The Power of Letting God Lead You in PrayerPraying is weakness leaning on omnipotence. —W.S. BowdAaron Boyd was way over his head. On a mission trip to Thailand, he and his band, Bluetree, played one night in The Climax Bar, deep in Pattaya’s red-light district. There, they rubbed shoulders with those stuck in the worst of the worst. There, he and his band discovered what can happen when someone “...  Read More

Prayer is an Intimate, Ongoing ConversationThere is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we can be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs, but deep within, behind the scenes at a profounder level we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings. —Thomas ...  Read More

What Real Prayer Looks LikeWhen prayer has become secondary, or incidental, it has lost its power. Those who are conspicuously men of prayer are those who use prayer as they use food, or air, or light, or money. —M.E. AndrossIn Ephesians chapter 6, Paul challenges us “to pray in the spirit.” That brings up an interesting question: Is it actually possible to pray “in the flesh?” Could someone actua...  Read More

A Majorly Wrong Assumption About PrayerIf the spiritual life be healthy, under the full power of the Holy Spirit, praying without ceasing will be natural. —Andrew MurrayIt really is hard to see the forest through the trees. We can get so entrenched with the details that we never really consider the big picture. That happens big time with prayer—which oftentimes come with some monstrous expectation...  Read More

Rethink Your PrayersIf you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian religion, I should say that it is in one word—prayer. —Charles SpurgeonPrayer… we hear that word a lot. It’s all over the place in the Bible. You hear it in passing conversations. It’s preached about in sermons galore. When you hear that word, what comes to mind? What do you feel?At the end of Ephesians 6, when Paul finishes ...  Read More

The winds of opposition to our faith are blowing and the battles rage across the globe. Our challenge to live as disciples and Christ followers is building almost by the day. Governments embrace platforms advocating abortion, same sex marriage, and trans-genderism, with those practices affirmed by their courts. Freedom of speech, religion and the right to assemble are threatened. We see global rio...  Read More

Jesus is coming you know. He is risen and will come for us one at a time or all at one time; but He is surely coming again. It will be different the next time. We first saw Him born in a humble manger and entering Jerusalem on a donkey. He didn’t resist the evil men who tortured Him and hung him on a cross.When He comes again, He will come as the victorious King of Kings and Lord of Lords astride ...  Read More

“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Luke 12:29-31)“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)Are th...  Read More

So the world accuses us of hypocrisy and says we want the same things they want and to do the same things they do. Where do they get that idea? What do they see that causes them to speak that way? There must be some things that are common enough that, in their opinion, make them credible to them. Could they be watching our most successful and high profile models of Christianity, let’s say supersta...  Read More

As we compare our lives as Christ followers who are running a “race set before us” (Hebrews 12:1) with the challenges we might find in a literal race, we have the great example of our Lord who, while He walked on Earth as a man, ran His race as well and encountered all the temptations and challenges that we do (Heb.4:15). Our Lord was opposed by the most powerful political and religious systems of...  Read More

"Born a Zero"It’s finally here . . . Christmas Day! There’s a special magic about this most special of days, isn’t there? Why is that? Is it because of all the presents, decorations, meals, and gatherings of friends and families? Yes, but there is so much more . . .It’s because today, around the world, we celebrate the birth of a Savior!According to Isaiah 9:6–7, one would assume the prophet was p...  Read More

The Greatest Gift of AllTake a moment to imagine what your life would be like if God had never sent His Son to earth. Think about how it would feel to exist without the promise of eternal life, or a connection to God. Consider how it would affect your relationships, your sense of self, and your vision for the future.Because of the promise of Christmas, that will never be a reality.The birth of Jes...  Read More