Freeing Others to Dream
Read: Genesis 41:1-16 I remember my offenses today . . . A young Hebrew was there with us [in custody] . . . When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us. (vv. 9, 12) Forced labor is when people are forced through threats of violence to work for no pay. When I first […]
God Our Healer
Read: Isaiah 40:26-31 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (v. 29 NIV) When many people think about human trafficking, they think about sex trafficking. These victims are forced into the commercial sex industry and held against their will by force, fraud, or threats. Sex trafficking is a kind […]
Modern Slavery
Read: Zechariah 7:8-12 But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. (v. 11 NIV) There is a roughly 1 in 11 million chance that you will die in a plane crash, and a 1 in 3.7 million chance you will be attacked by a shark. Though very rare, […]
September Prayer Guide 2020
IRAN — Give thanks that the book, Why Doesn’t God Act More Like God?, which was written by former Words of Hope president Rev. David Bast, is now being repurposed into content for Iranian speakers. Our team is receiving many responses from this series. Pray also for an ongoing project to create digital versions of Iranian […]
You Are Not Alone
Read: 1 Peter 5:6-11 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (v. 9) I became interested in the prevention of human trafficking my junior year of high school, just a few months after I ended an abusive relationship. I had […]
Not a List
Read: Colossians 4:7-18 Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. (v. 7) Fred Craddock once preached a sermon titled “When the Roll Is Called Down Here” on Romans 16. There at the end Paul greeted by name a very long list of people in Rome. But, Craddock said, don’t dare call those verses only […]
Seasoned Speech
Read: Colossians 4:2-6 Let your speech always be gracious. (v. 6) “Just two final things before I sign off,” Paul said. “First, keep praying for us so that we can keep preaching, especially since I’m in prison and that makes it tough to get around. Second, behave well toward people not in the church and […]
No Partiality
Read: Colossians 3:23–4:1 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. (v. 25) We pondered yesterday how to make sense of Paul’s apparent acceptance of slavery. But Paul was not quite finished with that topic. In fact, what he says next may mean that for […]
House Rules
Read: Colossians 3:18-24 You are serving the Lord Christ. (v. 24) Yesterday we noted Paul’s claim that Christian living involves everything. Next Paul said that this most certainly includes what goes on within our homes. It would be easy to get distracted by two things here: first, the call for wives to be submissive, and […]