Blog
Last Sunday, Jan and I were speaking at Empowered Life Church in Talent, Oregon. My friend, Ivan Roman, is the pastor of the church. He was in New York on a speaking engagement, so he asked me to cover the preaching assignment in his absence. As we began to worship,...
In your present suffering, God has given you an advantage. Discovering the nature of that advantage will change everything, especially the pain you now feel. A few days ago, I wrote an article titled, “Interpreting the Sounds of Groaning” from Roman Chapter 8. I...
One of the great challenges for a follower of Jesus Christ is living in a place of spiritual tension between seeing individuals or representatives of a government involved, even promoting, lies and evil, and wanting them to come to know the Lord. That place of tension...
The wall has appeared once again. Its cement blocks of sorrow are held in place by the mortar of your despair. As you look up at the face of this wall its formidable presence tells you to stop trying and give up. Each time this wall has appeared in the past the same...
Not all words cut like a sharp knife. Some words cut with the dull blade of malicious intent. The pain from these wounds is intense. The person who spoke to you did not know your heart. Their words were fueled by an ignorant anger. As a result, you have been left...
It is time to lift your head. You have lost a sense of vision because you have become downcast by your circumstance. You have been convinced to look down and receive a sentence that has imprisoned you in hopelessness. When you look down you only see...
The favor of God has shifted. You feel like something has changed and you are not sure how to define what has taken place. The outpouring of favor upon your life has not departed – it has simply moved to a new place for release in a new season. This new place is...
There is a faith that can only discovered when our current measure of faith is finally exhausted. It is in this depleted place that the essence of a pure faith is finally discovered. It is here where our emptiness and desperation cause us to reach for...
Try just one more time. Just one more time, face the fear that has held the promise of your future at bay. There is something different about this time. God has a plan to knock over your fears like dominoes set on edge. These dominoes only need a gentle...
I posted the following sentences on my social media accounts as I was thinking about the reaction of some to the recent release of the move Noah: Sometimes the Church gets upset over the least important things. This is a good time to review what upset Jesus and follow...
Where many experts exist there is little forward motion, only opinions that lead in different directions. Seek a word from God and follow it. God will be faithful to lead you to a place of promise even if the experts disagree with your decision. One of the challenges...
For the last 35 years one of the most impacting voices in my life has been Jerry Cook. Jerry formed the theology of many leaders in the Church. Recently, Jerry went home to be with the Lord. Just before his death, Jerry wrote the foreword to my book, The...
At my age and length of service in God’s Kingdom, I am now what some people would call a spiritual father. In most gatherings, I am one of the older pastors in the room. As we age, wisdom can increasingly be present and in operation in our lives if we have allowed God...
Last night I had the most vivid dream. I was at a conference center in a beautiful forest setting and all the pathways leading through the forest were carpeted. As people were walking along these pathways, I found myself kneeling down on all fours and running my...
This week a longtime friend died suddenly. He suffered a massive heart attack and was taken to a hospital. He never recovered from the trauma of that event and eventually died a few days ago. His death shocked many of us who knew this vibrant,...