to feel blessed. Favored. Healthy. Happy. “James…YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!”

And yet he is serious—with God’s inspiration and approval. When we read the Bible, repeated words serve as an alert system. They tell us to pay attention. James uses the same word twice in one sentence in verse four: “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature…” You may need a reference book to see it, but “finish” and “mature” are the exact same word in the original Greek (teleios). It means perfect, mature, complete, or fully developed. James, you want me to sit with the pain of trials long enough for perseverance to fully develop its work in me? I’ll say it again: “YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!”

And yet this is God’s will for his people: to endure trials. To let them take you beyond your breaking point—to a Garden of Gethsemane reckoning. Where you can feel the agony of injustice with no way out of that moment, and turn to God anyway to say: “Your will be done” (Matt. 26:42). God, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!

And yet he is. Jesus did that. Hebrews says Jesus is “crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9). And furthermore, he is called the pioneer of our salvation who was made “perfect  (teleios) through what he suffered” (Heb. 2:10). He endured for you and me. Now he calls us to endure until his salvation becomes our eternal experience.

Christianity begins with his love for us, demonstrated by what he suffered on the cross. It continues as we express our love in response, taking up our cross to follow him. And it lasts eternally as we enjoy eternal life in his presence. Wow! That’s an amazing promise. God, you would do that for me? YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!

And from the bottom of my heart…thank you.

Slowing Down

When I was a little girl, my family would go and visit my grandparents in South Haven. My grandparents would take us to their favorite beach on occasion to look for rocks and beach glass. This particular beach was all rocks and no sand; you had to wear shoes to walk on the large rocks. My grandmother was really good at finding beach glass. She took her time and combed the shore and always managed to find lots of shiny treasures. Her large collection boasted glass in numerous colors. 

I was at a Lake Michigan beach the other day after a storm had come through. Numerous rocks had washed up along the shoreline. I started searching for the precious treasures. There was a couple in front of me and they were also combing the rocks for interesting finds. I wondered if I should try to get ahead of them; however, as I slowed down, I was able to discover numerous pieces of beach glass. 

In Proverbs 8:17, God says, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” Later in Proverbs 25:2 it says, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” 

Our world is a very busy place and it encourages us to go faster and get more done. God's ways are not like the world. He calls us to do something different. I have found that when I take time to spend with him, I actually have the capacity to accomplish all that I need to in a day. When I don’t take time with him, I don’t seem to get as much done. His ways are higher than ours. 

This year, as we abide, we are slowing down and seeking God. Our series on spiritual pathways is showing us different ways of connecting with God. I would encourage you to take the time to slow down and engage in each of the pathways. Connecting with God is always rewarding, even more than finding treasures on the shoreline.

Stillness Matters (repost from 2024)

In today’s world, we have no shortage of interesting things to give our attention to. Eating breakfast too boring? Watch a video while you’re at it! The drive to work too quiet? Listen to a podcast! Need to go to the bathroom? Why don’t you scroll on Instagram or TikTok while you do your business? I could continue, but I’m sure you know what I mean. Our lives are filled with distractions, headlines, and thumbnails waiting to grab our attention, but isn’t it exhausting? Surely there is something better and more fulfilling we can do with our time, right?

There certainly is, and in fact I believe it to be far simpler than we make it out to be. What is it? Stillness. 

The practice of stillness is one modern society has largely fallen out of touch with; however, it’s one we see modeled in Scripture frequently. One such model is Jesus Himself. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is a busy man. He’s constantly traveling, preaching and healing, all the while specifically training His 12 disciples in the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Yet despite this, we continuously see Jesus prioritize time with His Father away from distractions. Luke 4:42 & 5:16 state that not only did Jesus take time to step away and pray, but He did so regularly. In Matt. 14:13-23, Jesus goes off to pray, gets interrupted by the 5,000, feeds them, then resumes His original plan and prays by Himself. Perhaps most significant of all, in Matt. 4, the first thing Jesus does after getting baptized is spend 40 days in the wilderness in solitude before beginning His public ministry. 

Even with His busy schedule, Jesus valued time with God immensely. So how do we learn to do the same in our everyday lives? By starting small. Whenever you get a moment where you could fill it with a distraction, just breathe instead. Focus on God, and welcome Him into your mind. And then linger there for a minute. If you can, set a 5-10 minute timer where that’s all you do. Simple as that.

