Wisdom From John
I’m responsible????
Have I told you all lately how much I enjoy God's lessons on life, especially when they jump up out of nowhere and catch me by surprise? Such was the case last night as I was going through some old emails.
I was surprised by a speech given by Dr. Justin Jackson at the Hillsdale College Spring...
A slave to the one we obey
"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey – Whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" Romans 6:16 (NIV) Thus, with this scripture, God started my morning. Then...
The Sacrificial Squirrel
The Sacrificial Squirrel
Or
Why the church is failing
Ever wonder if God is working in your life or that he even cares about you? Well, if your answer to this question is a very timid "Yes" or an "I'm not sure," I have one thing to say to you…."Wake up and look around you, God is alive and...
What makes a hero?
Since rejoining God's team back in 1978, I have looked for individuals that I considered "Christian heroes" and have tried to pattern my life after them. Now, understand that most of these individuals would never be listed along side of those who are named in Hebrews chapter 11 because they have...
Can’t Make You Love Me
One of the last times Jesus met with His disciples, Jesus asked Simon son of John three times, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" (John 21:15-17) I have heard many sermons on these verses but none approached it from the direction God hit me with just before I went to sleep last night.
As I...
Do we really want to be Slaves?
"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey…" (Rom 6:16)
In Exodus, we read that God set His people free from their Egyptian slave masters and put them on a path toward the promise land. It was by a demonstration of...
I don’t want to be a grasshopper
In this age of almost instant communications, with 24-hour news programs, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to separate reporter bias from actual facts. When factoring in the internet, one is faced with the additional problem of discerning truth from propaganda; everyone has an opinion...
Can you hear the music?
Music surrounds us. We have music in our cars. We have music playing in our shopping malls. We even have music in many of our public bathrooms. So, why ask the question, "Can you hear the music?" The obvious answer would be a resounding yes.
Let me ask the question in a different way, "Can...
What will I do for Love?
Have you ever wondered what you would do for love: swim the deepest ocean; climb the tallest mountain and all that sort of stuff? Song writers within our culture have made fortunes writing love songs and most of us old romantic slobs fell in love for the first time listening to some of those...
O Wretched Man That I am
We all have our favorite scripture verses and Romans 7:24 in one of mine. For those who have trouble recalling what Romans 7:24 says this is the part of Romans where the Apostle Paul proclaims to the world that he is a "wretched Man" and ask "Who can rescue me from this body of death?"...
Is Your Basketball Flat?
I awoke at 3:34 AM this morning with this question running through my mind and as usual I asked God, "OK, what is it that I am suppose to learn from this question?" His reply was simply, "In difficult times, many people are living lives that are like sailing ships that have no wind: they are kids...
Do I know the Holy Spirit?
Do I know the Holy Spirit?
One of my favorite truths contained within the Bible is the fact that God does not show partiality. "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord or lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes." Deut.10:17. Or in other...
Just How Desperate Am I
Just How Desperate Am I
Shortly after I came back to the Lord, a soloist at our church gave a testimony about her singing and that testimony has stayed with me for over thirty years. What she said was, "Singing is another form of praying and I cannot sing a song unless I believe the words of...
Will I ever smile again?
Will I ever smile again?
Sitting in the rows of every church are individuals who are wounded and hurting; folks who have come to church seeking a touch from God. Some have broken lives and emotional pain while others have come to see if God really cares enough to heal them. Often these...
What I learned at the Super Bowl
Over the last couple of days, I have watched the New Orleans Saint's fans filling the streets to celebrate their team's win in the Super Bowl and I find myself shaking my head in disbelief at the size of crowds and their cries of "Who Dat." While I was happy for the win, I lacked the enthusiasm of...
Will I walk through the valley?
We have all heard the expression, "Into every life a little rain must fall" and most of us can attest to a shower or two in our lives, but what about those hurricanes that comes to some? As with storms, there is a huge difference between rainy day blues and life altering tragedies. How do we...
So, who needs Church?
There I was last Sunday standing outside our main sanctuary looking forward to another Sunday worshipping with friends and family when I was called to work. Duty called and I was off to distant places. Oh well, it was just "one" Sunday service; no big deal. And, then God began to teach me the...
Life – The Chaplain’s Prayer
There I was; standing with a couple of hundred other military members in silence waiting for the chaplain's blessing upon our banquet meal. Since it had been my assignment to line up the chaplain and I knew him personally, I was anticipating the normal Air Force dinner prayer, slash...
The Young Girl
As she looked down into the pool of water, the face that looked back at her seemed strange and out of place. All that she could think of was, "Why Lord…why?"
She had once been the joy of her parents and always greeted by those who lived in their small village, but then the first signs of the...
IS THIS THE DAY?
(Part 1)
With tired weathered hands, he placed another piece of wood upon the dying fire, a small cloud of sparks rose into the night sky. It was always colder before sunrise, and the old man could not shake off the cold like he did as a young man. As if talking to an old friend, he quietly...
Our Obligations to God
In the realm of friendships and intimate relationships, if the relationship is to be successful, it is essential that both parties realize their responsibility to be actively involved in that relationship; one way love soon grows cold and dies. Understanding this principle, I would like to raise...
Pride Goes Before Destruction
President Calvin Coolidge wrote, "The political mind is the product of men in public life who have been twice spoiled. They have been spoiled with praise and they have been spoiled with abuse. With them nothing is natural, everything is artificial."
...
Just how bold am I?
Recently, I heard a sermon that planted the seed of a thought in me and that seed led to this thought…What have I accomplished for God? While I was listening to the sermon I was mentally making a list of "ALL" that I was doing for God. It wasn't until a day or two after the sermon that I realized...
What can God do with a Stone?
Early in my Christian walk I started praying for God's will to be done in my life, and as often happens, a wiser than I fellow believer cautioned me not to pray that way. His reasoning was, "You leave yourself open for things you may not want." Being the kind of guy I am, I ignored him and...
Can we really talk with God?
The next time you are in a crowd, if you want to start an interesting conversation, just tell a few of the folks in the crowd that you talk with God on a daily basis. The brave ones will hang around to see where the conversation is going, while the skeptics will fade into the crowd.
For many in...
Am I Important to God?
Have you ever wondered if you were important to God? Or, asked, "Does God really hear my prayers or am I just playing church to meet some internal psychological need?"
Most people really do want to believe there is a God, but what proof do we have of his existence? If God really does exist...
