That’s exactly what I used to say!    Thank God that changed the day I took the Spiritual Maturity Class 201 at Saddleback Church and learned what God had to say about memorizing Scripture. Twenty years down the road I can see why it is so important.    If we want Christ-likeness to be expressed on the outside, we need Christ on the inside. We need to get back to SPIRITUAL BASICS!    “A...

We know God is living in us when we experience his FREEDOM and realize that we do NOT have to be perfect in order to please him. That we do NOT have to “keep the Law.” That we do NOT need to become a MONK. We are free because of what Christ did for us on the cross.    But we cannot do anything with that freedom that would cause someone else to stumble in their faith walk. Rather, we have...

Early in my faith walk, I thought I knew everything about DISCIPLINE. I played football in college. I built a successful career as a corporate CEO. And I spoke about strategic discipline to marketplace companies around the world. I was disciplined. It’s no surprise that I took that discipline into everything I did—including my faith walk with Jesus.    But it did not take long before I...

Very early in my faith walk I used to think Christian service was all about adding points to my SPIRITUAL SCORECARD so I would be seen by others as “Godly.” God eventually set me straight…Christian service is not a game and there are no points.    If our heart is not fully surrendered and reliant on God, then our service to his Kingdom will be little more than a transaction. It will be...

I’ve been thinking a lot about FREEDOM this month, starting with the always-powerful celebration of America’s independence and then quickly jumping to our FREEDOM in Christ. My focus has been fixed on the difference between being free and being TRULY free in Christ. The goal in that exploration was to identify the difference between the two, but then ponder the deeper question—truly free for what?    The...

Life is a series of decisions. One influencing another. The aggregate of those decisions compounding over time to animate our life story and unveil God’s plan for our time on earth. Having faith in God’s plan and purpose for our life is NOT easy! In fact, on the surface it looks IMPOSSIBLE.    Forget about FORKS IN THE ROAD. It’s hard enough knowing which road to take in the first place....

That headline at the top sounds silly on the surface, but hold on… According to the “Church of Google,” the online juggernaut is omnipresent and infinite. It remembers everything. And evidence of its existence is everywhere.    Case closed, right?    Of course not. All of that is absurd. But it is easy to see why so many people around the world trust Google more than any entity...

Faith in the WISDOM OF MAN is a dangerous dance with delusion.    I know this because I performed it myself. But God is using my painful experience to tell the story of how “FAITH IN MAN” leads to a counterfeit life bloated with pride and hubris.    FAITH IN MAN has been in play for over 2000 years, but today’s version presents itself through a “sophisticated” lens of technological...

Genuine Christian FAITH is believing in God’s promises; trusting in his faithfulness; and relying on his character to guide our life here and into eternity. But genuine faith is a MARATHON, not a sprint. Having faith comes through believing: With a surrendered heart, over time–not just once. In God’s plan to resurrect Jesus from the dead–for us. Without emotion, anchored on God’s...

That was how I was thinking early in my faith walk, and it was STUPID.    I had elected myself as “boss” and was making every decision in my life as if it was nothing more than ordering lunch. Everything boiled down to a transaction. It was a mechanical and sterile existence. And it was horrible.    When fear and worry settle in for a very long stay, the most common reaction is...