God wants to encounter and transform you, and when you make this practice a lifestyle, you intentionally open moments everyday specifically for encountering His love, returning to our original design of being children loved by our Heavenly Father. So give it a shot, and see how God moves in your life, I think you’ll find Him more fulfilling than another TikTok.

Abide: Pathways for Connection

Pathways matter! But the destination matters most! What’s more important at Van Buren State Park? Climbing over the dune on the pavilion path or getting to the beach? Is it more important to take the paved sidewalk or to reach those Lake Michigan waves? I’ve never met anyone at Van Buren who said they came for the path. No! They take the path that suits them best to reach the destination.

The same principle applies to abiding. While there are many pathways for connecting…the important thing is the destination: JESUS! Over the next nine weeks of summer, we will be going through a sermon series about different ways to abide. It’s called “Abide: Pathways for Connection.” I pray this series gives you some practical ways to more powerfully and consistently connect with your source of life, love, joy, peace, and purpose: Jesus Christ. He is the one who said: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love” (John 15:9, ESV).

As we explore these pathways, keep in mind that they can never replace the basic Christian practices. There’s nothing that could ever replace belief, confession, repentance, Bible reading, prayer, worship, service, and sharing your faith. These basic Christian practices can be enhanced by the pathway methods, but never replaced. You’d never go for a long, hot day at the beach without water and justify that decision based on which pathway you took to the shore! The same is true spiritually: you may find you love the caregiving pathway for connecting with Jesus (à la Mother Teresa), but you should never neglect personal prayer and Bible reading. I think Mother Teresa would wholeheartedly agree!

This summer will offer you a time to reflect on which pathways come most naturally for you. You’ll also be challenged to expand your horizons into pathways less familiar, so you can be a balanced abider. Your investment in understanding and practicing multiple ways of connecting with Jesus will prepare you for a multifaceted, lifelong practice of abiding. There was a season of life when I never took the paved sidewalk to the beach at Van Buren. I wanted the adventure of climbing over the dune. That pathway worked best for my stage of life and goals at the time. Later in life, when I was toting diaper bags, floaties, goldfish crackers, and toddlers, the sidewalk became much more desirable. The same principle applies to our spiritual life. What pathways suit your current season of life? What pathways do you need to cultivate to diversify how you relate to God?

Whatever pathway(s) you choose, I’ll see you at the destination: Jesus!

Hung Between

As we wind down our ABIDE sermon series, John’s purpose for writing his book (to inspire belief in his readers – John 20:31) is standing out to me. Particularly the raw reality that as Jesus hung on the cross, he hung between belief and unbelief. He had a thief on either side of him: one believed, one ridiculed. I feel John’s intent surge to the forefront as he poses what continues to hang in the balance: will you be a sinner who receives Jesus or a sinner who rejects him? Answering that question is of utmost importance; therefore, John penned a most compelling account of Jesus' life and ministry that inspires everyone to believe.

Given John’s focus to move his readers to belief in Jesus, let’s look at many of the profound things he had to say about belief throughout his book:

To those who believe, an extraordinary right is given.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent… but born of God. (John 1:12-13)

God’s wrath is removed from those who believe.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:36)

Those who believe cross over from death to eternal life.
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

Belief in Jesus is doing the work of God. 
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

True believers hold to Jesus’ teaching.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Some who believe are afraid to say so, fearing they may lose praise from men.
…many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. (John 12:42-43)

What a beautiful belief compilation! When we believe in Jesus we become his child, God’s wrath is removed from us, and we are given eternal life. Belief in Jesus is how we do the work of God as we hold to his teachings and care more about pleasing God than men. In response to such glorious Scripture, let us solidify devotion to belief in Jesus and extend this vital reality to others like John did for us.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

“What are you up to? Do you want spaghetti?” 

It was a gloomy day after a prayer meeting at the Vine Building downtown, where Chloe invited me upstairs. Since I was new to the young adult community, I sensed this was her way of being intentional about including the outsider. And being a young guy in college, I obviously didn’t turn down free food. 

From across the island in the middle of the teal kitchen, I answered the usual “get to know you” questions while Chloe cut up bell peppers to fill out the red sauce simmering on the stove. But the course of my life was permanently altered when she told me about her day at work. 

