It’s true. Early in my faith walk I was in a constant state of panic over what MIGHT HAPPEN. Over what was AROUND THE CORNER. Over what challenge WAS NEXT.    It was a horrible way to live and it nearly destroyed my walk with God.    Our culture has taught us that fear and worry, just like stress, are part of the package we get in life. We are told to endure the constant pressure...

Early in my faith walk I never stopped to reflect on my spiritual journey and get God’s direction. And I paid the price by running off the road and stalling too many times to count.    After making a commitment to know Christ and walk with him, I began to see the need to “search for learning” along the road of life. And that’s what I’ve been doing for over 20 years now with countless blessings...

Whew! It’s over, the trouble has passed.    That’s what I used to think earlier in my faith walk when a trial or test ended.    I was wrong. God wants us to do more than celebrate “surviving” our trials like we’re passing a freeway-clogging accident. The “more” is asking him to identify opportunities to grow our faith for the journey’s next leg.    Why do we have to...

It’s true. And it was scary.    It happened during my run as a Corporate CEO when I was swept away by hopelessness. I had accepted Christ 20 years earlier, but never fully surrendered my life in obedience to him. There was a sports car in my mansion’s garage, but I was spiritually bankrupt.    It was the perfect storm for despair–no joy…constant pain…unrelenting anxiety—and it...

That’s how I viewed what was happening early in my faith walk when I had no spiritual discernment; never opened the Bible; and certainly did not have a relationship with Jesus.    I know, it sounds like sheer nonsense now. But back then, it was my reaction to all of the things that didn’t “go right” or didn’t “turn out my way.” Every encounter I had with discomfort supported my conclusion...

That was how I viewed Christian ministry early in my faith walk. I know, OUCH.    I avoided anything related to ministry for over 20 years. Playing on a continuous loop in my head during that time were images of me on a bike handing out “Christian stuff” somewhere on the globe’s other side.    As my spiritual maturity increased, God erased those images and helped me understand...

Bible literacy is at an all-time low, but DEVOTED Fellowship may be losing out to HANGING OUT Fellowship!    New Testament Christians didn’t just have fellowship, they devoted themselves to fellowship!    Obedient to God’s Word, these early believers made it a priority to meet together with other believers in fellowship with Christ–Koinonia in the Greek: “to share and take...

I’m not proud of it, of course, but it’s true nonetheless.    I had accepted Christ, but did not have a relationship with God. When I heard people proclaim that Jesus is the light of the world, it simply did not register. Without that foundation, I stood no chance of being a light for Christ in a dark and fallen world.    That’s why I walked past the switch to turn on God’s light...

That is exactly how I saw it early in my faith walk. I was immature and naïve.    Looking back on that now makes me sad because it was then, is now, and will always be FALSE for two key reasons: 1) We all will need some kind of breakthrough at some point; and 2) God PROMISES to help us through the barriers standing in the way. That is the TRUTH.    The need for a breakthrough...

I was floating in a slipstream of doubt and fear early in my faith walk and could not make a move toward God’s outstretched and beckoning hand.    I felt like a frightened first-time parachutist who loses their nerve and cowers in the plane’s belly as the pilot screams: “Jump! Jump now!”    So it was with my life. So it was with my lack of spiritual discernment. And so it was with...