October 2010

Famine 3 Care for Caregivers 16

in this issue“We just need to

learn how to cut away the fat

to get at the meat of what really

matters now.”

3

6

9

12

13

14

16

19

FamineCharles R. Swindoll

pressure points

what Matters nowSteve Johnson

lifetrac

Captain Bible and the Fight for TruthRobyn Roste

moment of insight

God’s PromisesCharles R. Swindoll

lifelines

Things That Strangle UsCharles R. Swindoll

strong family

Training for Life—Raising Children to Love the LordEric Baesel

laughing matters

Ten Commandments for CaregiversPhil Callaway

what’s it worth?Ben Lowell

Copyright © 2010 Insight for Living Canada. All rights reserved. No portion of this monthly publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the publisher. Insights is published by IFLC, the Bible teaching ministry of Charles R. Swindoll. IFLC is an autonomous ministry and certified member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture passages are taken from the NASB. Printed in Canada. Unless otherwise noted, photography by IFLC staff.

FamineThe Word hangs like an aWful

omen in our heads. >

by Charles R. Swindoll

3

M

Famine continued from p. 3

Mentally, we picture brutal, grotesque images. Cow’s ribs and hips protrude. Ba-bies’ eyes are hollow. Bloated stomachs growl angrily. Skin stretches across faces tight as a trampoline. The outline of the skull slowly emerges. Joints swell. Grim, despairing stares replace smiles. Hope is gone . . . life is reduced to a harsh exis-tence as famine takes its toll. Those who have seen it cannot forget it. Those who haven’t cannot imagine it.

we are told famine is coming. “It’s only a matter of time,” declare the experts. There was a time when such predictions appeared only in science fiction books, but no longer. Prophets of doom are now well-educated economists, university profs, and offi-cial spokesmen for our culture, not to mention various authors who interpret our times as “threat-ening” and “ter-minal.” of great-est concern is the enormous, ever-expanding population explosion. The un-deniable statistics tell their own tale.

our world reached one billion back in 1825. one hundred years later we had doubled in population—two billion. By 1975, we doubled again—four billion. To-day we are nearing seven billion. The sup-ply of food required to feed seven or more billion people is unbelievable. worse than that, it’s unattainable in light of our cur-

rent agricultural system. we’re told the gaunt shells of humanity that now popu-late north Africa will someday cast their shadows across north America. one rep-utable authority predicts that there will come a time when the inhabitants of the world’s big cities will be living on bacon bits, fruit in a tube, recycled foods, protein pills and cakes, and reconstituted water.

For us who are well fed, the idea of fam-ine is foreign—virtually unimaginable. It’s what plagues India or Ethiopia . . . never us! Fear of famine doesn’t compute in a country where streets are lined with restaurants by the hundreds.

My first rude awakening to the reality of hunger occurred early in 1958 when our

troop ship full of U.S. Marines pulled into the harbour of Yoko-hama, Japan. we were so thrilled to see land, hav-ing been at sea for 17 days, we were initially unaware of the barges full

of Japanese men and women that were soon tethered to our ship. I later learned that this was a common occurrence. They had come to paint the ship’s hull while we were at the dock for three days. Their pay in return? The garbage from our tables! The thought stunned me.

Another kind of famine exists that is equally tragic . . . but far more subtle. God spoke of it through the prophet Amos.

“We may find physical famine almost impossible to believe, but how about a spiritual famine?”

4

Read his words very carefully:“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GoD,“when I will send a famine on the land,not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,But rather for hearing the words of the LoRD.People will stagger from sea to seaAnd from the north even to the east;They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LoRD,But they will not find it.” (Amos 8:11–12)we may find physical famine almost impossible to

believe, but how about a spiritual famine? You don’t have to wait another century for that! Take a trip across the United States. or pick any country. Talk about a famine! It’s easy to misread the words of Amos. He didn’t predict a lack of churches or chapels, temples or tabernacles, seminars or Sunday church services. He spoke of “a famine . . . for hearing the words of the LoRD.” Remember, a famine does not mean an ab-sence of something . . . but a shortage of it . . . a scarcity that creates a starvation scene.

