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Kingdom Goals For 2020
Another year behind us, a fresh one on the horizon. It’s amazing how the week between Christmas and New Year causes us to put on the brakes and think soberly. I know I did this past week, as I reflected on 2019 and focused on my Kingdom Goals for 2020. This year has been an…
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For To Us A Child Is Born…
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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All Is Good—If We Love Him
Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. —NASB Many people talk about God’s unconditional love these days. To me it is a moot point whether God loves unconditionally or not. All we need to…
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His Yoke Is Easy—His Burden Light
Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” –ESV
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Standing Before Our Enemies
How often do we face enemies? How often do we retreat? I’m not talking about physical enemies. We are in a war in the spiritual realm. Every day, if we are wise, we put on our armor, ready to do battle. The battle does not wait on us—it is around us all the time. We…
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He Is Not A God Of Confusion
1 Corinthians 14:32-33 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. –ESV How many times do we find ourselves in doubt—questioning the will of God, our motives and even the path we are on? In a sense, these questions can be good. A person…
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Dealing With The Curses Of Balak
I am going through a major transition in business right now. My partner and I had two businesses together. We have agreed to separate, with him taking one business and me taking the other on negotiated terms. I have sensed that God has orchestrated this. I believe He has led me to this place, but…
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God, My Compass
There are many things that guide people, that people essentially use as a compass. Money, relationships, entertainment and pleasures of all kinds. Or perhaps in many cases these things are more like treats dangled in front of us, leading us one step at a time to an unknown destination. In our natural state, we are…
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Our Need For A Shepherd
We were all created with the need for a Shepherd. In Eden, man communed regularly with God and they were in a perfect state of dependence on their Shepherd. When man fell, it was due to the fact that they wanted to become shepherds and gods unto themselves. God let them have their way in…
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The Gift Of Repentance
In an age where repentance is hardly acknowledged as a necessary means of salvation, my title may come off as paradoxical to some. Many view the idea of repentance negatively. It creates a premise that we are fundamentally evil. This used to be a commonly held belief in the church. But today many have lost…
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Do We Count It All Joy?
When we first started out on our journey of faith it might have come as a surprise to us that we were destined for hardship. The first few bumps we faced certainly did not inspire joy, and probably caused us to pause and evaluate. What did we sign up for? Is it worth the cost?…
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Are We Prepared To Marvel?
Many times we get caught up in the time leading to the second coming of Jesus. This is to be expected. There is so much going on in that season. The chaos. The promise of revival. The dread of persecution and darkness. There is good and evil on the horizon—both in proportions possibly not seen…
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The Age Of Enlightenment
It is no secret among those of us who are truly enlightened, that what the world calls enlightenment is nothing more than an excuse to actually go back in time, presenting old evils in a different light. And if we do not agree with the moral legitimacy of what they present, then we are outdated…
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Clothed And In My Right Mind
A while back, after a major spiritual breakthrough, I had incredible peace. I had just made contact with someone from back in grade school whom the Lord had led me to reconcile with. I’ve had major wounds in my heart from childhood, and bullying from school and elsewhere had played a major part. After battling…
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Where Do We Find Strength?
Last week I explored the scriptural directions in finding rest. But what if God is asking you to push ahead amidst difficult circumstances? Sure we can find rest in any and all circumstances, but sometimes we also need strength. Sometimes God will not allow us to completely lay down something we are walking in. Perhaps…
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God’s Punishment On Those He Has Known
Amos 3:2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. –ESV I have heard many people mocking the concept of God’s punishment on nations for embracing iniquity. As it relates to laws enacted and proclamations made in the United States, many have pointed…
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God’s Unchanging Character
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Our Imagination & The Devil’s Lies When we were yet sinners and unrepentant, we looked at the unchanging character of God as boring. Perhaps we thought anything that stays the same for that long must be stale. Our…
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Antichrist Spirits In Subjection
Concerning antichrist spirits: 1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. –ESV
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The Winds In Your Sail
Everyone is propelled by some external force—some kind of spiritual winds. As much as we would like to think we are pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps, we really aren’t. There is a fierce battle for our wills, our destinies and our souls. No one is exempt, and no one emerges from the battle…
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From Wretches To Royalty
How many of us felt like royalty when we came to the Lord? Were we not wretches instead? Would we not still be wretched if He had not plucked us from the mire we were in? The answer to the last two questions is obviously yes. But does that mean we exist just beyond wretchedness…
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What Pleases God?
