Keep The Faith

As I look back on something I wrote in 2016, I’m seeing it with clearer eyes today. Not because the events have changed, but because I have. The Lord has been patient with me, steady with me, and protective in ways I didn’t fully understand at the time. Reading my own words from ten years ago feels like opening a window into a younger version of myself — one who was trying to make sense of spiritual conflict, fear, and the weight of responsibility that comes with writing publicly about faith. In that old post, I wrote about the demonic activity I experienced in 1999 and how boldly — maybe naively — I declared that I intended to be “a thorn in Satan’s side.” I didn’t realize then that those words weren’t really mine. They were the Lord’s. The blog wasn’t mine either. It was His. I also wrote about the fear that followed — the sense that every time I tried to post something meaningful, something disruptive happened. The most frightening moments were when we temporarily lost...

Living Awake: Lessons from Luke 12 There are moments when Scripture doesn’t just speak — it gathers you, steadies you, and reminds you of what truly matters. Luke 12 is one of those chapters. When I revisited it after writing “ When Fear Stores What Faith Should Hold ,” I realized how much instruction, warning, comfort, and Kingdom perspective Yeshua packed into a single conversation. It is a chapter that calls us to live awake — spiritually honest, spiritually anchored, and spiritually ready. Scripture Luke 12 Reflection Luke 12 is a sweeping chapter — moving from warnings to encouragements, from parables to promises, from correction to comfort. Yeshua speaks plainly, directly, and lovingly. He exposes hypocrisy, confronts fear, dismantles greed, and calls His disciples into a life shaped by trust, readiness, and truth. As I read, I felt the weight of His words — not heavy in burden, but heavy in importance. These are teachings meant to shape the i...

Returning to the Question of God’s Protection Why this question keeps coming back — and what the Kingdom teaches us about it. I have been thinking again about God’s protection. I’ve seen His protection in my life in different ways — through storms, through circumstances, through timing. Maybe not so much in my health, but even in that I trust Him for whatever happens. And I know that I would not have this blog if I were totally healthy. My weakness opened the door for this ministry. But then I think about those who have died in sudden or freak accidents. From what I knew of them, they seemed to be good Christian people. So why did they die when I seem to be protected? Scripture shows the same tension. Some received full protection — Abraham and Sarah, Daniel, Elijah, people in the early church. Yet many of the apostles died terrible deaths. I’ve asked this question before, and here I am again. Why do I re...

Father God's Kingdom, or This World's Kingdom Father God's Kingdom, or This World's Kingdom Introduction There are moments when something small — a headline, a story, a memory — becomes a doorway into deeper truth. This morning was one of those moments. A simple news story stirred my heart and reminded me how often we walk too close to danger even when God lovingly warns us to stay away. Scripture Matthew 6:24 (NIV) “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Reflection I was on Facebook this morning and read about buffalo attacks in Yellowstone National Park. There are signs everywhere telling people to keep their distance, yet some still walk right up to these massive animals. It’s the same old story we know well: “Don’t touch th...

The Shepherd who restores every soul Why Clinging to This Life Keeps Us From the Life We Want Most of us hold tightly to the life we know. We cling to our routines, our habits, our ways of thinking, our sense of control. We call it “normal,” and we assume it’s the safest place to be. But if we’re honest, this life we protect so fiercely is the very life that keeps us tired, anxious, and searching for relief. We keep trying to escape the weight of this life while refusing to let go of the life that creates the weight. There’s a quiet truth we rarely stop long enough to see: The life we cling to is the life that hurts us. The life God offers is the life that heals us. But because we don’t talk much about the Kingdom, we don’t recognize the difference. We assume surrender means loss. We assume God’s rule means restriction. We assume the Kingdom will take something from us that we need to survive. Y...

A Veteran’s Lament — And a Call to Make America Whole I served this country because I believed in something bigger than myself. I believed in a nation where every person mattered, where freedom meant responsibility, and where we stood together even when we disagreed. But today, as a veteran, I feel a deep grief — not only for America, but for the spiritual fracture running through us. Many have died for this nation. Many still serve. Yet we are tearing ourselves apart from the inside. We Have Forgotten Who We Are Our Constitution was built on a simple truth: all people are created equal . But we have never fully lived that ideal. From the beginning, America carried a beautiful vision and a broken reality at the same time. We lifted some people above others. We treated the poor as disposable. We divided ourselves into tribes and forgot that we belong to one another. We cared more about winning arguments than healing wounds. The saddest part is this:...

Unity Series Belief Systems and the Day of Judgment We all have a belief system. What I mean by this is that we all believe or trust a great many things to be true. You may have a certain faith you believe is the true religion; you go along with most if not all the doctrines which make up that religion. Even if you are agnostic, that is part of your belief system. There are many areas which make up our belief system — health, monetary, security, religion, probably others which I can't think of right now. In each of these areas, you believe that if you can only reach or maintain a place in each one, that your life will be as good as it can get. You may not have reached that perfect place yet, but you still believe that if you ever get there, you will be happy; things will be good. "Belief systems are the stories we tell ourselves to define our personal sense of 'reality'. Every human being has a belief system th...

