Category: Blog

Disciple Making Movement Resources

Click to download a PDF that includes:

  1. Discovery Bible Study questions: to use with a group of friends/family to help us understand, apply, and share any passage of Scripture together
  2. Three-column Bible study: to help you understand, obey, and share Scripture when discovering on your own
  3. Discovery tracks: with various lists of Scripture passages to use over time to discover what God has to say about life and various important themes

Click to download a PDF with Disciple Making Movement Resources.

Wounds from a Father: our journey toward healing & honor

I was grateful to share a Father’s Day message called: “Wounds from a Father: our journey toward healing & honor” at Bethany in La Crosse.

While I was prayerfully considering what message to share with a church family, experiencing some pain in transition, I connected with our FLD Church Leadership Catalyst Brian Thorstad.  Brian encouraged me to acknowledge the elephant in the room and to share a potentially challenging but healing message.

Heartfelt chats, tears, and prayer with dear ones between worship services confirmed the truth in Brian’s wise counsel.  Sweeping pain under the rug doesn’t help anybody involved.

But actively pursuing healing and choosing honor: well, that can be life changing…

The Gift & Call of Singleness

I’m blessed to be sharing a message this Sunday in Junction City, WI on “Making Disciples Who Multiply!”  Praying through the Scripture I’ll be sharing from this weekend reminded me of themes I touched on in a message on “The Gift & Call of Singleness.”

No matter your relationship status or your season of life, I pray these thoughts will encourage you to be a multiplier who gathers others for Jesus-like disciple making friendships!

Hearing God

livingtruth2's avatarLiving Truth

I’m so grateful that Jesus connected me with godly mentors early in my spiritual walk who encouraged me to love God’s Word and prioritize listening to the Holy Spirit’s voice. 

I learned then to practice 360 degree listening, which I still do over ten years later!  From the beginning to the end of the day, I listen to everything Jesus wants to say through the common themes of His Word, His whisper, conversations with others, and the circumstances of our lives that together create a complete circle wherein we can hear and be led by His Spirit.

We learn to recognize His voice by spending time in the Bible. We’ll only hear Him if we’re willing to quiet our hearts and listen. We test everything we hear according to His written Word. Here are a few questions I use for listening prayer. Spend a few minutes asking the LORD one…

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Head & Heart – Soulmates

livingtruth2's avatarLiving Truth

“Would you quit your whimpering?!? I’m trying to think,” Mind growled with an intellectual indifference.
“I can’t help it. This is just so moving!” His companion, Heart, emotionally retorted, sniffling and wiping away tears.
 
I promise, my head and heart don’t have audible conversations within my soul; however, I’ve learned there must be peaceful balance between them. As a follower of Christ, I’m called to think and feel as the Lord Jesus does.
 
I remember learning in a worship music class in Bible college, about the balance between head and heart. Our music professor taught that the arts diverge into two branches: classic, which is orderly and logical, and romantic, which is free and more emotional. Head and heart have arm-wrestled throughout music history. Isn’t this the balance we seek in worship ministry today too?
 
In a preaching class, our professor taught that ministering the Word is both…

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Valentine’s life provides model of holy love

livingtruth2's avatarLiving Truth

Saint Valentine upheld the sanctity of marriage and the holy beauty of Christ’s Gospel, even in the face of an emperor who made his work illegal.

According to Lutheran tradition, in around 270 A.D., Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage in Rome. The emperor needed soldiers to defend his empire. He believed the loyalties of married men rendered them less effective warriors. Claudius also outlawed Christianity, proclaiming himself the supreme god and Emperor of Rome. 
Valentine served as the bishop of Interamna. He secretly performed marriage ceremonies for couples in his area. According to Roman Catholic tradition, Valentine also partnered with Saint Marius and his family to assist persecuted believers. Some accounts of Valentine’s story include him helping condemned Christians elude imprisonment and execution.

Claudius captured Valentine and demanded he renounce his faith and serve the empire and Roman gods. Valentine refused to deny his Lord Jesus. Awaiting his martyrdom, he…

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Disciple Making Movement Resources

Click to download a PDF that includes:

  1. Discovery Bible Study questions: to use with a group of friends/family to help us understand, apply, and share any passage of Scripture together
  2. Three-column Bible study: to help you understand, obey, and share Scripture when discovering on your own
  3. Discovery tracks: with various lists of Scripture passages to use over time to discover what God has to say about life and various important themes

Click to download a PDF with Disciple Making Movement Resources.

Leaving a legacy: the cloud of witnesses

Dwight Lyman “D.L.” Moody was born Feb. 5, 1837.
(If the “great cloud” celebrates birthdays in Heaven, D.L celebrated his 182nd in 2019!) 

livingtruth2's avatarLiving Truth

Henry “Butcher” Varley, the British revivalist, gave a charge that gripped D.L. Moody’s heart. Moody recalled Varley saying, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him.” Moody replied, “By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”

As students of the Bible and followers of Jesus Christ, consider the legacy we have inherited. Believers throughout history, who pressed to make their Lord Jesus known, have entrusted it to us: witnesses like Moody, Varley, Torrey, Noah, King David, Mary, Lazarus, Peter, Paul, and John.

This great cloud of witnesses spurs us on (Heb. 12:1). Their histories bear continual witness to the Gospel of Jesus. Their testimonies exemplify surrender of self to the declaration and demonstration of His full Gospel. The great cloud calls to us, urging us to walk in their footsteps, follow their examples, and build on their foundation. 

“Imitate us…

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How To Get Your Prayers Answered


Let’s shift the way we approach God in prayer and truly see our prayers answered! May your faith be stirred as you listen & pray along…

The Sovereignty of God in World Mission & Prayer

I recently experienced a time of personal revival at the Multiply DMM Summit in Wheaton, IL.

I was especially impacted by Jerry Trousdale’s message on the kingdom of God based on his new book The Kingdom Unleashed.  Jerry’s excellent teaching reminded me of themes in a message I shared in 2014.  I recommend the links above and my message below to discover more… May Christ’s Kingdom come and His will be done (Matthew 6:10)!