I don’t have a lot of comforting memories as a child. Things were often rather chaotic in our home – the secrets to having a successful blended family hadn’t surfaced in the fifties when divorce wasn’t as common as it is now. One thing I do remember however that was extemely comforting was sitting at the breakfast table before a bowl of hot oatmeal! I learned that love came in this small bowl. read more...

As believers we have to determine whether we are going to embrace the standards of this world, or whether we are going to follow Christ. If we make the decision that Jesus is not just our Savior, but our Lord, we will begin a journey that will transform our lives from that of being on the throne of our life, to that of a servant, who listens for and obeys the voice of the Master. read more...

Have I got your attention with this title? It’s almost like commiting some kind of blasphemy to say, “don’t play fair” – but read on. As we look at the definition of fair we see that when classified as an adjective it says: read more...

Every Sunday School student is familiar with the story of Samson, the strong and mighty man who could literraly destoy an entire army by himself. We also know that the key to his strength was his long and flowing hair.  We see in the book of Judges, that Samson repeatedly was able to perform these great feats of strength, but in the 16tth chapter the 4th verse we see an interesting event that came after: read more...

This week we are are going to continue to look at some “don’ts”. Today, however, we are taking a commercial break and address something that God “wants” very badly. Our scripture reference is from isaiah 56:1-8 (AMP) read more...

Most of us in the church world are familiar with the story of King Saul and David. This week we attempted to look at this story in light of one of the very strong operating spirits that is attacking the church world today. That is the spirit of offense. Jesus spoke much of this spirit and indicated several ways that it comes. The question is not whether we can or will be offended, but what is our response to an offense? read more...

The life of King Saul has much to teach us about leadership and our response to it. In the book, A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness by Gene Edwards we see a prototype of three types of leaders. I so recommend this book for leaders and non-leaders alike, as it conveys in a simple format the timeless caricature of leaders. The Encarta World Dictionary defines leadership: read more...

Yesterday we began a discussion on some don’ts you should never do. This is not meant to be a list of legalistic rules, rather highlighting some truths that are inherent in God’s Word that if recognized and adhered to will bless your life. One of the major areas of attack on the body of Christ today is the spirit of offense. I don’t have proof on this, but I believe in large measure it has a lot to do with the strong will most of us have in this country and the feeling that we are entitled to certain rights and should have total control over our lives. read more...

I know that the best approach to getting a message over is never to begin with a negative – always try to embrace your audience with something positive.  However, we are not living in a very positive era. Negative reports, negative influences, negative behavior abounds! I don’t remember much about math, but somewhere I remember that when adding two negatives, it creates a positive. Well, I’m not sure about the math, but I am sure that if you have a negative situation, and you adhere to a few DON’TS – it WILL turn out positively for you. read more...

Seasons come and seasons go, but when those seasons pass, we tend to view the good seasons with less significance than we do the more difficult seasons. We REMEMBER every detail of the hard places, and very often can’t recall the many good things that happened during our better seasons. What I have come to realize on “this side of Jordan” is to develop a spirit of “forgetfulness” for all that happened in the difficult seasons, except – the blessins in the lessins! read more...