Doing What Is Right in the Sight of God These are stressful days for many people. As I was thinking about everything happening around us, my thoughts turned toward Father God. God is still the all-powerful God. He doesn’t change. He is the God we can call Father — the One who loves us so much that He sent His Son, Yeshua (Jesus), into this world to take our punishment for the sins we’ve committed. Think about that. What amazing love. And think about what Yeshua did when He was here on earth with us. He had compassion for all those He met. Matthew 9:35–38 (NABRE) Jesus went around to all the towns and villages… curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, His heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd… “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” For me right now, I pray that His will be done, that the laborers will go out, and I trust Him for whatever happens. I also pray ...

The Kingdom Way: When People Only Take and Never Give There are moments in our walk with God when His Word gently exposes the patterns that drain our strength and disturb our peace. One of those patterns is the presence of people who only take and never give—souls who draw from others without ever offering themselves in return. The Scriptures speak to this with clarity and compassion, inviting us to walk in wisdom, love, and the steady heart of the Kingdom. The Pattern of a Taker Proverbs gives us a picture that is hard to forget: “The leech has two daughters: ‘Give! Give!’” ( Proverbs 30:15 ) It is the image of a life turned inward—always craving, never contributing. A taker drains the strength of others while refusing to lift their own hand. This is not the way of the righteous, who “give and do not hold back.” Wisdom From the Apostles Paul addresses this same spirit in the early church...

Introduction Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the things we hold onto — the things we save, store, and protect because we’re afraid of what might come. It started with food, and now my thoughts have turned toward money. It’s surprising how easily these everyday things reveal what is happening inside the heart. Scripture Luke 12:16–21 (NIV) The Parable of the Rich Fool 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’” 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” 21 “This is h...

The Kingdom Way: Giving, Not Taking Introduction This morning began with an unexpected thought — not about eating food, but about the long path food takes before it ever reaches our table. That simple thought opened a door into something deeper: how we receive, how we take, how we give, and how Yeshua teaches us to see provision in a completely different way. Scripture A passage that anchors the reflection. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” — Matthew 4:4 Reflection A personal moment that opens into spiritual insight. I woke up thinking about food — not the craving for it, but the whole process behind it. As white Americans, we go to grocery stores, buy in bulk, store things in pantries and refrigerators, and then choose what we want when we want it. And far too often, some of that food ends up in the trash. Perfectly good food that someone hungry could have eaten. It feels wasteful, and it says s...

Questions About the Messiah As a Christian who loves the Hebrew Scriptures, I’ve always been fascinated by the Jewish understanding of the Messiah. Judaism teaches that the Messiah will be a human male, a direct descendant of King David, who will accomplish great acts of restoration and establish a kingdom of peace. This kingdom is described in Scripture as everlasting. That raises an honest question for me: If the Messiah’s kingdom is everlasting, how is that understood within Judaism? Does the Messiah himself live forever, or is the “everlasting” nature of the kingdom understood in a different way? From a Christian perspective, the eternal nature of the Messiah’s reign is one of the reasons we believe Yeshua is the promised Messiah — His resurrection and eternal life align with the idea of an everlasting King. But I want to understand how Judaism interprets these same passages. Another question that often comes to mind is about the Torah itself. Rabbis st...

The Nicolaitans appear only twice in Scripture, yet Jesus says He hates their deeds and doctrines. This study explores what their name means, why their influence was so dangerous, and how their spirit still appears in religious systems today. It’s a call to discernment, repentance, and a return to direct communion with God. The Doctrines of the Nicolaitans In the past, I’ve stumbled across the name Nicolaitans in Scripture. It appears only twice—in Revelation chapter 2. Revelation 2:6 (LEB) “But you do have this: that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, things which I also hate.” Revelation 2:15–16 (LEB) “So likewise you also have those who hold fast to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent! But if you do not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war with them with the sword from my mouth.” This morning, while searching Revelation 2 again, that name caught my attention. I’ve looked before, trying to understand who the Nicolaitans wer...

I woke up this morning thinking about the forgiveness we have through what Yeshua accomplished on the cross. Some people seem to believe that forgiveness is automatic—that everyone is forgiven no matter what, and we can simply continue living as we always have. But when I reflect on what forgiveness truly is, I realize it calls for a deeper response. Before forgiveness can take root, there must first be repentance. Yeshua opened the door to forgiveness, but we still have to choose to walk through it. What Repentance Really Means Repentance is the wholehearted turning of a person back toward God—away from sin, self‑rule, and hardness of heart, and toward obedience, mercy, and truth. In Scripture, repentance is not merely feeling sorry; it is a change of direction, a returning to the path of life. The Hebrew teshuvah literally means “to return,” and the Greek metanoia means “a change of mind.” Together they reveal repentance as a transformatio...

Intro: In a world where deception feels almost normal, God still calls His people to walk in truth. This reflection looks at why lying is so serious in His eyes—and why truth matters for anyone who wants to live in His Kingdom. ✦ Lying and the World Today ✦ I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately—how rampant lying has become in our world. Consider the Epstein files: a powerful sex‑trafficking ring built on deception. Young girls were lured in by lies, trapped by lies, and harmed because people in power chose dishonesty over truth. I believe strongly that all of this must be exposed. ✦ What Scripture Says ✦ “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy.” — Proverbs 12:22 (NIV) There may be rare, extreme situations—such as hiding innocent people during wartime—where deception is used to save lives. But the overall witness of Scripture is unwavering: God cannot lie , and His people are called to walk in truth. Lyin...