“I’m sorry, it’s cancer.” “We’re eliminating your position.” “I’m not pregnant.” “Your tax bill is $3,714.08.” “I’m pregnant.” “You’ll need a new transmission.” “I want a divorce.” How do you react to trouble or bad news? Panic? Denial? Anger? Depression? Escape? Fear? Sadness? I don’t mean right away. It wouldn’t be normal if there wasn’t […]

I love the TV show “24.” If you watch it, you love it, too. Jack Bauer is continually up against three types of people: terrorists, traitors and talkers. Jack kills terrorists. Jack usually tortures traitors. Jack has no patience for talkers. In Ephesians 6, Paul reminds us that our battle is not against flesh and […]

According to a study by Australians astronomers…there are a lot of stars. About 70,000 million million million. That’s 7 followed by 22 zeros or 70 sextillion. I can’t even comprehend that number, so here’s another way to think about it…70 sextillion is about 10 times more grains of sand than there are on the whole […]

Thirteen years ago today, I was officially unemployed. It had been coming for several months, so it wasn’t a surprise, but March 1st was my first day without a job. It’s a long story, but within a week I had a new job. My new job was with a start-up company. The circumstances leading up […]

What do you want? Really. What do you want? Right now. If you could have anything, what would it be? Think it over for a minute. More money? Bigger house? Newer car? More sex? Children that obey? Peace and quiet? A nap? A vacation? A drink? A better job? God? Healing? Freedom? Someone to love? […]

A couple summers ago, my kids and I went through a high ropes course at a Young Life camp in Colorado. If you’ve ever done a ropes course, you know you walk along wires suspended between trees about 50 feet above the ground. Of course, you’re wearing a helmet and safety harness and always tethered […]

Satan is a deceiver. I need to be aware of his schemes. He’s not the only one I need to watch out for though. The other person I need to watch out for is…me. I can deceive myself. I think my idea is good. It may not be. I think I’m gifted at something. Maybe […]

Yesterday, we looked at how Satan schemes to deceive us. Today, we’ll look at two other schemes: fear and discouragement. In Joshua 1, God tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people….” Later God says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be […]

When I played football in high school, just about every week during the season was the same. Mondays were film day. On Tuesdays, we focused on putting in our offense that could score against our opponents defense. On Wednesdays, the focus was on our defense and learning how to defeat their offense. Thursdays were mostly […]

God appeared to Solomon one night and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” First of all, can you imagine God actually appearing to you? I can’t. But then imagine if He said to ask for whatever you wanted. How awesome would that be? 2 Chronicles 1 tells us that Solomon asked […]