You may not know this about life.

Jesus Didn't Heal Everyone

You May Not Know This About Jesus--He Didn’t Heal Everyone “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” —1 John 5:14 The Gospels say Jesus healed “all who came to Him” (Mat

A Wake-Up Call from a Trusted Friend

A Wake-Up Call from a Trusted Friend This may be the most important letter I’ve sent in years—maybe ever. About six months ago, a longtime friend began reading The One and meeting with me weekly to discuss what we were learning. After seein

Urgent Help Needed

Please pass this link on to your social media contacts. Help Hilary Hilary is my daughter-in-law, a former top attorney for the Department of Justice and formerly the lead council for the Federal Drug Administration. She's in the middle of

You May Not Know This About Jesus: Jesus Lacked Awareness

Was Jesus aware at all times of all things? In other words, since He was fully God and fully man was He fully exercising the divine attribute of omniscience? If not, how could He claim to be God? If you said He was fully aware at all times

When Good Men Get Angry

God’s anger is always justified and perfectly expressed. Why? Because He’s able to determine when a wrong has been committed. James said, “The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (1:20). God never gets angry about a per

Five Keys to Conflict Management

Conflict is unavoidable. If you’ve got two people on a team and they never argue then one of them isn’t needed. Jesus, the greatest leader of all time, faced conflict among his disciples, between the disciples and himself, and between the r

Jesus Got Angry Four Times

James said, “for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20). Why? Because God’s anger is perfectly justified and expressed. He alone knows, without error, how to identify and deal with wrongs. Real or Perceive

How to Correct Without Crushing

Jesus struck at the root of pride with a sharp ax. He said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck o

Ask These Questions When Talking About God

For years I shared the gospel with people in the same way—of course I adapted the illustrations to fit their background. But that “same way” approach ended when I identified three common barriers to spiritual truth. Without an understanding

Overcoming Three Barriers to Belief

Here’s the situation: You want to talk to someone about the Lord, but you’re not sure how you should approach them. For years I pretty much shared the message with people in the same way—of course I adapted the illustrations to fit their ba

Was Jesus Narrow-Minded?

Most people reject the idea that Jesus is the only way to God. In fact, many believe Christianity is an accepting religion that includes everyone who sincerely seeks God. While most think religions have a few technical distinctions, they be

Does God Arrange Your Schedule?

God arranged Jesus’ schedule so he could fulfill his mission: “To seek and save the Lost” (Luke 19:10). And he does the same for us. Here’s how it worked for Jesus: One day as he walked to Jericho he encountered a Pharisee who thanked God h

What the Bible Says About Tithing

I've had the privilege of speaking in churches throughout the United States and internationally. I've discovered that many pastors tell their congregation the Bible teaches them to give ten percent of their income to the church. I once atte

Why Doesn't God Show Up?

Today's article is by my son, Paul Perkins . I Between my late teens and early twenties, I became convinced that I was on the verge of a spiritual epiphany—a paradigm shift that would revolutionize how I viewed and interacted with God. It w

The Hardest Question to Answer

Why? It's the question that hits first and lingers longest. Why me? Why now? Why this? Most people don't even try to answer such questions. How could they? [caption id="attachment_1361" align="alignleft" width="350"] photo by kleuske, cc [/

Why me? Why now? Why this?

Why? It's the question that hits first and lingers longest. Why me? Why now? Why this? Most people don't even try to answer such questions. How could they? That's what makes the words of James, the half-brother of Jesus so unexpected. He di

How to See Jesus

Several years ago, Cindy and I vacationed on the tiny island of Bonaire. Situated fifty miles from Venezuela it’s known as the scuba shore diving capitol of the world. One evening we sat at a table on a restaurant pier. As the sun set over

Read This on Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, join me in thanking God for something we easily take for granted. In Psalm 139:14-15 David wrote: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderf

Before Making An Alliance--Do This!