In our enlightened, progressive, postmodern age, an ancient, dusty prophecy is fulfilled. Hearing the un-adulterated truth of God is a rare experience. How easy to forget that! we have come upon hard times when those who declare and hear the word of God are the exception.

How easy to be spoiled . . . presumptuous . . . proud . . . ungrateful . . . when our spiritual stomachs are full! Funny thing—those who are full usually want more. we belch out increased demands rather than humble gratitude to God for our horn o’ plenty.

Tell me, when was the last time you thanked God for the sheer privilege of hearing more of His word than

you could ever digest? And when did you last share just a crumb from your table?

That’s why there’s a famine.

Photograph of Chuck swindoll © 2010 by david edmonson

5

“Preachers say the Bible is relevant and applicable to life in the 21st century, yet for many there is a huge disconnect.”

6

one of my first after school jobs was working in a butcher shop. i learned to trim fat and cut meat, how to wrap and freeze properly, sharpen knives, and, as a corollary, how to stop bleeding quickly.

As good as these things were they were about as relevant to my life as a high school student as knowing the price of rice in China. There was no connection between the world of high school and that of the butcher shop. only later in life when I became a hunter, had to choose meat at the grocery store, and owned knives of my own, did I see the relevance of that knowledge.

My experience with the butcher shop job is like that of many Chris-tians who struggle to relate to Scripture. Preachers say the Bible is relevant and applicable to life in the 21st century, yet for many there is a huge disconnect.

This disconnect exists because of difficulty we have relating to the world of the Bible. The times were different in every way. People we never knew did things we don’t comprehend, in places we’ve never been, in times we never lived. It really was a different world.

or was it? one reason we might not see Scripture’s relevance is because we

focus on the discontinuity between the world of the Bible and our world and conclude Scripture is irrelevant. Instead we need to look at the points of continuity. It is these that provide the relevance for us. Here are three of them.

The first point of continuity showing Scripture’s relevance today is God does not change. He says, “For I, the Lord, do not change” (Mala-chi 3:6). His character and attributes are eternally the same. The God Bible characters related to is the same God we relate to. There is con-tinuity in that.

what about all that horror and bloodshed we see in the oT? Is God still like that? The short answer is yes. But we have to understand that Christ’s coming ushered in an age of grace. we are in a time when God is patiently withholding judgment and giving people a chance to

WhaT maTTers

noWby Steve Johnson

7

repent (2 Peter 3:9). So although He hasn’t changed, His way of relating has changed.

The second point of continuity show-ing Scripture’s relevance today is that God’s Word has not changed. our eternal God breathed His word so it too stands eternal. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8). It is al-ways able to speak to anyone’s situation because it “…is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

But because Scripture was written when and to whom it was means we have to bridge the gap to our world today. we do that by asking, “what is the theological truth of this passage? what does it teach about God, man, and the world?” It is the theology that we apply to our lives today.

The final point of continuity showing Scripture’s relevance today is that another main character of the Bible, mankind, is the same now as then. Human nature has not changed. we live in a different era, with different languages, cultures, and technology, but human nature is not different. As long as mankind exists, human nature will always be the same.

The Bible characterizes basic human nature as proud, self-centred, and indepen-dent of God, which it calls sin. It is this sepa-ration from God that leads to all kinds of ungodly behaviour. we like to think we are morally superior to our ancestors, but we’re not. we sin like they did because we are sin-ners. Just as putting a pig in a tutu doesn’t make it a ballerina, so changing language, culture, and technology doesn’t change hu-man nature. we are born separated from God and until, and unless, God intervenes in our life, we stay that way. Forever.

This is why we can relate to Scripture: Bible characters are just like us! we see ourselves in their actions and attitudes. Also, the same word that commanded, encouraged, rebuked, or corrected is the same word speaking to us today. And finally, the same God who dealt with them in judgment, or grace, is the same God we deal with today.

