Freedom

202 posts · All categories

• The End of My Road Oct 29, 2023 Bittersweet is a word not understood by most. Only them who have heard the enormous roar of His quiet Peace above the storm through which they have passed, know this word’s true sense.~ Makala Barnabas Doulos…
• Made to Burn with The Light of The Son Jul 5, 2022 The atoms like each other to different degrees. Oxygen, for instance in the air, would like to be next to carbon, and if they get near to each other, they snap together. If they’re not too…
• Deadly Mind Chess Jun 4, 2022 I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe, more loved and welcomed than I ever dared hope. ~Elyse M. Fitzpatrick Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let…
• Reconciled from Bitterness Apr 4, 2022 There1 is one source of power that is stronger than every disappointment, bitterness or ingrained mistrust, and that power is Jesus Christ, Who brought forgiveness and reconciliation to the world.~Karol Józef Wojtyła (1920–2005) Strive for peace…
• Lifebuilders – James 2 Mar 13, 2022 Click for: Audio of James 2 Slideshow (before class): Main Lesson Presentation Deck Videos and other Resources ● https://bit.ly/pardes2 – John Delhousaye’s PARDES work on the book of Hebrews Kenyan Traditional Dance Video 🙂 – Utange…
• Stop, Drop, And Wait-State Dec 4, 2021 To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and…
• What If You Got Everything You Think You Wanted? Sep 12, 2021 There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in…
• Put It Down. That’s Not Your Sin Any More. May 3, 2021 The cross of Christ is God’s last and endless word. There the prince of this world is judged, there sin is killed, and pride is done to death, there lust is frozen, and self-interest slaughtered, not…
• What Price Freedom? Would We Pay it? Mar 15, 2021 Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement; he is a rebel who must lay down his arms…. This process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is…
• Atlas Crushed: The Failure of Autonomy Feb 17, 2021 I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.― Ayn Rand, Missing the point, in Atlas…
• Fear’s Antidote: Home Now, And Home Forever Aug 16, 2020 Jesus did not come from heaven to earth just to get us out of hell and into heaven — though He is the only One Who can do that. He also came to get Himself out…
• Doxa Mar 1, 2019 I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God Himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely…
• Cutting Away Our Self-Regard Feb 28, 2019 “Then the lion said — but I don’t know if it spoke — You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly…
• Death’s Work in Our Lives Nov 19, 2018 Death is only painful to him who resists it. The imagination exaggerates its terrors. The spirit argues endlessly to show the propriety of the life of self. Self-love fights against death, like a sick man in…
• Too Much Jesus? The Joy of Being An Ex-Addict Oct 27, 2018 From morning to night keep Jesus in your heart, long for nothing, desire nothing, hope for nothing, but to have all that is within you changed into the spirit and temper of the Holy Jesus. ~William…
• My Testimony: Apologetics As A New Creation Oct 2, 2018 May you be encouraged. Christ has set me free to Love and serve.
• The Infinite, Living, Quiet Center of Worship Oct 1, 2018 Worship is really about what is the center focus of our being. What is it that we value most?
• The Engineer’s Spiritual Advantage Sep 20, 2018 The more we pay for any truth, the better is our bargain. ~William Law He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this…
• Living Like Frank A. (Francis of Assisi) Sep 13, 2018 See, Christianity is not a philosophy primarily. Christianity is a relationship to this Jesus. Which is why the renewal of the Church, though it has an institutional dimension; though it involves practical changes and all of…
• Death by Incurvatus in Se Aug 23, 2018 Incurvatus in se (Latin for Turned/curved inward on oneself. St. Augustine’s definition of sin.) Sin is, in truth, the hardest of all masters. In its service there is plenty of fair promises, but an utter dearth…
• Domine, non nisi Te Aug 10, 2018 The flood of temporal things draws us after itself, but in this flood there is, as it were, a full-grown tree: our Lord Jesus Christ. He took flesh, died, and ascended to heaven. It is as…
• Death by Obedience Jun 11, 2018 As Elisabeth Elliot points out, not even dying a martyr’s death is classified as extraordinary obedience when you are following a Savior who died on a cross. Suddenly a martyr’s death seems like normal obedience. ~David…
• G_d Ain’t Got No Dog in The Fight Mar 25, 2018 There’s no shadow You won’t light up Mountain You won’t climb up Coming after me There’s no wall You won’t kick down Lie You won’t tear down Coming after me There’s no shadow You won’t light…
• Freedom in The Breakthrough Feb 24, 2018 Some people by the word freedom understand the ability to do whatever one wants … People who have the more allowed themselves to come into slavery to sins, passions, and defilements more often than others appear…
• Treasure in The Junk of Our Lives Feb 21, 2018 When I saw my name on Nancy’s reply and realized I hadn’t received it, I found it in my Junk file. There is a message from God here – you have to continually search your junk…
• Plasma Life: Living on The Right Side of Psalm 73 Jan 1, 2018 The ragamuffin who sees his life as a voyage of discovery and runs the risk of failure has a better feel for faithfulness than the timid man who hides behind the law and never finds out…
