Blog
A Lamp Into Our Souls Jan and I met at Multnomah School of the Bible. I rented a cheap, dank, dark, little basement room of an old house off campus. It had a dirt floor, no bathroom, and a tiny wood stove (but no firewood) for heat. I shared the basement space with...
When I was a young pastor in training, I was part of a church called Faith Center in Eugene, Oregon. This wonderful church took a step of faith with me and let me try my hand at counseling people. I was so green, and yet there I was—in an office, sitting across a...
Politicized, protected, unchallenged evil has become more visible in our western culture. A lack of accountability gives the perpetrators license to continue hurting others because they know their actions will go unpunished. Just the opposite, they have often been...
Of late, with all that is happening in the world and in the lives of people we love, Jan and I are spending more time praying together in the Spirit. This is not abandoning a prayer list. It is taking our prayers beyond the list to a place only the Spirit knows. The...
When we listen to reports of wars and rumors of war, or when we hear people speak things motivated by doom and gloom, we must take account of God’s promises so that what we say and report is not motivated by fear, but by our faith in God. Joshua and Caleb are notable...
Large reservoirs in the western United States, like Hoover and Grand Coulee, have occasionally experienced what is called a “dead pool.” A dead pool means that there has not been enough rain to fill these reservoirs and activate the power generators inside the...
One of the greatest truths that Jan and I discovered and live by to this day is to inquire first of the Lord to find out His answer before we act prematurely and do something we would live to regret. Thirty years ago, the Lord planted this truth deep in our hearts. We...
Prophetic acts are something not many in the Church understand. These acts declare in the present, before a spiritual victory comes, of what God will do in the future. Prophetic acts declare God's authority and faithfulness in spiritual conflict. Often, they are...
We can too easily think that those who do not agree with us are the enemy. We can form narrow assumptions and miss a greater truth: we cannot always discern who the real enemy is, those who are shaping our thoughts and leading us to make false assumptions. That...
The Church is in transition. The Lord is leading us to a new place that needs new leaders. Some leaders lost their authority due to disobedience, but those failures will not prevent the Lord from fulfilling His promises. This transition mirrors a pivotal moment from...
As nations strategize for war, the Lord has secret plans that He will reveal to His followers at the proper time. Initially, the revelation of God’s plan will be rejected by the strategists, to their dismay, because they made their plans using human logic rather than...
Jan just sent this blessing of encouragement to a man on the other side of the globe who, with his various businesses, is bringing great change to his nation. This has not been without government interference and political warfare. This blessing is not just for him;...
Each year at this time, plots of daffodils sprout and blossom in fields and gardens. Their appearance is a colorful announcement that spring has arrived. Daffodils are not concerned with wars and rumors of wars. They follow the impulse of their bulbs that have lain...
Many times, people will speak prophetically, quoting Moses, telling them they will become the head and not the tail. They forget to quote the full verse where that phrase is used, “If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you...
When hiking the trails above our town, I will occasionally see something left behind. It could be a single glove, a jacket, or a pair of sunglasses placed in an obvious place for the owner to find. Fellow hikers place these items in a conspicuous place for the...