1 I waited patiently for the Lord;     he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,     out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock     and gave me a firm place to stand. The beginning of Psalm 40 talks about […]

The below is something I wrote in 2007. I have included most of the original teaching, eliminating a little historical context between the US and Iran like the Shah of Iran and the US involvement, and the resulting Islamic Revolution. It was not my general practice then and now to venture into politics nor world […]

We see in Mark 9, that Jesus makes his intention known about what he expects from the church. He expresses frustration when his disciples couldn’t drive the opposing spirit out of the boy. Jesus expressing frustration? That’s what happens when you don’t get the outcome you want sometimes, especially when you put in a lot […]

In my last post I ended with a soap box statement… “Maybe disciples then and now, could develop a greater measure of spiritual mastery to be productive during moments that matter.” That’s where I ended. A soapbox without a solution. Something insightful that goes nowhere. Sound familiar? The solution? Keep reading. As we progress further […]

Time has flown by since my last entry. I’m a tad embarrassed, but not too much. Flown but not wasted. I published my second book, now available on Amazon – The Model of Man: A Christian Theory of Everything. Check out the work section of this site. Anyway, I’ve been gravitating toward the concept of […]

I have this tendency to summarize. It’s how I am organized – a characteristic in me that I observe and that I feel no need to change. Maybe it’s an attribute parceled out to teachers of which I count myself among. Maybe it’s how my brain learns. So when given the opportunity at my church […]

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 The ancient scriptures use concepts we can all grasp like fruit. If we follow the analogy we know that fruit comes from seeds. The seed encapsulates the programming, the […]

Whatever the Bible tells us to do, by definition becomes doable. The Lord lacks pretense as should we. If that is true (and it is) then rule free living is not purely conceptual. There must be a path. The devoted soul, loaded up with energy, but lacking concepts from which to build, seeks out something […]

Intent trumps rules. The ancient scriptures dangle this concept for all who can grab hold. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Matthew 22:35-36. In rules-based living, which of the commandments should we focus on? Onlookers would have already had an answer […]

If and only if we have been transformed, we can get on the road towards rule free living. Paul laid it out for us in the first verses of Romans 8 when he wrote: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the […]