Blog
A few minutes ago, I asked the Lord to reveal what is about to happen in our world, He said one word to me, “Surprises.” A surprise is an unexpected event. There will be surprises in the political arena followed by surprises in the financial world as the year comes to...
When people are grieving and suffering, especially someone who has loved God and served Him, our most valuable contribution is silence as we stand with them in their place of pain. Feeling the to speak a “could of-should of” kind of word is the last thing they need to...
I’m currently reading the book of Job. Job has been rejected by some who struggle with its content, even the nature of God expressed in its pages. Some have called Job a man without faith because of what happened to him. Those dismissive comments express...
Spiritual fathers and mothers get angered by the same things that incense a young believer. What a spiritual parent has learned to do with the help of God is to temper their initial angry response. This is done to offer their spiritual offspring the time needed to...
Today, two extremes of the ideological/political spectrum will confront each other in demonstrations in the streets of Portland, Oregon. Hopefully, the event will be peaceful. Many hold no hope for that outcome. As these two groups gather and confront each other, in...
There are times when I scroll through Facebook posts that I see someone depicted in a less than noble booking photo or view the image of a person who has committed a horrible act. Lately, I find myself reaching out to my computer screen and touching their image. When...
In the last month, I have been speaking to people who work in high-impact Kingdom positions. Change is coming in many of these assignments. I have noticed several consistent themes in some of these transitions. 1. A sense of unease that worried some of the...
When I read the book of Acts, I discover a group of people who did not slavishly follow a plan or remain in a single direction without frequent course corrections. I read about people who followed the Spirit at all costs. They arose each day and allowed the Spirit to...
I was in a historic bank building in Jacksonville, Oregon conducting some personal business. The building has housed a bank since the mid-1800s. The interior of the bank looks a lot like it did 160 years ago. It has been preserved as a historic landmark. The room...
A couple of months ago, I took one of those at home tests called Cologuard that people use in place of a colonoscopy. I had a colonoscopy 17 years ago and got a clean bill of health at that time, so I thought instead of going through the process of a colonoscopy, I...
Letting go will be harder than you think. Start letting go today, no matter how far in the future your transition may be. In our grasping at life, we are trying to find a sense of security. Our grasping says: “As long as I can hold onto this present situation or...
When we speak in the name of God our words are supposed to originate in our spirit, pass through our soul and then be delivered by a spoken word, a creative work of art, a prophetic act or some other physical manifestation. The problem is when the word passes through...
Today, a large maple tree will be removed from our property. The tree finally died after several years of progressive disease, so we hired an arborist to come and cut it down. The tree fills the view from the window just outside where my writing chair sits. It has...
If a car is put in neutral, it will eventually come to a stop. The engine can be revved, and the car can be a premium grade having all the added options, but without the transmission being in gear, it will go nowhere. The vehicle will eventually lose its ability to...
When a life plan falls apart it and a feeling of discouragement arrives, it is too easy to believe a lie that says God has only one plan for our life. In those painful experiences, we can give up because we don't see a new way forward, thinking we serve a...