• Choice in A No Choice Situation Dec 6, 2017 I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. ~…
• The Poverty of Sin: It’s Negative Return in The Kingdom Oct 26, 2017 Through our sunless lanes creeps Poverty with her hungry eyes, and Sin with his sodden face follows close behind her. Misery wakes us in the morning and Shame sits with us at night. ~Oscar Wilde There…
• Through Forgiveness into Love Oct 13, 2017 What is perfection in love? Love your enemies in such a way that you would desire to make them your brothers … For so did He love, Who hanging on the Cross, said “Father, forgive them,…
• Sudah (Already): The Nature of Truth Oct 12, 2017 The beauty of truth is that it needs no defense. ~ Makala Barnabas Doulos Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not…
• Deep Freedom Oct 11, 2017 The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. ~ Albert Camus For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm…
• Living in Our Caricature World Oct 8, 2017 The proud sin greatly who, after studying secular literature and having turned to the Holy Scriptures, consider all that they say to be the Law of God, and do not endeavour to come to know the…
• The Freedom in Service vs. Work Making Us Free Oct 1, 2017 I am done with great things and big things, great institutions and big success, and I am for those tiny, invisible molecular moral forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the…
• Shipwrecked at The Prison Cell’s Open Door Sep 17, 2017 You are free. You just don’t know it yet. ~Francine Rivers For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery… For you were called to…
• God Our Battle Fighter! Aug 22, 2017 This reminds all of us who have given public testimony of our faith in Christ, that we are still in an enemy’s country. You remember how Bunyan (to quote the great Dreamer again) represents Christiana and…
• Stop It! How? Now! Aug 16, 2017 You will lose your way the minute you decide to go your own way. When you seek God’s will alone, you find it everywhere, and you cannot go astray. Wanting what God wants always puts you…
• Out of The Prison, And into The Light Aug 9, 2017 If thou intend not nor seek nothing else but the pleasing of God and the profit of thy neighbor thou shalt have inward liberty. ~Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471) As soon as his master heard the…
• The Violent Obedience of Freedom Aug 4, 2017 The purpose of the cross is to completely decimate your loyalty to the most seductive/powerful of all idols—the idol of self. ~David Tripp But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of…
• Jesus Is Bigger Jul 24, 2017 It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials. In every cloud he brings, God wants us to unlearn something. God’s purpose in the cloud is to simplify our…
• Suffering: Warfare in The Hornet’s Nest of Our Mind Jun 25, 2017 When you’re lovers in a dangerous time Sometimes you’re made to feel as if your love’s a crime — But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight — Got to kick at the darkness…
• Deeper Belief: Into Who Jesus Is May 25, 2017 The bending of the mind by the powers of this world has twisted the gospel of grace into religious bondage and distorted the image of God into an eternal, small-minded bookkeeper. The Christian community resembles a…
• Requiem for A Reputation May 21, 2017 If we are wise, we will do what Jesus said: endure the cross and despise its shame for the joy that is set before us. To do this is to submit the whole pattern of our…
• The Incorrigible Old Man May 13, 2017 What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness. Buffeted by the fickle winds of failure, battered by their own…
• April Storms Bring Eternal Flowers Apr 30, 2017 What then is God? Of the universe he is the final end; as to election, he is salvation; as to himself, he hath knowledge. What is God? Omnipotent will, virtue of highest benevolence, light eternal, reason…
• Proclaiming The Mystery of The Gospel Apr 27, 2017 In what way, or by what manner of working God changes a soul from evil to good—how he impregnates the barren rock with priceless gems and gold—is, to the human mind, an impenetrable mystery. ~Samuel Taylor…
• Longing for A Certain Death Apr 21, 2017 There is an intimate bond between the sufferings of Christ and the conflict and suffering in each Christian life. The daily dying of the Christian is a prolongation of Christ’s own death. Paul writes in Romans…
• The Bondservant’s Advantage Apr 12, 2017 In what strange quarries and stoneyards the stones for the celestial wall are being hewn! Out of the hillsides of humiliated pride; deep in the darkness of crushed despair; in the fretting and dusty atmosphere of…
• Dance Like Nobody Is Watching Mar 19, 2017 “Way! Way! Way!” came the voice. “Way for the White Barbarian King, the guest of the Tisroc (may he live forever)! Way for the Narnian lords.”. . . It was quite unlike any other party they…
• Rest And Belief: Intimate Bedfellows Mar 17, 2017 “The devil never rejoices more,” said Francis of Assisi, “than when he robs a servant of God of his peace of heart.” Peace and joy go a-begging when the heart of a Christian pants for one…
• G_d: I Just Thought You Would Want to Know Mar 14, 2017 If you expect to find peace in the friendship of any person, you are likely to be disappointed. But if you are intimate with God, the disloyalty or death of a friend will not crush you.…
