Don’t Be Evil or Naive
Where do you host your personal e-mail? Your church e-mail? Your Christian mission e-mail? Whom do you e-mail privately, and where do THEY host their e-mail? After this week’s announcement by Google that they do not consider your e-mail on Gmail to be “private,” I got fed up with seeing Christians, Christian churches, Christian missionaries and mission agencies and anyone else doing kingdom work simply falling all over themselves to hand their data to Google. Whether … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blog
Noon Echoes
The alarm clock blared for the second time. Nancy reached over and found the button while groggily lifting her head from the pillow. Morning was here again. Yawning, she shuffled across the cool hard floor and found her way to the restroom. Last night’s coffee had to go somewhere. Morning coffee would soon be coming to take its place. Two cups and a stiff bagel later, she was on her way to work. Cars appeared and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blog, How to Walk with God
Lessons from Easter Island: Why Wise Parents Rock
Easter Island is a remote island in the Pacific. Located almost 2200 miles to the west of Chile, it is one of the most isolated islands which is inhabited. Inhabited by very few peopled, nonetheless the island is famous worldwide for its huge-headed statues which line the coast. As a child I read about Easter Island, saw pictures of the statues and used to wonder who made them. Why were they on the coast? What did … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blog, Inspirational
Should I Follow a Spirit Guide
It was in the summer of 1990. In about a month, I planned to be married. Happily absorbed in pleasant thoughts like this, I was returning home from the city to the Chattanooga area from Cleveland where I was working. It was evening. The sun was bright in the west. Chattanooga had not yet endured the years of perpetual roadwork which eventually led to I-75 being as wide as it is now at Volkswagen Drive. There were two lanes. As I was just about to top the hill coming from the Ooltewah side down into Chattanooga, a voice inside clearly spoke, “Switch lanes.” I was traveling in the fast lane that evening, and without hesitation, I switched to the right lane. After clearing the hill, I looked in horror as a car … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blog, Inspirational
Why Do Parents Call Their Children Bad Names?
“Monday’s child is fair of face. Tuesday’s child is full of grace. Wednesday’s child is …” Do you remember the next part? If you were born on Wednesday, perhaps you do. “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” And so on goes the little poem that most people have heard at least once. That rhyme carries little real weight in our culture, but it carries an even more important message. Names and stereotypes really do matter. I know someone whom we’ll call Brett (not his real name) who was raised by an abusive father. As he grew up, he consistently was told that he was stupid, worthless, a retard and other vile names. Hurt and confused, Brett began trying to find relief from pain in drugs and alcohol as a young teenager. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blog, Inspirational, Questions and Answers
Teaching My Family to Pray – UPDATED
Yesterday during the morning hours, I felt that God was speaking to me about my country and my family. In particular, the Spirit spoke to me that things are going to get much worse in this country. My responsibility is to teach my family how to pray. Our family has been having family devotions for years and years, so the concept of praying in our family is not new. But I believe that there is much more for my family to learn about prayer, especially in light of the Word I heard. You see, in Ezekiel, God told the prophet that He was looking for a man to make up the hedge and stand in the gap for the land, but He could not find one. The thought occurred to me, if … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blog, How to Walk with God
If You Were Rahab, Who Would You Invite?
In Joshua 2, we read the story of the spies who came into Jericho in order to spy out the land. Upon reaching Jericho, they went to the house of Rahab the harlot and lodged there. (OK. I’m wondering how they picked a harlot’s house as their preferred motel.) When the king of Jericho heard that they had come, he ordered Rahab to turn them over. Rahab lied and said that the men had already left. In reality, she had hidden them in order to save their lives. Rahab then told the men that everyone was filled with fear over the Israelites and what their God had been doing in their behalf. She asked that the men spare her life and the lives of her extended family. The spies agreed. “Our … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bible Studies, Blog
How Do You Claim Ground?
I’ve been reading some through Joshua. I’ve meditated for a few days on the instructions from God to Joshua in Chapter 1. It’s really packed with so much good stuff. In verse 3, God tells Joshua that “every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you.” When I think through this, it reminds me that we have a personal responsibility in this world to DO SOME THINGS. God didn’t pick up the children of Israel, give them a chauffeured ride from Egypt and then teleport them into the Promised Land devoid of all strife and foes. He did provide for their needs on the journey, but they had to walk. And once they got there, they had to fight. They had to go out and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bible Studies, Blog
Thoughts on the Conversion of Saul to Paul
Saul was misinformed and acting out of anger. He was hurting others who disagreed with him. His circumstances changed suddenly. He acknowledged the lordship of the One speaking to him. He learned that he was fighting against God. His companions were silenced by God’s presence. There was a period of silence (testing) during which he could have rationalized it all away. He became worse off (physically) than he was before he met Jesus: confusion, darkness, lack of direction. He used this time of testing as a time for consecration. His answer came through someone he had previously maligned, hated and persecuted. His vision/dream only showed him part of God’s plan (physical sight). He was given sight and direction (relation of physical to spiritual). … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bible Studies, Blog
How to Find the Devil
That’s kind of an odd thought isn’t it? But that is the predicament that King Saul found himself in. He was near the end of his life and reign. He had long ago rejected God’s commandments and had found himself rejected by God. Literally, Saul had lived a lifetime without God after knowing what the anointing and Spirit of God felt like as a young man. The Philistines had gathered together to fight Israel one more time. Saul was desperate to find out something, anything about what the future held for him. To his credit, he had been diligent to try and eradicate all the mediums and spiritists in Israel. Now, he tried one more time to get an answer, some kind of direction from God. But God would not answer him … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bible Studies, Blog
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