My butcher shop job taught me some of the most practical skills I ever learned. what I thought was totally irrelevant turned out to be totally applicable. And Scripture is the same. we just need to learn how to cut

away the fat to get at the meat of what really matters now.

steve Johnson is the communications director at iflC.

This Month's gift

2011 Insight for Living Wall Calendar

our beautiful 2011 calendar is designed to awaken your heart and mind to the things of god.each month you’ll find a quote by Chuck swindoll, a biblical passage, and a breathtaking Canadian scene.

The Dawn of a Church Awakening

(see enclosed form for ordering information)

8

On insightforliving.ca / lifetrac and facebook.com/lifetrac this mOnth: Mean What You Say by Robyn Roste

by Robyn Roste

The Dawn of a Church Awakening

Fight TruTh

i

Captain Bible and the Fight for Truth continued from p. 9

In the mid-90s I played a computer game called Captain Bible in Dome of Darkness. Although a superhero with no special

powers, Captain Bible is able to overcome all deceptions and lies of darkness through the skilful application of Scripture.

To win, Captain Bible must free the city from the Tower of Deception, which has trapped the citizens in lies. To do this Captain Bible needs to speak with the people and meet the lies with the truth found in the Bible.

As the game progresses the lies become harder to recognize and Captain Bible re-quires more and more protection from deception and traps through prayer, Bible vers-es, and the sup-port of those al-ready rescued.

I beat this game a few times in my early teens but didn’t notice the impact it made in how I read and apply Scripture until now. It taught me to really listen to what was said, and to double-check it against what the Bible says.

When you hear something nearly true, or partly true, it’s easy to accept it as true. That’s the thing about deception: sometimes it’s hardly noticeable, as small as uneasiness or something not sitting quite right. For exam-ple, how often do you hear or say, “God helps those who help themselves,” “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” or “Money is the root of all evil,” and attribute it to the Bible? Do you ever stop and wonder where it’s found? Knowing what the Bible says is critically im-portant in order to be confident in your faith and strong in the face of the world’s chaos.

The phrase “God helps those who help themselves,” is largely attributed to Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac, published in 1757. But the concept seems to come from

Aesop (620-564 BC) in his fable Hercules and the Waggoner. In this tale, Hercules tells the Waggoner “the gods help them that help themselves.” Not really biblical. What does the Bible say? Proverbs 28:26 says, “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe,” (NIV), and in Jeremiah 17:5, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord.’” Actually, the Bible disagrees with the idea that God helps those who help themselves, and instead urges us to trust fully

in God and not our own strength.

And what about “Cleanliness is next to godliness?” Well, the earliest records of this quote point-to the Methodist

founder John Wesley, who lived from 1703-1791. Although this could be the citing of a biblical concept from Leviticus, which fre-quently speaks of cleanliness and impurity, or the idea of cleanliness in relation to the cleansing of a believer’s life found through-out the New Testament (1 John 1:9, John 15:3, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Ephesians 5:26-27), this exact quote is never found in Scripture.

“Money is the root of all evil,” is trickier. For, you see, the expression derives from 1 Timo-thy 6:10a, which says: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Close but no ci-gar. You could say this boils down to mere se-mantics, but it’s an important distinction. By changing the subject of the sentence from the love of money to money, the meaning changes. The Bible isn’t saying money itself is evil, but the love of it, which is a root of all kinds of evil.

Semantics studies words and phrases and what they stand for. Last month, Readers Di-

“Knowing what God means and says is the

first step to effectively communicate with Him.”

robyn roste is the lifeTrac coordinator at iflC.

gest1 collected a list of words and phrases North Americans often misuse. For example, us-ing less when you might mean fewer, saying you could care less when you really couldn’t, and saying we want to try and do something instead of trying to do it. Words are easy to mix up, and you may be tempted to think it’s irrelevant because most people know what you mean anyway. But what if what you mean isn’t getting across? And what if you don’t understand how your word choices change the meaning of your sen-tences? Knowing what you mean and meaning what you say are the first steps in effective commu-nication. Knowing what God means and says is the first step to effectively communicate with Him.

