January 2012 Blog Posts (92)

Ordering our Footsteps

A cry from the heart Part 1

There is always talk that over seventy percent of the citizens in our country are Christians. If this the case then why is there still so much of crime, poverty and substance abuse? There is a great difference between a church attendee, a church member, a Christian and truly born again, Spirit…

Although I am not in "full-time" ministry I still hear from many who are struggling with habits and well . . . sin. They continue to commit the same sin over and over; grieve over that sin and confess that sin, seek forgiveness--then do it all over again. As many of you know, in one of my Facebook groups, I am going through Paul's letter to the Roman church. I am reminded of what I covered in the 6^th chapter:

You must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your…

I have talked about a "Foretaste," or an "Earnest," before, but I was talking about the Holy Spirit at the time As you already know, a foretaste is an advance taste or realization. The Bible calls it an earnest—“the earnest of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14). It means to bring a taste of the whole before we have the whole. Our inheritance is Christ himself—and the Holy Spirit brings us into his very presence as a foretaste of being received as…

In both the Old and New Testaments, you will find the Holy Spirit displaying his presence in the most unusual ways! He shook buildings. People began to praise him—in new tongues. At Pentecost he came with a mighty, rushing wind! Fire flamed out from the heads of the believers! When the Holy Spirit comes, things get shaken up (see Acts 2:4 and 4:11).

John the Baptist preached, “I'm baptizing you here in the water. The main character in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will…

My Journey with Jesus through 1 Peter

1 Peter 5:  ⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,…

Father, keep me from a false humility that seeks to be exalted.  For me to express humility means that I will not give into fear, reticence, timidity, and reluctance, nor will I act in arrogance, pride, superiority, or a condescending manner.  Yet, I will be assertive, bold,…

... "and you are complete in Him,who is the head of all principality and power."(.col 2:10) Wanting everything is bondage.Needing nothing is freedom.All our needs are met in Christ alone.We have Christ's life now,and we don't have to worry about our life anymore than Christ has to worry about His life !We're free to treasure all the cares and fears of the world,but it would make no sense since they're no longer ours to be miserable over.To try to add anything to Christ is to add…

If we're miserable over the corruption of the world,then we must want the corruption of the world.We're not here to gather back up the very same miserable things of the world that we were so happy to lose when we got saved from them.Why should we lose our peace and joy to gain garbage?Why not lose the garbage and gain peace and joy? Christ alone is our peace and joy.Why not count it all loss? Why not consider it all garbage that we may gain the enjoyment of the of who freed us from it…

I've turned several of you onto Brennan Manning's book, "Abba's Child". It is a very uplifting and enlightening book and I still encourage you to read, if you haven’t. And for those of you who have read it, I suggest you read it again ;o)

There is something else you might enjoy:…

Sometimes I listen to the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News. Today, I am borrowing the words he uses to start each show--"Caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone." In other words, what you about to read is not edited for your comfort, tamed for easy reading or spun so I will be liked. Without apology or reservation, this is the hard truth as I see it. 

What most any Christian would tell you is people who are sincere about their faith do their very best to follow the example…

Paul Ravenhill said of his father, Leonard Ravenhill, "His life and ministry were a passionate protest against the religion of the twentieth century in which man has made his image of God, not graven in stone but rather graven in words, and then set this up saying, 'This is your God, worship Him.'

"My father saw God as infinitely beyond man's endeavors to explain Him, infinitely beyond man's efforts to serve Him. He saw God as an eternal fire of Infinite Life and…

Times of Prayer

Ice-breakers always cause a few laughs when our home groups meet together. We hear some very hilarious experiences and at the same time find out where people are in God or what problems they face. The common question asked around this time of the year is “WHAT GOALS HAVE YOU SET FOR YOURSELF FOR THIS YEAR?” Ninety percent of the time people will answer with…

It seems as though I'm standing on the other side of an invisible but very effective barrier.  When I use all the words my mind can conjure to explain my thrilling adventure of immense love and blessings that my daily walking and talking to my Lord produces, I receive in return deadpan stares and conversations of ordinary speech just as if they cannot hear my words at all, or see the overflowing love and thrilling excitement in my eyes.  I often want to say, "did you not hear what I just…

Indications of my brothers’ mechanical abilities became evident at a pretty early age. In fact, I had the “privilege” of testing one of their first inventions! I don’t recall how old I was; actually, it is a wonder that I remember anything from that experience onward!  But…this is how the story goes:

Someone had the bright idea to make a cart from old wheelchair wheels and scrap lumber. The picture that I have of it in my mind looks something like an ancient Egyptian cart…

Yesterday I explained how some people greatly inspire me to a walk of Faith and a deeper intimacy with the Lord. And . . . there are some who . . . well, don’t. If you were to go to the 13^th Chapter of 1^st Samuel, you will see that Saul (who at that time was king of what later became known as Israel), faced a crucial moment that every believer must eventually confront. This is a time of crisis when we are forced to decide whether we are going to wait on God by faith, or…