Setting Our Hope on Him

Picture the scene with me. Jesus has risen from the dead, validating His claim to be God in the flesh. He’s appeared to more than 500 people in the past 40 days (1 Corinthians 15:6) and now He’s gathered together His remaining disciples to give them their new assignment: something we call the Great Commission. [...]

Wise as Serpents, Harmless as Doves

In this day of increasing persecution towards Christians worldwide, it’s important to know how to fight our adversaries in the right spirit. In Matthew 10 Jesus sends out His followers to share the Gospel with their fellow Israelites. He makes it clear what they are to do in His name—proclaim that the kingdom of heaven [...]

Fixing the Cracks in our Foundation

The people of God today are grappling with so many alarming developments, we don’t know which hole in the dyke to plug up first! We want to stop the flood of wickedness threatening to overrun our country, but what can we really do except lament and complain? Being informed about cultural shifts in schools, governments, [...]

Jesus’ Glorious Vision for the Church

In recent years commonly used words in business have been incorporated into Christian circles. For instance, we hear Christian leaders talking about the mission and vision statements of their church or organization. A “mission statement” defines a company’s objectives and its approach to reaching those objectives. The focus is day-to-day operations. Questions related to a [...]

Renewing Our Vows

Vow renewal ceremonies have been around for a while, but only became popular in the 1970s. Now, in the U.S, they make up from 25 to 30% of all wedding ceremonies being booked. Some are elaborate and costly. TV star Rachel Ray and her husband treated their friends and family to a weekend in a [...]

Ready for Action?

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.” (Luke 12:35-36) I’m praying for revival, and I hope you are too. Consistently. Fervently. Alone in my prayer [...]

Ushering in His Appearance

Last month we explored what revival looks like. I’d like to continue with the revival theme this month, since this is what’s on my heart. But I want to look at it from another perspective … not so much the WHAT and WHEN but the HOW. How can we help bring revival to our oh-so-thirsty [...]

The Signs (and Hope) of Revival

Just before the First Great Awakening in the early 1700s the spiritual landscape of New England looked much like today. There were only 2 believers in the student body at Princeton. Only 5 did not belong to the filthy speech movement of the day. And the few Christians on campus were so unpopular they met [...]

Keeping Love Alive

When Tony and I met, I was still living with my parents, attending university in Wichita, Kansas. He was enrolled at Kansas University in Lawrence – two hundred miles away. We ended up at the same party in Lawrence one weekend and, as sometimes happens, our “chance” meeting developed into something we both wanted to [...]

Cultivating a Thankful Spirit

From the mounting scientific evidence, gratitude seems to be good for our health. The leading American researcher in this field, Robert Emmons, found it lowers blood pressure, improves immune function, and facilitates more efficient sleep. Other benefits include lower levels of cellular inflammation, more prosocial behaviors (that foster new and better relationships), and greater resiliency [...]