• Friendship with God: Let’s Do This Together Mar 13, 2017 The Christian is called upon to be the partner of God in the work of the conversion of men. ~William Barclay (1907-1978) I always thank my God for you because of the grace that God has…
• Exulting Over The Majesty of Our Salvation Mar 10, 2017 Only to sit and think of God, Oh what a joy it is! To think the thought, to breathe the name Earth has no higher bliss. ~Frederick William Faber (1814-1863) And Mary said, “My soul magnifies…
• Anxiety: Put it Down Child Mar 6, 2017 God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day…
• The Power in Our Exhaustion Mar 4, 2017 Thine am I, I was born for thee, What wouldst thou, Master, make of me? Give me death or give me life Give health or give infirmity Give honor or give obloquy Give peace profound or…
• Awash in The Grace of God Feb 24, 2017 When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. ~ Unknown Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into…
• The Almighty’s Prize: You Feb 9, 2017 Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive…
• Winter Is Over, Springtime Has Come Feb 7, 2017 When the lion said—but I don’t know if it spoke—‘You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I…
• Loving Beyond The Gravitron Separation Effect Jan 31, 2017 Getting honest with ourselves does not make us unacceptable to God. It does not distance us from God, but draws us to Him—as nothing else can—and opens us anew to the flow of grace. While Jesus…
• Politics Won’t Save Us Jan 24, 2017 I remember once when I had been giving a talk to the R.A.F., an old, hard-bitten officer got up and said, ‘I’ve no use for all that stuff. But, mind you, I’m a religious man too.…
• Hiding Won’t Give Us Peace Jan 22, 2017 I am afraid to tell you who I am, because if I tell you who I am you may not like who I am, and it’s all that I have ~ John Powell Therefore remember that…
• Just Say No Jan 17, 2017 Christianity happens when men and women accept with unwavering trust that their sins have been not only forgiven, but forgotten, washed away in the blood of the Lamb. Thus, my friend archbishop Joe Reia says, “A…
• Freedom: Repenting from Smallness Dec 25, 2016 Over your prison cell it is has always said, “CONDEMNED.” “SEPARATED,” eternally, from God. “GUILTY”! And then suddenly, it switches when you realize what Jesus Christ has done. It says, “JUSTIFIED.” It says, “FORGIVEN,” “REDEEMED”!! ……
• Resolved: To Live in Love Dec 10, 2016 I repent me of the ignorance wherein I ever said that God made man out of nothing: there is no nothing out of which to make anything; God is all in all, and he made us…
• Caution: Another one Seeks Your Worship Nov 8, 2016 Those who worship God merely from fear would worship the devil, too, if he appear. ~Sir Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down…
• The West: Rest in Pieces Nov 5, 2016 People today are trying to hang on to the dignity of man, but they do not know how to, because they have lost the truth that man is made in the image of God. . .…
• Living An Ascended Lifestyle Oct 28, 2016 Worldy people imagine that the saints must find it difficult to live with so many restrictions, but the bondage is with the world, not with the saints. There is no such thing as freedom in the…
• Undone After Forty Years of Punching Through Oct 23, 2016 Don’t the hours grow shorter as the days go by You never get to stop and open our eyes One minute you’re waiting for the sky to fall The next you’re dazzled by the beauty of…
• Full-Contact Christianity Oct 15, 2016 He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS;~ Revelation 2:26No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.~…
• Longing for Real Home Oct 14, 2016 For the story is about hell and heaven, trauma, shame, and finding love—the real Jesus accepting a broken man; and it is about the Father, Son, and Spirit finding us in the far country of our…
• Already There Oct 10, 2016 Let us understand that, while our bodies and souls are quite fixed here upon earth, through the agency of the Holy Spirit our spirits have been brought into direct fellowship with Christ in heaven. From this…
• No More Scorekeeping Sep 16, 2016 I’ve decided that if I had my life to live over again, I would not only climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets; I wouldn’t only jettison my hot water bottle, raincoat, umbrella,…
• The Great Letting Go Sep 14, 2016 We have to keep letting go, and slowly and surely the great full life of God will invade us in every part, and men will take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. ~Oswald…
• Forever Beyond the Great Sadness Sep 9, 2016 Bittersweet is a word not understood by most. Only them who have heard the enormous roar of His quiet Peace above the storm through which they have passed, know this word’s true sense.~ Makala Barnabas Doulos…
• Breakthrough to The Unoffendable Heart Sep 8, 2016 The cross of Christ is in itself an offense to the world; let us take heed that we add no offense of our own.~Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:…
• Bulletproof Dead Sep 6, 2016 The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin.~ Watchman Nee For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly…
• Still, Like Water Sep 4, 2016 It is only with total humility, and in absolute stillness of mind that we can know what indeed we are.~ Terence James Stannus Gray I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you…
• Living Free among The Captives Aug 21, 2016 The martyr cannot be dishonored… every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side.~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Behold, I am sending you out as…
