Survive or Thrive

Growing up Pentecostal I always held intellectually to various aspects of Pentecostal doctrine. Of course most notably were the doctrines that distinguish Pentecostalism from other theological camps. Among these doctrines are our beliefs about Baptism in the Holy Spirit (BHS) with initial physical evidence (IPE) of speaking in tongues (SIT). And of course this leads [...]

Christianity’s Outrageous Claims

“If the spiritual view of the world is the correct one, as Christianity boldly asserts that it is, then for every one of us heaven is more important than earth and eternity more important than time. If Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be; if He is what the glorious company of the apostles [...]

Drastic

This was originally written and published on Facebook, but it applies here as well: Sometimes I look at the model established by Biblical characters and just wonder… Think about it, some of these people went to incredible lengths to advance the Kingdom of Heaven. These men and women took drastic action in obedience to God [...]

Questioning Low Expectations

My hope is that in the course of my writings here my readers have come to realize that things are not as they should be.  The status quo of the Church does not align with God’s plan and purpose for the Church.  This conviction sparked this blog. The problem is not one solely of ecclesiastical [...]

Holiness, Hype, and Hypocrisy

Often times when we think of revival we have images of big tent meetings, massive excitement and unbridled passion.  There’s nothing wrong with those things, in fact I think a certain level of excitement and passion is good and necessary.  However, we must avoid equating holiness with hype. I was born in a place that [...]

Thinking of God

“1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, [...]

Principles of Revival: Ezra Part 4

In Ezra 3 we see something very exciting.  The altar is rebuilt! What’s so important about the altar?  Everything.  First, it’s a symbol of holiness, of consecration.  The altar is set apart for God’s use and His purposes.  It’s sacred.  Leonard Ravenhill always asserted that revival changes the moral climate.  Certainly there is a paradigm [...]

Principles of Revival: Ezra Part 3

If we read Ezra 2 we may think “how dreadfully boring… it’s just a list of those returning”.  But truly there’s more to it than that.  First, I should like to point out that being the people of God meant something to the Israelites, so much so that they could prove it through their ancestry.  [...]

Principles of Revival: Ezra

I was initially going to make this just one post focusing on Ezra 9-10, but I think truly addressing this may take several posts, the book of Ezra is rich, and I don’t want to just skim over it. As background information, we are at the end of Judah’s 70 year exile.  I’m sure you [...]