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“Jesse, how do you do that whole ‘faith-trust’ thing? Do you hear the audible voice of the Lord? How do you know whether God’s actually leading you?” I get asked this from time to time. The answer is almost too simple. Getting out of the boat is easy if you see Jesus on the waves.

God always speaks. Our problem is that we don’t want to face reality. We often don’t understand it. Knowledge is useless if you don’t welcome it.

If you were on the Titanic and you felt that infamous “shake,” what would you think? Would you even know what think? Just because the ship sinks slow at first doesn’t mean it won’t sink. Most of us stay on board until it’s too late. Most of us think nothing is wrong.

We see it with friends—problems they don’t want to face. Are we that insightful? Is it “faith” when you observe that 2,000 points form a straight line?—even  · · · →

What I think often prevents revival is.. too many Christians are surrounded by “yeses.” They need some “no’s” to pursue so they actually have a place to go. They have tons of open doors in their lives—all these doors. I mean.. LOTS of “open doors” (with closets behind them) and so they are glad because of all the “open doors,” even though those “open doors” lead nowhere. But, we don’t need a place to GO, right? All that matters is the “open door.” So, whatever is behind the open door must be for us, right?

Jesus never said, “I have put an open door in front of you that no one can shut because you persevere.” Nosir. Jesus never said that in Revelation 3:8. We should accept mediocrity. We should take the “path of least resistance.” We should do as many useless, “good” things in our lives as we can so we stay distracted from the stuff God commanded us to do.  · · · →

People who tell me, “Life’s hard, deal with it,” are themselves not dealing with “life” in the fact that I’m here. They see me having an “impact” on the world around me and instantly assume that—since they only whine when they don’t agree with their surroundings—I must be whining too. They are whining about the fact that I refuse to co-exist with mediocrity. They want to change their own surroundings: ME. They preach an evangel of “tolerance,” but refuse to tolerate the agent of change. “Non-offense” isn’t their message, it is “staying in their easy rut” that they value. With all their talk about “..not making waves for others,” they don’t mind making waves in my own life.

It isn’t as if I’m bringing something bad. More creativity, more happiness, more fulfillment, freedom to “be one’s self” as God created each of us to be, receiving justice—even at the expense of some untalented power monger, preaching an empowering gospel message that God gave us commands “because” He loves us—so His love for us should be emphasized and will lead us to obedience, defending anti-cultural ideas of science that better explain and navigate our world and physical-emotional health, trying to do something new..  · · · →

Supersize my prayers! I suspect the California lawsuit, IHOP v IHOP, will end in good cheer. Good luck if you’re trying to establish “confusion” between selling pancakes and selling prayers. It isn’t as if Kansas City-ites are pretending to market a classic American breakfast delicacy. Trademarks aren’t about acronyms they’re about product and service. Besides, prayer isn’t for sale and IHOP Corp., isn’t filing for damages, probably because there are no damages to even claim. If anything, the two have synergy.

I was in the prayer room on Redbridge Road in Kansas City, MO, 2003, when my friends on staff said, “Hey, let’s go eat at IHOP.” Think about it.. It’s 4 am, you’re praying, been fasting all day, at IHOP 24/7.. Where will you go eat? How about IHOP 24/7 across the street. As we sat in the pancake house over coffee, KNEE-deep in syrupy prayer discussion, some one said it, “Let’s go back to the IHOP.”  · · · →