Today is your only chance to not have more of them in the future.

Americans are so rich

We can afford to be courteous

Afraid to love for fear of hurt

Afraid to care for fear of disappointment

Afraid to have for fear of loss

Dangers all and yet...

Life is temporary and all it contains

...for a little while

You can always afford to give if

You are living above your needs

but below your means

You can also afford to give when

You are living below your needs

and below your faith

Overcoming an ingrained temptation requires not

A second of indecision

Because you belong to God

And because God knows all things

And because God has all power

All that remains to be optimized

is the state of your heart

Waiting on God is being available when He speaks,

not suggesting what He should tell you.

Life is a platform from which we serve God.

Think you have a higher priority?

I have seen a lot of churches come and go, but the ones that have impressed me have brought forth new fruit and new life, and not those that have merely “grown” by taking people from other churches.

How are we to respond to irrational, aggressive, unfounded persecution?

I'm afraid to know, for fear I'd have to do it.

Values arise from living realities,

rules arise from dead logic

Life is a choice you make

Death is failure to choose

Something may not be bad for what it is,

but bad for what it isn't

I can't hear a thing when you're yelling

I seldom know a rule exists

until I've broken it

when I want to change direction, but can’t

I know I've said the wrong thing when:

What God is doing is not as important as

the fact that He is doing it

Marriage comes as a kit:

the components are there, but much assembly is required

When we refuse to make decisions,

decisions are made for us.

If you don’t control the direction of your mind,

something else will.

Good things are built

Bad things just happen.

It is much easier to “don’t”

than “ a little bit”

Self pity is an “i can’t because”, The “because”

here is usually blame, but forgiveness sets you free

Blame never solved a problem

Self pity is an excuse to justify a weakness, a bad attitude, revenge,

or some other spiritual disorder.

There will always be a voice telling you what you want to hear.

True strength is rarely obvious.

When words that have been trite become untrite,

you are beginning to understand them.

The problem is not a lack of God’s leading,

but a lack of our following.

God can only work with what we are willing to give Him.

Excess and perversion are the results of life without focus

General failure in life results from a general lack of direction

A multitude of words is a poor substitute

When you love someone enough to allow them to hate you,

have nothing to prove.

Erotic love is like money; you can waste it on candy,

or you can invest it in something worthwhile

If your focus is upon yourself

you’re not worth the attention

A leader demonstrates direction;

a herder gives orders.

Everything obvious and easy in our society,

has already been picked.

But society continually changes,

providing new opportunities for the alert

An enterprise of value,

requires effort or discovery.

Reality dictates the terms;

The walk with God prioritizes being over doing.

Doing is the result of being.

Getting off the right track

means going down the wrong one.

Dealing with lies and false accusations,

were part of the development of Joseph’s character.

comes with the miracles required to perform it.

The last place you can afford to compromise

is in what you require of yourself.

The first place you can afford to compromise

is in what you require of others.

God’s purpose and direction are available to us

from any position, and from any point in time

that we are willing to serve Him.

Procrastination makes you grow older

without accomplishing a thing.

Don’t complain about what you can’t do,

be grateful for what you CAN do.

The right perspective can be the difference

between walls and wings.

Strength is not standing up for your rights;

It is standing up without them.

The worst thing that can happen in life

Life is a state of change.

I keep looking for some grand plan, but the grand plan

is to listen and obey one day at a time.

God is not kidding. What He has spoken, He will do.

The political condition of a country reflects its’ morality.

“A political reform is not possible without a moral one,

because a nation of lawbreakers can only be ruled by force.”

The hunger of greed can no more be satisfied than the hunger of fire.

A man who does no more than look out for himself

Philosophy: Proof that life without God has no meaning.

If logic does not have the power to either prove or disprove God,

then it does not have the power to be God.

Like a printed 3-D picture, you can only see a vision when you look beyond it.

As you become pure, you receive power,

not as a reward, but as a tool.

Responsibility increases with purity and demonstrated obedience

There are times in life when survival is not the highest priority.

