Wayne Stiles's Blog, page 35
March 4, 2018
What the Bible’s Kosher Laws Can Teach You Today
It's about far more than food.
Before I went to the Holy Land, the kosher laws of Leviticus seemed mere words on a page. For example, Exodus 34:26 says not to boil a goat in its mother’s milk. When have you last applied that?
(Photo: Baby goats in Israel. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
The verse has been misunderstood to mean people shouldn’t eat meat and milk during the same meal. Yet, even if that meaning was true, the truth isn’t timeless. Abraham himself had no qualms i...
February 28, 2018
How Your Mind is Like an Archaeological Dig
Time is no friend to an unintentional spiritual life.
Time does its natural work of hiding the truth. Archaeology proves it so. Go anywhere biblical history happened in Israel, and it looks different than when the event occurred. Sometimes, the difference is amazing.
(Photo: Robinson’s Arch with new excavations. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
I remember a dirt road beside my grandfather’s farm where I used to ride my bike as a boy. I went by that road recently, and it had c...
February 26, 2018
5 Reasons to Get the Best Training for Ministry You Can
The question is, how effective do you want your ministry to be?
Years ago I devoured the massive autobiography of Billy Graham, entitled, Just As I Am. Near the end of the book, Billy wrote one sentence about training for ministry I’ll never forget.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
In a section of the book where he lists his regrets, he wrote:
I would do many things differently. For one thing, I would speak less and study more. —Billy Graham
When I was young in the ministry, I resisted furthering...
February 22, 2018
quote by Bill Lawrence on why the zigzag line is God’s most direct path for us. [Quote]
When we finally emerge from the wilderness and look back at our zigzag line, we realize that it was the most direct route God could take in our lives—in fact, the only route He could take us.Keep reading this post. >>>
Better still, get my full posts the easy way when you SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG. When you do, I’ll also send you my FREE e-book!
Wilderness Wanderings: Learning to Live the Zigzag Life
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016), 98.
...
February 21, 2018
The Best Next Step after You Confess to God
Blowing it brings regret, but don't miss its benefits.
We all blow it. For us as Christians, what often makes it worse is that we knew better—but we did it anyway. Nobody forced us. We chose it. Now we’re feeling regret.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
The emotional fallout we experience from grieving the Spirit of God feels like a literal weight on our souls. It’s not a weight of shame as much as it is sorrow—disappointment with having not loved Jesus enough to obey Him.
If we take the proper...
February 20, 2018
Quote by Bill Lawrence on what happens when we don’t trust God: [Quote]
There is a determinative connection between who we are and the fruit we bear. Unless we learn to trust [God], others will never trust us—and without the trust of our followers, there’s only one thing we can do: fail.Keep reading this post. >>>
Better still, get my full posts the easy way when you SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG. When you do, I’ll also send you my FREE e-book!
Dr. Bill LawrenceWilderness Wanderings: Learning to Live the Zigzag Life (CreateSpace Independent Publ...
February 19, 2018
The Transfiguration of Jesus—What Hope Can Do for You
Mount Hermon's greatest moment looks ahead to yours.
Jesus had just dropped the bomb. At Caesarea Philippi, the Lord informed His star-struck disciples that He, the Messiah, would soon die and rise again. Amazingly, that didn’t hit them as good news.
(Photo: Mural in the Basilica of the Transfiguration of Jesus, Israel. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
To these men—who only understood the Messiah in terms of providing the good life of God’s kingdom—news of Jesus’ death came...
February 15, 2018
quote by Bill Lawrence on why we shouldn’t hesitate to go into the wilderness with God. [Quote]
Going into the wilderness to meet God is good, wherever it may be and whatever it may mean in our lives. Many believers think a wilderness experience is something to avoid or escape as quickly as possible. The fact is, the wilderness only becomes a bad experience when we refuse to learn from God and trust Him for what He wants us to do.Keep reading this post. >>>
Better still, get my full posts the easy way when you SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG. When you do, I’ll also send you my FREE e-b...
February 14, 2018
Do You Love Me?
Jesus' four words at Tabgha offer you the motivation for your life.
What is the most important part of your relationship with God? Jesus asked Peter that question in four words beside the Sea of Galilee: “Do you love Me?”
(Photo: Tabgha harbor. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Seems like an easy question, doesn’t it? That’s what Peter thought.
After breakfast, as the day began to brighten, Jesus called Peter by the same name as when they had first met. “Simon, son of John, do...
February 13, 2018
Quote by Bill Lawrence on God’s purpose in taking us into the wilderness: [Quote]
God’s purpose in taking us into the wilderness is not to hurt or discourage us; it is to purify and prepare us to for a greater future than any of us ever thought possible. If Israel had gone first into the Promised Land without the wilderness experience, they would have been destroyed. The wilderness only became discipline for Israel when they refused to trust God and take the risks He wanted them to take. His plan was to keep the Children of Israel in the wilderness long enough f...
