by Pastor Ray Viola | May 26, 2024 | Contemporary Christianity
Scripture tells us that Barnabas was a man of encouragement. (Acts 4:36) There possibly has never been a time in either the history of mankind or the church when the gift of encouragement has been more needed. To encourage means “to give courage, hope, or confidence...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Mar 16, 2023 | Contemporary Christianity, One Another
The singular call of Jesus to His disciples was to deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). The body of Christ is composed of imperfect people who are prone to get discouraged, depressed, and defeated in their walks....
by Pastor Ray Viola | Nov 4, 2022 | Devotionals
Paul had probably gone through one of the most frustrating ministry times in his life when Jesus appeared to him and told him, “Be of good cheer”. In other words what Jesus was saying was: “Don’t condemn yourself, Paul, because things did not go the way you thought...
by Ray Viola | Jun 25, 2022 | Devotionals
Paul had probably gone through one of the most frustrating ministry times in his life when Jesus appeared to him and told him, ‘Be of good cheer’. In other words, what Jesus was saying was: ‘Don’t condemn yourself, Paul, because things did not...
by Ray Viola | Jun 7, 2022 | Contemporary Christianity
No doubt, Paul was a wonderful servant of the Lord Jesus. However, even Paul learned the valuable lesson that no child of God can ever walk with Jesus effectively as a “lone ranger”. We find in Acts 20:4 that other ìliving stones accompanied Paul on his...