Fresh heart for the journey
I would love having a friend like Onisiphorous. No, really. Here’s what Scripture tells us about Onisiphorus. He was a personal friend of Paul the Apostle and received the following prayer of blessings from the aging apostle: “May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was […]
“ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, […]
We’ve now come to the last in the motivational gift list of Romans 12. Most of us like this gift the most because we want to be loved and cared for and nobody does it as well as the Compassions. God did not distribute these seven gifts equally. In a survey with over 1,000 […]
One of my heroes of the Bible – Nehemiah – was a classic ‘Administrator.’ And with Nehemiah’s administrative gift, God gave the directions for getting his people back to their homeland. You can recognize this gift in very young children. Take my granddaughter Kaleah for example. She would take charge of board games, actually […]
The gift of ‘Giver’ isn’t about money … only. Givers don’t normally see this gift in themselves, mostly because when any of us hear the word ‘giving’ we think immediately about money. If they have money they give money, but even financially-challenged ‘Givers’ still give – of their time, talents, energy and love. Whatever […]
In the gift list of Romans 12, I am firmly established in the “Exhorter” category. I have other lesser rated gifts, but whenever the test is taken, this one is always on the top. Here’s some of what that means in my life: I instinctively talk to people in lines at Disneyland. Life is […]
Were you the kid who asked 450 questions a day? Was your favorite word ‘why?’ Do you enjoy word games? Like studying and investigating facts? Then you just may have a ‘Teacher’ gift. The Teachers have a keen intellectual capacity. They’re the ‘mind’ of the Body of Christ and a good deal of your […]
Ever been embarrassed by someone who always took on the jobs nobody else wanted, constantly volunteering for whatever comes along … even hard work. You feel scrounged because you assume that if you loved Jesus you would be more like them. Welcome to the world of the ‘Server.’ (Romans 12:7) They run toward words […]
When we hear the word ‘prophet’ we think immediately of the Old Testament characters who would walk up to a wicked king and say, ‘Thus saith the Lord …” and foretell his demise and destruction of his kingdom. These were powerful figures who spoke powerfully for God. If they spoke something and it didn’t […]
The average church congregation is multi-faceted! There are young, old, men, women, children, teens and in-betweens. Some are of means, others would be of means if they only had the means! There are Democrats and Republicans, Independents and non-political. (And we don’t make one group sit by itself.) There are high tech people, low […]
I am a pastor, teacher, and encourager. I am a happy husband and leader of a family tribe now numbering 13. I am President of Fresh Heart Ministries and consider called of God to help you grow in your spiritual walk … let you know how special you are to God … and have some fun while doing so.