We used to live in a house that had a cranky screen door. The spring was loose so every time you’d attempt to close it, the door would creak and slam startling everyone in the house. After awhile, we got a new screen door with full glass and a self-adjusting spring. It was much nicer and very quiet to close. ...

God sends a lot of people across my path and one thing I hear myself saying repeatedly is: “Despite what your head is telling you, listen to your heart. God will always lead you in peace.”  Finding peace is the key to finding your way through a noisy world. There are thousands of voices you could follow, but there’s only One ...

My greatest desire is to help people grow spiritually– to find the same freedoms I have found in Christ. But the hardest thing I’ve ever learned in ministry is, I can’t make people believe. And I get it. I had a hard time believing too. I couldn’t understand how God could forgive me or love me– especially realizing He knew ...

When my Grandma passed away, I read the verse in 2 Peter which says, “Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). As I meditated on this verse, I thought to myself, “I could live one hundred more years and walk ...

When I was in my early twenties, and recently saved, I was bombarded with negative thoughts and emotions. And being a new Christian, I didn’t realize for some time that God had actually equipped me to resist the onslaught of the enemy whose only goal was to keep me ignorant and weak. But over time, I gained knowledge of the ...

“But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you, ‘In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.’ These people create divisions and are worldly, not having the Spirit” (Jude 1:17-19). There has been a lot of offense and controversy this week over some ...

During a special ministry meeting, where the theme was “Prepare for Success,” one of the words shared by our guest speaker was frazzled. I had a good idea what frazzled meant. In fact, there have been many times I probably could have volunteered for the picture in the dictionary, but the definition I heard that night has continued to open my eyes. She said it ...

I went to bed kind of mad at myself for how I reacted to something. It seemed silly in hindsight. There was no reason to respond that way, except one thing… the flesh. Paul expressed it best when he said, “What I don’t want to do, I do; and what I want to do, I don’t… oh wretched man that ...

This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network | Our family has always enjoyedd the fun and refreshment of water slides and lazy rivers. At most water parks, there are also one or two spots where large buckets hang overhead filling little by little with water. The closer the bucket gets to being full, the larger the crowd grows ...

This was a question I received recently. Without knowing anything else, the question alone broke my heart because I was reminded how I once felt when I believed the same thing. I was young in my faith (but old enough to have extreme guilt) when God rescued me from the heavy weight that daily rested upon my heart. I didn’t ...

“I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening.” –Jesus If you ever wondered if Jesus had a sense of humor, here it is. The Bible says Jesus “appointed seventy-two others, and sent them ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He Himself was about to go” (Luke 10:1). When they returned, they were excited and full ...

This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network | The Mighty Angel with the Little Book” — that’s the subtitle in my Bible in Revelation, chapter 10. It’s catchy enough to be a movie title but it’s not fictitious. It’s prophecy.  John saw what he described as an “extremely powerful angel coming out of heaven, robed in a cloud. There ...

Worries, fear, cares, anxiety– are all weapons of the enemy against God’s children. They are means of gaining advantage over you. But God’s Word (His instructions to us) lay out in detail how to resist these attacks and walk away as the victor that you have been made to be in Christ. 1 Peter 5:6-9 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under ...

I was recently talking to a family member who was processing a disappointment and as I encouraged her, I said something out of my spirit that made me pause– and repeat it, so I could catch it too. I said: “I may not know the future, but I know God’s faithfulness.” It was the Holy Spirit confirming an eternal truth. ...

“This is the confidence we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked for” (1 John 5:14-15). This is the confidence. This is bold too. To have confidence means to have a firm reliance (versus ...

Mission trips are eye-opening for many reasons, but one bonus is there’s usually extra time to reflect. One reason being, if you don’t speak the language there is often more opportunity to just be quiet and observe. I’ve always had wonderful hosts that translate and interpret for me on the mission field, and we have many encouraging conversations in English ...

While on a shopping spree before Christmas, I went to Kohl’s department store to look for one item, but came out with ten or more gifts marked off my list. Besides being excited about that, I was also delighted when the cashier gave me a coupon good for $50 in free merchandise I could redeem later. I’ve received “Kohl’s cash” ...

Smith Wigglesworth said, “God has chosen us to help one another. We dare not be independent.” I wish the Body of Christ understood this better. If we did, I believe, as a whole, we’d see the power of God stronger than ever before. Jesus said, “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything ...