From the Home Place

August 12, 2025

Why is it that the best things for me seem to be the hardest things to do? I think it goes back to the battle between my flesh and God’s Spirit, a battle that has plagued every human who has ever walked across this ‘ol ball of dirt (except Jesus that is). We all know what we want to do – take the easy way.

I need to lose weight, but I don’t want to diet and exercise. I need to save money, but there is this thing I want to buy. I need to become more Christ-like, but I want to be me. I need to develop spiritual disciplines, but I want to live wild and free.

Perhaps this is all remedied with the thing the Bible tells me I need to do: I need to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. (Romans. 12:2) How is this possible, by reading and applying Scripture. Yes, I may be good about reading Scripture, but Jesus stated that I am to “do” the things the Bible tells me to do. Our American culture usually elevates knowing above doing.

Why is it that making time to read my Bible is so difficult? Because that is the single most effective method for transforming my mind. Yet to be truly transformed, I must make the necessary changes in my lifestyle to obey that which I read during my daily study of Scripture.

I’m often asked, “How should I read my Bible?” To which there a variety of methods: You can read the Bible from cover to cover in one year; You can read the Bible alone, or you can read it with a friend, or even in a larger group – it appears that this method was the primary one used during biblical times; You can read the Bible aloud, or quietly; You can read the Bible for personal or group study.

For me, Bible reading is most effective in four steps: 1) May I suggest that you daily read less of the Bible. Yep, that’s right, read less of the Bible, and really study what you do read. I suggest that we no longer read a chapter of Scripture each day, but that we read a few sentences or perhaps a paragraph, and then we dig deeply into the meaning of individual words. To me, reading my Bible is like really enjoying a good meal – take smaller bites and chew them well (this method is proven to aid in digestion), also true with Scripture.

2) The second step of biblical renewal is to journal what you have just learned from your study. Sometimes this will involve a paragraph in your journal, other times it will take pages to state what you have learned and how you plan to apply those lessons. Suggestion – Your journals will make beautiful gifts to your older children or grandchildren. They will be able to connect with you in a way far beyond the normal family dynamic.

3) The third step to all Scripture reading is to apply what you are reading. Jesus didn’t suggest that we are blessed for our reading, or for sitting in a classroom under a teacher, or in church under a preacher, we a blessed when we apply what His word tells us to do. And yes, application is the hard part that my flesh hates.

4) Memorize Scripture. “Thy word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.”

If we as His followers want to have the mind of Christ, we must fill our minds with His words, and allow His words to fill us. As the old preacher stated so well, “We don’t need to get more people into the Bible, we need to get more of the Bible into people.” Always – After reading – application!

Doing the hard part with you, Neal

August 9, 2025

All day yesterday, we cut angles on heavy-duty steel roofing. Because of the steep angle, we can’t use a sheer, so each sheet has to be cut by hand. Between difficult cutting, climb back up the ladder, exact fitting each piece, climbing back down the ladder and starting the process again and again and again.

Does that sound like your Christian life? Sometimes it is difficult to maintain a healthy Christian walk. You know: devotions, prayers, reading, serving, worship, up the ladder, down the ladder, this activity, that activity, again and again and again. Sometimes we just need to step away.

That’s what the Bible calls solitude. I’m sure that on occasion God wants us to step away from the day-to-day and just sit with Him. No, I’m not talking about skipping church to go fishing or play golf. I’m talking about taking a day away from the normal and being alone with God.

Throughout the Gospels we read of Jesus going away to an isolated place and praying. Read Mark 1:29ff. Jesus spends the night healing all sorts of folks (v.34), but in v. 35 we read, “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.”

Why did Jesus go away to pray? Verse 37 tells us that there were still plenty of people seeking healing back in town. Why would Jesus, leave “ministry” opportunities, walk away and pray? It seems to me that there possibly two elements to the answer: 1) When the woman with the “issue” touched the cloak of Christ, His response was the He “felt the power go out of Him.” 2) Jesus knew that it was possible to get so involved in ministry that He could easily lose the “why” of life. To say it simply, Jesus went to a “secluded” place to recharge and reconnect.

