Blog
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...
Of all the gifts God gives to us, intimacy with Him is the greatest gift of all. From an intimate face-to-face relationship with the Lord, everything else that matters in our life will flow. The very short yet profound last chapter of Exodus notes the last days of the...
This morning, I read Proverbs 31. Mother’s Day is approaching. I have the significant women in my life on my mind - my wife, Jan and my daughter, Anna. Years ago, Jan and I had a conversation where I asked her how she wanted to live her life and express her gifts and...
When I wrote my first book, Prayers From The Throne of God, Dr. Jack Hayford honored me by writing the foreword. During a phone conversation with Pastor Jack, I mentioned I was worried about the book having grammatical mistakes. Jack said, "All books have mistakes....
I am more and more convinced the way forward for the Church in the coming season will not be discovered by traveling a known course predicted and planned by our logic and reasoning. The way forward will be discovered within the wind of the Spirit. Near our...
Only God is able to pen the final definition for any person, group or culture. Resist allowing other people, special interest groups or governments to define your outlook on life. The only definition you can trust is one written from the dictionary of God's heart and...
This morning, I stood in front of a dumpster where I had just put my old chair. It had finally worn out. This was a chair I bought in Germany twenty years ago and it followed me back home in 1999. For the last twenty years this chair has supported me...
A friend of mine works with mentally challenged people. Some of his clients have severe disabilities. His work is really a ministry. His commitment is humbling. This week we had breakfast together. In the course of our conversation he described...
This morning, as I prepared a message on the section of scripture in John 8 describing the woman caught in adultery, I was struck by something. As the Pharisees brought the woman and put her in front of Jesus they wanted to stone her to death for her sin. ...
I remember being a young pastor and trying to counsel couples who were going through a difficult time in their marriage. I tried to give them tasks to do to help them deepen their commitment to each other. After a few years, I realized this wasn’t working. ...
How can we blame a culture for their anger and distrust of religious institutions if somewhere along the way we began to think we could displace the merciful voice of God and begin telling people how to live? Paul said, “It isn’t my responsibility to judge...
In the hills above my home grows a rare flower from the Lily family of plants called the Gentner’s Fritillaria. This plant was first identified in 1942 in a young woman’s bouquet of flowers. It only lives on earth in this part of Southern Oregon. It is...
He runs to meet her. Her arms hold His advance at a distance, safely away. She is not yet ready to embrace again, not trusting still. Sorrow of promises broken push hard against His advance of love. Back again He comes wanting to hold her, to feel the warmth of this...
Many times we can look like someone who has come to a negotiating session with God. We bring to the meeting our list of demands and place them on the table in an attempt to negotiate a new contract for His performance. We want Jesus Christ to be "the same...