"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8) When asked by his disciples if Jesus was going to restore the kingdom to Israel, Jesus replied by sending them to be His witnesses, both nearby and to the ends of the earth. If you've been a part ...

I have so many "favorite" stories in the bible, but this morning during my time and the word, I was thrilled to be reading one of the best. In Genesis, the story of Joseph. Here is a kid who goes from being hated by his brothers to the point they wanted to kill him! Threw him down a well and then sold him as a slave. By God's grace and design, he becomes a powerful and imp...

"And they took offense at Him." Mark 6:3 "they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." Acts 5:42 Have you ever had a conversation about God with an unbeliever in which the discussion wasn't confrontational? The dialogue was actually cordial and comfortable and as long as the subject was God; the emotional aspect of the discussion was fairly civil. Howe...

Family can be hard...especially around Christmas! Within the last 48 hours I've been brought into four different but each very difficult family scenarios from people within our West Valley family. I'm betting many, if not most, of you can relate to them at some level. One is an early forties heavy-hearted daughter who is having to travel out of state with her husband and...

"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 ...