Are You Waiting on God, or Is He Waiting on You?
Hearing God’s voice today is a very natural act, but it requires the activity of a supernatural God. Scripture is clear that there is a reward for waiting upon the Lord, but have you ever wondered if He is waiting upon you? “Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:31 There is no automatic-pilot setting that guarantees that you will hear. One truth is that if you do nothing, you will receive nothing. But the seeming opposite is also true: [...]
Personal Update from James W. Goll
A Values-Centered Life Personal Update from James W. Goll “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men…” Colossians 3:23 It really does matter what we do with our life. After all, we only have this one life to live. But it also matters how you do what you do and who you do it for. We really do want our lives to matter. Right? To do so, we must live our life in light of eternity. Let me share one short vivid dream with you, before I turn the corner and move into a Special [...]
Ever Feel Overwhelmed?
Ever feel overwhelmed with life, society, dysfunctional relationships, let alone the foreboding knowledge of coming wars and rumors of wars? Along with many other prophetic voices, I declared that 2020 was a dress rehearsal of things yet to come. To describe the emotional impact of the last several months, I would call it: “living life in a pressure cooker!” So how do we navigate life in the midst of chaos and times of uncertainty? Sometimes we try to go it alone or we run away from the very people that we need. When we get overwhelmed, we may tend to become fearful [...]
Answering Your Call to Courage and Honor
Today, across the globe and right in our own back yards, there are enemies on the rampage tearing apart society at every corner. It's time to rise up in courage and honor, and face down the intimidation. Scripture gives us a strong admonition found in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Instead of the word “fear”, it could be better translated, “cowardice”. It is time for you to throw off that dreary spirit of cowardice and intimidation and arise in boldness to be all [...]
National Day of Prayer: 70 Years of Prayer for America
“But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:4 NKJV The National Day of Prayer is a vital part of our rich heritage. Because of the faith of many of our founding fathers, public prayer and national days of prayer have a long-standing and significant history in American tradition. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history, including President Lincoln’s proclamation for a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in 1863. A [...]
Courageous and Prophetic Women of Faith, Part 2 (New Testament & Beyond)
In the New Testament, we find many women who display aspects of every gift of the Spirit whether or not they were aware of it. For example, take the Samaritan woman at the well, whose name is lost to history (see John 4:7–29). Jesus singled her out and she is considered by many to be the first true evangelist in the Bible. When she told the townspeople the Good News about the Christ, many of them believed. Consider Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and cousin of Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus. Both of these devout women were active in [...]
Why Courage Is Worth Its Cost
Courage doesn’t take a large bank account, big muscles, or impressive beauty. It simply requires making yourself available and being willing to obey. And it is ALWAYS worth it. Some of you may think that you are the most unlikely candidate for God to use to do anything significant. Most of us think of ourselves in that way. The world teaches us that it is the rich, the powerful, or the beautiful who are important and make a difference in the world. That’s not what God teaches. He doesn’t think or work the way the world does. The prophet Isaiah recorded, “‘For [...]
Courageous and Prophetic Women of Faith, Part 1 (Old Testament)
Women have been faithful and courageous champions over the centuries, for the whole history of the people of God. We do not know about as many of them as we could, because the (largely male) history-writers have ignored or minimized their accomplishments. Naturally, another reason we don't know about all the great women of the past is that many of them were restricted from taking leadership. To some extent, this is still the case, which makes women’s accomplishments all the more notable. We are all supposed to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God (see 1 Peter 5:6). By building a [...]