Seldom has a leader made a more ill advised alliance than Lot. Initially, the union appeared as harmless as choosing a Coke instead of a Pepsi. I Might Have Made The Same Decision I’m sympathetic to Lot because in his situation I might have

The Joy of Spiritual Flight

You were designed for commitment just as a plane is designed for the sky. Nobody who tiptoes through life, as though sneaking through a minefield, will become a force for the kingdom of God. The level of your spiritual growth will be propor

Our Comfort: God Visited A Violent World

Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.” If you look at a Christmas card, you’ll see peaceful images of a small shed with straw an

Touch God This Christmas

M any people fear God. They believe he's as approachable as King Kong. It's no wonder. After all, they recall the story of Moses and the terrified Israelites at Mt. Sinai where God revealed himself with, "thunder and lightning flashes, and

You Control This in 2021

The New Year stretches beyond eyesight. 366 days (It's a leap year) 8,784 hours 527,040 minutes 31,622, 400 seconds During that time, you will take 8,000,000 breaths, blink over 11.5 million times, and sleep over a hundred days. Not that yo

Racism and the Bible

If you search for the word "racism" in the Bible you won't find it. Just go to any online Bible concordance and type racism in the search window and hit "enter." Nothing will show up. Nada. Zero. That doesn't mean God has nothing to say abo

What Do You Call Someone Who Betrayed You?

A few weeks ago I wore a Ricky Russ t-shirt to church--the one posted with this blog. As I engaged people in conversation I'd point to the t-shirt and ask, "What do you think of this?" They'd tilt their head to one side and say, "I don't kn

Jesus is The God of the Gap

We all face situations where a gap exists between the faith we have and the faith needed to release God's power into a situation. Like the father who begged the Lord’s disciples to evict a demon from his son. The evil spirit would trigger c

"I Never Saw It That Way Before"

When placed under oath a witness swears to, “Tell the truth, the whole truth , and nothing but the truth.” The middle phrase is a problem if someone wants to minimize what they’ve done. Most of us are okay admitting we did something wrong,

You Are In A Spiritual Battle

Throughout the Bible we are urged to fight the enemy, do battle, and wage war. We've not been placed in a spiritual Disneyworld and told to "have fun." By birth we've entered a battlefield. By rebirth we've enlisted in God's army as warrior

Never Dump the Whole Load of Hay?

One cold winter morning the young pastor of a small midwestern church faced his greatest fear. After hours of sermon preparation only one farmer showed up for church. Discouraged, he asked the strong armed man if he should preach or go home

Re-sit the first domino

The rape. The injustice. The bitterness. The lie that he should even-the-score. The rage. The Orchestrated murder of Amnon, his half-brother. Hiding three years. The revolution he inspired. His death and King David's tears, “O my son Absalo

Give This to Your Friends

Prompted by the Spirit of God and a desire to talk, I pick up the phone and call a close friend. The moment he answers the tone of his voice tells me he's discouraged. "What's up?" I ask. And then he tells me about his wife's failing health

The Day My Friend Caught Fire

My first best friend was a neighbor who lived behind me in Roswell, New Mexico. His name was Eddy Borland. We were inseparable. In addition to playing baseball together, we liked to light fires. One day something happened and Eddy’s shirt c

My Resume of Failure

I've got an impressive resume of failure. Really. It's embarrassing to admit, but it's true. At one time or another I've failed in every area of my life. Seriously. I've broken things I hoped to fix, dropped things I hoped to carry, and hur

Winning a Spiritual Tug of War

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But

Do You Know a Procrastinator?

Have you ever met someone who puts off starting or finishing something they dread? The task may not be difficult or complicated, but it's dreadful. For instance, I'm skilled at putting paperwork into piles and hiding them in a drawer or cab

Freedom Begins With Forgiveness

Below is a nasty list of attitudes and actions people struggle with. Most of us not only battle to break free but to keep the battle a secret. Yet, if we’re going to find freedom, we must first identify what it is we’re struggling with. So

A Lesson Learned From Billows of Black Smoke

You wouldn’t think something as insignificant as a gear-shift indicator could spell disaster for a car. But it could. I used to own an Oldsmobile Cutlass that worked great except for the gear-shift indicator. When the indicator was on N the

Raise Your Spiritual Expectation for 2023

Will your expectations of what Jesus can do limit or release his power in your life this year? A Hometown Visit When Jesus visited his hometown, Nazareth, his childhood friends and neighbors were initially impressed. But then they recognize

