“It’s my money and I want it now.” That commercial pretty much sums up our faith in America Christianity. We want quick breakthroughs, speedy solutions, and daily suddenlies. But a quick read of the Bible, both Old and New Testament, show us that is NOT God’s MO. God is in the journey. He is in the process. “In this life we are going to have trouble,” promised Jesus. We will...
The Mission Field is In Your Backyard
Preach the Gospel. Heal the sick. Know you are protected. Speak with new tongues. Drive out demons. This is the supernatural life we are invited to live. In one week, I will be in Mexico sharing the Gospel. I am standing on God’s promise that signs and wonders will follow. I’m believing people will fall more in love with Jesus. I am praying that eyes will opened and Jesus will...
Win the Battle
The battlefield of the mind, it is the most important battle we face daily. We are constantly warring against thoughts of fear, rejection and insignificance. And the funny thing is that when we loose the battle for our mind, we engage in a battle of flesh and blood that is futile. So how do we win this battle of the mind? The Bible tells us to take every thought captive...
How to Fight and Win
It’s 4:00 am and I’m awake. My mind is racing. Fear. Regret. Offense. Jealousy. All these yucky thoughts fill my head. I tried reading the Word. My daily devotional led me to Psalm 91. When I got to the part that said, “no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.”, I actually thought, “Yeah, but that’s not always true.” It takes me a while to realize,...
God is Good!
God is good. We say that so much it can become ‘religious talk’, or a cliche. But “God is good” is a simple yet profound truth. It is a foundational belief in our Christian walk. When we go through difficult times, the enemy is there to get us to question God’s goodness. John tells us that Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters. Yet when tragedy struck, Martha questioned Jesus’ goodness...
Not Climbing any Mountains
“I’m climbing up on the rough side of the mountain” was a gospel song we sung in the early 2000’s. I did not like that song because Jesus never told us to climb our mountains; He told us to speak to our mountains. I always felt that if I climbed the mountain, I left it for the next generation to deal with it. But we are called to speak to...
Trials Can Serve a Purpose
Been through a trial? Going through a trial? None of us want to experience a trial, yet none of us are exempt. We debate are they authored by God, allowed by God, allowed by us? I believe trials happen because we live in a fallen world and we have an adversary. But regardless, all trials in our life should produce one result: that we loose all faith in ourselves and...
Bullies – You are on Notice
I hate bullies. Cancer is a bully. Mental Illness is a bully. Chronic health issues – bully. Systematic poverty – bully. Racism – bully. They are bullies because they have ravaged and destroyed so many lives that we begin to think there is nothing that can be done about it. We become intimidated when we hear their name. King Hezekiah faced a bully. The King of Assyria had destroyed many...
Life Lessons from the Story of Jehoshaphat
Most of us are familiar with the story of King Jehoshaphat. A vast army threaten Israel and God gave them a miraculous victory. If you are not, I suggest you read II Chronicles 20. It’s a great story of faith in the midst of adversity. Here are some lessons God reminded me of as I read it: 1. When trouble is threatening our first response should be to pray, fast,...
“Holy Spirit” Control
Confession Time: I have struggled with the word, “self-control” listed as a fruit of the Spirit. I guess it comes from Christians looking at people who were struggling and saying, “they just need self-control.” But I always thought, “If I could control myself, I wouldn’t need the Holy Spirit.” Self-control to me just sounds like I’m relying on my own strength. (By the way, KJV translates the word as temperance.)...