Freedom, Activism and Demonstrations

 Just what is freedom anyway? Is it the ability to do anything you want? Is it a feeling, an attitude or merely just a concept? Who or what defines it?

 You go to a concert and hear a great singer who belts out a famous song that says freedom’s just another word for…

Spiritude vs. Attitude

I’m pushing Spiritude. Spiritude is the result of my personal Pentecost. When I accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord, I was given a new way to be human, a spiritual mindset that got me to see things in the spiritual perspective of Jesus. Spiritude is thinking, trusting and acting as the Holy Spirit leads. However, I didn’t grow a Spiritude…

Let’s Talk Evolution, Real Evolution

 Gotcha! Bet you thought I was going to do a diatribe against Darwinism. Nope. Not my intention.   I want to talk about real evolution, personal evolution, spiritual and relational evolution. How we start our life as spiritual persons, evolve into mature individuals and shift our gaze toward the horizons of eternity in the Lord…

Faith, the Final Frontier

 Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen (Heb.11:1).

So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2Cor.4:18).

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities---his eternal…

Who Are You Going to Trust? 

Apparently, Mozart (1756-1791) had a falling out in Salzburg, Austria with the Hapsburg family. In the movie Amadeus, Mozart appears before their royalty who criticizes him for having too many notes in his music. Mozart replies with a question, “Which ones?”

 Every so…

Paul’s Conversion to Spiritual Reality

Has anyone ever said to you, “I really don’t understand what anyone sees in you,” or some other similar statement? I remember a chemistry professor in high school who told me “Haugan, if you had more brains and less blond hair…” and just looked at me and went on with his talk. I don’t know what prompted his remark. I wasn’t doing or saying anything that was disruptive. I must…

John Chapter 17

What is about to be said here is first a commentary on the prayer itself. Secondly it looks at the verses in their context. The intention here is to feel the prayer; the circumstances and its depth for each of us personally.

 The Commentary…

The Resurrection, It Just Makes Sense

 The Resurrection is the one event in all Creation, in all the universe, in all human historic experience, that changes the way the human mind can find not only identity but find the heart, the passion, to live in a way no other person has ever lived. When Jesus died, He died like any other human being does, alone, all bodily systems and…

Good Friday is All About Jesus and Attitude 

Attitudes are strongholds our hearts develop apart from God, forged consciously and unconsciously, hiding deep within (2Cor.10:5). Think they don’t exist? Read on.

 First, they are the judgments we make about others. There is a heap of…

Some thought about Jesus:

Jesus came to show us who He is personally so that He could show us who we are personally.

Jesus came to show us His purpose so that He could…

“In the Beginning…”

 If you think about it, that is concentrate on the idea behind those words, everything is covered by those words. That is, everything. Everything has a beginning. Each of us has a beginning. We can even date it. Our calendars get us to think in terms of every day being a new day, month and year. In the space called time we talk of a new age dawning. But not only that, every thought, idea, concept has a beginning. Every emotion has a beginning. Every plan, every…

You can identify each simply. If you think of yourself as a member of a church and not a disciple of Jesus, you are religious. If you are more concerned about appearance than why you want to appear like you do, you’re religious. If you are more concerned about being right than being relational, you’re religious. If you are more concerned about being socially acceptable than being spiritually honest, you re religious. If you have a set of expectations to…

From Inner Desire to Outer Fire (2Cor.5:17)

I want to be a new man not a stew man

or a brew man or a blue man, like I said, a new man,

   a new man not an old man, a do-man not a mold man

I want to be a faith man not a wraith…

The Lord’s Supper, Are We Missing Something?

 In the Gospel of John, the Feeding of the 5000 and the teaching that follows, give new meaning and purpose for us.

 What you see Jesus preparing for appears in John 13-17, the Last Supper, we now call the Lord’s Supper. The new Lord's Supper…

Christmas Eve

 When the Future is What Makes the Present

 While we have been concentrating on the Second Coming during Advent it is time we look at what it will produce in the present. It is why we continue to celebrate Christmas year after year. Because we are looking forward to Jesus returning it…

Advent 8 Are You Fluent?

 Recently we went to a symphony concert where prior to the performance there was a wine tasting session with about 25 people. It was a presentation of five wines chosen to complement the five different concert selections. Three whites and two reds of varying flavors were chosen. The concert director gave a brief explanation of each composer’s intention after which was an explanation by the…

Advent 7a Tuning Up the Mind

 “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God…(2Cor.10 The Message).”

 The principles that set our thought, the logic we use, the basis for thinking--- outside of God they are philosophies.…

Advent 7 The Great Shift

 As we have been quick to repeat, the Gospel of John is getting us to think spiritually. Everything that is physical points to a spiritual parallel. When we get that point that’s when we start growing. If you check all the lives of converted people in the New Testament, it’s what they were converted from spiritually that set the movement for bringing…

Advent 6 The Great Return 

The most important thing about preparation is knowing what you are preparing for. Advent is a period of preparation for...? That's right, Jesus' return. Of course, we are all getting ourselves ready for Christmas celebration at worship, family get-togethers, memories, the fireplace, the tree, carols and all the festivities that surround the expectation…