Author: Hank

Welcome to Hank’s Place

As the new year gets underway, many of us make resolutions. Usually they are retreads of last year’s, since we failed at those. Maybe we’ll do better this year, right? Ha!

New year resolutions are an example of trying to live by the LAW. The power to accomplish these things lies within us. We humans have limitations. Weak flesh. And our resolutions tell us to do good but they do not give us the power to do so. Am I right?

My friend, I suggest there’s a better way we can live life – and that, is by the grace of God, not our labors. As an old song from the 70’s said, “Learning to lean, learning to lean, I’m learning to lean on Jesus — finding more power than I’d ever dreamed, I’m learning to lean on Jesus.”

Take salvation — “…whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. Not our performance, but JESUS. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”— “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Acts 16:30. “Leaning” on Jesus we could say.

Back to those resolutions. Perhaps, your bathroom scale is inexplicably reading 15 pounds higher in this new year. You can make a resolution to drop those 15 new pounds in the next 30 days, Googling the best new diet plans, buying expensive supplements guaranteed to melt fat away while you sleep. Counting calories. Maybe by sheer will power you drop some pounds. But we know that like Frosty the Snowman, they’ll be back again someday. 

How about we humbly ask God to help us lose that weight? Then we ‘lean on Jesus,’ learning to walk by the Spirit – as He leads us to smaller portions, better food, passing the second helping, perhaps some exercise. We may, as we ‘lean,’ find our appetite changing. 

By the grace of God, He has given us the Holy Spirit, which Jesus said would guide us into all truth. John 16:13. Truth about the things of God, but also truth about living — lightly, freely, joyfully in our daily walk, for His ways are not burdensome.

The promptings of the Spirit are rarely loud. Gentle. Whispers. A thought. Then it’s our choice to believe and follow, leaning on Jesus – not our fleshly appetites ! Also, in leaning, we may find ourselves suddenly infused with POWER to push away from the table effortlessly!

How about we begin this year, not with resolutions, but making our requests known before God and asking for His grace to bring us the help we need?

After all, this is our year to lean upon Jesus — and COME ALIVE!

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*

Welcome to Hank’s Place in the year 2022

Jesus just before His arrest said to His disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.] John 16:33 Amplified Bible.

Jesus offers us believers PEACE — in Him, and His PEACE is perfect. OFFERS us, for it says, “…that you MAY have peace” – like a child hearing his mother say he ‘may’ have a cookie. As the child has permission to take the cookie, those early disciples were told things to come so when the crazy things began to happen, they could choose to stay in Jesus, for in Him is perfect peace. And we, as we stay in HIM, and don’t freak out over what’s happening in the world, will also have this perfect peace.

Jesus told us, “in the world we have tribulation, distress, suffering.” Yikes!! Not a maybe: the world is — in a mess and we are in the world. Well, so what…. because, and most importantly, we are in Jesus.

Whether or not we have His perfect peace though, depends upon… our BELIEVING we are in Jesus. The Jesus who holds all authority, all power, all ability, all the all’s! We are not talking a wimpy God here! We choose to see ourselves held firmly in His mighty hands, seated in the heavenlies with Him. Eph 2:6.

Be courageous, confident, undaunted, and filled with JOY in 2022: for this is going to be a GREAT GREAT YEAR for all believers — a COME ALIVE year!

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*

Welcome to Hank’s Place on Christmas Day

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.  Isaiah 9:6-7a.

God has given us His BEST GIFT: His Son, sent to redeem us from captivity and we celebrate His birth today! 

Receiving the gift means eternal life — so let others know this gift, JESUS, is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE — the Light that shines in the darkness of today’s world. 

Celebrate this Christmas day, with family, celebrate, if apart, celebrate, if working, celebrate. Let others know the joy of Jesus — they will COME ALIVE!

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*

Welcome to Hank’s Place

In a few days we’ll celebrate Christmas! Have you been struggling with the lack of Christ in the Christmas activities around you? Is your heart crying, “Put Christ back into Christmas?”

I’ve shared before that the founders of America, the Puritans, made a covenant with God for their – our – nation to be ‘under God’ – way back in 1628. As a godly people, they outlawed Christmas; anyone caught celebrating was subject to fines and imprisonment. Why? Because at the time, back in England where they came from, Christmas had NOTHING to do with Jesus and everything to do with revelry, drunkenness and debauchery. Pope Julius 1’s effort in 350 AD to put Christ into Saturnalia and make it a Christian celebration hadn’t much of a success. People reveled in sin and repented later!

Fast forward to America. For over 200 years Christmas was not celebrated. It was – an ordinary day! Congress continued to meet Christmas Day up to 1856.

