People broke through doors, overturned displays, ran through aisles and pulled down televisions on to people’s heads and into a heap on the floor.

Black Friday.  How did we go from “Seasons Greetings” to “Seasons Beatings?” 

Here are some good perspectives to keep during this most blessed season: 

Some see grace as your constant “get out of jail free” pass.  We all do, of course, need grace day-by-day for all our failures and shortcomings.

I was always puzzled to read in the Book of Revelation about the “seven lamps of the Spirit” before the throne. 

I finally figured out what they are:  aspects of the Spirit’s work in your life. 

Here they are and what they practically can do in your life:

I’ve been a Christian for over 55 years and a pastor for 40 years.  If I could tell you one of my greatest secrets of success, it would be learn to stay in step with the Holy Spirit. 

How do we walk with Him?

Every human being wants the answer to the question, “Does God really love me?”

I can tell you right now, He deeply loves YOU.  I can prove that to you by a simple study of God’s own Name.

Habits are more than just discipline.  They are based on REWARD.

I have learned the secret of all spiritual discipline.  It’s not pain: It’s pleasure!

Here are my top 4 habits and why I LOVE them:

Easter is my favorite season.  I love Christmas as the “beginning” and I love Easter as the “completion.”

How does Easter affect my thoughts, my relationships, and my choices…EVERY DAY?

Someone great departed Earth last week:  Billy Graham’s spirit left his frail body and went to heaven.

He will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol this week.  All Congressional business will stop those two days. How did this simple North Carolina pastor dominate the world’s religious headlines for almost 70 years?

"Integrity."

They call it stealth warfare.

Bombers that can fly without radar detection.  Special ops who can slip in and out without detection.

There is an ultimate war you may have never known was happening all around you:  spiritual warfare.

“Know thyself.”  This simple little phrase was spoken by 11 different Greek sages, including Socrates.

“Keep watch over yourself.”  This was spoken by Paul the apostle to the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:28).

Here are 10 things I monitor on my internal “dashboard”: 

FEAR is the biggest enemy to your future.

It comes in many forms, mainly having to do with your future:  failure, rejection, lack, or death (to name a few).  Abram was mighty in battle yet his deepest fear was not having a successor.

How will you overcome the fears that limit you?            

How would you like to sit down with Jesus Christ Himself for an “end of the year review?”  Don’t you wish He could coach you, challenge you, and change you for a greater year in 2018?

He did.  It is found in Revelation chapter two. 

They call it the “baptism by fire.”  Fire is pressure.  Fire is refinement.  Fire transforms.

It may be happening to you.  Don’t worry, join the crowd. 

Here are some things to remember about this process of refinement:

Temptation is real.  It is bigger than me, but not bigger than Christ.  He faced every temptation I do, yet was never defeated.

What were His three secrets to overcoming temptation?

“Ask, seek, knock.”

I only casually read that simple prayer formula Christ taught.  Somehow, I never realized that it can describe three very important arenas, or levels, of prayer.

If you can’t figure out why your answers to prayer seem elusive, read on.

“Judge not.”

No Biblical phrase has been more overused (or abused).  Was Jesus actually saying we should have no discernment?  What actually DID He mean and how do we steer clear of breaking His commandment?

Here are the 8 signs of judgmentalism and how we overcome it in our own lives:

Prayer needs a template.

As I am typing this blog, I am using a template, a pre-arranged plan. 

You can always “pray without ceasing,”  but in order to build a strong day-to-day prayer life, you need a template.

The Lord’s prayer is a “Model Prayer.” It is not simply to be repeated.   It contains 5 “fingers” in the hand of God and gives us a template for daily prayer.   

HERE ARE THE 5 "FINGERS" OF THE LORD'S PRAYER:

Insecurity is a silent enemy.

It ruins your relationships.  It limits your leadership.  It shows up in every decision.  In essence, it is coloring your entire world.

How do you recognize it and conquer it?

Easter has come again today and will be gone again tomorrow.  For many people, it is a once a year phenomenon.  I remember a child whose parents happened to come to church in October. They found him out looking for Easter eggs under the bushes at the church. 

I think I’ve hit on how to have Easter all year:  “be thankful for what Jesus did for me every day.”

Here is what goes on in my heart in my time alone with Jesus Christ every day:

As a pastor for 33 years, I often wondered why so many new believers drop out of the Christian “race.”  Their conversion is genuine but their endurance is sporadic.  It seems to me that as many as 2/3 of the conversions in our churches never connect or fall back into the world.  Where are we missing it?   

Jesus told the “parable of the sower.”  It gives us the secret to our problem. 

Perhaps we should make this parable into the process by which we help believers to become fruitful disciples: