Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” Not a suggestion. Not an option. Not even an inch of wiggle room. Jesus makes it pretty clear that one of the duties Continue Reading…
Esther 4:14 “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place….” I wish my confidence in God stood as strong as Mordecai’s. The book of Esther illustrates the power of his unflinching trust in God. An edict had been given Continue Reading…
1 Timothy 1:19 “holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.” A clear conscience. It’s a terrible thing to lose. Once we start ignoring that inner voice when it dictates a direction other than what we Continue Reading…
Ezekiel 33:10 “…Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”‘ In 1976 Francis Schaeffer published his classic work, How Then Should We Live? Twenty-eight years later Charles Colson wrote what he considered to be his most important book, Continue Reading…
Joshua 4:7 “These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” It was Memorial Day weekend. I was conducting a Public Speaking workshop for the Boston YWAM staff. For their final assignment, I asked students to prepare a speech that described a “memorial” in their lives. Their Continue Reading…
Galatians 5:6 “… The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love.” Two things. Just two things. Some of us have a penchant for making life complicated. We parse every word, speculate on every motive. We assess ourselves, our spouses, our friends. Our finances, our failures, our futures. I Continue Reading…
James 1:6 “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. My mother suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The airways traveling to her lungs had been damaged, making it Continue Reading…
Mark 9:23 “…Everything is possible for one who believes.” It was early Saturday morning in Boulder, Colorado. I went to the gas station to fill up my little Renault. The overcast skies looked threatening, but when the station attendant commented that it looked like we were in for a shower, Continue Reading…
Luke 7:9 “…I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” So what does faith have to do with humility? A story from Luke 7 sheds some light… A Roman soldier’s servant, whom he evidently cared deeply about, was deathly sick. When the soldier heard Continue Reading…
Acts 12:14-15 “When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, ‘Peter is at the door!’ ‘You’re out of your mind,’ they told her.” Whether praising, repenting or petitioning, I love communing with God. But a recent study of Acts 12 prompted me Continue Reading…