Chloe’s coworker at the boutique had casually vented about her dysfunctional marriage during their shift. I remember the way Chloe stopped in the middle of her story to scan the ceiling while emotions unfurled on her face. She was troubled by her coworker’s heartache. Deeply troubled. She was moved to pray and to imagine a better life for her. And while she slid the peppers off the cutting board into the saucepan, I caught a glimpse of sincerity and selflessness that I had never seen before. It struck me. 

Her problems are SO different from mine, I thought. As someone at the beginning of his discipleship journey, my main concerns were about chasing miracles, paying adult bills, and trying to quit porn. Why does she care this much about a stranger? How did she get to be so compassionate? Her concern, clearly absorbed during time spent with Jesus, was so impressive, the impact left me reeling for years. 

This simple-but-groundbreaking moment highlighted the power of vulnerability when it comes to being a "witness". An obscure little letter in your Bible called Philemon offers a similar, vulnerable insight into the life of a Jesus follower. In it, Paul entreats Philemon to receive his runaway slave like a missing son. Paul shares his newfound love for the former slave, inviting the reader to think something like, “Wow, Paul’s problems are so different from mine. How did he become so redemptive?” And as witnesses of Paul’s sincerity, of the gospel in action, we can absorb a new vision of a life transformed by the love of Jesus. It’s worth a read.

It’s certainly appropriate sometimes to prepare a little speech for an opportunity to share the gospel. But vulnerability is potent. Let’s not discount the power of inviting an outsider to witness your day at work over a bowl of homemade spaghetti sauce. Without a doubt, I still want to be as sensitive and generous as Chloe when I grow up.

(Thanks Chloe!)

Unity

Our world is full of competition. We compete in sports to see who is the reigning champion. There’s competition in schools for all kinds of things, including grades. In the workplace, people compete for jobs. Restaurants compete for customers. Let’s not talk about competitiveness in politics. It seems like it’s all around us, and it’s easy to get caught up in it. 

When does healthy competition become division? We live in a world where it seems like divisiveness reigns. Just watch the news or check out social media, and you'll see lots of examples of division. 

Although healthy competition can be good and even help people excel, the one place where there should not be division or even any competition is the church. Not just the local church, but all the believers together that make up the whole church. That’s the one that Jesus is coming back for.

Jesus prayed in John 17:20-23: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

God’s people, Christians, have been called to unity. We are to be unified so the world can see God’s love through it. Our unity stands out in a world that is full of division and competition. 

How can we have unity with other Christians? Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:2-3: “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

Being patient with others isn’t easy. Neither is forgiving those who offend you. However, Jesus says that those who follow him will be like him. He is our role model, and we need to do as he instructed us to do: Be one with one another as he is with the Father. 
I encourage you to ask yourself if you are showing God’s love to the world by your unity with him and his church. Are you doing your part to be unified with other believers?

“GO, MAKE DISCIPLES!”

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations …” (Matt. 28:18). Jesus commissioned not only the eleven disciples, but all disciples over time. Additionally, he was commissioning the Church, as those eleven represented the whole of the Church.

The Great Commission isn’t an individual endeavor, it requires a team. The local church is each Christian’s team in pursuit of this goal. The world is bound and determined to go to hell, and we are the defensive line to obstruct them and intercept as many as possible to turn them around to life, scoring another soul for Jesus! 

Our church is extremely supportive of missions. Decades ago, we raised funds to install electricity and water in an Ugandan village. They called it “Kalamazoo Light & Water!” We have sent a lot of money and many missionaries. It's part of the DNA of New Day. 

This summer, a New Day team will minister at a Harvest Alliance (H.A.) church in England. Then we’ll travel to Izmir, Turkey, and spend four days ministering to a church and the faithful saints in that Muslim nation. Churches around the world stepped up in prayer and support when the former pastor of this church was imprisoned for his faith. But with his release in 2018, the memory and the support quickly faded. New Day has continued to support this church over the years, including sending me numerous times, and now sending another team. 

When the team returns, New Day is sending me onward to teach for a month in Kenya. All of the students are impoverished, and a third have spent their entire lives in a refugee camp, having fled war 30 years ago as children. This school’s degree will enable them to break the cycle of poverty. Concurrently, I’ll teach a School of Missions & Ministry for Europeans. While in Kenya, I’ll work with another H.A. ministry doing tremendous work helping kids in the juvenile detention system and returning wrongfully incarcerated children to their families. Finally, on the return trip, I will teach at another School of Missions & Ministry in Madrid, Spain. 

