Welcome! Please come in.

It was on our way home from an open house when Peggy and I decided to become involved in International Friendships (IFI), for we had just celebrated its fruit—the baptism of a student, a PhD candidate from China now attending Ohio State. His humble happiness was infectious, and his joy in Jesus stirred our souls to action. Over the eight years since then, we have hosted 20 students in our home for two or three nights while they navigate a culture shock half way around the world from home, and we’ve treasured these relationships as they’ve matured into friendships.

IFI was started in 1979 by a Columbus, Ohio pastor who noticed the increasing number of OSU students here from other lands—the world was coming to our doorstep. With great foresight, he realized that reaching these young men and women with the gospel would not only birth new spiritual life in them, it would also, in turn, ripple through their communities and countries when they returned home with great news of full and forever life in Christ Jesus. IFI now operates in 30 U.S. colleges and universities, and Rich Mendola, its executive director since 1994, estimates that, over the years, students from 50 countries have received Christ as their Savior and/or grown in their Christian faith here.

But there’s another blessing, somewhat hidden in this ministry: IFI provides ample opportunities for believers who want to reach out and connect with others for Jesus but don’t know how. Are you are called to small but significant act of service? Then you can share the love of Christ by picking up students from the airport and taking them to where they will be staying or even take them shopping for student-essentials. Is teaching your gift? Then come and participate in Friday night IFI Bible studies. Are you the helping or encouraging kind? Being an English-speaking partner is an easy way to form new friendships over coffee and conversation.

The world has come to America, friends; all we have to do is show up and welcome it with giving hearts. God takes it from there.

Father, thank you for the joy of life in Christ. Please use me to share His love with the people I will encounter today, no matter who they are or where they come from. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Christ in me is life.

[Read today’s Scripture in Romans 15:15-21.]

God Thought of You

I have a few Christian friends who are Jewish and I just love talking with them about their faith.  I like how they light up when they talk about how Christ is evident all throughout the Old Testament.  Some have parents who grew up following the Jewish laws and customs and then one day Christ was revealed to them.

I get excited about stories like that, but today's passage reminds me to get excited about mine too.  We serve a God who did not leave us out.  His grace extends to us, the Gentile.  When he chose to reveal himself to Abram, calling the Nation of Israel his chosen people, he thought of us too.

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing the praises of your name.”

10 Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

11 And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
    let all the peoples extol him.”

12 And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
    one who will arise to rule over the nations;
    in him the Gentiles will hope.”

We definitely have reason to rejoice.  The hope of Christ is ours as well. Take some time today to thank God for seeing you.  His loving arm extends to all who will trust him and for that reason we should rejoice.


Read passage here Romans 15:7-13

The top investors of all time

“For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.”  Romans 15:26-27

If we were to venture a guess at the top investors of all time, we would probably list Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch and Bill Gross among them.  These financial wizards have an off-the-charts understanding of monetary value – how it is created, how it is assessed and how to spot value at bargain prices.  And with their superior insight, they have amassed vast wealth not only for themselves, but also for those who have followed their lead.

There is, however, one big problem with our little list.  It’s focused on the here-and-now.  It contemplates only temporal wealth – the kind that is lost as we breathe our last.

I suspect that, at some point on the other side of eternity, we will discover the real investment gurus - the humble ones who understood Kingdom currency, those who pursued with all their hearts the things that matter to God.  They will be the ones who, trusting and obeying God, saw beyond earthly treasures and accumulated for themselves, instead, “treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.¹”

So let’s call a do-over!  Let’s scrap our first attempt and re-consider our “top investors of all time.”

We might start with the woman at the temple, the widow who “doubled down,” putting into the treasury two coins worth “a fraction of a penny” ... which was, for her, “everything – all she had to live on.²”  And we would have to add the Macedonian churches, for despite their “extreme poverty,” these Gentiles “gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability³” for the offering being taken up for the poor in Jerusalem!  Perhaps we could add Zacchaeus, who responded to Jesus’ grace by giving half of his possessions to the poor. 

There will be others ... and plenty of surprises.  For we will all gather before the throne one day – the widow and Warren, the Macedonians and Peter, Zacchaeus and Bill, you and me.  There we will see the illusion of earthly riches exposed, and there we will see the grandeur of eternal wealth revealed.  For whoever leaves all for Jesus’ sake will receive “a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.⁴”

Does this mean we should rush out and give everything away in a fearful fit of self-directed zeal?  I don’t think so.  Instead, we are most richly blessed when we remain poor in spirit, praying each day that God show us clearly what he is asking from us, whether time or treasure ... being of a mind to obey him, unbegrudgingly and without delay ... and looking forward to the day when we see the eternal returns God has produced from our temporal investments.

“Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who live him?”  James 2:5

[To see the daily reading, Romans 15:23-33, click here.]

¹ Matthew 6:20
² Mark 12:44
³ 2 Corinthians 8:3
⁴ Matthew 19:29