Use your mind to deal with things

but use your heart to deal with people

by walking in things we receive from God

Much of what we receive from God,

we receive through each other

This is why fellowship is so important

Reading the Bible is walking in the fellowship

of historic believers.

There are some things that are NOT safe to dream

We must choose our dreams carefully

In the Spirit life, you don't wait for an opportunity to be free; freedom is now

Now is all you have. You do not yet have tomorrow.

Giving God tomorrow is giving Him something that

He has not yet given you.

Sometimes a restlessness that is treated as hunger is in fact

an anointing to pray. Be alert.

Come away my beloved

Come away from your own life and into mine

Come away form your rest and into my best

Come away from your curse and into my love

Come away from your life and into my love

A friend who only goes to somebody when they want something

is not much of a friend.

When you decide to spend more time with God,

you must also decide what your are going to spend less time doing,

or it will never happen

When God calls, don't consult the clock or your own logic

to see if you have permission.

One thing is certain about every step closer to God:

One of the first steps in following God

is to be diligent in everything you currently have.

The answer to the issue of control (in a relationship) is unity.

Dominance was not an issue before the fall.

The ministry of gifts are only needed

“..till we all come to a unity of the faith..” (Eph.4:13)

Quality of time with God is THE priority!!

“..first gave themselves to God, and to us by the will of God.” (2Cor.8:5)

In a sense, the term “soul tie” could apply to any addiction capable of periodically demanding control of thoughts and/or actions.

Take a few minutes each day to live:

I have stepped out of the boat

Now I must walk on the water

I cannot afford to consider

the winds and the waves

The only times I am sure I am doing the right thing

Is when I am worshiping God

We must be careful to separate our own standards

from those of anyone else in the world.

Once we become believers, our lives will never again be normal. Nothing will go as expected – sometimes better, sometimes worse, but always with significance.

Intimacy with God is the greatest objective of Human life.

Therefore it is the target of Satan's greatest efforts.

(This is a beautiful quote I once heard)

“All meaningful work

stems from intimacy with God.”

Go for anointed in every moment

We never have “nothing” to do. We can always choose to actively pursue intercession, worship, or confession at any given moment. All of these involve active fellowship with God.

In any relationship, performance is not as important as touching the heart.

Touch the heart of God.

Strengthen your chooser

Break your comfort barrier

God is constantly calling us to reenter the Garden,

but we must do it the way we left: Fellowship first.

Persecution is very real, and it is a very real emotional

challenge to those being persecuted.

I ask for a miracle within my soul

because the heart I desire

is not within my power

It's not about what comes at you

It's about where you look when it does

As our lives are being replaced

Our opinions are being replaced

When called to serve God, there will always be a “but first.”

Don't live life BUTT first.

Common “but firsts”

Let me sleep a few more minutes.

Let me finish this TV program.

Let me watch the Super Bowl.

Let me wash my face (deal with sin) so I'll be worthy.

Let me earn enough money

Let me finish my education

Let me complete my commitment to...

Let me get even with...

Let me indulge in......one last time

There's a big difference between following the Lamb wherever He goes

(Rev.14:4), and merely staying in religious motion

Don't suppress an anointing when there is an interruption.

Subdue the interruption with the anointing.

Sacrifice the oxen and burn the plows

Leave the family business and

the hope and expectations of those around you

We cannot control Babylon,

but we can keep it from controlling us

When truth is revealed

Cherished ignorance is usually preferred

God made mankind to rule and to walk with Him

Mankind is confused because

They wanted to be God.

The identity of a container is its contents

We are earthen vessels

containing the heart of God

The road is getting steeper and we are constantly in motion

When we are not going uphill,

we are going downhill.

There are no neutral steps

Every project, thought or word has direction

Addictions are separate lives that fight desperately for survival

At the expense of all other life

Accountability is important.

