There are seasons in our lives that we can feel spiritual warfare more strongly than other times. Sometimes it comes through discouragement, fear, confusion, accusation, division, or unexpected resistance. For missionaries and ministry leaders, we can also feel that the opposition becomes stronger when we are trying to obey God and move forward with the gospel. The Bible reminds us that our struggle is not ultimately against people. Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 that “our strug

When we think about spiritual warfare, sometimes we think about strong prayers, confronting spiritual powers, or understanding the strongholds over cities and nations. These things can have a place, but one of the most meaningful things I have learned about spiritual warfare is actually very simple: sometimes we overcome darkness by refusing to become like it. John Dawson, a missionary leader with Youth With A Mission, shared a story about a time when he and his team were min

Recently, I have been thinking again about what it really means to live a blessed life. Our world has many definitions of a good life, and even in ministry, it can be easy to measure fruitfulness by what we can see—how many people attend, how quickly something grows, or how much influence we have. But when Jesus described the blessed life in the Beatitudes, His values looked very different. He spoke about the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peac

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” — Matthew 5:5 For a long time, when I thought about the Kingdom of God, I often thought about ministry, revival, spiritual gifts, and doing something significant for God. I wanted to see His Kingdom come in the places around me, and I thought perhaps this would happen through starting new ministries, gathering people, or building something meaningful for Him. But in this season, the Lord has been teaching me something d

Recently, I have been reading John Ortberg’s book The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People. One statement especially stood out to me: “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. Hurry can destroy our souls.” Busyness can cause us to settle for mediocrity. Our lives can become cluttered, and we can forget important things and miss out on what God is putting in our lives. This has made me ask myself: If I were to eliminate hurry from

Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, we see men and women who enjoyed a deep friendship with God. Their conversations with Him changed nations, influenced history, and revealed His heart to those around them. One of the most beautiful truths in Scripture is that the Creator of the universe desires friendship with the people He created. He invites us not only to know Him but also to partner with Him in what He is doing on the earth. As I have spent time studying the S

It has been ten years since I moved back to Taiwan from the United States. Before returning, I spent three years at a ministry school in California, two years of worship school in Missouri and a year and a half as part of the YWAM community in Taiwan. Although my experience in Missouri did not feel very close relationally, I did experience a beautiful and heavenly kind of community at my ministry school in CA and YWAM. In those seasons, I learned that when we are surrounded b

In the age of Instagram, social media, tweets, and personal online platforms, it seems as if the internet holds great power and influence over people’s mindsets. Churches also use media as a way to maximize their influence. Satellite churches have become increasingly common, where fewer preachers may be needed because the church can simply broadcast the message from one main speaker to many different locations. In a time when our generation experiences more good speakers than

During our most recent trip to Tanzania, our team had the opportunity to meet with several women who serve as midwives and birth...

As I stepped foot in Tanzania this past November, the villages where we were ministering in were suffering from a severe drought....