Blog
The Lord wants us to discover and, for some, rediscover the powerful simplicity of worship. We need that simplicity to release the concept of worship to a wider audience than just those who attend our primary worship service. After the fall into sin of Adam and Eve in...
Without the Spirit of God inside our lives, motivating us to do the will of the Father, we will manifest a lifeless and wayward expression of God’s Creation. Only the breath of God at work in us is what defines us as the people of God. At the creation of Adam, the...
I remember a message preached by an old and respected pastor. In his message, he shared an illustration that changed how I process one aspect of my life—lust. He described what happened on one of his many flights back and forth to his speaking engagements. This was...
The world is restless and so are many within the Church. Peace amid chaos seems like an impossibility. The division chaos has created appears too deep and entrenched to overcome. There is hope, a single hope that has the power to overcome the chaotic affairs of our...
In January of 2020, the Lord asked Jan and me to withdraw into an extended season of sabbatical. This sabbatical meant we would need to disconnect across the board from the familiar. We were already in that place of isolation when the pandemic lockdown was...
Prophetic dreams have been coming to me of late with unusual clarity. Some are so vivid they are happening in real-time. While I do not have permission to share all the details of the dreams, the overarching theme is permissible. While some are overly focused on...
Our journey of faith is accomplished in stages. It is not a process of continual motion following a detailed road map. There are seasons when we have to stop and wait for a fresh word of direction from the Lord. These stages are where our faith deepens. In Scripture,...
The level of intimacy and spiritual accountability modeled by the Early Church and within Scripture cannot be attained by simply attending a single Sunday morning gathering. This can only happen in smaller settings of relationship where we look at each in the eye over...
This morning, I began to hear in my mind the soundtrack from the Sound of Music. It took me back to those times when Jan and I would visit Salzburg, Austria. On our visit, we toured the von Trapp family estate and saw firsthand the magical setting of the movie as we...
There are some negative moods that are shifted by simply enjoying good food with good friends. I’ve had negative attitudes adjusted over a plate of biscuits and gravy or a rack of baby back ribs in the presence of faithful friends. Life is best lived in the company of...
I was asked by someone “What is your dream?” I responded, “I am living my dream.” My response caused my inquirer to pause, not knowing how to craft a follow-up question. I responded in the pause by saying, “I am in a place in my life not of my own making, but God’s...
On our morning walk, Jan and I processed the subject of financial blessing and sharing. We have come to realize that a portion of each unexpected gift God gives us has another destination in mind. We are not the terminal point of the blessing. In sharing, we multiple...
A spirit of suspicion is working overtime to divide the Church. In the last 18 months, I have had people I’ve known for years doubt my integrity and motives simply because I view a particular aspect of God’s Kingdom from a slightly different perspective. When this...
A friend of mine is a scientist by training. He is a measured man who sees life from a unique scientific perspective. He evaluates available evidence to come to his conclusions. Something happened to him and his young family this week that affirmed his ability to...
This last week, I had a variety of conversations centering around the ministry of a pastor. Having spent 35 years as a pastor, even though it was not my primary gifting, I learned a few things about the role. When it comes to processing the word “pastor”, I have come...