Most of us have been taught how to avert the wrath of God from our lives. Through cleansing by the blood of Jesus we are made whole and righteous before God. We put on the righteousness of Christ since He took our sins on Himself if we will but repent of them. It is an…
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Let Freedom Ring!—Independence Day USA
Happy Independence day folks. I hope this day finds you celebrating and enjoying time with those you love. As you barbeque, socialize, and watch parades and fireworks, join me in reflecting on bits and pieces of the history of the holiday we are celebrating.
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The Salt Of The Earth
Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. –ESV
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Building God’s Brand
This may seem like a strange term, but I use it to make an illustration. So much of what we see on the internet, especially on social media, has to do with people building their brand. There is a lot of traffic on the internet. People can go there without leaving their seats. It’s where…
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From One Glory To A Greater
I am amazed at the amount of times God has revealed a certain level of glory to me and I was willing to sit back and say, “ah this is wonderful, I’ll just hang out here.” There have been times I reached points of victory that were great and I could not, in my little…
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The Spirit Of Religion—And The Aftermath
I have come down hard on some of the movements in modern Religion in a few posts on this blog. Some of this has been reactionary, coming from my own experience in some of these movements which produced frustration within me and a cry for something better. Something authentic, lacking men’s agenda and filled with…
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A Line In The Sand, Or Our Heads In The Sand?
Many times we as Christians have drawn lines in the sand and then buried our heads in the same sand while our spiritual enemies erase the line. When we look up, the line is gone, so we draw it again—farther back this time. The enemy has gained territory, sometimes in society sometimes in the church.
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Turning The Tables—Draining The Swamp
For over two years of the Trump presidency we forgot about draining the swamp. Most of what we heard was a tidal wave of hatred and accusation against Trump from his opposition—including the media. There was also the ongoing investigation into whether or not Donald Trump colluded with Russia to interfere with the election. This…
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A Godly Grief Embraced
You may think my title is paradoxical. Perhaps you’ve been fed a syrupy, gooey gospel that would not allow for the legitimacy of godly grief. I find the term comforting. It can be found in scripture—it is legitimate and the outcome of it is beautiful.
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A Lion In The Kingdom
Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. –ESV This verse is from the Bible so we must begin with the premise that it is true. But many times we look around and see what we perceive as righteous people cowering before an onslaught of evil…
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A Living Sacrifice
I’ve heard many references given to the idea of being a living sacrifice for God. But recently I came on a fresh perspective by Sarah Liberman on her Facebook page. She simply stated that “God’s fire does not fall on an empty alter.” It was a profound statement I thought. It said so much with…
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How Do We Look At The Wonders Of God?
Something I thought of recently was the way various groups of people reacted to the wonders Jesus performed when he came into their communities. In some cases, they attracted people. Mostly those who needed deliverance or healing. This seems pretty natural. Then there were those who felt threatened by His works because they upset a…
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I Will Not Be Inquired Of By You
In the beginning of this chapter, the elders of Israel had come to inquire of the Lord through the prophet Ezekiel. Throughout the chapter, the Lord lays out to Ezekiel why He would not respond to their inquiry. Basically it had to do with idolatry.
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If God Would Not Move
Something I have noticed throughout my Christian walk is that many times God lets me see what I would be left with if He would not move on my behalf.
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Taste And See That The Lord Is Good
How often have we stood in the shadows and watched as others partake of the goodness of God, thinking instinctively that we have no portion in this? Even many who have some type of relationship with God, do not realize what is theirs experientially in Christ Jesus.
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The Slumber Of This Age
It’s like there is a lullaby playing on a PA system that reaches around the world. Spiritual slumber is settling like a cloud on hordes of Christians. With the availability of so many things that are spiritual poison to those who languish in them, many have done exactly that.
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Think About Such Things
The mind has been referred to by many as a battlefield. It is true, there are many ideas that contend for supremacy in the mind of man.
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Truth Has Stumbled In The Public Squares
Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice
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The Love Of Many Will Grow Cold
Matthew 24:11-12 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. –ESV
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Discovering Israel—With Jonas & Kristi Troyer
On December 14th2018 Jonas and Kristi drove from their temporary home in Virginia to New York City to catch a flight from the JFK airport. They were beginning a two week trip to the Holy Land.