• Pressed Beyond Measure Aug 15, 2016 The paths of wisdom are not like walks in the garden, which we make use of for diversion only, and an amusement; but like tracks in a great road, which we press forward in with care…
• The Beautiful Collision of Our Heart with G_d’s Aug 14, 2016 Can we see it? As our heart merges with the character He is inscribing on us and within us… This is the process of sanctification. For, as character and heart merge, we cement our destiny –…
• Dead, Freed, Alive – And Loved Forever Aug 13, 2016 There were some who said that a man at the point of death was more free than all others, because death breaks every bond, and over the dead the united world has no power.~François Fénelon (1651-1715)For…
• Learning to Live in A Post-War Space Aug 10, 2016 The engaged mind, illuminated by truth, awakens awareness; the engaged heart, affected by love, awakens passion. May I say once more – this essential energy of the soul is not an ecstatic trance, high emotion or…
• Running Past The Tapes Aug 9, 2016 To feel safe is to stop living in my head and sink down into my heart and feel liked and accepted … not having to hide anymore and distract myself with books, television, movies, ice cream,…
• Loved from Forever Jul 31, 2016 God is love and God is sovereign. His love disposes him to desire our everlasting welfare, and his sovereignty enables him to secure it. ~ A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) This fool of a writer thought he…
• No, Is A Complete Sentence Jul 29, 2016 “No.,” is a complete sentence. It does not require justification or explanation. ~ Megan LeBoutillier I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes,…
• Hold On Jul 28, 2016 The only cure for suffering is to face it head on, grasp it round the neck and use it.~Brennan Manning Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High…
• Indestructible Love Jul 27, 2016 When a Christian or group of Christians dies because they trust that Christ is the faithful revelation of God and of a new humanity, their death is not like Obi-Wan Kenobi’s last words to Darth Vader:…
• You Will Be Ravaged if You Love Jul 25, 2016 I will never forget the day I realized that both God and the devil wanted me to die but for different reasons. Satan wanted to destroy me through slander while God wanted to use these same…
• Taking Every Thought Captive: Freedom from Lies Jul 20, 2016 The devil wrestles with God, and the field of battle is the human heart.~Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevski (1821-1881) For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons…
• Battlefield Promotions: Battered, Bloody, Winning and Accelerating Jul 20, 2016 Crisis leads to promotion and elevation. Those things, situations and circumstances that threaten to take you down are in fact causing you to rise up in the power of My might that you might surmount every…
• Sojourner Jul 16, 2016 If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.~ C.S. LewisEarth breaks up, time drops away, In flows…
• Living Large Jul 13, 2016 Here, monks, a disciple dwells pervading one direction with his heart filled with loving-kindness, likewise the second, the third, and the fourth direction; so above, below and around; he dwells pervading the entire world everywhere and…
• Truth Wins: Freedom Overcomes Jul 4, 2016 All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. ~Arthur Schopenhauer When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will…
• Part 2 of 2: Time to Let Go: Awakening Jul 3, 2016 Do you want to be filled with a Spirit who, though he is like Jesus in his gentleness and love, will nevertheless demand to be Lord of your life? Are you willing to let your personality…
• A Dog’s Life Jun 21, 2016 And since then, O Kings and Ladies, I have been wandering to find him and my happiness is so great that it even weakens me like a wound. And this is the marvel of marvels, that…
• Getting Angry at The Right Target Jun 11, 2016 Whenever I allow anything but tenderness and compassion to dictate my response to life–be it self-righteous anger, moralizing, defensiveness, the pressing need to change others…I am alienated from my true self. My identity as Abba’s child…
• Resting, Loving And Living: The Simplicity of The Gospel Jun 3, 2016 The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of…
• The Exchanged Life May 29, 2016 And yet it may happen in these most desperate trials of our human existence that beyond any rational explanation, we may feel a nail-scarred Hand clutching ours. We are able, as Etty Hillesun, the Dutch Jewess…
• Living Life Beyond The Platitudes: Loving The Lovable May 22, 2016 Suddenly I feel myself transformed and changed; it is joy unspeakable. My mind is exhilarated; I lose the memory of past trials; my intelligence is clarified; my desires are satisfied. I grasp something inwardly as with…
• Living Above The Line May 19, 2016 The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God…
• Forever in His Thoughts: Eternal Planning for You Apr 26, 2016 The Bible is a universe of revelation facts which have no meaning for us until we are born from above; when we are born again we see in it what we never saw before. We are…
• What If The Skeptics Are Right? Apr 13, 2016 The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of…
• Dismal Success Apr 8, 2016 There will be no “knights in shining armor” in God’s kingdom; our armor will have many dings and dents. No, no perfect Hollywood heros will ride to save the day; just wearied saints to look to…
