Category: What do you think?

What it means to pray without ceasing

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

The command to pray without ceasing can sound like an impossible burden at first glance. How can anyone maintain constant, uninterrupted prayer? The instruction may be better understood as describing a pattern of life rather than a literal, nonstop recitation of words. I believe it calls believers to a lifestyle in which prayer is never entirely absent, without long stretches of days, weeks or months passing without any communication with God.

This mirrors how believers relate to other spiritual disciplines. No one thinks about Christ or reads scripture in every waking moment, yet for a healthy believer these things remain frequent and central throughout the day. Prayer functions the same way: a heart and mind kept open to God, with all of life viewed through the lens of ongoing communion with him. Rather than treating prayer as a scheduled task performed at set times, this command envisions prayer as a steady undercurrent running through daily experience, one that should never fade from a believer’s life regardless of circumstance.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6

The resurrection: Hope for believers and judgment for the unrighteous

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JEFF TURNER

Jesus spoke plainly about a coming day when everyone who has died will be raised, some to life and some to judgment. This statement points toward distinct future events tied to humanity’s ultimate destiny.

For those who belong to Christ, resurrection unfolds in stages: first the church at the moment of the rapture, followed later by believers who endured tribulation, and finally Old Testament saints raised at the conclusion of that period. These together represent the resurrection of the righteous, leading ultimately to eternal glory.

For those who rejected God, however, there is a single resurrection still to come, described in Revelation as the great white throne judgment. This event marks the final reckoning for all who lived apart from God, occurring just before the present heaven and earth give way to a new creation.

Every person who stood against God’s truth will appear before this throne and face eternal condemnation. Christ himself presides over both the resurrection of the righteous and the judgment of the unrighteous.

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

Revelation 20:12

Building faith through variety in everyday parenting

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Parents who already have a daily rhythm of teaching their children about faith are encouraged to keep that habit going strong. Consistency matters, and a regular practice of talking with kids about spiritual matters builds a foundation that lasts. At the same time, experts in family discipleship suggest adding a weekly twist to the routine.

Once a week, instead of the usual approach, parents are encouraged to try something more active and engaging. The reasoning is simple: children can appear attentive while their minds have actually wandered elsewhere. A quiet, seated lesson works well most days, but kids can mentally check out without anyone noticing, since they often still look like they are paying attention.

Introducing a hands on or physical activity once a week helps break that pattern. It re-engages a child’s attention in a way that sitting still cannot always achieve. The goal is to use a mix of methods so that spiritual truths actually stick with children rather than fading into background noise. Some days call for a serious, sit down conversation, and other days call for something playful and energetic. Both approaches serve the same purpose: helping kids remember and internalize what they are being taught about God.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:4

One body, one life: the true meaning of the church

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

The true church of Jesus Christ should never be understood as a mere organization; rather, it functions as a living organism, a single body.

Consider a tree as an illustration. The same life found in its roots also flows through the trunk, the branches, the stems, the leaves, and the fruit, with one continuous sap running through every part. Jesus used a similar picture when describing the believer’s relationship to him, instructing his followers to remain in him just as a branch stays connected to the vine, since the life within the roots is the same life running through the entire vine.

In the same way, the human body operates as one life expressed through many different limbs, each assigned its own function, yet all working together as a single, growing body, a picture Jesus used to describe how the church operates as well.

For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.

Romans 12:4-5

Jesus alone holds supremacy over all creation and the church

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Jesus holds a position of complete supremacy, having created everything that exists, and he occupies the place of highest authority within the church as its sovereign Lord.

The church has only one head, and that position does not belong to any pastor or religious leader, regardless of their title, appearance, or location. The one and only head of the true church, made up of everyone who has placed personal faith in Jesus Christ as saviour, is Jesus Christ himself.

While scripture does describe pastors as shepherds who care for God’s people, they function as undershepherds serving beneath the great shepherd, who remains sovereign over the entire body of believers that make up the church of Jesus Christ.

He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

Colossians 1:18