We must admit that we need some changes in our lives. At least in some areas of our lives we would appreciate if something would change for the better, right? It is true that we get used to things and then settle with the way things are, but if you really think about it…..I mean….if […]
I’m Losing It! My obnoxious alarm clock is screaming at me after what seems like one minute after I fell asleep. I have a job to report to and so does my wife. It’s time to pack lunches, start a load of laundry, and make sure the puppy is taken outside and fed before we […]
I was hosing off the deck this morning when I saw a penny. I picked it up and smiled as the old phrase “a penny for your thoughts” flitted through my mind. And then, prompted by the Spirit, I asked, “A penny for your thoughts, Lord?” Instantly I was reminded of the scripture in Isaiah […]
For many years, I’ve asked the Lord for a word of direction for the year ahead. Sometimes He has literally given me a specific word, other times a prophetic word. Sometimes it’s a Bible verse, other times a prayer. For 2016, the Lord’s mandate to me was simple. Choose life. I knew He was referring […]
‘Tis the season … when busyness and chaos and stress abound. I’m guessing I’m not alone in this. It was bad enough before we even got to the holidays, what with running a household and a business, holding down a job, and renovating our home. The problem is, I like people, I like parties, and […]
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). How can a commandment so clear and simple be so challenging?
“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:37–40 The greatest commandments: Love God. Love people. Easy, right? Love has a context. Unless you understand that context, you cannot possibly do what the above passage says accurately. Anything out of context can get very twisted and misapplied very quickly...
The Bible contains instruction for all manner of basic living including: how you should live, what kind of person to marry, what manner of work ethic you should have, proper sexual orientation, the days we are living in now, and much more! Paul the Apostle calls Timothy to preach it at all times in all kinds of situations. Why? “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and [...]
In Heaven, they are not trying to "do something" in worship. They are not "working something up." They are simply responding to the revelation and encounter they are having with the One on the throne. The falling down, the exclamations of praise and adoration, the burning fire emanating from the seraphim is ALL a reflexive response to the God they are seeing. They are not TRYING to do what they are doing. They are simply being before Him. They are COMPELLED by the encounter. Their response is SIMPLE and PURE. It flows out of their relationship with and their [...]
As I dive into discussing what I value in a local church, I think it is appropriate to address a possible perception to my writings. The perceived assumption is that I think I am somehow superior or better than who or what has come before me. That is often the assumption whenever someone shares what they think the "ideal something" should be like. It is assumed that you do not like what is or has been, or that you know better than the other guys, etc. All advancements in life in general are because someone has gone before us and [...]