"If a king is going to fight another king, first he will sit down and plan. He will decide if he and his ten thousand soldiers can defeat the other king who has twenty thousand soldiers.” Luke 14:31 (NCV) My wife and I moved to Louisiana from Montana. Montana was a gorgeous place. The seven years we spent there were full of healing for us. The beautiful lakes, the mountains, the cool air just seem...  Read More

“At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.” Mark 15:33 (NIV)           These are the last three hours of Jesus on the cross. From noon until three, darkness covered the land.          Jesus had been arrested and tried. Peter had denied ever knowing him. The disciples were helpless before the power of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and especially before the iron hand o...  Read More

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15 (NLT) We are either in the hands of God or in the hands of people. If we are in the hands of others, we will spend our lives running from place to place because we weren’t treated right, or were sinned against. But if we are...  Read More

 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew 13:44 (NIV)           A treasure buried in a field worth a great price, but we must dig through the dirt to get to it. Dan Allender says, “As human beings we are common dirt given life by the breath of God. We see, smell, tas...  Read More

          Most Christian’s assume their hunger for God’s presence ranks very high on their list—often far higher than it really does. If you approach this question in all honesty, asking God to help you see the truth, where would that rank?          We need to determine our readiness for transforming revival. We begin by asking God to cleanse our hearts, to rid us of our idolatries. A. W. Pink say...  Read More

“Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”” Luke 12:13 (NLT)            This man connects to a universal human impulse—the desire for justice. Jesus responds to the man’s demand by questioning his motives. Is greed or justice behind the demand?          Here Jesus uses a story to answer the man’s question. First you have a rich man...  Read More

"16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you hav...  Read More

          God has, in the last resort, nothing to give us but Himself; and He can give that only insofar as we die to ourselves and make room for Him in our souls. We should make up our minds to it; there will be nothing “of our own” left over to live on, no “ordinary” life. I don’t mean that each of us will be called to be a martyr or even an ascetic, though some may. For some the Christian life ...  Read More

“You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (NIV) Remember. It is a theme that runs through the book of Deuteronomy. The children of Israel have been wandering around in the desert for forty years after failing to enter the Promised ...  Read More

          We are living in times of uncertainty—people are losing jobs, our food chain seems to have been compromised, and many are feeling the crunch of life and also the gnawing fear that all is not well in America, and perhaps we are heading toward some kind of cataclysmic meltdown. We turn to God when life gets hard, but you should know that how we turn to Him is of ultimate, eternal importanc...  Read More

"God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NCV)           When you become a Christian, several important things take place in heaven and earth. Early on, all you may be able to say is that you recognize Jesus Christ of the Bible to be your Savior and God.          Then you realize that you are d...  Read More

          The church should never major, first of all, on strategy, methods, projects and fundraising. Its heartbeat is to nourish the life inside her that the world needs and craves. Marketing the church often leads to compromise and manipulation. Instead, she should compel, knowing that only the Holy Spirit can motivate believers to holiness, to service in the kingdom, to selfless living and to ...  Read More