Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD October 18, Sunday LISTENING BEYOND THE STARS James Banks Seek the L ord  while he may be found.  Isaiah 55:6 Isaiah 55:1–7 Isaiah 53–55; 2 Thessalonians 1 Imagine life without mobile phones, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth devices, or microwave ovens. That’s the way it is in the little town of Green Bank, West Virginia, known as “the quietest town in America.” It’s also the location of the Green Bank Observatory, the world’s largest steerable radio telescope. The telescope needs “quiet” to “listen” to naturally occurring radio waves emitted by the movement of pulsars and galaxies in deep space. It has a surface area larger than a football field and stands in the center of the National Radio Quiet Zone, a 13,000-square-mile area established to prevent electronic interference to the telescope’s extreme sensitivity. This intentional quiet enables scientists to hear “the music of the spheres.” It also reminds me of our need to quiet ourselves enough to listen to the On...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 17, Saturday A SINGER’S HEART Adam R. Holz Come, let us sing for joy to the L ord ; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Psalm 95:1 Psalm 95:1–7 Isaiah 50–52; 1 Thessalonians 5 The praise song drifted downstairs . . . at 6:33 on a Saturday morning. I didn’t think anyone else was awake, but my youngest daughter’s scratchy voice proved me wrong. She was barely conscious, but there was already a song on her lips. My youngest is a singer. In fact, she can’t  not  sing. She sings when she wakes up. When she goes to school. When she goes to bed. She was born with a song in her heart—and most of the time, her songs focus on Jesus. She’ll praise God anytime, anywhere. I love the simplicity, devotion, and earnestness of my daughter’s voice. Her spontaneous and joyful songs echo invitations to praise God found throughout Scripture. In Psalm 95, we read, “Come let us sing for joy to the L ord ; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation” (v....

OUR DAILY BREAD October 16 SLOW, BUT SURE Glenn Packiam Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree.  Matthew 13:32 Matthew 13:31–35 Isaiah 47–49; 1 Thessalonians 4 I ran into an old friend who told me what he’d been up to, but I confess it seemed too good to be true. Within a few months of that conversation, however, his band was everywhere—from charting top singles on the radio to having a hit song pulsing under TV ads. His rise to fame was meteoric. We can be obsessed with significance and success—the big and the dramatic, the quick and the meteoric. But the parables of the mustard seed and yeast compare the way of the kingdom (God’s reign on earth) to small, hidden, and seemingly insignificant things whose work is slow and gradual. The kingdom is like its King. Christ’s mission culminated in His life, like a seed, being buried in the ground; like yeast, being hidden in the dough. Yet He rose. Like a tree break...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 15, Thursday PREACH OR PLOW? Dave Branon From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  Ephesians 4:16 Ephesians 4:4–16 Isaiah 45–46; 1 Thessalonians 3 According to the family legend, two brothers, one named Billy and the other Melvin, were standing on the family’s dairy farm one day when they saw an airplane doing some skywriting. The boys watched as the plane sketched out the letters “GP” overhead. Both brothers decided that what they saw had meaning for them. One thought it meant “Go preach.” The other read it as “Go plow.” Later, one of the boys, Billy Graham, dedicated himself to preaching the gospel, becoming an icon of evangelism. His brother Melvin went on to faithfully run the family dairy farm for many years. Skywriting signs aside, if God did call Billy to preach and Melvin to plow, as seems to be the case, they both honored God through their voc...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 14, Wednesday THRIVING TOGETHER Xochitl Dixon Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  Colossians 3:15 Colossians 3:5–16 Isaiah 43–44; 1 Thessalonians 2 My husband, Alan, stood below the towering lights illuminating the athletic field, as a member of the opposing team hit a ball into the air. With his eyes fixed on the ball, Alan ran full speed toward the darkest corner of the field—and slammed into the chain link fence. Later that night, I handed him an ice pack. “Are you feeling okay?” I asked. He rubbed his shoulder. “I’d feel better if my buddies had warned me that I was getting near the fence,” he said. Teams function best when they work together. Alan’s injury could have been avoided, if only one of his teammates had yelled out a warning as he approached the fence. Scripture reminds us that members of the church are designed to work together and watch out for each other like a team. ...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 13, Tuesday GOD HOLDS US Winn Collier I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10 Isaiah 41:1–10 Isaiah 41–42; 1 Thessalonians 1 South African Fredie Blom turned 114 in 2018, widely recognized as the oldest living man. Born in 1904, the year the Wright Brothers built their Flyer II, he’s lived through both World Wars, apartheid, and the Great Depression. When asked for the secret for his longevity, Blom only shrugs. Like many of us, he hasn’t always chosen the foods and practices that promote wellness. However, Blom does offer one reason for his remarkable health: “There’s only one thing, it’s [God]. He’s got all the power . . . . He holds me.” Blom echoes words similar to what God spoke to Israel, as the nation wilted under the oppression of fierce enemies. “I will strengthen you and help you,” God promised. “I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). No matter how desperate their situation, how impossible the odds tha...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 12, Monday LOVING THE STRANGER Amy Boucher Pye Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.  Leviticus 19:34 Leviticus 19:33–37 Isaiah 39–40; Colossians 4 When I moved to a new country, one of my first experiences left me feeling unwelcome. After finding a seat in the little church where my husband was preaching that day, a gruff older gentleman startled me when he said, “Move along down.” His wife apologized as she explained that I was sitting in the pew they always occupied. Years later I learned that congregations used to rent out pews, which raised money for the church and also ensured no one could take another person’s seat. Apparently some of that mentality carried on through the decades. Later, I reflected on how God instructed the Israelites to welcome foreigners, in contrast to cultural practices such as I encountered. In setting out the laws that would allow His people to flourish, He reminded them to welcome foreigners b...