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08/01/2025

👉🏻You’ll want to be there not just anywhere, right? Can you imagine what it will be like when all heaven goes silent?

07/31/2025

👉🏻 There’s something satisfying when the strongest skeptic of who and what you follow is rendered speechless. I just don’t like when that skeptic is someone with whom I agree!

A journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Yale Law student, atheist, and skeptic wrote a book about just such a moment in his life.

Using his skills in investigative journalism and legal depositions, he sought to vanquish the Christian faith by disproving its central claim - the resurrected Christ.

What happened? The power and wisdom of the cross made him a follower of Christ!

His mouth was stopped, and he became guilty before God.

He went from scoffing at the foolishness of preaching to a new paradigm of life through faith in the resurrected Christ.

In his book, A Case for Christ, he details his journey to faith in Christ.

What convinced him?

God’s word gives the answer:
Lee, like so many before him met the power of the cross (1 Cor. 1:18-21), and the wisdom of God in the Cross-examination (1 Cor 1:22-25).

Strobel went from an atheist to awe. Calvary cross-examined silenced the skeptic!

He concluded it took far more faith to remain an atheist than to put his trust in Christ.

Here’s the thing. Christians argue – a lot!

That’s the context of Paul’s words (1 Cor. 1:11-13).

I’m of Paul, Apollos, Cephas What’s your tribe or brand, pet doctrine or practice?

Some were no doubt right and others wrong. But the controversies were drawing attention away from Christ.

Paul wisely brings them back to Calvary and invites investigation but also interrogation.

Let it cross-examine your motives, your arguments, skepticism and tribalism.

Maybe revisiting Calvary and seeing Jesus hanging, bleeding, dying… and rising for us can stop our mouth, bring us guilty before God and turn our arguments into awe.

Over the years we’ve all seen, heard and participated in our fair share of arguments about the things of God.

Right or wrong, now might be a good time to go speechless.

But don’t stop there. After you bow the head in shame, you’ll soon raise a hand in praise.

I wrote more about this in my bi-weekly newsletter. It’s free, short and practical. You’ll find it

07/30/2025

👉🏻 God didn’t save you so others could still support you. That’s His job now – you can trust Him and deep down we know this, don’t we?

Talking to Jesus honestly in the struggle is more important than trying to escape to some celebration. You’ll have to experience this before you can believe it.

He’s growing you in the silence not abandoning you. Embrace it.

Don’t Miss A Thing. You can get deeper insights and encouragement by email twice a week.

It’s free, short, practical and is helping multitudes go deeper and grow strong in their walk with God.

Start yours free today

07/29/2025

👉🏻When basic needs go unmet our source of relief reveals where our faith truly lies. Outward pressure can create inward promptings that produces an environment ripe for bad decisions.

It’s when the pressure is really on that we find out who or what we really trust.

Legitimate needs and big problems have a way of revealing whether we walk after the flesh or Spirit. They do.

In Gen. 26:1-11, Isaac faces a major problem for he and his family.

God brings a famine, and they need food. Like his dad Abraham, God had told him to stay in the land, but Isaac had a better plan.

We do that, right? We trust God until it’s hard.

Then we doubt that He meant what He said and said what He meant.

In God’s economy, unmet needs (famines) create opportunities to clarify our faith.

Here’s the thing: When it feels like the “natural thing to do”, think again.

God’s way is always a better plan. The famines we face (temptations) are a test that reveals who we really follow.

When deep needs beg for relief, God is asking, do you trust Me? What we believe about Him is our response.

Faith can’t be trusted until it’s tested, and famines expose our weakness. That’s good.

So, who do you really trust? Look at your unmet needs and where the pressure is on in your life.

If you say you believe God but act as though you have a better plan, you’re being tested.

Shame can lead us to honest confession, and that’s a good thing.

God already knows, and until we confess there can be no recovery (Pro. 28:13). Isaac humbly confessed and God then blessed.

