by Roger Ross | May 4, 2024 | Blog
In his book, Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, Jack Deere describes a poignant moment during a service of healing. An articulate woman who was chronically depressed came forward and asked for prayer. She said, “I finally figured out the true nature...
by Roger Ross | Apr 27, 2024 | Blog
Suddenly, the room went quiet. After a long debate about the church’s future, a well-respected lay leader leaned forward with tears in her eyes and declared, “We have to do everything we can to keep our doors open!” As heads nodded around the table, I knew we...
by Roger Ross | Apr 19, 2024 | Blog
For nearly two years, I’ve been praying the Wesley Covenant Prayer on my knees each day. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, did not write the prayer, but he adopted it for covenant renewal services often held around the new year. He saw it as a potent way to...
by Roger Ross | Apr 12, 2024 | Blog, Grace
In What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey tells the story of Peter Greave. Greave contracted leprosy while stationed in India. “He returned to England, half-blind and partially paralyzed, to live on a compound run by a group of Anglican sisters. Unable to work...
by Roger Ross | Apr 5, 2024 | Blog
We had never met. She was a friendly, outwardly cheerful person who waited on me in a store this week. Over the course of our brief conversation, I soon discovered things were not as they appeared. To make conversation, I commented on an intricate tattoo around her...
by Roger Ross | Mar 29, 2024 | Blog
One day, for no apparent reason, a piece of Scripture set up camp in the back of my head. It would waltz into my morning devotions to say “hi” but wasn’t satisfied with such an obvious setting. It chose to show up at night, during a meeting at work, or in a...
by Roger Ross | Mar 22, 2024 | Blog, Discernment, God's call, God's will, Prayer, Spiritual Discipline
It blew my socks off. In a recent post, I shared the dark struggle that led to my first 8-day silent prayer retreat. At the time, I was so depleted, I couldn’t think straight. Seeing my distress, my spiritual director shared something no one had ever mentioned...
by Roger Ross | Mar 15, 2024 | Blog
I avoided it for years. Early in ministry, I began to take two-or-three-day retreats for prayer, journaling, and recalibrating my relationship with God. In the constant blur of local church ministry, they became a spiritual oasis that refreshed my soul. At the time,...
by Roger Ross | Mar 9, 2024 | Blog
What do you have trouble believing? Maybe you’ve heard people say, “I’m not an exercise person.” “I’m simply not good with money.” “I’ve never been creative.” “God knows, I’m not a leader.” “You know, I don’t really matter that much.” Most of us are all too familiar...
by Roger Ross | Mar 2, 2024 | Blog
“My mandate is joy,” says Pastor Jerry Eze. “God specifically said to me that I have a mandate that everyone who walks through our door must have joy.” Pastor Jerry Eze Pastor Jerry is so serious about joy, in 2013 he planted a church in Abuja, Nigeria called Streams...
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