Blog
Our faith can be reduced to a point where we no longer expect God to do something amazing in the cosmos that would dramatically change our world. We can accept dogmatic interpretations of the end of time that remove the possibility of cosmos-shifting events occurring...
I saw a news clip where reporters were all declaring the same phrase. It started with one reporter appearing on the screen, then a second one appeared followed by more reporters until the screen became a concert of images all saying the same prepared line. There was a...
The life of each believer is marked by the blood of Jesus Christ. When evil passes our way, His blood covering becomes our shield of protection. Of all the things that cause the devil concern, the blood of Jesus Christ is at the top of his list. The blood marks us as...
I am thankful for two gifted editors in my life - Anna Elkins and Julie Smith. They help make sure the content of what I write is not lost in sea of bad grammar, sloppy structure or misleading content. Behind the scene is my wife, Jan, who reads the heart of...
Last night at the Elijah List conference in Albany, Oregon we entered a profound experience in worship. As worship deepened, I heard the Lord say, “I am drawing an unexpected curtain.” The curtain had the words, “3:20”, written across the front. Immediately, I knew...
One of the most powerful things we can do is speak a word of hope no matter what is taking place in the world. We can speak these words of hope with confidence because God is always winning and His Kingdom is always advancing. A word of hope is birthed from that...
At some point in our lives we will cross the halfway mark of our personal longevity where we will come to realize our remaining days are less than those that came before. This is a line whose date and position is known only by God. Somewhere in our approach to...
This week, as I prayed for the leaders of churches, denominations and religious organizations, I saw them coming together in a most unusual way. As the image developed, I saw the Lord imbedding magnets of fellowship in one shoulder and plates of receptive steel in the...
As young Samuel learned to speak for the Lord the scripture says of him, “As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.” (I Samuel 3:19) God is not looking for spectacular people – He is looking for people who are...
Many of you have been around people who can barely contain their feeling of disdain toward you. You leave these encounters feeling dishonored. What makes the word “disdain” so demeaning is discovering its dictionary meaning – “the feeling that someone or...
Sixteen years ago, Jan and I stepped off an airplane in Medford, Oregon after four years of ministry in Europe to become pastors of a local church. The total of our earthly possessions, apart from some books and a single chair stored in my mother’s attic in Montana,...
Perhaps one reason for some of the barrenness in our prayer life is because we are not like Hannah. Hannah was barren and prayed to God for the ability to give birth to a child. In her anguish Hannah prayed, “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my...
In all of human history, the way forward has always been revealed by a word of hope. Responding in the opposite spirit will become one of our most important weapons in the spiritual war we are facing. Instead of a fear monger choose to become a hope monger. Even if...
Calendars are only a tool of time. God is not limited by the constraints of any calendar - secular or religious. He lives and ministers to us from timeless eternity. God can choose to work within our measurements of time, but He is never limited by these measurements....
Thankfully the phrase used by some parents, “Children are to be seen and not heard” is no longer a popular piece of parenting advice. Similar phrases and slogans have become assumptions passed down from one generation to the next without taking the time...