What unmet needs or pressures of life are driving you to impulsive decisions or the “natural thing to do”?

Compare that honestly to what God’s word really says. You now have an important choice.

When you feel like it’s the natural thing to do, don’t. There is no plan better than God’s plan. You’ll feel better when you act upon that belief.

🫶🏻You can get these and more by email twice a week. It’s free, short, practical and is helping multitudes go deeper and grow strong in their walk with God

07/28/2025

👉🏻Doing more of the same can be a bad plan! It’s like putting your pedal to the metal when you’re stuck – it just makes a bigger mess!

I’ve been there and help many get free from that dreadful place.

We can get into relational ruts – it feels like a daily grind, monotonous, and nothing’s working.

Maybe it’s spiritual – We skip time in God’s word, prayer, fellowship or just go through the motions.

Emotional ruts can be exhausting. The same thoughts and feelings endlessly spinning with no hope for change.

In Mark 10:46-52, a blind beggar with a bleak future shows us how to get unstuck and moving forward again:

1. Don’t wait for ideal circumstances. Focus on what you can do differently then be proactive.

2. Take personal responsibility. The solution might be right in front of you. Look for it.

3. Stop caring about what others think. You might have to walk away from poor influences.

4. Believe God stops for “beggars”. Be honest and earnestly seek God’s help. He’s ready to help you, but not do everything for you.

5. Take a bold step. Cast off the familiar, let go of your comfort or cope, do something different, believe, act.

6. Be specific. What do you want and what are you willing to do the get there? Go big!

7. Follow Jesus. Make no plan or provision to go back. Yield to what His word says not how you feel.

Whatever your rut or ditch, if what you’re doing isn’t working, do this immediately:

STOP. Sit down, Think biblically, Observe what’s not working and better alternatives within reach, and Plan a better direction.

Take a minute and ask, what am I doing that’s keeping me stuck or making things worse?

Now ask, what do I really want that would align with God’s word and signal a desire to change?

Be honest, choose humility, and out to God no matter what anyone else thinks.

You’ll stop God in His tracks. He’s willing to help those who are ready to get out of their rut and take a risk.

🫶🏻You can get these and more by email twice a week. It’s free, short, practical and is helping multitudes go deeper and grow strong in their walk with God

07/26/2025

👉🏻My bad decisions have made me want to hide and cover up in shame. Yet it’s in these moments I also found God drawing closer, not pulling away.

In Genesis 3:8-13 there’s three questions Jesus asks to help us recover what sin ruins:

1) Where Are You?

They hid behind some fig leaves and a tree. What do you hide behind?

Is it anger, pride, indulgence, substance abuse, religion or lies…?

Name it, God already knows and wants you to come out from hiding and talk with Him about it.

2) Who Told You?

Name the influencers you’ve allowed to speak into your life that contradict God’s word.

Be careful who you give too much attention to instead of God’s word.

3) What Have You Done?

The blame game doesn’t work with God. He wants you to own your part only and take responsibility for it.

Honesty is a game-changer with God.

He wants to recover what sin has ruined, moves toward you, and encourages you to come out from hiding and meet with Him.

Genuine repentance is the path to genuine recovery.

At Calvary, Jesus did His part to uncover your shame and recover your soul.

What’s keeping you from coming out in response to His gentle call?

If you’re ready to let Jesus recover what sin has ruined, come out from hiding and talk to Him about it.

You can go deeper and grow stronger in your walk with God

07/25/2025

👉🏻It’s not enough to obey Jesus. We study to display Him and portray Him to those we encounter. The older I am in the Lord the more I realize the importance of knowing the person of Christ not just His precepts.

Deep down I know that the true value of time in the word is to know Him, not just about Him.

But when I look at Phil. 3:10, I realize the path is through Calvary.

Our study needs to take us there, daily.

We have a tremendous privilege and opportunity to make the gospel visible and accessible as we also make it more compatible with who Jesus is and what He has done.

