Fasting with prayer has been one of the most life changing tools of my spiritual life. As a young man I began to lean into the grace of fasting and I can confidently say that the Lord has used it to bring spiritual benefits in my life. I want to share five benefits that we can experience through fasting and prayer. I’m sure there are dozens, but these are areas I’ve seen God move in my life through fasting and prayer.
Read MoreFasting with prayer isn’t super-spirituality - it’s normal Christianity. It’s a normal practice for believers in this age. As we live in recognition that Jesus is not physically with us but one day He will be returning our hearts are moved to seek Him with passion and desire. It’s this longing and aching in our souls for His presence and return that compels us to lean into the grace of fasting and prayer, seeking Him with all of our hearts.
Read MoreI’m convinced every believer needs to be regularly refreshed in the love of God. We are created by God to continually have fresh encounters in His love. It’s how He made us and how we are to live as believers – vibrantly alive in His love and affections.
Read More“If you find my beloved, tell Him that I am lovesick” Song of Solomon 5:8
Recently, as I was reading Song of Solomon, I noticed in the first chapter several prayers of adoration the maiden prays. By the second chapter she declares that she is lovesick(Song 2:5). I’m convinced this is how he Lord wants us to live now, before the wedding of the Lamb. There is an obvious progression from where she is longing for love to the place where she is completely undone, lovesick.
I want to highlight several of these prayers and encourage you to pray
them regularly.
Immediately Ephesians 3:14 floated through my mind, “I bow my knee to the
Father from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” The Lord was
speaking to me about spiritual family. The idea of healthy spiritual family is not
just a sentimental idea; God is a father and we are His family.
The following are some thoughts He has impressed on my heart about what it means to live as family.
I’m frustrated again. My friends are hurting. Injustice is again in plain view.
Mal 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
Read MoreI was asked recently by a student at a local theology school the following questions on leadership. I thought they were interesting questions, so I wanted to post them here for you:
Read More“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Mat 11:12)
John the Baptist life marked a significant change in the kingdom of God. Jesus explained that John’s lifestyle caused a profound transition to take place in the earth in his generation. This transition had to do with a new passionate way people would seek God and possess the Kingdom.
Read MoreNow that we’ve discussed a few challenging passages that are used to prohibit women from functioning as preachers and teachers in church, let’s take a look at four clear examples of women in the bible functioning in these roles.
Read MoreIn Women in Ministry? Part 3, I addressed the so-called “prohibition” of women preaching and leading in the church from 1 Timothy Chapter 2. There we found that much of what Paul was addressing had to do with believers exhibiting proper respect for the cultural expectations of the city they were living in.
Read MoreFor some, this is a simple misunderstanding of Scripture. For others, this text serves to bolster the sin of misogyny. This is a sin that must be repented of, if the church is going to enter into the destiny the Lord has intended. If you see this passage as a prohibition on women speaking in church, I ask you to consider it again in light of other biblical texts and the historical context.
Read MoreAs we consider what the bible teaches about women in ministry we have to take into account not only the straight forward teaching about gender roles, but also consider the praxis of the entire biblical narrative. What am I saying here? There are biblical principles and there are biblical practices.
Read MoreIt would be the first time a woman preached in a church service in that particular facility. I was stoked! The worship in both services was attended by a powerful sense of the presence of God. There was a general excitement in the air. I knew as our local spiritual family came together to worship Jesus and honor women and mothers, the church all over the nation was doing likewise.
Read MoreTwo days after OneRace Stone Mountain I found myself on a plane heading to Asia to speak at a conference for underground house church leaders. With my heart still bursting with joy over all that God did at that historic gathering, the Lord began to speak to me from a passage that I’d spent dozens of hours considering over the last year – John 17.
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