I just read in my concordance that the word witness comes from the Greek word Martus or Martur. Their meaning is to give testimony to the truth at the expense of one’s life. Our word Martyr comes from this also. Now consider modern day witnessing. How many of us actually witness anymore? I’m not throwing stones because I find great guilt in myself. However, in this writing, I’m not so concerned with how many of us are witnessing, but the quality and depth of our witness. The

James 5: 7-9 (ESV) “Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient  about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient . Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold the Judge is standing at the door.” Let’s face it, we live in a society that demands instant

Hebrews 11: 1 (ESV) “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This is the scripture we all quote to each other. But for me this writing creates more questions than answers. Even more difficult to fathom are the two quotes of Jesus: Luke 17: 5-6 “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘increase our faith!’ And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the se

1 Corinthians 1: 10-11 (ESV) “I appeal to you brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions  among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people there is quarreling  among you, my brothers.” I have had the sad experience of watching many churches ripped apart through disagreements over doctrines or who should be in control. Dissension is a dangerous r

Isaiah 26: 9 (ESV) “My soul yearns for You in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks You. For when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” Psalm 27:4 (ESV) “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.” There is such a thing as the rare soul that unlike most others finds no satis

Psalm 89: 1-2 (ESV) “I will sing of the steadfast love  of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness  to all generations. For I said, ‘ steadfast love  will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness .’” Steadfast love and faithfulness are used often in the bible as attributes of God. God does not say, “I have steadfast love and faithfulness.” He states, “I am steadfast love and faithfulness.” So, what is steadfast lov

Colossians 3: 12-17 (ESV) “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be

1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 (ESV) “Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” The disciple’s walk is not necessarily

Ephesians 3: 14-19 (ESV) “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the

Psalm 33: 4-9 (ESV) “For the word of the Lord is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; He puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe  of Him! For He spoke, and it came t

I learned yesterday that Willie Mays had passed away. It saddened my heart to know he was gone. You might ask, why does a guy who writes about spiritual things talk about a baseball player? Let me explain. Just before I turned eight years old, we moved from the wilderness of Washington state to Alameda, California. From our apartment if you crossed Shoreline Drive, you could see Candlestick Park across the bay. It was 1963 and the San Francisco Giants were the most amazing th

Romans 2: 1-4 (ESV) “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgement of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgement of God? Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearanc

When I say that, I don’t mean a depressed life or a distraught life or even an anxious life. I mean a life broken of arrogance and self-righteousness. Humbleness is one of the greatest freedoms a person can have. If you wish for a burden free life, then live your life in the absence of vanity. Arrogance and self-righteousness are traits of the devil. Humbleness is how Christ walked when He was here with us. Let the Holy Spirit cleanse you of any pride or conceit. Treat others

The basic definition of phototropism is a plant’s response to light, either towards (positive phototropism) or away (negative phototropism). Obviously, this writing will have some symbolism to it. We have a beautiful heathy plant in our entryway that we tend to move around from this spot to that spot. Or we just turn it 180 degrees in the same spot. Usually within 8-10 hours all the stems and leaves have turned and are straining towards the light again. We move the plant to e

Isaiah 40:31 “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” The world today seems to have gone completely out of control. It is full of chaos. It hammers at us to take as much as we can. It is always loud, and the lies are abundant. Worldly pleasures intrude upon our spirits. The ocean of life is full of waves and never any calm. All of this is to distra