Damon J. Gray

  • A Very Present Help

    It can be terrifying to witness the world falling apart, but God is your refuge, strength, and very present help in times of trouble.

    5 min read
  • In the Shadow of His Wing

    God is our shelter and our safe place. He covers us with his wing, his shadow, and he protects us with his everlasting arm. There we abide.

    5 min read
  • Open Minds, Eyes, and Hearts

    I want to understand the scriptures such that my heart burns within me, and I also want powerful obedience to apply that understanding and to live it.

    5 min read
  • Seemed Right at the Time

    We dare not get so locked into a narrative that we are blind to truth. The Jews were locked into a Messiah narrative that did not fit reality.

    6 min read
  • Trying to Help God

    It is common for us to grow impatient, to run ahead of God, to help God and force some specific outcome. Let God be God and we be his people.

    8 min read
  • Asking God for One Thing

    But if there were one thing you could ask of God and know he would grant it, what would that one thing be? It's a question worthy of pondering.

    5 min read
  • Our God is a Humble God

    In humility, the Creator became one with the created. The God of heaven touched the earth. The all-powerful God became a helpless infant.

    3 min read
  • The Greatest Gift Ever

    The giving of gifts is a ubiquitous in scripture. The theme of gift giving is found well beyond 2,000 times from Genesis to Revelation.

    3 min read
  • Living in a Post-Truth Era

    True freedom is not living without constraints. True freedom is living as we were designed. That's not legalism. That's intelligent existence.

    11 min read
  • Soldiers of Christ, Arise!

    As we fight the good fight we must be aware that the true battlefield isn't here. Our war against the world system is something otherworldly.

    5 min read
  • Can You Trust "The Name?"

    It's not a matter of literally knowing God's name. There is a much broader sense wherein one's name is representative of everything about them.

    8 min read
  • Who Is My Neighbor?

    "Neighbor" in Jesus-speak is not necessarily someone whose home is close to my own. To qualify as neighbor, I don't even have to know you.

    4 min read
  • Holiness is a Pursuit

    It is likely that one of the least understood and most abused words in the English language is “holy.” On one end of the spectrum, we find extreme sanctimonious, “holier than thou” religious snobbery, while the other end of the spectrum houses the use of “holy” as something of an...

    7 min readHolinessSanctificationArticles
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    Investing in Things That Last

    I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. I’m not so obtuse as to be unaware that opponents of the faith existed during that time, but their objections were more subtle, more veiled than those we see today. Typical television families in the 60s and early 70s were portrayed as going to church, or if…

    5 min readFaithThe Word of God
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    No Darkness at All

    I saw a meme last week that had a backlit match stick casting a shadow on the wall. The outline of the matchstick was clearly seen, but the flame itself cast no shadow. It was an impactful demonstration, and it made a powerful point. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim…

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    A Soldier for Jesus

    Soldiers, war, battle, fighting, standing firm, armor, victory, and defeat. The imagery of war and conflict is strewn throughout the pages of scripture. There, the Christ-follower is repeatedly characterized as a soldier. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please…

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    Forgetting Not God’s Law

    A high-visibility battle on varied social media platforms continues as those in various stripes of Christendom engage in a battle of words with those they unflatteringly refer to as “the Torah Keepers.” If you’re not familiar with the term, Torah refers to the first five books of the Old Testament canon. These writings are also…

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    Four Flavors of Prayer

    Not too long ago, I had a brief exchange with someone who excitedly exclaimed that the Greek language was so cool because the Greeks had four words for “love.” “No,” I responded. “They don’t. Rather, English is such a limited language that it has only one word to convey four different Greek concepts.” That’s not…

    5 min readPrayerArticles
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    He Who Has Ears

    Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.Eyes and ears and mouth and nose.Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Fess up! If you have kids, you’ve performed that aria. Even if you don’t have kids … well … you probably read that with the little…

    4 min readHear God's VoiceThe Word of God
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    If I Perish, I Perish

    I’m not afraid of dying. I fear pain, but not death. Indeed, the older I grow, the more I understand the apostle Paul’s statement that he’s torn between dying and being at home with the Lord, and staying here for the sake of those left behind. Go, gather all the Jews to be found in…

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    What Is God’s Will for Me?

