Freedom in Fasting

Posted on January 7, 2018 | Leave a comment

A fast that God approves

Many churches and individuals begin the New Year with a 21-day Daniel Fast. My church has done it for the past several years and I have participated in many of them. Last year I did not because I dreaded facing weeks of preparation reading labels, spending extra money on appropriate food items, looking for recipes that were Daniel-fast approved, etc. etc. etc.

(In 2016 I wrote a post about why this approach to fasting was troubling to me—see the link below to read that post). Continue reading →

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Posted in Fasting, Living the Christian Life, Prayer, The Church

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Asking God Those “How” Questions

Posted on December 21, 2017 | 2 comments
The Annunciation

The Angel’s visit to Mary.

While I wrote this post last Christmas, I wanted to share it again because the contrast between Mary’s question and Zachariah’s question always challenges my faith.

Have you every asked God “how”something He has said to you would ever come to pass? Two biblical characters, both of whom received angelic visitations before the birth of Christ, asked that same question. And God’s totally opposite response to both “how” questions may surprise you.  Continue reading →

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Posted in Christian Holidays, Jewish people, Trust

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Christmas Memories

Posted on December 16, 2017 | 1 comment
Thankfulness at Christmas time

Christmas traditions remind us to be thankful.

In the Old Testament, God commanded that certain festivals and celebrations be held annually as a reminder of what He had done for His people. These celebrations were a vehicle to bring together the entire family, community and nation to celebrate God’s great mercy and to remember to be thankful for all He had done for them.

While God does not instruct us in how to celebrate Christmas, we can use whatever traditions we’ve embraced to help us remember God’s great deliverances in our lives and to be thankful for all our blessings.

Each year when I open my box of Christmas ornaments to decorate the tree, I discover so many memories connected to each ornament. I have ornaments from my wedding shower (a December wedding), ornaments from many of the places I’ve visited in my travels, a few left over from my childhood days, special ornaments marking baby’s 1st, 2nd, 3rd Christmas, and even some homemade ornaments from my daughter that still grace the Christmas tree.  Continue reading →

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Posted in Christian Holidays, Thankfulness

Thanksgiving

Posted on November 13, 2017 | Leave a comment

It’s that time of year when we give thanks for all of our blessings—both as individuals and as a nation. Our thankfulness usually focuses on our material blessings—our daily provision of food, our jobs and homes, our family and friends and our freedom as a nation. While we should thank God for all of these blessings, how many of us ever give thanks for the trials and difficulties of the past year?

Why should we do this? Author and speaker, John Bevere says in his new book, Killing Kryptonite, that “Adversity locates the strength of our faith.” In other words, life’s difficulties are a kind spiritual thermometer that reveals whether we are trusting in our own ability to get through our trials or whether we are really putting our faith in God.  Continue reading →

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Posted in America, Christian Holidays, Living the Christian Life, Peace, Thankfulness

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Online class–Lord, It’s Boring in My Prayer Closet

Posted on October 3, 2017 | Leave a comment

Join me for an online class on prayer!

I teach an online  course based on my book, Lord, It’s Boring in My Prayer Closet, for BeADisciple.com–a great online site affiliated with Southwestern College that offers a variety of Christian classes for pastors, lay leaders and all who want to go deeper with the Lord.

 

For more info see click here: BeADisciple

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Posted in Living the Christian Life, Meditation, Prayer, Small group study on prayer, Spiritual Warfare, Topical Study on Prayer

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