After a four month pause, I have started blogging again on my Story blog. There I am blogging material from my Doctor of Ministry disscertation project. Take a peak and make it a regular read.

The Names of God
The name of God is in effect his reputation. In the ancient world a person’s name was not a mere familial relationship designation. A name was frequently designated a special characteristic of the person.

There are several names which the Old Testament employs to reveal the character of God.

The first of the three names is El. The word in itself suggests authority and is found in several compound forms. (more…)

Pascal once said that there is a God-shaped vacuum within ever person. There is a longing in everyone to be filled with something. Thus we fill ourselves with God or with a substitute for God. Scripture calls these substitutes idols. We need to focus on removing the idols in our lives and replace them with an understanding of God. Here are three things that will help us understand something about God’s character. (more…)

In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots, Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” “Have faith in God, ” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourselves into the sea, ’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11.20-24).

One of the most important emphases in the church today is the teaching concerning faith. There is a movement which has been designated as the faith movement which has popularized a teaching concerning faith. The teachers in this movement are doing an important and essential task of stirring the Church concerning faith. However, I question their method of interpretation. (more…)

Some Basic Spiritual Disciplines
When I hear the word discipline I often think, This is going to hurt. Again, a mind-set that often causes us to react because we are into pleasure not pain. Spiritual disciplines in our life are not things that we do legalistically to try and impress God with our sincere goodness. They do not make us righteous. They do not make us special or superspiritual. They just help us change and become. We do them because we love what God has done for us. We open ourselves to God so that through them he may work into us the life-style that he has created us for. Here are a few of the disciplines:

• I change when I read the Bible devotionally. What does it mean to read devotionally? It simply means to read it like you would normally read a book, but with one great difference. This book will provide you with practical application. You do not have to be concerned with the meaning of words, the culture, or history. You plainly ask the question, How does this passage apply to me? (more…)
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One thing is constant in life, change! We change daily. The antidote to present change is death. We all think that change is hard. Is it or have we been duped into thinking it is? As an example, our physical body changes on a daily basis. The world we live in changes. Our daily lives change. Are these changes difficult or normal? Our first response might be difficult, but when we consider change, it really is normal.

Paul tells the Roman church in the first century that one of their goals is to become like Jesus (Romans 8.28-3 1). In order for one to become like something else, change must happen. This process of change began when you were impregnated with new life. From that point until death we continually change to become the people that God created us to be. (more…)