Life Support Prayer Calendar: Your identity is not in a label.

Life Support Prayer Calendar  Dear Prayer Team Member,   "We are not defined by who the world says we are.  We are defined by who Christ says we are.  We are developed through the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work, into the people God wants us to be.  It is in Christ where our true identity lies." Excerpt from the Sep-Dec Call to prayer by Executive Director, Deborah Hollifield      Call to Prayer: "Identity Politics" Titus 1:12 (MSG)   For there are a lot of rebels out there, full of loose, confusing, and deceiving talk. Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst. They’ve got to be shut up. They’re disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck. One of their own prophets said it best:   ​The Cretans are liars from the womb, barking dogs, lazy bellies.   ​He certainly spoke the truth. Get on them right away. Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules so they can recover a robust faith.   Everything is clean to the clean-minded; nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers. They leave their dirty fingerprints on every thought and act. They say they know God, but their actions speak louder than their words. They’re real creeps, disobedient good-for-nothings. October 11-17, 2020   1. Confess on behalf of our nation our biased thinking that categorizes people into groups and responds with judgment and hatred. Pray to discern the heart beyond the rhetoric and respond with winsome wisdom.​   2. Ask God to give you a new heart and new mind to love others as reflections of His image—even if they are muddied reflections right now. Sep | Oct |Nov | Dec Prayer Calendar PO Box 5239, Lancaster, PA 17606-5239 412-487-1990 Share Via: Check out PPL's website

How can MBF pray for you next week?

Once a month, we come together over a conference call to celebrate what you have accomplished in your ministry with us, give thanks to God and pray for the work of MBF. It's happening next week and we would love for you to join us! More than that though, we want to lift up your prayer needs. As much as you have given to the mission of MBF, this is something we can do for you. 

To be a part of the call, join us next Wednesday, October 14, at 12:30 PM (CDT) and dial (605)313-5831. When prompted enter code 459503. You are free to pop in as you are able or stay for the entire call. If you are not able to make the live call, we would still love to be able to pray for you. 

God Bless you. Thanks for sharing your heart for medical missions with us. 


Dori Donnell - MBF Marketing Manager

WCC NEWS: WCC to host online prayer service for World Food Day

WCC NEWS: WCC to host online prayer service for World Food Day: Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC 09 October 2020 The World Council of Churches (WCC) is inviting all people of good will to attend an online pra...

New Preaching Commentary Available!

New Preaching Commentary Available!: Planning for Sunday? Everything You Need Is in Connections! "A wide variety of teachers, preachers, and scholars bring the depth of the...

A Thought from the Word

A brief thought based on Psalm 63:1 -  You are my God. I worship you. In my heart, I long for you, as I would long for a stream in a scorching desert.

Hope is elusive. . .#ButJesus!

Life Support Prayer Calendar  Dear Prayer Team Member,   There seems to be no hope of peace in our world of escalating hatred, oppression, and selfish ambition... "But Jesus – the One mockingly labeled, “King of the Jews,” accused of being a lawless drunkard (Matt. 11:29), in league with Satan (Matt. 12:23) and cursed (Gal. 3:13) – who bears the only label that matters: Savior of the world.  Created in the image of God, we find our true worth in the sacrificial incarnation of God in human flesh and the ultimate price that Jesus paid for our lives. ." Excerpt from the Sep-Dec Call to prayer by Executive Director, Deborah Hollifield      Call to Prayer: "Identity Politics" ​Zephaniah 3:19,  Matthew 8:2-3 (ESV) ​ Behold, at that time I will deal     with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame     and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise     and renown in all the earth.    And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”  And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. October 4-10, 2020 1. Pray in repentance for shunning individuals or whole groups of people as outcast because of infirmity or disability, beliefs or economics or any other reason.  2. Ask God to help you see suffering human beings behind the real or socially imposed masks and allow his compassion to respond through you to meet their need and be a champion protecting their lives.  3. Pray for Deborah and Marie as they prepare for the annual PPL Board Meeting this week. Sep | Oct |Nov | Dec Prayer Calendar PO Box 5239, Lancaster, PA 17606-5239 412-487-1990 Share Via: Check out PPL's website

A New Devotion - Lucky Us

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Luke 7:18-35

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" When the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?'" Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind. And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John's baptism. But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves.)

"To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.' For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

Lucky Us

Sometime I imagine how it might have actually been back in the day, you know, following Jesus Christ in the flesh. I mean, just think of it, being right there as Jesus performed his miracles and taught his parables. And to be able just to soak it all in and then to ask questions, now tell me that wouldn’t have been sweet. I can’t imagine a greater blessing than to have been able to sit at the feet of the Son of God and listen.

And I guess that’s why I find what he said in this passage so jarring. When describing John the Baptist, Jesus said, “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John...” Of course, with this I concur. And if Jesus had stopped right here and then went on to slam the Pharisees, I’d have been fine. But right after affirming John, Jesus said, “... yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” In other words, people like you and me are greater than John, which I frankly find both mind-blowing and confusing.

But you know, if we pause and think, maybe Jesus hit the nail on the head. I mean, even though John was great, he still struggled with faith. That’s why he sent his disciples to find out whether Jesus was the one or if they should wait for another. And I think the reason he did that was clear and simple; we have something that John lacked, and I’m talking about the Holy Spirit. And as to the miracles and teachings, we have an entire book dedicated to the one we worship, one that we can read and reread anytime we want. And this was something else neither John nor the disciples had. And so, I guess when it comes to following Jesus, lucky us.