Terry's Journal

It might serve us well, the next time we start down the road of doing judging one another because of some differences, to remember this list, to focus instead on all the wonderful ways in which we are united … and that it took the cross of Christ to make us that way. No small price for unity I’d say.

Keywords: paul, unity  |   0 comments

Could it be that we need to be spend at least a little more time appreciating what unites us as brothers and sisters, and a little less time focusing on where we still fall short?

Keywords: paul, unity  |   0 comments

God did not intend for His children to have a passionless relationship with Him. Respect, honor, loyalty, and obedience are important. But God is a loving Father who desires to lavish love upon His own.

Keywords: god, intimacy, trust  |   0 comments

I was captured afresh by the Lord's teaching in Matthew 7 about judgment. Jesus first lays out a rather shocking principle of kingdom economics: the measure of judgment you use with others will be the measure used with you. He then talks about the whole speck in someone's eye and log in your own eye matter. Both statements are there to get us to take seriously how mistaken it is to be quick to judge others.

Keywords: judge, matthew, sermon on the mount  |   0 comments

“Go outside. God wants to speak to you today and he will do so as you observe nature through your magnifying glass” After the initial groans and moans, the students go off to fulfill the desire of their crazy professor. But they inevitably return with wonder and excitement, amazed at the voice of God spoken through the micro world of his creation.

Keywords: good, right brain, student  |   0 comments

It is crystal clear that Jesus held little children in high esteem and insisted that adults treat them with honor, respect and great care. His model of acceptance must be taken seriously and we would all do well to remember that Jesus said that the Kingdom of God belonged to them. Any investment we make in children, be it time, words, money, or prayer is kingdom ministry at its highest level.

Keywords: child, kingdom  |   0 comments

Truthfully, I know that I am one of the broken. And yes, most of the people I hang with choose to be vulnerable about their own struggles, frailties and flaws. They are men and women who are on a journey of transformation, healed, being healed, and yet to be healed. I love this band of misfit and am deeply grateful that they allow me to be numbered with them.

Keywords: david, journey, transformation  |   0 comments

The Lord seems to have an especially tender heart toward the forgotten and left behind.

Keywords: abandon, wealthy  |   0 comments

Sometimes, life’s greatest gifts are wrapped in the most unappealing packages.

Keywords: gift, ministry, worship  |   0 comments

Jesus said that whoever welcomes a child in his name welcomes him. And, that whoever welcomes him welcomes the one who sent him. What an amazing statement about the value and potential of a child.

Keywords: child, potential  |   0 comments

Jesus cared enough to meet him in a kingdom moment that bordered on the miraculous, all because of the Lord’s deep and everlasting love for him.

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Simon of Cyrene is an important part of the passion story of our Lord. Origen, one of the church fathers, commented that on the day Simon carried the cross of Christ, he was carrying it for us all.

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“ . . . In the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” (Isaiah 35:6)

Keywords: difficult, streams, sustain  |   0 comments

if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. He is God incarnate, who came in flesh and blood to reveal the expanse of his power, love and grace. Meditating on this would certainly help us experience a reshaping of our God image, which in many cases is dominated by harshness, withholding, and judgment.

Keywords: colossians, fullness, jesus, paul  |   0 comments

Lord, your ways are certainly not our ways. In many cases, we can simply take what we believe to be the way, and turn it upside down in order to discover the kingdom way.

Keywords: light, lord, teach  |   0 comments

I have learned that the Lord neither shares my feelings nor strategy about the past I want to leave behind. Instead of forgetting, or erasing the past, the Lord wants to redeem it. To go back into these painful memories and bring our “riches, hidden in secret places” (Isaiah 45:3). He has been patient with me as I kick, scream, ignore, and avoid, being persistent that there are gems in these places of the past that will actually enrich my life in very important and specific ways.

Keywords: honor, praise, redeem, shame  |   0 comments

It is not unusual for folks like us to struggle with feeling: Unsafe, Unlovable, Anxious, Handicapped, Scattered, Shameful. Can you relate? Most of us do, especially as the unfinished business of the past fights to keep our attention on wounds that have at some level turned toxic. And, no matter how hard we try, it is difficult to change these very powerful feelings about ourselves.

Keywords: feelings, past, redeem, shameful, wounds  |   0 comments

Jesus wants to do something quite different. Something only he can do. He wants to walk back into that memory, not forget it. And he wants you to join him in gathering up all the pieces, both of the memory and the broken vase. And then, he wants to make all things new. He has no intention of erasing, or wasting. He is into redeeming.

Keywords: healing, wound  |   0 comments

It is important to note that when Paul called believers to rejoice in the Lord, he was not in this case calling people to rejoice in what Jesus did, which is certainly reason for deep gratitude, heartfelt thanks, and endless praise.

Keywords: paul, philippians, rejoice  |   0 comments

Every day we need to say yes to the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in our lives and step forward whenever the opportunity arises to tell people about Jesus, pray for the sick, and stand against evil. We might just find that what happened to the disciples may in fact happen to us: people where healed everywhere.

Keywords: disciples, holy spirit  |   0 comments

If we have been born again, we certainly have been given the capacity to see with kingdom eyes. The mundane always holds the potential to become the miraculous whenever we step into a kingdom moment.

Keywords: jesus, kingdom, opportunity, see  |   0 comments

Paul told us to "Make the most of every opportunity...let your conversation be full of grace." (Colossians 3:5 and 6). The Holy Spirit can stir us and open the door to discovering a deep need in the life of a stranger. With faith and courage we can obey the Spirit's leading to plant a seed of the gospel.

Keywords: gospel, grace, prayer  |   1 comments

I teach a course at Alliance Theological Seminary called, Person in Prayer. It is designed for men and women going into pastoral ministry, focused upon the need for them to develop a meaningful and vibrant prayer life.

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Gratitude. That is a word the Lord spoke into my heart this past summer. It seems obvious that a follower of Christ should live a life of gratitude. After all, Jesus has given us such wonderful gifts.

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What can we do to manifest the wonderful, amazing, and often untamed reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives? While the fulfillment of such a desire rests ultimately with the Lord, here are some ways in which we can position ourselves for such an outpouring of His presence.

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Never give up! How many times I have heard those words over the years, as a call to persevere during life's difficult moments. It is a good word. Churchill once said only those words when invited to stand and speak at a graduation service.

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Next week we gather again in Macedonia, Ohio for the Outpouring. I am psyched! Joining with other believers to worship, listen to the word, and lift the name of Christ is always exciting.

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Most Christians have at least some understanding of the notion that we are, upon receiving Christ, to live our lives in his name. We are to let his life move through us in our daily lives, being his hands and feet on earth.

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I spoke recently at a men’s event in Columbus. It was amazing. The theme was “The father blessing”, but in fact it was more about the father wound that most all the men carry in their hearts.

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Little child, for you Jesus Christ has come, he has fought, he has suffered. For you he entered the shadow of Gethsemane and the horror of Calvary.

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