Blogs for Christian Living
Read some devotional thoughts from prior church planters & lifelong pastors. Mark & Dallas share what they learn daily in their journey walking with God.
Be inspired to live in the fullness of purity that God has set as the standard for His children. Be encouraged to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and the implications of living in relationship with God.
Recently, the Lord was talking to me about feet. I looked up verses regarding feet, direction, walking, paths, etc. One of the passages I read was Psalms 37:23-24 (ESV). The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. I shared with a few others that the Lord is the One Who directs us and establishes us. However, in order to be established by Him, we have to be willing to walk submitted to Him. We need to be able to follow His directions. One of my foibles is…
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A couple of decades ago, the forests of Colorado began to be infected with beetles that were killing trees. The beetles are small, less than an inch in size. So small that it would seem unlikely they could take out such large trees and entire swaths of forest. Yet, over the years we have seen millions of acres of trees killed. The picture above is just a small example of the death and destruction left behind. We have seen a similar impact on the moral health of the country. The infestation began decades ago in seemingly small and insignificant ways. The church has even embraced many of these changes thinking…
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Wednesday was a hard day. I struggled from the moment I awoke. After spending a night of tossing and turning, I could hardly bring myself to look at my phone. While I wanted to check the time, I didn’t want to be greeted by unwanted news. The day before, we were informed that one of our friends had been life-flighted out of the valley due to a stroke. We immediately began to pray for him and his wife. Updates were limited and not very hopeful when delivered. After a day of appointments, which went well into the night, we went to bed pleading for a miracle, despite the doctor’s grim prediction…
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Most people see me as very confident. While I am fairly good at portraying this quality, I struggle with many insecurities. One that I have struggled with for decades relates to my qualification to be a minister. Over the years, I’ve been told numerous times that I shouldn’t be a pastor or vocational minister. Reasons given include, but are not limited to: my personality (I’m not outgoing enough), the fact I haven’t gone to seminary or Bible college, and I’m not a charismatic speaker. While all of these things are accurate about me in their factual statement, I dispute that they are valid reasons for disqualifying a person from being…
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Accused of Being a Seed Planter Recently, I received a message from a client, “You seed planter.” In all candor, I frequently have clients who have worked with me for a while tell me something like, “I was going to do such and such. Then I heard you in my head, so I did something different.” I often tease them that it’s a little scary that they hear my voice at the point of making an important decision. Truthfully, I recognize it for the awesome responsibility and privilege that it is. We all plant seeds. Some of them are good. Some of them are not. Seeds can germinate and…
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Over the past few weeks, Mark and I have been working diligently to write the Rest and Leave policy for Blue Fire Legacy. Several places in this document reference the need to rest in the way God prescribed. As we consider the necessity to rest, there are additional facets that come to mind as rest is not an independent concept. Interestingly, while physical rest can be achieved by slowing our pace and observing healthy boundaries in regards to activities and commitments, true inner rest cannot be achieved in the absence of faith and trust. Peace is also a necessary component of inner rest, and without faith and trust, peace is…
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I sat on the beach feeling the breeze blow. The sea was rough with waves caused by the wind. A tourist was trying their hand at sailing in a Hobie Cat, being pushed along as the wind and waves directed. Not too far offshore was a sail boat going in the opposite direction of the wind. How could this be? The boat should be pushed by the wind, and yet, it was being steered in the direction that the pilot wanted. The experienced sailor was using the power of the wind to go where they wanted to go, not where the wind dictated. The winds of life As we walk…
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Over the holidays, a family member was telling me a story of when he was a child. His uncle took him out into the Gulf of Mexico to go fishing. The sea wasn’t as calm as some would like it to be that day. As the rolling of the sea was having the effect of turning the boy green, the uncle asked if he would like to put his feet on some solid ground. They were many miles from the coast so the boy replied, “I would really like that, but there is no land in sight.” The uncle knew these waters and steered the boat to a sandbar that…
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When I was a little girl, my mom asked me to look out the front window and see if the flag was still up on the mailbox, so she’d know whether or not to make the trek down our long gravel driveway to get the mail. The fact that I couldn’t answer her question alerted her to the fact that we needed to get my eyes checked so I could see better. Both my parents wore corrective lenses so it wasn’t out of the ordinary to consider glasses for me. I will say, I was not excited at the prospect. When the doctor confirmed that I, in fact, needed glasses,…
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We recently had the privilege of visiting our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C. On September 26, 2020, there were two events where Christians gathered in prayer for our nation. It was a great time of gathering with other believers as well as personal reflection. We spent the day in the middle of the Mall at The Return. The Return was a national and global call to prayer and repentance based on 2 Chronicles 7:14. The second event was a Prayer March organized by Franklin Graham. The participants assembled, then prayer walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building. Power of Gathering There is great power in the unity of…
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