    I cannot count the times I have been told something along the lines of, “I just want to know God’s will for my life.” The sentiment is expressed in a variety of ways, and at times I have articulated that same desire. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your…

    3 min readGod's WillObediencePurposeFaith
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    Fellowship – It’s More Than Just a Meal

    As I write this, I’m working on a manuscript chapter on being devoted to the fellowship, one of four basic devotions we read about in Acts 2:42. In that context, the disciples were devoted to one another, and part of that devotion involved something called fellowship. Fellowship, κοινωνία (koinonia), goes well beyond “hanging out” together…

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    God of All Creation – God of Me

    I am persuaded that God is more involved in the creation than we are aware of. We are often aware of God’s involvement in our own lives, and we get glimpses of his involvement in the lives of family and friends, but his work extends well beyond those endpoints. God’s Care You care for the…

    5 min readCreationDevotionalImage of God
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    A Biblical Response to Persecution

    I don’t have a favorite book of the Bible or a favorite verse. I do, however, have a favorite chapter and, while I am generally drawn to the gospel of Luke, my favorite chapter in all the Bible is John 9. John 9 is where we find the events surrounding the healing of the man…

    4 min readJohnPersecutionRighteousness
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    God Hates Sinners? Really??

    Last week we looked at the imprecatory psalms. This week, we are taking one step to the side and looking at a couple of specific statements from the psalms that are a bit difficult to understand or swallow. Several times over the past week, I have seen this concept floated, “Love the sinner but hate…

    8 min readSinThe Love of GodEvil
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    White Stones with New Names

    Alean and I are on the road this week, traveling to spend holidays with family. This week’s blog posting comes to you from Kansas. There is an obscure verse in Revelation 2 that I’ve always read past because it strikes me as such a bizarre statement. Vacation time grants us the privilege (or is it…

    3 min readJesus ChristJohnGod
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    When God Created a Thing Called Light

    The Gotcha While browsing an online media source this week, I read a statement that gave me pause. It’s a strange sensation we feel when someone posts what they believe to be the ultimate “gotcha,” but their gotcha is so far off base that we want to shake them awake and get them to see…

    6 min readFaithHopeThe Love of God
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    Make It As Secure As You Can

    I have taught for decades, and still maintain, that the resurrection of Jesus is the central truth of the Christian faith. Without the resurrection, we have nothing. It is the hub around which every other doctrine rotates. The resurrection is the key. It is the victory over death. The next day, that is, after the…

    4 min readSeek God FirstFaithResurrection
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    The Seven Pillars of Wisdom

    Much hand-wringing and consternation occurs among Christ-followers who are frustrated with and taken aback by the worldliness of the world with its flaunting and glorification of sin. “Why can’t they see?” is the unspoken question that drives many to work harder, to argue longer, and allow the anxiety to build within them. The fruit will…

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    Four “Take Heeds” of Mark 13

    One of my favorite movie lines comes from The Magnificent Seven. It is a scene in which Chris, trying to recruit members for his team, is explaining the job to Harry. Harry is so convinced there is a huge score tied to the job that he keeps interrupting Chris as he tries to explain their…

    5 min readFaithTrust GodSpiritual Maturity
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    The Complexity of Abiding

    Abide with me; fast falls the eventide.The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.When other helpers fail and comforts flee,Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. It is a beautiful hymn, and a compelling cry of the heart. Stay with me Jesus. Walk with me through this. It is a cry we make to the one who…

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    Called From His Mother’s Womb

