Happy Independence Day!!

Be safe everyone!

Lost in the Trees

I have been thinking about God's purpose in the period of trials. I came across this passage this morning about the early persecution of the church. These two verses captured for me what the results of the persecution became.


"But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went." ~‭Acts‬ ‭8‬:‭3-4‬ (NIV)

Think about this for a moment.

The early church was experiencing a local revival in that small area. If they had not been persecuted and caused to scatter, the message may not ever have left that region. God was able to take that horrible time and use it for the purpose of getting His good news all over the wider area. It was an amazing time.

I know it hurts to be in the midst of trials, and I know we often cannot see beyond it from our perspective of the midst of the shadowy trees.  I know how horrible some of these times can be.

Know this, God is there. When you are hurting and cannot see beyond the pain, remember the character of God. Focus on who He is.  He never changes. He is my rock. He is my home base.  He is my safe haven.

Somehow, when I return to home base, my perspective changes, and I feel like my trials are not as looming as maybe they once felt. I know I will be ok.

So will you. 

Depression - A God Thing?

"At that very moment the Spirit of God left Saul and its place, a black mood sent by God settled on him.  He was terrified."  ~1Samuel 16:14 (MSG)

I'm having trouble with this passage.  In one version, the black mood is called a "distressing spirit from the Lord," and in other versions, an "evil spirit from the Lord."  The NLT version calls it a "tormenting spirit from God."

Whatever the malady was, it is clear that it was intentionally sent by God.  I asked why?
I didn't have to read much further to get the answer.

In that same chapter, we read that God created within Saul a need for David.  David was an accomplished musician.  Saul's people hired David to "tend to" Saul, and Saul was very pleased with him.  Whenever David played, the tormenting spirit would go away.  God needed David to be close to Saul to accomplish His purpose.

So, this brings me to my next question.  Does God still operate in this manner?  I do recognize that He allows bad things/evil things to happen, and that He can create good from it for those who ask Him.

My question is God more intentional than that?  Would God purposefully send a "tormenting spirit" to a person to establish a pathway for His divine purpose?  Does that contradict His nature?

This is something I do not have the answer for.  More study is needed.

Forever | Kari Jobe (Lyrics)

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Book Review: The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

I recently finished reading this book for the second time.  I don't know how I missed this book when it was released in 2007, but I am happy I got to read it now.

If you are like me, and had your head in the sand when the book was widely discussed and shared, pick it up now and read it.  It is a very influential work of fiction.

Click below if you want to read more.

God's Not Dead

I just finished watching God's Not Dead.  I have to admit, it was not the first movie on my list of movies to see, due to poor critical reviews (Rotten Tomatoes), but it was on Netflix, so I clicked on it.

I was captivated.

If you haven't seen this, watch this.  I was captivated by the exchange between the student and the professor, even though both were exaggerated characters.  I also enjoyed the exchange of the young pastor with the missionary.  I loved the way the writers loosely tied the characters together.

But I think my favorite scene is depicted here below.  To set the scene, we understand the guy to be a very mean lawyer, who does not think of anyone but himself, and the lady to be his mother, who is riddled in a dementia.

That's pretty neat.  

Take a couple hours, and press "play" on your online Netflix subscription.  It is worth your time.  

Got's Not Dead is still my favorite opening worship song at church.  

Facing the Giants

Average man on left, Anak giant on right

I read this passage this morning:

But the others said, "We can't attack those people; they're way stronger than we are." They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel.  They said, "We scouted out the land from one end to the other - it's a land that swallows people whole.  Everybody we saw was huge.  Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim).  Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers.  And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers." ~Numbers 13:31-33 (MSG)