The Importance of Truth

Posted on March 20, 2026 by jesustrek

In Discipleship Journal author Mack Stiles told the story of how he led a young man from Sweden named Andreas to Christ. One part of their conversation is especially instructive: Andreas said, “I’ve been told if I decide to follow Jesus, he will meet my needs, and my life will get very good.”

This seemed to Andreas to be a point in Christianity’s favor. But I faced a temptation—to make it sound better than it is.

“No, Andreas, no!” I said.

Andreas blinked his surprise.

Actually, Andreas, you may accept Jesus and find that life goes very badly for you.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, you may find that your friends reject you, you could lose your job, your family might oppose your decision—there are a lot of bad things that may happen to you if you decide to follow Jesus. Andreas, when Jesus calls you, he calls you to go the way of the cross.”

Andreas stared at me and asked the obvious: “Then why would I want to follow Jesus?”

Sadly, this is the question that stumps many Christians. For some reason we feel that if we are not meeting people’s needs they won’t follow Christ. Yet this is not the gospel.

I cocked my head and answered, “Andreas, because Jesus is true.”

Those on the side of the truth come to Jesus.

Jesus continually talked about the truth in the gospels. He claimed to be the truth (John 14:6) and promised that we can know the truth and the truth will set us free (John 8:32). As we speak the truth in love the church will grow and become everything the Lord wants it to be (Eph.4:15).

The truth is that life isn’t always easy for those who decide to follow Jesus. Those who committed their lives to Christ in the New Testament often faced great hardships because of their decision. It is no different for Christians today. We must understand this for ourselves, and we must teach this truth to others.

Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”—John 16:33.

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Fruitfulness

Posted on March 12, 2026 by jesustrek

Several years ago, many owners of small farms in America began to reduce their crop production to a mere sideline and instead started using their property for another purpose: entertainment farming. Other terms for this new way to make a living on the farm are agritainment and agritourism.

Entertainment farmers attract paying customers to their property with country music bands, hay bale mazes, petting corrals, and tricycle courses. City-dwelling families eager for a feel of life on the farm were willing to pay a good price for admission, food and amusements. Extra options were also available. For instance, for an additional dollar a child could frolic in a pile of straw or pick a real live flower. Some farmers cut mazes into their cornfields that might take a person 45 minutes to navigate.

These ventures proved to be quite profitable for many entrepreneurs. One farmer reportedly made up to $15,000 on a good weekend.

In 1994 Alaska and Oklahoma introduced agritourism as official parts of their state tourism policies.

The primary reason for farmers to branch out into agritourism was the economic pressures they were facing. They were having a difficult time making a profit with traditional farming practices. This new way of making money seemed promising, and the risk was minimal.

Sometimes there is a danger of a church resembling an entertainment farmer. It could be easy to fall into the trap of trying to entertain people rather than focus on the central purpose of producing a crop. Jesus didn’t tell us to go out and entertain people. He said that we were supposed to make disciples. While there is nothing inherently wrong with being interesting, fruitfulness is God’s will for every Christian and every church. Let’s make sure that we don’t get involved in too many sideline activities at the risk of neglecting our mission.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”—Gal.6:9.

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Three Important Hours in Your Week

Posted on March 6, 2026 by jesustrek

Many people claim to be pressed for time, but the truth is that we all have the same amount of time –168 hours in a week. Some of what we do with that time is determined by others, but some of it is left to our own discretion. I want to suggest that there are three important hours in your week that should be spent doing very important activities.

First, we should prioritize one hour a week for corporate worship on Sunday. The early Christians met on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) and Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Why should we be any less devoted to worship than they were? Let’s never forget what Jesus says in John 4:23, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” We must live a lifestyle of worship because God has created us for this and that is what he is looking for in us. A lifestyle of daily turning our attention to God in worship will lead us to want to worship together with other believers on Sunday. It is perhaps the most important hour of your week.

A second important hour in your week is the time you spend serving the Lord. I know that some of you do much more kingdom work than that, but let’s say that an hour should be the minimum time you spend serving the Lord. After all, he is called our Master, and we are referred to as his servants. The least we can do is to try to serve him an hour each week. Eph.2:8-10 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Just as we were created to worship, we were also created to serve. God has prepared good works for us to do to enhance his kingdom. The possibilities for service are widely varied: helping the poor, ministering to the sick, encouraging the discouraged, participating in the work of the local congregation, witnessing, inviting people to church and doing chores for the elderly are just some of the ways we can serve the Lord. If you are looking for a way to get more involved in serving the Lord, ask a mature Christian for some suggestions.

