Unapologetically Apostolic

I was sitting at work on Friday evening, reading my Bible and listening to a worship song I haven't heard for a minute.  The song talks about a fresh fire and how we should desire our lives to burn with the fire of God. While I sat and listened, focusing on the words of the song, I was struck by a thought.  Please allow me the process of thought as I'm writing this. I am a certified volunteer firefighter, no longer active, but went through the training.  Through this training, I had to learn what it took to start a fire: heat, fuel and oxygen.  You can have one or two of these elements together but you cannot start a fire without all three of them being together within the right parameters. What parameters? Well, you can have every element in place but if the fuel (what is to be burned) is packed too tightly, is wet, or too green you will not get fire to start.  You can have heat and fuel, but remove the air by placing it inside of a vacuum and the fire will not...

I was listening to a message from a revival service we had back in 2023 tonight where the evangelist shared about Florence Chadwick that tried to swim from the Catalina Island to the coast of California.  A 26 mile swim across the Pacific, a thick fog set in where Chadwick could not see anything but the boats that journeyed next to her. As exhaustion set in and unable to see where she was, she begged to be taken from the water.  Her mother, a passenger on one of the boats, encouraged her that she could make it, the shoreline was not that far away. She continued on for a while longer but determined that she just could not make it and had herself removed from the waters, her quest had ended. Once on the boat and able to see past the fog, she realized that the goal, the shoreline of California, was only a half mile away. A mere two months later, Florence got back into those same waters to try the feat once again.  Just as before, the fog set in and visibility of what was bef...

"Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to the greatest show on earth!". This is how the Wringling Brothers-Barnun and Bailey circus would open each and every act of their amazing circus.  As a child, I sat awe struck as I watched the trapeze artists swing through the air, gasping with excitement at each death defying feat. I watched as the elephants paraded and did their tricks and the tigers would rage around inside a cage as the trainer kept them at bay.  To a child, these things are mesmerizing and captivating.  As I look around as I have gotten older, that same awe struck captivation has not stopped.  Church services that were once held as sacred assemblies. I'm not talking about going in and sitting in silence. I'm talking about coming in with fear and reverence for God that had created everything.  When you had a need, not leaving the altar until it was met. But our sanctuaries have been replaced with auditoriums, complete with the lights and...

I have never been one that was overly popular. I wasn't a part of the "in crowd" in highschool. Even in college or working, the popularity didn't come. I have always just been a loner. That seemed to only last until I hit my young and dumb streak.  Credit card running tab as I bellied up to the bar to cover the next round for all my "friends". I never thought it strange that everyone loved me as long as I was giving them exactly what they wanted in the booze, but the moment there was nothing left of the credit or the bill came due I was all on my own. I became a part of another group that loved everyone and everything.  We were just a bunch of "happy" people.  And as long as I was one of them I had anything and everything I wanted. I thought I had found unconditional love and acceptance with no strings attached.  Well, that turned out to be not quite true as well as my mental health took a hit and thoughts of suicide and rage filled my head. I thro...

Back several years ago, I wrote a study which I entitled "Moved by the Music."  I took an in-depth view at music and what it was that causes it to have such a pull over us. What I found was rather eye opening. Think for a moment, how many different songs have you ever had that just seemed to get stuck in your head?  What was it that got stuck first, the melodious beat or the words?  Most of the time, it is the beat first because you find yourself just humming the tune out of nowhere.  Before you know it, you are adding in a word here or there before belting out the tune like a star (of your shower of course).  But why do these melodies seem to move us seemingly effortlessly? As the snake charmer charms the snake into a tranquil state, so too has another charmer been at work. Lucifer, by many accounts, was the worship leader in heaven. Of all the created beings, he was the most beautiful. Ezekiel 28:11-15 describes him, " Moreover the word of the Lord came into m...