Digging into the Bible is a simple concept, but it isn’t easy. It takes a commitment and dis-cipline many of us would rather avoid. Learning to not only read the Scripture, but to understand and apply it properly is some-thing to be taken seriously and with a humble heart. It is always easier to not do, but when you don’t, all you’re actually doing is making it easier for deception to take hold of your life.

1DeMeo, Melissa and Silverman, Paul. 24 Things You Might Be Saying Wrong: Reader’s Digest Version of all those confusing words and seemingly random rules you missed in English class. Readers Digest, September 2010.

Hebrews 4:12“For the word of God is living and active and

sharper than any two-edged sword, and pierc-ing as far as the division of sould and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the

thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The phrase “close but no cigar,” is of US origin and is thought to have gained notoriety due to carnival skill-testing games, which once gave out cigars as prizes. Contestants who shot for but missed the bull’s-eye were told “Close, but no cigar.”

“Almost but no giant plush toy for you,” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Growing in Grace and ResponsibilityDo you remember a great teacher you had? When people are given the space to make mistakes and grow at their own pace, it makes a lasting impact.

Subscribe or listen free online at insightforliving.ca/life-trac

to believe it and live in it

and use it and claim it?

god has given us his written Word and the promise of

his light to all his children.

Adapted from “Light & Truth.” Swindoll, Charles. Wisdom for the Way. Nashville: J.Countryman: 2001 (146)

i often wonder how many of his personal promises to his

people exist in his book

~ Charles r. swindoll

unclaimed and ignored.

When Will We ever learn

1. Some seeds fell beside the road . . . the birds gobbled them up.

2. A few seeds fell on rocky ground . . . the sun scorched the rootless growth and they withered and died.

3. Other seeds fell among thorns . . . which choked out the growth so severely there was no crop to harvest.

4. Still other seeds fell into good soil . . . bumper crop.

FIRST, the seed represents “the word.” The Scriptures, yes, but also the in-sights, the perspective, and the wisdom

that grow in us when the seed takes root. Second, the different soils represent

people’s varied responses to that “word.” All four “hear” but not all reap a harvest. That’s significant. Hearing guarantees nothing.

next, the results are directly related to the condition of the soil . . . not the qual-ity of the seed. Same seed, different soil. If you look closely, the first two groups lack roots and only in the last two groups does Jesus mention fruit. The third group hears, but only the fourth group “hears the word and accepts it,” resulting in strong, healthy growth.

It’s the third group that intrigues me.

These people hear everything, but those truths are not really accepted, allowed to take root, and grow. Instead, the thorns “choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.” Choking thorns are identified: “the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things (Mark 4:19).

worry, like a thin stream of fear, trickles through our minds and cuts a deeper chan-nel into which other thoughts are drained, often God-given thoughts gleaned directly from His Book. The same is true of “the de-ceitfulness of riches.” what a consuming passion, yet how empty, how unsatisfying!

But this third species of thorns is the killer—“the desires for other things.” Bet-ter think that one through. It’s the picture of discontentment, the plague of pursuit: pushing, straining, stretching, relentlessly reaching while our minds become strangled with the lie, “enough just isn’t enough,” which makes great thorn fertilizer.

But the good news is this: Listening—I mean really giving heed to the seed—results in deeper roots and greater fruit . . . and thorns can’t strangle such healthy growth. Jesus is still communicating, but if we’re not careful we’ll let our mental strangula-tion drown out His voice.

Swindoll, Charles. Adapted from “Things that Strangle Us,” Think it Over, n.d.

WhILE REAdINg ThROUgh MARk’S gOSPEL RECENTLy, I WAS dRAWN INTO ThE SCENE OF ChAPTER FOUR.

by Charles R. Swindoll

Things That

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My wife and I have almost finished preparing for what I am sure will be the challenge of a lifetime.

