Commended to the Word: Equipping leaders for ministry impact … around the world
‘Read Spiritual Insight’ Archive (sorted alphabetically)
-
A Crowd Isn’t a Cloud
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown PhD
Excerpt from “A Crowd Isn’t a Cloud”
On a recent trip to Norway, I heard of a newly married couple that spent their honeymoon with in-laws building a small chapel in Eastern Europe—using materials they had purchased with the “wedding gift” cash they requested instead of toasters and bath towels. Their home church was pioneered by a friend [...]- Available Formats:
-
Balaam, the Donkey and the Angel
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Balaam, the Donkey and the Angel”
One of the more fantastic stories in the Bible surrounds an episode, when a sorcerer/seer named Balaam, was hired by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the people of Israel.
Along the way from his home near the Euphrates River (400 miles from Moab), Balaam unknowingly encounters an angel of the [...]- Available Formats:
-
Battle of Homosexuality
Thursday, March 12th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Battle of Homosexuality”
The article, or letter Daniel wrote in response to a young man’s many questions about faith and sexual identity. Wrestling with the spiritual confusion of being continually drawn into homosexuality yet knowing Jesus as his Savior, this man lived under an escalating sense of doom and hopelessness. The encouragement Daniel offers [...]- Available Formats:
-
Beatitudes: Changing the Way Life Turns Out
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Beatitudes: Changing the Way Life Turns Out”
Introduction
Jesus is the light shining in the darkness—the One who can turn our deep cave into a tunnel. If we walk in the light of His presence—believing that the tunnel will end—and do not walk like unbelievers walk (see Ephesians 4:17-18), we will experience bounty and blessing that seem impossible given [...]- Available Formats:
-
Being Filled with The Spirit and Speaking in Tongues
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Being Filled with The Spirit and Speaking in Tongues”
This is edited from an audio teaching—this article explores the questions many believers have about the nature and evidence about being filled with the Spirit.
God, by His Spirit, wants to capacitate us to do things that we otherwise could not do on our own. The Holy Spirit causes us to [...]- Available Formats:
-
Being Recovered from Evil
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Being Recovered from Evil”
The following are excerpts from Daniel’s book “Enjoying Your Journey with God.”
THE NATURE OF EVIL
Our culture has an incomplete and inadequate definition of evil. We tend think of it primarily in extreme terms—like serial murderers, grotesque satanic rituals, swindlers who prey on the elderly, etc. But evil exhibits itself in [...]- Available Formats:
-
Beloved People
Thursday, March 19th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Beloved People”
INTRODUCTION
As Paul writes what he imagines will be his last words to a group of very good friends, who have supported his ministry for many years, his heart is drawn to some of the specific people with whom he has shared so much. In this tender epistle (letter) to the Philippians, [...]- Available Formats:
-
Beware of Leaven
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Beware of Leaven”
Introduction
Over and over again, Jesus explains to His disciples that the real issues of life are the inner, spiritual ones—not the obvious physical ones. In this passage we find three instances wherein Jesus tries to drive that point home. Like the disciples, we are prone to concentrate on our physical circumstances [...]- Available Formats:
-
Bucking the Trend
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Bucking the Trend”
“You cannot serve God and Mammon.” ~Jesus
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” ~Solomon
Though our culture believes that Mammon is merely a synonym for riches, it is far, far more sinister. Mammon is a demonic being. It seeks “disciples” who pay attention to its commandments, and who [...]- Available Formats:
-
Caleb’s Gift Ideas for the Person Who Has Everything
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Caleb’s Gift Ideas for the Person Who Has Everything”
Part I: Forgiveness
A. Without forgiveness there can be no:
· Future
· Deliverance (salvation)
· Personal vindication
· Relationship
B. Pattern for Seeking and Granting Forgiveness—
“My people who are called by My Name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their [...]- Available Formats:
-
Combined Crucifixion Story
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009Compiled by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Combined Crucifixion Story”
(While pastoring at The Coastlands, one year Daniel wrote and posted the entire Crucifixion Story, taken from Gospel accounts, to read to the congregation at the Good Friday Service. —Note: All quotes are taken from the “N.A.S.B. Lockman Foundation.”)
Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was [...]- Available Formats:
-
Commended to The Word
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Commended to The Word”
I wish I could say that I had come to the understandings and realizations concerning God’s Word, contained in the following pages, by the time I graduated from high school. I wish I could say they had become part of my Christian experience before I finished my undergraduate work in college. [...]- Available Formats:
-
Count on Me
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Count on Me”
From our earliest years on the planet, we learned how to size things up—comparing the length of our 4-year-old stretch, to the distance between us and the cookie on the counter; counting leftover allowance coins to see if they could get us a candy bar and a soda; and, stacking up [...]- Available Formats:
-
Counterintuitive Ways of God
Thursday, March 12th, 2009Mark 8:27-35
Excerpt from “Counterintuitive Ways of God”
by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Pastors love catchphrases! They preach well; they explain things to people without the bother of explaining them in our own words. They are handy to pass out when people look to us for explanation (“God moves in mysterious ways”) or counsel (“Deny yourself”). The catch, however, with catch-phrases is that [...]- Available Formats:
-
Dangers of Judging Others: Matthew 7:1-6
Monday, March 9th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Dangers of Judging Others: Matthew 7:1-6”
Matthew 7:1-6
As part of the “Sermon on the Mount,” this passage of scripture is spoken to a group of people who eagerly seek instructions about how to access the miracle power they have seen functioning through Jesus when He teaches and performs miracles. Jesus has introduced them to another kingdom which [...]- Available Formats:
-
David’s Hope and Song
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “David’s Hope and Song”
King David, a man after God’s own heart, had a life full of ups and downs. If you read any of the poems/songs he wrote in Psalms, you quickly discover that he, too, was a man well acquainted with grief, disappointment, betrayal and discouragement. Yet, he kept entrusting himself to God.
