Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:3-4 ESV If you and I were truly honest, we would be completely content going through this life having never suffered any sort of hardship. No one wants to face difficult times, times that test our…
Within the past year, a great change has taken place in my personal life and in my walk with Jesus Christ. It has come with a price, but having counted the cost, it was well worth any perceived loss to truly know Christ. During that time, I grew restless in the realization that I had been spiritually starving. The hype and the sensationalism were tiresome. Hype sells but it doesn’t save. Oh, I longed for the Word of God to…
I sit here late on a Sunday night with a pit in my stomach, grieving for the church. For over a week now, I have heard about a prophecy concerning the Superbowl, the Chiefs and revival pending their win. Many were banking on this victory as it was prophesied as a sign of a great move of God on the horizon. I was not. It was troubling. As I personally watched the game, I found myself having several thoughts and…
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly…
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Acts 20:28-29 ESV In this particular passage of Scripture, Paul was…
When the thrill of the experience has waxed cold and the fog lifts and the glow of the ambient light has dimmed in the presence of offending fluorescence, there is a questioning of the longevity of this sacred romance called Christianity. As a Christian, I realize that encounter and experience once took precedence in my life. It was the thrill of God seeming to chase me and give me a word, to have the “man or woman of God” call…