More Than Bread

Send me a Text Message! As we spend one last episode on the sacred encounter that Daniel's three friends had with God in fiery furnace, let me simply say, "Sometimes God chooses not to protect us from the fire because He wants to meet us in the fire. As I think about those moments, I can't help but wonder what they talked about in the fire. I wonder if the Savior told them how proud...

Send me a Text Message! Have you ever had a sacred encounter with God? What was it like? Did it fill you with wonder or dread or maybe conviction...or a little of all three? As we head back into Daniel 3, we will see that the risky step of faith that Daniel's friends took led them to the most amazing sacred encounter with God, that they could have imagined. It was a such a sacred encounter th...

Send me a Text Message! First of all, forgive the coughing interruptions in this one. I had a tickle in my throat that just wouldn't go away! More importantly, as we turn to Daniel 3, we dive into one of my favorite stories in the book of Daniel. It's all about the choice that Daniel's three friends made to worship God alone, even at the risk of being thrown into a fiery furnace. I...

Send me a Text Message! You may have noticed that every once in awhile as we’ve gone through the first two chapters of Daniel, I’ve made an application to the political arena in which we find ourselves today. Actually it’s part of why I chose Daniel. I think Daniel has some important stuff to say to Christians in our current culture, including our political culture. So that’s going to shape my thi...

Send me a Text Message! There is one Kingdom and only one Kingdom that will last forever, that's the Kingdom of God; the big K. John tells us in the book of Revelation that at the end of time, the only party that will matter is the wedding party at the reception for Christ and his bride the church. At that party there will be no donkey's or elephants, only the lamb of God who takes away...

Send me a Text Message! Faced with the daunting challenge of a life-time (while probably still a teenager) Daniel resorted to prayer. He went back to his friends and asked them to pray.  Faced with an impossible situation, Daniel's first thing is to create time for prayer.  Corrie Ten Boom who survived a Nazi concentration camp, facing a variety of  impossible situations, once said, "Whe...

Send me a Text Message! Every miracle begins with a problem. No problem, no need for a miracle.  Now I'm not talking about the everyday miracles of life. When I talk about a miracle, I'm not talking about the Vikings winning the Super Bowl. I'm taking about coming to those points in life where we realize that if God doesn't show up we're going under. If God doesn't th...

Send me a Text Message! The last part of Daniel 1 is all about God's favor. When we see God's hand in hard times and we seek God's favor above all things, our capacity to trust grows. The favor of God flows and we thrive. Where are you seeking your own power and place over God's favor? Where am I resolving to trust? Daniel isn't the hero of this story. This story has less...

Send me a Text Message! I used to say that the greatest opportunities that we have for spiritual growth are to either go on a short-term mission trip, or go through times of suffering; which is a great advertisment for mission trips. Who wants to enroll in the school of  suffering? But in the last run of years, I've added to those two opportunities a third opportunity for catalytic spiritual...

Send me a Text Message! In the last episode, I told you the story of Carl McCumb. He died in the Alaskan wilderness because he didn't know the universal sign for "I need help." Do you know what the universal sign for "I need help" is? You raise both hands with palms to heavens. That's the universal signal for I need help. It’s not a bad thing to come to God's Wor...

Send me a Text Message! We prepare for things that matter to us. So let me ask you what are you doing to prepare to thrive? Well I guess it depends on what we think will help us thrive, right? For those of us who are Christ-followers, preparation probably involves scripture. There's more to it than just scripture, but if you came to me and asked me how to thrive as a Christian, sooner or late...

Send me a Text Message! One of the principles fueling Daniel's thriving in the midst of hard times, is his deep conviction that God is in control of whoever's in control. This doesn't mean that we are just puppets in God's theatre of life. When we say that God is in control, we mean that nothing is beyond him. Nothing catches him unaware. What He purposes to do he will do. No p...

