Joshua encountered the Commander of the Armies of Yahweh (Joshua 5:13,14). He was standing with his sword drawn in front of Joshua one day near Jericho after Israel crossed the Jordan River into the land that had belonged to Canaan’s descendants. Joshua bravely approached the warrior and asked him if he was on Joshua’s side or his enemies’ side. He responded, “No…” Yahweh then told Joshua that though He was […]

Billy Graham gave evangelism a good name. He had wisdom to know that new believers need to be connected to some congregation quickly at the level of being a family member if they were going to continue to be related to the church. Still,  only 4 – 5% of his converts lasted more than 4 years in a congregation without separating from the church. Most congregations don’t value new, messy […]

In 1 Samuel 16:14-23 there is the story of a tormenting spirit that Yahweh sent to Saul after He removed His Spirit from him. Even the servants around the palace knew somehow that Yahweh had sent the demon to torture the boss. Tormenting Saul was not the point of sending the spirit, though. The point was giving David the throne. You can’t see either of those truths at the beginning […]