But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder. Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? […]
Category Archives: Ministry
Sanctified Doubt
“If it be Thy will, Lord,” is sanctified doubt. If you don’t know what the will of the Lord is in a situation, ask Him. The one who asks will receive answers (Matthew 7:7). Yahweh said to Jeremiah, “Call to me and I’ll answer you. I will tell you great things – wondrous things that you don’t know yet.” (Jeremiah 33:3). Maybe He would extend that blessing to you, too. […]
Access
Some days, whatever I post will have value to some people and not for others, based on what each person’s circumstance or attitude or energy level is that day. On those days when what I say doesn’t seem to hit either a target or a nerve, I give you access to much more anyway: at the bottom of each email is an image of a plumbline, the temple, and a […]
Being Humble
You cannot afford the cost of humility if you don’t know the fruit of the Spirit. Only His budget can support the kind of expenditures required by humble responses to accusations and suspicions and insults and theft.
Being Filled With the Spirit
Philip, having been filled with the Spirit through the act of the apostles laying hands on him, as Luke recorded in Acts 6, was thrust out of Jerusalem by the persecution following the death of his friend Stephen in Acts 8. Clearly, his gift was evangelism, because he led an entire city to Jesus and baptized them. Peter and John were sent by the rest of the apostles to bless […]
Romance / Agape
Please think back to the first few months after you became a believer. How many things did the Lord do to confirm to you His presence, His love, and your transformation? How much of that has been replaced on your side of the relationship with coolness, or how much is taken for granted now, that inspired awe in those first days? Making a decision to return to that excitement and […]
Yeshua, the Messiah
Christ is a title. It means “one anointed.” In Hebrew, christ was messiah. The term was used to refer to Cyrus, king of Persia (Isaiah 45:1), David (2 Samuel 23:1), Saul (1 Samuel 24:10), others, oil, and Jesus. Jesus is a name. It means “Salvation of Yah.” Jesus is a Greek transliteration of Yeshua, His real name, which is a different pronunciation and spelling of the name Joshua. Since His […]
What we Give
In a sense, we are not required to give anything to Jesus in this life. We are called to give everything, but not required to give anything. Pretending to give all when we are not is dangerous, though. Give all, give none, do something half-way; whatever you do, though, be honest: with yourself, your neighbor, and with Jesus. This includes your time, your attention, your stuff, and your relationships. But […]
Cash-Free Baptism
The third page of my website offers access to several articles I have written. If you have read Being Baptized, which is posted on that third page, you will quickly see why I call Peter’s cash problem in Acts 3 a baptism. Peter and John encountered a man at the gate called Beautiful as they went to the temple at prayer time. The man seems to have been brought there […]
The 120 Clerks
Is it possible that the 120 believers who were gathered on Pentecost as described in Acts 2 were all clergy? At least 11 were apostles. If the Holy Spirit was OK with an apostle being chosen by means of winning a game of dice, there were at least 12 apostles (Matthias: Acts1:15-26). What about the rest of them? How many were leaders? How many were simply people who loved Jesus […]