This blog contains an audio file of the true story of a young couple and how they experienced God’s love and transformed lives first-hand through the power of God’s divinely inspired Bible Stories and the living, active Word of God.

Do you remember the days of your youth, where as a child you had such an excitement for learning, imagining, trying and believing in new things? I remember how much fun and exciting it was to play, imagine and act out stories with my school buddies. We would play for hours in the backyard or in the neighbors front yard, often making a lot of messes along the way (with a frequent, “clean that up after you’re done” statement from my parents). It seems we would run out of daylight way too soon, but our hearts and minds would keep going all the way to bedtime. (And often it would take some additional “storytelling” time to finally settle us down). That open, receptive-to-learning heart attitude of a child is something our God cherishes and speaks directly to….

Severe persecution is a way of life for the Christian Church in the seven Islamic Republics of Central and Southwest Asia. Scriptures In Use is humbled to have trained and be currently partnering with believers in five out of these seven highly restrictive countries. Many hundreds have been equipped to share the message of Jesus and the Kingdom of God with their families, friends and neighbors in the effective SIU Bridges strategy. As they do, they live with the daily reality of tribulation. To God’s glory though, through their efforts, the Church of Jesus Christ triumphs and continues to grow where there were once no believers. They are able to turn tragedy into triumph.

Have you ever tried something new and been amazed (actually astonished) at the immediate, positive outcome? I remember when, as a young child growing up in the western U.S., trying to ride my bicycle without training wheels for the first time. Suddenly, with just a little more balance but without much more effort, I could go faster, turn right and left more quickly, and do special tricks on my baby-blue Schwinn bicycle. The smile on my face was so BIG that it stayed with me for days. Why didn’t I try it earlier? It takes courage to try new things, but once you do…

One of our biggest challenges here in the western world, especially in our ministry outreach efforts, is doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting different results. Then when we see limited to no new impact from our same old efforts, we ponder in disappointment, “What went wrong?” Albert Einstein famously called this process the “definition of insanity.” Sometimes, when I’m doing the same routine as before, I have to tell myself, “STOP, Kent! Change your approach and your ways.” There is a parable in the Bible that clearly speaks to this issue …