The Church in America, If they acknowledged Christ at Christmas in those early years, did so in a very subdued manner. Hank’s Place #320 has more. Christmas began changing in the latter 1800’s, becoming a relaxed family and children time, but there really was no overt worship of Jesus. Up to today. That’s why, when atheists attacked Christmas trees in government places on the basis of separation of church and state, the Supreme Court ruled Christmas Trees as part of a ‘traditional holiday’ and not a religious one. Was God in this? Thoughtful question!!

This Christmas, don’t let those atheists and merchandizing, greedy God deniers ruin your enjoyment of Christmas. What they do does not have to affect you, dear friend. No. We don’t have to get bent out of shape when we see inflatable reindeer on our neighbor’s roof. How about following your heart and putting Christ into YOUR Christmas? Setting an example of Christ in Christmas.

When our family was young we often had a Jesus birthday cake and sang happy birthday to Jesus and gave thanks on Christmas Eve. A few times we participated with the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program and our entire family worked in their warehouses filled with donated toys, selecting toys for boys and girls. What a wonderful time for our children, working in rooms filled to the ceiling with toys and gifts! For other children. Christ in Christmas. And of course having friends – or strangers – over for a meal and good time.

This Advent, I invite you to rise above the world’s distorted notions of Christmas, add Jesus add into YOUR Christmas — you’ll COME ALIVE!

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*

Welcome to Hank’s Place

The other day a dear friend suggested to my wife that she read John 14 through 16. And Mary did! She took a week to slowly, slowly, read each verse. And shared several with me, praise the Lord! One particular verse jumped off the page and into Hank’s Place: John 16:27, “…for the Father Himself loves you.…” The Father Himself loves you. Take a breath, relax, for the Father Himself loves you.

Remember the beginning of John 3:16? “For God so loved the world, that He gave….” We don’t earn our Father’s love. We don’t perform to attain to our Father’s love. We can’t, for God so loved the world….

Are you getting it? The Advent season is often a time of depression, stress, anxiety. “Woe is me, I have no friends, my family won’t talk to me, nobody loves me — especially not God, I’m not good enough,” and so on. Yet Jesus, who never lied, said, “for the Father Himself loves you.…”

Let’s check this passage in full context, “In that day (after Jesus has risen from the dead), you will ask in My name (in the nature, the character of Jesus), and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.”

We do not need the intermediary of Jesus, Mary, or anyone, to get a loving response from the Father, “for the Father Himself loves you.”

But what about that part “…because you have loved Me”? Dear friend, this is not a requirement, an obligation on our part, a performance needed. It’s evidence. It’s a response. David Guzik explains, a pulse doesn’t make the heart pump, but it is evidence of it. Our love for God doesn’t make Him love us, but it is evidence that He loves us, and out of that love, we love. “We love for He first loved us.” That’s 1 John 4:19.

Depressed? Hearing voices saying you should end it all? Meditate on the truth: the Father Himself loves you. Believe it. Receive His love today. Then give it away! Yes, you are connected to the inexhaustible supply of God’s love. Take action! An act of love toward someone. A stranger. A friend. Be daring and express love to a family member!

Don’t stop with one. Perhaps invite strangers in for meal. Our children tell me when they were growing up it seemed like we were always having strangers in for a holiday meal. Sometimes really strange strangers. Some could have been angels, I don’t know. But I do know it was lovely! Go ahead, take a step of love, and COME ALIVE!

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*

Welcome to Hank’s Place

You may be familiar with a children’s song, “My God is so BIG.” My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do – it goes on, “the mountains are His the valleys are His, the stars are Handiwork, too.” Jesus holds all creation together by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:3. The heavens are the work of His fingers. Psalm 8:3. God’s finger-painting. He counts and names ALL the stars. Psalms 147:4. Let me tell you, that means God is — BIG.

Earth is big. But a million earths can easily fit into the our sun. Our solar system, sun and planets, is a speck in the Milky Way galaxy, for it consists of over 500 billion stars. That’s really big. And God made it. And He made other galaxies, too, most of which are bigger than ours.

How many galaxies, you ask? Well, The Hubble space telescope was once pointed to an empty part of the sky and a month long time exposure was taken to find out if it was really empty. The area they focused upon was about the size of a pencil point on a paper held at arm’s length. And you know what the astronomers found? Galaxies – tons of galaxies. Over 5,000 galaxies, each containing billions of stars, in a spot of sky the size of a pencil point to our eyes. They looked in several other blank areas of the sky and had the same result: over 5,000 galaxies, each with billions of stars. Now imagine how many pencil points there are to our eyes to fill the sky. Immeasurable numbers of galaxies. God counts them all, and numbers and names each of their stars. God is BIG. 

Oh, wait, the universe is expanding. Because of that, there are countless, countless, other galaxies whose light has not yet reached the earth. In coming centuries there will be many more galaxies discovered. And God has already numbered and named each star in each of those galaxies.