Send me a Text Message! Let me start this series on the book of Daniel by stating an obvious truth. We live in turbulent times. From the life of an individual to the culture of our own community to the headlines of our nation to the suffering experienced across our globe. We live in turbulent times. And yet in the midst of life-draining seasons, let me suggest that deep within every heart is a des...

Send me a Text Message! "If you remain in me, your life will be filled with fruit!" Jesus is saying that if we  connect with him and his words go deep into us and stick, our lives will be fruitful. You will make a difference in people's lives. You will have an impact. There will be fruit.  Some of that fruit will be the changing of our lives and some of that fruit will be seen in th...

Send me a Text Message! Everytime we open the Bible, it can be like sitting down with Jesus. I really believe that, no matter what page we are on. So here's what I want you to do for just a few moments; picture yourself with Jesus, walking by a stream, catching up over a grande coffee. You're sitting by a fire in a little cabin, or talking a walk in the afternoon with the snow gently fal...

Send me a Text Message! On this podcast, I often talk about the three L's; if we want to thrive on every word that comes from the mouth of God; we need to listen, we need to learn, and we need to lean in. Listening and learning, I find those two L's to be a bit easier than the last L. Leaning in, doing it, that's the hard part, isn't it?  Studying it is one thing. Trying to hav...

Send me a Text Message! This episode is about two different character qualities... trust and meekness. Do you trust God and do you receive His Word with meekness. Some of us think the reason we can't believe is because of our minds... when really the problem is our hearts... our hearts have become so broken, so fragmented...that we're afraid to trust God. That's why this journey, th...

Send me a Text Message! As we get started back up with this podcast, I want to take some time, after 400 episodes to remind us why we are doing this. In Psalm 119:72, the psalmist writes, "The words of your mouth are better to me than thousands of shekels of gold and silver..." Similart words are found in Psalm 19:7-11, "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimo...

Send me a Text Message! As we close our series on "Praying Scripture" it’s a bit different episode; not so much a prayer in scripture, as it is a scripture for praying people, or a scripture about a praying person. The scripture is in James 6, and the praying man is Elijah. Elijah prayed for a miracle and he got a miracle, then later he needed a miracle and all he got was a gentle whispe...

Send me a Text Message! As we make our way to the end of our series, "Praying Scripture," we are continuing to look at the other side of prayer. Listening. If prayer is a conversation with God, the other side of prayer is listening. In this episode we are going back to one of my favorite "listening" stories. It's a glimpse in time of a moment between Jesus, Martha and Mary...

Send me a Text Message! As we near the end of our current series, "Praying Scripture" we are talking about the other side of prayer. If prayer is a conversation with God, and we never listen to God, we are woefully ignorant of the greatest blessing of prayer. So we are talking about listening. One of the ways we listen for the voice of God is through his Word, (more than bread we need ev...

Send me a Text Message! So to wrap up our praying scripture series and keep our focus on the value of every word that comes from the mouth of God. In this episode and at least the next, I want to talk about the other side of prayer. The listening side. Prayer was never meant to be the first word. Our prayers to God function best when they are a response to God's Words to us. Prayer is the sec...

Send me a Text Message! The book of Hebrews is written for people who had lost a measure of their passion for Jesus, people who had gotten so distracted by other pursuits that they rarely paid attention to God. They didn't have video games, social media, netflix, or 24/7 news channels, but the question has been the same since time began, "Will I choose to pay attention to God?" You...

Send me a Text Message! In I Timothy 2, Paul challenges Timothy, his young partner, to make prayer his first thing. I think today, Paul might say it like this, "So here's the deal.  My heart's desire is that pple would pray everywhere; that people would pray in their cars, and in the grocery store; that pple would pray as they walk the streets and sit in their class; pray in the hal...

Send me a Text Message! When I was a kid, church wasn't terrible but it wasn't at the top of my wanna-do list. I was always looking for reasons not to go. You name the excuse I tried to use it. And one of the things my father never said was, "Hey it's up to you. As long as you are in my house, you decide if church is for you." Nope he never said that! Whenever I said, &quo...