Consult the Lord
I am afraid that there have been too many times in my life that I have not consulted the Lord re: decisions and direction. In personal and ministry-related decisions. You do due diligence. You carefully read all the signs. You…
Think Magnificently About God
I love learning. I could be in a classroom for the rest of my life. Especially with cohorts in a real classroom (compared to online) with a professor-in-the-flesh who enjoys hanging around after class to process what he/she has just…
A Warmed Heart
Is anyone ever helped by religion? The answer is clearly a resounding no! One of the best examples of its futility to bring about any significant hope or joy is found in the first three decades of John Wesley’s life.…
What’s Your Thorn?
As long as I can remember, there has always been a lot of speculation about what Paul’s thorn was...the source of struggle for Paul, so severe, that it caused him to ask the Lord three times to please remove it…
A New Thing
We just returned from four days of an amazing pastoral/board retreat. The nature of our leadership retreats changed dramatically back in 2001. Through a very hard situation we were facing as a church and leadership, we abandoned our typical Spring…
Protecting the Promises
For the last few years the Lord has blessed Rita and I with being able to vacation each Spring in Phoenix. Our first time here in 2015 was at a particularly low time in my life. I was deeply discouraged.…
A Dead Walking Stick
One of the unfortunate outcomes of living in the era of social media is the conclusion that God primarily uses and really blesses people with extraordinary talents. But that holds true only if the size of the church or ministry…
Waves Out, Waves In
There are some people who recoil from the idea of a needed revival because they don’t like admitting that the church is in trouble. I happen to think they are in denial. But they say... ...pointing out the problems in…
Revival Stories
It was Jonathan Edwards who first capitalized on the capabilities of the publishing world, as it existed in New England in the mid-1700’s, to let the rest of the world in on the outpouring of the Spirit in his church…
The Language of Ministry and Calling: Jeremiah
When you speak of your ministry or calling, is your language positive and life-giving or is it the overflow of a profound woundedness and insecurity? Do your words reflect a fire burning in your heart for the people to whom…