• Good Friday Meditation: Overcoming The Cycle of Sin’s Poverty Mar 25, 2016 Living as the beloved- no more reduced lifestyle, walk with Him, into this place of favor, live in a place of unbroken delight, where the poverty of sin cannot touch us, where His newness of life…
• Living A Breakthrough Life Mar 22, 2016 Imagine that Jesus is calling you today. He extends a second invitation to accept His Father’s love. And maybe you answer, “Oh, I know that. It’s old hat.”…And God answers, ‘No, that’s what you don’t know.…
• The End of Heaviness Mar 9, 2016 For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When…
• When The Brain Reigns, Bondage Begins Feb 12, 2016 Jesus Christ set a window in the tiny dark dungeon of the ego in which we all languish, letting in a light, providing a vista, and offering a way of release from the servitude of the…
• Utterly, Completely Done Jan 23, 2016 Hope knows that if great trials are avoided great deeds remain undone and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted.~ Brennan Manning It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is…
• Could Go Back… But Why? Jan 22, 2016 Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear and with a manly heart.~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) Brothers,…
• Living Heavenly Minded Jan 6, 2016 Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a divine center, a speaking voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our…
• The Enormity of The Gospel in Christmas Dec 22, 2015 Advent. The coming of quiet joy.Arrival of radiant light in our darkness.Breath, mouth, ears, eyesHe is curtailed who overflowed all skies, all years.Older than eternity, now he is new.Now native to earth as I am,nailed to…
• Three Words to Live by: “I Got You” Dec 10, 2015 Without fear I can acknowledge that the authentic Christian tension is not between life and death, but between life and life.~Brennan Manning This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.…
• 100 Days in The Middle Kingdom of China Nov 29, 2015 In seeking to preserve your own life you will lose it. If you are prepared to lose your life for God’s sake, you will find it… I believe that such a moment comes in the life…
• Wholeness: When Form And Function Combine Nov 10, 2015 matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weaknesses he…
• Tough Curves on The Path Nov 5, 2015 Before I am asked to show compassion toward my brothers and sisters in their suffering, He asks me to accept His compassion in my own life, to be transformed by it, to become caring and compassionate…
• Living Beyond Our Agendas Oct 30, 2015 Jesus Christ set a window in the tiny dark dungeon of the ego in which we all languish, letting in a light, providing a vista, and offering a way of release from the servitude of the…
• Struggling up Maslow’s Hierarchy Oct 29, 2015 The prosperity gospel is “right.” But, it is totally wrong in the “riches” this message proposes we receive. One moment of His Presence is beyond the value of all the material goods i have ever received.…
• Running Down The Middle of The Path Oct 27, 2015 Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God. Fear of the unknown path stretching ahead of us destroys childlike trust in the Father’s active goodness and unrestricted love.~Brennan Manning, Ruthless TrustPreserve me, O…
• Our Fear of Freedom Oct 7, 2015 Only in the context of the great encounter with Jesus Christ Himself can a real authentic struggle take place. The encounter with Christ does not take place before, after, or beyond the struggle with our false…
• Radical Repentance from Our Fears Oct 6, 2015 I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear…
• Missing The Feast for A Bite of Porridge Oct 4, 2015 What if the biggest problem in America is not drugs, or pornography, or abortion, or poverty, or low education, or terrorism, or crime? What if the biggest problem in America is simply the lack of goodness?…
• He Smashes Into Our Lives Sep 29, 2015 Late have I loved You, O Beauty so ancient and new; Late Have I loved You. Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you, and upon the shapely things you have made I…
• Unforced Grace Sep 24, 2015 As we practice the work of forgiveness we discover more and more that forgiveness and healing are one.~Agnes Sanford Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone…
• Power’s Corruption Vs. The Authority in Integrity Sep 15, 2015 Integrity is only found at the moment where the bedrock of self has been shattered, and a new depth of being discovered.~ Makala Barnabas Doulos I am the True Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.…
• The Emissary’s Authority Sep 11, 2015 God is not saving the world; it is done. Our business is to get men and women to realize it… How many people have you made homesick for God?~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Now the eleven disciples went…
• Urban Bewilderment Sep 10, 2015 I was too ambitious in my deed,And thought to distance all men in success,Till God came to me, marked the place, and said,“Ill doer, henceforth keep within this line,Attempting less than others”—and I standAnd work among…
• Pervasive Obedience Aug 28, 2015 Consecration is the narrow, lonely way to overflowing love. We are not called upon to live long on this planet, but we are called upon to be holy at any and every cost. If obedience costs…
