Our valley churches are joining together in a 21 day fast. A fast is a way of expressing a greater need beyond ourselves, our need of God and greater intimacy with Him. There is so much more I could say on the subject, but essentially its a surrender, a renewal, a relinquishing of self, and […]
Another quarter of a million people, the Rohingya (see link below), on the move and added to an already expansive refugee population. There seems to be a shaking across the world in so many areas. How do we as Christians respond? Please pray: 1) that your hearts will not grow cold to the suffering of […]
Today in prayer, I asked Jesus to help me with something I’ve been struggling to get beyond for quite a while. It was one of those heartfelt moments when I lay before Him groaning, “ugh, wretched me.” During those times when I truly seek Him, after prayer I come away feeling a peace and assurance […]
Do you see “the others”? Sight and insight (discernment) are valuable gifts of the Holy Spirit. If we had been able to genuinely “see the other” is it a possibility that the refugee crisis, the destruction of Syria, and terrorists groups like ISIS, Al Shabaab and Boko Haram might never have been? If we were […]
“When you walk “through” the fire, you shall not be burned.” (Isaiah 43:2) “Through” the fire, not around it, not beside it, and not outside it. Before God changes our circumstances, He often uses our circumstances to change us. It is true that God has promised to deliver us from difficulties, but not necessarily on […]
“Does my example as a believer wean people away from love of the world, or does it increase their attachment to it?” In 2 Timothy 4:10 we read:“For Demas, who has fallen in love with this present world, has deserted me/left me in a lurch/forsaken me/abandoned me and gone [from Rome]to Thessalonica….” Demas had at […]
I’ve been thinking a lot about ” counting the cost”… It’s been said that a person shouldn’t evaluate a risk by the probability of success, but by the worthiness of the goal. Isn’t that true friends? Isn’t the value of anything determined by the price you’re willing to pay for it. And if you truly […]
I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” (Nehemiah 2:5) The book of Nehemiah takes place during a time of exile and captivity for […]
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he […]
“The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’” Acts 23:11 Paul had endured great suffering and was about to endure much more at the hands of his own people. The Pharisees […]