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“There is desirable treasure, and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it.” (Proverbs 21:20) As I age, the words of one my spiritual fathers, Bo Adkison, mean more and more to me. Don’t take up others’ offenses Don’t let Satan steal your joy Finish well I was once a part of a group that he led. All of us were men in whom he saw spiritual leadership. These three things were his answer when one of us asked him what he thought most important for a sound spiritual life. The Lord will often remind me of these – especially #3 – “Finish well.” When He does, I can hear Brother Bo’s deep, rich, slow East Texas accent saying it. “Finish well.” “There is desirable treasure, and

"A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment." (Proverb 18:1) There is a time when the Lord would have us off somewhere alone with Him. That is a healthy thing. Proverb 18:1 is not talking about that. It’s talking about destructive isolation. There are many things that cause a person to want to pull away from others completely and forever. This is a favorite technique of the devil "who lives to kill, steal and destroy." (John 10:10) He utilizes the misuse of alcohol and other drugs, workaholism, pornography, depression, unforgiveness and bitterness, wounds, disease....all sorts of things to keep us from being connected to those provided by the Lord Jes

When Jesus came to the earth He was already the King of Glory. His Kingdom had been established in the hearts of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus coming to the earth would accomplish many things (I doubt we will ever know them all). One key thing He accomplished was that He would gather some men together and begin to manifest the Godhead’s plans for His Kingdom. Jesus began small. He gathered together twelve men, none of which were the “ministry professionals” of the day. These first disciples were virtual spiritual nobodies: four were fishermen, one was a tax collector and we don’t know what the other seven did for work. How did Jesus train these twelve men to be t

Many are those who presume to go out and “build a church.” They say God is telling them to do this, but I often wonder about that. Why would I wonder about a concept that is widely accepted in Christendom today? One reason is that it is widely accepted in Christendom today. So much has been done to alter the simplicity of the Church Jesus established. Another reason I wonder about the concept of a human establishing a church is that the Bible really only speaks of “THE Church.” “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord ad

The tide is turning in our nation. There was a time when politicians would often actually be practicing Christians. Now, it’s not unheard of for a politician to attend services in a Christian church building regularly knowing that some people will vote for him, assuming that his church attendance means that he is a devoted follower of Jesus. Meanwhile, his beliefs about various topics will reveal the fact that he practices, supports or even celebrates things that God HATES. Real Christians love what God loves and hates what He hates. It’s only a matter of time when people in power aren't going to even feel the need to pretend to be believers. In fact, it is now fashionable for political lead