Bringing Scripture to Life

In Jeremiah 31:13, the Lord says, "For I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow." There is no better description I can give you when it comes to this day in my families history. This day has represented a day of great sorrow, and has been an instrument for many nights of mourning for my wife Lyndsey and me. You see, it was on October 26, 2001 when doctors gave us some devastating news. They told us that we would NEVER EVER be able to have our own biological children.  This news literally crushed us, and brought great sorrow upon our hearts and lives. This news would make the next 10 years of our life a challenging roller coaster of emotional ups and downs. Every mothers day, fathers day, every time it turned October 26th, and countless other scenarios have always tried to steal the joy of the Lord from us, and overwhelm us with sorrow.  But today on October 26, 2012, the Lord has truly turned our mourning ...

The dictionary defines the word giant, as "A person or thing of great size, extraordinary power, significance, or importance." How many of us can look back over the course of time and identify the many giants that have been placed before us? Whether it be giant steps of faith we were called to take, giant obstacles testing our obedience to God, or giant disappointments from apparent failures in life, each of us have had to face our giants before. As I look back upon the giants God has called me to face in life, I realize now that I have experienced some GIANT victories in those times that I did courageously take big steps of faith for God. In fact, it was in those times when I was obedient to what God was calling me to do that help define me today as a follower of Christ, as well as hopefully leave an example for my family and friends, and a legacy for my son to follow after. At the same time, each and every time I have shrunk from the challenge of facing the giants t...

What mountain is standing before you today? Is it a mountain of doubt, or is it a mountain that is increasing your faith? Are you having difficulty trusting that God will come through in a certain area of your life today? Are you struggling to believe that God has heard your prayers, that He knows the desires of your heart, and that God is able to provide for you? Do you feel as if there are insurmountable obstacles that stand before you and the promises that you believe God has spoken into your life? I can imagine that the day God tapped on Abraham’s shoulder and told him to take a walk with his son Isaac to Mount Moriah, and then gave him the purpose for their journey (), that Abraham must have been rocked to the core of his being as he processed through what God had asked of him. The Bible doesn’t reveal to us what was going on in this loving father’s heart as he was travelling with the son in whom he treasured so much. However, I can imagine that there was a terribly fierce w...

What Mountain is standing before you today? Is it a mountain of doubt, or is it a mountain that is increasing your faith. Are you having difficulty trusting that God will come through in a certain area of your life today? Are you struggling to believe that God has heard your prayers, and that God knows the desires of your heart, and that God is able to provide for you? Do you feel as if there are insurmountable obstacles that stand before you and the promises that you believe God has spoken into your life? I can imagine that the day God tapped on Abraham’s shoulder and told him to take a walk with his son Isaac to Mount Moriah, and then gave him the purpose for their journey (Genesis 22:1-2), that Abraham must have been rocked to the core of his being as he processed through what God had asked of him. The Bible doesn’t reveal to us what was going on in this loving father’s heart as he was travelling with the son in whom he treasured so much. However, I can imagine that there w...

You can now listen to this past Sunday's message, In the Presence of Faith online.

The following video from Pastor Perry Noble is a great reminder for us to never give up. God is not through with you yet! God does not have you at a dried up water brook in life because He is punishing you. He has you there to prepare you for greater things in life! The Bible is quite clear that we can be "confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).

What kind of wings does your faith have? Does your faith have the kind of wings that cause you to want to fly away from the difficulties that life brings? Or does your faith have the kind of wings that cause you to trust in God, and rise up in faith with Him, in order to soar through the winds of difficulty that life brings our way?  It was March 8th of this year that I had just left a meeting with someone who I thought had cared about me and my family. This meeting turned out to be a disaster for me, that left me shell-shocked in disbelief, while at the same time feeling painfully let down and extremely disappointed in the horrible way that this person had acted. I remember leaving Starbucks that sunny Tuesday morning, getting into my SUV, and pulling out of the parking lot into the deepest, and darkest valley I had ever had to face in my ministry up to that point. I travelled over to the Sports Park and cried out to the Lord for help and for strength all morning long, whi...

This article was originally written to help assist church planters with some very basic ideas for some of the bells and whistles I used in church planting on a very low budget.  Had I known this article was going to receive so much traffic (which it has), I would have included some helpful exhortations for you, the church planter. After all, it is the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-12), the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), and pointing people to Jesus in all that we do that really matters most (Romans 1:16).  Because of this I have decided to add a "Top 10 List for Church Planters", that I believe will be vital to the incredible walk of faith that God has you on. I believe this addition to the lo-cost "bells and whistles" of Church Planting that I originally wrote this article about is far more important for you to have at your disposal as you continue to live radically for Jesus. Top 10 List for Church Planters: 1. JESUS LOVES YOU!  Jesu...

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:8, "By faith Abraham obeyed God when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going." There is no greater example in all of Scripture of what it means to "walk by faith, not by sight", than in the life of Abraham. The Bible tells us here that when God came to Abraham, He called him to go, and when Abraham went, he went out, "not knowing where he was going."In other words, Abraham had to walk by faith in God, and not by what he was seeing with his eyes. This is how we walk by faith and not by sight, by following God's leading even when we don't know where He is leading us. This is exactly what faith does. Faith Responds to God and follows Him everywhere in life. Through the good times and through the bad times, through the easy times and through the difficult times. Faith responds to God and follows Him everywhere! There are people w...

I don't know if I have ever heard a better explanation of how faith and works go together, as what General William Booth of the Salvation Army once said. He said, "Faith and works should travel side by side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works, and then faith again, and then works again - until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other." The only thing that I would say could be added to this, is one last important ingredient, and that is love. Love should be the muscle that moves our faith into action. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:6, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love." Faith accompanied by works, motivated by love. May your week be filled with faith that leads to works, that is motivated by the love of Jesus Christ.