Step Into Significance

Awhile back, I awoke in the middle of the night, thirsty. I reached over to my nightstand to grab what I thought was a water bottle. When I realized it wasn’t, I set it back down. The next morning, Tamara entered the kitchen with a broken glass figurine, along with an obvious look of distress. […]

A couple years ago, I found myself in an unexpected place. After fifty years of passionately and vigorously serving in ministry, I suddenly felt stripped of all physical strength, which depleted me of emotional strength, too. I fought day after day, week after week, just to keep my head above water, all the while doing […]

Frederick the Great, King of Prussia in the mid-1700s, once summoned the pastor of his courts asking for proof of God’s existence. The pastor thought for a minute then answered: “the Jews.” He thoughtfully asked the king to consider how God’s people had been preserved time and time again despite incessant persecution. In Psalm 77:13-14, […]

I love movies. I’ve always enjoyed watching stories come alive on screen, especially when those stories are inspiring, and even more, when they’re true. My favorite types of stories are what I call “underdog” stories. You know the kind—tales of someone fighting from the bottom, through trial after trial, to reach their dream. Perhaps I […]

Throughout my young adult years, I struggled with perfectionism. One day, while preparing a message, I felt so overcome with frustration that I bit my Bible, leaving teeth marks on the front cover. I had to buy a new one to preach with that Sunday! Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since then. It took […]

Growing up, I often viewed prayer as a last resort. Not on purpose; it was just natural for me to try figuring things out on my own first. In college I realized: prayer was not designed to be our last option. It was designed to be our first. God is a miracle-working God, and He […]

When I was a kid, my mother often asked, “Jimmy, do you know what happens to those poor at paying attention?” “What, Mama?” I’d reply, though I could recite the answer from memory. “They become poor in life,” she’d say. As annoying as it was, the phrase carried great truth. Several times over the decades […]

When Jesus began His ministry on earth, people formed many ideas about who He was. They called Him a good person. A gifted teacher. A respected rabbi. An anointed miracle worker. A God-ordained prophet. While these were accurate descriptions of titles He bore, they were not all-encompassing. It was only those who recognized Jesus as […]

Shortly after both my parents died, my siblings and I visited their home to go through their belongings. We each picked several keepsakes to take with us. They laughed at my first pick—the cookie jar. I picked that jar because it represented sweetness to me. Mom always stocked it with her town-famous cookies, and I […]

Activity is the beginning of accomplishment. Dreaming is fun, but it’s not until we actually do something about those dreams that they have the potential to come to pass. James 2:17 talks about this when it says, “… faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” It’s always diligence to do what needs done that leads […]