Monthly Archives: February 2018

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How Your Mind is Like an Archaeological Dig

Time is no friend to an unintentional spiritual life.

Time does its natural work of hiding the truth. Archaeology proves it so. Go anywhere biblical history happened in Israel, and it looks different than when the event occurred. Sometimes, the difference is amazing.

How Your Mind is Like an Archaeological Dig

(Photo: Robinson’s Arch with new excavations. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

I remember a dirt road beside my grandfather’s farm where I used to ride my bike as a boy. I went by that road recently, and it had completely grown over with weeds. No trace of that old road at all! Gone—after only a few decades.

Whenever I go to Israel, I see dozens of sites where biblical history unfolded. But without the archaeologist’s spade, the places of biblical events would lie hidden beneath centuries of erosion, overgrowth, and destruction.

It takes digging to see the sites. Why? Time does its natural work of hiding the truth.

The same proves true with your mind.

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5 Reasons to Get the Best Training for Ministry You Can

The question is, how effective do you want your ministry to be?

Years ago I devoured the massive autobiography of Billy Graham, entitled, Just As I Am. Near the end of the book, Billy wrote one sentence about training for ministry I’ll never forget.

5 Reasons to Get the Best Training for Ministry You Can

(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)

In a section of the book where he lists his regrets, he wrote:

I would do many things differently. For one thing, I would speak less and study more. —Billy Graham

When I was young in the ministry, I resisted furthering my training. After all, I already had a ministry position. So why would I pursue more education and training? I’m done, I thought. Better to get busy making a difference.

Then one verse in the Bible hit me square between the eyes.

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The Best Next Step after You Confess to God

Blowing it brings regret, but don't miss its benefits.

We all blow it. For us as Christians, what often makes it worse is that we knew better—but we did it anyway. Nobody forced us. We chose it. Now we’re feeling regret.

Why to Linger Longer Over Your Lousy Mistake

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The emotional fallout we experience from grieving the Spirit of God feels like a literal weight on our souls. It’s not a weight of shame as much as it is sorrow—disappointment with having not loved Jesus enough to obey Him.

If we take the proper next step, we’ll recognize our folly and confess our sin to God.

But it’s important we know why to confess—as well as the best next step after you confess to God. 

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The Transfiguration of Jesus—What Hope Can Do for You

Mount Hermon's greatest moment looks ahead to yours.

Jesus had just dropped the bomb. At Caesarea Philippi, the Lord informed His star-struck disciples that He, the Messiah, would soon die and rise again. Amazingly, that didn’t hit them as good news.

The Transfiguration of Jesus—What Hope Can Do for You

(Photo: Mural in the Basilica of the Transfiguration of Jesus, Israel. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

To these men—who only understood the Messiah in terms of providing the good life of God’s kingdom—news of Jesus’ death came as a sucker punch to their dreams. It’s no wonder Peter blurted, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You” (Matt. 16:22).

Jesus’ reply should cause us all to pause and ponder:

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. —Matthew 16:24

In wake of their confusion, Jesus took these disappointed disciples to a nearby mountain for a good dose of hope. They needed it.

As we struggle with our own disappointments, we can use that same hope today. We need it too.

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Going into the wilderness to meet God is good, wherever it may be and whatever it may mean in our lives. Many believers think a wilderness experience is something to avoid or escape as quickly as possible. The fact is, the wilderness only becomes a bad experience when we refuse to learn from God and trust Him for what He wants us to do.

Dr. Bill Lawrence
Wilderness Wanderings: Learning to Live the Zigzag Life (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016), 54.
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Do You Love Me?

Jesus' four words at Tabgha offer you the motivation for your life.

What is the most important part of your relationship with God? Jesus asked Peter that question in four words beside the Sea of Galilee: “Do you love Me?”

Tabgha harbor

(Photo: Tabgha harbor. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Seems like an easy question, doesn’t it? That’s what Peter thought.

After breakfast, as the day began to brighten, Jesus called Peter by the same name as when they had first met. “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” (John 21:15).

Easy question, right? Jesus could have taken Peter anywhere to ask this. But He took Him to Tabgha for a reason.

He takes you there for the same reason.

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God’s purpose in taking us into the wilderness is not to hurt or discourage us; it is to purify and prepare us to for a greater future than any of us ever thought possible. If Israel had gone first into the Promised Land without the wilderness experience, they would have been destroyed. The wilderness only became discipline for Israel when they refused to trust God and take the risks He wanted them to take. His plan was to keep the Children of Israel in the wilderness long enough for them to learn how to enter into a deeper, intimate relationship with Him.

Dr. Bill Lawrence
Wilderness Wanderings: Learning to Live the Zigzag Life (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016), 726.
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When You’ve Waited Long Enough for God to Do Something

If we always quit when life gets hard, we live as if it’s all up to us.

Reflecting on life can prove good and bad. The good comes from how God has helped you stand strong and wait on Him when you thought you’d sink. The bad comes when think you’ve waited long enough.

When You’ve Waited Long Enough for God to Do Something

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Life reflection proves a major challenge when you realize your feet are still stuck in the same muck you stood in years ago. After hundreds of hours of prayer and searching the Scriptures, you still see no change or improvement.

When God has yet to make a way for us to move ahead, it’s tempting just to chase what we want ourselves. We’ll issue God an ultimatum, and if He misses the deadline we’ll assume He approves.

Here’s what happens when that happens.

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