Forgiveness Can Be Scary
The Bible is a fascinating book. There are passages that seem unrelated to us. There are passages that are profoundly encouraging and uplifting to us. And there are passages that (should) scare the snot out of us. One of the scariest of those to me is Matthew 6:14-15. In this passage, Jesus follows up on His model prayer, in which he instructs us to ask to be forgiven the same way we forgive others. In 6:14=15 He says if we forgive others, the Father will…
Read MoreThe Jesus Revolution?
Last night Donna and I saw The Jesus Revolution. Aside from the inevitable artistic license and narrow focus (the Jesus Movement was by no means started by Calvary Chapel alone, but it got the most publicity because of the Time article, Love Song and Lonnie Frisbee), the movie was not a bad depiction of what the Holy Spirit did 50 years ago that changed the American church. More personally, it depicted the roots of a movement that spread across the U.S., eventually bringing both Donna…
Read MoreWhat does election day really decide?
Today is a big day for the world. Perhaps bigger than most understand. In a time where internal divisions are so marked, and the temptation to align with a “side” against others is so strong, those of us who claim to follow a King need to stop and ask ourselves a few questions: Regardless of what we say, do our words and actions speak to our loyalty to the Kingdom of God, or to a specific group of Americans? Are we praying daily for the…
Read MorePro-life and Pro-Abortion: Can we talk?
This has been a very divisive issue since long before the Roe-Wade decision. And while I believe we should all be talking about it and struggling with it, the fact is, virtually no one is talking to anyone they don’t already agree with (I’m not counting talking—or yelling or typing AT each other!). So, I’m probably going to get into trouble with a lot of people. Not the best move for the director of a financially struggling ministry! There are many reasons for Christians, Christian…
Read MoreAssumptions Can Be Spiritually Dangerous
We’ve probably all been burnt by making assumptions-about health, our cars, our houses, our jobs, our relationships. When we assume everything is all good without checking on it, we can get into serious trouble. 20 years, two knees and two hips ago I was a runner. I loved being in the forests of the Northwest so much I took up running on the trails. At one point I was averaging 50 miles a week, and frequently ran the distance of a marathon each Saturday just…
Read MoreWhat is Grace?
My first hospital visit in my first full-time ministry was to a man in his 70s who had been a Christian literally twice as long as I had been alive. He had been transferred to a hospital in our city from a small town clinic 100 miles away with a heart condition that required open-heart surgery. When I introduced myself before his surgery we talked briefly and then I asked if I could pray with him. Out of nowhere, he broke into tears, weeping and…
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