Blog
When I was a flight instructor, I drilled things into my student's minds that would keep them alive in flight. I did the same when I became a pastor 43 years ago. Mastering certain spiritual skills will keep our faith alive when the engine of our faith encounters a...
In any transition of life, the most important thing that will guide our decisions is our faithfulness to the word of the Lord, both in Scripture and by a prophetic announcement. They will keep us safe. This applies to words birthed outside our time of history of which...
Last week, our veterinarian relieved the suffering of our faithful dog, Ladybug. Ladybug lived with us for 4 years. She had developed severe seizures when two years ago she bit into an electrical cord and suffered a paralyzing shock. In the last two years, her...
On Sunday morning, I took a bike ride before church. I love the longer daylight hours of summer. They afford me an opportunity to do things the dark mornings of winter do not allow. I was cruising through our small town and felt impressed to take a few turns I don’t...
My father was a contractor. He built houses. Most of my summers were filled with manual labor on his job sites. My brother and I were my father’s backhoe. I spent many a hot summer day down in a ditch with a pick and shovel. Our crew was a constantly changing group...
The Lord said to me there is a new prophetic movement emerging. These are people who are not impressed with what has become of the most visible parts of the prophetic movement. Behind the bright advertisements, the titles and the garish flash of unleashed promotion...
Recently, I read an obscure but interesting piece of data. A report in 2011 from the General Accounting Office (GAO) reveals that for every insurgent killed in the wars in Iraq and Afganistan 250,000 rounds are fired. This included both training and actual combat....
There are times when God will blind us to what is taking place around us in order to speak to us. He does this so we will rely on another reality – the unseen and unexplored world of faith. We live in a time and place where many of our decisions are based on available...
John Wimber once said, “If you’re not aware of the Presence you will never be aware of the Power.” The greatest thing a pastor can do when a congregation gathers is to help the people acknowledge the presence of God in the assembly. Without this acknowledgment and a...
When life takes a dangerous turn people do not want a Barney Fife of Mayberry version of a police department, a spineless government or friends who turn their backs on them in a time of threat or impending conflict. The right for people to live a peaceful and...
The Word of God was not given to us to become an overly-dissected book cut up in such a way that it proves our pet theology or gives us the winning point in a forensic debate setting. The Word of God is a living love letter. It was written to humanity to reveal the...
Each of us will encounter an occasional anonymous critic. If you open your mouth and express your opinion you will have someone who has no relationship with you pull out their fillet knife of correction and attempt to cut you down to their size. These are people whose...
You are stronger than your circumstances reveal. You are better than the opinion other people have about you. There is more going on under the surface of your life than a casual observation can reveal. In 1996, an athletic clothing line was developed by a frustrated...
A beautiful thing just happened. I had finished praying when it felt as though someone walked into the room. It was like that feeling you experience when you have your eyes closed and a person silently enters a room and displaces the air around you creating a sense of...
This morning as Jan and I took communion, a phrase was spoken during our prayers, "May we be fruitful in rest". That one sentence became the core of our time together. Fruitfulness is different than productivity. Fruitfulness produces a harvest from a place of...