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Encouragement to prayer from a distressed mother

In Mark 7:24-30, we have the moving account of the Syro-Phoenician (Gentile) woman who humbly and persistently implored Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter.
Commenting on this account, J.C. Ryle makes this application:
InĀ  the first place, this passage is meant to encourage us to pray for others. The woman who came to our Lord, in the [...]

Prayer–is that all?

Have you ever thought this way: “Yes, prayer is important, but giving / doing / serving is where the action is really at…”? It’s easy to think this way, but the more I read, the more I am convinced it’s exactly backwards. The Apostle Paul had this to say, concluding the chapter on spiritual warfare [...]

The source of murmuring

I ran across this in some sermon notes from last year, and thought it worthy to share:
The source of much murmuring and complaining is in fact Christian hypocrisy–pretending to be a Christian while holding on to our vision for our lives.
This strikes me as an excellent diagnostic tool of the soul. Because our hearts are [...]

First daily email sent!

This was an extra special Thanksgiving for me. It was to great to see my parents, siblings, nephews, nieces, and grandparents again, and to top it off, on the day after I successfully received the first daily ROA prayer email. My brother-in-law and I were sitting at my folks’ kitchen table, laptops facing each other, [...]

A Challenge to Shine

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life…
Philippians 2:14-16 NKJV
As Christians, we are frequently dismayed by the moral decay around [...]