Posts with the category “kingdom-journey”

Growing up in my house, if you heard Mom or Day say, “Don’t make me say it again,” you knew that was a clear warning—repetition was a warning. A warning that meant I wasn’t listening to what they said...  Read More

Kimutchi will always have a place in my heart. She was a prostitute from the streets of Detroit who I led to the Lord. It was one of our initial conversations that forever has marked me. She used to c...  Read More

A young man was drinking heavily and decided to go for a swim at a California beach. Fortunately, an older man was watching the young man as he entered the water and saw that when he dove in, he did n...  Read More

For a number of chapters, we have been through some dark moments, but now in today’s chapter, the hope bursts on the scene with loud shouting! It is God making all things right, and heaven explodes in...  Read More

When Michael Bloomberg was still mayor of New York City, he announced he was stepping up his efforts beyond his role as mayor to battle a number of social issues, including fights against smoking and ...  Read More

A few times in high school, I had to fill in on the track and field team because some players were lost due to injuries and the track coach pulled athletes from other school sports. I remember being a...  Read More

One of the scariest movies I have ever seen was not in a theater but in a church. It was called A Thief in the Night, and it was circulating in the 1970s about the end times. I knew I wanted to be rea...  Read More

There is beauty in diversity and variety. Think about how diverse and beautiful America’s landscape is. Parts of our country have mountains, deserts, forests, plains, and cities with skyscrapers. The ...  Read More

The Beatitudes are a unique part of Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount that all start the same way: “Blessed are . . .” Jesus said, “Blessed are . . .” nine different times in Matthew 5. Th...  Read More

If you are a baseball fan, the number 42 is an important number. It belonged to Jackie Robinson, the first African American to cross the racial lines and play major league baseball in 1947. That numbe...  Read More

Some years ago, I read an interesting book called Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War by Eliot A. Cohen and John Gooch, in which the authors noticed that throughout history, defeat ris...  Read More

Whenever I read Revelation 11, my mind goes back to the three temptations Jesus experienced in the wilderness that started His public ministry—especially to the third temptation....  Read More

David Wilkerson was a spiritual father to me. His investment in my life was so significant that I am in ministry today because of him. He is the founder of Teen Challenge, the author of The Cross and ...  Read More

Not only was Thomas Jefferson our third president, in his retirement, he also founded the University of Virginia. Believing that students would take their studies seriously, he encouraged a more lax c...  Read More

You know a relationship is in trouble when silence occurs between the two parties. Nothing is worse than a silent home between husband and wife. I’m not condoning it, but yelling at each other is bett...  Read More

I think we have mixed up our priorities. Author Gordon Dahl agrees. Consider his observation: “Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play, and to play at their worsh...  Read More

Located in Washington DC is the iconic memorial to Thomas Jefferson. And written on the northeast portico of the memorial are these sobering and haunting words our country needs to read and digest aga...  Read More

When I travel overseas, the first thing I have to look for in that new country is a currency exchange counter. I need to turn US dollars into the currency of that country. My currency doesn’t work on ...  Read More

Pastor Gordon Lester says this about two important words: “Familiarity and intimacy are not the same. Each has a value in life, certainly in married life, but one is no substitute for the other. If on...  Read More

Some time ago, Cindy and I were doing marital counseling for a couple who were struggling in their marriage. I asked a question I always ask in those types of counseling appointments. It is one of rea...  Read More

Famed classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma was in a rush to get from one side of Manhattan to the other for a quick appearance. So rushed that when he arrived at his destination, he paid his driver, exited the ...  Read More

When music, lights, and atmosphere are what we need to get us to praise God, we have chosen cheap praise. Cheap praise needs props to inspire. Real praise needs a revelation....  Read More

There’s an old saying, “The question is not if we will defend the Christian faith, but how well.” Such a true statement. And today’s reading in Jude, though it’s only one chapter, comes out swinging w...  Read More

Where parents used to rely on peers or their parents to help them navigate parenting challenges, such as bedtime, homework, and tantrums, many are now turning to parenting coaches. Many of these coach...  Read More

In my library, I have more than fifteen thousand books. I love books on preaching. Two preeminent nineteenth-century preachers whose sermons are in my library are Charles Spurgeon (Metropolitan Tabern...  Read More

Next time you are in the airport, I want you to notice something: observe the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on a standby list. The ones with confirmed tick...  Read More

For many years when researchers asked Americans about their top fears, here is how Americans responded: Their number 1 fear: public speaking. Their number 2: death....  Read More

One of the greatest thrills for any violinist is to play a Stradivarius. Named for their creator, Antonio Stradivari, who meticulously handcrafted these rare violins, which produce an amazing sound. S...  Read More

Author and pastor Tony Evans once said: I spilled coffee on my suit pants recently. It did not matter whether I spilled it accidentally or intentionally. It stained my pants. There was a stain, and it...  Read More

My wife and I have been married for more than two decades, and what she told me at the beginning of our marriage was both genius and biblical. Cindy said to me, “I will never complain or fight you on ...  Read More

A pastor was walking down a row of fine old Victorian homes in his neighborhood on a cold day when he spotted a young boy on the front porch of one of those homes. The old-fashioned doorbell was set h...  Read More

You made your bed, now lie in it. Have you heard this phrase? It means you made that decision, now you have to deal with its consequences.” That is true if it weren’t for the grace of God....  Read More

A young man was at the zebra enclosure at the Cairo International Garden municipal park and noticed something wrong about the zebras. When he took a closer look, he became convinced that the animals b...  Read More

The story goes that a lady approached Charles Spurgeon and told him that she felt called to the ministry. Spurgeon asked about her home and family. When he heard she had thirteen children, he exclaime...  Read More

The people to whom Peter wrote the letters of 1 and 2 Peter were believers experiencing severe persecution under the reign and government of the Roman emperor Nero. Nero was a psycho and afflicted the...  Read More

Seventeenth-century evangelist John Wesley was returning home from a service one night when he was robbed. Unfortunately for the thief, Wesley had only very little money and some Christian literature....  Read More

Can you imagine what we would miss if we stopped short on verses in the Bible and just read half of them? What if we only quoted the second part of John 3:16: “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish...  Read More

I was reading the story of a young man who had a call on his life to go on the mission field. The problem was that he still had an edge to him. He still had an independent spirit, which came out by wh...  Read More

If there is one book in the Bible that reminds us that our words matter, it is the book of James. In fact, the book of James has five chapters, and all five have something to say about the tongue. Let...  Read More

In It Worked for Me, former Secretary of State Colin Powell tells a story about a time he slipped out of his office and past the secret service agents and snuck down to the building’s parking garage. ...  Read More