Proclaiming the Gospel, the message I preached at Pastor Logan’s Church. Continue reading

Why not prosperity? Turns out the problem is the tremendous influence of Greek philosophy on Christianity. Continue reading

God wants to help us but the Bible teaches that God's help comes through faith. Continue reading

The name of Jesus, through faith in his name, cause God to show up on the scene. Continue reading

Faith is the key to receiving from God. Continue reading

The Parts of Faith…preview Continue reading

Pastor Price didn’t mean it in that trite, sanctimonious, ‘Sometimes he says yes, sometimes he says no, sometimes he says wait a while,’ way. He meant God always said “Yes,” to his prayers, God always gave him what he asked for when he prayed. When I heard it I thought, ‘I wish God always answered my prayers.’ Continue reading

Faith Isn’t Optimistic #2 (Here's part 1) So Admiral Stockdale was a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton from 1965 to 1973. During that time he was tortured over twenty times. As the senior officer he established systems to... Continue reading

Here's a nice testimony of answered prayer, from Ms. Martha, recorded in real time. Continue reading

Since we imagine that God’s “Yes,” is the only obstacle to our prayer being answered, our entire prayer effort is focused on getting God’s Yes. We dream up all manner of schemes for getting God to Yes. We try begging, or crying, or bargaining, or asking a million people to pray with us. We try asking over and over and over and over and over again, in hopes of getting God to Yes… Continue reading

Sometime after I saw that Jesus really meant what he was saying in Matthew 7:7-8, I was again meditating on it, trying to figure it out, trying to understand it, trying to understand how it worked: “Ask and it will be given to you… For everyone who asks receives…” Just going over it again, and again, repeating it to myself, thinking about it. As I was doing this, I think I might have been upset by an unanswered prayer, I thought, ‘But this, obviously, isn’t true.’ I talked to Jesus about it, “Jesus what you’re saying here is obviously not true. Lots of people ask and as far as they can tell it’s not given to them. Most people ask and don’t receive… Continue reading

Jesus was saying that God would give me what I asked for when I prayed, that God would do that for everyone, God would give everyone, what they asked for when they prayed. Continue reading

Here’s how I like to think about it. I imagine going before God to make a request, to submit my prayer. I'm waiting for my turn in an antechamber outside God’s throne room, there’s a tall, wide, doorway open to God’s throne room. As I look through the doorway I see God's throne a ways off. Then I see, carved into the stone above the doorway, these words, “Ask and it shall be given you… for everyone that asketh receiveth.” Continue reading

"God always answers my prayers," that's what Pastor Price said and he didn't mean it in that trite, evangelical, I'm so special, "God answers all prayers sometimes he says yes, sometimes he says no, sometimes he says wait a while," way, he meant God always gave him what he asked for. Continue reading

Another verse from the Christian scriptures where it's clear righteousness doesn't mean righteousness. Continue reading

I didn’t know what to make of Jesus’s statement. I didn’t know how to reconcile, “for everyone who asks receives,” with reality. It seemed obvious that it wasn’t true. Was Jesus lying, was he mistaken, were these not really his words, was the Bible not really God’s Word, did these words not mean what they appeared to mean? So I put it on the shelf. From time to time I’d come back to it and try and understand. Then one day I saw it. Continue reading

But Jesus and the Bible talk about answered prayer like it’s a sure thing, a certainty, something that is extremely reliable. Here’s Jesus: Continue reading

This is the first chapter in a little book I'm trying to write, about how I learned what faith is. Continue reading

Here’s how I like to think about it. I imagine myself going before the throne of God to make a request, to submit my prayer. I’m in an antechamber outside the throne room, and there’s a doorway leading in to God’s throne room. As I look Continue reading

I love this quote about prayer from Charles Finney, American Evangelist of the mid 1800s. Maybe I love because he too was a lawyer before he was a preacher. I love it so much I'm sure I must have posted it before, but here it goes again. Continue reading

When I first started studying the Jewish background of the New Testament, (Jesus was Jewish, attended synagogue, taught from the Hebrew Bible, was called rabbi by his disciples, spoke Hebrew.), the most surprising thing was the importance of charity in Judaism. Continue reading

This is part four of, God Wants To Answer Your Prayers. Continue reading

Ms. Connie always experienced extreme pain in her ear when flying. When the plane would begin its descent she'd feel like she was being stabbed in the ear with an ice pick. Now, because her husband had changed jobs, she was going to be doing a lot more flying . Every couple of weeks she'd be flying back and forth, from home to San Francisco. Continue reading

Here's a little blurb I liked from a little booklet I'm working on right now about, How I learned What Faith Is. Continue reading

God can say "Yes" to your prayer and you still fail to receive the answer, because we have a part to play. Continue reading