OUT OF THE BOX

For those spiritual veterans who have been through trials, disillusionment, and disappointments, this post is written to encourage you to persevere and stand in faith trusting God’s ability to perform His will in your life as you surrender to Him in faith and obedience.    Facing discouragement and seeing the failures of God's people we are often tempted to lose heart and faith. We have seen what we thought were the wrong people succeeding and the wrong people failing. Like John the Baptist we have seen the glory and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God!" Then we sat in our "prison cells" and said, "Are you the one or do we look for another? Did I miss it?"   We stood on the mountain top and cried out, "This is it!" And we crawled on the valley floor crying, "Where did it go?" We said, "Lord, I'll never leave you nor forsake you" and later denied Him before the rooster crowed. We slept while others were in their Gethsema...

  “Changes and war are with me.” Job 10:17 CHANGES When you're young, the moments and the time you're in seem to last long, and you subconsciously think "this is the way life will always be." But one of the salient features of growing older is you become more aware of change. You see more and more of the old folks leaving, while you see the "babies" and children becoming adults. The culture and landscape that you thought were permanent segue into new and often surprising territory. You young folk should look up two words in the dictionary: "change" and "surprise." For you will not be a stranger to these. One other concept that will become real to you is the term "Short." You will realize more and more how short life is and that it goes by fast. In a flash, we all will face eternity. For myself I might add the words of Solomon, "Remember now your creator in the days of your youth." Take hold of something that will not c...

“..Do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patient endurance inherit the promises.” Hebrews 10:12. “Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; for the Lord your God is He who goes before you, to fight for you.” Deuteronomy 20:3. We must resist the many forces that press us to quit or give up. Jesus said by patient endurance we possess our souls. Jacob wrestled with the angel and refused to let him go until he received the blessing. The Canaanite woman persisted in her request for Jesus to heal her daughter, even when it appeared Jesus was resisting her. Jesus marveled at her faith which was demonstrated in her perseverance, and He gave her the request for which she asked. By contrast, Esau lost his birthright because he traded it for a mess of stew when he was faint, hungry, and tired. He was willing to trade his birthright for quick, temporary relie...

Dear Friends, I posted this article last Christmas. I think it's worth reading again. Blessings to you all, Billy Long Some of the most amazing glimpses into the spiritual realm and manifestations of God’s intimate involvement with His people are seen in the Christmas story. The angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias (father of John the Baptist), to Joseph, and to Mary. The heavens opened causing shepherds to tremble as they saw and heard a multitude of angels praising God with a roar equivalent to Niagara Falls. John the Baptist’s mother Elizabeth conceived him in her old age. Jesus was supernaturally placed in Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit. Joseph and Mary were led by angelic visitations and by the Holy Spirit to go to Egypt and were told when to return to Nazareth. These and other amazing and marvelous things happened around the birth of Jesus. But the yearly and routine presentation of those experiences in church Christmas plays and manger scenes has tended to inoculate Christian...

  SUBSTANCE VS STYLE Leadership should actually feed the sheep, equip the saints, and strengthen the church, and see actual growth and progress in the Lord's people. My cry is that the real church, the true church would emerge, rather than the typical routine, fluff, and imitation. Too often the church is like "processed Christianity," Nothing like the original, designed for buyer appeal, and lacking the nutrition it is meant to have. Religious people often substitute ritual and ceremony for real relationship with the Lord Himself. People who are short on intimacy with Jesus seem to find security in the outward forms. An organization can do the same thing. It is interesting that God gave Israel a portable tabernacle long before He gave them a stone temple. In Israel’s journey across the wilderness, they had to follow the cloud of God’s presence that rested above the tabernacle. When the cloud moved, they moved; when the cloud rested, they remained still. The cloud did ...

Samaritans Purse set up a tent hospital in Central Park in New York City to help with the overflow of patients from the hospitals there during the corona virus pandemic. I read an article at that time stating that New York’s mayor De Blasio expressed concern that Samaritan’s purse is operated by Franklin Graham who is accused of having a “virulent hatred of homosexuals and is Islamophobic” and that Samaritan’s Purse will discriminate against  homosexuals and anyone who “disagrees with their fundamentalist beliefs.” Some had even expressed concern that the Christian organization would deliberately refuse to aid those who disagree with the organization’s beliefs, or that they would intentionally spread the disease. How foolish and erroneous are such charges! You and I know the sincerity and love that motivates this organization. But we are living in a culture where this type of false accusation and unwarranted hate and prejudice will be directed at those who have the testimony of Jes...