• The Heartbreaking Heart of The Savior Aug 27, 2015 You fathom the depth of My own heart only to the extent that your heart is broken and your inmost consciousness torn asunder by the pain of grief.~Frances J. Roberts Hear the word of the Lord,…
• De-Invictus: Why The Flesh Is So Big Aug 2, 2015 Through his death on the cross Jesus Christ not only readjusts a man in conscience and heart to God, he does something grander, he imparts to him the power to do all God wants, he presences…
• Already Gold Jul 11, 2015 A great many people are trying to make peace, but that has already been done. God has not left it for us to do; all we have to do is to enter into it.~Dwight Lyman Moody…
• Training in Goodness: Finding Life in Facing Death Jul 10, 2015 Blessing those who have hurt you is a decision of your will that may go against how you feel.~ Tony Evans Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and…
• ὑπερπλεονάζω (hyperpleonazō): The Exceedingly Abundantly Normal State of Grace Jun 30, 2015 There is within the limitless confines of the Trinity, a Love so real as to shatter any conception we have ever had of the word. The Love of G_d, is the very substance of who He…
• Whistling In The Dark Jun 19, 2015 You go whistling in the darkMaking light of it, making light of itAnd I follow with my heartLaughing all the way.~ Susan AshtonWhere shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your…
• Joy in The Skill He Gives Jun 18, 2015 In spiritual matters, human reasoning certainly is not in order; other intelligence, other skill and power, are requisite here—something to be granted by God himself and revealed through his Word.~Martin Luther (1483-1546) He who loves purity…
• Last Entry from Indonesia: Where Three Years Can Lead Jun 14, 2015 In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a…
• Separation And Restoration May 27, 2015 We have not to do with a God who is off there above the sky, who can deal with us only through the violation of physical law. We have instead a God in whom we live…
• Out of The Muck May 25, 2015 Jesus is the foundation of my whole life. He is my strength. If you have Jesus in your life, you know it, you feel it. He’s the solid rock you can stand on every day. There’s…
• Freedom from The Muck: Discovering The Joy of Aldersgate and Pentecost May 24, 2015 The soul, of origin divine,God’s glorious image, freed from clay, In heaven’s eternal sphere shall shine A star of day!~Robert Montgomery (1807-1855) I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry.…
• Shame Is The Prelude to Failure May 22, 2015 Remorse is to carry your own accuser within your breast.~ George Moore (1852-1933)So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in…
• Free Flow Forgiveness May 22, 2015 Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.~ Lily TomlinTherefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. And He said…
• Freedom from Darkness May 21, 2015 He that is good is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king.~Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430)As the Father has loved me, so have I loved…
• Why Hiding in Christ Is Not Cowardice May 13, 2015 Our huffing and puffing to impress God, our scrambling for brownie points, our thrashing about trying to fix ourselves while hiding our pettiness and wallowing in guilt are nauseating to God and are a flat out…
• Flatland And The Illusion of Control May 10, 2015 We talk about “circumstances over which we have no control.” None of us have control over our circumstances, but we are responsible for the way we pilot ourselves in the midst of things as they are.~Oswald…
• Living Beyond Dysfunction May 7, 2015 Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.~James Baldwin (1924- ) And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and…
• His Merciful Voice May 6, 2015 Kyrie Eleison (Gr. Lord have mercy)~ Ancient words of the ChurchAnd you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power…
• Deeper into Freedom May 4, 2015 Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.~Martin Luther King Jr. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths…
• A Warrior’s Rest Apr 29, 2015 A warrior does not give up what he loves, he finds the love in what he does~Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful WarriorWhen Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and…
• Having The Courage to Hide Mar 25, 2015 Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.― Corrie ten Boom The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. A rich…
• Love And Our Needs Mar 17, 2015 We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own…
• Love Never Fails Mar 15, 2015 In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve.~Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate BelongingIf I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a…
• Growing into The Fullness of The Gospel Mar 8, 2015 When the Spirit illuminates the heart, then a part of the man sees which never saw before; a part of him knows which never knew before, and that with a kind of knowing which the most…
• Warrior Living Feb 23, 2015 The certainty that he who went through death, who restored the connection between nature and the spiritual world, changes death to win a triumph, a triumph that is; awaiting us like the warrior who is going…
• Do You Really Want That? Feb 17, 2015 It is easier to perceive error than truth, for error lies on the surface and is easily seen, truth lies in the depth where few are willing to search for it.~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) Jesus…
