Blog
When I was a young pastor, another pastor more experienced than I told me that one of the most concise representations of our faith is found in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. The importance of Christ’s resurrection is mentioned at great length in these verses. Paul...
When I read Paul’s description of the Corinthian church, it’s similar to what we see in the Western church today. The Corinthians boasted about their spirituality, but lacked a demonstration of what it meant to be consecrated—set apart to God. The leadership had...
I got saved when I was 8 years old. But it wasn’t until age 29 that I allowed Jesus to become my Lord. I knew that to be saved was a complete work, but it also meant I had entered a process of being saved from the things that stood in the way of my knowing...
All of us are imprisoned by something. How we choose to live will indicate the kind of prison we have chosen. When Paul wrote his prison epistles, he wrote with firsthand knowledge of what it meant to be imprisoned. He was kept behind bars which restricted his...
The night before the Inauguration, I had a very troubling dream. It wasn’t about politics or who would be selected to lead our nation. It was about the spiritual condition of the Church. In the dream, I was conducting a wedding ceremony. The ceremony unfolded like...
When the Lord releases the winds of change, its influence will begin to blow through the Church and culture. What is not secured by God's wisdom will be blown away by the presence of truth. When the winds of change begin to blow, we have a choice to make. We can hold...
So much is happening in our culture and within the Church. Leaders are rising and falling. This is a time of resetting when people will have an opportunity to let God heal them of their fantasies and foolishness to align with His heart. That reset will redirect us...
In 1961, I remember being an 11-year-old boy walking with my father toward the 18th hole at the Pebble Beach golf course. I watched him sink his final putt to win the California State Handicap Championship. After my father sank his final putt, he was led to a white...
God’s word will never fail us, even if the passing circumstances of our lives seem to contradict its truth. Many have fallen away from their faith because they have abandoned the truth of Scripture and accepted human answers for eternal questions. The Psalmist wrote,...
Yesterday, I heard the sound of hissing snakes. When I heard the sound, I was immediately reminded that the hissing was the sound of those who were questioning the nominees being interviewed for approval to high government offices. If we interpret the questioning only...
Every time the Lord dismantles what opposes His will, He has a plan to rebuild and reconstruct the lives of those who have been held captive by deception. For those bound by cords of deceit and error, the Lord wants to dismantle those restraints so He can save the...
When we have to face people who hate us, there is only one way that a victory over their hatred can happen, “I will look in triumph at those who hate me” (Psalm 118:7). The phrase “I will look in triumph” means to look at someone with satisfaction. It refers to the...
I once walked along the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. As I walked across those famous names embedded in the sidewalk, the memories of those individuals were now passing under my feet. About the time I walked on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Mother Teresa...
The massive fires in Los Angeles have revealed failed policies that have hampered firefighters' duties. Those called to protect and serve have not been able to fully protect and serve their community in its time of need. The same can be true within the Church. Those...
Until the time comes to fulfill God’s promises in our lives, we will enter seasons of testing to see if our character is aligned with God's promise. Some of those tests can derail the fulfillment of God’s promises if our character has not been aligned with God’s word....