Quite often, we comfort ourselves during difficult seasons of our life, with the assurance that God is in control. What we mean by that is, although we are powerless to change our situation, God is somehow at work behind the scenes to make sure everything works out ok in the end. So, we may have lost our job, or discovered someone we love has cancer, or miscarried our third child, or declared bankruptcy, or something else disturbing, and it’s all... Read more
A friend asked me a question the other day about whether or not our spiritual experiences should be considered “real” if we know that those experiences were induced by low blow sugar or sleep paralysis, for example. It’s a great question. In fact, as I was watching the Netflix mini-series “Wild Wild Country”, I had a very similar conversation with my wife about the spiritual experiences induced by the meditative techniques of the Rajneesh cult. The cult leader, Bhagwan, had new... Read more
Now is a holy moment. In fact, now is the holiest moment of all. Because now is the exact point in time where you and God are both together in the same place. God is here, now. You are here now. Now is the only time you can ever meet with God. Perhaps this is why the scriptures tell us that “Now is the time of God’s favor” and “Now is the day of salvation.” [2 Cor. 6:2] Yet,... Read more
Learning to discern the voice of God is challenging, and we don’t always get it right. Sometimes we get it very, very wrong, in fact. In those moments it can be difficult to maintain our trust in Him because we can assume that He misled us, especially when we had our hopes in whatever we felt like He promised us. ** The most challenging time for our family was when Wendy had a dream that she was pregnant with twins.... Read more
Yes, Jesus could turn stones into bread and make sure no one was ever hungry again. But then we’d still live in a world where people had too much food and no reason to share with those who had nothing. Jesus could heal every disease and remove sickness from the world. But we would still live in a world where people cared more about themselves than about the needs of others. Jesus could step in and prevent every car accident... Read more
An essential element of the Messianic promise is this: Nothing will ever be the same again. God makes this clear in Isaiah 65:17 when He says: “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” What follows is a long list of contrasts between the way things are, and the way things will be after the Messiah comes. If there was death, there will be life. If there was... Read more
And now I will show you the most beautiful way: If I build a church that’s larger than a football stadium but I don’t love people the way God does, I am nothing. If I write books that sell millions of copies and made Oprah’s favorites list, but don’t love my enemies, then I am worth nothing. If I have a Television show where I take money from the elderly and the weak-minded and twist the scriptures around... Read more
Before you hit “unfollow” or reach for the pitchforks, let me clarify what I mean by this statement. There are dozens of scriptures and ideas in the Bible that even the most devout Biblicist flat out rejects and ignores. For example: Most Christians do not greet one another with a holy kiss, although Paul commands Christians to do this four times in the New Testament. Most Christians do not forbid women to cut their hair, nor do they consider long... Read more
T. Austin Sparks says something in the very beginning of his book “The School of Christ” which provided a very clear image for me of what I think is “off” about so much of Christianity today. He points out that the prophetic image of a new temple as described to Ezekiel is already fulfilled in Christ, and therefore in His Body [which is the church]. In other words, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – that would be any different... Read more
What does the Resurrection mean to me? It means I will never experience a single moment without Jesus. He will never leave or forsake me. Nothing can separate me from His love. Death cannot stop this love. Life can’t change it. Angels and demons are powerless against it. Time itself can’t touch it. His love for me endures forever. My Abba and His Son are joyfully living within me and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I am being... Read more
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