Blog
I was hiking the trails above our home and saw a man approaching. He was walking with his head down, appearing bent over. He could only see what was immediately before him. The trail was moist from rain and allowed for quiet hiking. I decided to see how close I could...
The word “derangement” as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is “to make mentally unsound.” It defines what happens when we open the door to deranging thoughts that create disorder or disarray. When derangement becomes a syndrome that motivates our thinking...
If our life was on the line, how would we speak to those who have authority over us? In our concern about what could happen in those situations, we might be tempted to compromise the content of our message in our defense. How we react in those settings is about more...
Years ago, in my previous life, I guarded lives as a profession. Once, my team helped guard the President of the United States. I have guarded celebrities as part of their security detail and stood in courtrooms guarding a judge and jury during the trial of...
A wise mentor once described love in a way that changed my understanding of love. It changed how I view other people, especially those I might not like or agree with. He said, “Love is seeking the highest good for another person.” I wish I could say I have always...
I write every day either for a social media posting or for a writing project that might end up becoming a book. I have noticed something that we all do from time-to-time. We read something through the lens of our bias, and it ticks us off or runs contrary to what we...
Many of us have lived with a misunderstood interpretation of Proverbs 18:16, “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.” We thought this verse meant our personal ministry gift is what opens a way for us to gain access to...
The last verse of the following text from Isaiah is where I have parked my hope at this moment in history, “So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm.” For many who have not considered the intervening aspect of God’s strong arm in human affairs,...
For the last few months, the Lord has been directing Jan and me by the impulses of His Spirit. While we have tried to live that way all of our lives, it has not been as purposeful as it has become of late. A shift in the spiritual realm is taking place. We believe...
It will be so easy for some of us to overuse the numerical designation for the coming New Year in a prophetic sense, but the number 2020 is real. It’s on our calendar, and it does mean something. This morning, after standing at our living room window and praying...
When the mess you made finally catches up to you, God will be present in that painful place ready to redeem the negative outcome others have predicted over your life. He will turn the negative mess into something positive because that is His nature. It’s not over...
I hike a few times each week on the woodland trails above our home. I will occasionally turn around and check my backtrail. I do this for a reason. The cougar population in Oregon has increased at an alarming rate since legislation went into place, limiting the...
The challenging situation you are facing is not as bad as it seems or as good as it can get. You are waiting for something to move one way or the other. You have thought you might be confused or indecisive. You are not. This is just the way some circumstances unfold....
2020 will be a year of unexpected and sudden intervention by God in human affairs. It will be unexpected for those who have forgotten the word of the Lord. The prophet Isaiah wrote what the Lord said at a time in human history similar to ours, “Long ago I told you...
For those who worry about the outcome of an impeachment hearing, the 2020 election or whether a nation will rise or fall, it would be wise to read the following verse from the prophet Isaiah who recorded the word of Lord during a troubling time in Israel's history....