Blog
I've heard self-overconfident statements of personal bravado being spoken and used in an attempt to convince people of the unfailing nature of a person's faith. The truth is none of us know how we will respond when a real test of our faith comes and our life is in...
False messiahs and false prophets will arise at the end of the age, but they will also appear in times of great cultural transition leading up to those final days. The most dangerous attitude to have in those uncertain times is the assumptions we form that are not in...
As we live a life of faith, we can experience times when our prayers go unanswered. It can happen because we are being protected from the results of an immature prayer that can put us in a place of danger that we cannot yet see. Being out of God’s timing can also...
God is vast and beyond our ability to fully comprehend and so are all the things He plans to do in the coming year. He is the God of surprises, and we should not be surprised by that fact. At this time of year, many of us will offer a word saying, “This is what God...
In 1961, as a young boy, I had the honor to walk with my father down the 18th hole at Pebble Beach where my father chipped onto the green and one-putted the final hole to win his flight in the California Golf Championship for his handicap level. My father was playing...
One of the great challenges we face is the need to always be in control. This need for control can extend into every area of our lives and eventually stifle the deeper works God has planned. When Jan and I lived in Europe, I was invited to speak at a conference....
With every transition in your life, God will give you a word to guide you forward. Waiting for that word is wise. Stepping over the threshold of the doorway into a new season without knowing the content of that word will create confusion and doubt at some point in the...
In 2017, we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Actually, the Reformation took place in the years that followed Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther had no idea he was starting the Reformation. He was...
Today, December 31, would have been my dog’s 15th birthday. Abby died Thanksgiving weekend. I have missed her so much in the last month. A few minutes ago, a most beautiful and amazing thing happened to me. When I opened my iPhone calendar to check any...
The most significant message delivered in a prophetic word is hope, not a prediction or the revelation of a previously unknown fact. We seem to rate the ability to declare hidden things like dates, names and what might happen in the future as more significant. While...
This morning, just a bit after 4:00 am, I drove my daughter, Anna, to the airport to catch a flight that would take her to Mexico. Her travels will end with a ride in a converted fishing boat from Puerto Vallarta to the remote village of Yelapa, Mexico. In Yelapa,...
The last few days of a year, just before the coming New Year, can be a depressing and stress-filled time for some people. This feeling of anxiety comes because compression is taking place. All of the unresolved, unfulfilled and unhealthy things that walked with us...
The term, “cut and dried”, is a term first used to describe an herbalist cutting and drying herbs and then packaging them for sale. It was also used to describe the process of cutting, drying and bailing grass into hay bales as a final product. The term has come to...
In the last few days, we have set a lot of timers in our home. Timers were set to bake pies. I set one to check the Christmas prime rib smoking on our Traeger barbeque. A timer was set for the rising dough for Jan’s crazy-good holiday cinnamon rolls. Our house was a...
A full life is not one where each moment is always occupied with something to do or experience. Fullness is the result of a rest produced by a willingness to choose peace over strife, hope over despair. Rest is the evidence of a life of fullness.