Vengeance is God’s.  He will repay—whether ultimately on the Day of Judgment or intermediately in this life.  God can discipline your abusive  boss.  He can bring your ex to his knees or to her senses.  Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice; it just entrusts it to God.  He guarantees the right retribution.  The God of justice has the precise prescription. Forgive your enemies?  That’s where you and I come in. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger,” Paul wrote, “and do not give the devil an opportunity” (Ephesians 4:26 -27).  Don’t give the devil territory or ground. Bitterness invites … Listen Now

God moves us forward by healing our past!  Can he really?  Can God heal this ancient hurt in my heart?  Of course He can.  In fact, God cares about justice more than we do.  We’re reminded in Romans 12:17-19, “Never pay back evil for evil…never avenge yourselves.  Leave that to God, for He has said that He will repay those who deserve it.” We fear the evildoer will slip into the night, unknown and unpunished.  Escape to Fiji and sip mai tais on the beach.  Not to worry.  Scripture says, “God will repay,” not “God might repay.”  God will execute justice … Listen Now

In 1882 in New York City, Joseph Richardson owned a narrow strip of land 5 feet wide and 104 feet long. Next door was a normal-sized lot owned by a man who wanted to erect an apartment building.  He offered Richardson $1,000 for his plot.  Deeply offended, Richardson demanded $5,000 which the builder refused to pay.  The builder went on to build the apartment building assuming the slender lot would remain vacant and the view exposed. But Richardson built a house instead—blocking the view!  Dubbed the “Spite House,” Richardson spent the last fourteen years of his life in the narrow … Listen Now

Family pain is often the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early, and because it involves people who should’ve been trustworthy.  You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn’t know how to defend yourself. Besides the perpetrators of your pain were so large.  Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother—they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them. All this time you’ve been operating on faulty data. You’re stupid. . .slow. . .dumb like your daddy. Decades later these voices of defeat still echo in your subconscious. But they don’t have to! “Let God transform … Listen Now

God gives us more by going deeper than we ask. He not only wants your whole heart—He wants your heart whole. Why? Hurt people hurt people. Think about it. Why do you fly off the handle? Why do you avoid conflict? Why do you seek to please everyone? Might your tendencies have something to do with an unhealed hurt in your heart? God wants to help you for your sake. Your family history has some sad chapters. But your history doesn’t have to be your future. The generational garbage can stop here and now. You don’t have to give your kids what your ancestors gave … Listen Now

Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity!”  The word “opportunity” in this verse means territory or ground.  In other words, anger gives “ground” to the devil. Bitterness invites him to occupy a space in your heart, to rent a room.  Believe me, he’ll move in and stink up the place!  Gossip, slander, temper— anytime you see these, Satan has claimed a bunk. Don’t even give him the time of day.  Tell him to pack his bags and hit the road. Begin the process of forgiveness.  Keep no list … Listen Now

It’s the repeated pattern in Scripture.  Evil. God. Good.  Evil came to Job.  It tempted him and tested him.  Job struggled.  But God countered.  He spoke truth and declared sovereignty.  Job, in the end, chose God.  Satan’s prime target became came God’s star witness and good resulted. Evil came to David and he committed adultery.  Evil came to Daniel and he was dragged to a foreign land.  Evil came to Nehemiah and the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed.  But God countered.  Because He did, David wrote songs of grace, Daniel ruled in a foreign land, and Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem with Babylonian money. … Listen Now

Life turns every person upside down. No one escapes unscathed. Not the woman who discovers her husband is in an affair. Not the teenager who discovers a night of romance has resulted in a surprise pregnancy. Not the pastor who feels his faith shaken by questions of suffering and fear. We’d be foolish to think we’re invulnerable. But we’d be just as foolish to think evil wins the day. The Bible vibrates with the steady drumbeat of faith; God recycles evil into righteousness. I don’t have an easy solution or magic wand.  I have found something—Someone—far better.  God Himself. When God gets in the middle of life, … Listen Now

You sleep alone in a double bed. You walk the hallways of a silent house. You catch yourself calling out his name or reaching for her hand. Good-bye is the challenge of your life!  To get through this is to get through this raging loneliness. Just the separation has exhausted your spirit and you feel quarantined, isolated. May I give you some hope?  If heaven’s throne room has a calendar, one day is circled in red. The Bible says, “The Master himself will give the command.  Archangel thunder!  God’s trumpet blast! He will come down from heaven and the dead in … Listen Now

In May of 2008, Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, lost their five-year-old daughter in an automobile accident.  They were deluged by messages of kindness. One in particular gave Steven strength.  It was from a pastor friend who’d lost his son in an auto accident.  “Remember, your future with your daughter will be greater than your past with her.” Death seems to take so much.  We bury the wedding that never happened, the golden years we never knew.  We bury dreams.  But in heaven these dreams will come true.  Acts 3:21 says that God has promised a “restoration of … Listen Now