When we understand the true price of a person, everything we say, do, and think is dramatically affected. Are you viewing others through the eyes of God?

Jesus said to be on our guard toward deception. But not all scams are evident. How can we easily identify deceit so we are not fooled?

Al VomSteeg is the Senior International Director for ILI. In this podcast, Al describes “the hanger illustration"—a great way to introduce the foundational disciplines of prayer, scripture, and obedience.

Taking a stand for Christ isn't easy. We can flee for our lives, deny our faith, lie, or even kept our mouths shut... Or we can be faithful to the end. Will you take a stand for Jesus?

Finding the right home is a big task. Wouldn't it be nice if someone did it for us? Even if someone was willing, we would never trust anyone to buy a place for us to live. Is there anyone you trust to do your house hunting?

You may have heard the saying about rubbing salt in a wound. This would be equivalent to “sticking the knife in and twisting it.” To rub salt in a wound is to make it worse, more painful, more negative… at least, as far as proverbial sayings go. In reality, maybe salt isn't so bad. Perhaps it even contains some healing properties.

The God of the present tense, “I AM," calls us to present tense obedience. It's never too late to begin obeying. So, what are you waiting for? The time is NOW!

Jesus told us to welcome the little children. In this day and age, there are so many ways to bless children around the world. How are you welcoming the little ones in your life?

"We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him..." (Romans 8:28). This is a great verse, but it is one we would prefer was needed to encourage others rather than ourselves. What would happen if we totally bought in to Romans 8:28?

There is a time to hold a conference and a time to respond to a crisis. When we truly have a Passion for the Harvest, we find that training leaders is not limited to a classroom.

We tend to think the more we have, the more important we are. I guess being wealthy makes us feel like nobility. But not in God’s eyes. Each day, we are faced with the choice to store up, or radically give; to make "barn decisions" or noble decisions. The question is: Which will you choose?

Not long ago, I had an ear infection and a hearing test was part of standard procedures. The doctor tested my hearing by placing me in a completely quiet room, putting headphones on my ears, and telling me to raise my hand whenever I heard a beep. Perfect hearing would mean every single beep was heard, even the most quiet. It occurred to me that we must train ourselves in a similar way to hear the voice of God.

A few weeks ago, I moved… again. As an itinerant pastor, I have moved numerous times, and though I no longer pastor a church, I am pretty sure I will move again. There was nothing special about this one. We reserved a big moving truck, went through all our things, threw a lot away, gave to charity, and packed all we could into boxes. Eventually, we loaded everything onto the truck, drove to our destination, unloaded, and begun to unpack in our new home.

Have you ever experienced a day when everything seemed to go wrong? Perhaps your tire went flat in the middle of the road and then it started raining. Perhaps your paycheck didn't stretch to the end of the month, and to make matters worse, unforeseen expenses added extreme pressure. Maybe you were hit with the dreadful “C-word” diagnosis — cancer. Every day we are hit with bad news, big or small, but some days it seems to pile up. How can we overcome days such as these?

The famous preacher, Charles Spurgeon, was getting ready to preach to thousands at his church in London when he made the most unusual request. He asked his entire congregation to leave and go home to make room for non-believers who were waiting outside and could not fit indoors. Astonishingly, everyone left and the auditorium filled again with non-believers, who now had the chance to hear the Gospel for the first time.

"Antonio Velazquez was a grumpy, selfish, and evil old man. He worked for the police obtaining confessions from suspected criminals by questionable means." When I heard Mr. Velazquez's daughter describe my friend in such a way at his funeral, I was completely surprised.

Eager and excited to arrive in a remote town where our mission team would help local Christians, we heard the word no one wants to hear when they are traveling: delayed. The hours rolled by as we waited in the airport with little information other than our plane was being serviced due to technical problems. We were eager to arrive at our destination and ready to begin work, but being stuck in a small airport in the middle of nowhere, it felt like we were wasting precious time.

Imagine two preachers having a conversation comparing their respective churches. They discuss worship, attendance, youth, children's programs, and mission efforts. Finally, they begin to discuss the size of their congregations. One pastor affirms his church has around 400 members. The other responds his is close to 1,200. Skeptical of such a high number, the first pastor asks a clarifying question: “Do you mean active members?” Without hesitation, the second pastor responded, “Yes, we have about 300 active for Jesus and the other 900 active for the devil!”

Devoted is a powerful word. It speaks of character, commitment, and integrity. This word can be misappropriated to be sure, but being devoted is something strong and significant. Being devoted is good, though it may not have a good application or a good end if one is devoted to the wrong thing. Being devoted to an evil leader, ideology, belief system, or an evil desire – like greed or selfishness – is obviously not a good thing, but devotion in itself is powerful and laudable.