Blog
The Lord spoke a powerful sentence in the middle of His confrontation of the people's ability to create idols who cannot perform or stand on their own, "I have prepared you even though you do not know me" (Isaiah 45:5). All of our life is a preparation to believe in...
Jesus said, “I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). The word for “world” is the word “cosmos.” It defines all of humanity and its systems that are hostile to God. Because of that reality, the Church should be the least stressed group of people on Earth. Jesus has...
When we learn about the gift of prophecy, our first lesson to learn is that it is God speaking, not a human. While God will use His servants to verbally transmit or demonstrate His message, it is God who is speaking to us. Knowing it's His voice that is giving us a...
During the night, a time when our body rests, the Lord still speaks to us. The night is not a wasted time thinking only bodily refreshment and rejuvenation are taking place. It is a time of revelation. We physically sleep during the night, but our spirit is fully...
Whenever I read the last chapters of Revelation, I have mixed emotions. I feel somber about what will happen at the end of time. I also feel a sense of anticipation of what is coming as I read about the New Jerusalem and its unimagined beauty. At the end of time, the...
Just because someone celebrates something that is opposed to God’s will doesn’t mean we are required to join in that celebration to prove our love for them. It's one thing to walk humbly and lovingly with those living in opposition to the truth of God’s word, it is...
Two years ago, the walnut tree that shaded our backyard from the summer heat had to be cut down. The tree had become diseased. This year some of the walnuts that fell from that tree began to sprout and grow new walnut trees. They are all over our backyard spreading...
While some in the Church are defining the future as a time of progressive peace, the reality is, that we are engaged in a spiritual battle. Not being prepared for war will have us walk into the future unprepared to engage in what is taking place. We will live in that...
As I read through Revelation, I am reminded of God’s justice. Only by knowing that God is the final arbiter of injustice can we be a peace and park our emotions in the safe confines of our trust in God. Scripture is clear how God feels about injustice, “Our God does...
Over the years, I have taught the book of Revelation several times – verse by verse. Each time I taught the book, I had to adjust my understanding. It wasn’t that Scripture had changed. I began to see a simple understanding of what the Lord was saying. Whether one...
Jan and I are in our 50th year of marriage. The Lord has been merciful to us because, like any marriage, we’ve had moments of failure, doubt, and unbelief. In the middle of all of that, Jan and I are a living example of what the Lord can do with two failing people....
We are all going to die, so why waste the impending certainty of that event? Death and its inevitability will be ignored by people who fail to grasp the lessons it can provide. As I read Scripture certain verses will get my attention. A particular verse will capture...
I saw a photo that was taken in the 1800s of a family standing in front of their sod house on the prairie. They were working hard trying to make ends meet, but joy and peace were on their faces indicating they had discovered something that wealth, prestige, and...
It is important to know the source from which we speak, either by the Spirit of Truth or from the world's viewpoint. Some in the Church have leaned dangerously close to the latter and are diminishing the message about the distinctiveness of Jesus Christ. John defined...
I was in a conversation with the leader of a Christian community who said some of those under his care had become “fuzzy around the edges” concerning certain issues of faith. That fuzziness had diminished the clarity of the truth allowing undisciplined...