Making Friends With Failure

The image of success is often painted with a thin veneer of never failing. When we fail, shame sets in and the accusation is, “Successful people don’t fail, but success is not for you; you are a failure.” I lost the family nest egg in a bad investment seven years ago....

God With Us or Us With God

I got back from ten exciting days in Europe after 24 hours of airports on a Monday night and went to work Tuesday morning with a combination of euphoria, jet lag, a cold, and a sense of overwhelm on what to do next. While I was nursing a little self-pity, Jesus...

You Can Be a Seer

We used to think gifts of the Spirit weren’t for anybody. Then we decided they were for a few. Now we know they are for anyone who has faith and maturity to operate in them. Becoming a seer is the same. It’s for everyone. First the why, then the how. Why see? – Seeing...

Where is Your Open Door to Kingdom?

We would all like to be the hero of our story. We all want to hear, “Well done.” We all like the sense of his favor to fill our sails and to touch the miraculous on occasion, i.e., to confirm He is with us. The problem is the resistance is real. It’s not easy....

Substituting Process for Purpose

Connecting with the purpose God wrote in our hearts starts with the belief that there is a cause and giving myself permission to go there and look. This dreams-really-do-come-true stuff feels like the last time I was out on a limb and got it sawed off. I hear these...

Communion – Shared Purpose

We usually translate communion as remembering the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood in the context of our personal forgiveness. We think of the drinking unworthily as coming to communion carrying unforgiveness against other people. We check this box by extending forgiveness...

The Roadmap to Your Heart

Before any of us volunteer to get on a train, we would like to know where it’s going. We would also like that destination to be somewhere we really want to go. I’ve had the experience of riding a train in Poland. I can’t read any of the signs, and very few people...

A Spirit of Enthusiasm

Plastic smiles – We all know the rules, and we all know how to put on a happy face when the rules get broken. We also know what our hopes and dreams look like and we know how to hide the pain of their demise under the same happy face. The happy face looks about...