Sometimes an exhortation works like a chisel that chips off a rough edge. While the process is painful, it may be necessary. That’s why the Apostle Paul urged Timothy to not only “correct” and “encourage” but to “rebuke” as well. Even thoug

Take the Leap . . . Be Spontaneous

Spontaneity is crucial to emotional well being. A spontaneous person responds quickly to what he or she is feeling and to what's happening around him. Some people flee spontaneity. At times they feel like letting go. They want to express th

When You Don't Know What To Do

Moses, one of history’s greatest leaders, couldn’t solve every problem by himself. And neither can you. Fortunately, Moses had what we need. He possessed the wisdom and humility to allow others to provide him insight and guidance. Nobody ga

The Pressure Builds, Do This

Jesus entered the upper room knowing: His closest friends would abandon him. He would suffer an agonizing death. Judas would betray him. Peter would deny him. All the disciples would desert him. The Jews would arrest him and illegally try h

The purpose of personal power

In his book, Transforming Leadership , Leighton Ford observes, "Next to truth, the power question is the most important issue for the leader. And it is precisely in relation to power that the leadership of Jesus stands in the greatest contr

How to create momentum

I've always been fascinated by trains. I used to lay in bed at night, before falling asleep, and imagine climbing into a freight car and traveling across the country. Even now when I hear a faraway train whistle, from the deck of my house,

This Guarantees You'll Smile in One Year

Stretching before you, further than the eye can see, lays a New Year--365 Days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536, 000 seconds. Over that time, you’ll take around 8,000,000 breaths, blink over 11.5 million times, and spend over 100 days

Thanksgiving Day

I’m sometimes like a cat living in a palace. Surrounded by beauty it gazes at the bird sitting on a branch outside the window. It places a padded paw on the pane and craves the feathered food it can't reach. I will not do that on Thanksgivi

Breathe the Breath of God this Christmas

"And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7). It occurred to me that in a moment, Jesus entered the world and took his first bre

The "Suddenly" of Christmas

Suddenly : immediately, instantly, straight away, all at once, abruptly, swiftly. We've all had a "suddenly" experience. Haven't we? The gust of wind suddenly blows leaves from a tree. A friend suddenly appears at the front door. The road s

The Three Dreams of Joseph

In Matthew’s gospel, attention is fixed on Mary, Jesus, the star, the shepherds, the manger, and the magi with their gifts of frankincense, myrrh and gold (I think the Magi came two or so years later to Nazareth, not to Bethlehem at the tim

The meaning of holiness

When Isaiah beheld God sitting on his throne, high and exalted, with his robe filling the temple, angels flew around him and said to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isaiah 6:3). Th

How to Hear God Speak

I had just finished speaking at a men’s event in Texas when a man approached and asked if I would pray for him. Josh was 52, stood 5’10” and wore a red racing jacket covered with patches. [caption id="attachment_1436" align="alignleft" widt

How to Know if You're Hearing God's Voice

One day a man named Jaker asked if I would pray for him—he suffered from a congestive illness that had plagued him for years. Before answering his question, I asked about his name. He said his parents planned to name him Joker, but they wro

Jesus Is the Resurrection and the life NOW

Followers of Jesus, not just the twelve, lived with a pro-death-anti-resurrection bias. This bias showed itself after the death of Lazarus. Remember, the sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, had sent a message to Jesus telling him their bro

Two Tough Questions?

While seeking to destroy a stronghold, I'll eventually ask, "Have you ever done anything you've never told anyone?" Most people pause, not to consider if they've got a shameful secret, but if they'll tell me. Eventually, they pull back the

Finding the Root of a Stronghold

If you’ve got a character battle you keep losing over something like anger, lust, bitterness, jealousy, or depression, maybe the source of the problem is spiritual. For years I’ve helped men and women develop a strategy to rein in out-of-co

The Church Has Been Deceived

I’ve got a confession to make. While I’ve published three books on addictive/compulsive behavior—one a best-seller—spoken across the United States on the subject, discussed it on radio and television, met with men in groups and counseled in

A Biblical Death Bias

I left Portland International Airport at 6 a.m. which meant I arrived at the airport at 5 a.m., which meant I climbed out of bed at 3:30 a.m. I don’t know about you, but at that hour my mind moves at the speed of a slug. Anyway, the plane f

What Is A Resurrection Bias?

