Pulapanzak This morning I was praying for a friend I care deeply for. They are in a very dark place right now. Maybe you are able to relate. I have had seasons of being in this place myself. Seasons of adversity, suffering, anguish, and distress. My mentor in the ministry, Terry Wardle called it his “dark night of the soul”. If you’ve lived long enough you’ve most likely experienced a taste of it too. I believe based on the way God designed our personalities, we will experi

Isaiah 40:31 Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar like eagles! This morning as I was waking up, I was dreaming I was this tiny, little finch sitting on the ground, surrounded by acres of land with twigs and sticks everywhere. I had the tremendous task of getting all the twigs cleared but only had the ability to lift one twig at time. Many of the sticks were too large to even at

A Lesson on Surrender Jeremiah 18:1-6 The Potter and the Clay This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Jeremiah, go down to the potter's house. I will give you my message there." So I went down to the potter's house and saw him working with clay at the wheel. He was making a pot from clay. But there was something wrong with the pot. So the potter used that clay to make another pot. With his hands he shaped the pot the way he wanted it to be. Then th

The Hurt Whisperer Pain always carries messages I heard a sermon recently and the title was, "The Hurt Whisperer". What a clever title for a reality that many times goes undetected in our minds! It is so true that when we have pain in this life the enemy whispers lies to us. He comes disguised as our own thoughts and we believe him. He tells lies about who we are and who God is. His goal is to destroy the ability to have intimacy with our Father. He knows if he can get

Have you ever had a storm hit your life so hard that you felt you had little or no control over your life? Often people loose hope when life suddenly and violently seems out of control. At that point many give in, stop fighting, and let themselves be "driven along" - like the sailors and passengers on the ship in Acts 27. At first, we struggle and hope we can endure. Then, we just want make it to the end. In Acts 27, the sudden storm was violently tossing Paul's ship to t