• Escaping The Dragon’s Lair Feb 11, 2015 Then the lion said — but I don’t know if it spoke — You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly…
• No Weapon Prospers – Not Even Our Own Failure Feb 2, 2015 Our primary task in solitude is… to keep the eyes of our mind and heart on him who is our divine Savior. Only in the context of grace can we face our sin; only in the…
• The Truest Freedom: Love as The Law Jan 21, 2015 Love God and Do As You Please!! ~St. Augustine of Hippo By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen…
• Rebelling Against Fear and Anxiety Jan 15, 2015 You’re just a shell until you decide to rebel.~ Arrested Development Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be…
• Failure’s Doorstep: Setting Priorities Jan 4, 2015 If you’re a Christian, here’s the good news: who you really are has nothing to do with you— how much you can accomplish, who you can become, your behavior, your strengths, your weaknesses, your sordid past,…
• Amazingly Luminous Beings We Are Jan 2, 2015 It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor…. It is…
• Heart Ripped Out Thankful Dec 24, 2014 Poverty is the load of some, and. wealth is the load of others, perhaps the greater load of the two. Bear the load of your neighbor’s poverty, and let him bear with you the load of…
• High-Performance Is A Spiritual Issue Dec 17, 2014 What deep mysteries are contained in the Lord’s Prayer. How many and great they are! They are expressed in a few words, but they are rich in spiritual power so that nothing is left out; every…
• The Bitterness of The Soul Dec 17, 2014 When outward strength is broken, faith rests on the promises. In the midst of sorrow, faith draws the sting out of every trouble and takes out the bitterness from every affliction.~Robert Cecil (1563-1612)I am the man…
• Jesus: All in All Dec 14, 2014 I repent me of the ignorance wherein I ever said that God made man out of nothing: there is no nothing out of which to make anything; God is all in all, and he made us…
• Planting for An Astounding Harvest: Participation in The Divinity of G_d Dec 10, 2014 It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which,if you say it…
• Forever in The Balance Dec 1, 2014 The truth about forever is that it is happening right now.~ Sarah Dessen When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son…
• Fighting with Dull Weaponry Nov 17, 2014 He who will fight the devil with his own weapons must not wonder if he finds him an overmatch.~Robert South (1634-1716) But, seeing that we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live…
• A Pragmatic Grace Nov 5, 2014 A man must completely despair of himself in order to become fit to obtain the grace of Christ.~Martin Luther (1483-1546) So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a…
• An Extravagant Paradigm Nov 4, 2014 We can now hear the voice of the One who tore His very Triune Self apart that we might have ears to hear. And this same One has knit us to His very heart with the…
• Repenting of Fear Oct 30, 2014 Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.~Arthur Somers RocheSo then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to…
• Fear Not! Oct 30, 2014 With credits to the research of the writer of http://musingsofaministerswife.com/2012/08/so-how-many-times-is-fear-not-actually-in-the-bible/ Genesis 15:1 KJV After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying , Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield,…
• The Self Righteousness of Perfectionism Oct 22, 2014 He had no qualms; “for”, said he, “when I fail in my duty, I readily acknowledge it, saying, ‘I am used to doing so; I shall never do otherwise if I am left to myself’. If…
• Dawn of The Dead – Four Years of Living The Crucified Life Oct 19, 2014 We have one function in life: to be the manifestors of His life to the world. Only when we are living His life are we truly living our own! This is the reason for our creation.~Malcolm…
• Don’t Listen to Dead Men’s Tales Oct 9, 2014 The Holy Ghost destroys my personal private life and turns it into a thoroughfare for God.~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)“This is like the days of Noah to Me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no…
• Ignorance Is Not Bliss Oct 9, 2014 However, when we are employed in obtaining an assurance of His love, we are still to an extent busy with self. Our defects, regarded in peace and in the spirit of love, are instantly consumed by…
• Total Reconciliation Oct 5, 2014 Only in seeing ourselves as both completely full in Him and, totally desperate for more of Him, can we find the beginning of the infiniteness of our relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ.~Makala Barnabas DoulosHe…
• Glorious Oversight Oct 2, 2014 Choose to love—rather than hateChoose to smile—rather than frownChoose to build—rather than destroyChoose to persevere—rather than quitChoose to praise—rather than gossipChoose to heal—rather than woundChoose to give—rather than graspChoose to act—rather than delayChoose to forgive—rather than…
• When Division Brings Healing Aug 13, 2014 God never develops one part of our being at the expense of the other; spirit, soul, and body are kept in harmony.~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if…
• A Warrior’s Freedom Aug 11, 2014 We have been born under a Monarchy; to obey God is freedom.~ Seneca (4 B.C. – 65 A.D.)So they said to Him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you…
