Blog
We must be careful where we place our trust. A misplaced trust will put us in a place of spiritual and emotional jeopardy where disappointment and disillusionment are sure to come. This is why some fall away from the faith. They did not continue to trust in God or His...
In the New Covenant life, we are supposed to be encouragers. That’s not all of our assignment. There are times when encouragement will be displaced by a warning. These warnings have occurred across the timeline of Scripture, from Genesis to the end of Revelation. What...
In prayer, I saw an image. The image was of an underground river that flowed beneath the surface turmoil and obstacles of life. The person in the image jumped into an opening on the surface, allowing themselves to be carried by the current to an unknown destination....
This morning, I brought Jan flowers, a card, and a gift to honor her on Valentine’s Day. I am thinking back fifty-five years ago to our first date. One night, I entered the cafeteria at Multnomah University, where we were students, then known as Multnomah School of...
When we think of a prophet in the Old Testament, we have various understandings about who they were. Some of God’s prophets were simple people whom the Lord used to reveal profound truths. Amos was a shepherd and a sycamore fig farmer. He was a matter-of-fact kind of...
Not all nations follow the Lord. Until those nations align with the Lord, even in their unredeemed state, they can still extend honor to other nations that have chosen to follow the Lord. This applies to all nations regarding the Great Commission the Lord spoke over...
Every new season of change requires that we readjust our grip to ensure we are taking hold of what matters most to God. We need to regain that grip because a shaking is coming and instability is on the rise. “So, take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen...
I had a very vivid dream. I was surveying the building of a new home Jan and I would occupy. The home would sit atop a bluff looking out over a shoreline. As I walked around our construction site, I looked over to the next building site and saw Kris Vallotton from...
Until we realize the completeness of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins and what living in the New Covenant means, we will be motivated by a troubled conscience. That troubled conscience will cause us to think that making a personal sacrifice or offering another resolution...
Some efforts that began with good intentions have become infested by the termites of greed and corruption. Over time, the consuming power of greed and corruption so compromises the structure that it must be demolished to start over again and rebuild its purpose. We...
Each of us has been given the ability by the Lord to become a blessing to others. A bestowed blessing may be completely opposite of what a person is feeling or experiencing. The words of a blessing invade and, at times, contradict their assumptions. “The person who...
When the writer of Hebrews was writing what would become a book placed in the New Testament canon, he wrote, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It...
Critics have a shared magnetism. They are drawn together by their mutual disagreement with those who have opposing opinions. Undisciplined critics have an anger problem that dictates how they respond. It is too easy to want to delete their angry and challenging...
A faith in God that is beginning to fade away is a dangerous situation. There is more at stake than just a cooling of our faith. It will eventually lead to a hardened heart where the truth of God and His word is lessened and replaced by the shallowness of human...
When we walk along a path of deception, believing what we were told was the undeniable truth, a moment of clarification will come. In that moment, when the evidence of our deception is made clear, we will have a decision to make. Will we continue to believe and...