I believe God wants all of his people to have plenty of money. Yes, I know that’s a very controversial statement, but that’s what I believe. I know there are many verses that people use to say otherwise, but I believe a careful examination shows those arguments to be erroneous. Rather, I believe that “the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich” (Proverbs 10:22), “if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19), and “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). In fact, I believe that God wants us to have more than enough. I believe God wants us to be “enriched in every thing to all bountifulness” (2 Corinthians 9:11), that God “giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17) and that God “will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth” (Isaiah 58:14). Now if that’s what God wants for me, I’m not going to argue. Rather, I’m going...

How many times have you asked God to reveal His plan for your life? I have personally prayed over God’s plans for me countless times. The Bible says, “Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright.” (Proverbs 4:6, Amp). We are not just going to wake up in God’s perfect plan for our lives. We must work for this, pray for this, and live for this. When my last employer told me to begin looking for a new job (because his company was going under), I really felt like my world was turned upside down. I knew God would provide, but trying to discern His will for my life became an all-consuming desire. Well here I am, 9 months later. I do believe I’m living in God’s will, and God has provided. But I know that God’s plans are something I must constantly seek. So I’m still praying, believing and studying. And God revealed something to me this morning that I want to immediately share with you. It seems that whenever we talk about God’s plans for our l...

A couple of years ago my wife and I were in Cairo for five days. More than anything, the widespread religious devotion touched me deeply. For example, on the first day our Muslim driver and guide took us to a locals-only type place for lunch. While eating, one of the five daily calls to prayer sounded. (It's a city of 18 million, and you hear the calls to prayer everywhere.) The two men left the table, washed and prayed, right in the restaurant. Every Muslim is called to pray at least five times a day. They must stop what they are doing, and take time to pray. You can’t tell me that their devotion to prayer doesn’t profoundly impact their lives. Can you imagine if we did that in our Nation? What unity! What devotion! What consecration! I readily admit my prayer life has not been what it should. Of course I pray every day, but often they are short prayers, all about me and my life. I grow weary while praying, my mind wanders, and my spirit feels unfulfilled. I just finished Kenneth ...

Today I saw something in God’s Word that really excited me, so I wanted to quickly share it with you. Deuteronomy 5:2 says, “The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.” Now at first that doesn’t look like much. But the dictionary I use says that “Horeb” means desert, solitude, or destruction. Yes God had brought them out of Egypt, but they were in a desert place. They had made it into the wilderness, and they were struggling. This is also the place where God met with Moses in the Burning Bush (Exodus chapter 3). We all know Moses was struggling at that point too. He had left Egypt and had been tending the flocks of his father-in-law for years. He was away from his family, away from his people, and away from his destiny. They were all in a difficult place, but God was looking to take them to a better place. Are you in a difficult place today? God won’t reject you. God wants to meet you wherever you are. God knows where you’ve been and where you’re going. God wants an encounter w...

Lately I’ve had some time on my hands. It’s not that I don’t have things to do. I have several clients and my daughter is six weeks old. But I’ve just been reflecting on the direction of our lives. The mindset behind Exploits for God has certainly evolved (with the Holy Spirit’s direction) since 2004 when I first launched the website. But recently I’ve been confronted again and again with this idea of successful Christian living. Just one look at the headlines will make you want to cry. There is so much pain and need in this world your heart can feel stressed and powerless. (It’s so important during those moments to remember that you can’t do everything, but you can do some things.) I hate seeing people sad and hurting, especially children. I know God is going to have me do things about it. But I also hate to see Christians not walking in the fullness of God’s promises. I can boldly say that I’m living a very good life and that it’s all in line with God’s will and plan for me. We’re he...

I believe God wants all Christians to increase financially. I know that’s a very controversial statement. People have written many books on the Scriptural arguments both for and against that position. I’m sure we could do the same here. I would give you a few verses showing that God wants you prospered. You would give me a few which you believe say the opposite. Then I would attempt to show why your view of those verses is wrong. You wouldn’t agree. Then you might get offended and never read this blog again. But today I would like to take a brief moment and show why the arguments against my belief are logically flawed. I’m not saying that Scripture isn’t the foundation and source of my beliefs, but I think we could take a moment and just think through the arguments against prosperity and see their flaws. I’m also not saying this will fully persuade anyone, but it may help you. In the end, the Scripture must be the basis for your ultimate convincing on any issue, but I hope you’re bless...

