Nehemiah 13:23-31In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab.  As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people.  So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, "You shall not give...  Read More

Never Bring a Horse to a Tank FightThere is something about 2 am. I don’t think the devil takes much time off in the day but I know for sure he pulls double shifts at night. I can’t go back far enough to recall a day where I didn’t struggle with the terror by night that causes my stomach to flutter, my skin to glisten with sweat as I think about all the different ways I could die at my own hands. ...  Read More

The Game Before the GameWhile cleaning out a closet in our house recently, my wife and I stumbled upon a collection of my old sermon notes from when I first began preaching. In the earliest of days I would actually pace around and record the message into a little hand-held tape recorder and play it back so I could hear how it was going to sound, and then sometimes if I didn’t like it, the process ...  Read More

If You Say SoThe year was 1997. I'd just finished my homework and downed a peanut butter sandwich made with Eggo waffles, and the burning desire for milk kicked in. I hopped over the back of my sofa at the commercial break of Saved by the Bell, flung open the fridge and began gulping down cold milk straight out of the carton. I was satisfied for about 0.3 seconds until I realized...this milk had t...  Read More

Nehemiah 13:4-9Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.  But durin...  Read More

The Secret to a Miserable LifeGrowing up, I was never allowed to go trick-or-treating on Halloween. I wasn’t even allowed to go to those church-y trunk-or-treat hallelujah parties. My parents told me that Halloween was a night where pets were being sacrificed to the devil. So while you were out enjoying your pillowcase full of Butterfingers, I was at home praying that your chihuahua would make it ...  Read More

I / De / Clare / WarIn the words of Warren Wiersbe: "The Christian life is not a playground; it is a battleground, and we must be on our guard at all times." Before we even jump into this idea of declaring war, we have to acknowledge this reality: whether we want to admit it or not, we are in a war, and you can’t win a battle you won’t admit you are in.  The Christian life is a war of fighting to ...  Read More

Nehemiah 8:28-29Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding, are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath t...  Read More

After the fastNearing the end of the prayer and fasting, our regular lives start calling out to us. We may have recurring thoughts about what we will enjoy when the fast is over. Around this time, we are also considering what aspects of the fast we will incorporate into our lives moving forward. For example, if we had given up bread or dairy for the duration of the fast, we may be contemplating cu...  Read More

PerseveranceI use a tactic to get me through the last leg of the fast: thinking back to any previous season of prayer and fasting. I recall how, after it was over, it quickly became just a memory. I tell myself, "You can do it! Pretty soon, this will all be in the past! You've done it before, and you can do it again."The last leg of our prayer and fasting is likely the most exhausting! Maybe we've...  Read More

Enjoy the experienceSome of the sweetest days we will ever experience may be during times of prayer and fasting.After planning, committing, and preparing, we get to spend time with God in a different, more concentrated, and deliberate way than usual. Despite all the enemy's spiritual attacks against us and the distractions he has thrown our way, the Lord meets with us as we persevere, and it can b...  Read More

Spiritual WarfareWhen Jesus was out in the wilderness praying and fasting, Satan came to Him with various temptations, and he will come to us, too, as we pray and fast. There is a spiritual warfare aspect to prayer and fasting, and the enemy does not want us engaged in it.The first time I fasted for 21 days, every day at lunchtime, I could almost smell rice and beans cooking in a kitchen somewhere...  Read More