With this, and all the other missions, New Day is excelling at fulfilling the Great Commission. This is a major “WIN” for our church, and each member – not merely for us who are going, but for the team that enables us to “GO, MAKE DISCIPLES!”

* For more information, visit www.cameronwright.org

The Coronation of our Savior King

We worship a creative and surprising God! His love for unexpected beauty shows up throughout creation. We see it in the strange and beautiful animals, birds, and fish. We see it through his choice to use the ignored and unexpected for his purposes (Moses, David, Ruth, and Rahab come to mind). In retrospect, it’s no wonder that when he chose to clothe himself in humanity, he became the son of a carpenter in an out-of-the-way, good-for-nothing village called Nazareth. God likes to achieve miraculous things in unexpected ways!

The same is true for the crucifixion and resurrection! So miraculous! So unexpected! The Word from the beginning, now in human flesh, was falsely convicted, mocked, beaten, and executed on a Roman cross?!? We often spend Good Friday focused on the suffering Jesus endured, putting ourselves in the place of his shell-shocked disciples, or grieving his painful death. These are appropriate. They help us take in the reality and gravity of it all. We don’t want to take it for granted. However, would you consider another way of looking at the cross this year?

Although the disciples had to sort it all out later, we know the rest of the story. We have the New Testament to put the pieces together. We look back at Jesus’ suffering through the lens of resurrection. When we see it from that perspective, the unexpected beauty of Christ appears victorious! Our Savior King’s coronation occurred on a cross!

At the cross, Jesus took the eternal throne,
though it looked like those enthroned convicted him.
At the cross, Jesus broke the curse,
though it looked like the curse was breaking him.
At the cross, Jesus defeated evil,
though it looked like evil was defeating him.
At the cross, Jesus gave eternal life to sinful man,
though it looked like sinful man was killing him.

The Gospels carefully display tons of royal imagery in the crucifixion account. Palace, robe, staff, crown, procession, attendants, homage, and the sign that says it all: “The King of the Jews.” Although most of the royal treatment given to Jesus mocked him, the imagery remains. And now, looking back through the resurrection, we see how truly royal he is!

At the cross, Jesus takes his throne! Rising from the grave, he validates his rule and reign forevermore! In Jesus’ unexpected death: “Shame is transformed into glory, foolishness into wisdom, and humiliation into exaltation. The cross is the throne from which Christ rules the world” (Jeremy Treat). And the resurrection seals it in power! 

Where, O death, is your victory? 
Where, O death, is your sting?
For God himself upon the tree.
Is crowned forever, Savior King!

Wrestle with the Father

In Genesis 32, Jacob is stressed. For most of his life, he’s fled from his brother Esau who, after Jacob stole the firstborn’s blessing, has wanted to kill him. This has haunted Jacob (even his name means “supplanter”), but in chapter 32, he and God have had enough. The Lord told him to “return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good” (Gen. 32:9), and now, after sending his family across the river Jabbok where he and Esau plan to reunite, Jacob stands at the river’s edge, alone in the night.

Just before this, Jacob cried out to God in a desperate prayer: “God, I’m terrified. I don’t know what’s going to happen, Esau could kill me, my wives, and my children. I know I haven’t been a good man, I don’t deserve any blessing, but please, deliver me. You promised to bless me after all, please follow through.” (paraphrase of Gen. 32:9-12). He’s following what God told him to do, but that happens to mean confronting his past; the thing that’s held him back his whole life. It's overwhelming (rightfully so).

In verse 24, the story takes a wild shift. It’s revealed that Jacob, though he was alone, was also not alone. A “Man” (revealed to be God) appears, and the two of them wrestle all night until dawn, when the God-Man supernaturally pops Jacob’s hip out of place. In this moment Jacob demands a blessing, and God obliges, but in an unexpected way.

God’s blessing isn’t some power or something, but a deliverance (exactly what Jacob prayed for earlier)—except it’s not from Esau, it’s from Jacob’s own name, and the burden it bears. Rather than “Jacob the Supplanter,” God declares he shall now be known as Israel, for he has “striven with God and with men, and has prevailed” (v. 28).

