July 7, 2024
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The Mother of Us All Part 1 | Live Recording
June 30, 2024
Jerusalem is called the Mother of us All. It takes us back to the apostolic origins of our faith. The death, burial, and resurrection was given to us first in this great city. It is the reference point from which we shape our timeless theologies. There are other locations with other ideas, but they answer to Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is where it all started. Listen now…
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Transferring the Seed Part 2 | Live Recording
June 23, 2024
The Seed of the Word of God works for everyone. The seed doesn’t change which means the Word of God doesn’t change. The placement of the seed is important. If the seed is on good ground, then you have guaranteed growth. But if we get wayside mentalities and stony ground attitudes it is more difficult to grow or to have enduring faith. We, sometimes, need a transference of the seed. We need to move it from difficult places of pride and religious stubbornness and reposition it on the good ground of humility and commitment. Listen now…
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Transferring the Seed Part 1 | Live Recording
June 16, 2024
The Seed of the Word of God works for everyone. The seed doesn’t change which means the Word of God doesn’t change. The placement of the seed is important. If the seed is on good ground, then you have guaranteed growth. But if we get wayside mentalities and stony ground attitudes it is more difficult to grow or to have enduring faith. We, sometimes, need a transference of the seed. We need to move it from difficult places of pride and religious stubbornness and reposition it on the good ground of humility and commitment. Listen now…
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Extended Stay Mercy
June 9, 2024
She wasn’t used to running. Her lungs revolted in her chest and threatened to shut down. Her heart thumped so fast she felt like horses were galloping in her rib cage. She panted heavily and ran even harder. But then her right foot hit an unseen root sticking out of the ground. She stumbled and before she could regain her balance her embrace of the toddler weakened. He fell. Something snapped. And the boy yelped in pain.
The nurse panicked. She cried out in disbelief. She was trying to protect the boy from harm, not be the cause of it. But she had no time for guilt. She could hear the enemy horses thundering over the hills. She could envision the sharp swords drawn, lifted high, and maliciously brought down on the helpless. And she would not let that happen to this boy.
While the young Mephibosheth whimpered in pain, the nurse scooped him up and ran. She whispered tearful apologies in his ear and pledged to carry him for the rest of her life if necessary. And oh how escape mentalities leave lasting injuries. You are just trying to get away; get some peace of mind; get away from the haunting memories, the hurtful words, and the hateful feelings. But in your dash from death you stumble. You hastily make decisions about things that needed a little more time; you tripped over trust and put your faith in someone who wasn’t really experienced to handle your situation. Now, that you have escaped the pain of the past you live with the pain of hurried decisions. But there is hope, my friend. God knows how to build a bridge of hope from the mangled fragments left behind by a rush to judgment. God can repair what was broken in fear. He can elicit inspiration from an injury. You may feel lame in certain areas of your faith, but the King has plans for you. Just trust him…Listen now.
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The Cross before Pentecost | Live Recording
June 2, 2024
Matthew 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
Peter will later disagree with Jesus and beg him not to talk this way. Jesus will rebuke him. Sometimes our sorrow cannot see the power that is to come. Peter was so focused on the mention of the cross that he couldn’t understand that there would be an empty tomb. The resurrection was hidden in the sorrow. So, we see the sadness. We hear the hurtful. We feel the failure. We smell the stench of death and the fragrance of the Rose. We taste the acrid bitterness of defeat, but the sweetness of celebration. Listen now…
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The Search for Significance | Live Recording P2
May 26, 2024
God’s Word works and endures to all generations. There may be differences in drive, but not doctrine. There may be contrasts to causes, but not the cross. The commonality of truth is in a relationship with God that transcends time. When you are born again you join Generation Jesus, one that will span eternity and never end. Listen now…
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The Search for Significance | Live Recording P1
May 19, 2024
Everyone wants to fit in. Most are looking for significance in who they are and in what they do. The most important thing is a relationship with God. It doesn’t happen overnight. It won’t be in a microwave moment. You can’t manufacture it with mere religious action. It has to be heartfelt and deeply moving. And that is why there is power in choice. When you choose to live for God with all of your heart it incentivizes integrity, character, and moral strength. Listen now…
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Don’t Look at Me That Way
May 12, 2024
Washed. He cleaned me. The filth you once knew is gone. The dirt of mistakes is gone. The mud of sin and the grime of self-destruction is gone. There is no trace of the terror I used to be, just the truth of what HE has made me. The stains of blame are scrubbed away. The stains of rebellion seemingly irremovable, making me an object that was irredeemable, they are simply gone. Vanished beneath the blood. Disappeared in the deliverance detergent of grace. Erased by the mercies of the Lord that are new every morning. The evidence that was once against me, is now the testimony of a God who is for me. The marks of malice, the stains of stubbornness.
My soul is rinsed from regret. My heart is spotless because the blood of the lamb is the best spot remover. My hands are clean. My vision is clear. My attitude is adjusted from hate to love. My first step is not toward the darkness to do what I want in the world, but toward the light to let the world see what the Lord has done.
Sanctified. He gave a cause.
Justified. He delivered me from condemnation.
Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Listen now…
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Peter got a Light Sentence
May 5, 2024
Peter slept between two soldiers. Chained in the cold. Guarded by evil. A dirty dungeon floor. Dim lit hallways. Lightless souls wandering about. Shadowy figures leaning here and there. Think about it. The church was praying, interceding; Peter was out, sleeping like the dead. While the intercessors were warring, Peter was snoring. Some were restless, but Peter rested. Arrested, then rested…not bad when you have faith in God.
How can he sleep like that in a prison? Cramped quarters. Surroundings are terrible. His body aches. His eyes are heavy. His freedom is gone and he can barely move. Muddy walls. A stench of sweat and urine permeating every inch of the atmosphere. Grouchy guards. Unfavorable future. Uncertain hours ahead. James, his good friend of many years has already been eliminated, martyred for the Kingdom. But Peter is sleeping in the cell. Why? Simple. He was tired. Sometimes you don’t need a reason, just a place to lie down. You ever been so tired you could sleep on concrete in the middle of rush hour? That was Peter.
Now, it mentioned he was given over to a quaternion of soldiers. Four different soldiers watched the prisoner every six hours, making a team of sixteen soldiers over a twenty-four-hour period. Two would be chained to the prisoner. Two would stand outside the prison door. That’s sixteen guards. But One God….
I know some of you are outnumbered by the guards of hell; they want to lock you up in shame, keep you a prisoner of the past, make you live out your last days in the dungeon of depression. But in your case it ain’t how many guards are on location, it’s how many gods…and in your case you only need One!! Listen now…
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