A third important hour in your week is participating in Bible study with others. This could be a Sunday school class, a Sunday evening Bible study, a mid-week study, a group that meets in someone’s home or your family devotional time. We need more than our daily personal Bible reading. When we study together in a group, we share insights and discover biblical truths that we might have otherwise missed. If you are not currently in a Bible study group, I suggest that you find one, or maybe even start one yourself!

These are three important hours in your week, and, of course, all of this should be bathed in prayer. 1 Thess.5:17 says, “Pray continually.” Col.4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Let’s spend our time wisely this week and every week.

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An Attitude that Attracts

Posted on February 20, 2026 by jesustrek

An executive for Southwest Airlines once pointed out that their company hired attitudes. He explained that they could train people to do the rest. It was the attitude that they looked for first and foremost. Perhaps we should take some time to examine our own attitudes. The Bible has a lot to say about the outlook we should have on life. Let’s look at some of this teaching.

First, we should have an attitude of humble service. Jesus set the example for this when he washed his disciples’ feet in the upper room (John 13). He did this to teach us that we should not be too proud to serve but should look for humble deeds to perform for others.

I heard about an airline pilot who scrubbed communion stains out of the pews in his church. I also read about a doctor whose job in his congregation was to clean the bathrooms. These successful people did not think it was beneath them to do menial jobs in the kingdom. So, the next time you have a chance to do something simple, yet meaningful, don’t hesitate to jump right in and help. After all, Jesus didn’t come to be served, but to serve. Let’s follow the Lord’s example with our humble service.

Second, we should have an attitude of gracious acceptance of other believers. Romans 14:4 says, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

One of Jesus’ greatest desires was for unity in the church (John 17). Yet the church has a long history of division and strife. Ironically, the group of churches that I have long been affiliated with started out as a unity movement but has since split into 3 different groups!

Don’t get me wrong! We must stand against false doctrine. However, we need to understand that someone doesn’t have to be our twin to be a brother or sister in Christ. Non-believers are much more likely to be drawn to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ if they see a group of believers that are united in their faith. So, let’s try to develop an attitude of acceptance toward other Christians.

Third, we should have an attitude of love toward our enemies. This is becoming increasingly important as our culture continues its downward slide. As society becomes more evil, people are becoming bolder in their rejection of God and Christianity. As many church leaders have pointed out in the past few years, the church no longer enjoys home field advantage. The church in the United States has more enemies in their own community than ever before.

So, how will we treat these enemies? Jesus says to love them (Matthew 5:43-48). This does not mean that we agree with them. It means that we express our disagreement as kindly and as lovingly as we can. We may never win some of them over, but we won’t win them over with hatred—that’s for sure.

Finally, we need an attitude of decisive allegiance to Jesus Christ. The Bible contains no promises for those who once followed Jesus but have now fallen away (Matthew 13:21). The promise of salvation is reserved for those who are faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10).

I hope you understand that your attitude is very important. It always has been. It always will be.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 2:5.

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The Cup

Posted on January 30, 2026 by jesustrek

Shortly before his death on the cross, Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room where he instituted the Lord’s Supper. Luke 22:19-20 says, “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’”

Soon after that, when he was praying on the Mount of Olives, Jesus mentioned a cup again. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) This time the cup to which Jesus referred had to do with God’s wrath. It had to do with suffering. Jesus was about to suffer the unimaginable pain that was due to each human being because of their sins. The wrath of God was about to be poured out on mankind, and Jesus was to take the full force of that wrath.

Jesus asked if there might be any other way, but this was the plan God had put in place before the foundation of the world. The only sacrifice that would suffice to take away the sins of the world would be if God became flesh and gave his own life to pay for our sins. Atonement was only possible through the blood of Jesus. Jesus submitted to the Father’s will and accepted the role that he had been given. He willingly went to the cross to die in our place.

Today Christians around the world gather every Sunday in obedience to Jesus and celebrate communion. We participate in the supper that Jesus gave us to remember him. We eat the bread that represents his broken body. We drink from the cup that represents the blood that he shed for us.

As we drink from this cup, let us remember that we were spared the cup of God’s wrath only because of the great sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf. He paid a price that he did not owe to give us a salvation that we could not earn. And for that we are eternally grateful!

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The Prayer of Moses

Posted on January 24, 2026 by jesustrek

Some people see the book of Psalms as a prayer book. Others consider it a book of songs. I believe that they are both correct. The Psalms is a collection of prayers that were often put to music and sung in corporate worship. Today’s worshipers can sing and pray their way through the chapters of this book in corporate or private worship.

