FEATURES

• "Enough Is Enough," by Rick and Bonnie Ryding. To live holy lives in a materialistic culture, we must ask ourselves, "How much is enough?" And we must be keenly aware of whose gauge we use to determine our answer.
• "20/20 Ambition," by John L. Denney. Serious followers of Jesus ultimately face the core question written between the lines of our hectic lives: What place does ambition have in the life of a sanctified believer?
• "Lily of the Valley: One Small Gift of the Heart," by Paul Garrison. Once planted, lily of the valley spreads continuously, especially if its clumps are divided and replanted in new areas. A modest gift, given anonymously and compassionately, has spread and bloomed in Kenya and beyond.
• "Generosity: Applied Holiness," by Ron Lush. Generosity finds its best model in Jesus Christ, who lavishly gave all He had. Authentic Christ-followers imitate His generosity as an expression of grace to the glory of God.

COLUMNS

• Gen X: "Sorting Through the Voices," by Frank Moore. Christian young people have been just as charmed by consumerism as their non-Christian friends. Sights and sounds of material society plead their case on a daily basis.
• Change Agent: "Seeing God's Best in Life's Worst," by Jon Johnston. The unvarnished truth is that sometimes we get thoroughly stuck, mired in conditions that try us to the breaking point and tempt us to think that God has forgotten our pligh-or, even worse, has caused it.
• Touching: "The Real Abundant Life," by David M. Best. Those with material means reveal the authenticity of their relationship to God by how they relate to people with physical needs.
• Editor's Forum: This month's forum answers questions about Wesley's experience of sanctification and salvation from future sins.
• Family Tree: "The Flip Side: When the Joneses Do Well," by Dan and Kay Croy. Covetousness is another expression of materialism-a resentful, bitter, and jealous desire that the blessings of others would be ours instead.
• Worldview: "Who Gave You the Right?" by Merrill Williams. Those unwilling to place themselves under Jesus' authority will always challenge us. "Who gave you the right to try to convert Buddhists or Jews or Muslims or Hindus or animists or atheists or secularists to Christ?" they will say. Our answer to that question must always be Jesus.
• Portraits: "Elizabeth Vennum: The Woman Behind the Box," by Debbie Salter Goodwin. This month's feature takes a look at the woman behind the idea to use an "alabaster" box as a tangible symbol of sacrificial giving to missions.
• "En Route," by Gary Morsch. Serving is not about how much you know, how many degrees you hold, or what your credentials are. Serving is about your availability and your attitude.
• The Deeper Way: "Holy Millionaires," by Dan Boone. What does Jesus expect from the new breed of holy millionaires? He calls us to master mercy, not trivia. He calls us to do justice, not shady deals. He calls us to use money for Kingdom good.
• Heartbeat: "A 57-Cent Legacy," by W. Talmadge Johnson. The century-old story of a little girl's sacrificial dream to provide Sunday School classrooms for children challenges us today.
• Essay: "Steeple Envy," by Jeff Crosno. If you sometimes succumb to a low-grade case of steeple envy, turning a covetous eye toward the bigger church down the road, there are some remedies you will want to try.
• Commission: "A Street Child," by Jerry D. Porter. Compassionate ministry in a materialistic world is not an add-on to our church activity list. It is a personal lifestyle of seeing the needy, feeling their pain, and doing something on their behalf in the name of Jesus.

COMING IN DECEMBER: "THE LEAST OF THESE IS ME"

• "The Least of These Is Me," by Lynda Cohagan. Do we look deeply into the eyes of the needy, or do we carefully avoid their hopeless stares? The answer lies in another question: Do we see with the eyes of Christ?