Blog
It would be a surprise to denominational leaders what some of their pastors believe and, in some cases, no longer believe. That same surprise would occur for local pastors regarding some of their staff members or for their congregants who assumed their friends...
Jan and I were invited to a conference where I was one of the speakers. The conference host put us up in a beautiful Airbnb with a swimming pool. After a long day of meetings, I wanted to unwind. I donned my swimsuit and grabbed a towel and headed to the pool. The...
When we are surrounded by the enemies of truth and it seems that evil alliances are ruling the day, it is too easy to forget our most important weapon in spiritual warfare – worship. Worship can become just another item on our spiritual checklist reducing worship to a...
I remember talking with someone who had been educated in Cultural Anthropology. He described something called, “The God Line”. As a missionary in Africa this man used that culture to define for me what he meant. He said in African culture everything...
Today, I was recalling a sorrowful experience in my life. It was an unfortunate misunderstanding. Time and distance had caused me to lose contact with the other person involved. For multiple decades I carried the sorrow of what happened between...
When I was a young man in my 20’s, I was a police officer. I served for 9 years and then God changed the direction of my life and for the last 34 years, I have been a pastor. Those 9 years deeply impacted my life. To this day, I see life through the lens...
For the last two days, I have been seeing the image of a powerful locomotive radically changing it's direction. The locomotive was heading in one direction down a single and predictable set of tracks and then, in single moment of time, the Lord altered its...
Sometimes, I notice a woman will date a blind man. Not a man blind in a natural sense, but a man who is blind to her spiritual beauty. As an earthly father, God asked me to encourage my daughter, Anna, to not settle for a man who has a lesser of an image of her...
In the natural world a person is considered armed and dangerous only if they are armed. Without a weapon they are not a danger or a threat. The same holds true in a spiritual sense. Our danger to the kingdom of darkness is only present when we understand and...
Before each of us is a window – a frame through which we glimpse our approaching encounter with eternity. The longer we live the closer we move forward toward that window to eventually look through its opening and glimpse the other side to fully see what was only seen...
I live in southern Oregon. Off our coast is something called the Cascadia Subduction Zone. This is a seam in the undersea earth structure comprised of two opposing physical forces that are under constant and building pressure. As they continue to...
There are times when two people experience something so challenging that in order to move forward each of them will need to agree to lay down their shared history without demanding anything from the other person. This is not ignoring what took place rather it is...
2015 - The Year Of...... ....whatever you need it to be. Paul wrote that God will supply all your needs according to the riches found in the depository of His glory. This is more than just meeting your financial needs - it applies to all areas of your life and...
I have come to realize one of the challenges we face when experiencing any form of physical or emotional limitation is feeling like we have become damaged goods. Recently, I must admit that thought crossed my mind after my recent heart attack. I have always thought I...
Last Sunday, December 28, I had a heart attack. I had been invited to preach at a wonderful church - the Klamath Christian Center in Klamath Falls, Oregon. This is a gracious church with a reputation for loving God and loving people. The pastor, Scott Hines, has...