The other day I received a letter about Joyce Meyer's upcoming conference in Tampa .  I'd like to tell you why I believe her ministry is a tremendous blessing to the body of Christ.  I'm not sure how I first learned about her, but I first saw her in Atlanta while attending law school.  I began watching her show, and (through my small amount of computer knowledge) I was able to access the route directory for all her archived episodes online.  So for months while eating breakfast I would watch several episodes.  (I probably wasn't supposed to do that, and after a while the link wouldn't work, but it blessed me.) During that season I attended Dr. Creflo Dollar's church, World Changers Church International.  While there I learned a great amount of doctrine and the finer points of the Faith.  Although he always made it very practical, he would frequently go into great depths of spiritual reality.  But Joyce Meyer, while preaching profound spiritual tru...

On Friday September 10 I went to the Night of Joy at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Being from Tampa, I've attended the event many times, even since my childhood. But this was the best year I can remember, so I thought to write a short post about it. Night of Joy occurs every year, I believe about the same time. It features a number of popular Christian artists on several stages throughout the park. The rides are nearly all running, and you can even get there early to ride them before the concerts start. For a while it seemed that Night of Joy had fallen off a bit. Last year they moved it to Disney's Hollywood Studios, a smaller theme park. The turnout was weak and the overall experience not nearly the same. But this year they brought it back to Disney World proper in style, with a sellout crowd, Chris Tomlin and (my personal favorite) The David Crowder Band. I also watched Barlow Girl, which put on a great 45 minute show to end the night. I really want to encourage you...

Today two negative things happened that made me think about how important it is to get over something offensive immediately. Remember that Jesus told us to agree with our adversary quickly. I'm sure He had multiple reasons for that statement, but I'm sure one is that offense actually hurts us deeply and blocks us from moving forward. I believe you can't truly move on from a bad experience until you forgive, and the place you get offended is the play you remain. When you get in strife and offense you are spiritually stuck in a rut. Yes you may keep praying and pressing forward, but you can probably feel the difference in your heart when it's free of hurt and strife. We need to be free of offense and irritation at our brother when we draw near to God. Remember that Jesus said don’t even offer God gifts if you have something against someone. What a powerful statement! Now ask yourself if you've ever given a gift while being truly free of all offense in your heart. Let...

One time I was on one of those hater websites that was talking trash about several preachers. They had a clip, that I must admit even surprised me a bit; where Kenneth Copeland basically said you don't have to earn your money. His said something like, "Did you earn Jesus? Did you earn salvation? Did you earn the Holy Spirit? Then why do you have to earn your money?" I'm sure I'm not quoting it perfectly, but it was very similar. I admit that I thought, "Whoa, that's not right." But now I think he was right. Let me explain. (By the way I hate websites devoted to preacher bashing.) Let us begin by agreeing that salvation is the greatest gift that man could ever receive. Remember that it is a "free gift" as Romans tells us. We don't receive this by works, lest any man should boast. But it is by grace you are saved, through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us, and in this way...

Do you want to do great things for God, but don’t know where to start? I know I feel like that regularly. We see countless preachers with huge churches and worldwide ministries. We love God and feel His calling. But we don’t find anything to do, no outlet for our gifts. I just want to encourage you that God sees your faith and desire. God knows how you want to serve Him, in fact, God gave you that want. Jeremiah says God knows the plans He has for us. Ephesians says that God created us and planned specific good works for us to do. Don’t give up hope. Just continually be faithful in what you have to do today. I know it can be hard, especially when it doesn’t look like much. This blog doesn’t have many subscribers, but I know God wants me to write here. If I’m not faithful in this little thing, how can I expect God to put me in charge of big things? If I’m not faithful to work on my own spiritual life, why would God put me in position to help the spiritual lives of others? I know waitin...

