I know I’ve mentioned her before, but my grandmother was an incredibly godly woman. She lived her life with tremendous faith in her Savior. Not only did she live out the teachings of the Bible, but she was also as knowledgeable about the Bible as any seminary professor of mine. Whenever I would travel to…
Read MoreThe Holy Spirit and Spontaneous Regeneration
Somewhere back in middle school science class, we learned that for around 2000 years people believed in something called “spontaneous generation,” the belief that living things can suddenly come from non-living matter. If you left meat out on a table, for instance, flies would spontaneously come to life around the meat. That belief wasn’t completely…
Read MoreMerry Christmas and May God Bless You Greatly in 2025
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” – Luke 2:14 I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and pray that God blesses you wonderfully in the new year! I pray for every reader of the blog every day, so if you ever have a specific request, please…
Read MoreConviction and Calling: How the Holy Spirit Turns Us to God
I’m not a lawyer and don’t spend much time in courtrooms. Or any time in courtrooms actually. I do, however, watch enough Dateline to know what happens during a trial, especially when the verdict comes in. There’s always tension in the courtroom when the jury is set to announce its decision. It will either be…
Read MoreThe Work of the Holy Spirit: His Single Focus
Have you ever noticed when two people meet for the first time and enter into small talk, one of them will always ask, “What do you do?” It’s an innocent attempt to know more about a person, but it’s almost as if what someone does is the most vital thing about that person. No one…
Read MoreThe Work of the Holy Spirit, An Introduction
The story of how I was hired for my first job in ministry is, well, interesting. I was a seminary student in need of work experience, and I had met with a local pastor to discuss a staff position at his church. The church had never had a staff member responsible for Christian education, and…
Read MoreThe Holy Spirit: Who is He?
You’ve probably heard the story about the young dad grocery shopping with his fussy two-year-old sitting in the grocery cart. A woman heard the dad saying, “Be patient, Billy. It’ll be okay, Billy. Stay calm, Billy.” She finally told the dad, “I don’t mean to interrupt your shopping, but I just had to tell you…
Read MoreThe Helper is Here: An Introduction to the Holy Spirit
Just before Halloween in the second grade, Mrs. Mooneyham assigned us a very fun project – writing a ghost story. We all told her a story, and she wrote down what we said (we didn’t have the best handwriting in second grade). Then she made mimeograph copies (yes, this was before copy machines) and gave…
Read MoreIs the Author of Your Story You? Or God?
You’re writing the story of your life every day. What you wrote yesterday determined where you are today. And what you write today will determine where you’ll be tomorrow. What if you find yourself far from where you want to be? Far from where you intended to be at this point in your life? It’s…
Read MoreLearning from the Book of Judges: How to turn your story around
You’ve been writing the story of your life every day since you were first capable of making decisions. What you wrote yesterday determined where you are today, and the story you write today will determine where you are tomorrow. Some folks can look back with contentment because they’ve written a good story so far. Others…
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