A bias is a prejudice that favors my point of view often with a refusal to consider the merits of an alternative point of view. Of course, we're all biased. Sometimes our biases are as evident as the food we prefer. On other occasions they’

The Second Step Toward Freedom

No spiritual stronghold will be destroyed until we let go of the sin it protects. Whether the sin is anger, bitterness, fear, despair, depression, dishonesty, lust, or a host of other sins Until we repent the sin will effectively resist all

Do you have a stronghold?

Have you ever done anything horrible that you’ve kept secret? Have you suffered something horrible that you’ve kept secret? If you answered yes to either question, it's likely you've got a stronghold. And if you do, I'd guess there's an are

Why a mask hides the true you

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary a stronghold is, “a protected place where the members of a military group stay and can defend themselves against attack. I would add that it’s also a place from which an army can mount an attack.”

How to keep demons away

You’re sitting in a comfortable beach chair on a white Caribbean beach. Sea gulls make a ha, ha, ha, ha, sound as they fly overhead. Soft waves break and roll toward the shore. Suddenly a child standing beside your chair begins to kick sand

Personal Update From Bill Perkins

Cindy is Sick She suffers from a rare and incurable illness which if not treated quickly and aggressively could cause life-altering side-effects. Until last month Cindy had never been admitted to a hospital except to give birth to our three

I almost killed my nephew--a baby

Before the birth of our first son I feared I wouldn’t like him. My concern was rooted in a childhood experience I had when I was seven. My oldest sister had a baby and when she brought him home she asked if I wanted to hold him. I told her

How to smile back at 2018

Don’t be deceived into thinking it’s meaningless to number your days. It isn’t. And don’t kid yourself into thinking it’s easy. It’s not. Indeed, the psalmist pleaded with God to help him do just that. In Psalm 39:4 he cried out, "Show me,

What My Dad Taught Me About Being a Father

Today's article is by my son, Paul Perkins . Since my wife and I welcomed our daughter into the world two months ago, I’ve thought a lot about what it means to be a great dad. Mostly I’m excited about this new role and what it entails. I li

I placed the order

The good news is there are only 35 copies of T he Jesus Story left to sell. You may wonder why that's good news? It's good news because almost 5,000 people have a copy. Plus, through the generosity of friends, who want to see it reprinted,

One Reason Naked Women Look so Good

In order to create Eve, God took a rib from Adam. When God brought Eve to Adam, he got back a new and much improved version of what he had lost. Without Eve, Adam was a red Porsche with no motor or a Learjet without fuel. He looked good on

I've Never Done this Before!

I've done a lot of things in my life but I've never done this before. After watching the History Channel's documentary The Bible I was deeply touched by their presentation of Jesus. While everything in every story wasn't exactly as written

I Saw Her Naked!

Here's another look inside my new book ... The evening I first saw my wife naked, I beheld heaven. Nothing in creation compared with the wonder of her body. Shortly after our honeymoon, I suggested we institute a no-clothing policy in our a

A liar With Integrity

Ethics is a defined standard of right and wrong, good and evil, like the Ten Commandments. Morality is a lived standard of right and wrong, good and evil. It's what we say and do an expression of our true ethic. In other words, how we behav

What is integrity?

A biblical author once wrote, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus is both eternal and unchanging. If the author of Hebrews had wanted to use one word to describe Jesus as unchanging he could have

The hardest lie to tell will surprise you

You might think telling a big lie would be harder than telling a small one. According to Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist at University College London, such isn’t the case. Sharot said , “Whether it’s evading tax, infidelity, doping in sports,

The night God saved my marriage

That night, after we climbed into bed, repelling each other like the negative ends of two magnets, I asked Cindy, “Would you marry me again?” Before her heart could beat she said, “No way!” “Would you marry me again?” she asked. “Not a chan

How to lower your stress.

