Links & Quotes

People need to know how much you love them before they will listen to any correction you may need to give them. “Real friends hurt each other.” Check out the full sermon here.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

David Mathis shares a faith-building message of confidence during times of crisis. He takes his text from Psalm 46—“Whatever trouble comes, Psalm 46 tells us, with its first word, where to turn. Not to a change in circumstances. Not to our best efforts to fix the problem. Not to our anxious strategies to avoid pain and loss. But rather, turn to God.”

“There is not a facet of our lives, not an interest or occupation, not a nook or cranny of the cosmos, where God does not intend that His glory should shine forth and be known. Indeed, even now He is showing His glory in created things, and even in much of the culture that human beings make to meet their own needs (Psalm 19:1-4; Psalm 68:18). God is manifesting His glory; it is there to be noted and pondered. The task of those entrusted with the Kingdom economy is to serve as docents of the glory of God, bringing His glory to light and making Him known for all to see in these last days. … Our mission in these last days is to glorify God by living out the reality of His indwelling Presence among the people to whom He sends us day by day (cf. Micah 4:1-8). In all our relationships, cultural activities, conversations, families, vocations, and diversions, what will it look like, and how will it appear to others when the glorious Presence of God is being refracted through us?” —T.M. Moore 

“The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the one unvarying refrain of the apostles. This chapter [1 Corinthians 15] is the fullest discussion of it in the New Testament. It is one of the most significant and grandest chapters in the Bible because of the meaning it gives to human life. … The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the one most important and most established fact in all history. And the story of it has come down to us through the centuries, beautifying human life with the halo of immortality; making us feel sure that because He lives again we too shall live; making our hearts thrill with the thought that we are immortal, that we have begun an existence that shall never end; that nothing can harm us; that death is merely an incident in passing from one phase of existence to another; that wether here or there we are His, doing the thing He has for us to do; that millions of ages after the sun has grown cold, we ourselves shall still be young in the eternities of God.” —Dr. Henry Halley

Would you like to get better sleep and lower your stress levels? Check this out: “If you share a bed with your sweetie, consider incorporating this step into your nighttime routine if you aren’t already: a snuggle sesh…. A study found that couples who cuddled prior to drifting off experienced less stress and more feelings of security in the relationship.”

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbours, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.” —G.K. Chesterton 

John Piper is asked an interesting question from Ephesians 6:12—are our adversaries merely flesh-and-blood humans or are demonic forces at work? “Flesh and blood apart from Christ is always under the sway of the spirit of the age, and it’s always under the sway of the prince of the power of the air, and it’s always acting out of its own bodily, mental desires. Therefore, in one sense, there is no separation in our warfare with human sinfulness and demonic schemes. They overlap; they’re intertwined.”

The Warnings In Jeroboam’s Sin

Jeroboam knew that saints who worship together will stick together. A unified church is hard to defeat. 

He first appeals to an easier option than the hard work it takes to travel all the way up to Jerusalem for the feasts of worship. 

   If this people goes up to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to sacrifice, then the heart of this people will turn again to their Lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah. So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go all the way up to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” (1 Kings 12:27-28)

He then gave them replicas of the devoted things in Jerusalem—“behold your gods.” He tricked them to accept the counterfeit as the real thing. 

Next, he appointed unqualified priests (v. 31; 13:33). These priests weren’t accountable to God, but only to Jeroboam. 

Finally, he proposed an alternative date that they could gather to “worship” (vv. 32-33). 

Jeroboam’s sin was to make true worship seem like burdensome work, and then to pass off cheap and easy substitutes to make it appear that the people were worshiping God. But the Bible says, “And this thing became the sin of the dynasty of Jeroboam that caused it to be abolished and destroyed from the face of the earth” (1 Kings 13:34). 

Pay Attention To The Bites

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

When people lash out at us—when they bite us—they could be giving us invaluable insight into what is truly in our heart. Before we respond too quickly, we need to take some time for introspection. 

Check out this part of my conversation with John Opalewski and Jim Wiegand on the Leading From Alignment podcast. 

Check out the full LFA podcast here. 

Chapter 2 of When Sheep Bite is entitled ‘Is God Trying to Get My Attention?’ I tell a story about two similar bites I received from two totally different people who didn’t even know each other. I wrote—

    As I drove back across the state, I kept the radio off and my ears open. I could feel the Holy Spirit asking me, “Why do you think two different people have called you the same nasty word?” The only honest answer I could give was, “Because it’s true.” 

