Category Archives: Spiritual

July 14, 2016 · 5:58 am

Are You Running on Spiritual Fumes?

Running on empty

I have some great facebook friends who post some meaningful, insightful and often challenging thoughts that inspire and encourage me. The following is from Sheri Mauck, the wife of a preaching colleague, Tony Mauck, that she posed a few days ago.

“If you are a grown-up Christian who was ‘raised right’, learning the Bible in Bible class, hearing sermons, singing songs and you think you already ‘know’ the Bible so you don’t read it EVERY DAY, because you ‘already know it’, you will find that you are struggling to grow.” Continue reading →

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July 5, 2016 · 7:09 am

Training like an Olympic Champion

Spiritual Training

The summer Olympics begin one month from today in Rio. Athletes around the world are preparing for the biggest event of their lives, hopefully resulting in winning an Olympic medal. As I read an NBC report about their final month of training, the headline of the article was entitled “Olympic training: Drudgery Report.”

No doubt the grueling weekly schedule that calls for early morning workouts, personal sacrifice, and daily self discipline, can take its toll. It’s rigorous. Tough. And demanding. Continue reading →

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April 8, 2016 · 7:24 am

Rest for the Restless Soul

Haggard

Wednesday was Merle Haggard’s 79th birthday. Ironically it was the day he died.

Haggard has been hailed as a country music “icon.” A “legend” in his own time. “A pioneer.” “A true entertainer.” And “the outlaw of country music.” Haggard did more than sing country music. He lived it.

His troubled youth, brushes with the law and imprisonment in San Quentin are well documented. Johnny Cash advised Haggard to write and sing about the darker side of his life. “Mamma tried,” one of his 40 #1 hits, was an apology of sorts to his hard-working, Christian mother for his rebellious life. Continue reading →

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September 17, 2015 · 6:07 am

Kingdoms in Conflict

Kingdoms conflict

“Let’s get something straight,” columnist Cal Thomas recently wrote, “America has never been a ‘Christian nation.’”

While that statement may be shocking to some, it’s true. For those who disagree Thomas asks, “What part of our history was uniquely Christian? Was it when slavery was legal? How about when women were denied the vote? The Gilded Age? The Roaring ’20s?” Continue reading →

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July 14, 2015 · 6:58 am

When God Draws Near Us

hand reaching out and touching earth

Cleland McAfee was a preacher and song writer from Parkville, Mo,. He lived in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He was known for often writing his own songs that fit the theme of a sermon he was preaching. In 1903 he suffered the tragic loss of two infant nieces to diphtheria.

His daughter, in her book Near to the Heart of God, describes what happened. Continue reading →

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April 3, 2014 · 7:33 am

Do You Really “Know God” ?

Intimacy.God

My wife, Norma Jean, has a daily devotional book by Sarah Young called Take My Heart, Oh God. Today’s quote, by Jane Rubietta, is: “The more we know God, the more deeply we love God.” 

Think about it. Do you know God? Really know God?  Continue reading →

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February 28, 2013 · 8:43 am

What Do You See?

Texas.RanchSince I’m in Texas this week here’s a story about the famed Dallas preacher Dr. George W. Truett, who ministered in the same church for 47 years.

Once he was the dinner guest of a wealthy West Texas rancher.  Following the meal, the rancher took Truett up on the veranda of his massive ranch house.  As the sun set, the man pointed south toward some oil rigs and said, “”I own everything in that direction as far as you can see.” Continue reading →

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October 25, 2012 · 5:12 am

What Drives You?

Popular author, Rick Warren writes, “Everyone’s life is driven by something. Most dictionaries define the verb drive as “to guide, to control, or to direct.” Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment. What is the driving force in your life?” Continue reading →

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February 12, 2012 · 7:48 am

A Spiritual Focus

With so much emphasis today on the physical and material, even when it comes to matters regarding the Lord’s church, we need to be reminded that God’s primary focus is on the spiritual.  The Bible speaks of…. Continue reading →

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