About me

I was born and raised in Northern (Superior) Wisconsin about 80 miles from the Canadian border; and, yes it gets very cold there! At the young age of 32 I began to feel called into ministry. One night at a church dinner, my wife Judy and I sat at a table next to our district superintendent. In the course of our conversation, he said that he had a small church that needed someone to supply the pulpit until he could appoint a new pastor. My pastor suggested that maybe I could do that. I agreed, and two Sundays later, my wife and I drove to that small rural church. Little did we know that I would fill the pulpit in that church for thirteen years!

I have now been in the ministry for 35 years after also serving churches in Virginia and Maryland. I am currently retired...well, sort of. In my retirement, I am now serving as part-time Pastor of First Evangelical Covenant Church in Superior Wi. I began writing books about seven years ago, and still enjoy speaking and teaching when I can. My wife Judy passed away in 2021and I have since remarried to My wife Crystal.

I have a deep desire to help people grow in their faith and knowledge of God’s Word. My books are what I call a “Quest for Discipleship”. As I said, I am a published author and I have nineteen books which include my latest called "Tell Me, Show Me, Fill Me, Change Me"; "In It For Life"; “By His Hand”; “Show and Tell”; “The Promised Gift”; “Jars of Clay”; “The Kingdom of God”; “From the Pastor’s Desk”; “More From the Pastor’s Desk”; "T.E.A.M."; "Let Earth Receive Her King"; "Therefore" "Principles from Proverbs"; "God's Top ten"; "Prayer Changes Things", "5 R's of Revelation" and two "Renewed Faith" 90 day devotionals all by Life Ministries Publishing.

Thank you for checking out my blog and I hope that you will also check my website at;


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Monday, April 22, 2013

Names of God 5
“Jehovah-Shalom”
    "Peace" in the Old Testament is shālōm. It is a rich word that far outshines our English word "peace." In English it means a state of tranquility and quiet; a lack of conflict or hostility. But, shālōm at its root is the idea of "completion and fulfillment, of entering into a state of wholeness and unity, a restored relationship." While shālōm can mean "absence of strife," the true concept of the word is better expressed by "completeness, wholeness, harmony, or fulfillment. Found within the term shālōm is the idea of unimpaired relationship with others and with God; a complete peace. It carries the same kind of full, rich meaning in the New Testament.
    Paul opens many of his letters with a salutation of "grace and peace" to his readers. "Grace" (or "favor") was the common greeting among Greek-speakers. "Peace" (or "Shalom") was and still is the common greeting among Hebrew speakers.
    In Isaiah we read of the promise of a Child who will bring Peace. The names by which he is called can only rightly be given to God himself, pointing to the divinity of the Child. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)
This Prince, when he comes in all his glory, will bring true shālōm to this wounded and fallen world. When he comes and restores a "new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells" our fallen nature will be no more.
    "But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea." It is a peace – a shalom - that will be brought about by God, who will end oppression and unrighteousness and pain and suffering and usher in a brand new age. A world of perfect “shalom.”
    The Letter to the Hebrews concludes with this benediction: "May the God of peace, (Jehovah Shalom,) who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)
    The God of Peace, seeing that there was no other way to bring a state of peace with us humans, sent his own Son, Jesus, to be a sacrifice for our sins. He has done what he can to make peace with us. It’s up to us to receive the peace of God and have peace with God (Jehovah Shalom.)
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