Blog
In a dream, I was waiting in line to enter a room. When I entered the room, I was told we had assigned seats. I began to search for my seat and finally found it and sat down. All of us were waiting for our turn to speak. I didn't know any of the people who were...
Unless one is living in complete isolation from reality, something is afoot in the nations of the world. We see radical elements being imported into university campuses taking emotional control of discontented students causing them to occupy their campus and restrict...
While we can appropriate Scripture to apply to many of our concerns, we need to understand what the Lord was saying when a verse was first written. The Lord said, “Bring my faithful people to me – those who made a covenant with me by giving sacrifices” (vs....
The Lord wants to heal the Church of an event addiction. We have filled arenas and stadiums at great expense. We have heard the word of the Lord and worshipped with great freedom, and yet our culture has remained largely unchanged. God is inviting His event addicts...
This is a photo I took of a steel grate that covers a hole a dug by a prospector during the southern Oregon gold rush of the 1850’s. The pit is deep. At the bottom, an old antique car rests in a dirt tomb along with various discarded articles like an old miner’s stove...
When I was on the football team at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, our coach asked if any members of the team could help a friend. The coach’s friend was a doctor who lived in the northern panhandle of Idaho. He was a sheep rancher. In the winter of 1969,...
Recently, during worship at a large gathering of pastors, I looked across the sanctuary and saw a friend. He is about my age, and I know he is processing his legacy. He and his wife have a beautiful family and have become grandparents. As the worship deepened, the...
These two books have sat on the shelves of my library for over 30 years. One book is filled with John Wesley’s sermon notes published in 1847, and the other contains Charles Spurgeon’s sermons published in 1855. I pulled them off our bookshelf and held them in my...
A few weeks ago, I was hiking on a freshly cut trail in the hills above our home. When I got to the end of the trail, I entered a new development of high-end homes. A few weeks later I went hiking on the same trail and discovered a “No Trespassing” sign had been put...
Capturing an image or a sound bite of a person’s moral disgust will always be misunderstood and misinterpreted by those who have no morals. There is something called righteous anger. This kind of anger must be disciplined when it arrives or it will take you to places...
We are standing on a cultural boundary line entertaining the possibility of two very different futures. A new direction is being determined. The rule of law, right and trusted as it has been despite our human failings, has proven it cannot be the guarantor of our...
Living in silence during critical moments of our national history can become a threat to the effectiveness of the Church, an assault on our credibility, and a sorrow in the heart of God. As long as our voice remains safely cloistered behind the walls of a church...
I was hiking along a deer trail away from roads and civilization. The trail led me through an open prairie where I came across an old foundation. Upon inspection, I found it to be stable and strong. It was covered with moss, but other than the moss and its apparent...
Our life-momentum must be frequently discerned to make sure we are moving forward with the empowerment of God’s Spirit, not our need for recognition or affirmation. We can discern the quality and substance of our momentum by asking this question, “What generated...
We've had a Tiffany lamp for years. It is old and beautiful. I write by its light each morning. Like my writing chair, it has become a familiar companion. This morning, as I turned toward the desk where the lamp rests, I saw the grape cluster embedded in the glass. I...