The [...]- Available Formats:
-
Discovering God’s Will For Your Life
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Discovering God’s Will For Your Life”
Why does God’s will seem so difficult to discover?
When I was a little boy, I had a humorously mistaken concept of God’s will that I picked up inadvertently by overhearing a phrase used by older people talking about someone recently deceased: “Having accomplished what God gave them to do…” Though I [...]- Available Formats:
-
Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Embryonic Stem Cell Research”
The debate over embryonic stem cell research is one of those engagement moments when, rather than drawing lines in the sand, the Church has an opportunity to engage society in meaningful dialog. Despite our desire to evangelize the world, it will be tempting for the church-at-large to miss this incredible [...]- Available Formats:
-
Ephesus
Thursday, March 19th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Ephesus”
It seems like 21st Century Christian leaders have become experts about how wicked and how unresponsive to the gospel, their cities are; and, they feel as though they have accomplished something by merely condemning sinful practices in their culture/city. Paul spent little time condemning people because he was so busy talking [...]- Available Formats:
-
Excising Evil
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Excising Evil”
GOD’S WITNESSES TO THE WORLD
In order to effectively make sense of the Old Testament, we must realize that the spiritual stage was set a bit differently in that age than it is in the New Testament. For example, whereas individual believers are the primary witness to the nations in the New [...]- Available Formats:
-
Exodus 6:6-9
Thursday, March 12th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Exodus 6:6-9”
“Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for [...]- Available Formats:
-
Finding A Future in God’s Word
Thursday, March 12th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Shining Brighter and Brighter
Excerpt from “Finding A Future in God’s Word”
The Bible isn’t like a textbook filled with static facts. God wants His word to actively counsel us in the midst of our days, giving us insight and understanding about the choices we face and the problems we want to resolve. If we’ll look for it to happen, [...]- Available Formats:
-
Fleshless Foes
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Fleshless Foes”
PART ONE: OPPRESSORS IN THE LAND: JUDGES 2:14- 3:2
In addition to being a precise narration that chronicles God’s dealings with His people—both as a nation and as individuals—the Old Testament provides us with profound insights into the goings-on in the spiritual dimension. The stories and conversations it contains are [...]- Available Formats:
-
Fruitful Repentance by Daniel Brown and Don Miller
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009If you would like an in-depth and insightful look at repentance, you’ll want to read this full-length article on the subject; in it, you’ll see how the gift of repentance brings hope and lasting change to anyone who chooses to be transformed by its power.
Excerpt from “Fruitful Repentance by Daniel Brown and Don Miller”- Available Formats:
-
Getting a Handle on Spiritual Leadership
Thursday, March 19th, 2009What are Leaders in Congregations Supposed to Do?
Excerpt from “Getting a Handle on Spiritual Leadership”
by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
If we want to do a good job as spiritual leaders, it’s important to know what we’re actually supposed to do! As obvious as that sounds, many people who are being promoted by God to accept a role of kingdom leadership in the [...]- Available Formats:
-
Great Exchange
Thursday, March 12th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Great Exchange”
A Double Portion for Sin
God’s interest is to transform broken and bruised people like you and me—blighted souls ravaged by incidents, accidents and willfulness—not only by removing the damage, but also by doing us so much good that we end up with a double portion of blessing from His hand.
Most [...]- Available Formats:
-
Hallmarks of Deliverance
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “Hallmarks of Deliverance”
Even though most deliverances in our lives will be processes—worked out over a period of time—rather than instantaneous events, there will be times when God’s miraculous intervention in our mental/emotional/spiritual condition brings complete freedom in moments. Instead of a season of deliverance, we experience a sudden rescue, much like the deliverance [...]- Available Formats:
-
He Who is Coming Will Come
Thursday, March 12th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “He Who is Coming Will Come”
How Faith and Suffering Work Together
God has been reminding us that He comes to visit our desert places —those places in our minds and hearts that have been blighted by evils done to us or by us. He promises to recover us from our memories, our entrapments and our confusions. And [...]- Available Formats:
-
How to Judge a Prophecy
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009by Daniel A. Brown, PhD
Excerpt from “How to Judge a Prophecy”
1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21
Just as the creation of the world began by God speaking “Light” into existence, so too, did the salvation of the world start with God’s Word becoming light in the very midst of darkness (see John 1:1-13). Time and time again we see the same pattern [...]- Available Formats:
-
Importance of Forgiveness
Thursday, March 12th, 2009Forgive Us Our Debts
Excerpt from “Importance of Forgiveness”
Daniel A. Brown, PhD
“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”Matthew 6:12
Introduction
Few principles in the Kingdom of God are more important than forgiveness—and few are more misunderstood. Forgiveness is the basis upon which you and I are able to relate to God. He has forgiven our sins against [...]- Available Formats:
