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“What I have I give to you…”
As I teach and preach through the book of Acts, I think of these words of Peter. He came from a place of abundance when he spoke to the lame man. He knew this place of abundance. I think of that Gatorade tag line, “Is it in you?” Do we realize, as believers, what we have? Do we understand there…
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The Need for Spiritual Reading
There is a great line from the movie “Shadowlands.” The C.S. Lewis character, played by Anthony Hopkins, says, “We read to know we’re not alone.” He picked that up from a former student and let it teach him something valuable later in life. A challenge I have in my own life is reading great books. Books teach me. The temptation…
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The Holy Pursuit
One of the great privileges of teaching the Word is my need to be immersed in the Word. Currently I am teaching classes on Prison Epistles and Acts, along with a New Testament survey. Acts and the Prison Epistles keep me constantly immersed in the Word for class teaching. Through that immersion I find my life undone at times. Part…
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Church Fights You Can’t Quite Believe…
There are church fights, and then there are church fights. Sometimes there is a dispute that causes one to truly think about the issues. This one baffled me a bit. Tullian Tchividjian, Billy Graham’s grandson, was elected new pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian where D. James Kennedy had been pastor for many years. This story details the issues, which I…
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The Assemblies of God and Speaking in Tongues
Yet another article looking at the issue of speaking in tongues. In light of this article, I compare it to blogs I’ve read since the General Council. In my own view, as an Assemblies of God pastor, it just isn’t about tongues… at all. It’s about prayer. We can preach on “tongues.” But if we aren’t people of prayer, we…
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The Gift of Pain
This weekend I am preaching on the gift of pain. I think of C.S. Lewis when he talks about the purpose of pain in our lives. I also think of all the ways we try to push pain off in our lives rather than hear the message. Pain is the messenger. We too often shoot the messenger. Let’s be ready…
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Christ Exalted in My What?
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or death.” (Phil. 1:20, TNIV. Italics added.) This isn’t about sickness in the body. This is about our lives being “all in,” to use a poker term.…
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Fruit
Paul talked about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians. In Philippians 1 he is discussing being with Christ or staying in his body to be with them. He notes that being with them is fruitful labor. He lived his life with meaning. It’s a powerful statement. A comment I read from George Wood in his book, Living in the…
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The Systems Are in Place…
Over the past few months I have been preaching on the Holy Spirit. One of the key areas of Spirit-filled life I’ve examined is Acts 2:42. The Early Church had a “system” to catch what the Spirit was doing in their lives. 1. The apostles’ teaching 2. Fellowship 3. The breaking of bread (which I think emphasizes the Lord’s Table)…
