“I have met two classes of Christians: the proud who imagine they are humble, and the humble who are afraid they are proud. There should be another class: the self-forgetful who leave the whole thing in the hands of Christ, and refuse to waste any time trying to make themselves good. They will reach the goal far ahead of the rest.” This quote by A.W. Tozer still rings true today...
Change is hard for most of us. We are naturally resistant to it. But we must constantly be ready to embrace change when it comes. Human nature has always resisted change. For example, read the following letter written January 31, 1829 by Martin Van Buren, then governor of New York, to President Jackson, concerning an “evil” new business enterprise threatening our nation...
A man of God once wrote, “The holiday is called Thanksgiving…not Thanks-feeling.” Giving thanks is something we give, not always something we feel. But I feel really grateful right now. This past year 2011 has been a pretty tough year for us…
I read the book of Acts again this week. Love that book of the Bible! I remember saying years ago, “When you read the book of Acts, everywhere Paul and the apostles went there was either a revival or riot.” There was no time in the early church for boring religious tradition. They knew that [...]
My wife LaVerne and I are taking a few days away this week to celebrate 40 awesome years of marriage. It was not always easy. In our fifth year, we began to struggle in our marriage. God by his grace led us to a Christian counselor who gave us hope that we could make it through this dark tunnel...
“Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn” is the famous quote by John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. As followers of Jesus, we have so much to be enthusiastic about. We have found freedom in Christ, a purpose for living, a divine destiny and eternal life – and that’s just the beginning...
We are hanging out at the beach with our family this week. The annual beach vacation is great fun every year! But it hit me this morning … we are in an enjoyable season at this stage. I remember some previous seasons of dragging all kinds of paraphernalia and crying babies to the beach … seasons with teenagers going through teenage stuff … but now, life is so relaxing. Despite the hard seasons, I learned a ton. I would not trade those tough times for anything else...
Last week I was in Rwanda, which reminded me that seventeen years ago more than 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered by their own people. On that dreadful night in April 1994, neighbors whose children had played together for years took machetes and savagely murdered their friends and neighbors who were a part of the “wrong tribe.” The devastation lasted for three horrendous months. Some of the murderers were religious people who attended church every Sunday. How could church-going people be so cruel and not have the love of Jesus in their hearts? The scriptures tell us that the heart is deceitful...
The nature of vision is beyond reality. That’s why it is called vision; it is forward thrusting, compelling, and pulling us into the future of what the Lord has for us...
Sometimes we believe we have a vision from God, but in reality it may only be a fantasy. We may attend a seminar and begin comparing the vision we have for our business or church to another business person or pastor who seems to be more successful. Although it is extremely important to learn from others, it seems to me that many leaders fall into the trap of following the vision or good idea of another that has never been meant for them. It becomes more of a fantasy than a God-given vision...