You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:13)

...keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel...that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak (Ephesians 6:19-20).

The world is a dark, hopeless place. I see that darkness in the literature I am reading and the historical periods from which the works come. I see that hopelessness in my peers and professors whose souls are perishing in nihilism, Buddhism , cosmic humanism, naturalism. I pray every day that Jesus would shine though me; that people would look into my face and find it radiant with the hope of the gospel. And I know that I must open my mouth and defend the name of Jesus; I must share my hope with others. Yet, in the classroom, I often remain silent or speak in abstraction. I don't want to miss opportunities to open my mouth and to let my light shine, but I know I do, holding back in fear. How wrong and tragic! How I long for greater courage and compassion, greater devotion to Christ, greater love for the lost, greater discernment to know when and what to speak.

Will you join me in praying for a greater revelation of the gospel, for boldness, for humility, for effectiveness, for good soil in the hearts of the lost whom we are called to love and serve, for opportunities to share the gospel? Pray that I would speak the name of Jesus--that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. Fellow saints, I'm praying for you!

Your name
Jesus, said in contempt, frustration, hatred
a curse word
Your name
Jesu, a Spanish slave ship,
traders and slaves, alike
enslaved, in darkness, desperate
classmates only see irony
blind to their own slavery
to sin that easily entangles
make me unashamed of your name
power to save
Your name
Jesus, the name above all names
Your name
Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth
and under the earth
Your name
Jesus, must be heard in all the world
in truth
Your name
Jesus Christ is Lord
every tongue confess
Your name
Your name
how sweet the name of Jesus