Category: Features

The Official Publication of the Church of God of Prophecy

The Expectation of the Miraculous

Almost two years ago, I was blessed to be a part of the ministry in the Europe, CIS, Middle East leadership conference. In the concluding service, I listened with interest to the testimony of the pastor of the Emmanuel Church in Kiev as he shared the testimony of their vision of the past year in …

Take Another Look

You’re a Christian kid. You grew up going to church, going to youth group, and most of your friends are Christians. But at this point, in the back of your mind, you might find church boring. Maybe church stuff is getting in the way of other things you’d rather be doing. You basically go to …

Gardiner Receives Chaplaincy Certification

On November 13, 2013, Bishop Gardiner successfully underwent an intense two and a half-hour interview before the Board of Chaplaincy Certification’s Review Committee, was approved by the Commission on Certification, and ratified by the Board of Directors as a fully certified chaplain. With this achievement, Bishop Gardiner joins the ranks of a group of four …

Philippines Hit by Super-Typhoon

In November 2013, the Philippines was hit with the Super-Typhoon Yolanda, which killed at least 5,235 with an additional 1,613 still listed as missing according to the last government count. More than a million homes were destroyed or damaged, including some of our churches. Here are some reports from Bishop Roger Justiano, National Overseer of …

Making a Difference through Giving

For eight years I wrote an article for the Mensajero Ala Blanca, the Spanish version of the White Wing Messenger. I wrote 12 articles for the first two years without knowing if anybody was reading them or being blessed by them. After two years, however, I had the opportunity to visit some of the countries …

Love Hurts

Once upon a time, I ran. Not just because I was trying to get away from something or out of fear, but I once spent several years running for pleasure. I made daily laps around the track, experiencing the often-reported “runner’s high” along with the satisfaction of having completed a night’s workout. As I went …

10 Things Pastors Wish They Knew Before They Became Pastors

In an informal survey of pastors, I asked a simple question: “What do you wish you had been told before you became a pastor?” Some of the responses were obvious. For me, a few were surprises. I note them in order of frequency of response, not necessarily in order of importance. After each item, I …

‘Son of God’ film coming to theaters Feb. 28

From Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, producers of the hit History Channel miniseries The Bible comes the new film Son of God, arriving in theaters on February 28. The two-hour movie includes much of the footage of Christ’s life (played by Diogo Morgado) from “The Bible” series framed from the perspective of the Apostle John. …

Strengthening Local Churches for the Harvest

“Enter to worship. Depart to serve.” Those words were painted on a large sign above the doors of a church I once attended. It took me a few decades to fully understand the true meaning of those words, because—frankly—I didn’t see them modeled too much. Most of the serving I observed was within the walls of the …

That They May Be One

I like to pay attention to what people say when they are close to their death. Those final words reveal a lot about the person who utters them, and I think that in some ways, they reflect what they have kept in his/her heart for a long time, waiting for that special moment. Those can …