When we come up against struggles in our own lives that trigger the wounds of our past, let’s learn from Jacob not to flee or numb ourselves from what it brings up in us, but to face that internal turmoil with God, to be open to wrestling through these struggles with Him. It may be hard, it may hurt (Jacob had a limp the rest of his days), but through that confrontation, the Father wants to bring redemption & transformative liberation. A new name, if you will.

So it begs the question: when the turmoil gets real, will you wrestle with Him?

Pray Without Ceasing

“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ’If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” (John 7:37-39 NIV). 

Jesus interrupted this ceremony at the pinnacle of the celebration. He turned the focus from the priest who, tradition says, was pouring water from the stream of Siloah, which flowed under the Temple Mount onto the altar as a thanksgiving offering, and directed all attention upon Himself. 

This act would have been irreverent, heretical, and crazy, if it hadn’t been true. Jesus was claiming that He alone was the source of life and salvation. No wonder the Jewish leaders were seeking to crucify Him! That ancient ceremony has ceased, but billions of people over the years and to this day come to Jesus to receive the living water of the Holy Spirit. 

Since I was saved and filled with the Spirit, I have spoken aloud in tongues. I was taught early on that one should pray daily in tongues. For me it is life-giving, as essential as drinking water. Recently I’ve begun praying in tongues aloud in public. I’m never disrespectful, and I'm not loud. People talk on their phones in public, so I talk to God in public, in English and in my spiritual language. When I’ve shared this with other believers, they think I’m kidding, but it’s true. Why not? I have found that it helps change the spiritual atmosphere when I pray aloud. I carry on a continual conversation as I walk through stores, drive, or do errands. I need all the prayer I can get.

If we really believe that the Holy Spirit, and particularly speaking in tongues, is the living water Jesus promised (see Acts 2), then we and those around us need all that God will give. Think of it this way: the Holy Spirit is an unlimited well of life, but we are the valve that controls the flow. I choose to let the river flow. And I’ve found it is helpful in keeping my mind and body focused on Jesus. I encourage you to give it a try! “Pray without ceasing!”(1 Thes. 5:17).

Who Influences You?

I spent a glorious week with my three-year-old grandson, Max. Three-year-olds are so interesting. They are little mimics and repeat back to you things you say and even things you wished they hadn’t heard. I had to be careful of what I said even when he wasn’t listening to me. He looks up to me and allows my words to influence him. 

Numbers 11:4 says, “The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, ’If only we had meat to eat!’” I did some digging and the “rabble” among them was most likely Egyptians or other foreigners that joined the Israelites out of Egypt. Why would they listen to these people? The Israelites had seen God perform miracles, exempt them from the plagues, free them from slavery, plunder the Egyptians, part the Red Sea, and provide food and water in the desert for them.

The Israelites allowed others to influence them. They were the chosen people, delivered and set apart. Now they are allowing others to tell them what they deserve or should have. Oh, how quick they were to listen to others and stop trusting in God. 

What about you? Do you allow what you see, read, or listen to influence you to live your life in a way that is opposed to what God tells us to do? The Bible has a lot to say about how we are to live our lives. 

How we should talk: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).

How we should live: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Spend time with God and in His word and allow the Holy Spirit to be the one that influences you!

Hard Rock Cafe

"No, I can't think of anything, but thank you," is the most common response I get whenever I directly ask someone, "is there anything you need prayer for?" While it often comes up during street ministry, I actually hear it most from people in church, especially when there's no immediate health or relationship crisis.

Why is that? Why is it that those who complain about their jobs on Monday, or their family during the holidays, or their back pain in the morning, or how aimless they feel at night, can't think of something to bring to the Lord in prayer? Why don’t we connect the dots between our need and God’s providence? 

 Here's the biggest reason for this: We're in the habit of meeting our own needs.

During Jesus' 40-day fast in the desert, Satan tempted him with the strangest thing: "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread" (Matthew 4:3). Jesus was hungry and the devil tempted him to feed himself with limestone? “Meet your need! Eat these rocks.” Weird, right?

I finally understood the devil’s tactics after God showed me the “rocks” in my own life: cheap sex, endless video games, school, job-chasing, worship music, Instagram, steak dinners. All of these things were “good enough" to numb my real hunger for aliveness. I didn't need anything from God because, in theory, I had everything covered. Since I turned those things into breakfast, I felt too "full" to ask for anything. And as it turns out, there's no room for blessing when your belly is stuffed with stones!

