You may have heard that phrase used for a sporting contest that "went down to the wire", perhaps a team way down in the scoreline making a comeback and winning. Today I'm using the phrase to talk about you. Yep- you! I'm about to do it via talking about myself and hope you can read the principles into your own life... Each of us is "one for the ages"! See, you and I are aging. I mean, you might be 16, 26 or 66 but the reality is that no matter how old you are or how long you

First, I'm only being half-snarky when I say this word seems far "too big" for many in our times... and before I begin, I don't think it means what many of us think it does -and that especially if you are a serious Bible-believing follower of Jesus Christ... Tolerance? If God wasn't tolerant many of us would be in hell that won't be due to His patience with us! "While we were yet sinners..." what?! Yep. There are broad ideas about the actual dictionary definition but they inc

In His Word (Bible) and via the vast majority of serious theologians teach that God is revealed to us as THE Creator. He Himself is UNcreated, UNchanging, Perfect, ALL-KNOWING. None of us are -any- of those... nor can we be. We, His children, borrow from Him as the Source of all truth and reality- He borrows from no one and nothing. He directly and through others inspires us. Nobody "inspires" Him in that sense. We imagine and create in part from various other human ideas and

As I was driving home from an errand this morning, at the stop light I saw two men, one in an electric motorized cart leaning forward to use the joystick as he crossed the street and right behind him a bro in a typical wheelchair holding on to the bar on the back of the other dude's chair. They continued down the side street in the direction of our shelter (Cornerstone Community Outreach). My mind immediately thought how cool they could assist one another like that, and in a

I have a good friend who is fully blind -and his relationship to Jesus and his daily walk though like mine and yours is anything but perfect... yet it causes him to see FAR beyond that of plenty of people with perfect physical vision. Jesus rocked a phrase that I've considered from time to time. "Blind guides". My morning recovery devo spoke to that issue. Addicts don't benefit by taking counsel from those who are still using -regardless of the substance. A solid sponsor, gui

That's the report from Matthew in chap. 14 vs. 20 Do I believe it? I do. Why? This morning's recovery devo ("God Grant") opens with "Of course we do not always feel satisfied with our lives, the way things are going for us or the world. But this is true for almost everyone". Isn't THAT the truth?! "They all ate and were satisfied". Was Judas? Was Peter immediately after he denied Jesus three times the night prior to the crucifixion? Was apostle Paul -before- he was let out of

Old writers and preachers used the phrase speaking of God the Holy Spirit as "the Hound of heaven". The brilliant A.W. Tozer wrote "The Pursuit of God" and in the more recent past we have titles like "Experiencing God" so of course these on top of a stack of other writings, historically ancient and new including the Bible and more the issue of both our pursuit of Him and His love-based pursuit of us has been covered in depth. Yet- have you ever wondered if He cares enough to

One of my devos last night brought me to this amazing phrase of apostle Paul once again. It's not easy to read much less contemplate. I've noticed that depending on the title I choose for my One Minute With Kaiz videos or titles of my blog posts more or fewer readers access 'em. If the title seems negative, less, if positive, more. I get it. We're stressed enough in this crazy world and who wants to think about pain and suffering?!! Jesus DID say "In the world you shall have

I often study etymology, that is, the origin of words, phrases and their meanings/definitions and use. This is an old phrase that's been around for many decades. The issue of course, is most of us most of the time -think- we know "what's good for" us, or at least we're chasing whatever we currently think "it" is. Further, an honest look into our own choices and history as well as human history at large reveals we often get it wrong, no? And we especially don't want anyone to

When time, calendar to-do's, touring and money allows my wife and I and often some of our family goes camping at a favorite Illinois state park about an hour and 20 minutes from our Chicago home. We try to do this once in Spring and again in Autumn when possible. This coming weekend I'll be offline and as my truly old mobile phone was about cooked I was blessed with a new one. I won't go into all the details but have long been adverse about using a lot of pre-loaded apps and

Yep. Years ago we had a kitchen plaque that said "Not faith or works, not faith and works- but faith that works". Yup. And the only way it does in the will of God is... "by love" and that meaning HIS love in and through you and me if we say we're followers of Jesus. Everything else is "wood, hay and stubble". Various English translations lay this out loud and clear. Paul writing to the church in Galatia dealt with the Jewish rite of circumcision and said in being circumcised

See, they ain't the exact same. Faith is often discussed as in she or he "is a person of faith" and that's cool, but the practical way of actually seeing such in a person's life is by their faithfulness, not ONLY (note that word only) a statement of faith. Yes, Paul wrote and I fully concur: "But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” -that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and b

So different people interpret what having a "personal" Jesus is all about. For some the reality is they don't have such. In simple terms, to them He is an idea, a concept or perhaps only a myth and not a historic person who walked the earth. To some Jesus is simply an academic figure, one to be studied in the same way some think of the Bible not as the Word of God, holy and inspired by Him scripture but literature to be studied as one might study any literary piece. My unders

Well, actually, Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers" and of course there's plenty of God's Word in both Testaments calling us to both live in and to work for peace. Peace with God in our own life comes first because without it one cannot sow the seeds of genuine peace that can only come from a faith/obedient/serving relationship with God in Christ. Oh, plenty of people on earth work for peace who are themselves atheists or agnostics, but I'm talking about the peace Jesus

[written Sun. night, posting today- Mon.] Well, had a cold that I finally got over, Wendi and I share everything, ha! She's doing fine, and we both have had the typical health checkups, so far so good Alleluia! Busy with one another, family and for myself a great many gigs. Over the past 3 weeks we were blessed with friends in Anoka, Minnesota who were amazing, nice turnout and had a sweet time doing a solo show. Truly the exact same, solo in Beloit at their annual anniversar

Just read another article on the life of a musician whose stage shows, etc., are all about shock to "inspire, cause people to think" sort of thing. Nothing new under the sun. Shock has been seen as valuable for centuries and seems to only grow like a mud-ball rolling down the mountain toward the masses it often is. Well, I don't know if this or that is art or merely about making money, stirring buzz and simply unfettered expression re. other's approach to music-making and per

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not even close to denying mind, intellect, fact-based truth and reality... and yet Jesus taught the most important commandment was to love God with ALL our heart, soul and might as well as mind, the second most important to love one's neighbor as one's self. Don't miss the fact that heart and soul, even strength (or "might") gets into metaphysics, to spirituality and the depth of our genuine desires, passions, sought-after focus and results. We

"if then My people, upon whom My name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and heal their land" -2 Chronicles 7.14 "IF"- I've talked about this little and deeply life-changing term used all through God's Word for many years. It's a hinge pin on what follows and "if" and in scripture the emphasis is often a positive but at times is contrasted with the negative "if not

A bro brought a good point in reply to one of my posts on who gets to dictate and mentioned Hitler and WWII as an example of a bad actor. The overall is of course the idea of what is often called "just war" theory, that some wars are nearly if not completely essential for the cause of justice. My response: " 1. Point taken in that Hitler was evil to the core, demonic, no question about it. 2. had the Allies not hammered Germany in terms of the surrender and economics that nai

Isn't this the guts of the arguments, fights and in-fighting among marriages, families, local, regional and national politics and world events regarding protocol and legal matters? Disagreements happen as normally as the wind blows in our fallen world. It happens very much the same within local and linked churches regardless of government, form or desire. In the end of each issue it's about who gets their way ("wins"?) and who does not. So really thinking about this we must a