Merry Christmas & Happy 2020
Wishing all of you an enriching Christmastime and a bountiful year to come! I plan to resume writing after the New Year and new decade begins. Refuse the toxic smog in our culture and breathe in deeply the fresh spiritual air of your salvation, His grace, your eternal place in an everlasting family and the…
A Caution About Strange Fire
For many years as a younger Christian, I rarely thought of my need to personally encounter the presence of God. I assumed He was present because I had a healthy understanding of the doctrine of God’s omnipresence. God is always everywhere, right? What more do we need? In fact, I felt back then that I…
Jesus: Picture the Moment of His Birth
Two thousand years ago, here is a little of what was happening in Heaven and on Earth: God the Father declared in Heaven that the fullness of time on earth had arrived – He sent His Son to us with an unstoppable plan of rescue. The Supreme God would become fully human as the…
So You Want More Faith? It Is Costly
As we sometimes tend to glamorize the faith of the saints in Scripture, and as we wish that we had faith and like theirs, let us remember: Jacob was only different after God pinned him to the ground and gave him a permanent limp. Esther only found faith and courage after losing her family and…
Receiving The Kingdom for Christmas
It is the ending of another year, and many people are feeling the weight of those holiday blues pressing in against their hearts. It is strange how the holidays seem to separate folks into two groups: those who celebrate the season and those who survive it. December is a great time for us to experience…
Exiting Another Decade With Purpose
“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that You have done; I ponder the work of Your hands.” – Psalm 143:5 As we approach the final days of this decade, I think it is helpful for all of us to get a little bit contemplative about the last ten years. That sense…
Sundays Make Us Long For…
“And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and His name one.” – Zechariah 14:9 What better reminder could we find today? As millions of people who are called Christian meet in tens of thousands of worship centers with hundreds of differing denominational splinters dividing us,…
My Great Treasure
It was twenty-two years ago today on a Saturday night in Duluth, Georgia. By the time the everything began, it was already starting to get dark outside. The church was filled shoulder to shoulder with people. Amy intentionally wanted her wedding day to keep Jesus situated front and center, so she planned and prepared for…
The Encouragement Faucet
What’s the longest time period you have ever allowed yourself to remain discouraged? Some people are naturally upbeat, positive thinkers, glass-half-full types of folks. Others have to work hard at maintaining a grasp on the positive, affirming and hopeful. I was talking with a man some time back and noted that he had a negative…
POLITICS: Mice Hunting Season
It has been my practice not to invest much of my public communication to the world of politics. Frankly, it is an unworthy steward of my time, thoughts, energies and words. Not to sound cavalier, but I have a much higher calling than to dedicate myself to the sad world of American politics. This present…