In order to plant the Gospel, we must take risk.

If something fit in with what God had said to me, then I considered it. If not - no matter how attractive it appeared - I refused. The secret of following God's will, I discovered, usually is wrapped up in rejecting the good for God's best.

The most important factor in abandoning our thoughts is to look in the Bible and see what God says about a matter. Then we must determine to act on His Word rather than on our own thoughts or those the devil may whisper into our minds.

For Noah, preaching 120 years without results meant choosing the hard road year after year. Nehemiah, building the wall of Jerusalem, faced constant harassment by enemies from within and without. We cannot honestly, authentically, reasonably and deliberately serve our Lord without our willingness to accept difficulties and inconveniences.

How many more cars, clothes, toys and trinkets do we really need before we wake up and realize that half the world goes to bed every night with empty stomachs and naked bodies?

Love was the bedrock of Jesus' life, the very reason He came to seek and save the lost.

All too often, it seems, we're willing to be students of Christianity rather than disciples of Christ.