When I first arrived at First UMC Fort Worth, TX. and I was assigned the tasks to perform as an associate pastor; I was given a few words that I will never forget, and I take them with me. “Don’t be afraid to fail.” and “We want you to succeed.”
After what I considered a very favorable time in my first appointment from 2001-2003, I was very concerned about what would happen to the congregation I was leaving.
Joshua was perhaps on the floor, disoriented, stressed and without strength, dealing with fear, and feeling incapable of performing the task he had been given.
When I was a child and heard this story, and I wondered how it would be possible for every eye to see him.
“I have a message from God for you”, this is what John is practically writing to the readers.
In this verse, John promises a blessing to the person who reads aloud the words which have been written and a blessing to those who hear and respond in obedience to what they hear.
It was the summer of 2001, I already had my interview with the bishop of the conference at that time, and we talked about a project that we had already talked about months before.
The church is composed of many people with a variety of backgrounds and a multiplicity of gifts and abilities.
It was my second year as pastor of Emanuel Church in Rio Bravo, Coahuila, Mexico.
Paul does not want the Corinthians to misunderstand the truth about spiritual gifts.