Let’s consider Psalm 90, which is attributed to Moses. The translation that I am looking at now, the NIV, has a heading— “A prayer of Moses the man of God.” If you consider yourself a man or woman of God, this Psalm would be an excellent outline for prayer.

It begins by addressing the God who is eternal. He is immortal. He has been there “from everlasting to everlasting.” (v.2). There has never been a time when God did not exist. Keeping this in mind helps us maintain a deep reverence in our prayers.

Then the Psalm reflects on the mortal nature of mankind. (vv.3-6) Unlike the eternal God, people don’t live forever, at least in this life. Someone once said that the mortality rate of human beings is still right at 100%! Our lives are brief, which should add some humility to our prayers.

The Psalm then talks about our sinful nature, and the fact that this puts us under the wrath of God and is directly related to our struggles and our ultimate demise. It’s a sad truth that many people do not see the correlation between our sin and our struggles. When Adam and Eve sinned, they brought death and hardship into play where it had not previously existed.

We Christians understand that the only way out of this predicament is through Jesus Christ. God sent his Son to die on a cross to pay for our sins and give us the opportunity to be spared from his wrath. Only through Jesus can we escape the curse of sin and death and receive forgiveness and eternal life. This gospel message gives us purpose in life.

The rest of Psalm 90 addresses this purpose. V.12 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” The last phrase in the psalm prays, “…establish the work of our hands.” We should be mindful of the brevity of life as we pray. And our prayers should include a request for God’s wisdom to do the work that he has set before us, work that will have significance not only in this life, but for all of eternity.

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The Model Prayer

Posted on January 9, 2026 by jesustrek

Right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us what many Christians call “The Lord’s Prayer”. Many scholars refer to it as “The Model Prayer”, because it is an outline for how we should properly pray. Some have memorized it and quote it verbatim, often praying it together in a worship assembly. This is a fine practice, but the prayer can also be used as an outline to guide us through specific areas of prayer. Luke 11 has a shorter version of this prayer, but I want to follow the longer, more familiar version found in Matt.6:9-13.

Jesus starts out by saying that we can address God as our Father in heaven. What a marvelous privilege! Only Christians can pray in this manner. Those outside of Christ have no right to call on God in such a way. John 1:11 says, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Only through Jesus can we become God’s children and be able to refer to him as our Father.

Then Jesus says that we should pray that God’s name be hallowed, or honored. The world uses God’s name as a swear word. Far be it from us to do such a thing! Even slang G-words and J-words must be avoided at all costs. The name of God must never be trivialized! Instead, it must be revered. And it is not just our words that honor or dishonor God’s name. Our actions are important too. For a person to wear the name “Christian” and engage in behavior that is not Christlike is to dishonor the name of God.

Jesus then says that we ought to pray for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done. The kingdom of God is everything that is under his authority. We should pray that more and more people submit to his authority. Coinciding with his advancing kingdom is his will being done, that is, people obeying the principles laid out in the Bible.

Then we should pray for our daily bread. When the Israelites travelled through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, God gave them manna from heaven. Remember how much he gave them? One day’s supply at a time. God wants us to trust him for our daily needs.

Next we see that we are to pray for forgiveness, but only based on how we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. This is a very dangerous prayer indeed! Those who harbor grudges cannot expect to have their prayers answered, nor their sins forgiven. Each of us have been forgiven much, and it cost the precious blood of Jesus to make that possible. It is only fitting that we extend to others the grace of forgiveness that God has so lovingly extended to us.

Then we are to pray that we are not led into temptation. Dennis the Menace once told his preacher, “I’m not led into temptation. I go there all by myself!” We all can find temptation quite easily. How necessary it is to pray that we are not led there, but are instead delivered from evil.

The prayer closes out on a worshipful note, giving God the glory and honor that only he deserves.

Let’s continue to follow the model that Jesus gave us to pray.

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I Am Resolved

Posted on January 2, 2026 by jesustrek

I hope it’s not too late to address the subject of New Year’s resolutions. I also hope that if you made any, you have been able to keep them so far!

It’s always a good idea to try to improve oneself, but it is easier said than done. I have a cousin who resolved to quit smoking last year. He got so much satisfaction from making that resolution that he has resolved to quit smoking again this year!

I have a friend who vowed to lose 10 pounds in 2025. He only fell short of his goal by 15 pounds!

It isn’t easy to keep our resolutions. I heard about a husband and wife who were sitting together and writing down some goals for the coming year. The wife said, “I am resolving to be less controlling this year. Honey, you should write that one down too!”

