Personal thoughts from Pastor Jeff on a(n almost) daily basis.
Sometimes people miss God’s best for them because it is being offered in a package that does not fit with their preconceptions. Most of us would affirm that we desire God’s richest and best for our lives. We trust Him, we know that He is good, we believe that the plans that He has for us will result in something …
Recently, the Holy Spirit and I hunkered down in Psalm 63 together (you may wish to pause right now and read it yourself so you will understand more of what I am about to share). Trekking through those familiar verses, a familiar stirring began to move again in my heart. This stirring within is a physical and emotional response to …
Not everyone in the Kingdom is completely sold out to the King. How many new converts have reeled when they uncovered this disheartening reality? I remember, after I was brought into the Kingdom via a radical conversion and deliverance, soon discovering that many of the Christians with whom I began doing life were not as enthused about King Jesus as …
It never occurred to me that the busiest season I have ever had in my life would occur as I approach the age of fifty. Years ago, I must have adopted the presumption that I would be able to slow down and ease my way through the back end of life and ministry. I knew I would have a steady …
“I made My vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine. Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you, and anointed you with oil.” – Ezekiel 16:8-9 These obscure verses from the prophet Ezekiel’s book have me thinking today about how good the Father is …
Nobody wants to suffer. Truthfully, nobody really even wants to struggle. There is something of a default pattern of thinking when it comes to human beings finding themselves in circumstances that constrain, challenge or cripple us. That pattern of thought is generally the same for young and old, people of all races and nationalities, those of no faith or those …
When I was in the fourth grade I made up my mind that I was going to be a disk jockey when I grew up. I had a dream of working by myself in a radio station with fat headphones on my ears and a big silver microphone in front of my mouth. I wanted to talk and make people …
”And David danced before the Lord with all his might…So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.” – 2 Samuel 6:14-15 Father, thank You for a reason to celebrate. Thank You that all of Your people arose this morning in a state of spiritual victory, even if some cannot …
The Lord Jesus Christ was a reassuring Man. Please do not mistake that statement to be all that could be said of Him. He is God. He is Savior. He is Lord. He is King. No single aspect of His revealed nature could encompass all that He is, so we must agree that we are never done learning or experiencing …
Since late July of 2017 until last week, I had been completely immersed in doing my part in a very large-scale Kingdom endeavor. There were many others who worked harder than I, but it would be nearly impossible to describe the degree to which my mind, my time and my energy became invested in this assignment from the Father which …
Here is one of the biggest understatements I will write all year: I’m not much of a handyman. When it comes to the component of male DNA which results in craftsmanship, manual skills and competency with tools…I ended up in the wrong line when it was being handed out. I think when others were being run through the line to …
It is weird for me to wake up to start a new work-week and to have the first thing I hear be the Lord’s voice cautioning me. He usually speaking encouragement to me before my feet ever hit the floor. The Holy Spirit will then begin to mentally order my day for me, reminding me of The Who, What, When …
Today is a day wherein my prayer rests upon the desire for God’s children to know and to sense His delight in them. So much of religion presses us to do something. Do something delightful, good or worthy in order to gain acceptance from this incomprehensible God. Major world religions of various stripes place the constant onus on you to work …
My son is one of the most animated people I know. We love Landon’s enthusiasm and zest for life. Granted, there are times when we have considered slipping a Valium in his Gatorade to mellow him, but most of the time we are blessed by how funny and entertaining he is. He will be a teenager in two months and, …
“On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Peter’s, He asked him to put …
The promises of God are fuel for the soul. I love the history of the bible because it provides context for my faith. Prophecy in Scripture helps me to know what is coming so that I may be prepared in this life before it ends, and before I give a final account for my life to my King. History and …
God has been so gracious to us. Every Easter Sunday we have the exclusive privilege as twice-born children of God to rejoice in the reality that we will never truly die. We will live forever according to Jesus Christ (John 11:26), and His resurrection is the final blow to Satan. The greatest weapon that Satan had was death, and Jesus …
The Cross of Jesus Christ: There has been no greater display of mankind’s sin. There has been no sicker revelation of Satan’s evil. There has been no clearer manifestation of religion’s blindness. There has been no deeper abandonment of any human being. There has been no more horrific agony ever endured. There has been no more savage mockery to …
Recently I spent some time with a man whose heart is longing for more of God. Some people cringe at the phrase “more of God” but I have no issues with using it. When someone says that they desire more of God, they are expressing their desire for deeper experience with Him. They want to interact with the God they …
I once spent around six years struggling in a particular area of my life and ministry. Hear me clearly: this struggle was not a mild irritation, an uncomfortable, occasional sense of annoyance or some vague, peripheral nagging. It was a daily dagger. It taunted me like Goliath before he had his head-on encounter with David’s stone. I fasted, meditated on …
Fear is a pretty potent force. You have your fears, I have mine. Some monster out there on the horizon dares you to challenge it while something inside of you begs you to play it safe. We can fear failure. We can fear loss of something we currently hold. We can fear being alone or stuck in one place forever. …
These days it seems that so many Christians from various backgrounds and cultures are all sensing the same thing: the beginnings of true revival are occurring. It is common for us to hear, “Revival is coming!” That noncommittal anecdote leaves plenty of latitude for us to shrug for years if true Revival does not arrive. What I am currently hearing …
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of …
When we first saw, You showed us a cross. It was there that we saw our sin, our guilt, our shame impaled to those timbers on which hung a Man we had not met. We met Him there when we were made to see Him, and we found forgiveness for the nails our sin demanded, and the crown of thorns our …
Raising children is an ongoing adventure that comprises a major part of most of our stories. To parent well over the long haul is no easy task. These precious bundles that are conceived in a moment of pleasure are usually raised with years of challenge. Amy and I have two awesome children, Alicia and Landon. We have raised them intentionally. …
