Anger Management
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. (James 1:19-20 NLT) The slammed door, the “looks could kill” stare, the menacing tone, the threatening language. The silence, the cold shoulder, the eyes that flash, the pointed finger, the blaming phrase. These behaviors all emerge from our anger. They’re weapons of the flesh that we employ, faithless in the belief that God can and will handle the situations we face. As knights of old drew …
The Holy Nudge
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV) It’s a book I’d been searching to find, so when I located it on the library shelf, I was jazzed. But as I approached the front desk, I felt the Holy Spirit check me. You know what I mean? That “holy nudge” the Newsboys sing about: “It’s like a circuit judge in the brain … a Spirit thing … There to guard my …
‘Give Me A Head With Hair’
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. (Romans 6:4-5 NIV) — — — Back when I had a full head of hair, a group called the Cowsills, who were the inspiration for TV’s Partridge Family, sang: “Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair ….” Arguably, today the issue …
Iron Man
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NIV) Although I don’t recall anyone ever specifically teaching me this, somewhere along the way I embraced the idea that “You have to play hurt.” It’s the …
Making Points With God
“For no one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it. But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight—not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago.” (Romans 3:20-21 NLT) Brett Favre, the lion-hearted quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, is one of my favorite players in the National Football League. He’s courageous and tough-minded, showing a rare grace under pressure, yet his boyish enthusiasm …
Getting Practical With Love
“Little children, let us stop saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.” (1 John 3:18 LB) The heart is the control center of all actions. How you act reflects what your heart trusts. Dallas Willard says, “You can live opposite of what you profess, but you cannot live opposite of what you believe.” Eventually what you believe will show up in your actions. If you believe God loves you, then you’ll begin to love others. If you believe God forgives you, then you’ll begin to forgive others. Your experience of God results …
Bursting At The Seams
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.” (Mark 2:22 NIV) A few miles from my house, there’s a gas station/convenience store that just went through a “make-over,” changing their utilitarian look into a warm and inviting neighborhood haven. The new look suggests something like a Star-coffee store with gas pumps. When I walked into the place, however, it appeared the employees may have missed the make-over memo. The kid behind the …
Worship On The Go
God doesn’t desire more of our time sometimes; he desires more of our attention all the time. Ever feel frustrated because you hear messages about getting closer to God and you definitely desire this for yourself, but you are inundated with so much to do already that this only makes you feel guilty because you are too busy for God? I think we all feel this at one time or another. Some of you may need to carve some time out of your busy schedule for more specific time to be with God, but that isn’t necessarily the only answer …
clean up needed in aisle 57
Although I am 57 years old … spiritually educated through several church pastors, accountability partners within my ministry, and professors at Moody Bible Institute … I often find myself in need for the continuous application of God’s truth in the way I live each day. As I shopped at Jewel-Osco yesterday morning I heard a voice over the load speaker that said … “clean up needed in aisle 6″. And while enjoying the sights and sounds of a football game at Soldier Field later that same day … I heard another voice … a Holy Spirit voice … and it …
Chasing Ambulances
“So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” (Galatians 3:24-25 NIV) A few months ago, I read about a state enacting a law requiring motorists to pull over to the side of the road when being passed by a lights-on, sirens-blaring emergency vehicle. The thing is, most of us recognize this as a standard requirement when driving. We learned it in Driver’s Ed, we memorized it for the written driver’s test, and we’ve seen …