You wouldn't think something as insignificant as a gear-shift indicator could spell disaster for a car. But it did. I used to own a sporty car that worked great except for the gear-shift indicator. When the indicator was on D the car was in

A Problem We Minimize

Marriage not only brought me face to face with the girl of my dreams, it brought me face to face with my own selfishness. Sure, I knew I was self-centered. But prior to marriage I found ways to minimize the seriousness of my problem. I coul

Break. Smash. Shatter the Cycle.

Jesus told us to ask God to "Lead us not into temptation" (Matthew 6:13). The Lord didn't mean that unless we asked him not to do so, God would tempt us. God cannot sin nor could he tempt anyone to sin. Instead, we should continually ask Go

A justifiable sin?

There’s nothing wrong with eating bread when you’re hungry. And after fasting for forty days it wouldn’t have been wrong for Jesus to turn stones into bread and eat them—unless in doing so he acted independent of his Father. That’s what Sat

Never hide this!

When someone is placed under oath they swear to, “Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” The middle phrase is a problem for someone who wants to minimize what they’ve done. Most of us are okay admitting we did somethin

The second step to freedom

Rosemont Road winds its way through Oregon hills. A vineyard hugs a hill to the south while grass covers the northerly hills. Three or four times a week for the last sixteen years I’ve driven down Rosemont Road on my way to meetings. For fo

This Judge Put His Head in the Wrong Lap

I talk with a lot of guys who feel they’ve screwed their life up so badly they’ll never recover. The stories I’ve been told would break my heart if I wasn’t sure God delights in using men who’ve blown through their marriages, messed up thei

"Your brain is not normal."

The neurologist gazed intently at a magnetic resonance image of my brain. The same brain a radiologist referred to when he said, “You have small vessel brain disease” (SVD) (I covered that half of the story in this article ). Still looking

“You’ve got a brain disease,” she said.

A couple months ago I got a call from a radiologist who had viewed an MRI of my brain. I expected her to say, “Good news. It’s there.” Instead she said, “I’ve got good news and bad news.” I always want the good news first. If I get the bad

I Did A Few Things Right!

I have a friend who is dying. I’ve known Stan Giles since 1977 when we worked together at a church in Houston, Texas. He has brain cancer and every day is now a gift. For the last couple months he’s been sending an email to friends. Last we

Snatched From the Fire

It’s a horrible thing that’s happening in Iraq. Christians being slaughtered simply because they’re Christians. According to news reports, Christ followers are told to convert, pay a tax, or die. In the face of such horrible options most ar

How Jesus Dealt With Distractions

Because I work from home, I continually deal with distractions. Unread e-mails, sports scores to check, news to read, phone calls to answer, phone calls to make, my wife asking for help, the dog wanting to go out, the dog wanting to come in

Is Jesus like Superman?

Some people think following Jesus is as impossible as following Superman. They have no problem tailing Clark Kent up fifty flights of stairs, but things get tougher when the Man of Steel leaps off the roof and flies away. Such thinking is b

The disciples' myside bias

Like a radar system that only detects enemy planes while ignoring friendlies, our minds tend to pick up information that supports what we already believe and ignores the rest. This is called confirmation, or myside bias. It’s the tendency t

How did the disciples miss this

Twenty-three times Jesus made direct or indirect reference to his death and resurrection. And yet, the disciples never understood what he was talking about. Once, after he told them he would die and be raised from the dead, the disciples “d

Something God Never Did

I used to ask God to show himself to me. He never did. I can't help but think my faith would be stronger if an angel, or angels, appeared to me as they did to Elisha's servant. If you recall the story, then you know it's an impressive illus

That Drove Me to My Knees!

I recall visiting a friend in his home for the first time. He greeted me warmly, and we walked into his den. The first thing I noticed was the forty-two-inch HDTV on the wall. Its screen flashed a colorful and precise image while the surrou

Do This to Encourage a Friend—Takes Just Two Minutes

On a dark rainy day several years ago my mood matched the weather. I climbed in my car and listened to the rain patter on the roof. I felt physically and emotionally drained. [caption id="attachment_1216" align="alignleft" width="300"] Phot