There is a reason why the church is a body

If you are not a doer: (John 8:31-32)

You are not a disciple

You don't know the truth

And you are not free

No matter how difficult it is at times to serve God

We regret every moment we choose not to

There is no return to innocence

Only a journey to maturity

A Christian without love to give

is like a heart without blood to pump

Life is an arena of opportunity and danger

If we maintain focus we grow

If we allow ourselves to drift, we shrink

If we allow love to fade, we die

Your spiritual life is intended to outlast your physical life

Don't slack off on either

“I'm sorry but” is the same as saying

“You're the one to blame”

Life only becomes complicated when

We try to explain away the simple answers

That we may not like

Leodicea happens when

You stop putting effort into growing spiritually

Death must come before resurrection

One must leave Babylon before entering Canaan

The best shortcut to recovery

is the million-step program.

If you don't control your thoughts

You won't be able to control anything

Is having a responsibility

You will not have an experience with God

If you do not believe and obey Him

The conquest of our flesh parallels the conquest of Canaan

The power of God is there to conquer all, but we move towards it step-by-step

When I wake up to the joy of being a small creature of God.

The pressure of having to be big or significant is gone

I don't have to worry about time

That too is a dimension given by God

Are we willing to receive what God – in His love and wisdom – has given us?

Or do we persist in our own fantasies while scorning the blessings of God?

What you don't do “now”

you are never going to do

When you have the first fruits

You still have no guarantee of the rest

The day is pushing in

There's a world full of pressures

trying to steal treasures

from the beauty God's building within

Each time we do less than we otherwise could

We become less than we could otherwise be

Things taken for granted

are really not taken at all

Goals are meaningless

without the resolve to fulfill them.

As each goal fails to materialize,

it takes its place in the trail of fantasies

behind a life that was too weak to be

Sacrifice is a currency:

It's time to quit buying ourselves out of trouble

and begin buying ourselves true wealth

It's time to put theory into practice

“Theology is shaped and remembered more by songs than by sermons”

If you are an atheist, your only true purpose in life

is to hope that you are wrong

After all, you've never been proven right

This moment is special

And now is the only time

Christianity does not need to become relevant to the world

That which is not relevant to God

will ultimately cease to exist

The commission of the church is to make the world relevant to God

Liturgy per se is relevant to neither the church nor the world

“...not by plausible words of man's wisdom, but by demonstration of the Spirit and power; that your faith may not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God.”

When we take authority over something

We should first intercede until we feel the power

rather than jumping in at our own initiative

We need to be alert that anywhere God has us in life is intended to be the venue within which we express God's redemption into the natural realm.

DEATH is standing still

LIFE is moving forward

Moving in reverse brings death to others

Moving forward brings life to others

The desire for purpose in life

can also be understood as a desire to be under authority

There are three kinds of exercise that Christians should practice continually:

A cowardly American church has sold its ability to influence the government

for slavery to tax exemption.

Listen carefully and take care to obey immediately when God speaks in a still small voice

You won't like it when He has to shout

means full time prayer

Better to pray for someone

than to speak against them

Whiners not only lose

they take others with them

Physically there is a cycle of growth and unavoidable death

Spiritually we have a choice

If you don't forgive others you remain crippled

By your own actions of unchangeable history

Information that is not used

Is only entertainment

Pride comes before a fall

If you can deal with the pride

You don't need the fall

The person who speaks the least

usually has the most important things to say

The best way to win a fight

is with a preemptive strike of love

Christianity is the ultimate inconvenience in life:

We set aside our own lives and take up His.

If you can rule yourself, you can rule the world.

Conquest is another matter.

