In 1 John 2:1-6 (including verse 6 because it ends the sentence), there is another test to knowing whether or not you are a child of God. I love this because John demonstrates that there are observable indicators as to whether or not our faith is real. In a world where so many people claim Christianity…
Category: PSI (Personal Spiritual Insight)
PSI – Words, in the End, Are Still Just Words – 1 John 1:5-10
It is a popular notion, as Americans, to call ourselves Christians. Ask just about anybody, regardless of lifestyle, beliefs or politics, and they will tell you they are Christian. This just points to the fact that the word, “Christian,” has become meaningless. As a matter of fact, many would hold that because they are Americans…
PSI – Living the Challenge: 1, 2, 3 John
Yesterday, I issued a challenge at The Gathering to begin to get into Scripture. (Audio can be accessed through our website, the Sermon Audio page of this blog, or iTunes, if interested). Looking at the Model Prayer in Matthew 6, we have spent the last three weeks on verse 11: Give us this day our…
PSI – Renewal to Transformation
Over this past week I’ve been meditating on and dealing a lot with the implications of Romans 12:2: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. I wanted…
Extreme Grace, Part 2
So, when we last left our hero, Peter had just accused some religious officials of being really bad people because they had denied Jesus. As we so astutely pointed out, Peter, too, had done some denying on his own of Jesus but worse…he actually knew Jesus and who he was.* So, now Peter’s lookin’ pretty bad.[Read the full post]
Extreme Grace, Part 1
Twice Peter said the they had denied Jesus. Helloooo, excuse me, Pete, but do you not remember where you were at about the time these little people were denying Him?? Peter had run away like a scared little girl from, oh, yeah, a little girl who had accused him of being a follower of Jesus. Three times! It’s like he totally forgot what he had done. How does that happen? What right does Peter have to be accusing others of denying?
[Read the full post]
What Difference Does Prayer Really Make?
Since God knows everything before we even know we need something (Matthew 6:32) and because He has no need of anything, including praise, thanks, etc. (Acts 17:24-25 – that is to say, though He may desire to hear our thanks, it is not something He needs to feel good about Himself), what is the real point in prayer?
The Powerless Prayer
I’m in a new series on prayer as we look at what has been traditionally called “The Lord’s Prayer” or “The Model Prayer.” When we start looking at what Christ said prayer is and isn’t, we quickly realize that much of what we do really isn’t prayer at all…at least not the kind that Jesus said is acceptable to the Father.
The Power of Worship
An interesting thing happened to me as a result of this spontaneous worship I experienced aboard ship: I was “sucked into” the very presence of God and put into a place where I was able to experience some things over the next few days I don’t think I would have been prepared for otherwise.
God took me on a journey for the next several days aboard ship and during our ports of call, where I was exposed to some of the most horrible injustices and poverty I’ve ever seen.
PSI – 2 Corinthians 10
Paul was a master warrior who understood the battle, had expert knowledge in spiritual warfare, knew the motives and tactics of the enemy, and relied on the commands and power of the Master. Every Believer is called to spiritual warfare and every leader is called and equipped in the same way as Paul. Unfortunately, we too often walk according to the flesh, not realizing how embedded the enemy is within the hearts and minds of people and we take our eyes off of the objective, being more content with making people happy than holy.