Philippines: Knowing God’s Will

To all my friends in the Philippines: Knowing God’s Will is now available there locally! Same book, different cover.

I’m deeply thankful to CSM Publishing! You can order it directly from their website or from these online retailers:

Lazada: https://bit.ly/CSMPublishingLaz

Shopee: https://bit.ly/CSMPublishingSHOPEE

TikTok Shop: https://bit.ly/CSMPublishingTTS

You can also order the book wherever CSM publications are sold.

The whole idea for Knowing God’s Will was born in the Philippines. Here’s a quote from the introduction:

I preached and wrote on the topic of discerning God’s will about twenty years ago when I was a missionary in the Philippines. The series and blog posts were well-received at the time, and I hope I helped my young audience in their pursuit of God’s will. I’ve now had more time to think about this topic and to learn more life lessons.

The book also includes quite a few stories from my time as a missionary. It’s only fitting that it gets published in country that has meant so much to me! I pray that many Filipinos will be blessed and be part of the glorious adventure of following Christ.

One more note to my friends in the Philippines: I would greatly appreciate you sharing this post on your social media pages. I’m also more than happy to do radio/podcast interviews as my time permits.


When Life Crashes In

Kaleb Whitby was driving his Chevy Silverado on Interstate 84 in Oregon. One semi-truck jackknifed in front of him due to black ice and he was unable to keep from colliding into its side. Another tractor trailer came barreling straight towards them, also unable to stop. Whitby held onto the steering wheel, closed his eyes, and prayed for safety.

A few moments later he found himself encased in a mangled mass of metal that was once his truck. Sergi Karplyuk, one of the semi drivers, jumped out of his truck to check on Whitby’s well-being. Only Whitby’s head was visible, but he was completely coherent and able to communicate. Whitby, in fact, gave Karplyuk permission to take this shocking photograph which appeared on multiple news outlets:

Kaleb Whitby was freed from his truck and walked away with just a few scratches. The wreck was part of a 26-car pileup.

This story reminds me of a word I’ve encountered frequently in the New Testament: thlipsis (in the original Greek). I most recently ran across it in 2 Corinthians 6:4. Paul wrote of the multiple hardships he gladly endured for the sake of the gospel (2 Corinthians 6:4-5).

Thlipsis is often translated as “affliction,” “tribulation,” or “trouble.” The word is used to describe anything that causes us to suffer (physically, spiritually, or emotionally). But the word also meant to be pressured or constricted.

Any afflictions I have experienced would be considered “afflictions-lite” by Paul’s standards. But suffering has a way of making us lose our perspective—we can feel like we are having the life squeezed out of us.

God never promises a life without suffering, but He does promise something better: divine purpose in suffering. Consider this promise in Romans:

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

-Romans 5:3-5

There’s that word again, thlipsis, appearing twice and translated as “sufferings/suffering.” God promises that suffering/affliction is His holy process of producing qualities that can be formed no other way (endurance, character, and hope). I must remind myself of this when life isn’t going the way I think it should. I pray you will, too.