"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4 (NIV) An aspect of character we must master is perseverance. James tells us that it is the quality of character that will bring us to the mature and complete destination God desires. It [...]
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than someone lay down his life for his friends." John 15:12-13 (ESV) There is a high price for love. You can have it for free but it will cost everything. You cannot love without paying the full price. God will allow us to choose to live our lives on a lower level that He has [...]
"...I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18 It is easy to miss what Jesus was talking about here, especially if you are in the ministry vocation. No judgment, just an admission that we can get off track doing good for Jesus. It's not so much about our doing as it is what He is doing. Jesus said, "...whatever the Father does, these things the Son [...]
What are we waiting for? Jesus said, (John 4:35) "lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest." As followers of Jesus and especially leaders in ministry we cannot lose sight of this fact. We can be confused about the difference between waiting for the harvest and preparing laborers for the harvest. The harvest is always there. Jesus said in this same passage that we say "four more months then the [...]
As is my custom, I tucked my two boys into bed an prayed with them. My sons have gotten into a habbit of thanking God for all of our family and then one by one every animal we have ever had dead and alive. No, this is not going to be a theological discussion on "prayers for the dead." I am always looking for teachable moments. Jonathan (10yrs) begings his prayer and gets to the [...]
