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Hiding Among The Baggage

When Samuel became too old to be an effective judge, the leaders of Israel asked for a new kind of ruler; “Appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have” (1 Samuel 8:5). This request was actually an indication of the sad decline of God’s people. By requesting a king, “as […]

Evangelism Assignment Update

Last month I sent out a message about an evangelism assignment I had for a class I’m taking while my family and I are on the road. I wrote about the difficulty I was having with initiating a conversation about the gospel. I also wrote about the essence of the gospel and encouraged people to […]

Say The Blessing

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. Every year is a little different, but this year we will be with my wife’s family – her mother, two brothers, a sister, spouses, and lots of kids. By the time we get ready to eat, sometime in the early afternoon, there will be almost twenty of us. […]

A Greater Love

In one of the last messages Moses gave to the people of Israel, he told them to obey all the commands of God and to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). About fifteen hundred years later, Jesus referred to this […]

Build According To The Spirit

When the armies of Babylon made their final invasion of Jerusalem, they took many captives into exile and completely destroyed the temple – destroyed God’s dwelling among His chosen people. After many years, a group of Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild. This group began the work with great excitement: “With praise […]

The Promised Land

In the message “The Search” we saw how searching for God’s will is a natural step of Christian maturity. As we become more like Christ, we naturally desire to do only those things consistent with the will of our Heavenly Father. We also saw that this can be a frustrating time as we search…and wait! […]

The Search

We have come to that wonderful place where our only desire is to do God’s will. We have begun to view our time on earth with an eternal perspective and are now in the process of aligning our life with His desires. This is a significant step of maturity for any believer, but it can […]

Refuse To Be Afraid

As wars continue around the world, we must remember our true battles are not against flesh and blood – not against terrorism or deceptive governments, nor an oppressive boss or unappreciative spouse – but “against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). The true battles occur in a world which is […]

Gifts To Be Returned

After Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land, the nation was governed by a series of judges. The period of the judges lasted several hundred years and ended with the prophet Samuel. Samuel lived his entire life dedicated to God. In fact, Samuel’s mother dedicated him to God before he was even born. For […]

A Taste of Eternity

In the message “An Eternal Perspective” we saw the need to consider our life on an eternal time scale and to weigh our current burdens against the eternal glory of Heaven. But there are many believers who are unable to gain strength or comfort from this view of life. Although they know the concept, they […]

An Eternal Perspective

The path of a “successful” Christian walk is one of daily commitment to Christ and submission to the leading of His Spirit. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Paul understood this commitment when he said, “I die every […]

Be Clean

The term leprosy, as used in the Bible, actually refers to a whole variety of skin conditions ranging from rashes, to open sores, to various infectious diseases, and includes true leprosy as we know it today. According to God’s Law given through Moses, a person with leprosy was ceremonially unclean and not allowed to take […]