The Redeemed Rose

  Hopeless – “having no expectation of good or success, not susceptible to remedy or cure, and incapable of redemption or improvement (Merriam-Webster).”  We feel it as despair or that dark hole of existence we think we will never be able to climb out of. As of late, it seems to be a common theme for many people. We feel hopeless about politics and pandemics. We feel hopeless that our situation will ever change or that our prayers will be answered.  The apostle Paul found himself in a hopeless situation. As he was sailing to Rome under soldier-guard, their ship struggled along due to poor weather. It wasn’t long before they were caught in a violent storm. The crew, beginning to fear the worst, threw the cargo and the ship’s gear overboard. As the storm raged on, they gave up all hope of survival if they stayed on the boat. Despite Paul’s assurance that there would be no loss of life, only of the ship, the sailors still sought to sneak away on the life boat, But Paul spoke...

  What does true discipleship look like? We often read about it, but how does that translate to being lived out in everyday life? In Paul’s letter to Titus, his child in the faith, he instructs him on the importance of sound doctrine and doing good works and lays out a model for passing down this instruction from one generation to the next—older men to younger men, and older women to younger women:  “Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.”  (Titus 2:2-6) This is organic discipleship. The fact of the matter is that we are always going t...