All posts tagged: faith

Glimpses into Enoch’s Walk with God

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Enoch walked with God; and he was not: for God took him. Genesis 5:24 I have always wondered what a walk with God entails, at least Enoch’s walk. What did it look like and what made it that attractive to God. Well, the scripture gives us glimpses into Enoch’s walk. Let me share a few: Enoch walked by faith – Hebrews 11:5 Enoch walked in the light – 1 John 1:5-7 Enoch walked in agreement with God – Amos 3:3 Enoch walked consistently with The Lord – Genesis 5:22 Enough walked sincerely with The Lord – Genesis 17:1 Enoch walked in obedience to God – Deuteronomy 13:4 Enoch walked in union with God – Colossians 2:6 Enoch walked in fellowship with God – 1 John 1:3 God designed us to walk with him. It is his purpose and plan for us. Oneness and, completely union with him in his life, death and resurrection is our destiny. Enoch’s life is just an example of this great plan. One day, just like Enoch, we will experience what this phrase means …

It rains fish in desert places when God gets ready to bless you!

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I am about to tell you a true story that will blow your mind. The country is Australia. The town is Lajamanu and it is about 400 miles south of Darwin and Alice Springs, almost on the edge of  the Tanami Desert in Australia’s northern territory. It was sometime in April or March of 2010 that hundreds of fish began to fall from the sky as rain fell over the town. Residents of this desert community were left speechless as fish – some frozen, others still alive fell from the sky. For seven days they ran all around town collecting buckets of fish  that had fallen from the sky. A brief look at history will tell us that this incident was not unique to this Australian town: In the 1st century there were storms of frogs and fishes. In 1794 French soldiers reported toads falling from the sky. In 1857: Sugar crystals as big as quarter  of an inch in diameter fell over the course of two days in Lake County,  California. In 1940: A tornado in Russia brought a  shower of coins from …

That will shoot a good dose of Spiritual Adrenalin into your soul

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Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! Hebrews 12:1-3 (The Message) Let’s go over the story again – item by item 1. He never lost sight of where he was headed… Too many times we let distractions and attractions woo us away from a single-minded devotion to Christ and away from our goals and dreams. …

Call & response: A Spiritual Dialogue

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A call to Hear Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! This a call for the elderly and for the young – every man, woman, boy, and girl. He doesn’t want any to be left out. He is calling Hindus, Buddhist, and Muslims. He is calling the entire world to hear what He has to say through His Son Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:1 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” If you hear His voice don’t harden your heart! A call to Awake Awake, you drunkards, A spiritual slumber has swept over the nations. The eyes of many Christians are heavy. Jesus is calling the church to come alive. He wants to bring revival. He wants to raise up those dry bones and breathe life into them so that they can live again.  Ephesians 5:14 says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Are you asleep? Could you not …

Patience is more about long-term endurance than it is about short- term

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I finished reading Mohler’s “Conviction to lead” yesterday. It is a great read jam packed with lots of substance. I immensely enjoyed the chapter on the “passion to lead”, and “the leader understands worldview.” But I was more impressed with chapter 23 – Leadership that Endures. The following paragraphs are from chapter 23. The title above each paragraph is not in the book. Here are three things I want you to consider over this weekend: Consider Patience Patience is a virtue that is highly honored by Christians.The Bible reveals patience to be one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul prayed that the church would be “strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11). Evidently, patience and endurance and joy belong together. Paul also told Timothy to preach “with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). Consider long-term not short-term. We often think of patience as a short-term issue. We are impatient in a checkout line, impatient in traffic, and horribly impatient …

Without good direction, people lose their way

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Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances. Here are a few nuggets from Proverbs 11 to help guard us in the right direction: Lead a life of honesty God hates cheating in the marketplace; he loves it when business is aboveboard. Practice humility The stuck-up fall flat on their faces, but down-to-earth people stand firm. Use integrity as a guardrail The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin. Place more value on faith, hope and a principled life than on riches A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart, but a principled life can stand up to the worst. Leave a good name and a good reputation everywhere you go Moral character makes for smooth traveling; an evil life is a hard life. Good character is the best insurance; crooks get trapped in their sinful lust. Seek to leave a lasting legacy When the wicked die, that’s it—the story’s over, end of hope. A …

A Rugged Disposition doesn’t know when to quit

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A Rugged Disposition doesn’t know when to quit Just a few before service pics from the weekend. I preached at TAG Church. We are in the second week of a sermon series entitled “Momentum.” Momentum is often described by the force that can stop it. This weekend we talked about the forces that can stop your momentum. Some times it is as simple and dangerous as discouragement in the face of opposition. The temptation to give up and throw in the towel. In Nehemiah chapter 6 we highlighted about seven forces that can stop your momentum as he said NO to a proposal to meet with Sanballet and friends in the land of ONO. But in this post we would like to emphasize the temptation to get discourage and give up pressing on in your momentum. Have you ever noticed? When we are doing great in life ministry and mission, that’s when he shows up to get us off track? Tell him – Oh No! I am doing a great work and I am not …

Integrity is not a Cantaloupe, it’s a Grapefruit?

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Integrity – what is it? Some times we say things like, integrity is being truthful, holy, pure, obedient to God, trustworthy, who you are and who you are supposed to be when no on is looking. But the word Integrity is from the latin “integer” and it means “unity.” What that means is, a person of integrity does not live a divided life. There is no difference between who you are Monday through Friday and what you are on Sunday. There is no difference between who you are on the job and who you are at home. Integrity must invade every part of your life. In most of the circles today, I often hear a lot of people say, “you either have integrity or you don’t.” How true is that assessment? Could that statement be misleading? Is there a better way to explain integrity? According to Fred Smith, the author of Leading with Integrity, integrity can be compared to a Cantaloupe and a grapefruit. You can have it in one area of your life, but it …

Choosing to Live life on purpose

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One of the reasons why I decided to start a blog and actually give it the title “where are you… Where are you going?”, can actually be summarized in a very few words. I want my life to really count. And if I can inspire somebody to think the way I do, and do the things I do to make my life count, than at least in this small portion of my life I have succeeded big time. At the end if my life, I want my wife and kids, my friends and loved ones to say that I was the husband, the father and the man that I was created to be. That I lived my life exceptionally well and left this earth with no regrets. I want to leave a legacy that generations after me will not easily forget. I want to go out with a deep satisfaction that I did my best to serve God and my family. I want to leave this place knowing that I was able to discover God’s …

7 reminders to help take frustration in ministry to level zero

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If you’ve been in the ministry any length of time, I am sure you have come to understand that it is glorious but sometimes very difficult. This is  an across the board experience for both highly successful leaders and not so highly successful leaders. It also doesn’t really matter where you are or how long you’ve been in the ministry, we have all experienced frustration one way or the other. I certainly don’t think this little post is going to stop all the frustration that ministry can bring – fact is, some of that stuff is very good for you. They come highly recommended. But at least, I think this little post  can point out some common mistakes leaders make and shine some light  on how to avoid them. Let’s share with you a few: It is simply dumb to compare yourself with others Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, …