I like to think I am a pretty good guy. In fact, we all think we are fairly decent. It is easy for us to point to our good qualities and downplay our ‘rough edges’. To be honest, we are masters of self-deception! We are even like that with God. We ask God for some help to take care of a few things that we don’t seem to be able to clean up or quite get right. We think we are okay with the rest –that we can manage it ourselves. In Mere Christianity C. S.
Read MoreLife is a rollercoaster adventure. The Beast was the longest, fastest, tallest wooden rollercoaster in the US back in the early 80’s. It was a thrill! Wooden rollercoasters are very different from the new smooth steel ones. The sound was deafening. You felt like the structure was going to completely break apart when you went through the dark
Read MoreHow’s your attitude? What is your outlook on life that sets your course? When we look around, we see people grasping. Grasping for recognition. Grasping for power. Grasping for position. Grasping for relationships. We grasp when we think we are alone, nobody will see us or be with us unless we push ourselves forward. We also grasp to fulfill our desire to be in control and call the shots. This attitude, however, is counter productive. Paul tells us
Read MorePat Riley, former head coach of the Miami Heat, talked about ‘The disease of me’. When one gets a sense that they are the most important person in the group, the one everyone else should recognize, or the only one with answers, they have ‘the disease of me’. Riley says, “The disease of me ends in the defeat of us.” So true. We need to
Read MoreGravity is the strongest power on earth. It keeps everything together and nothing can defy it. Construction workers use a plumb line because they know that their buildings have to be aligned with gravity or they will fall. The same is true for our lives. The greatest power in the universe is God who set unalterable ways of living good moral lives that
Read MoreHow many times have you said, “I’ll pray for you” and forget to do so? How many times have you prayed for someone ‘at a distance’ – at home or in your car? How many times have you prayed with the person for the person? Which do you think made the biggest impact on their life? The absolute best prayers are shared together.
Read MoreThroughout my ministry I have had people ask me if they thought God could ever forgive them. They had done terribly wrong – infidelity, horrible acts of racism, even murder. Have you done something that you feel so terrible about that you wonder if God could ever forgive you? Do you have something guilty of an act burning within you,
Read MoreWe have all had times that we tried to keep a secret. When my son was a little boy, he was asked to keep secret that Mary Kay had gotten me a present for my birthday. He walked up to me about to explode with really exciting news.
Read MoreGod invited Moses into His presence to reveal His will to him on Mount Sinai. While Moses was drawing close to the heart of God, the Israelites at the base of the mountain turned far from God. They went as far as making an idol, calling the idol Yahweh, ascribing to it the miracles God performed in the desert, and bowing down to it. The rebellion couldn’t have been more complete than that. The second time that Moses goes up the mountain
Read MoreMany people have the mistaken notion that ‘the Old Testament God’ (as if there is a different God in the New Testament) is an angry God whereas God is loving and forgiving in the New Testament. However, God is the same God of both. Let’s look at two passages.
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