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A Culture Of Death And Darkness
Many in our nation are weeping, mourning or lamenting in the wake of another political attempt to solidify our standing as a culture of death. I am one of them. It saddens me but I am not surprised. With the track record New York state has because of its heavy influence by New York City,…
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Faith—A Simple Illustration
This chapter in Hebrews is notorious. It has many graphic illustrations of faith–practiced by those of whom the world was not worthy. I recommend reading the whole chapter if you want a deeper faith. But in this post I would like to explore this one verse. And share a simple illustration for those who may…
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When heaven descends
If you have been walking in the faith for any amount of time, you have probably wondered what your purpose is here on earth. Why were you made? What plan does God have for you? And what does any of this have to do with the title of this post?
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The Fingerprints Of God
As I go through life, many times simply trying to get through the next big hurdle, trying to meet the next deadline, or achieve my next self imposed goal, (not to be confused with a Kingdom goal) I can get pretty absorbed in mundane matters before I know it.
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Kingdom Goals For 2019
It is a well known tradition to make resolutions for the coming year, but I’ve found that for most people, those are setups for failure and disappointment. Most likely it’s because we enter into these resolutions with our own will and strength.
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Holy (& Wholly) Unto The Lord
I know some of these plays on words are cliché by now, but it struck me how true this one is, and I have never seen it before as far as I know, so it might even be original.
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Stimulation Does Not Equal Life
Many things in life are illusions, deceptions and counterfeits. If we have the Spirit of God as our counsel, and a healthy hunger for the truth, then this soon becomes obvious. The more we walk the walk of faith, the more we come to realize how little in this life is honest, real, and lasting.
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Nothing Can Separate Us…
Romans 8:38-39 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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A Lamp On A Stand—A City On A Hill
Matthew 5:14 & 15 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. –ESV What does it mean to be a light? I…
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Going Through Life Like A Battering Ram
Some of the posts I publish are nothing more than a reflection of my own mistakes and the lessons I learned from them. Lucky for those who read my posts, I have made plenty of mistakes and shouldn’t have a shortage of materials any time soon. I am reminded, because this post definitely falls in…
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When Others Don’t Understand
Everyone has times when they feel alone and like no one understands their situation or their life. This can especially be the case for believers. Since our relationship with God is personal on most levels and corporate on a smaller level, there is a lot of room for misunderstanding.
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The Tightrope Of Life
There are many analogies thrown around, many metaphors given, and many philosophical statements made, in an attempt to encapsulate life and the world we live in. These methods create points of reference and pictures in our minds. So bear with me as I present yet another analogy.
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A Quick Kavanaugh Recap
It seems fitting to add my own little bit to the storm that raged in the political landscape for several solid weeks. I may be a bit later than most news outlets to weigh in on the matter, but one of the things I want to bring to light, is the silence that has followed…
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When The Harvest Is Not Yet
Here is a subject that seems appropriate for the fall season. It is a time when many in rural areas are harvesting what they have planted in the spring. You see pumpkins and cornstalks lining shops in town. Local produce has been available for some time now. Soon the leaves will change and fall—nuts will…
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Intelligence—A Poor Substitute For Wisdom
What is wisdom? I believe its definition has been broadened and cheapened over the years as society has devolved. If you do not set a correct premise and beginning for wisdom, then what grows from there is automatically faulty.
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Temporal Or Eternal—Where Is Your Reward?
The priorities of the human mind amaze me. The way we embrace delusion for reality, and temporal over eternal many times. Even the most strategic businessmen—who are well acquainted with waiting patiently for a reward—do not necessarily know much about storing up eternal wealth. Also, many people in the faith do not behave as though…
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Light—In The Midst Of Darkness
One would think that between light and darkness, the choice would be easy. If we were presented with a straight forward option between the two, it probably would be. The problem is, there is a friend of darkness who has strategies of glamorizing darkness and lying about its consequences. He presents doorways into darkness and…
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Mortifying The Flesh—In Order To Live
Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. —KJV
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The Old Has Gone, The New Has Come
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. –ESV This is a familiar verse to many of us. It has probably also been an inspiration to many. How many of us became born again, and did not learn to…
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My Will Be Done, Or God’s Will Be Done?
The battle of the will is one that has spanned the ages. But no matter how many decades, centuries and millennia pass by, man is not content to honestly settle the issue of who knows best. Or who has supreme authority. This can extend into human authority that God has ordained as well.
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The Truth Hurts—But Only If You’re Living A Lie
We’ve all heard the old saying: “the truth hurts.” On face value it appears to be that way many times. You say something to someone without thinking. That person takes offense at what you said, even though you didn’t mean to be offensive. You have hit a nerve you didn’t know was there.
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The Disappointments Life Brings
Last week I wrote a post titled “The Fiery Trials Of Life.” This is a lite version of that post. Disappointments are not necessarily fiery, but they present trials in their own right. If a person does not learn early in life how to deal with disappointments, they often have stunted growth—in character and spirit.
