In the years I have been a pastor, the number one question I have been asked is, “Rick, why can’t I change? I want to change — I really do. But I don’t know how.” Or sometimes a questioner will add instead, “But I don’t have the power.” We go to seminars and...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OER52HvwnkA

The first tool God uses in changing us is the Bible. Through Scripture he teaches us how to live. Second Timothy 3:16 – 17 tells us, “The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK6J7zkv9Js

As we just saw, of all the growth among all the various faith groups, including the infamous nones, research shows us that is it is actually the nondenominational churches that have seen the most explosive growth. There is no doubt about that. And we must also...

What would you like to change about your-self? Would you like to be more confident or more relaxed? Perhaps you would like to be more outgoing, less anxious, or less fearful. Most of us are more than a little interested in changing because we realize there is always...

We believe that what you can't change what you don't measure. Discipleship is a lifelong process of becoming who God has called us to be. Throughout life we enter into different stages with varying struggles, trials, and temptations. It's easy to focus on those...

The answer to the question of whether Christianity is shrinking or not is both yes and no. This seemingly contradictory answer is the key to understanding the truth of the current and future state of the church. But for a people of faith committed to truth and used to...

Throughout the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilderness, they were exhorted by God through Moses to remember what God had done. To do so was to create a record of God’s faithfulness so that future fears could be easily overcome. Here is one example: “If you should say...

Poor Chicken Little. She freaked out about nearly everything and cried constantly about the apocalyptic doom that was going to rain down upon everyone’s heads, literally.1 But in reality, the sky wasn’t falling at all. It was just an acorn submitting to the everyday...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTWM_SPucNI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GArI_P_8umU

King Asa brought massive reform throughout Judah. Until in the fifteenth year of his reign he led his people into a commitment to seek God—with dire consequences for any who refused (see 2 Chronicles 15:10-15). The Kingdom of God doesn’t offer any neutral ground....

https://vimeo.com/350771995#t=1410s

I CAN CHANGE WHOM I PERMIT TO INFLUENCE OR CONTROL ME BY DETHRONING THE EVIL KINGS AND QUEENS IN MY LIFE. This notion is one of the greatest powers you have in your life as an adult. You can choose whom you believe. You can choose whom you permit to influence or...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzceTfkwtTk

Jesus prayed, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). The psalmist also understood the importance of savoring the...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFbIPzklOyw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfJCIG-G-As

We live in a very tense, uptight world, which has been called the Age of Anxiety. We all face situations that make us irritable and tense and rob us of our peace of mind. Sometimes tension can be harmful to our health. Tension and stress are a major cause of heart...

I hope in the course of reading this book, the Lord has truly spoken to your heart about the importance and imperative of forgiveness. As you’ve thought back through the specific situations where forgiveness has come the hardest in your life, I pray that you have seen...

King Asa of Judah was in a jam. With the armies of Israel bearing down on him from the north, Asa formed a hasty alliance with the godless Syrians. From a purely human standpoint it might have been his best move. From heaven’s vantage point it was an act of...

Throughout the book of Psalms in the Old Testament, we find David lamenting, “Hey God, what’s the deal? How come the wicked are prospering and I’m getting a raw deal? I don’t understand it, and I’m really upset. You anointed me king, but now I’m catching spears from...

If you were asked to name the world’s deadliest disease, what would be your answer? Cancer? Polio? MS? AIDS? You probably wouldn’t say discouragement. You might not even think of discouragement as a deadly disease, but it is. And it is more common than any of those...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyfv-_5s8OM&t=26s

Most of the stories of men encountering God in the Bible do not take place in church(!). Moses is met in the desert, in a burning bush. Jacob wrestles with God in the wilderness also, in the dead of night. David wrote most of his psalms out under the stars. Paul is...

Bring God into the crisis. King Asa went into battle with 580,000 of his troops against the Ethiopians who had a million men and 300 chariots. The prospect of victory was slight, and the hope of God’s people was dark. Asa prayed for God to be with him. “Asa cried out...

"In the matter of Drusky versus God—God has won.” That’s how the Associated Press report, dated March 15, 1999, started out. It went on to explain: “A Pennsylvania man’s lawsuit naming God as a defendant has been thrown out by a court in Syracuse [NY].” After a...

Both modern research and Scripture put the ball in our court. Happy people give generously, serve others, and seek to make others happy. Happiness doesn’t precede giving and serving; it accompanies and follows it. Those who sit around waiting to be happy shouldn’t...

The well-known story of Jehoshaphat describes one of the greatest epic battles in the history of Israel. Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel, received word from a friend that the combined armies of three enemy nations were on their way to fight him and conquer him. The...