Will God speak through a Fortune Cookie?

18 May, 2012 Challenges,  Forgiveness,  God's grace,  mentoring,  Patterns of Life,  Uncategorized,  Walking with God

Recently, my wife, Nancy, and I were in New York City for ministry with a Chinese church. The pastors took us to dinner in a Chinese restaurant. When dinner was finished, someone opened a fortune cookie that read, “Compromise is always wrong if it means sacrificing a principle.” (more…)

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Dogs, Swine and Lovingkindness

15 May, 2012 Challenges,  God's grace,  mentoring,  Overcoming,  Spiritual Growth, 

I was recently enjoying my weekly phone call with my friend, Pastor Glenn Holderread. He mentioned that he had been meditating on Matthew 7:6. He said, it reminded him of a time when he refused to enable a drug addict to continue in his sin by giving him the money the man asked for. Pastor Glenn said he recently found out that this man had gone to a rehab center. It changed his life and now, two years later, he was a productive citizen in God’s kingdom. In Matthew 7:6 (NKJV) it says, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”

It is easy to quote Matthew 7:6 as justification for the attitudes that harden our hearts and thus, our actions. Moments after Pastor Glenn read this verse to me on the phone, God said to my heart, “Look for the grace and lovingkindness in your refusal. It might just be the open door to somebody’s freedom.” I realized God was saying that refusal to agree with sin, when done for the right reasons, is a demonstration of righteousness and grace, but also of lovingkindness. Think about this. When you do what is right for the wrong reasons, it may not really be right unless it is done with righteousness, grace and lovingkindness working together. Now that is worth meditating on.

Here are a couple questions worth a few more moments of your time. When you consider someone’s request for help, do you make your decision based solely on what is convenient or easy? How do righteousness, grace and lovingkindness influence your decision? Oh, one more thing before you answer – Be sure your answer includes the lessons of Psalm 103. It says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul…, {4} Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,”

Dogs, Swine and Lovingkindness

 

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The Key to Refreshing

8 May, 2012 Advice,  Challenges,  Healing,  mentoring,  Spiritual Growth, 

I have been thinking all the people I have recently encountered who need a refreshing in their spirits. So many of us can become mentally, emotionally or spiritually fatigued from what our circumstances have offered us. (more…)

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When the Natural Conclusion Stinks

26 April, 2012 Advice,  Challenges,  Encountering God,  Faith,  mentoring,  Overcoming,  Patterns of Life,  Spiritual Growth,  Storms of Life, 

You are probably familiar with the narrative in John, Chapter 11, which tells of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Do you remember Lazarus’ sister Martha’s response (more…)

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Focus on the Opportunity

19 April, 2012 Advice,  Challenges,  Encountering God,  Faith,  mentoring,  Overcoming,  Patterns of Life,  Spiritual Growth,  Walking with God, 

In the previous Mentoring Minute, I spoke about what happens when your faith brings a lifestyle of testimonies to the caring hand of God. Now, consider this. In difficult times, our expectations always fall short of (more…)

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True Wisdom

12 April, 2012 Advice,  Challenges,  Faith,  mentoring,  Walking with God, 

I have come to realize that whatever wisdom I have to share is not because of anything I am. It all comes from two outside sources, which are the Word of God and the still small voice of the Lord. (more…)

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Proper Tailoring, Proper Fit

5 April, 2012 Advice,  Challenges,  mentoring,  Patterns of Life,  Spiritual Growth,  Walking with God, 

I want to share an ordinary, everyday experience I recently had, in which God spoke an extraordinary truth to me. It happened as I was taking a pair of pants from my closet. (more…)

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Stop doing the Nice Things. Start doing the Right Things.

3 April, 2012 Advice,  Challenges,  mentoring,  Patterns of Life,  Responsibilities, 

I have come to realize that doing nice things is most often good. However, there are times when doing nice things is wrong, because (more…)

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Trust and Obey

20 March, 2012 Advice,  Challenges,  Faith,  mentoring,  Surrender to God,  Trust, 

I asked my good friend, Bishop Daniel Makutsoane from Lesotho, if I could share this powerful piece of wisdom with you. (more…)

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A Limited Access Highway

8 March, 2012 Advice,  Challenges,  Faith,  mentoring,  Walking with God, 

A limited access highway is designed to have only a few intersections and crossroads. These are limited access points that have been designed by the engineers and road builders. They provide (more…)

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