“Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his servant? Let those who walk in darkness and have no light trust the name of the Lord and depend upon their God. But all of you light fires and arm yourselves with flaming torches. So walk in your own light and among the torches you have lit. This is what you will receive from me: You will be tormented.” Isaiah 50:10-11 (GW)           In his book, The Hea...  Read More

 “My ears had heard of you before, but now my eyes have seen you.” Job 42:5 (NCV) God said Job was a good man. But in response to Satan’s condemnation, God allowed Satan to inflict whatever pain he wished—short of taking Job’s life. Job lost his fortune, his children and his health.In terrible anguish and profound depression, Job refused to despair or curse God and die. His friends accused him of ...  Read More

     Death for the believer is to be present with the Lord. We know that Jesus is eternal life according to 1 John 5:20.Christ controls death. In Revelation 1:18 (NLT) he says, "I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.” As Ron Dunn has said, “The devil doesn't have the keys to his own house! The keys are a sym­bol of authority, of...  Read More

          The responsibilities of our life together, what we call Church, have often been taught as unromantic; it is disciplined obedience to the Great Commission. Whether or not it is teaching Sunday School, helping in the nursery, greeting at the front door, serving coffee to guests, making or bringing meals, giving our time, energy and money—it is believed that if we just do our duty, fill our...  Read More

“Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days.” Luke 4:1-2a (NLT) Full of the Holy Spirit; led by the Spirit. We think that in that state Jesus would be led to preach a great revival—or maybe heal an entire village—or miraculously feed thousands from a few fish and biscuits.But Jesu...  Read More

“But just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV)           It is just as important to excel in giving as it is to excel in our praise and worship. We should be known as the most generous people in the world. We are not just the people who worship well, o...  Read More

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT)           Jesus had just been asked by a lawyer what the most important co...  Read More

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"” Hebrews 13:5-6 (NIV)We worry because we are afraid. Afraid we won’t have enough; afraid that what we have is not adequate.     Biologists believe th...  Read More

“And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.” 1 John 5:20b (NLT)To hear some people talk, Christianity is just fire insurance—give your life to Jesus and get heaven instead of hell in the end.Now when you get married, you repent of the way you have been living (as a single person), and pr...  Read More