    We hear a lot about “calling” from various passages, and equally varied speakers. It’s another one of those religious words we speak and hear and occasionally nod in agreement, doing so whether or not we really understand the word. Sometimes the head-nod means, I’m uncertain what you really mean, but I’m trying very hard to follow…

    4 min readGod's CallingGod's willGod's Plan
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    When God Says “I AM”

    I AM and Moses God called Moses to act as his messenger to the Pharaoh of Egypt, the nation that had long oppressed and enslaved the Hebrew people. Moses was to be God’s representative to Pharaoh, demanding that Pharaoh let the people of God go free. Amid Moses’ flurry of pathetic excuses for not serving as God’s…

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    Name It & Claim It Praying

    Those of you familiar with my writing and speaking know I am nowhere near even the outskirts of the “name it and claim it” movement. Abusing scripture with this theological construct is both insulting to the sovereignty of God and depressing to the one naming and claiming when their claims go unfulfilled. For the eyes…

    4 min readPrayerSeek God FirstJesus Christ
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    In Two Places at One Time

    In exasperation, one person may say to another, “Well, I can’t very well be in two places at one time, can I?” Oh, ye of little faith . . . 😉 You can. And if you are in Christ, you already are. Both Here and There …even when we were dead in our trespasses, made…

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    Vineyards and Wild Grapes

    The vineyard is a staple metaphor throughout scripture. We see it in prophecy, in the parables of Christ, in Genesis accounts, in threats from foreign kings, in the Psalms, and even in the very words of Yahweh. The vineyard is everywhere. Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard:My beloved had a…

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    The Time for Boasting is Now

    Few things are as off-putting to me as arrogance, the smug superiority that constantly looks down upon “lesser beings.” I recently finished reading Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice. As I read, I was repulsed by the self-importance and snobbery reeking from Lady Catherine de Bourgh in almost every scene in which she appeared. Lady Catherine was…

    4 min readFaithThe Love of GodTrust God
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    No Equity Among Thieves

    The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.– John 10:10, ESV Years ago, I heard a man tell an intriguing story about four thieves. It was intriguing because though all four were thieves, each of the four met with a different fate.…

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    Visit is Not a Social Call

    Early in the life of the church, there was confusion and ignorance regarding whether Gentiles were required to adhere to Jewish Law and custom upon becoming Christ followers. This debate led to what is called “The Jerusalem Council” we read of in Acts 15. In that council, following a presentation from the apostles Barnabus and…

    3 min readGreat CommisionLove of GodMission
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    The Gift – How Much More?

    What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?– Romans 8:31-32, NIV-1983 There are times I read scripture,…

    4 min readLove of GodSacrificeSalvation
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    What is Waiting for the Lord?

    It should not amaze us that scripture proves itself as relevant today as it was the thousands of years ago when it was written. Take a moment and ponder the unsettling state of the world today, and when you’re ready (or disgusted), consider the following statement from the prophet Jeremiah: Righteous are you, O LORD, when…

    4 min read
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    The Word of His Grace

    Alean and I worship and serve with a smaller fellowship of about 100 to 125 and we know we are tremendously blessed to be a part of this unique and loving church family. It took us years to find this family, and we won’t give it up easily if the time ever comes that we…

    5 min read
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    What Can You Really Know?

    (My apologies for the late upload of this blog posting. The passing of Mister Bear derailed so many things for me, including this blog.) One of my favorite incidents in the record of Jesus’ ministry is his encounter with the man born blind recorded in the ninth chapter of John’s gospel account. There are numerous…

    6 min read
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    FOLLOWING JESUS WILL COST YOU EVERYTHING (PART 3)

    Over the past two weeks, we have been challenged by Jesus with some strong teaching regarding the cost of following him. It is difficult teaching because it is so uncommon in current-generation Christian thought to speak of costs when following Jesus. The more prevalent teaching is saturated with ideas regarding how easy it is and…

    10 min readDevotionalsObedience
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    Wowed by Signs and Wonders