Better to be led by a man

than driven by a woman

The biggest obstacle to prosperity

The ultimate form of worship

Don't play close to the edge

If you want to stay pure

stay a long way from evil

The objective in life is not to achieve things

but to know and obey God (Mt.7:21-27,Mk.12:41-44)

To love God is to love life

and each minute He has chosen to give you

50 years ago we put a man on the moon, yet

America continues to deteriorate – lesson:

The problems of this world

will never be solved

Ruling yourself, your household, and your assigns,

is not a part-time job

Intercede until you worship

you need to break a culture

Life is a precarious existence

The biggest dangers are apathy and laziness

I would rather live 10 minutes meaningfully,

than another 20 years in apathy

We live in a single-dimension universe

We can go towards God, or away from Him

If you are not doing more than your share

You are not doing your share

Stress arises from concern about things you cannot control

Guilt arises from failure to control what you could and

should have controlled

From trusting God for what you neither understand

nor control, and from trusting His forgiveness for

what you should have controlled.

Most Christian lives

are somewhat aimless

You'll never be somebody until you realize you are nobody

If you think you are somebody, you are nobody

Each morning I hang my head and say

“Sorry about yesterday Lord, but you can have

what's left of me”

A moment that is lost is lost for ever.

In God's economy, there is no such thing as “I'll do it later”

May I be a part of it?

The only time I am sure I am doing the right thing

is when I'm worshiping God

The older I get, the waser I get

(There are more things I was)

Accusations are a fool's defense

Unfortunately, there are many other fools

who will believe them

A ministry that raids other ministries for its people

Organizations can be anointed and inspired, but more often,

Organizations are the subtle worst enemy of anointing

Blame is never a solution

Personal accountability is

Every sin does have consequences

My greatest challenge is to walk with God,

while not being driven by necessity

Fiction dulls our emotions by wasting them on extreme situations, injustices, violence, and carefully crafted romantic situations. It leaves us with inflated egos, self-pity, and numbness. Fiction is a replacement for life.

Blaming you doesn't solve my problems

Blaming me doesn't solve your problems

One can achieve more in five minutes of obedience to God

than in a lifetime of pursuing their own devices.

of what we choose to dwell on

It is much easier to escape by focusing on details

than to deal with the greater realities

When you listen more

you waste less time not learning

I am called to walk a knife-edge

of purity and alertness

The challenge of Elisha:

Gahazi saw only the visible danger

not the divine overriding authority

is made of obedient moments

We can practice dying

but obedience is better

is better than living long

Normally, a lifetime contains all the years a person could want

The problem is, we normally waste most of them

That which is unwilling

The way to do less sinning

is to love Jesus more

Waiting for others to do their part

usually results in doing nothing

We can make major choices in direction in life

but in order to walk in them

we must choose them again every day

Life is so much easier when you don't care

but so much more meaningful when you do care

An apology served with an explanation

An apology greeted with an explanation

is an apology refused

A person who leads by domination

will only lead weak people

We need to view our lives as winning or losing on a moment-by-moment basis

When we are not winning, those hours of our lives are wasted.

Blame can never solve a problem

because it is a problem

The battle does not proceed

until the mind is in control

While the mind is out of control

its destiny degrades

But we need to be careful how we define it

There is no greater insult

Making things simple

can be very complicated

You won't be able to control what you say

if you don't control what you allow yourself to think

Sampson fooled around until it was too late

When the battle is on your doorstep it is too late

When you go to sleep during a battle it is too late

Thinking is a challenge

Coherent thinking is a miracle

Spiritual warfare does not hinge so much on knowing what to do

as on caring enough to do it

The biggest most subtle thing Satan steals

When we allow Satan to steal a moment, an hour, an evening

that time is never recovered

unless God chooses to restore it

Sometimes the form of this theft is inaction

due to guilt, cowardice, or a lack of faith

is the stupidest thing on the planet

The only two sides of any issue

This puts most people involved in strife

while you're carrying your baggage

Life is much easier without beauty

but it is also much smaller

When you have something to say

that is neither blame nor self pity

I'll be willing to listen

If I thought there was any hope of a rational discussion

If you find life boring

you're not engaged in it

The following notes are for those who have time to read poetry, and to consider more developed thoughts