Last Friday, after four months and 24 days, we closed on the short sale of our previous home. Now to you that might not sound so amazing, but for us it was an extremely difficult battle that revealed God’s love and power multiple times. I know that from the beginning the battle was the Lord’s, but we had to take some steps along the way to work with God to see His will come to pass. I wanted to share with you a step by step roadmap of this victory, and I pray that it blesses, encourages and exhorts you for your own personal situations. I suppose the story really begins in September of 2009. While alone on a long drive I began seriously worrying about our home’s value, and the fact that we were probably seriously under water. On that drive the Holy Spirit had me confess, “The power of these mortgages is broken over our lives, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.” I received that Word into my heart, and felt better about the situation. I worried little about it for the next six months. Then on March 8,...

I used to play a video game called “Big Buck Hunter,” or something like that. There were several variations revolving around which type of animal you hunted. It had an orange shotgun and you would move from one wilderness scene to the next. After each scene, if you did well enough to continue, the narrator would say very distinctly, “Keep Going.” More than ever I hear those words ringing in my head. My stepmother sometimes discusses how certain things stay with you for a reason. I believe my spiritually renewed mind remembers this especially when the going gets tough. As you know my wife and I are going through some trying times. I just can’t describe in full detail how the Lord told me not to worry, then I worried, and now I see there was never any reason to worry. We have to develop a mental framework for going through trials. We all know that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Do you feel like you’ve been delivered from every afflic...

I can't say how this idea hit me and I'm not sure I can put it completely into words, because frankly it just might go beyond words. But it came to me the other day and I know it's of God. You know I've been thinking about offense and not getting mad when people wrong you. I've also been considering not treating people according to their wrongs, and even blessing those who curse you. Then I started thinking about preferring others, and how we should work to regularly better the lives of those around us. So I was thinking about these topics and revelation came. It was revelation because it's really several logical steps beyond where I was. I'm not sure how to draw a logical or perfect Scriptural map to the idea I'm going to present. But I believe it's powerful, and I know it's of God, so I need to share it. You know how there are some verses that are so powerful we basically don't know what to say if we discussed really applying them and livi...

Does any one out there have trouble with offense? Isn't it easy to get offended. Think about it. If you counted you would probably have ten chances every day before lunch. On the road, at the store, at work, at lunch, in line, you name the situation. If you really began to analyze your life, you could see countless situations where others are preferring themselves and slighting you. Jesus warned us about persecution for our faith, and He says that He warns us so that we won't get offended when it happens. Jesus also said that we should greatly rejoice when we are persecuted and cast out. I've been there, and at first I was mad, but then I remembered His Words and felt better. But what about just the daily irritations of dealing with other people. Jesus said in the world you will have trouble. We need to discuss dealing with offense in our everyday lives. If it weren't for Jesus I would probably get offended all the time. I know that doesn't say much for me, but fra...

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2:1-3) If you read my last post you know that we have recently had some personal difficulties. Well, today I can shout, “Glory to God, I can see His hand on our lives and He’s mightily bringing us through.” Just to recap, we lost our jobs, put up our house for short sale, and have huge medical bills. This season of trial and change began in March, and we are still walking through it. But recently we have seen God move us through with His exceedingly mighty hand. Within three weeks of putting our house on the market we had a great offer. We submitted ...

Recently my wife and I have been going through a rather difficult situation. We lost our jobs and our former company is going under. We are short-selling our house. My wife is six months pregnant with our first child. We didn’t have company insurance so our medical bills are $1,000.00 per month. We need many things, and we sort of need them now. Have you ever been in such a situation? I imagine you have. Now the issue becomes how we go through this time. I’m not saying I’m in the wilderness and I’m not saying that my own mistakes caused this situation. I’ve sought God and I firmly believe that this is a change of season. When the brook dried up God told Elijah to go to the widow. God always supplies everything we need, but sometimes the resource He uses changes. I’m here to encourage you if you are in a difficult time, and I want to discuss appropriate attitudes while in the trenches. It’s been over three months now since we lost our jobs. I’ve spent many days fired up in faith, and I’...