This week I am going to begin teaching this message, retelling the stories of seven people God met where they were. One can make the argument none of them were seeking or expecting Him to confront them when He did.

The Lord said the problem today lies more inside the church than outside. Walter's message explains what He means.

When disasters strike like our recent ice storm, Christians and the church have great opportunities to show the world we can do more than talk about God. Please read the attached message the Holy Spirit gave me for His people and our churches. My ask is that you share it with your Christian friends and church leadership. Nothing new; just a reminder and three ways God told us and demonstrated in His Word what it can look like.

In the first two messages of this New Year series, I challenged you to examine and refocus your priorities on God (First Love) and your own life (First Watch). This week we examine the first "external" priority Jesus demonstrated and then gave (commanded) His disciples.

This message turns the lens on our own lives to allow the Holy Spirit to shine on those areas out of synch with how Jesus taught His disciples to live.

Confronting your realities and refocusing priorities in 2026: What is most important in your life?

A Message of Encouragement,  Hope, and  Challenge  for the new year

This message finally gets into what has, over the centuries of the church, become the first or second most debated of all topics - the gifts of the Spirit. As I always do, we are going to let God the Holy Spirit speak for Himself. Some on both sides of this argument will hate it, and I really do not care. The Holy Spirit spoke clearly on the essentials. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

From the Scripture, we know the Holy Spirit is fully God and indwells all true Christians from the point of our salvation. We also know indwelling is not "filling". This message continues the one from last week to examine what the Bible says about "fillings".

If the indwelling is the presence of the Holy Spirit, then how do we define the His “filling”? Are they the same as some suggest?