Meeting Barbara
I love how God guides us into random meetings with strangers that only HE could orchestrate. Monday I was running…
All Blogs
The Pride of Faith
Pride is the most common fault of mankind. Our secular natures are driven by comparing ourselves to others and measuring…
The Spirit vs Legalism
This may be the most difficult blog I have posted to date. The reasons for that are that it addresses…
The Comforter and “Gifts”
There is much division in Christ’s church today regarding spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. The main questions seem to…
You have become your own god…
Who defines “good and evil” for you? If you believe truth is subjective to your own interpretation, then you have…
Thoughts on Death
I have three friends who are on the threshold of leaving this planet due to illnesses. As I prepare to…
Being Conformed to the Image of Christ
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he…
To Live Is To Die
While it is true every human is dying a little bit each day physically based on the science of time…
On Deciding for Faith
“More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.” —…
Help My Unbelief
The Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15) Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger…
The Wages of Sin
“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” The…
God and Economics
Many Christians today are spiritual in many things, but not their finances. Scripture is full of instruction and theology about…
That Blessed Day
For the Christian in faith, there is no fear of death as to be absent from the body is to…
Think, Say, and Do
(Some folks have suggested or asked if I can write shorter blogs. Sounds like a challenge, so the next…
Overcoming Trauma
noun: trauma; plural noun: traumata; a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. a personal trauma like the death of a…
Understanding Evil
“God would never permit evil if He could not bring good out of evil.” –Augustine There is purpose in evil…
True Independence Day
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the…
When God is Silent
“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10 Many people don’t believe in a Supreme Being (God) because…
Getting out of step
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. (Psalms 37:23)…
My Mistakes
My Mistakes (and what to do about them) One of the biggest barriers to people surrendering to the Gospel of…
Who’s driving your car?
I barely remember the first time I drove a car. I was 3 1/2 years old when my mother put…
No such thing as “cheap grace”
I am grateful to the one who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me faithful…
Thinking differently…the Christian brand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv_UX_QXQfY But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants…
Testing the spirits
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for…
Struggles are blessings in disguise
I love this illustration representing prosperity versus “want”. Many of us have been so blessed by God in what we…
God is all about seeds
“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this…
Treasures on Earth
It is so easy for us to be captivated and controlled by the world we live in. The spirit of…
Legalism versus love
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is…
What kind of “Christian” are you?
During my 35+ years of apostasy and leaving the Christian faith I was brought up in, I was periodically asked…
Faith is work
There is a continual paradox throughout Christian history between free grace for salvation and the “works” of the law. We…
Let go and let God
We humans are control freaks. The Secular Humanist mindset is to do what we want, where we want, with whom…
Being broken before God
Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not…
What must I do to be saved?
Acts 16:30-34 About midnight Paul and Silas (in jail) were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were…
The Spiritual Mind
But, as it is written,“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God…
A Christian and the COVID
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many…
Jesus is the only way
In my return to faith in Jesus, it has been more perplexing than ever to me how religion distorts the…
Reckless Love?
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those…
Imperfect Faith
As we have discussed in our most recent blogs, faith is not to be built on feelings or “signs…
Faith and Feelings
“To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of…
Choices and pathways
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your…
Spiritual Blindness
“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned,…
I Stand Alone, In Christ Alone
I love this passage from Jeremiah 17:7-8 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in…
Whom Shall We Fear?