Verse 38, “He said to them, ‘Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.’” There will always be ministry and demands upon your Christian life. How do you keep those demands in proper priority? By getting away, visiting with God and being reminded why you were called to salvation, “Go and make disciples…”

If your salvation was the main point of Christ’s death, then wouldn’t He have taken you to heaven the moment you bowed your knee to Jesus? Salvation is the entry point, making disciples is the purpose! And I can’t say exactly for you, but it is very easy for me to get so busy doing good things, that I forget the most important thing – spending quiet time away from everyone and everything with GOD!

Practicing solitude with you, Neal

Here I sit at 4:30 a.m. on Friday, 8/8/25. I’ve read Scripture, I’ve prayed and now I write. Yesterday our friend Jeff helped us put in a new window on our ‘ol house. Oh, we had a plan: We were going to pop the window in right quick and then put a door in on the east side of the house. A good day’s effort for three old folks, but we felt quite confident that we could get it done; and then we started.

The first thing we noticed was that there was old, wood, lap siding underneath the tarpaper on the side of the house where the new window was to go. Hum, do we spend the better part of the day removing that old siding, or do we shim and adjust to attempt to make the wall reasonably flat for our new window? We chose the first. So for the rest of the morning we painfully removed layer after layer of the very old wood siding that was “full” of nails.

Lunch, and then we began with new insulation, moving electrical lines and then sheeting with OSB.
Finally, with the better part of our day behind us, we were able to install the window! The new window looks great from the inside and the outside of the house looks really nice as well. But, we didn’t get to install the new door – Suprise!

What’s the old saying, “The best laid plans of mice and men…” Though things didn’t go according to our original plan, we now have a new window in our dining room, installed correctly – Praise God! Life has a way of changing our plans, but God is faithful to help us do the better part. We saw no need to get angry and pitch a fit about the trials of the day. Just take a deep breath, pray and readjust.

How was it that Jesus spoke of such situations, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Life is full of troubles, yet God’s grace if more than sufficient to deal with the troubles of each day. Jesus never promised that everything would always be full of sunshine, but He does promise to walk through the storms with us. Remember Jesus said, “And lo, I am with you always.”

So today, we hope to get the steel on the new roof. But if God has a better plan, we will go with it. Yep, “One day at a time sweet Jesus.” I encourage you, no matter what this day holds for your life, remember Who holds your life. Take His hand and walk into this new day, as soon as the sun comes up.

Dealing with daily surprises with you, Neal

Today’s forecast is for 98 degrees, with wind and 14 percent humidity. Hot, dry and windy- the perfect recipe for quick spreading fires! A fire today is an extremely dangerous prospect.

I awoke long before daylight; read Scripture, prayed and then decided to write. You see friends, these little notes that I write on a daily basis are intended to stretch each of us to be better at serving our Lord. It is my prayer and my hope that each of us will be challenged to grow, go and glow for His glory, and for the good of those around us.

With that said, today our area of Wyoming is under a Red Flag Warning – hot, dry and windy. Part of my reading this morning was from Matthew 16:18, “and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” I have no doubt that Jesus is fulfilling His words even today, He is building His church.

However, it is also possible that many churches in America are under a Red Flag Warning, as they too have grown “hot, dry and windy.” I believe it is our Lord’s desire that His church is to be red hot with passion for the lost and the least of our communities. Yet as I have stated before, whatever God has intended for good, Satan will imitate for evil. As such, many churches are no longer hot with the passion of Christ, they just appear to be what today is called “a hot mess.”

Many churches have lost their purpose. They lack a Christ-centered vision, spend too much on processes instead of meaningful goals, allow division among members, and focus on easy topics in sermons instead of deeper teachings.

Oh for the Holy Spirit to be free to work within and through the local church! Red Flag fires are always out of control, causing much damage. While the fire of the Holy Spirit seems to be well controlled and causes healing and strength!

Could it be that we are in the time spoken of by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.” That sounds like a Red Flag Warning to me.

Lest we run amuck, may we once again remind ourselves that Jesus is still building HIs church. Jesus continues to do that which Jesus does best – change lives. Here’s the deal, Jesus wants to change my life and your life to be more like His life. Are we willing to allow Him to complete His work within us so that He can then work through us? Perhaps we should pray as the missionary prayed, “Oh Lord, light my soul on fire so that people will gather to watch me burn!” Now that’s a “good” fire.

Please, do not give up on your church and walk away. Instead, PRAY for your pastor and leadership to be ignited by the Holy Spirit, PAY with your finances and time, and PARTICIPATE in keeping your local church warm and friendly, true to the word, and on fire for the cause of Christ, and then PRAISE Jesus for the work He is doing – changing lives, starting with ours.

