Truth Teacher

My in-laws had just rolled into town.  They had a tiring flight, too many delays and layovers, but they were finally here.  After a great night sleep, they were anxious to start their vacation time in sunny Florida.  So my father-in-law and I hop into the family mini-van to run a few errands.  Click click click.  Click click click. Click click click click click silence.  The car won’t start.  We do what any two seasoned men would do, we lift the hood and stare into a maze of wires, tubes and motor parts.  I locate the battery, buried in a corner underneath some large bar that appears to give support to the front of the car.  After whipping my old truck around into position, we jump start the car with ease...it’s the battery.  The rest of the story is fairly uneventful, except the part of trying to get the battery out, but I will leave that for another time.  In a short amount of time, the battery is replaced and we are humming alon...

I have to confess, it 's hard to write what’s on my heart without sounding like a motivational seminar.  Bravo to John Maxwell, Zig Ziglar and so many others who have inspired and motivated us to be better at work, home and even in our spiritual lives.  My wife worked 10 years for the largest Success Motivational company in the world, so I have been exposed to heavy doses of the success motivational community.  However, what I am about to share is not hype, it is not a prelude to sell a book and it will not require you to pull out your wallet.  But, if you adopt these seven qualities I can guarantee success.  Better yet, the guarantee is not mine, it is from the only One who can make such a promise and deliver, almighty God.     That being said, I have come across seven qualities that can be so life-changing that I must share them with you.  These qualities guarantee you will be effective and fruitful.  The key to these qualities is t...

Great faith trusts God when there is nothing in the cupboard to eat and no money to buy food. Great faith trusts in God when health is gone, work is gone, reputation is gone, or family is gone. Great faith trusts God while the windstorm is still howling and persecution continues. Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends. ~ George Muller The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin. ~ A.W. Tozer Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. ~ Augustine The true, living faith, which the Holy Spirit instills into the heart, simply cannot be idle. ~ Martin Luther God does not expect us to submit our faith to him without reason, but the very limits of our reason make faith a necessity. ~ Aug...

  "Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends." ~ George Muller  This story is told by the captain of a ship on which George Muller of Bristol was traveling.  “We had George Muller of Bristol on board,” said the captain. “I had been on the bridge for twenty-four hours and never left it and George Muller came to me and said, “Captain, I have come to tell you I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.” “It is impossible,” I said. “Then very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement in fifty-seven years; let us go down into the chart room and pray.”  “I looked at that man of God and thought to myself, “What lunatic asylum can that man have come from, for I never heard of such a thing as this?” “Mr. Muller,” I said, “do you know how dense this fog is?”  ““No,” he replied, “my eye is not on the density ...

Broken promises, they sit and fester in your gully like cheap Chinese take-out with a “C” restaurant rating.  It doesn’t matter if you stand up, lay down, go for a walk, your churning stomach stands as a reminder of the broken promises. I have to work tonight, New Year’s Eve, because “people changed their mind”.  Not that I had big plans, it was more the thought of working on New Year’s Eve.  A night when most of the civilized world takes a break from their job to celebrate the year past and embraces the hopes for the year to come.  Working tonight has been a bit of a sore spot because of a broken promise.  I was reminded of a few great verses in a sermon,  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside ever weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endur...

(Part of the Faith to Move Mountain series, examples.  Taken from Luke 1:5-25) There was a priest named Zechariah...he had a wife named Elizabeth.  "They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord." Luke 1:6 Zechariah and Elizabeth walked blamelessly before God.  And then the Scripture says, "But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren." (1:7)  They served God faithfully but the one thing a Jewish man wanted was a son.  The one thing a Jewish woman needed to remove the reproach of her people was a son.  Zechariah and Elizabeth were "advanced in years", in other words, they were way past the age at which women give birth. Zechariah, while performing his duties, is visited by an angel that tells him he and Elizabeth will have a son.  The crux of the whole story and the "faith learning moment" is this, Zechariah had not ceased to pray for a son for him and Elizabeth, though it ...

Have you moved your mountain yet?  You are not alone if you said "no".  God was gracious to us to give us examples of imperfect people, who rose above the lure of the culture, to please God.  They (as we do now) lived in rebellious times when every intention of the thoughts of mankind’s heart was continually evil.  Righteous men and women found a way to live by faith.  Consider these truths: By faith, Noah... Heb 11:7 Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord Gen 6:8 Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation Gen 6:9 Noah walked with God Ge 6:9 Noah worshiped the Lord Ge 8:20 Noah was obedient Ge 6:22 Noah was reverent Ge 8:20; Heb 11:7 Noah was an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith Heb 11:7 Noah was a herald of righteousness 2 Peter 2:5 Noah, like Enoch, walked with God.  They walked by faith and they lived their lives to please God.  Noah found a way to live a righteous life in the midst of a generation who’s...