     I wasn’t wrong in the way I held to the rules, but my overly-confident attitude had definitely crossed the line to become an in-your-face arrogance. I learned two lessons from this experience. First, if I do the right thing the wrong way, I’ve really done the wrong thing. Second, when similar attacks come, I need to pay attention. 

     Now, when a painful attack suddenly confronts me, I go to the mirror. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with them that they would bite me like this?” I go to prayer to ask, “Did I do something that provoked this?” Sometimes I have literally gone into my bathroom, closed the door, and gotten nose-to-nose with myself to ask this question, and then listened for the Holy Spirit to speak to my heart. 

     My cousin Dick Brogden wrote, “Critics and skeptics are gifts to us, for in their aspersions they often bring to light a brokenness or a liability early on in its development in us. If we are secure enough to ferret out the truth through the condemnation of others, we remain healthy in the long term as our malady is exposed and dealt with before it becomes too serious.” 

     Remember that we are naturally self-protective, so this time of introspection will need to be supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit if we are going to see the true prompter of the attack.

Please check out my book When Sheep Bite to both heal from past bites and prepare yourself for the bites which are inevitably coming in the future. 

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What Godly Leaders Do

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

As Paul is coming to the close of his letter to the believers in Rome, he writes these beautiful words, “I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another” (Romans 15:14). 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

I love the high esteem Paul has for the Christians in Rome. He’s not looking for what’s wrong with them, but for what’s praiseworthy in them. 

A mark of a godly leader is one who is always looking for the best in the people around him. 

Leaders see the best in people—even if the people don’t see it in themselves yet. (Check out this short video.) 

Leaders point out the specific qualities they see in their people—virtues like goodness, knowledge, and competence. 

Leaders continue to sharpen their people, challenging them to excel even more. “Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again” (v. 15). 

Leaders enjoy spending time with their people and are refreshed by them. 

   But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. … So that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed (vv. 23-24, 32). 

Leaders pray for their people and ask their people to pray for them. “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there” (vv. 30-31; see Paul’s prayer for them in 16:25-27). 

Leaders publicly compliment their people (16:1-15). 

And leaders protect and empower their people. “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. … The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” (16:17, 20). 

I want to be this kind of leader. In order to do that, I need the help of the Holy Spirit. I must listen to His voice in order to make the changes I need to make so that I may lead in the most Christ-glorifying way possible, and help those around me live even more in their God-given gift zone.

This is part 85 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.

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All Hail King Jesus

The Bible closes with a vivid picture of Jesus as the undisputed King of kings, and we look forward to that time when all creation bows before Him. Even more so, we cannot wait to be with our King for ever and ever! 

The psalmists of Israel also foresaw the coming of this King, especially in the example they had in their King David. Many of the poetic words they penned esteemed Jesus as the King for Whom they longed. David himself not only saw the future coming of the Eternal King, but he also looked back in time to see Jesus reigning as King before time began. 

It is these royal psalms that we will be studying as we celebrate the first arrival on Earth of our King and as we anticipate the second coming of our Royal Majesty. The more clear our vision is of this King, the more we will worship Him, follow Him, and invite others to know Him as their own Lord and Master. 

Please join us at Calvary Assembly of God as we explore the beautiful, reverent, and awe-inspiring description of our King of kings in the Book of Psalms. 

What Would You Ask For?

If God said to you, “Ask for whatever you want,” what would you ask for?

God did ask Solomon that very question in 1 Kings 3:5. Here’s how Solomon replied—

“Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who cannot be counted for multitude. So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge and rule this Your great people?” (1 Kings 3:8-9 AMPC) 

And how did God respond to this request? “It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this” (v. 10).

Solomon didn’t ask for things but for a greater intimacy with God—he wanted to know God’s mind. Sadly, we tend to reverse this, saying, “Because I have things, I bless God for them.” 

Instead, our prayer should echo what Solomon prayed here in 1 Kings 3 and what Jesus taught us in His Sermon on the Mount: My desire is solely for Your glory and Your Kingdom (see Matthew 6:9-10, 33). When you pray this way, it will please that Lord that you had asked that! 