Jesus' response to the devil's temptation is profound and helpful. He replied, "It is written, man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Mat. 4:4). Bread, the things we supply for ourselves (even good things), can't make us alive. According to Jesus, being filled with His Word by thinking about it, acting on it, and living by it, provides the aliveness that we crave.

If you’re in the habit of eating lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, the solution is to learn how to feast on God's word. He has something to say about work, family, pains, purpose, and entertainment. So as the Lord leads, let Him become the one who meets your need by tuning in to His word. One by one, you can safely surrender the stones in your pantry to make room for the abundant life that only God can supply. 

Then the next time someone asks, "What do you need prayer for?" you'll have a long list of rocks that you're ready to replace with whatever the Lord sets on the table.

New Day Vine Ministry Center Update

Forty-four years ago, I stepped into a small church on Locust Street. I’d become a Christian that summer, and when I returned to WMU, finding a church was a top priority. I visited several churches but had yet to find one as passionately alive as the Mexican church I attended in Lansing. While at a church on campus, I expressed to another student how I found the service lacking passion and intensity. A friend of hers attended a church she thought I’d like and gave me directions to it.

That was the Redemption Center, now called New Day. It met at 2 PM in a small building on Locust Street (not New Day Vine, but the building next to it). The church was passionate and biblical and I quickly joined. We would often pray to get the larger laundromat next door, but soon moved to various locations before building our Nichols Road facility. About 30 years later, our prayers were answered. Sarah and Seth Gerber bought the old laundromat building to use the upstairs as income property and the downstairs as a young adult ministry center. The Gerbers and New Day raised a lot of money and invested a lot of work to completely renovate it. When the Gerbers moved to California, New Day purchased the building. The young adult group was replaced with a satellite church which prospered for several years. For a variety of reasons, during Covid, New Day Vine services ended and regrouped at our Nichols building.

The Vine Ministry Center is still being used for the Kingdom on a daily basis. Three different Recovery Group ministries use the building and are extremely grateful for the facility as it perfectly accommodates them. This is a very meaningful way New Day is meeting genuine needs in our community. Additionally, my office for New Day and for leading Harvest Alliance, our international network, is located there. Ministry literally is streamed from there around the world. The building is also often used for other smaller groups and special events. The upstairs functions as a residential facility for those involved in ministry and leadership development. It's incredibly rewarding to see the answer to prayers from 30 years ago being fulfilled.

I am deeply grateful for the vision of all who invested, and continue to invest, in enabling New Day to have a ministry center in the heart of our community. You never know how or when God will answer your prayers!

Abide: Peace & Plan

Our hearts reveal how much the ailments of the age affect us. We want a fulfilling life—but many of us are surviving, not thriving. We want a strong sense of purpose—but many of us feel confused, not clear. We want to engage with something of lasting meaning—but many of us feel insignificant, not important. We want to feel a deep sense of belonging–but many of us feel lonely, not loved.

Our culture peddles endless answers to these ailments. More information and “solutions” are at our fingertips than ever before, but it isn’t helping. As a society, we are more anxious, depressed, confused, and lonely than ever before. So where do we go from here?

We go to Jesus! He has compassion for us: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Are you ready to come in out of the wind for a rest from it all? Those who come to Jesus find peace, but also a plan.

John 15:4,9,11 (ESV) — Abide in me, and I in you …  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love … These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

The life you were created for can be yours in Jesus! The key is found in one simple word: Abide. Jesus calls himself the vine and means for us to be the branches. If we abide in him, as a branch remains connected to its vine, his life will flow through our veins! 

Sounds great doesn’t it? For “abide” to move from an inspiring idea to a way of life, we need to take action. Have you ever driven by vineyards and noticed how the grapevines stand in identical rows? Why is that? The answer is: a trellis. The job of a trellis is simple: bear the weight of the grapevine so it can grow and bear the most fruit possible.

Our spiritual life needs a trellis too. If you want to burst with life and joy, you need a support structure to bear the weight of that fruitfulness. This comes in the form of daily habits. How will you create a little margin for connecting with Jesus each day this year? Will you start your day with prayer and Bible reading? Will you schedule a daily walk-and-talk time with the Lord? The options are limitless! Have fun! Be creative! May the joy of the Lord be in you, and may your joy be full!

