FEATURES

• "Nazarenes Care!" by Robert Prescott. Compassionate ministries has become a household word in the Nazarene church. Beginning with food, clothes, and special offerings, compassion has become a lifestyle rather than an annual fund-raiser or a one-time event.

• "A Model of Compassion," by Jacque Cork. The model for urban churches involves making the transition from compassion to conversion.

• "If You Love Me . . ." by Teanna Sunberg. A compassionate Jesus said to a changed Peter, "If you love Me, feed My sheep." He says the same to us today.

• "Dead Man Walking," by Jacque Cork. When a well-crafted life took a wrong turn, the ultimate destination was prison. In these unlikely surroundings, John Campbell found God and a new ministry.

• "Taking the Word to the 21st Century." It is the power of the Word that drives the work of Nazarene Publishing House, the publishing arm of the Church of the Nazarene.

• "This Millennium I'm Going To . . ." by Grant E. Lee. As the calendar marches toward the midnight millennial celebration, is there value in the resolution tradition?

COLUMNS

• Editor's Forum: This month's panel of experts answers questions about compassionate ministry centers and becoming a "missional church."

• Commission: "Nazarenes-People Who Go Around Doing Good," by Jim L. Bond. We earn the right to evangelize by getting involved relationally and beneficently with those we are seeking to bring to salvation in Christ.

• The Deeper Way: "Parable of the Apple Man," by Jim Spruce. There he stood as he always stood-dirty, disheveled, baggy pants, sleeveless T-shirt, and thongs. And there he leaned as he always leaned, against a cart full of overripe apples. "Got this great deal for you today!"

• Touching: "Entertaining Angels and Dancing for the Lord," by David M. Best. Betty's special blend of coffee service has touched people from all cultures and lifestyles-housed and homeless, politicians and prostitutes, artists and actors, musicians and mechanics, stockbrokers and sanitation workers. Nearing 85, she hasn't stopped working for the Lord.

• Family Tree: "Soul to Soul Forever and Ever," by Les and Leslie Parrott. Okay, so we haven't even come close to our golden anniversary. But watching Mom and Dad celebrate theirs reminded us that the memories we treasure in the future will be the ones we create today.

• Footprints: "George Sharpe and the Pentecostal Church of Scotland," by Stan Ingersol. The unswerving devotion of George Sharpe to the preaching of holiness gave the Church of the Nazarene its first foothold in Europe.

• Portraits: "Thoma Qirjazi: Following the Voice That Says 'Yes,'" by Dean Nelson. Sometimes it's the voices you hear, and sometimes it's the voices you don't hear, that make all the difference.

• Worldview: "ENBC-Cross-Cultural Training," by Bill Selvidge. What is so special about being an international community? ENBC students learn how to meet people who have no concept of the gospel and, through one-to-one contact, begin to live and present Jesus Christ in human, caring ways.

• Metro: "Angels We Have Heard Below," by Fletcher L. Tink. The synchronicity of God's ways left me speechless. I had met a string of urban angels, and the string had led me back to my own parents.

• Heartbeat: "Miracles Through Technology," by Michael R. Estep. Can God use technology to answer prayer? Just ask Bill and Earline.

• Essay: "Holiness Defined," by Ron Lush. Personal holiness is acknowledging God's sovereign ownership and intentionally submitting to His authority-voluntarily, once and daily.