January 2012 Blog Posts (92)

“Quench not the Spirit” is one of the most disobeyed scriptures in the New Testament.  So how do we quench the Spirit.  Here are the Top Ten ways.

10) We teach people that God isn’t speaking to human beings nowadays.

9) We freely indulge our desires to the point that our heart gets so hard that we no longer hear…

There are certain people who I am simply drawn to. I love reading their writings or hear them speak. These are people who have touched something of God that inspires me or draws me to Him. When I read their writings I realize they have something I want; an intimacy that I cry out for. I’m thinking of Jessie Penn-Lewis. She was a Welsh evangelical speaker and author in the early 1900’s. I love her writings. Then there is Jim and Elisabeth Elliot. They are both exciting examples of Faith lived…

Do you want Grass with that bacon”?

Port Talbot

Mission 8 

Story 8

The wind was blowing hard, the canvas snapped and strained as the rain beat down; I was half asleep listening to the howling wind when I heard a loud crack, the canvas went slack and began billowing wildly. I struggled out of my sleeping bag, ‘Mark! Mark!’  I yelled, ‘one of the ropes has gone!’ It was 3am, we returned half an hour later, soaked to the…

The Word of God is alive. Sometimes you can read a text you have read several times before, and suddenly it comes alive for you. That happens to me often. Recently I was reading the 7^th chapter of Matthew and verses 7-8 caught my eyes:

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks,…

Jesus told his disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). However, Jesus couldn't carry his cross and neither can you!

As Jesus carried his own cross to Golgotha, he became too weak and frail to carry it any more. When he had reached the end of his strength, his cross was laid on someone elses shoulder. The Bible doesn't tell us how far Jesus carried his cross but we do know Simon, the Cyrene, was forced to…

Ordering our Footsteps

Loosing sight of God Part 2

The normal trend in the world is to go with the crowd because we want to have a sense of belonging.  In college I had two very good friends John and Mala James who were Christians. They are still very much…

The Stranger

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and…

I have been going through Job again, and when I reached chapter 22-23, where Job described the “heritage of the oppressors” and showed the foolishness of anyone who set his heart on the things this world has to offer, he breaks out into a striking description of the trouble and pain that men expend as they search for earthly treasure. He then contrasts the wisdom that allows them to obtain the riches hidden in the earth with the value of “digging” for the wisdom that comes…

I walk and talk to Jesus and He stimulates my mind.  It gets humorous at times.

This past week I laughed at two new words given to reprimand and inspire.

1. Sewercide – It came as I was expressing to Jesus ‘woe is me’ and I said I was committing emotional suicide.  No, He came back, I was committing sewercide, it wouldn’t kill me but boy does make me stink.
2. Textadermy – I was thinking of an Elk head on the wall and the thought came to me, that Elk is a ‘what was’…

The fictional character was created in the 1939 short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. He is a rather timid protagonist with an overactive fantasy life who is ineffectual in his earthly life. The story resonated with people then, as it does today. Who does not ask if there can be more to life than what one has, sees or experiences? Whether or not there is something beyond ourselves? The story's popularity led to the idea of the Walter Mitty Phenomenon, which refers to a…

A title like the one above shakes some people up. Whenever I simply use the word, "Obedience," people don't read the post, they just send our nasty emails. That is the wrong view of the word. Now, there are differing views regarding obedience. Some argue that with Grace, obedience is irrelevant; some see obedience as a linchpin of Salvation. Neither could be further from the Truth. Even our Lord said, "If you love me . . . you will obey me." I think the Psalmist had a good view of…

Here are the posts in order of most views in 2011 (some were written before 2011, but they received major traffic last year so they made the list).

The 100 Best Christian Books Ever Written…

One of Paul's letters that we don't read as much, is his letters to the believers in Galatia. Just like today, there were men who were teaching things that were disturbing the True Faith, they had been taught.

"I am amazed that you have so quickly transferred your allegiance from him who called you in the grace of Christ to another "Gospel"! Not, of course, that it is or ever could be another Gospel, but there are obviously men who are upsetting your faith with a…

Times of Prayer

I recently asked a young man if he had been to fellowship. His reply was no, he had not been to fellowship for the past two months. His reason was that it is so hot and the place that he fellowships at has no air conditioners. He went on further to say that he was not prepared to sit in the heat.

Initially I was angry at the young man because of his audacity and secondly for a making an excuse for his laziness. I calmed myself when I…