Seriously, it is good for Christians to try to make self-improvements. The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” (1 Tim.4:15).

Some people focus on resolutions to improve their health, such as losing weight, eating healthier foods and getting more exercise. Others give their attention to matters that seem more spiritual (although it is certainly spiritual for a Christian to maintain their body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit). They focus on spending more time praying, studying the Bible and obeying what the Bible says. All of this is good. 1 Tim.4:8 says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

You can’t argue with that. Improving ourselves has benefits for this life. We feel better and we set a good example for others to follow. However, the benefits also extend into eternity in ways that we will not fully understand until later.

Let’s remember that the ultimate goal of change is to become more like Jesus. 2 Cor.3:18 says, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

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After Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2025 by jesustrek

What do you do after Christmas? (I mean besides paying bills and trying to lose weight!). The post-holiday season can be a letdown for many people. The excitement and merriment are past. Get-togethers with family and friends are over. The prospect of facing another year might be discouraging. There are many reasons why a person’s mental and emotional health might be at risk after Christmas. So, what can we do about it? Let’s look at the Scripture for some ideas.

In Matthew 2:1-12 we read about the wise men’s visit to the Christ child. Our long-held traditions have the wise men arriving at the manger where the baby Jesus was first placed. However, the Bible says that by the time they found him, Jesus and Mary were living in a house. They didn’t get to meet the Christ child until after Christmas.

The first thing we notice about the wise men is that they looked for Jesus so they could worship him (1:2). It has been said that wise people still seek him. Many people find their way to church on the Sunday before Christmas. Getting there on the Sunday after Christmas might be a different story! Seeking Jesus among his people seems like a logical thing to do. Seeking him in prayer and Bible study are great ideas also. After Christmas, remember to keep seeking Jesus.

After finding him, the wise men worshipped Jesus just as they had planned. Their worship included presenting him with expensive gifts—gold, frankincense and myrrh—gifts fit for a king (1:11). Hopefully, after Christmas you will have something to bring to Jesus. Many are satisfied with giving token gifts to the one they call their savior. Others, following the example of the wise men, give generous, or even extravagant gifts. Jesus says, “…It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35). If you want to feel blessed, give a large donation to your church, or find some other way to present Jesus with an expensive gift.

Finally, the wise men listened to God and took a different way home than the route they had planned to take. Many people get on the wrong road in life because they stop listening to God. Don’t make that mistake! Read your Bible. Pay attention to sermons and Bible lessons. Listen to your Christian friends who give you godly advice. Listening to God will keep you on the straight and narrow highway and help you avoid sin and the pain that accompanies it.

To sum this up, after Christmas you should live a worshipful life by seeking Jesus, being generous and listening to God. All of this will help you to have a great new year!

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God’s Christmas Message

Posted on December 19, 2025 by jesustrek

Luke 2 records the message of Christmas. It starts with an angel of the Lord appearing to some shepherds. The word “angel” means “messenger”. The shepherds were terrified when they saw the angel. This is typical of what we see in the Bible when angels appear to people. The angel said that they should not be afraid because he was bringing them good news that would cause great joy.

Here is the content of the message—a Savior has been born, the Messiah, the Lord. Here we see both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus. He was born a human, yet he was the Lord. Jesus did not give up his deity when he came to earth to live among us. He was fully human, yet fully God. As Savior, this was how it must be. The only way we could be saved from our sins was for the Lord to offer himself as a sacrifice. His atoning death would serve to pay for the sins of the entire world. This baby who was placed in a manger would one day be placed on a cross to die for humankind. All who would receive him would receive God’s free gift of salvation.

The message was so compelling that the shepherds hurried off to see the Christ child for themselves. They found him just as the angel had said, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. There might have been other babies in Bethlehem at that time wrapped in cloths, but none would be lying in an animal’s feeding trough! The fulfillment of the angel’s words proved the truth of the message they had received from God.

The message didn’t stop here, however. Verses 17-18 tell us, “When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”

The message about Jesus is truly amazing, and it is such good news that it cannot be silenced. The message needs to be spread far and wide that Jesus has come to us and he is the Savior of the world! This Christmas message from God can be trusted to be true. If we accept it we can experience the joy of salvation. If we share it we can spread that joy to others.

This Christmas season, listen for the message, because it is repeated over and over in many different ways. Through songs, Christmas cards, movies, television programs and many other ways, God’s Christmas message is everywhere. Let us never tire of hearing it and let us be diligent in doing our part in spreading the good news of salvation in Jesus!

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