"But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3 It's only the 13th of December, we still have 12 days to go before the 'big' day and life couldn't be more hectic. Granted, Laurie and I got a late start in preparing for Christmas this year as we had...

One of my favorite chapters of any book I've ever read is titled "The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing" in A. W. Tozer's book The Pursuit of God. In it Tozer uses the story of Abraham being directed by God to take his only son (Isaac) and sacrifice him to picture what God Himself would do with His own Son, Jesus (see Genesis 22). Tozer brilliantly demonstrates how the sac...

The house is quiet tonight. I'm sitting in disbelief among the cans of pumpkin and boxes of stuffing that will soon be whipped into the traditional feast. How did we get here already. After tomorrow, we'll just be a hop, skip, and a jump to Christmas and 2017! I was reading Titus earlier today. Not one of the most mentioned bible books, written by Paul. I'm generally a th...

I was in Show Low yesterday for the 2nd funeral in as many weeks. Nothing gets me to examine my own life like watching others go through that experience. I keep hearing Hebrews 9:27, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement..." This time, the examination revealed something a little different. I am secure in my own salvation through God's grace...

Ah Friday. The end of the week for those readers who work traditional schedules. All over the valley, hair is let down, pants are loosened, and relaxing begins. Planing for the crazy weekend is in the back of our mind: kids sports, household chores, maybe some social time. Do you ever stop and take stock of your week? Do you spend any time reflecting on how you spent your...

Sorry for the typos last night. I guess my fingers were going faster than my mind. Or is it the other way around... So the neighbor actually called! They want to get together next weekend! See what happens when you step out a little bit on faith? Today I was reading in 2 Corinthians again and I saw Chapter 5, verse 20, "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though ...

Confession time: Skip has really challenged me the past few weeks with his message about what family really is. Lately, we've made our family mission official (we always had one unspoken). We talked about our vision and how to accomplish the display of God's love and His mission through our daily lives. We have a new neighbor. When I say new, I really mean several months ...

I love being in God's word in the early morning, before I start my day. Nothing sets my mind and heart better than encouragement from Him and the men and women of the bible that came before me. I can't tell you how many times a passage that I read in the morning actually applies to my life later that very same day! Today is no different as I start another new assignment a...

"When Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table." Matthew 26:6-7 Mary was identified in John 12:3 as the woman who poured the costly perfume on Jesus. The word costly doesn't seem to explain the significance of the perfume's value becaus...

"whose heart stirred him" Ex 35:21 "whose heart moved them" Ex 35:22 "whose heart stirred" Ex 35:26 "whose heart moved them" Ex 35:29 I am sure you have heard the statement, "It's a heart issue" many times. I know when I have hear that statement it usually centered in obedience. Ex 35, is a good example for what it looks like when people are moved to obedience by their h...