James 3:10-11–From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?  One sign that I know I am struggling in my faith is how negative I speak about things.  Most of the time […]

One of the great advantages of living near a big city like Seattle is that my wife and I can go and listen to the world class musicians perform their craft at places like Benaroya Hall. The last concert we went to was one of my favorites – Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3. I counted […]

1 Chronicles 13:11-13–And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day. 12 And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?”    I’v had the opportunity to speak to many […]

When I was a young, I was taught that God only uses clean vessels. In other words, if you want to be used by God, then you must live a clean life because God doesn’t use junk! And the implication is that if you are used by God, then that meant that you are a […]

1 Chronicles 10:9-10-And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people.  Growing up I was a baseball junkie, my whole family was as I recall.  Along with that came a whole bunch […]

I don’t know why this never dawn on me until recently – I guess I’m very slow – but I’m beginning to see that God commands us to do things He KNOWS we cannot do so that we will stop relying on ourselves but rely on Him! For example, loving God with all our heart, […]

Hebrews 10:8-10–When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),    In being a parent, admittedly there are times when I could care less whether you have a heart to please me or not when it […]

I watched a powerful documentary online yesterday. It was about doctors and aid-workers who go into North Korean to identify and treat Multi-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients. Without the treatment, these patients will slowly waste away and eventually die within a couple years. I saw a tall and handsome young man who only weighed 95 lbs […]

John 6:68-69–Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” The popular idea of salvation, is that we have a future hope beyond this life in heaven with Jesus, […]

1 John 4:19–We love because he first loved us. Lately I think the Lord has really challenged me to understand what His love truly means, and how to practically cultivate it within relationships of all kinds.  For example without understanding the root of the gospel, we treat and give love according to how people perform, […]