We’ve come a long way from the church in the second and third centuries where so many members could not own, let alone read, a copy of the Scriptures. Now, Bible commentaries flood in through radio, internet, podcasts, and television.

As redeemed people, we too are prone to forget the most powerful message in all of the universe. We need to be constantly drawn back to the good news of Jesus Christ.

An entire body of believers in Michigan was praying for a sister in South Carolina all because a 95-year-old woman saw the value of prayer. In the days following that interaction, I couldn’t stop thinking about how indispensable prayer is to the health of the global church.

“Begin with the end in mind,” we tell parents. And that end is often described as an empty nest and an independent child. But is that mantra more American than it is biblical?

Suffering often opens our eyes to the gospel unity that binds us together—from the psalmists to the apostles and from eighteenth-century British Baptists to twentieth-century Japanese Americans.

We’ve all been through a lot. Let’s start the year with the goal of working together for God’s glory and our joy.

Though we often think suffering is something to be vehemently avoided, God has seemingly chosen to make it his distinct and unique training ground for heroes of the faith.

Some people praise curiosity as a spiritual discipline we each should partake in if we wish to know God and grow in holiness. In other circles it’s viewed as a dangerous practice where believers shouldn’t even acknowledge the words of someone they disagree with on secondary or tertiary issues. Who is right?

Whatever our trial, we can know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that God is using the trial to push our faith forward, to help it endure, to preserve it.

I was living as though grace were a one-time event, poured out at the cross and then into my life when I first believed, rather than seeing it as a rich reservoir from which I needed to drink daily.

A few drops of lust today could add up to an affair next year. A couple of drops of envy tomorrow might add up to a severed friendship next month.

Each month, Benjamin Vrbicek, the GCD managing editor, offers coaching to writers. This month: “Good writing needs surprise.”