Category Archives: Ezines

Dear Visionary Leader: We can’t live the Christian life apart from faith, for the Bible says clearly and plainly that we live by faith. The just shall live by faith. Lord Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you.” The writer of Hebrews says, “Apart from faith it is impossible to please God.” So, we need not only to possess faith; we need a faith that possesses us. But what happens sometimes when faith seems to fail? Sometimes we pray. Maybe we’re going to have an outdoor event and we say, “Lord, give us beautiful weather,” and the bottom of the sky falls out. Has that ever happened…

Dear Visionary Leader: Last week, we were discussing the design of faith, and reading about Gideon in Judges. We looked at the People of Courage and the Priority of Commitment. This week we continue in the story of Gideon with: The Process of Confidence In Judges 7:9, we read, “And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him,” -that is, unto Gideon, “Arise, get thee down unto the host. For I have delivered it the army into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Purah thy servant down to the host: and thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward…

ANNOUNCING A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN CHURCH OF GOD INTERNATIONAL OFFICES AND THE GLOBAL CHURCH NETWORK   Appointment of Larry G. Hess as Executive Director of the Global HUBS of Christianity Dr. James O. Davis is thrilled to announce that Dr. Larry G. Hess will be joining the Global Church Network team as the Executive Director of the Global Hubs of Christianity. Dr. Hess will provide strategic leadership in the formation and deployment of all future Hubs of the Global Church Network. He will oversee and organize all of the planned Hubs and Finish 2030 Summits that are scheduled worldwide in 2021 and beyond. He will interface and interconnect with key Christian…

Dear Visionary Leader: In Hebrews 11:32-33, we read, “And what shall I more say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel, and the prophets: who through faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.” At this point, we are going to study the first one mentioned in this series, Gideon. Gideon was one of the judges that ruled over Israel in a certain period in time in the history of…

Dear Visionary Leader: In Hebrews 11:1 we read, “Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.” What is your report card like today, so far as faith is concerned? A? A+? C-? One young man came to his professor and said, “Professor, I don’t believe I deserve this F.” The professor said, “Neither do I, but it was the lowest grade I had.” Is that the kind of faith you have? What kind of a report card would God give you today if God today had to measure you? By faith, the elders obtained…

Dear Visionary Leader: We read in Hebrews 11:31, “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace.” Here we have the story of the transformation of a harlot whose name was Rahab. Here’s what the Gospel did for this woman. The transforming power of the life of faith! Nature forms us, sin deforms us, the world conforms us, education informs us, but faith transforms us. I want you to notice the situation Rahab found herself in. She was a pagan living in spiritual darkness. She was a harlot living in spiritual degradation. She was a Canaanite destined for sure…

Dear Visionary Leader: God wants us to become members of the Hall of Fame of Faith. Membership is available to those walk by faith and not by sight. When God comes to measure our lives, He is going to say, “According unto your faith, be it unto you.” We will be summed up, not according to our fame, not according to our fortune, not according to our friends, not according to our feelings, not according to our fate, but according to our faith. In Hebrews, chapter 11:30 we read, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days.” Jericho lay before the children of…

Dear Visionary Leader: We will learn from one of the greatest visionaries of all time. His name was Moses. Because Moses saw the invisible, he valued the imperishable, and he did the impossible. He was a man that had an incredible vision. Faith is a bridge to the future. The title of this message is The Discernment of Faith. Helen Keller, who was born blind, was asked by someone, “What could be worse than being born blind?” She said, “To have sight and not to have vision.” I wonder today, do you have a vision? The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” What is…

Dear Visionary Leader: We are living in a time of plagues and promises. In Hebrews 11:27-29, we read: “By faith, Moses, when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood,…

Dear Visionary Leader: In Hebrews, Chapter 11 there is a mighty listing of the heroes of the faith. We come now to two heroes that you may not know. Have you heard of Amram and Jochebed? They were the parents of Moses. Their claim to fame was not that they were the parents of Moses; it is that they believed God! It was their faith that pleased God. If you want to please God, you’d better learn how to believe God, “for without faith it is impossible to please Him.” When we greet one another around the church, we frequently say, “Say, how are you feeling?” But I think the…