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my…
Persevering in Faith
One of the great mysteries and revelations of the gospel of Christ is how the blood he shed on…
The Big Game
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So…
The Cost of Blessings
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required” Luke 12:48 “Give and it will be…
Overcoming the Culture of Fear
It should be obvious to most rational thinkers that our world has been overtaken by a spirit of fear. People…
Humility and Exaltation
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form…
If the Spirit of Christ Dwells in You
“But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth…
Believing in yourself
A mantra for humanism has been to “believe in yourself”. Trust yourself. Live for yourself. After all, this is…
Good works
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should…
Lets not go back to normal
I have heard many people lately wishing we could “just go back to normal” in this Covid drove world of…
God’s mercy line
I found this simple but effective song on Youtube that spoke to my spirit about God’s mercy line. The…
Christ our intercessor
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He…
A free thinker is Satan’s slave
As an American born and raised, I have always valued freedom, justice, sovereign rights, and all the constructs that…
Do not neglect your salvation
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since…
A Spiritual Response to COVID
This past week I spent 4 nights in the hospital overcoming an attack of the infamous COVID virus. It turns…
God doesn’t need ME
I came down sick this weekend after not having as much as a cold for over 2 years. Strangely it…
Can We Lose Our Salvation?
I have heard a number of sermons lately on the “security of salvation” in Christ. One of the core components…
Relationship versus religion
This statement by the famous preacher Charles Spurgeon expresses, in a nutshell, some of my recent meditations. There are so…
Men, the Family, and the Church
The most glaring failure of our present culture is the total breakdown of family structures. Everywhere we look we see…
Help me understand the Sovereignty of God vs freedom of man
I have always been a man who held dearly to the concepts of personal freedom and sovereignty of man versus…
Help Me Not Be Deceived
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of…
Straight and Narrow is the Way
Yesterday I had to drive 3 hours to Chicago OHare Airport to pick up my wife from a flight. As…
Help me worship in spirit and in truth
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and…
How Fickle is Our Faith?
fick·le Learn to pronounce adjective changing frequently, especially as regards one’s loyalties, interests, or affection. Faith is…
Help Me Understand Kingdoms and Governments
“And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but…
The Power of the Resurrection
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I…
Help me understand suffering
(Dedicated to Brenda 1950-2021) I just came from participating in the memorial service for my friend Brenda. Her husband Ray…
Help Me Speak Truth to Power
Many of us have been lucky enough to grow up living in middle or upper-class America assuming we have constitutional…
Help me with fundamentalism
As I look back on my fall from faith, I can heavily pin it on my fall from “fundamentalism”. In…
Help me to pray
Our pastor has been preaching the book of Romans recently and the last couple of weeks on the need to…
Help me understand freedom is not a right
As an American who grew up under patriotic fervor honoring the USA flag, and pledging allegiance to a country established…
Help me understand faithfulness
Lots of emphasis in the church is on God’s faithfulness to those who believe. Without God’s faithfulness and righteousness, humanity…
Help me with pride of life
In recent days the phrase “pride of life” has been prominent on my mind a number of times. It has…
Help me understand my purpose
One of the greatest gifts that come from living in faith is a renewed sense of purpose. While the world’s…
Help me understand God and time
Happy New Year! Another year is upon us and the last one was a doozy. For me, it…
Help me have faith like a child’s
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you,…
Help with self
I think one of the greatest conflicts spiritually in the Christian faith is dealing with the self. This modern age…
Help me understand peace
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” Romans 12:18 In these days of tremendous…
Help me understand the Gospel versus religion
In my return to faith, I have been inspired by some online Biblical ministers who seem to always hit me…
The Cost of Faith
Ever since I was a child, I have heard the term “cheap grace” from my pastoral grandfather along with…
Help me to love and forgive
The Bible tells us that “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all…
Help me understand the church
One of the biggest reasons I used to run away from faith in my early 30s was my perceived irrelevancy…
Believing in the Abundant Life
One of my great complaints about the “American Christian Religion” in my early years in faith was so much…
In the Beginning…GOD
In my decades of rebellion and spiritual darkness, I used my education and intellect to attempt blowing holes in the…
Help My Unbelief
The Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15) Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The…
Faith and Politics
Matthew 6:32-34 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.…
Our problem is Spiritual
A Pilgrim’s Progress 8/28/2020 Our world is full of conflict, disparity, anxiety and depression. It is divided by…
My Testimony
Galatians 6:14 “As for me, however, I will boast only about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; for by…