Prayer Wall
Part of Emily’s calling is to be an intercessor. She has a passion to go before the throne of grace on behalf of others, and see God move in answer to prayer. If you have a specific prayer request that you would like her to pray for, simply fill out the form...
Read More"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty."
2 Corinthians 3:17
When Heaven Stands On Tiptoe
Did you ever consider that your willingness to say “yes” to whatever The Lord is asking of you right now might change the very course of history? A woman asked me to pray for her teenage daughter who was facing a weighty decision. This teen felt God was calling her into missions following graduation. But the broad path of a four-year college was what her peers were choosing and what the culture expected. She was wavering. As I sat down to worship at the piano and bring this situation before The Lord, a picture began to take shape in my mind. In vivid detail, I saw the hosts of heaven...
Read More“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men”
This is the conclusion of a message I gave recently on The Fear of the Lord Scripture talks extensively in both the Old Testament and in the New Testament about the fear of the Lord. Previously, I outlined how the Bible defines the fear of the Lord and its effects on humanity. Scripture warns strongly about presuming on God’s kindness and mercy but failing to repent, or come into God’s way of thinking. Paul says, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.” The King James Version says, “Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” What does that mean?...
Read MoreCorruption vs. Life: the fear of Man or the fear of the Lord?
Part Two of a Sunday message I gave recently on The Fear of the Lord The Fear of Man In scripture, the fear of God is contrasted with the fear of man. We can be afraid of, literally, or hold in too high esteem, the opinions of people. And scripture says that this is a snare. To care what people think, above what God thinks, is a trap to us. Proverbs 8:13 says that “to fear the Lord is to hate evil.” See, there are a lot of people who claim to love God and love sinners; but the problem is, they don’t hate evil. They’re more comfortable with the evil than they are God’s word. They...
Read MoreChristmas in Yesteryear
Looking for a cozy Christmas read this December? Christmas in Yesteryear is my latest novel, available now on Kindle. From the back cover: Getting stranded overnight in the sleepy, snowy town of Silver Pines is not on city girl Lauren Henderson’s holiday wish list. But her brief stay proves serendipitous when she meets an agreeable homesteader named James with sympathetic brown eyes and an unusual perspective on life, along with Mary, a warm, recently widowed innkeeper who challenges Lauren to follow through on some dormant dreams. But is the town hiding a secret? While Silver Pines and its...
Read MoreFrighteningly dangerous: the church without the Fear of the Lord
The following is from a message given recently at church. It is part one of two. I wonder how many of you feel as though you’ve spent as much time evangelizing the church the last several years as you have the unbelieving world? Growing up in the church, as a kid, my innate sense was that families were mostly on the same page. There might be slightly laxer rules about television programming at someone else’s house, or maybe some households didn’t have as strict a curfew, but generally speaking, doctrinally, ideologically, morally, we were on the same page. The exception being,...
Read MoreBringing Cain’s Offering to the House of the Lord
Sleepily you open one eye. You could catch another half hour’s wink perhaps. However, this will mean you’re scrambling to get to church on time. Reluctantly, you get up, trying to decide whether it’s a greater priority to try to get in the scriptures or fry some bacon. Two hours later, you’re in the car. The kids are squabbling, you’re irritable with your spouse, and your hair smells faintly of bacon. You arrive just in time and cram into a seat. You turn your attention to the words displayed at the front of the sanctuary. This song again? You’re not even sure you agree with its...
Read MoreThe Ministry of Reconciliation and the Return of the King
I awoke in the middle of the night recently with a sense of the Lord wanting to speak with me. But each time I started to pray, my mind wandered. Finally I whispered to God, “Speak, Lord. I’m listening.” Immediately I heard Him say, “I am coming quickly. Preach the gospel to everyone.” “I’m not an evangelist” was the first thought that came to mind. I knew it was an excuse. The next morning, remembering His words, I was actively looking to carry out His commission. There was the staff member at the medical campus. The clerk at the supermarket. The guy helping me at the Verizon...
Read MoreChildren as human shields: benefiting them or benefiting from them?
Social media blew up recently with outraged protests over the possibility of taxpayers no longer being required to fund certain charitable organizations, among which was Special Olympics. An informed attorney wrote a brilliant piece on the justification of this action (an item of surprise in his article was that Betsy Devos actually donated her entire salary of $199,700 to charities, one-fourth of which went to Special Olympics) and the attorney expressed disappointment with Trump for walking back the proposal. The more troubling point is that, as the lava of this emotional volcano spewed,...
Read More“Prevailing Winds”
“Prevailing winds.” This jumped out at me and resonated in my spirit while reading a book on weather & climate with my daughter. Prevailing winds are the winds that blow consistently in a given direction over the earth and affect rainfall over regions. I believe the Spirit of God is prevailing over the earth in this hour as we travail in prayer, and that it is unstoppable, despite how the powers of darkness are digging in their heels. Specifically, I believe goodness, righteousness, and new government is coming swiftly to North Korea. More celebrities and stars worshiped by...
Read More“But He Did Not Answer Her a Word”: Lessons from the Syrophoenician Woman
Had the Gentile woman with the demonized daughter (described in Matthew 15 and Mark 7) been raised in the American church, I picture her encounter with Jesus going much differently. She would return home heartbroken to her sick girl, disillusioned and under the impression that this was her cross in life to bear; a change in her awful situation was simply not God’s will. Matthew 15:21-28 records the story of the Syrophoenician woman and Jesus: 21 Then Jesus went out from there and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Gentile [Greek] woman came from that region and...
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