Since we don’t know what we’ll face, our plan is just do the best we can. I expect we’ll face obstacles along the way: disgruntled natives, changes in plans, enemy alliances, unforeseen setbacks, and wanting to give up and turn back. But we’re not quitters. And the prize is so big it’s worth it.

no, we’re not headed for some television reality game show. we’re just about to start

homeschooling our five-year-old daugh-ter. we’re as ready as we’ll ever be and yet, there is nothing that can make a parent feel more inadequate for a job than to remind him of his obligation to “train up a child in the way he should go,” (Proverbs 22:6).

Figuring out what God expects of par-ents when it comes to teaching our chil-dren His ways is simple, but not necessari-ly easy. we can take a systematic approach to educating our children in “the three R’s,” reading, writing and arithmetic. we

Raising Children to Love the Lordby Eric Baesel

Training for Life

14

eric Baesel is the creative manager of Creative Productions for insight for living us and the pro-ducer for Paws & Tales. he lives in north dallas, TX with his wife laura and their three children, keira, Carter, and Connor.

joyable part of our day. The routine helps us focus our attention on the Lord and also teaches the importance of worship.

our daughter’s bedtime routine includes talking about the day and sometimes more

prayer. we usually end with listening to an episode of Paws & Tales. The theol-ogy taught in each episode is a wonderful springboard for more

meaningful conversations. As you can tell, casual conversation is at the foundation of our approach to teaching spiritual things. our best teaching times are when we’re talking in the car about the beauty of a sun-set or when we’re disciplining our children, discussing how God brings His children to repentance, restoration, and forgiveness.

I think it’s important to note that you don’t have to be a spiritual giant or a Bible scholar in order to teach your children theology. we aren’t either of those things by a long shot. Demonstrating a genuine desire to share your spiritual life with your kids, being authentic in how you live, and being consistent between what you say and how you live will speak vol-umes. By showing our children what our own relationship with God looks like and being purposeful about creating a family environment that prays, reads the Bible, worships, and enjoys talking about the things of God together, we are fulfilling the parents’ mandate in Deuteronomy 6. And all the while my children are learning theology in a natural way. It’s not always easy, but it’s easily the most important thing we can teach our children.

“Figuring out what God expects of parents when it comes to teaching our

children His ways is simple, but not necessarily easy.”

can send them to excellent schools and provide them tutors and mentoring. But it seems that God never intended for parents to relegate “training in righteousness” to just a half-hour of Bible stories each day or once-a-week Sun-day school lessons. If Deuteronomy 6 is our guide, it’s clear that God has lifestyle train-ing in mind. we read in verses 6-7, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up,” (nIV). In other words, we should always be in training mode. It is in every-thing we do as we go about our daily tasks, teaching our children by living lives of obedience to God.

The idea is that more is caught than taught. Formal instruction is important of course, but our kids will ultimately learn more from us if we have a vibrant spiritual life, one not hidden from view. Integrating spiritual discipline into a family’s routines is helpful as well. what that looks like day-to-day will be different for every family.

Most evenings, our family enjoys a time of family worship. we have a simple ser-vice, which includes singing hymns and talking about their words and meanings, reading Bible stories and discussing their applications, and singing Scripture verses set to music. Singing Scripture is a fun, easy way of memorizing—even our two year-old twins are learning phrases from the songs. we also have a short time of prayer where we practice praising God, thanking Him, and sharing our requests before the Lord. It seemed awkward when we first started but quickly became an en-

15

ten commandmentsfor

1. laugh a little each day. Before I was born my dad worked in a psychi-

atric ward. He would come home at night and describe some of the sad events of his day to my mother, often interspersing his dialogue with a good belly laugh. She couldn’t believe it at first, but it was his way of finding the pulse of sanity in a dark place.

