Send me a Text Message! For 1000's of years Satan has been thumming his nose at God, rejecting and ridiculing the wisdom and the grace of God. But when the grace of God flows (to us and through us) the wisdom of God is made known. Grace has a Cosmic effect. The importance of the church is that it's not just a place where worship services take place, it's a people through whom the purposes of God are fufilled. In the heavenly places, where heaven meets earth, we become the "see I told you...

Send me a Text Message! You have a seat at the table, in the heavenlies, with Christ. We've all heard that phrase before, "a seat at the table." We're looking for a seat at the table. When it's used in an organization, it's about having a place, having a voice. Usually when we say we want a seat at the table, it's because we feel we deserve a part; we deserve to be heard, to lead. We want a seat at the table. This is not that kind of seat. This is not the kind of seat we earn. This is m...

Send me a Text Message! Ephesians 2 is a tough passage of scripture. But it also contains one of the greatest transformation stories of all time. I was a nobody. I was dead, doomed and damned -- but God --. Oh, how I love those two words, "but God." Later on you should circle those words, highlight them, underline them in your Bible. "I was dead, doomed and damned but God, is so rich in mercy. Those words are the turning point of my story and yours. They mark the point where...

Send me a Text Message! I love what Paul Miller writes in his book, "A Praying Life." He writes, "If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life. You'll always be a little too tired, a little too busy. But, if like Jesus you realize you can't do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired you are, you will find the time to pray." In other words, if I know I need help, I will pray. And perhaps the best words of pr...

Send me a Text Message! How well do I know God? If there was one and only one question we should ask ourselves as we start a new year...it would be, "How well do I know him?" Jesus once was overheard praying, he said, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) How well do I know God? Moses spoke with God like a man does with his friend, and yet he cried out to know more of God. Paul said, nothing matters to me more than...

Send me a Text Message! In his book "The Prayer of Jabez" Bruce Wilkinson writes, "To bless in the Biblical sense means to ask for or to impart supernatural favor. When we ask for God's Blessing, we're not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves. We're crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only God has the power to give us." I think the problem is that somewhere along the way, we quit believing that God's blessing matters, or maybe we quit believing that...

Send me a Text Message! In this episode, you will hear Jesus ask a question, that on first hearing, you may be tempted to think, "That's the dumbest question I've ever heard." He walks up to one broken man lying in the midst of hundreds of broken people. They're all laying around a pool because of a legend that when the pool bubbled, the first one in would be healed. Jesus walks up to this man who has laid poolside for over three decades and Jesus asks, "Do you want to be made well?" But of c...

Send me a Text Message! In Malachi 3, I believe Malachi, or rather God through Malachi, is trying to tell us that generosity ushers in heaven on earth, that generous people are the people who unwrap heaven. So in this episode I'll dare you to take a NY's dare to be more generous than you ever thought possible. And actually it's not my dare. It's God's. "I dare you to test me." God says. "I dare you to try to outgive me. Care for the poor in your midst and in your circle.&nbs...

Send me a Text Message! There is a light that shines in the darkness and in the end, Christmas wins. In the days after Christmas there there’s still darkness and we will still need light. We need the light of hope for the darkness of difficulty. Difficulty didn't take a break over the holidays. We need the light of hope. We need the light of generosity for the darkness of selfishness. Christmas scratches the itch of grace deep within us. It gives us a chance to counteract that selfish s...

Send me a Text Message! For the last episode of Come Lord Jesus, I just want to offer this post-Christmas question. What if Jesus had never come? What if it never happened? What if all we have for Christmas is Santa, elves, and the naughty-nice list. What if there was no Christ in Christmas? What if there were no ripples of heaven on earth that continued to this day? What if Jesus never came?

Send me a Text Message! DON'T LISTEN TO THIS -- If you are going to Christmas Eve services at Calvary Harvest Fields. :) It's not exactly the same, but similar! But if you aren't going to Christmas Eve services at Calvary, I hope that this episode encourages you with the Christmas truth that Jesus is on a mission to bring you home for Christmas!

Send me a Text Message! In this episode, we are going to talk about favor. That's an interesting word isn't it? Favor. It's used multiple times in the Christmas stories. When we think of the word favor, it's usually used in a sentence like this, "Hey would you do me a favor?" When we ask someone to do us a favor we're saying, "You don't owe me. I don't necessarily deserve this, haven't earned it, but I'm wondering if you would do it anyway. Do me a favor." Often that's the question behi...

Send me a Text Message! In the end light wins, darkness loses. Why? Because we have Jesus. He is our Unwavering Certainty in the midst of uncertainty. He is our Sacrificial Savior who covers us in his love when we are prone to fear. He's our Overflowing Abundance when scarcity whispers, "Protect what is yours, there’s not enough to go around." He is our Almighty King, our Righteous Redeemer and in the end He will be the one still standing and we will see Him with our own eyes and...

Send me a Text Message! The angels said to the shepherds, "For a savior has been born to you..." That to you was just for them, it includes us. Listen to me, the glory of Christmas is not that God was born in a mess without a family, it's that He welcomes messy people into his family. This is Jesus' trademark. He wasn't born in a gated community or a palace with guards. He was born to us and there is no us that is not welcome to come home. Messy people have been drawn to Jesus for thous...

Send me a Text Message! I love the iconic manger images of little baby Jesus, but I have to be honest, it's full-grown Jesus with whom I want to be side-by-side. It's the one who stilled the storm, fed the crowd, healed the outcasts and noticed those in the margins of life. It's the one who could gather a crowd but loved you one-on-one. It's the one who riled up the religious leaders, confused the politicians, scared the hell out of Satan, and loved his enemies all the way to the cross. It's ...

Send me a Text Message! Revelation 12 does not describe a merry, little Christmas. Christmas is a holy war, a cosmic battle for the glory of God, with a vicious villian. Like Frodo and his fellowship against Sauron in the Lord of the Rings, or Iron Man against Thanos, even Little Red Riding Hood against the Big Bad Wolf. A cosmic battle agnst the hosts of darkness. We live in a culture that sees evil as a disease, a pyschological sickness, but the Bible describes...

Send me a Text Message! I used to pray, God put me in the place where you can use me the best, but these last few years, my prayer has changed, now it’s God put me in the place where you can love me the best. And isn't this what Jesus is saying is the reward of those who have little strength and keep his word and love his name? Yes, sure this is an open door to make a difference. This is the church that will feed a hungry world and love their neighbors all the way to Jesus. But do...

Send me a Text Message! So in this episode and the next we are going to hit the last two letters, but I’m going to deal with them together…because they go well together. They go well together because they both reference a door. The church of Philadelphia has an open door. The church of Laodecia has a closed door. Will this Christmas bring you an open door, or a closed door?

Send me a Text Message! In this episode we will look at two "Christmas" letters, one to Thyatira and one to Sardis. With both churches there is this sense of unfinished business. There's a need to keep progressing, keep growing, keep become more of a force for good and God. With Thyatira, it was a bit more of a commendation and with Sardis it was a bit more of an urgent diagnosis. Both churches had good and bad; but both also have this theme of preserving growth. Sometimes in the church and p...

Send me a Text Message! Today we go back to our Calvary series...ONE CHRISTMAS. And it dovetails well with our regular series, "Come Lord Jesus." Because it's all about having one Christmas that Jesus will never forget. AND it's all about joy. You are pursued. You are invited. There are still empty seats around His table and around His table, the joy overflows! He's inviting us to a Christmas party that could change your world!