We stand as one body

we stand for the light

Unyielding in spirit

in the strength of His might

The world can't believe

how we stand there so strong

because they won't believe

they're the ones who are wrong

Yet in love we will mingle

expressing God's care

While inviting to freedom

all those who would dare

Freedom from the stupid things I choose to waste time on

Freedom from the futility of doing my own thing,

from wasting my life on my own pursuits

Freedom from my sin,

and from crippling indecision

The freedom of a simple life

I declare freedom today

freedom from fiction

I choose to dwell on

whatever is honorable

whatever is of good repute

anything worthy of praise

Such things learned, received, heard seen in other saints – PRACTICE

and the God of peace will be with you

It gives you reasons for weakness

It gives you reasons for resentments

It gives you statistics that say you will never be free

But on the day that Jesus broke the bonds of death

On the day He chose to break these bonds

On the day He said He would

History itself said “Now”

I missed the path of life today

as I went along my selfish way

I scarcely took the time to say

“Good morning Lord”

The places the world hides in what they call entertainment

He's a better forgiver than I am a sinner

my object (person & entity) of worship and

It is safe to believe

Because God is there

and He is calling us to walk

upon all else we have considered dangerous

Come away my beloved

Come away from your own life and into mine

Come away form your rest and into my best

Come away from your curse and into my love

Come away from your life and into my love

Learn to speak by my Spirit

Just as soon as you hear it

Speak from my emotion

and not your commotion

By my command, not opportunity

Do not fear importunity

What will it take lord

to release me from futility

What will it take to

to release my ability

Words only have meaning

when God has spoken them

Actions speak, but words do not

Human words only convey intent and express feelings

When actions fail to follow

and feelings fail to change

Words fall as empty shells

and pass as clouds that fail to rain

God told you to say it

and then changes direction

Time itself is puzzled

and forgets what page it was on

The speaker himself may be puzzled by the words

as a mailman delivering blessings unknown

The change takes affect in terms

that even a human can understand

How strange this word

It may or may not be my desire

It really doesn't matter what I feel

I need only remain faithful

In the face of persecution

When there is no justice

When there is no truth

When people believe the lies told about you

When deceit, lies, and brutal assaults are

Speak forth the words God gives you

Command the natural realm

God is moving, and He has put you in charge

You live above the realm of that which is seen

Let the world come and go as it will

You have a more important task

No one knows the damage in my life

The pain, the agonies that I will never be able to share

They might be expressed somewhere somehow

A gut may wretch, an oblique reference

as if of someone else

to a stranger who would never know or care

But Jesus knows, and Jesus cares

and among the many scars He bears

Is a special mark He took for you

Understanding and comfort are in His arms

In the warmth of the love He shares

I have stuttered & sputtered

and never broken free

I have struggled like an animal

in the trap of iniquity

Life never really began

potential stayed in the can

I was never able to be

Oh I tried to blame life

opportunity and wife

but the problem is failure in me

I took a stroll through town

early one Christmas morning

In celebration the town is quiet

The businesses are closed

People are involved in more important things

They are with family

A single parked car breaks the pattern

of an otherwise empty main street

Eventually a solitary figure with a backpack

emerges from the fog

and then retreats into its safety

Nature has been notified

of the absence of humans

A hawk boldly consumes its freshly killed pigeon

on a normally busy sidewalk

Windows bearing a final desperate plea are passed

“Going out of business sale”

They too have been consumed by predators –

banks banks, civic regulations, taxes, and

The more prosperous section gives way

to abandoned buildings

they are the victims of previous meals

Some are repopulated by antiques

Things quite lovely and useful

forlorn and abandoned

by the lure of the new and convenient

Leaving main street, tracks return westward

a couple blocks away

A recently bull-dozed homeless camp is passed

“Progress” they call it. “Getting ready to survey”

Merry Christmas non-existent ones

There is much work for those who pray

who yearn for a better world

DRINK LIFE as though it were only a few precious moments

Luxuriating in a hot shower after a long day

A pleasant journey that will soon end

An opportunity about to pass

A love soon to be lost

The last handful of dollars you will have – ever