Follow and go deeper and grow stronger in your walk with the Lord with our free short and practical newsletter - https://bibleviews2use.beehiiv.com/subscribe

07/24/2025

👉🏻After decades in ministry, both as a follower and leader, I can attest to the very real challenges of relational health in the church. A phrase is use in one chapter three times that causes a reaction like few others.

It relates to a word that has produced hurt, horror stories, and hurdles for millennia.

What word would you choose?

I wrote about this in a recent free, short and practical newsletter I send twice a week. Here's the link: https://bibleviews2use.beehiiv.com/p/the-reaction-to-this-word-is-worrisome-yet-understandable-904cf96a4d56da3d

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07/23/2025

This is a powerful call to understand our relationships to leaders and those who lead. It can redefine your Christianity if you’ll yield to what it says.

Whether you’re a pastor or serve under one, how you treat that relationship is something you’ll be talking with God about later.

You might have a strong reaction or give it little thought and it matters more than you might think.

Read the verse carefully again.

Pastoring and being pastored is challenging, by design.

And we will all give answer to God about how we lived out our roles in the local church.

When I was a pastor this verse made me think carefully about how many people I could effectively (not efficiently) care for.

Now that I’m serving under one it makes me think carefully about how I think, talk about and pray for my pastor as well as how I can be a pleasure to lead.

Vain pastors and stubborn sheep take heed!

How do you relate to this verse and the pastoral relationship?

For some, their experience has been painful, for others, a pleasure.

Many don’t give it a second thought. What about you?

07/22/2025

It cripples and it controls. Something in the past is chained to choices today. It won’t go away and we or someone we know can’t move on because of what’s “back there” somewhere.

Maybe the marriage is being impacted today because things that happened pre-marriage haven’t been dealt with properly.

For others it’s some “can’t”:
I can’t get over it, fix it, unsay it, undo it… I can’t go back! But they also can’t go forward because of it.

This has been true in my life. How about yours?

While there are things back there that we can do nothing about: birth, upbringing, wounds, losses, and regrets, there is a question we can ask that frees us from the bo***ge of what’s “back there”.

In 2 Kings 6, times got hard, change was needed, and it was time to move on.

But before life could move forward something had happen.

And just when it seems like real progress is being made, new problems arise.

It can’t just be me!

Sometimes, like v. 4-5, it’s because we’re living off what is borrowed – a narrative about our past or our identity that someone else gave us or we made up.

It could be that what worked then doesn’t now.

Maybe you’re living out other people’s convictions, beliefs or behaviors and they fit about as good as Saul’s armor on little David!

It could be borrowed prayer because we don’t pray ourselves or borrowed knowledge because we don’t read God’s word enough ourselves.

Yet, Elisha asks a question that changes everything, don’t miss it v. 6-7. It gets our power back.

“Where fell it?”

When things aren’t progressing, it might be your past. Where did things go bad?

When did you lose spiritual, relational, or will-power? Identify the place things changed.

When we’re honest about what’s “back there” and “go there” God will be there.

His hand will be out, His grace sufficient, and he can make the answer swim when hope feels sunk. He can and does.

When you’re honest with God and revisit where things fell off you’ll be amazed at the hurts that heal, the regrets removed, and how quickly you can recover power to move forward.

I’m living proof. How about you?

We can’t change the past, but we can be freed from its chains, recover from its pain, and respond differently going forward.

Maybe it’s time to revisit Calvary and make sure “it is finished”.

Ask God to show you what’s back there somewhere, what’s borrowed that doesn’t belong any longer, and the place things fell off.

How do you feel about this? You’ll be glad when you go there and recover your power.

You can get these twice a week by email so you don’t miss out

07/21/2025

What’s your why? Before Christ strengthens you more, He’ll search your motive. Get more like this

07/18/2025

Don’t miss the practical in-depth biblical teaching twice a week by email. It’s short, no fluff, and free. Start getting it here:

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