It's not too late to participate in a 21-Day Fasting and praying emphasis to start the new year. At our church we have traditionally challenged our congregation to set aside 21 days in the month of January to focus on God as we participate in a fast for the purpose of hearing His voice regarding His plans for our lives as we set our intentions, goals and strategies for our year.

Here is a link to an article that explains what fasting is and why we participate in it: 

Fasting: What it Is, Why We Practice It and How We Do It

And here is the 21 Day prayer guide we are using this year:

This year we will focus our prayers on these things (rotating every 7 days to correspond to the days of the week):

Sundays: Marriages and other relationships

Mondays: Finances and other overwhelming needs

Tuesdays: Prodigals and other spiritual breakthroughs

Wednesdays: Health and losses

Thursdays: Salvation for the lost

Fridays: Direction and discernment

Saturdays: Encouragement to overcome: Fear,...

We made it! It's Christmas, and I know that your day is filled with gift-giving and family and food and fun. Let's make a little room for Him, perhaps at the beginning of the day as we remember and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Light your advent candles, ALL of them and do this devotion.

Read Luke 2:1-20.

Do you remember the song, the Little Drummer Boy?

This song is about a little shepherd boy who doesn't want to go see baby Jesus without a gift. Finally he decides he can give the baby Jesus a song, and he plays his little drum. 

Come, they told me, pa rum pa pum pum.

A newborn King to see, pa rum pa pum pum. 

Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pa pum pum.

To lay before the King, pa rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum, rum pum pum pum, 

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum. When we come.

Little baby, pa rum pa pum pum

I am a poor boy too pa rum pa pum pum

I have no gift to bring, pa rum pa pum pum

That's fit to give the King, pa rum pa pum pum rum pa pum pum rum...

I hope that you will finish out your advent season by lighting these final 2 candles; one on Christmas Eve and the other on Christmas Day. We will light our Love candle after 4 Christmas Eve services at church on Christmas Eve. It's going to be good to all sit around the table together, enjoy our meal and spend a few minutes talking about LOVE.

Ask: How do you define love? Share a time when you especially felt loved.

How does the world define love? Do you think people feel loved? 

Invite everyone to quote John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

How did God express His love? (by sending Jesus)

What did Jesus do to demonstrate the love of God?

Did He come to judge the world? 

Invite someone to read the verses that follow John 3:16, John 3:17-18

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ ...

There was a gospel tract that was (and is) very popular, it was printed and distributed by the Billy Graham Association. In fact, that little gospel tract has turned into a website, it's titled

Peace with God

Peace. 

This is the 2nd week of advent and we are going to spend a bit of time meditating on this beautiful word. Consider using this devotion with your family or group of friends as you celebrate the season of advent this year.

Invite family members to define peace.

After everyone has had an opportunity share what peace means to them, share this definition--

Peace is a stress-free state of security and calmness that comes when there's no fighting or war, everything coexisting in perfect harmony and freedom.

Invite someone to read Isaiah 9:6,

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Share this: When Jesus came to...

I rarely ever, in fact, have never done this before but I'm doing it this week because this message is so important for us to embrace. In preparing for my podcast this week I came across a powerful message from Tony Evans titled, The Authority of Binding and Loosing. I encourage you to take a few minutes to go and listen to it.

What follows is the manuscript to my podcast. Feel free to go listen to me share it, and then enjoy having the notes for yourself. TEACH THIS!! It's important! And if you haven't already started a Prayer Clinic ministry at your church consider doing so. And let me help you succeed. It's what I'm here to do. :) 

Binding and Loosing...

In Matthew 16:19 Jesus said, “ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Many times we hear this verse and take it terribly out of context. We go about binding in Jesus’...

In all my years as a Christian, I've never thought about it before Sunday when Sam mentioned it in his sermon. His 3rd point in a message based on the passage of Scripture in Numbers 14:5-10 was this: 

"I forgot the promise in the Promised Land." 

The Israelites sinned against God  by forgetting that He always...always...always keeps His promises! 

They followed a God who proved Himself faithful over and over again as they wandered in the desert and yet, when it came time to actually get. to where they were going, they forgot.

Aren't we like that too?

Don't we sing those great songs in our services on Sunday mornings, then crawl out of bed on Tuesday and face our struggles as if He's determined to let us down?

I think the problem is that we expected the "Promised Land" to be handed to us without a fight. We feel the spit of the giants we face and back down. We draw up in little balls and cry about being abandoned by the very God who brought us to this...

This is the 3rd and final post in my series on "Why the Church Needs to Pray" be sure to scroll back and read the other 2 posts. In this article I want to introduce you to 3 Praying People Whose Lives are Living Proof of what happens when prayer is priority.

E.M. Bounds (1835-1913)

Edward McKendree Bounds died in 1913 and yet he has a facebook page and website today. I wonder if he knows that. E.M. Bounds lived his life from 1835-1913, serving in the ministry during the tumultuous years leading up to, during, and after the Civil War. He was a chaplain for the confederate army and even served time in prison (in Nashville, TN!). Fortunately for us, he spent much of his time writing. His books on prayer are CLASSICS because their words continue to bear fruit for the kingdom today. 

E.M. Bounds on the priority of prayer: 

"What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use men of...

“If we come to see the purpose of the universe as God’s long-term glory rather than our short-term happiness, then we will undergo a critical paradigm shift in tackling the problem of evil and suffering.” –Randy Alcorn 

Hmmm...kinda hits you in the gut, doesn’t it? I mean, most of my prayers are directly connected with my natural tendency to gravitate toward desiring happiness. Don’t yours? 

But what if, my temporary angst (I love that word, “angst” it was not in my vocabulary before I had young adult “children” but in this season of my life--it has become a favorite of mine!)...What if, my temporary “angst” and my momentary trouble--my discomfort, trial, confusion and frustration were all necessary in order for me to be used by God to bring about something great?! 

Would it be worth it then?

Yes. It. Would.

Wouldn’t it? 

Especially if you were to remember that He is the...

 Let’s talk about a couple women we meet in Genesis, and see what they have to teach us about FACE time with God (and one another). 

For fun, I’ve given these women a “face” for our story. Sarai (pronounced S’rI) will be played by...

 --Elizabeth Taylor. 

  And Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian handmaiden will be played by...

--Ava Gardner.

These two women, according to Google, represent two of the prettiest faces in the world! 

Think about faces...why are faces important? 

 I’ve heard someone say, “the eyes are the window into the soul.” 

And I think I agree with them. When I think of the people I love, I don’t think about their feet, or their hands, or any other part of their bodies. When I think about the people I love, the picture that comes to my mind is that of their faces. And when I think of their faces, I’m not deciding whether or not they...