I found myself doing the same as I cared for my father who battled Alzheimer’s dis-ease. one summer day while I was visiting the hospital, a lady who serves as part-time chaplain pulled me aside. Her forehead was scrunched up and I wondered what awful thing my father had done or said. “You told me he had been faithful to your

How to care for those you love, while staying sane yourself

Recent studies conclude that almost one in three middle-aged canadian women are supporting unmarried children and elderly parents at the same time. caregivers are often exhausted, broke, and in

need of a few reminders of what can keep all of us relatively sane in the midst of life’s challenges.

mother all these years,” she said. “Today he was watching TV and holding hands with a complete stranger.” of course I laughed. So did she. There are times we cry, but some-times laughter is our most effective weap-on—perhaps the only one we have. And it sure beats Prozac.

2. find a confidante. Miles Frank-lin said, “Someone to tell it to is one

of the fundamental needs of human be-ings.” You don’t need to give everyone you meet an organ recital, but who can put a price tag on the value of sharing our story, thoughts, feelings, and sometimes tears with a trusted other?

Some communities have caregiver sup-

by Phil Callaway

16

port groups. If you can’t find one, start one. If you can’t start one, get a pet. Some-times my dog is my support group. She’s the only one who will listen without inter-rupting. It’s like the old Swedish proverb: “Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow.”

3. carve hurry from your life. I wish someone had informed me earlier

that there is nothing noble about a ner-vous breakdown and nothing selfish about taking care of your own needs. when I dis-covered that “no” is a complete sentence, I freed time for pursuing my gifts. when I learned to enjoy things without owning them, I forgot about the Joneses. when I

began hanging out with positive people, I topped off my energy tank. when I began taking care of myself, I found I was better equipped to take good care of others. Still-ness is rejuvenating. Sometimes the most pressing thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest.

4. exercise three times a week. of course, exercise didn’t help my

mother. She started walking a mile a day when she was 60. She’s eighty-four now and we don’t know where she is!

5. enjoy the right food and take longer to eat it. My philosophy on

eating is the same as Miss Piggy’s: never eat more than you can lift. But middle age

17

informs me that my philosophy is flawed. Pants that fit last Thursday are malfunc-tioning. So I need to acquaint myself with salmon, tomatoes, broccoli, nuts, and blueberries. And never pass up an oppor-tunity to savour dessert. A recent study conducted by the dark chocolate industry indicates that dark chocolate is good for you and may constitute a food group.

6. run away from home. Find a way to

get away. If the budget is low, develop a great imagi-nation. Close your eyes

and imagine that your bath is at

a spa in the Himalayas—without the mon-keys. never just listen to your favourite music. Pretend you’re at a concert, or giv-ing one. when you can’t take what you’ve been taking any longer, take a vacation.

7. take care of the home front. who we are and what we are able to ac-

complish come directly from the founda-tions we build. So work on the relation-ships inside your tightest circles.

8. Worry less. worry steals every-thing worthwhile from today and

adds nothing worthwhile to tomorrow. worried people see problems; concerned people find solutions. I know of no greater worry buster than regular quality time in God’s word and on my knees.

9. remember you’re more amazing than you think. In a selfish age, those

who care for others make God smile. So never underestimate the power of a kind word, a touch, a smile, a tear, or a compli-ment. You are the answer to someone’s prayer. Be assured that there will be resis-tance, but the rewards are out of this world.

10. go looking for the blessings. Don’t worry, you’ll find them. They’re

everywhere.

looking for a thoughtful gift of appreciation? We suggest Coura-geous Leadership in a Corrupt World, by insight for living.

This book looks at the nitty-gritty leadership of nehemiah and addresses key issues facing Christian leaders today. issues like handling criticism and facing moral corruption with courage.

encourage your pastor with this treasure trove of insights.

Phil Callaway is a best-selling author and speaker. Visit him at www.philcallaway.com

october is pastor appreciation month!

18

(See enclosed form for ordering information)

Ben lowell is the executive director of iflC.

