Blog
Whatever God offers to us as a promise will require a sacrifice of faith on our part. That sacrifice must be protected from disbelief. These sacrifices are sacred acts of faith that require our surveillance and protection until the time of their fulfillment. As a...
Unity with the world systems was never God's original intent for His people. True unity is only possible in Christ. Building the Tower of Babel was an early example of a failed expression of unity. The people had come together in one place to build a “monument to our...
Theologians and teachers of God’s word frequently discuss the importance and purpose of the cultural context in which Scripture was written. This is a wise understanding to grasp. It helps us accurately apply Scripture to the cultural context in which the word was...
An echo can travel for miles through steep mountain canyons. The sound of an echo bounces off hard rock mountain walls and continues to be deflected until there are no longer any hard surfaces to deflect its sound waves. An echo will end its course of travel when it...
This morning, I came across a verse that carried a serious challenge. Paul wrote “So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded” (I Thessalonians 5:6). This admonishment to stay spiritually awake and clearheaded applies to our...
Be careful making premature proclamations of judgment about people without understanding their process. Not everyone arrives at the same realization at the same time. Perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give to those with whom we disagree is the benefit of the...
Each morning, I take my dog outside while it’s still dark for a walk around the yard. As I passed by a window that provides a view into our living room, I stopped to look inside. In the softly lit window frame, I could see my lamp, computer, and writing chair. This is...
Those who first sound an alarm can be seen as an interruption to those who are asleep. Many will dismiss the alarm because they can perceive its sound as premature, ill-informed, or pure fantasy. This misinterpretation of reality will continue until the cause of the...
Yesterday, the word “absurd” kept coming to mind as I looked across our culture at the redefinitions of reality taking place. The level of absurdity of what some are accepting as truth seems to be on the rise. I took a stroll through several dictionaries and compiled...
In the week leading up to Easter Sunday, a swarm of 3,000 earth tremors took place in Northern California, in a very confined area between Medford, Oregon, and Redding California. To a lesser, but still significant number, swarms of tremors also occurred in the...
When I twenty-three, I soloed for the first time as a Private Pilot trainee. My instructor was not much older than me. One day after practicing a few touch and go landings, he signed me off and let me fly solo. That first time around the pattern alone was a...
Years ago, while still pastoring a local church, I was preparing a message to preach on Easter morning. During the week as I studied, the Spirit spoke a profound sentence to me that became the core of my Easter message then and continues to this day. “The Cross is...
Possessing peace in our lives is quite possibly one of the greatest gifts a follower of Christ can possess. The peace God offers is not determined by the absence or presence of external influences. Peace is a gift from God that can be deposited into any life at any...
There are seasons when certain elements of our lives will begin to decompose before our eyes. Relationships die and begin to decompose. Ways of thinking can decompose along with aspects of our faith built upon assumption or misunderstanding. This process of...
In each generation, the truth of Jesus and His word will be used to define, and in some cases, redefine the Church. This defining/redefining comes from reengaging historic biblical truth, not our opinions, interpretations, or preferences. When this happens a faith...