This Old House from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. God has always had a special place to meet with His people. When the Israelites left Egypt, Moses met with God in a tent called "The Tent of Meeting" (Exodus 33:7). When Moses went inside, the pillar of cloud would descend on it, and the Lord would talk with Moses. Then the Lord gave Moses...

Farther Along from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today, I want to talk about dealing with things we don't understand. For there will be times in life when the path gets dark, and we have to walk by faith. I want to start with Psalm 119.Psalm 119:105 NKJV Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. The lamp in this Psalm is an...

Who Was Mark from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. The Gospel of Mark is both the shortest and the oldest of the four Gospels, yet it is filled with action and urgency, as if it were written under pressure and with a deadline, while covering the most important points. There is a raw quality to it, presenting a condensed and more roughly written...

The Northeaster from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Looking back, I can recall many times when I felt I must have missed God's direction, only to discover that I was exactly where I needed to be. Even if that place was a dark hole-in-the-wall, it was often through those very circumstances that I was led toward my destiny. The storms in our lives...

The God Who Sees Me from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Hagar was Sarah's Egyptian maidservant, and when Sarah struggled to conceive, she offered Hagar to her husband Abram as a wife, hoping to have children through her. However, once Hagar became pregnant, the family dynamics changed. Sarah began to treat her "harshly", leading Hagar to flee....

Bent Tuning Forks from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. In a music group, everyone tunes their instruments to the same note, and then they can play in tune with each other. Years ago, you might have used an A-440 tuning fork and tuned by ear, but electronics have largely replaced this method today, especially in noisy environments. The Lord...

Thank You from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today, I want to highlight the power of being thankful. Jesus, our perfect example, modeled a life filled with gratitude and praise. No matter the challenges you've faced, there's always something to be thankful for—starting with the simple blessing of waking up today. For many, yesterday was...

Resting While the Storm Rages from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Stress is something we all face. Whether it's worries about our jobs, our families, our health, or just the busyness of life, stress can feel like a raging storm that won't quit. We try hard to keep it all together, but inside, we're often tired, overwhelmed, or even afraid. That's...

The Battle of Jericho from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. After Moses passed away, Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River into the Promised Land, and the first city they came to was Jericho. It was a formidable city known for its massive walls. The Lord instructed them to march around the city for six days, and on the seventh...

Sunshine and Roses from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Something that puzzled me when I first decided to take my relationship with Jesus seriously was that my life suddenly became more challenging. I mean, what's going on with that? "I'm a child of the King! He fights my battles." Uh-huh... For me, it felt like the more I dedicated myself to...

One Day at a Time from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. First, I want to say there's absolutely nothing wrong with being ignorant. It simply means there's a lack of knowledge or awareness about something, or perhaps being a bit uneducated or unsophisticated. The Lord knows all, and He understands our limitations. After all, He created our minds,...

Shipwrecked Faith from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. You must develop a direct relationship with Jesus Christ that is not dependent on anyone else. Far too many people have their faith shipwrecked when they get spiritually hurt by someone in the church, especially if it comes from the church leadership they look up to. We have seen members...

The Fleece from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. In Judges chapter six, there is a young man named Gideon who is the least of the least. For seven years, raiders from the land of Midian invaded Israel at harvest time, set up camps, and systematically stole their crops and livestock, destroying and pillaging anything of value. The raiders came...

Secret Service from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today, I would like to discuss God's timing. Too many of us read the Scriptures and feel that God is outdated or out of touch with modern times when nothing could be further from the truth. He invented time. He created the Sun that the Earth orbits. Sometimes, we can feel that He is distant...

The Church of Acts from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. What God designs and establishes is always perfect and never needs to be improved on or replaced. He always gets it right the first time. For example, look at Noah's ark which is a pattern of the Church, both designed by God, built by carpenters, and those inside are saved. Now, the Church...

Pentecost from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. We have recently covered the events of Holy Week and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. What happened next? After Jesus was crucified, laid to rest in a tomb, and resurrected early Sunday morning, He remained on Earth for another forty days and appeared to many (Acts 1:3). Here is a brief summary: *...

The Blood of the Lamb from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today, we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, which occurred around 1992 years ago. Last week, we covered the events that happened during "Holy Week," beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Jesus being arrested, scourged, and crucified on Friday, mostly because...

Holy Week from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today marks the beginning of Holy Week—the week leading up to the most important events in Jesus' life. Tradition tells us that Holy Week began on Palm Sunday, around 33 AD. At that time, Jesus was in his early thirties. We use the BC/AD dating system, which was established around his birth,...

The God of the Valley from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. The human brain is a natural gap-filler—it quickly fills in missing details even when we don't give it the whole picture. For instance, if I simply say "dog," you likely picture an image in your mind based on your own experiences, even before I mention the breed. The same applies...

Who Was Matthew from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. How much do we know about Matthew, who became one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus? We know that Matthew was the son of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). Another of Jesus' disciples, James the Lesser, is also identified as the son of Alphaeus. However, it seems unlikely that the two were closely related....

The Shadow from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. When I was around ten, a well-meaning soul took me bar-hopping after a long day of fishing. Jesus said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," and I do believe that's what they would have liked done to them. It was a fairly common occurrence. That was a school day, so they stopped in,...

Positive and Negative from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. We live in uncertain and troublesome times. Fear is on the rise, and no one knows what tomorrow will bring. The news seems only bad, and each day, something new stokes the fire, replacing what we thought was the worst with something worse. The ingenious Homer Simpson, when his son...

Overcoming Fear in a Turbulent World from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt when he was about 80. However, upon reaching the Promised Land, the people discovered there were giants living there, which made them feel like grasshoppers (Numbers 13:33). Consequently, they decided to stone Moses, appoint...

The Woman at the Well from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. When Jesus was traveling from Judea to Galilee, He stopped in a town called Sychar. While resting at the well and waiting for His disciples to return from grocery shopping, He had a conversation with a Samaritan woman who came to the well during the heat of the day. (John 4:3–6 NASB)...

Rivers of Living Water from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. When someone is speaking, it is helpful to know the context and their environment to fully grasp what they mean. Consider the words of Jesus in John chapter 7: (John 7:37 NKJV) On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let...

Good Neighbors from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. We need to be good neighbors, and in turn, make the world a better place. Ever since Adam and Eve had children and one killed the other, learning to live in peace has been an ongoing thing. Most of the Ten Commandments are about how we treat each other. The word neighbor occurs about 153 times...

The Carpenter from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Jesus left His hometown of Nazareth around the age of thirty, where He had grown up and worked as a carpenter. Later, He returned as a rabbi with a group of disciples following Him, and the locals were astonished. (Mark 6:1–3 NKJV) Then He went out from there and came to His own country,...

Cranking It to Eleven from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. This is not the message I sat down to write. Partway through, the Holy Spirit hijacked it and made it something else. I don't want to upset you, but like Paul, I also don't want you to be ignorant (1 Corinthians 12:1). This is a rather long message, but it would be an injustice not...

Prayer Warrior from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. I have heard people teach that one should pray once "in faith" and never mention it again. The idea is that God has heard you and will bring it to pass when He is ready. There may be a time for that, but that is not how Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, Paul, or Jesus Christ prayed. Now, I totally...

The Underdogs from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. In today's world, people too often chase superficial and fleeting beauty. Supermodels are everywhere in advertising. Even the computer geeks we see on TV now have six-pack abs - if only that were true! We're bombarded with images of glamour models flaunting their wealth, fancy yachts, perfect...