Minus the Manifest Presence of God
One of my favorite places to go, when I visit Israel, is Shiloh. It’s where the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant rested for the first 360 years of Israel’s occupation of the Promised Land. The Ark of the…
Warning to Worship Leaders Everywhere
When I was growing up in South Africa in the 1960’s most worship service planners called everything before the sermon, “preliminaries.” That word conveyed what everyone was thinking in those days... that the main attraction in the worship service was…
Can God Work Without You?
Well, the answer is a resounding yes! He can! God can do whatever He wants whenever He wants. He doesn’t need us or any thing to complete His being or His doing. So, then, exactly what is the nature of…
Wanna Be My Friend
Nine to three-fifty is a long time for a kindergartner to be in school! It’s a dumb idea, especially when every cell in a five year old is screaming, “move... play... have fun!” My five-year-old granddaughter is doing great in…
The Language of Ministry and Calling: John the Baptist
I can depend on it like the rain in Seattle: that evaluative question that will predictably be asked in the first five minutes of any introductory conversation with another pastor: “How many are in your church?” Though the phraseology may…
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…
The Language of Ministry and Calling: Moses
The well-worn story goes something like this: Over morning coffee a man looks at his wife and states emphatically: “I don’t care if it’s Sunday morning, I’m not going back to that church. It’s a waste of time. No one…
Threats to Take You Out
I’m not sure who said, “The more things change the more they stay the same.” But that couldn’t be more true when it comes to the enemy’s strategy to take you out. The setting in 2 Kings 18 is the…
Non-Repeating Pattern
That’s sounds like a contradiction of terms. If it is non-repeating, then how can a pattern be discerned? Let me show you. In Genesis 17:6, when over a million Israelites, at the beginning of the exodus, had no water to…
A Cracked Screen On Your Phone
I don't know how many perfectionists are out there but, if it is a disease, I am afflicted. I can have my car detailed, have the paint polished to a clay-bar finish, and the interior spotless, but my eye will…