What’s the evidence of the work of God in someone’s life? For the demoniac of Gadera, it was that he was clothed and in his right mind. For John the Baptist, it was that the heir of the high priest chose to live in the desert with honey and locusts in his scraggly beard. God’s glory can be displayed in the chaotic becoming decent as well as the polished going wild. In college, my sanctification mean going outside the four walls of my room and looking into the full moon. It was trading my prayer closet for a prayer pasture. It meant becoming less civilized, not more.
devo
Rescue the Church from Consumerism
I’m concerned that it’s all too easy for us to go to church week after week and do much more to consolidate our wealth and influence than to bring the gospel to those who are hurting, broken, and look different than us.
Process: “An Inconvenience Rightly Considered”
I woke from my nap feeling groggy, yet doing my best to “honor the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (of course, holy meaning other and set apart). In this case, it had been a thoroughly exhausting week capped by a 13-hour day the preceding day. After watching a couple of YouTube videos, I realized […]
Guest Post: “The Death Clock” by Stephen Garner
This blog was originally posted on my father’s blog, https://hikerdude.wordpress.com. It’s not like I am in a hurry for 2020 to end but, I got a head-start on my New Year’s resolutions recently. I read a preview from an upcoming book called, Win The Day, by Mark Batterson. Not only did it whet my appetite […]
Avoid the Top 4 Prayer Ruts!
Over the past two decades, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my prayer life, and the Lord has taught me so much that can help you avoid getting in a rut. Doing prayer too formally. “Most Gracious Lord, I pray Thou hearken unto us…” Yes, of course, God is worthy of respect, but your […]
You are a Miracle (even by Scientific Standards)
If we consider the absurdly specific details, all of which had to be lined up perfectly, in order for you to have been born and exist, on this planet, as you are… it’s breathtaking. Solar System Earth is not just a rock in space. Far from it; this rock is very special. It’s 93million miles […]
Pentecost? Why? 3 Reasons (pt. 3) – Healing
Over the last two posts, we talked about a couple different purposes of the Pentecostal outpouring: the sharing of the gospel and the unity of the diverse body of believers. Today, we reflect on a third purpose: the release of power for signs, wonders, and miracles. Acts 3:1-8One day Peter and John were going up […]
Pentecost? Why? 3 Reasons (pt. 2) – Unity
Let’s look at the miracles that happened as a result of the Acts 2 outpouring. Pentecost doesn’t only bring preaching; it brought incredible unity. Perhaps the first miracle was getting religious people to get along in peace and harmony! Acts 2:42-47They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread […]
Pentecost? Why? 3 Reasons (pt. 1) – Proclaim
The Prelude Luke 24:46-49He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you […]
How to Pray Away Fear and Timidity (from my book, Your Will Be Done)
I looked around the restaurant, and my attention was drawn to a South Asian man with a cushioned neck brace. Somehow, I immediately knew that I was to pray for him, and no, it was not from the comfort of my own seat…
Isolated? Great! Six Ways to Thrive while Social Distancing
Guess where I’m writing this piece from? Home. I’ve written and journaled from the tops of buildings, from subways, from Pakistani restaurants, beaches, airplanes, African desert tribes, and more, but all those juicy locales have been snatched away recently. My country issued a round-the-clock stay-at-home order several days ago. The regular challenges of doing life […]
Facebook, Google, God, & Gates
Name the five biggest tech companies in America. Most of you can probably do it. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google, and, at least at this point, Netflix. What do they all have in common? What makes them so influential, powerful, and, for many of us, indispensable? What can we learn from these millennial trends? It’s not […]