• What The Church is Not Aug 10, 2014 Persecution has not crushed the church; power has not beaten it back; time has not abated its forces; and what is most wonderful of all, the abuses of its friends have not shaken its stability.~Horace Bushnell…
• The Mysterious Exchange Jul 31, 2014 To let my loving Savior work in me His will, my sanctification, is what I would live for by His grace. Abiding, not striving nor struggling; looking off unto Him; trusting Him for present power;… resting…
• The Key to Victory: His Presence Jul 8, 2014 The Father is not content until you are overwhelmed, until the very fabric of your personality is totally riddled with who He is, until you are overwhelmed in your heart, in your thinking, in the way…
• סְגֻלָּה A Peculiar People Jul 6, 2014 Note the contradictions: The Christian believes that in Christ he has died, yet he is more alive than before and he fully expects to live forever. He walks on earth while seated in heaven and though…
• Prime Directive Jun 13, 2014 When you live above fear, it becomes a weapon in your hand and you drive it into the heart of your enemy.~ Graham CookeBy this we know that we abide in Him and He in us,…
• The YAWP! of the Transformed May 14, 2014 I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,I sound my barbaric YAWP over the roofs of the world.~ Walt WitmanFor am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am…
• Slavery, Truth and Trust May 12, 2014 In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.~ Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai LamaYou shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.~ Jesus, King of the Universe, in John 3And…
• The Freedom to Love Apr 10, 2014 To say that God justifies the ungodly means quite simply that God in his amazing love treats the sinner as if he was a good man. Again, to put it very simply, God loves us, not…
• The Idolatry of Everything Apr 2, 2014 Whenever we take what God has done and put it in the place of himself, we become idolators.~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not…
• Our Awkwardness in Intimacy with God Mar 2, 2014 No distant Lord have I, Loving afar to be;Made flesh for me, he cannot restUntil he rests in me.Brother in joy and pain,Bone of my bone was he,Now—intimacy closer still,He dwells himself in me.~Maltbie D. Babcock…
• Grace And The Lordship of Christ Feb 17, 2014 What we do about the lordship of Jesus is a better indication of our faith than what we think. This is what the world wants from our rhetoric, what the man of God longs for in…
• At The End of A Lesson Feb 3, 2014 God’s thoughts, his will, his love, his judgments are all man’s home. To think his thoughts, to choose his will, to love his loves, to judge his judgments, and thus to know that he is in…
• The New Normal Jan 10, 2014 Only in seeing ourselves as both completely full in Him and, totally desperate for more of Him, can we find the beginning of the infiniteness of our relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ.~Makala Barnabas DoulosReceive…
• Power Curve Dec 9, 2013 What are you waiting for? You’re faster than this. Don’t think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me. ~ Morpheus to Neo, in The MatrixThen they yoked themselves…
• Rebellion: The Enemy of True Freedom Oct 30, 2013 The Bible everywhere takes for granted Israel’s ability to obey the law. Condemnation fell because Israel, having that ability, refused to obey. They sinned not out of amiable weakness, but out of deliberate rebellion against the…
• A Friend: Safely Home Oct 14, 2013 Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah! I am with the Lord! Glory, ready, go!—From the scaffold~Charles J. Guiteau (1841-1882)But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve…
• Thrice Freed Feb 23, 2013 Only in the context of grace can we face our sin; only in the place of healing do we dare to show our wounds; only with a single-minded attention to Christ can we give up our…
• Torn to Be Made Whole Feb 14, 2013 It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.~ A.W. TozerTake a moment beloved… read it. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and…
• The Crushing Tyranny of Choice Jan 2, 2013 Our destiny is not determined for us, but it is determined by us. Man’s free will is part of God’s sovereign will. We have freedom to take which course we choose, but not freedom to determine…
• Comfort in His Foreknowledge Aug 11, 2012 God’s foreknowledge of what he will do does not necessitate him to do.~Stephen Charnock (1628-1680)And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to…
• Free May 16, 2012 Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata—of creatures that worked like machines—would hardly be worth creating.…
• Denial Is More Than A River in Egypt Apr 15, 2012 Love the truth though it may do you harm; hate the lie though it may please you.~Arabian Proverb So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.…
• Manumission’s Mystery Sep 23, 2011 The power of sin has been broken in our lives, and we are now free to live for God. — Carl NCP “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have…
• An Unexpected Result Aug 15, 2011 This is liberty: to know that God alone matters. — Donald Haukey (1874–1917) From his imprisonment my freedoms grow, find wings. Part of his body, I transcend this flesh. From his sweet silence my mouth sings.…
• It is for Freedom Jul 5, 2011 No man is free who is a slave to the flesh. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 b.c.–a.d. 65) For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a…

No posts match that filter.