Rescued by Jesus. Rebuilt by the Spirit. Responding to God's grace.
Ever hesitate to follow God because you worry about the future? << Previous episode “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (Matt. 6:25 NIV) February, 2015. […]
<< Previous episode Three points on sharing the gospel as a lifestyle, not a project. He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All […]
What happens when two leaders have conflicting visions and convictions? Is only one of them discerning God’s will? While praying through a long stretch of unemployment in 2006, I received an impression that I would get paid to go to Bangkok and write a movie in June of that year. So when a producer contacted […]
I was on my way to a time of silence and solitude when I had to go through a roundabout. Not a fan of them. They’re messy, a free-for-all with cars entering and exiting at different points, trying to cross to their lanes without colliding with any of the others doing the same. What’s up […]
<< Previous episode If God could speak through a donkey, could He speak to me through some ducks? Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me” (Gideon 6:17 NIV) June, 2011. It had been three months since my missions trip […]
<< Previous Episode One of the original objectives for our 10-day missions trip had always been to encourage missionaries and Japanese Christians by meeting with them and praying for them. The triple disaster of March 11th didn’t change this, other than to cause us to allocate more of our time in Kyoto than originally planned, […]
<< Previous Episode The wind blows where it will. During our preparations for the trip, we reviewed guidelines on what would be culturally appropriate for short-term missionaries in Japan. For example, it isn’t common to walk up to strangers to strike up a conversation, especially if we couldn’t speak Japanese. Prayer in public would be […]
What do you do when uncontrollable forces array against your sense of God’s calling? << Previous episode In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. (Prov. 16:9 NIV) Sensing the go-ahead to proceed with this missions trip to Japan, I began the morning of January 2, 2011 by praying about […]
When I was faithful with a little, God gave me more– way more than I ever imagined. << Previous episode That night, I went to work at the weekly prayer meeting we held every Friday. My job title was “director of prayer ministries,” but I felt more like the “prayer team gopher.” On a typical […]
The journey towards humility can be excruciating. << Previous Episode Many martial-arts films feature a student seeking to learn from a master, who won’t teach anything until the potential student first demonstrates humility, patience, and obedience; only then will the master work to develop the student’s full potential. Think Daniel-san waxing Mr. Miyagi’s cars, or […]
I thought God was speaking to me. But was He really? << Previous episode I was on fire for Jesus after returning from Bangkok, telling anyone who’d listen that God is bigger than any of us could comprehend, yet He loves us and is with us in our day-to-day lives, even when we don’t notice […]
