Jesus, the Gift Giver

       We’ve talked about Jesus being a one-attitude Person, the perfect Spirit-filled Person.  Now we want to talk about Him as the Gift Giver.  He was and is 100% Spiritude motivated and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit when we receive Him in our hearts. 

       We want to see Jesus as the Person who touches us personally (grace) with the gifts…

Coke Machines vs. the Holy Spirit

       Mountain Day was one of the climbs that had become a tradition in the prep school I taught at in New Hampshire.  Every new student had to make the climb.  Mt. Chocorua seemed to be the favorite choice of one of the teachers who led the trip.  It’s a relatively gentle climb to 3500 ft.above sea level.  I liked the climb and went on the trips with them.  Thinking it would be…

Life is Full of Issues

       Life is full of issues and they need answers, solutions.  There are ‘me’ issues ‘you’ issues ‘our’ issues ‘their issues’ and ‘world’ issues.   Issues are those things that concern us, things that are unclear and things that need correcting. In all issues we have to distinguish which ones take priority, time and energy.

       We have…

It’s All About the Balance Beam

       A perfect triangle, three equilateral lines, three equal Persons in perfect balance working to bring that balance in our mind, heart and spirit through our relationship with the Lord Jesus.  So, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2Cor.13:14).” 

 …

Who is the Prophet?

 “Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream; but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat (Jer.23:28)?”

       While John the Baptizer was the last of the Old Testament prophets, Jesus is both the Alpha and Omega summing up the goal of all prophecy, Him.  He has made…

Controlling the Narrative

       If you really think you are in control of what you think, take a second look.  Do you get upset by the daily happenings on TV and other media?  Do you find yourself fuming over issues which absorb your time and energy?  Are they controlling you or you them? 

       Believe it or not, media language controls the social mindset.  By ‘social…

                                               A Brief Introduction to the Resurrection

                                              Its Meaning, Its History and Its Function

       Each of us is the place God has directed His presence to be experienced.   Our mind, heart and spirit are…

The Road to Eternity

       “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor? Whom did He consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the paths of justice? Who imparted knowledge to Him and showed Him the way of understanding…

After the Earth, Eternity

        “I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Eccl.3:10-11).” (Italics and underline mine)

       When a nearby town’s pastor confronted an atheist…

Is Your Boat Sinking?

       Jesus’ disciples caught in a storm while Jesus is in the boat sleeping.  What’s that all about?  When you read Scripture and come upon miracles like the one that starts with this event, you have to ask what it means.  That’s why I always ask, “What does it mean spiritually?’  Here in Matthew 9:21-27, the waves frighten the disciples, and they…

Words

       In My Fair Lady Eliza Doolittle is wooed by Freddy who sings how he loves her and is just happy “To be on the Street Where You Live.”  But Eliza sings in return, “Words, words, words, words.  If you’re in love, ‘Show Me.’”  It’s one thing to be in a place where love is sung and thought about but quite another to show that love wherever you are.  Words are one thing and action is another.  But…

Vision Revision Decision

 OK, so we talked about gender identity.  But that’s not our final identity.  There is something more basic and that is being an image of God.  When we operate from that premise, every human being takes on a significance beyond their nationality, ethnicity, gender and cultural identities that pale in comparison.  We revise what we see.  Every human being is an image of God.  What a thought.…

The Tender Gender Mender

Who told you who and what you are?  Who or what gave them the right?  What goes on inside us that determines the identity we want others to see whenever we are with them?  Take gender issues for instance.  Suppose we have someone in our family or among friends having doubts about who they are as men and women?  How do we react to people who make astounding claims about what they…

The Nitty-Gritty 

From last time may this be quoted, “If we are hurt by someone, what do we remember first, the pain or the appearance of the one who hurt us?  Don’t we tend to see others with the same appearance as the enemy?  Judgment and its spiritual decline.   It’s not just limited to appearance (they’re all like that) but more subtle within.  It can be social standing (envy?), accomplishment (jealousy?), insult…

Cultural Fever

 No matter the age we live in there are trends, movements, currents that ignite emotions and drive social and public expression.  They sweep across a multitude of people and become attitudes that dominate thought and behavior.  They can be moral, political, economic, inspirational, evil, bombastic, idealistic, personality driven and so on.  Whatever they are they become feverish in their behavioral…

Let’s Talk About Our Inner’d and Outr’d

 God of the ‘innerd’s’ and God of the ‘outrd’s’ as colloquially put, is a fact, the first part of which is avoided in the public sphere.  Jesus says it plainly, “God is Spirit and His worshipers must worship Him in Spirit and in truth (Jn.4:24).”  The innerd’s are spiritual.  The ‘you’ and ‘me’ are spiritual.  Our identity is spiritual.  Our birth, life and death, where we are…

Let’s Talk About Spiritual Destiny

We’ve been talking about the Kingdom of God, its presence amongst us and the impact it has on us.  It is why we were created by God.  He desires out presence in it.  We can taste some of its quality now. His grace, His love, His truth and the relationship we have with Him through His Son Jesus.  The entry way, the gate, the door if you will, is that relationship.  We may know that…

Let’s Talk About Treasures in Heaven

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mt.6:19-21).”

 Here in the middle of His sermon, Jesus sums up the new world lifestyle that replaces the old.  It moves us…

Let’s Talk About Self-Perception

 Strengths, weaknesses and spirit are the filters we perceive life through every day.  Strengths are the qualities we rely on to function in the world around us, how we want to be seen and accepted.  Weaknesses are the hidden factors that we know lie behind how we perceive and secretly react in mind, heart and spirit.  Our spirit is the motivator that puts our strengths and weaknesses…

For Times Such as These

Encouragement! That's right, encouragement. In my later years I've discovered that brothers and sisters in the faith need to be encouraged. Most of our time is spent in a world outside the Body of Christ. It's a world full of spiritual hostility. You know what I mean, the culturally conditioned 'me first' atmosphere that spends more time frightened by what can't be controlled, frustrated…