Learn to Linger (originally posted in 2023)

I don’t know about you, but I find that in my day-to-day life, I struggle to make space to just sit and linger. For instance, if I’m going on a hike on a beautiful day, I often find myself not thinking about the nature at all but rather the work I need to do after that hike, or if I’m eating dinner I’m not actually focusing on enjoying the food, but rather paying attention to the video or show I’m watching at the same time. 

We, in today’s culture, are so captivated by constantly keeping ourselves entertained and updated on the next thing that we hardly ever take time to simply linger in a moment. The question is, however, if we do this so constantly in our day-to-day lives, how often do we simply move on from a moment that God wants us to linger in? 

Recently at one of our weekly Thursday night prayer meetings, God confronted this mentality in me. While we were praying, He revealed to me a picture of Him tending plants as they grew into trees, but He highlighted that despite the season (whether dry, wet, sunny, or snowy), the trees remained planted where they were in His presence, and He remained to tend to them. The trees didn’t need to get up and walk to another place to be filled up and grow. They knew to dig their roots deep and linger in His presence, and that He was enough for them. 

The psalmist in Psalm 1 writes about this in a very similar picture, declaring that He who delights in the law of the Lord is “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:2-3 ESV). By intentionally choosing to meditate on the Lord and His word, we are filled like a fruitful tree.

In a world so consumed by the fast-paced life, God is calling us to slow down and spend time with Him. To choose to set aside time to welcome His presence and continue to linger with Him after welcoming Him. He wants to reside with us, be present in the routine of our lives, and continuously pour His love into us as we learn to remain in His presence, rather than just doing it for two minutes each day and then moving on. 

So let us learn to not simply move on, but rather learn to linger. To rein in our minds and hearts to spend just a few more minutes with Him & Him alone. When we remain, our roots dig deeper and our branches stretch higher, we develop intimacy with Him, and He tends to us as the Good Gardener He is.

The Power of Testimony

“Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, ‘It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.’” (Revelation 12:10-11 NLT)

We know we are saved by Jesus' sacrifice. Believing this, and committing our lives to follow Jesus, is what makes us Christians. In this passage we see an additional component of salvation—our testimony. Those who overcame the accuser, the devil, did so by the “blood of the Lamb AND by their testimony.” 

In Greek, “testimony” means: evidence given, record, or report. It's the evidence in our lives of the power of the blood of the Lamb that enables us to overcome the devil. The record and report of overcoming temptation, doubt, fear, and the accusations of the devil is our side of the salvation story. 

“He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world” (1 John 2:2). This is true, but those who do not accept Jesus’ sacrifice, reject his Lordship, and refuse the gift of salvation do not benefit from his sacrifice. So there are two parts of salvation, God’s part and our part. God’s done his part; Jesus “died once to break the power of sin” (Romans 6:10). In doing so, he accomplished all that was needed for our salvation. Accepting the gift does not add to the work of the cross. The cross was sufficient; nothing can be added. But we need to accept it, and there needs to be evidence in our lives that demonstrates Jesus is our Lord. 

That evidence is our testimony. Not only our salvation story, but every circumstance that demonstrates Jesus is our Lord. So what is your testimony for today? What is your testimony for this past week or month? What’s the standout testimony for 2024? Let’s share our testimonies as a way to openly display Christ’s defeat of the accuser and celebrate our victory!

Wonder

Have you seen the wonder in a child's eyes as they behold the Christmas tree light up a dark room? Or when they see all the houses lit up at night? Do you have things that fill you with wonder?

It seems that as we grow older, we lose some of our wonder. We learn more about the world and our surroundings, and things that once amazed us become commonplace. The things that caused our awe and wonder as a child at Christmas dim and get replaced by our busyness. 

I want to encourage you to take the time to stop and consider the wonder of the first Christmas. It had been 400 years since the Old Testament prophets spoke of the Messiah. Generations came and went waiting for this hope to be fulfilled.

And then, one dark night, Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem, and “the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them” (Luke 2:6-7 NIV).

An angel appeared to shepherds nearby and they were filled with wonder and awe: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger” (Luke 2:13-16 NIV).

Then there were the wise men: “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Matthew 2:9-11 NIV).

I pray that you too can rediscover the awe and wonder of what it means for Jesus to come into the world as a human baby, live a sinless life, die on the cross for our forgiveness, and rise into new life for you and me. 

Let us shine with the love Jesus has for us so that others can discover the wonder of Christmas.