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Jesus modeled for us the highest forms of obedience at the time of His suffering and crucifixion. Choosing to obey God’s word is expressed in its purest form when we know that pain and suffering will come, yet we still obey Him. As Jesus concluded His final...
As Jesus gave final instructions to His disciples just before His arrest, He addressed the coming of the Spirit. Jesus said the grief the disciples would experience at His death would be overshadowed by the coming of the Spirit. When the Spirit comes and enters a...
Our faith is rarely tested unless a display of the resurrection power of Jesus has been demonstrated. The power of resurrection is the primary evidence of God’s love. The traction created by that demonstration will threaten the powers of evil currently being employed...
Last night, Jan and I watched the new version of the classic movie, Ben-Hur. One scene touched me more than the others. It was when Jesus was carrying His cross while wearing a crown of thorns stumbling through the streets of Jerusalem toward His crucifixion. As...
I saw a person moving in slow motion through a scene of their life that was running at full speed. People, cars, and buildings sped past the person like a blurred special effect created by a photographer. Something supernatural was taking place. An interruption of...
You will make it through this challenging season of life. A fresh wind of God's Spirit is beginning to blow and the effect of that wind will change everything. When I was a teenager living near Santa Cruz, California, I spend a lot of my time surfing up and down the...
There are times when our opinion on a matter of faith is found on the opposite side of the coin from the opinions held by fellow believers. Depending on the season in which we find ourselves, the coin of faith can land on either the head or the tail of an opinion. In...
You are about to make a life-altering decision. Be careful. Surrounding you is a hurricane of emotion spinning at a dizzying speed. The presence of this storm can affect the wisdom of your decision-making.God has put you in the eye of the storm for your safety....
Some of you feel like an animal that has been captured and trapped in a zoo. You have been taken against your will from a place where you were surrounded by loving relationships. You now live surrounded by restraining bars and fake scenery. People are peering in at...
This morning, because of a ministry assignment, I found myself in a motel room in a city several hours from my home. When I turned on CNN to see the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the coverage broke away from that event to go to a memorial service honoring the 9/11...
In the Spirit, I saw a person walking across a high-wire stretched between two destinations. They looked like a circus performer midway between two supporting poles inside a large tent. There was no safety net below to catch them if they fell. People were gasping as...
Questions about issues of faith can never be answered by parlor tricks, clever one-liners or even the right answer. Faith deals with the reality of things not yet seen. The answer to these questions arrives from another realm and stands in the middle of each...
The photo is the gravestone of my father and mother, Charlie and Lavert Elkins. Their gravestone is located in the Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell, Montana. I have visited my parent's grave site each time I traveled back to Kalispell in the last 30 years. My...
There can be petty divisions from time-to-time in the Church. This needs to be confronted in love because it wounds and does great damage. Yet some of what gets labeled as divisive can actually be a fresh revelation from God. Martin Luther divided the Church with the...
There are times when we have to say no to a bad idea. Some of these ill-conceived plans can bring unnecessary harm unless someone stands up and says, “No!” In the early 70’s police departments across American were realizing the need for specialized units who could...