Early in our work in Cuba I learned a vital lesson I’ve never forgotten. The people of Cuba are in need of virtually everything and nothing is taken for granted. Things most Canadians can simply reach for—heat, water, food, and medicine—are rare commodities to the average Cuban.

with that knowledge we decided to do what we could for those we came into contact with. Armed with extra clothes, a variety of medicines, and a few copies of our Spanish God’s Masterwork Bible study guides, we met with one pastor couple.

After they shared a time of fellowship and a modest meal we gave them the gifts we had brought. Their response was unlike anything I had imagined. First, we presented badly-needed clothing for distribution to those most in need in their church family. They were delighted and grateful. Smiles spread across their faces.

next, we gave them the medicine. we were able to bring approximately 10 pounds of varied medicines into the country. Health care products that are basic to us are as rare as gold for them. we pulled out the medicines believing that these would delight them, and they did. Again, they were grateful and gracious.

Finally, we presented the study guides of Chuck Swindoll’s God’s Masterwork series, a teach-ing survey of all the books of the Bible in five paperback volumes. I gave them to the pastor saying, “we brought a few books along as well, hoping that they might encourage you.”

His response put a lump in my throat. The pastor looked at me, then at the books. Then he looked at his wife and again looked back at the books. They both looked back at me and began to cry. They were overwhelmed with the blessing of being given a few books that would enable them to learn and teach the Bible more effectively to the people in their

church. Clothes were a blessing, medicine almost a miracle, but books that taught God’s word—priceless.

Does God’s word appear in the list of things you value?Just a thought.

What’s it Worth?by Ben Lowell

19

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44 CD messagesChuck guides you to the solid foundation you need to

withstand the pressures of life. Discover how to ground your life in relationship with God, how the Lord works in

His people, and how to live for His glory. Volume

1&2 $8960sale! reg. $109.00

changing Wanderers into Worshipers 16 CD messages + study guideAllow God to change you from a complaining wanderer into a reverent worshiper through this practical study.

scripture for practical christian living Card set and CD Do you find it difficult to memorize Scripture? With Insight for Living’s Bible memorization cards and CD, memorizing the Bible will be the easiest and most exciting part of your day.

timely reminders of timelss truths single CD message Chuck Swindoll walks us through the Scriptures to reaffirm the eternal truth of God’s sovereignty and offers practical warnings to prevent us from forgetting.

insights’ bible companion: 2 volume set, practical helps for better study 2 paperback books (Volume 1 & 2) Do you sometimes get lost in the Bible? You have questions but can’t find the answers?These study tools will help you learn to find the answers for yourself!

Wonders never cease Phil Callawaypaperback, 280 pages In this fictional work by Phil Callaway, high school senior Terry Anderson is not looking for grace when his world is turned upside down.

$600sale! reg. $8.00

$675sale! reg. $9.00

practical christian living 10 CD messages + devotional workbook

Do you desire to follow the path that leads to God? This series offers 10 essentials, straight from

the Scriptures, that every believer needs for the Christian journey.

$3000sale! reg. $40.00

$900sale! reg. $12.00

$1050sale! reg. $14.00

info@insightforliving.ca • insightforliving.ca • 1.800.663.7639

The ChurCh AwAkeningAn Urgent cAll for renewAl

In spite of the devastating erosion we’ve seen so far, Christ has declared that He will build His Church, and nothing—not even the powers of hell—can stop Him. In truth, the battle has already been won. Christ will be triumphant in the end, and those of us who stand with Him and live for Him will be victorious. In this powerful new series, Chuck Swindoll calls for a return to solid biblical principles to re-establish a life–altering church with Christ as Lord and Master.

neW broadcast!

The Church: Let’s Start Here October 22, 25-26 Challenges, Struggles, Solutions, Priorities October 27-29 Worship: A Commitment . . . Not a War November 3-4 How Should the Church React? November 12 & 15

upcoming messages include:

$2660sale! reg. $38.00

9 CD messages