The Powerful Message of the 7 Churches of Revelation
How would you like to sit down with Jesus Christ Himself for an “end of the year review?” Don’t you wish He could coach you, challenge you, and change you for a greater year in 2018?
He did. It is found in Revelation chapter two.
Fiery Trials: What They Are and How To Navigate Them
They call it the “baptism by fire.” Fire is pressure. Fire is refinement. Fire transforms.
It may be happening to you. Don’t worry, join the crowd.
Here are some things to remember about this process of refinement:
The Three Powerful Secrets of Overcoming Every Temptation
Temptation is real. It is bigger than me, but not bigger than Christ. He faced every temptation I do, yet was never defeated.
What were His three secrets to overcoming temptation?
These 3 Things Will Turbo-Boost Your Prayer Life
“Ask, seek, knock.”
I only casually read that simple prayer formula Christ taught. Somehow, I never realized that it can describe three very important arenas, or levels, of prayer.
If you can’t figure out why your answers to prayer seem elusive, read on.
8 Signs of a Judgmental Spirit and How to Overcome It
“Judge not.”
No Biblical phrase has been more overused (or abused). Was Jesus actually saying we should have no discernment? What actually DID He mean and how do we steer clear of breaking His commandment?
Here are the 8 signs of judgmentalism and how we overcome it in our own lives:
5 Powerful Components to the Lord's Prayer
Prayer needs a template.
As I am typing this blog, I am using a template, a pre-arranged plan.
You can always “pray without ceasing,” but in order to build a strong day-to-day prayer life, you need a template.
The Lord’s prayer is a “Model Prayer.” It is not simply to be repeated. It contains 5 “fingers” in the hand of God and gives us a template for daily prayer.
HERE ARE THE 5 "FINGERS" OF THE LORD'S PRAYER:
How To Win the Battle Over Personal Insecurity
Insecurity is a silent enemy.
It ruins your relationships. It limits your leadership. It shows up in every decision. In essence, it is coloring your entire world.
How do you recognize it and conquer it?
How to Have Easter Year-Round
Easter has come again today and will be gone again tomorrow. For many people, it is a once a year phenomenon. I remember a child whose parents happened to come to church in October. They found him out looking for Easter eggs under the bushes at the church.
I think I’ve hit on how to have Easter all year: “be thankful for what Jesus did for me every day.”
Here is what goes on in my heart in my time alone with Jesus Christ every day:
How to Help a New Believer Succeed
As a pastor for 33 years, I often wondered why so many new believers drop out of the Christian “race.” Their conversion is genuine but their endurance is sporadic. It seems to me that as many as 2/3 of the conversions in our churches never connect or fall back into the world. Where are we missing it?
Jesus told the “parable of the sower.” It gives us the secret to our problem.
Perhaps we should make this parable into the process by which we help believers to become fruitful disciples:
8 Amazing Attitudes in the Greatest Sermon Ever
Your attitudes are determining your altitude. This phrase tells you if you are headed for the “jet stream” or a “slow crash.” How do you adjust your attitude? The “Beatitudes” are 8 HEAVENLY ATTITUDES and it is time to “think heavenly.” The Sermon on the Mount is the greatest sermon in history. Spoken in Matthew 5-7, its theme is “heavenly.” It describes a mindset on Heaven, a heavenly ambassador who represents how things are done back in his homeland.
How to Hear the Voice of God
The most popular talent show currently is “The Voice.” While I enjoy watching it, I often think of how so many people would love to hear “God’s Voice.”
Line up these factors so you are in a position to “listen”:
The 10 Things I Want for Christmas
When I was a child, I dreamed about Christmas while looking at a Sears catalog. I usually narrowed it down to 10 things I wanted the most. These days, Christmas is more about REST than GIFTS for me! I asked myself, “What would I love to receive more than anything else in the world?”
I wrote down the 10 things I want for Christmas this year that have nothing to do with material things. Here they are:
"4 Lessons From Lepers":
Today, I am thinking about the story of the “four lepers.” I am presently in Asia where masses of people swarm like an ocean of fish. Each one has a face, a name, a personality, a family, a need. Jesus. Why is missions becoming the lost subject in Christianity with these billions yet in darkness?
Now, we come to the “leper lessons.” They were starving outside the gate of a besieged, starving city. They represent me, you, all Christians. Their story should be our story.
Here are four lessons I learn from them:
How to Get Prayer Right
Everybody prays. Prayer wheels, prayer chains, and prayer lines are everywhere. However, it can sometimes feel like a penny in a fountain. How can we feel a sense of certainty when we pray?
How to Quickly Eradicate “Mold in Your Soul”
Water, water, everywhere. Three times the amount of rain fell on Baton Rouge as fell in Katrina! 7 trillion gallons of water deluged over 40,000 houses. With water comes “mold.” There is a race against time to remove anything wet. Hundreds of volunteers are stripping out churches, homes, and businesses before black mold takes over.
Do you have “mold in your soul?” It is a creeping, silent enemy in your heart. It is a hidden disease, thriving on the darkness.
Here are 5 basic steps to eradicate it:
10 Lessons from Jesus’ Prayer Life
Your prayer life is the most important part of your Christian life. My prayer life greatly improved when I studied the prayer life of Jesus Himself.
If you are struggling with prayer, here are ten lessons directly from Scripture about when and how you should pray:
Borders
The whole world is upset about borders. From Brexit to the Middle East to the Ukraine, borders are shifting. Some propose tighter borders and others want them totally removed. John Kerry recently referred to a "world without borders." Someone said that he left that speech, got into his armored car, anddrove behind the walls to his home! During the Katrina crisis, we had 900 people sleeping on the floor of our church. Visiting our church, President Bush remarked about a strip of blue tape we put on the floor between each person's private "space." In nine months with Katrina evacuees we never had ONE fight.
Here are three areas I have learned to maintain proper borders:
How Big is Your God?
We are in a stressful time. Political changes are unnerving. Our enemies are gaining strength. The economy is fragile. Diseases are coming out of nowhere. Travel has become dangerous. It’s always good to come back to my “true north”: “how big is my God?” I was recently in Colorado. I was dwarfed by the massive 14,000 foot mountains. Mt. Everest in the Himalayas is 2 1/2 times their height!