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The Fiery Trials Of Life
Refining lives through trials is something we hear a lot about as believers. We nod our heads and recognize the self-evident truth of the matter. But when our turn comes we tend to be a little more skeptical about the necessity of the procedure.
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More SCOTUS Happenings
Wow, what a week at our highest court. SCOTUS made some excellent rulings earlier this week. Three weeks ago I wrote about the SCOTUS Cake Shop Decision, so it seems we are on a roll here.
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Making Room For God’s Voice
Are you hearing God’s voice speaking into your life? Many people make this out to be a mystical, unattainable thing, reserved either for lunatics or great men of God. And then there are some people who think there is no difference between the two. I’m not speaking to that person—I am speaking to the person…
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Alarm Clocks & Wedding Bells
We live in sleepy times. Times when people would rather shrug their shoulders and turn the other way than stand for something decent. On the other hand, there seems to be no trouble in finding people willing to stand for what is immoral, and hold it up as the highest of virtues. Alarm clocks and…
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SCOTUS Cake Shop Decision
As you have probably heard by now, the Supreme Court reached an important decision on Monday June 4th2018. They were hearing the case of Masterpiece Cake Shop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
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Surrender—A Paradoxical Path To Victory
How many military victories have been obtained by surrender? To the best of my knowledge—none. Traditionally, the nation represented by the military force that surrenders gets the lesser end of the terms laid out by their adversary. In extreme cases, they forfeit all they have and become slaves to the ones they have surrendered to.
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Today—A Day The Lord Has Made
Last week I wrote a post called Tomorrow—A Day That Never Comes. The week before that I had one called Yesterday—A Thing Of The Past. I’ll finish on this theme this week by focusing on today, or the present.
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Tomorrow—A Day That Never Comes
Last week I wrote a post titled Yesterday—A Thing Of The Past. I Decided to keep things going on this track for two more weeks. This week I want to address the time we unnecessarily spend thinking about our future. Or the future of a corporate body we may be a part of. We’ve all…
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Yesterday—A Thing Of The Past
How much time do we really spend in the present? It obviously varies from person to person. I know I have had to learn to do it—it doesn’t come naturally for many people. The temptation is to either dwell in the past, regretting things you have done, or else to look to the future in…
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Alfie Evans: The Story And Tragedy—What We Can Learn
Alfie Evans was born in Liverpool in May 2016. He was healthy when he was born, but according to his parents, he was a bit agitated. Nothing too unusual. Later though he showed signs of impairment. He could not lift his head very easily, his limbs jerked occasionally, and his eyes rolled back at times.
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Writing From A Christian World-View
Like most things in our culture that once seemed pretty innocent, reading for the serious believer is now something that is done with care and caution. The entertainment industry and media are filled with evil—and books, magazines, blogs, and news-papers are not exempt. There was a time when many main-stream writers were producing content that…
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The Art Of The Question
How many times do you find yourself slogging through life, thinking you’re on your own, and you have to figure everything out from scratch? I know I do it from time to time, and I used to do it a lot. Pride can be a factor in this, as well as inferiority. Funny how these…
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Uncircumcised Philistines
How many of you have uncircumcised Philistines in your life? Maybe they live rent-free in your head, mocking your dreams, visions, and goals, especially if they are Divinely inspired. Or they use other people to do it. Perhaps they speak through certain members of the media, or their political counter-parts, taunting the armies of God.…
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From OCD To Excellence
OCD has become a bit of a buzz word among millennials, and those who have bits and pieces of it, seem to wear it as a badge of honor. You will hear phrases such as, “I’m really OCD about keeping dust off my computer but a cluttered room doesn’t bother me.” Or you may hear…
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The History Of Halloween
The history of Halloween is a long one, and many cultural practices have conspired to create the product we have today. I’ll try to present this information chronologically to avoid confusion, and will add a few of my own thoughts at the end. I do not claim to have created a comprehensive account here; only…
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Freedom—
the human spirit longs for it; people steal for it, go broke for it, even murder for it…and then there are people who actually fight for it and find it. This may come off as a strange or mysterious way to describe this cosmic battle, but as all things must, this needs to be viewed…
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Don’t give worry time to demonstrate it’s value—
or soon you will have no time. No one can add a single hour to their lives by being anxious according to Matthew 6:27, and yet it comes naturally for many of us. Why do we have such a hard time believing that worry has no merits? First of all, many of the things we…
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