Ministry today has become quite difficult! After being in ministry for almost four-and-one-half decades, I realize I was trained in a different world than the one in which I now find myself. Once we could ask people on what basis they hoped to go to heaven; now we live in a world that either ignores heaven or disbelieves it. Once we ministered among unchurched people who would more or less agree that going to church is a good thing, but now they find church a quaint relic of a bygone era. Once we could safely assume that people had a respect for the Bible, even if they had not read it or did not understand it.

When I grew up in Lisbon, Iowa, schools did not schedule sports on Wednesday night because it interfered with prayer meeting, stores remained closed on Sundays, and my father was one of the most respected men in town simply because he was a pastor.

 We now minister in a different world where gender is considered fluid, marriage is temporary, morals are malleable, and personal autonomy—sexual, moral, and economic—is the greatest good and highest goal. Biblical literacy has been replaced by indifference and disdain.

 Christians now often find themselves embarrassed by the Bible and find its truth terribly inconvenient. The Bible contains the good news of the gospel and deals with the brokenness of people who long for wholeness. Each one of us daily is exposed to the brokenness of humanity and for Paulette and me, who daily read the Bible together and individually, realize the Word of God is not a cause for embarrassment, but a source of life.

 May we encourage each one of you to daily read the Bible, if only for five minutes. It will make a big difference in your life if you only begin by reading one of the 31 chapters in Proverbs each day, reading the chapter that corresponds with the date. The daily discipline of Bible reading trains our hearts and minds to recognize the voice of God more and more, eventually drowning out the dark, deceitful voices of the world.

 Peter and Paulette Teague

Co-Founders