If only getting wise was as simple as getting older. I didn't ask for gray hairs -- I simply had children! My knees decided on their own how much basketball I would be able to play in one week. Aging happens; wisdom is not so automatic. How does a person gain spiritual wisdom? When the apostle Paul writes his letter to the Colossians, he shares this prayer: For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way ... (Colossians 1:9-10). The Holy Spirit grants wisdom to those who yield themselves to God. There are certain things we can only learn or understand by…
Read More
As every coach is bound to say at some time ... "Practice makes perfect." The idea is simple: practicing reinforces the right (or wrong) way to play the game. Practice creates habits -- allowing our reactions to become second nature rather than having to stop and think about them. When it comes to your thought life, what are you practicing? If you allow yourself to think angry thoughts, you are practicing how to get angry. It shouldn't be surprising, then, when we react in anger to something that upsets us. If you continually entertain thoughts of being inferior, you will feel inferior. Which will lead to acting inferior. Why? You were practicing. In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul describes the importance of being disciplined with our thoughts: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish…
Read More
I enjoy preaching; more specifically, I love preaching. For me, I love the thrill of putting together a message that intertwines heaven and earth. I love the challenge of speaking the Word of God using a common language -- bridging, as John Stott would say, two worlds. I've never seen it as a burden but as a privilege. What about you? Are you doing what you love?
Read More
God’s there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it. He does what’s best for those who fear him— hears them call out, and saves them. http://bible.us/Ps145.18.MSG Posted from WordPress for Android
Read More
The world's first fire-proof theater, the Iroquois Theater, opened in Chicago on December 1, 1903. It was a big deal because nearly all of Chicago burned to the ground in 1871. On December 30 it was standing room only - 1,900 people packed the new theater. As the audience listened to "A Pale Moonlight", a blue stage light popped and caught a piece of the scenery on fire. "Please remain seated as we lower the asbestos curtain." The secure feeling of being in a fire-proof theater was quickly lost when the curtain jammed half-way down. The titanic claims of indestructibility turned the first fire-proof theater into the deadliest fire in Chicago's history. What you put your trust in really does matter. Old hymn says, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling."
Read More