Blog
In every generation, something is revealed that seems to scorch the reputation of God’s people. Betrayals, lust, and greed are nothing new to Him, but they still surprise us. We are often unaware of our heart’s true condition. These exposures of sin remind me of what...
We don’t fully understand what God says or does when we don’t have the full picture. Anything beyond what we have personally experienced is naturally questioned and doubted when our human reasoning kicks in. Our natural mind cannot believe or accept it. In fact, our...
On a brief trip, I bumped into someone on a city street I had not seen in many years. For a short time, she had attended one of the churches Jan and I pastored. From her appearance, it seemed the intervening years had been challenging. Immediately after our...
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...
When we are young, we don’t consider our death. As we grow older and our years on Earth increase, the inevitability of our death will make itself known. We realize our death is coming and there is nothing we can do about the timing of its arrival. At some point, we...
Enduring through the struggles of life can reduce our list of true friends. Those true friends are people who remained faithful to us when others ran away when times got tough, even dangerous. In those conflicts, we will discover who it was that had our back and...
One reason some churches become weak is their unchallenged tolerance of people who create division among their members. This division is not about sharing differing opinions about life, politics, or personal preferences. It's a division that creates doubt in a...