Let’s join Smokey the Bear and do our part to in preventing Wildfires, as we join Jesus Christ in spreading the fire of the Holy Spirit across our communities.

Doing my part with you, Neal

Good morning to all. It is another beautiful day here in Wyoming, another day of working around the home place. I have to admit, I really do enjoy working alone on most projects, but there are those times when help is required. You know, those times when you really need another set of hands, or another back, or another point of view to get a task completed.

In Romans 12, the Apostle Paul makes it very clear that our Christian walk is very much the same way. Most of the time, we can work on it alone, yet it is absolutely imperative that each of us also have someone else to help us with maturing in Christ. Yes, we all need our personal quiet time, personal study time and personal prayer time, but equally as important is our time spent in community.

As Paul states, “every part of the body is necessary.” Without community with other believers, we miss the other “parts” of our spiritual body that are “necessary” for growth. It is true that “iron sharpens iron,” so we all need someone else to push us to becoming sharper for Christ.

Remember how Jesus prayed for His first disciples, “that they may be one just as We are one.” The fun element is that the word “one” here is actually plural. It speaks of a group that works together so well that they move as one, and we all need that kind of group.

Working on this ‘ol house has required that we have such a group. Men like Jeff, Max, Ty, Ryan, Lane, Dalton, and another Jeff and Ryan, women like Nancy and Deb have all worked hard as one group to get many difficult tasks completed. Without their help, I would still be working on step one of this remodel.

In a very similar way, we all need others to help us with our spiritual remodel. Do you have such people in your life? If so, be sure to acknowledge them – give them due credit for their part in your spiritual growth. If you lack a team to assist with your growth, why? Is it because you are a “lone ranger?” Remember, a burning ember will burn out if it stands alone. We all need spiritual teammates!

Each day as we work on this house, we share meals together, we enjoy water breaks together, we sweat together. Yep, the house improvement requires a team of “one.” So does our spiritual remodel. We all NEED the community of other believers if we are to grow and glow for our Savior!

Please realize, you need the other people that make up your community – your church family or your study group, and they need you. Every part of the body is “necessary!”

Serving Him together with you, Neal

After a Christian allows the Holy Spirit to do some serious remodeling on the inside, making the space livable and usable, it is then time to make sure that the remodeled inside is well protected from the outside.

So, on our remodeling of this ‘ol house, we then went to work on the severely damaged roof. When we started taking the old shingles off of the roof, we found FIVE layers of asphalt shingles. Yep you read correctly, five layers. It would appear that rather than remove the old, damaged shingles, the previous owners would just add another layer of new shingles.

We are also good at the committing the same infraction. Instead of dealing with old pains, we tend to just add a new layer, burying the old painful layer. When that layer is damaged, we add another layer, and so on, until we have a vast amount of excess weight upon our shoulders! We then often begin to medicate the excess weight, called stress.

You see my friends, it was time for us to remove all of that excess weight from this old house and put on a fresh, new roof. Perhaps it’s time for you to allow God to remove the heavy layers of stress from the exterior of your life as well. Forgive where needed, confess where needed, and allow the Holy Spirit to bring the kind of healing that only He can provide. Allow Him to put on a brand new you that stands upon the truth of Scripture. That means that you have to dig into your Bible and find the biblical truth about who Jesus says you are.

Here is a truth I want you to remember for the rest of your days: “God is the great creator, Satan is the great imitator.” That which God has given you for good, Satan will give you an imitation for evil. You see, the Bible is God’s love letter to you. Satan uses all sorts of publications, including social media, to attempt to convince you that he also loves you.

That is why it is so necessary to remove Satan’s lies and replace them with a new covering of God’s truth.

It’s your choice, you can continue to add another layer of worldly cures, or you can do the hard work of ripping all of the lies away and adding a brand new biblically accurate covering of truth. Believe me, it was extremely difficult to remove all of those old shingles and rotten decking and replace with all new. But in spite of the expense and difficult labor, we now have a beautiful, waterproof roof that protects everything inside of our home!

So, roll up your sleeves, pull out your Bible and let your loving Heavenly Father replace the worthless lies of Satan with biblical truth! I guarantee you, it is worth it.

Blessings, Neal