Blog
There is a dangerous slippage taking place within some elements of the Church. It is a lessening, even a dismissal of the Old Testament. It has been described as too harsh representing a cruel God. Jesus quoted the Old Testament over 70 times. The apostles were not...
Many times, we describe the condition of a person’s life as having arrived at the eleventh hour. In that place, it appears all hope has vanished. That remaining hour before midnight still has the hope of redemption based on what we had planned. The eleventh hour is...
As the Lord was proclaiming the future deliverance of Israel, He said, “I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them” (Zechariah 13:2). This is not just something that happened thousands of years ago in the...
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...
There are two kinds of judgment. One is healthy and one is not. The first kind of judgment belongs to God alone. Only He is capable of judging the true condition of a human heart. The second form of judgment is something Jesus asked us to do. He said we are to judge...