    Recently, I was involved in a discussion/debate/disagreement, whatever we need to call it, regarding the existence of God. The guy considered himself proficient in science, so he wanted evidence and falsifiability. Science, true science, is about disprovable hypothesis. So I flipped that around on him and challenged him to disprove my hypothesis that God exists.…

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    No Rest in Satan

    I got called Satan this past week. It had nothing to do with behavior. It happened because I, along with several brothers and sisters in Christ was disagreeing with some wild doctrine being put forward by a man on social media. I’m not talking about anything to do with tribulation, rapture, Calvinism, etc. This was…

  • Bonus Post – One Man’s Conviction

    All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands fast to the end will be saved.– Matthew 10:22, NIV-1983 One Man With Conviction Tuesday night, January 17, the Philadelphia Flyers NHL team celebrated Pride Night by wearing LGBTQ+-affirming warm-up jerseys. Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov chose to abstain from pre-game warmups saying, “I…

    8 min readFaithPoemsStory Behind the Song
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    Between the Rock and the Hard Place

    I do not have a deep kinship with the King James translation of the Bible. I certainly do not revere the translation as a “Holy of Holies” among Bibles the way some do. It is a translation. It is a good one. It’s not without its challenges, and it is dated in its English language…

    6 min readBibleHumilityFaith
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    Jesus, Why Are You Here?

    Yesterday, we celebrated something unprecedented – God took on flesh and pitched his tent among humanity.1 It is unprecedented because it had never happened before, and no other faith throughout history even purports that such a thing could, would, or did happen. Not only do other faiths and cultures not speak of Immanuel (God with us), many find…

    4 min readDevotionalsGod's WillPurpose
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    You Ask Me How I Know He Lives . . .

    A Bad Hymn Every so often, the discussion will reemerge about how there is bad theology in many of the praise songs used by the modern church. It’s true. There is. Yet, the same can be said for some of the most beloved hymns in more traditionally structured churches. Consider the “theology” from this hymn:…

    5 min readJesus ChristResurrectionSermons
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    Telling God How It Is

    Telling God How It Is More than once I have had that curious conversation with a young-to-middle-aged man or woman who has decided that they are displeased and disapproving of the way God is running the universe. If you have not had one of these conversations, you need to do so. Get that on your…

    5 min readGodKnowing GodSermons
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    A Better View of Home

    I’ve grown weary of hearing/reading the many buzzwords, virtue signals, and phrases of offense being thrown around lately. It can be exhausting to attempt to live up to the standards and expectations of others. Don’t mention critical race theory. People will say [ any number of things]. Don’t say that! They’ll think you’re “woke” or worse…

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    The Grace of Suffering

    Consider this … adversity enters our lives, and it is directly related to our faith. This doesn’t happen often in the west, but it does happen. What do we do in response? The normative reaction is to call the prayer hotline and to engage our own prayer life and ask God for relief. “God, we are suffering here. Please relieve us of this pain and burden.”

    5 min readDevotionalsGraceSuffering
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    A Bizarre Prayer From Jesus

    Just this morning I read a heartbreaking thread from a young woman on Twitter who has decided that prayer is pointless and she has stopped praying as a result. Not cut back. Stopped. Completely. Several others chimed in with some form of, “Yeah, me too. Gave up praying years ago.” I’ll admit that I struggle…

    4 min readDevotionalsJesus ChristPrayer
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    Living in the Real World

    “Oh, get real, will ya?” Such is the retort one might hear when others believe we are living in a fantasy world, or are not seeing things in life as they really are. “You need to start living in ‘the real world.’” I have seen similar statements made against those who invest great qualities of…

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Damon J. Gray

Author, Speaker, Dir. of Comm. @ Inspire Christian Writers, Former pastor/Campus Minister, Long-View Living in a Short-View World, Rep'd by Bob Hostetler - @bobhoss - The Steve Laube Agency