Blog
There is a level of despair that cannot be expressed with words. It is a guttural utterance emanating from a person who is at the end of their rope not knowing what to do next. It's a sound made when people experience the unexpected loss of a loved one, the betrayal...
Be careful not to prematurely judge a person or a word that creates a disruption of a long-held assumption. Those who create these disruptions might be carrying a message from God intended to protect and deliver those willing to examine the message to determine its...
Some of you are living under the weight of unfounded accusations and threats of revenge. A turning point will take place where the voice of your accusers will be silenced, and their plans for revenge will fail. The Lord is coming to your rescue. This morning, as I was...
Recently, in a moment of personal brokenness the Lord spoke a word to me that changed everything. He said, In the place of your greatest shame and condemnation your most significant act of spiritual warfare is choosing to believe I still love you. This...
People are standing at a crossroads. They are standing at the intersections of life needing to make a decision about their future direction. In these significant moments we need to know God is directing our steps. When I have faced these kinds of intersections,...
As a young pastor, I listened a lot. I listened to the many voices of leaders who went before me. There were times in those early years when I would ask a simple question and receive a profound answer. In my first year of pastoring, I asked Jerry...
About 20 years ago, I began asking myself four questions. I also asked the same questions of our church staff during our quarterly planning sessions. The questions helped us engage a process of evaluation where we could leave behind what needed to be left behind and...
In just a few weeks my new book, A Good Place, will be released. A Good Place is about walking with hope through the transitions of life and ministry. The book is not about building a transition plan - it is about the journey of our hearts and how we can...
We are entering a season where those who have experienced injustice are about to receive supernatural restoration. Throughout history the justice of God has brought restoration to his people who have suffered injustice at the hands of the enemy. This is not a...
Earlier this week the Lord spoke to me. He said, “The prayers of some of my people are beginning to sound like a preparation for a funeral – not a proclamation of life.” This word came just hours before our pastoral staff visited the home of a dear man in our church...
Recently I was teaching in a training school for emerging leaders in California. During a question and answer session someone asked me, “What are you seeing for the year 2014?” I responded to the question by saying that at the end of each year I would normally...
Some couples don’t like to talk about death with their spouse, but Jan and I are comfortable with such a conversation. Unless we both enter eternity together – one of us will remain behind. That is a reality of life. In 1999, we moved to Southern Oregon. Our first...
Many years ago, I heard John Wimber say to our Foursquare Convention at Angelus Temple, "Just go back and do what's in the Book." That single sentence changed everything for Jan and me. We returned to our church in Montana and the Spirit fell - not because...
In October of 2014, I will complete a transition out of the Senior Pastor role at Living Waters Church in Medford, Oregon. The man God is raising up to fill that role is Ryan Rhoden. Ryan is a good and godly man with a vision for the future. We have...
In the late 1990’s, Jan and I lived in Berlin, Germany. Berlin was our base of operation because of the abundance of travel options the city provided. We worked and traveled in the nations that comprised the old East European Communist Bloc. Our primary...