Check out these related blog posts and videos:

Some Biblical Thoughts On Hiring Personnel

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

In organizations I have had the privilege of leading, I have had to make numerous hiring, firing, and promotion decisions. As a Christian, I needed to go to the Scripture to help me make biblically-sound, God-honoring decisions. If you are a Christian leader thinking about hiring somebody in your organization, I’ve got some thoughts for you on this episode of The Podcast.

The Scriptures I referenced in this episode are from Acts 1:15-26 and Acts 6:1-6. 

Here is the passage I quoted from the chapter ‘The Wrong Ladder’ in Shepherd Leadership

   God frequently picks people we would consider the least qualified. He sometimes has one in an unglamorous position for years, and sometimes He catapults some- body immediately to the top. Sometimes God will keep His hand-selected individual in a prominent leadership position until death, and sometimes He will remove that person to a place of obscurity after only a short time. 

   God’s ladder of success is nothing like ours!

I’ve shared a couple of other blog posts and videos about this idea of our ladder of success versus what the Bible calls success. You may want to check out:

You can watch more videos based on Shepherd Leadership here. I would also encourage you to check out my new book When Sheep Bite. 

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Links & Quotes

For personal growth and team growth, consider how you can set both small, bite-size goals that can be done daily and also bigger, stretching goals that energize the competitive drive. Check out more leadership content from The Craig and Greg Show.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“This chapter contains the premier teaching of Christianity. It is an undying expression of Jesus’ doctrine of heavenly love. This chapter is more potent for the building of the church than any, or all, of the various manifestations of God’s power. Love is the church’s most effective weapon. Love is the essence of God’s nature. Love is the perfection of human character. Love is the most powerful, ultimate force in the universe. Without love, al various gifts of the Spirit are of no avail. … What a call to self-examination!” —Dr. Henry Halley, commenting on 1 Corinthians 13

“The transition from the good man to the saint is a sort of revolution; by which one for whom all things illustrate and illuminate God becomes one for whom God illustrates and illuminates all things.” —G.K. Chesterton 

T.M. Moore launched a new series of articles about the coming of God’s Kingdom in these last days. In the first article, T.M. wrote, “In his Pentecost sermon Peter announced that, with the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the pouring out of God’s Spirit, the ‘last days’ had begun (Acts 2:14-17), the new economy has been put into effect. Paul says Jesus came in ‘the fullness of the times’ to inaugurate His great work of redemption in these last days (Galatians 4:4). The ‘fullness of the times’ in which the divine economy is unfolding, is now. We are living in the last days, the fullness of the times, when the Lord of heaven and earth is establishing and expanding His divine economy.”

Once again, a new fossil discovery doesn’t fit into evolutionary models, but instead bolsters the facts recorded in the Bible about Creation and the Flood.

“For years, Michael Pratt operated in the shadows of the internet, profiting from coercion, deception, and exploitation under the guise of adult entertainment.” Pratt has now pled guilty to sexual trafficking charges. Fight The New Drug wrote, “The story is more than a courtroom headline. It’s a stark reminder of how the porn industry can weaponize vulnerability, disguise abuse and trafficking, and sell it as fantasy.”

A really penetrating question from John Piper: Why do so many PhDs in theology commit adultery?

Weighty Words

Yet [in spite of the threats] they never ceased for a single day, both in the temple area and at home, to teach and to proclaim the good news (Gospel) of Jesus [as] the Christ (the Messiah). (Acts 5:42 AMPC) 

On the one hand, the apostles were sent by God to proclaim the name of Jesus; on the other hand, the Sanhedrin commanded them not to proclaim the name of Jesus (vv. 20, 28). 

Not only had the Holy Spirit empowered and emboldened these men to testify, but Jesus also said (in John 14:26) that at key moments the Spirit would remind them of His words. One word Jesus had given them, which the Spirit undoubtedly brought to their remembrance, was this: “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna)” (Matthew 10:28). 

God is glorified when we give greater weight and reverence to His words than we do to the words of mere humans.

A Book For Church And Business Leaders

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

On The Craig and Greg Show, Greg noted that my book When Sheep Bite isn’t just for church leaders, but business leaders can benefit from reading this as well. 

You can check out the full conversation Greg and I had on this episode of our leadership podcast. 

I recently shared a series of messages for all Christians about how to handle the painful bites that sometimes come from other Christians. The series was called When Sheep Bite Sheep. 

Please check out both of my books Shepherd Leadership and When Sheep Bite. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