There’s a phrase I used to hear a lot when I played sports: “It’s not over ‘til the fat lady sings.” 

I know. That statement is not politically correct. Still, it’s a kick back to the days of opera when the big gal got up and belted out the final tune, a...

If it seems that you sometimes "don't fit in," that's probably a good sign, right? Follow me here... 

One one extreme, a lot of people believe that this world is winding down, that the earth may actually be burned up by fire, and that the only hope we have is for God to start over. It...

Someone told me that the Gospel is simply “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”

On the surface, that sounds right. It connects to the idea that:

• The one who has everything but NOT grace has NOTHING
• The one who has grace and nothing else has EVERYTHING

But, I was...

Sin isn’t just a “bad” thing, it creates a distortion of our unique form, of the greatness we were given from the very beginning. In other words, it's not about legality (Jesus settled that a long time ago: it's about your creative design.)

No, sin isn’t just a...

True abundance isn’t the result of hard work or ingenuity (though it involves both). True abundance taps into the resources of the kingdom. 

In other words, true abundance isn’t external- it’s eternal. The circumstances don’t dictate your reality: God...

It’s easy to “spiritualize” the promises of God- and relegate them to another time and place where they have little bearing on our physical lives today. One area we do this is “abundance.”

We say things like, “God gives us true riches…” 

Of...

Work changed after the Fall. Creative labor (that’s what work really is- or should be, right?) no longer had the ease to it that it had before sin entered the equation. In a real sense, the ground “fought back” with Adam. 

The raises an interesting question: Why did God do...

We were created in God’s Image. He’s a Creator, a worker… one who adds value.

Work isn’t a curse. Despite all of the jokes about dreading “manic” Mondays, work is actually a gift. In the Garden of Eden, Adam worked before sin, before the Fall, before the...

Somewhere, we got the idea that faith is the strongest force in the universe- that it’s even more powerful than God. That our faith- or lack of it- restrains Him from being able to do His greatest work(s).

Yes, there are a few verses in the Bible that point to the importance of faith. The...

Continuing the discussion from the previous talk, we go back to the Exodus story and look at how God first revealed Himself to the Children of Israel after freeing them from slavery. 

A lot of people feel that we somehow diminish the other gifts of God- particularly, forgiveness of sins- if...