“Pondering Prayer”

“The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much…”(James 5:16)

I met Todd the welder through a friend. That is how he was introduced to me—“Mike, meet Todd the welder.” “Todd the welder, meet Mike.” Such a guy as him I needed to meet, since my holy boat (not holy as in sanctified, but holy as in leaky) took on so much water during a recent fishing trip that I could have auditioned for the lead role in the movie Hunt For Red October. So on a Friday evening, I towed the holy boat over to Todd the welder’s and he welded a patch over the hole.  [Read more]

“To Save A Life”

And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.”’ Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. (Jeremiah 32:6-8) [Read more]

“A Prosperous New Year”

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8) [Read more]

“Wise Worship”

And when they (the wise men) had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11) [Read more]

“The Power of Praise”

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”
And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” (Matthew 21:14-16) [Read more]

“Making Complaints vs Giving Thanks”

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  (1 Thessalonians 5:18) [Read more]

“Streams in the Desert”

Years ago, when my wife and I were beginning to serve the Lord, a wonderful woman mentored my wife and, in the course of time, gave her a daily devotional book called Streams in the Desert.  The book was written by Mrs. Charles Cowman, who worked with her husband as a pioneer missionary in Japan and China from 1901 to 1917. When Mr. Cowman’s poor health forced the couple to return to the United States, Mrs. Cowman turned her attention to caring for her husband until his death six years later. Out of her experiences arose Streams in the Desert. The devotional is a compilation of her own thoughts, as well as excerpts from other writers that ministered to her during the lonely days and nights laboring in obscurity at her husband’s bedside. For a number of years, Streams was the daily spiritual piece Lucinda and I partook of together. Even now, she routinely reads to me a daily offering that particularly touched her. The following she shared with me in the pre-dawn hours this morning. I hope you are encouraged by it half as much as I was. [Read more]

“2009 Fall Festival”

On October 31st we had our 4th annual Fall Festival. Due to the wettest October on record, we moved it to the church. We had food, games, candy, a bonfire, and a piñata that one dad beat the crud (and the candy) out of. It was a great time of laid back fellowship, kinda like Lionel Richie sang, “it was easy like Sunday morning”, only it was Saturday night. [Read more]

“Running Well”

“Oh foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth…you ran well, who hindered you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians 3:1; 5:7)

In the first century days of the Apostle Paul, the Greek Olympic Games held a significant place in the everyday lives of those in the Roman Empire. Every four years, athletes representing various city-states would congregate to compete in a series of athletic events. While the ancient games featured discus, javelin throwing, boxing, wrestling and equestrian events, the most prestigious of all of the events was the marathon. It has been said that the marathon is the ultimate athletic event; it is a race against time, it is a race against others, but it is primarily a race against oneself. It is little wonder then, that the great apostle used this grueling foot race as his favorite metaphor for the Christian life. [Read more]

“Me, Myself, and Eye”

In January of this year I read a book entitled, “God’s Generals, the Revivalists”. It was given to me as a Christmas present by a friend who knows I am a lover of biographies. The book gives biographical sketches from the lives of the men and women who were used mightily by God, from the Puritan era all the way up to the twentieth century. One of the guys who most intrigued me was Francis Asbury; an English borne American Methodist minister, who spent the better portion of his life, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as a circuit riding preacher. For over 40 years, he oversaw churches from New England to Kentucky and preached the gospel an average of five times a week. When the Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, the Methodist leadership in England called all of their ministers back to Britain. Francis Asbury was the only Methodist minister to remain in America. He stated flatly, “I will not leave my people.” Leave he did not, although he did have to flee into hiding for a time due to the heavy anti-British sentiment throughout the colonies.  As I read his words “I will not leave my people”, God spoke softly to my heart, “Those are words for you this year.” [Read more]

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