HIATUS

About twice yearly, I make a trip to Uganda (East Africa) to visit my kids, lead some conferences, etc. During the few days before, the time during, and the few days after, I usually take a break from all of my blogs. This is that break. I'll be blogging again around the middle of May (2010).

Love & Justice

Love and justice are essential to Christianity. They are at the very foundation of the character and nature of God. But for humans, they are not easy to keep in balance. Some people pervert love by excusing other people's bad behaviors - and thus enable them. Others pervert justice and fail to love others. But love without justice leaves people in their sins. And justice without love drives people away from God. The two must be kept in balance.

Material Wealth

When people have abundant material things (measures of wealth and affluence) they tend to become self-sufficient and forget about God.

How God Works

God often chooses to work through people, but only because it is good for them. He is perfectly capable of accomplishing His will in me without anyone else's help. But He created me to be a relational being. Said differently, God prefers to use relationships to do His work.

Better or Worse

Sometimes partial blindness - seeing but not understanding, or knowing what is right but not doing it, or hearing truth but not believing it - can be worse than not seeing, hearing, or knowing at all.

Praying Intentionally

When we pray we must have faith that God has already prepared the best answer for us. Our role is to ask in faith and wait in humility.

Ineffective Christians

People don't have to be sinful to be ineffective as Christians. They can simply be confused about who God really is or about what God wants - and they'll be as useless as heathens.

Fear Driven

When we are driven by fear, we tend to frantically search everywhere for comfort, assurance, advice and relief. We hope to find an easy way out of our troubles - which we think are the causes of our distress. But God wants to be our provision and our guide. And He wants us to look only to Him for these things.

Good Promises

Promises are only as good as the credibility of the individual making them.

Worship Hypocrisy

We are all capable of hypocrisy. Often we slip into routine patterns when we worship and fail to really give God our love and devotion. If we are to be called God's people, we must be obedient and worship Him honestly and sincerely.

Grateful Worship

It is from the depths of our gratitude that we praise God. For if we are not grateful - then there would be no point (purpose) to worshipping Him.

Distorted Perspective

Our perspective can become distorted by our accomplishments if we fail to recognize that God is always working His purposes through us.