What Are They For So Many?

/
What Are They For So Many?

I remember the early years of our Vietnamese ministry, when we were doing much the same sort of things CFNA is doing now. We collected food, clothing, household goods, and other necessities, and distributed them to newcomers who needed them. We taught classes in English, citizenship, and home health care, so that our people could learn as quickly as possible how to get what they needed in their new country. And constantly we faced the question: “What are these—these few resources we have—among so many?”

Read More

Not a Ghost!

/
Not a Ghost!

Worries about ghosts and spirits are common among people who move to the United States. They may have grown up believing in powers that may harm them if they don’t do all the right rituals. This leads to a kind of slavery, where you have to do this or you can’t do that because it might bring bad luck to your family.

Read More

Welcome in God's House—Or Not?

/
Welcome in God's House—Or Not?

Have you ever attended worship in another culture? If so, you know how nervous it can make you—a strange language, different ways of doing things. You wonder if you’re going to do something wrong. Maybe you will offend the other worshipers! These are all worries that immigrants and refugees have when we invite them to our churches.

Read More

Finding Help

/
Finding Help

It can be hard to know where to find help when you are new in a country. You start with the basics — food, shelter, clothing. Then things get more complicated — education, work, and requirements from the government. Who can help you fill out that insurance paperwork? Who can check your child’s American history homework? And what about that big bill from the hospital — is there anyone who can help you deal with that?

Read More

Fishing For Life

/
Fishing For Life

Some Christians seem to think they must “sell” Jesus—they must disguise his message as something else so that people will be attracted to it and swallow the bait. How can this be right when we serve the God of truth? Alas, but take note of what kinds of fishermen the first disciples were…they were not bait-and-hook fishermen, but rather they used nets!

Read More

Getting to Know Jesus

/
Getting to Know Jesus

How do we get to know Jesus? John 1:43-46 shows us the way to The Way Himself: “Come and see!”

Philip wanted his friend Nathanael to know Jesus. But he also knew that Nathanael was not a person who trusted easily. Trying to describe Jesus would not work very well. Arguing with Nathanael would be even worse!

Join us for Dr. Kari Vo’s devotion: “Getting to Know Jesus”.

Read More

A Stranger

/
A Stranger

They know what it means to be a stranger—to be alone and dependent on other people for help, even for basic food and shelter. They have probably experienced this in their own lives. And now Jesus is saying to them, “You welcomed me”? When was Jesus ever a stranger—ever in need, ever at their mercy for food and clothing and shelter? It doesn’t make sense. But then we get Jesus’ wonderful conclusion: “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

Read More

God Chooses a Special Woman

/
God Chooses a Special Woman

What do you bring with you from your homeland when you come to America—family roots, a native language and culture, education and skills, a religious upbringing? Whether you know it or not, God loves you so much that he created you special and has a special purpose for your life through Jesus Christ, your Savior.

Read More

A Shepherd You Can Trust

/

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.  And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.  So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  John 10:14-16Can you picture a flock of sheep grazing on a hillside, content and peaceful?  Can you picture a flock of sheep safe in a sheep pen from wild animals or thieves who want to harm them?  In a dangerous world, sheep need a good shepherd to lead them and protect them.  In a loud world with many false voices, sheep need to hear the calming voice of their good shepherd who knows them by name and loves them so much he will lay down his life for them.  They follow him because they trust him.Jesus lived in a dangerous world of competing religious voices, many seeking to take his life. As our Good Shepherd, he was sent by the Father to gather scattered sheep from all over the world into one flock.  He must lay down his life for the sheep.  He loves you, knows you by name and calls you into his flock now and forever.  Welcome to Jesus’ flock!Father, thank you for sending your only Son to be our Good Shepherd by his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave.  AmenStephen J. Carter, Oakville, MO 

Who Is Jesus?

/

John 10:27-32

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”

A story of love and intolerance. That’s what this portion of John’s Gospel could be called. Jesus brings love’s stories; the Jews, stones. The Lord’s enemies do not tolerate Jesus’ affirmation that He comes from the Heavenly Father. The Jews’ blindness did not allow them to see the origin of Jesus’ works.

Open your eyes. Do you want to see Jesus’ good works, which point to the Father? Jesus healed a blind man, a paralytic, ten lepers, and another leper; he raised a little girl, Lazarus, and a boy in Nain; he fed thousands; he had compassion on thousands; he forgave a paralytic, an adulteress, Peter after he betrayed him, and even his enemies who crucified him; he walked on water and calmed a storm as well as his disciples’ fear; he was patient with the Emmaus disciples and explained the Scriptures to them. Jesus did all of this, and much more, so that we might see and believe that he comes from the Father.

The Jews could not tolerate Jesus’ affirmation of who he was. They could not understand the way Jesus explained the Scriptures! Do you doubt the Holy Scripture? The Bible came from God the Father! Is it hard for you to believe that God is compassionate and loving towards his children? No need to doubt. God has given you many signs that he loves you more than anything. He sent Jesus to die on a cross to pay for your sins. Now you can believe his promises to forgive you and to give you eternal life. God is good. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are witnesses of God’s love.

Hector Hoppe St. Louis, MO