Welcome to what I pray will be a "life-changing experience" as you go deep into God's Word and deeper in prayer. I hope you are encouraged by the resources I'm linking here!
If you need a prayer partner anytime of day or night, visit my friends at 247UnitedPrayer.org! Sometimes I will be online praying with this group as well.
If you want to go deeper in understanding God and His great love for you, please check out the Compelling Love of God Bible studies.
If you aren't already listening to my podcast, please join me on Apple Podcast or Spotify!
If you have a question or topic you'd like featured on my podcast, e-mail me at: Daringtoaskformore@gmail.com
The year was A.D. 320. The Emperor Constantine had just issued an edict legalizing Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. For a time his co-ruler and rival Licinius, who controlled the Eastern half of the region, conceded to Constantine’s wishes, allowing Christians religious freedom. However, eventually the Emperor Licinius broke his alliance with the West and determined to stamp out Christianity in his part of the empire. As Licinius prepared his army for battle, he realized that he should remove all Christians from his army, lest there be mutiny among his ranks.
As the story goes, during this time there was a company of 100 soldiers, which included many Christians, camped by a lake outside the city of Sebaste (which is Sivas in now modern day Turkey). These brave soldiers had distinguished themselves in service to Emperor Licinius, but now their true allegiance was to be put to the test. Late one cold winter evening, a messenger arrived at their camp. He had a message for the company’s captain. The captain took the message and read it by the flickering light of a nearby campfire. This is what the message said: “It is commanded by the Emperor that when our messenger arrives, the bugle be sounded to call the men into line. Then shall an altar be built in the midst of the camp and each soldier as he passes by shall pour upon it a cupful of wine as an offering to the Emperor. And it is decreed that all who refuse so to honor the Emperor shall be killed.” After the captain had finished reading the order, the messenger asked, “What shall I tell the Emperor?” The captain responded, “You can tell the Emperor that we will obey his command!” However, even as the captain pledged obedience, he struggled with what he should do. While he was not a Christian himself, he admired his Christian men. He didn’t want to see them die. But what could he do? The Emperor’s orders must be obeyed! So the captain gave a signal and the bugle was sounded. Once all his men were in line, an altar of crude stones was built in front of them, and the men were told of the Emperor’s command. Then each soldier was given a cup of wine. One by one, the men began taking turns marching around the altar, and pouring their wine out in honor to the Emperor. However, as the fourth man approached the altar, he hesitated, then turned away and poured his wine on the ground. Immediately he was ordered to step aside. Despite knowing that disobedience to the Emperor’s orders meant death, 40 out of those 100 soldiers bravely remembered the first of the Ten Commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me,” and decided to “obey God rather than men.” They knew that they could not even pretend to worship anyone but God. As a result of their choice, the men were stripped of their clothes and sent out on to the cold icy lake to die. However, as the stillness of night began to settle over the camp, something surprising happened. Beautiful music began to come from the lake. The men were singing, bravely, boldly, in allegiance to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The captain, hoping that some would change their mind, prepared warm baths and fires near the edge of the lake. But the men did not come. As the night wore on the singing gradually grew fainter and fainter. At long last a lone form crept across the ice back to the lake’s edge. He collapsed near one of the warm baths. However seeing the failing faith of this one deserter, the guard who had been stationed to keep watch over the martyrs threw off his clothes, and declaring his faith in Jesus, ran out to join the remaining men on the ice. The next morning, when the sun came up, the bodies of forty Christian men lay frozen on the cold icy lake. They had faced the ultimate test, being forced to choose between obeying the authority of a worldly Emperor and staying true to God, and they had passed their test. They had kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, and as a result God had given them the victory. Today, over 1,700 years later, we are still in the midst of a great spiritual controversy, and we are again facing the same test. The test is over whom we will worship and whom we will ultimately obey. While the world fights over political authority, parental rights and authority, and even ecclesiastical authority, the most serious battle of all is waged daily between “self” and the authority of God and His Word. The whole universe is watching this very personal battle! Who will bend? Will we bend to the Word in humble submission and obedience, or will we seek to bend God’s Word to suit our own human desires and preferences? God tells us in the Bible, “If you love me keep my commandments” (John 14:15). He tells us, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Again and again He asks, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). When we read the Bible but don’t follow it or apply it to our daily life, it is like we are building a house without a foundation (Luke 6:49). Unfortunately, many Christians in our world today are building with little or no Biblical foundation. The famous researcher George Barna, in a survey of religion in America, once wrote, “Our rejection of orthodox Christian beliefs, coupled with a relativistic culture, has led millions of adults to embrace a world view totally at odds with the faith they allegedly embrace. The irony is that most of the individuals who are caught up in their own contradictions are completely unaware of those conflicts.” While we belong to a church that is known for its firm commitment to Scripture, it is foolish to think that we have not been influenced by the “relativism” sweeping through our world and culture. That’s why it’s time that we as Christians take a renewed stand upon the authority of God and His Word. While it may not be popular, and at some point, it might even cost us our very life, it’s time we once again chose whom we will worship and whom we will obey. In the book the Great Controversy we read, “None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus?” While we might hope to be spiritual “super-heroes” when the rough times hit, author Ellen White tells us, “It is not a conclusive evidence that a man is a Christian because he manifests spiritual ecstasy under extraordinary circumstances. Holiness is not rapture: it is an entire surrender of the will to God; it is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our heavenly Father; it is trusting God in trial, in darkness as well as in the light; it is walking by faith and not by sight; it is relying on God with unquestioning confidence, and resting in His love.” Are you hungry for a deeper walk with Jesus? Are you eager to experience the genuine joy of a life fully submitted to Him? Then let me invite you along for this exciting journey. In case you are wondering, this book is not written to give you a long list of do’s and don’ts on how to live the Christian life. Yes, I will be talking about some specific issues and by so doing may step on a few toes along the way (forgive me if they happen to be yours). However, the main focus of this book will be on the beauty of the Word and what it really means to love and worship the Living Word, the One who has created us, rescued us, and redeemed us. Of course, the reality we will discover along the way is that we actually love and worship God by how we choose to live our lives today. As one author so beautifully writes, “God’s commandments are the shoes in which our love for God walks and finds its faithful expression.” With this in mind, we will be asking ourselves, “How can we love and worship God more, through the honor of His Word? How can we align our heart, body, mind, and soul with Scripture, so we will be ready to meet Jesus when He comes?” We will also be asking ourselves, “How can we love others more?” for our love and treatment of those around us is one of the strongest indicators of our love for God. The Bible tells us, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4-8). While I do not claim to be the perfect role model for all the topics I will address (there’s only one perfect role model, and that is Jesus), I am real as I talk about the normal daily struggles we all face. I am also real as I share how we can experience joyful victory—not thru self’s work—for all our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6), but thru the power of the Holy Spirit and thru Jesus’ finished work! The time for lukewarm Christian living is over (Rev. 3:16). The time for business as usual is over. The Bible tells us “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Josh. 24:15). If we profess to be a people preparing for heaven, preparing for Jesus’ soon coming, it’s time we get serious about how we love and worship God—not just on Sabbath, but during every day of the week, not just in our theology, but in nitty-gritty everyday life. So come, pick up your Bible, and join me as we begin an exciting journey learning what it means to love and worship God with heart, body, mind and soul, daring to live by His every Word!
To learn more, here's a recent TV program where I shared some of my testimony!
To order a copy of Daring to Live by Every Word, click here!
