We all have a need to be accepted. I have felt misunderstood, left out and rejected many times. In my first year at school, I was one of those kids who was usually the last one picked to play baseball with my classmates. It really hurt. How about you? Can you remember times when you [...]
Last weekend I had the privilege of ministering to five hundred men at an “Iron Sharpens Iron” conference in Champaign, Illinois. I challenged the men that regardless of the emotional pain from their pasts, they are called by God to become spiritual fathers to a younger generation that desperately needs fathers. Man after man met [...]
We live in exciting days leading toward historical events of the church. I am convinced we are on the verge of a great end-time harvest. As we race toward the last chapter in history, we need to prepare for hundreds of thousands who will be coming into the kingdom of God in our communities. Jesus, [...]
Jesus invested three years of His earthly ministry into the lives of twelve men. He became their “spiritual father.” This time of spiritual fathering prepared and equipped these disciples to “go into all the world” and fulfill the Great Commission. New Christians desperately need spiritual fathers and mothers to nurture and encourage them in their [...]
This past month, for three days, three-hundred leaders from thirteen nations gathered at a conference center in Maryland. God met us in amazing ways as we worshipped and fellowshipped. Refreshed, we received our marching orders from the Lord for the next season of our lives. In preparation for the conference, I had requested three things [...]
During the late 1800’s, evangelist Dwight L. Moody was preaching and saw the same two ladies sitting in the front row night after night. And nearly every night, they came up to him after his meetings and said, “Mr. Moody, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.” At first he resisted their remarks. [...]
Did you ever wake up on a holiday and find your alarm ringing in the morning at its normal time? You wake up and tell yourself you have to go to work, and then you realize, “This is a holiday! I can sleep in!” You awaken to the truth. The Bible tells us to “awake [...]
In the same way a couple confesses their commitment to each other on their wedding day to begin their marriage relationship, we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord to begin our relationship with God. A young friend of mine was struggling with knowing if he was a true Christian. I took his Bible and showed [...]
The Bible tells us that Jesus gives various gifts: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip his church to be ministers and to build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12). These five gifts are all an expression of Christ himself. He is giving each of us some of His authority to train and [...]
Did you ever wonder why Jesus instantly dramatically changes some people’s lives, while others struggle with their faith and with the same issues for years? I am convinced that it often has to do with whether or not they have experienced true or false repentance. True repentance is “an inner change of mind resulting in [...]