Psalm 8:3 says it’s all God’s finger painting; just an exercise by God showing us a facet of the immeasurable greatness of His power. God, OUR GOD — is Big. Powerful. Our problems — however big to us, are so very small to our God. Very small. Very. He is well able to deal with sin, sickness, oppression, discouragement, devils, you name it. He is capable of effecting a great deliverance for us, of changing EVERYTHING for the good.

Today, this advent season, let not your heart be troubled. Take time to consider the immeasurable greatness of our BIG GOD – while we wait to celebrate again His Son’s arrival on earth in the flesh. He came for us. To save us. For unto us a Savior has been born. Pause, and believe. Then ask for anything. And receive — and COME ALIVE!

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*

Welcome to Hank’s Place

It’s Thanksgiving Day – my good friend Nate Krupp of Salem, Oregon sent out a reminder of the Thanksgiving Story – a story well worth remembering. With thanks to Nate, here is that story.

The Pilgrims were a godly people who left the Church of England to start something they considered more simple and more biblical. They left Plymouth, England, on August 5, 1620, on the Mayflower ship enroute to an English colony in today’s Virginia, in search of religious and political freedom. They were blown off course to today’s Cape Cod Bay on the East Coast of Massachusetts. Before disembarking on November 21, they drew up the Mayflower Compact, which was the first time in history that free and equal men voluntarily, in writing, covenanted with GOD and each other to create their own civil government!

On shore, they discovered 20 acres that were already cleared and ready for planting! Nevertheless, 44% of their number died that harsh first winter. In March, an Indian chief, Samoset, appeared and greeted them – in English. He explained that the land had been cleared by a warring tribe, the Patuxets, before they had all died from a mysterious plague four years earlier. He returned a week later with Squanto, who had lived in Spain and England for nine years, where he had learned English, and had just returned from England six months earlier. He stayed with the Pilgrims and taught them how to fish, hunt, plant, etc., and greatly increased their chances of survival. Samoset and Squanto introduced the Pilgrims to Massasoit, the chief who controlled the entire area and with whom a peace treaty was arranged. In October the Pilgrims invited the Indians for a time of celebration and THANKSGIVING TO GOD, which lasted three days.

In 1789 President George Washington proclaimed November 26 as a day of national thanksgiving. President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November, 1863, as “a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father.” In 1941 Congress ruled that the fourth Thursday of November would be observed as Thanksgiving Day.

Today, at Hank’s Place, we encourage you to take time to give thanks to GOD – for His mercies, lovingkindness, His son Jesus our Savior – for ordaining America as God’s covenanted nation. Thank Him for His hand yet upon America — He’s not done with America, or YOU. Give thanks, and COME ALIVE!

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*

Welcome to Hank’s Place

In Ro 5:15-21, Paul shares about this gift of righteousness God offers us.

He says this gift is NOT like the transgression – in one way, Adam sinned and it passed down to all the human race. No choice. It’s in our genes. But Jesus’ act of righteousness resulted in a ‘free gift’ Paul says, a gift of righteousness. A gift that must be individually received, and results in justification before God. Jesus righteous act has given each of us opportunity to receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness by which we reign in life. That is POWERFUL! Read this passage for yourself!

Vs 21 says grace reigns through righteousness. Grace is not a license to sin as some warn; grace actually leads us into righteous acts and behavior. Man says no, but God says so. Vs 21.

How righteous is this righteousness? 2 Corinthians 5:21 says we who believe have become the righteousness OF GOD. Not some form of righteousness; we’ve become the very righteousness of God! God’s righteousness. God is not more righteous than you and me. What? Paul has to be kidding, right? We and God both have the same righteousness – HIS. Man says no, but God says so.

By faith we receive the gift of God’s righteousness. The accuser of the brethren does his best to keep God’s children, us, from knowing this. Reminding us of every misstep, slip-up, whatever.

But, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:10. And, “For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14. We didn’t get it by what we said or did, but by believing. Thus nothing we do or say can make us unrighteous.

Again, God has made us righteous — we cannot make ourselves any more righteous; we cannot make ourselves any less righteous! This righteousness before God is a gift. It’s always based on His perfect righteousness. He has made us perfectly righteousness with His righteousness for all of time — and nothing can change that!

Contrast that with spirit of unworthiness: you are not good enough. You’ll never be good enough for God. You’ll never have His approval. “You are not worthy” it shouts, to receive anything from God. Many Christians hear that voice of unworthiness and work hard at earning God’s approval. An approval they already have in Christ Jesus. 

Today – KNOW you are righteous. Your righteousness is God’s righteousness — top notch — so rejoice! Be STRONG. Be confident. Be assured. That accuser of the brethren has no place in you! Yes, KNOW this gift of righteousness is yours — and COME ALIVE!

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*

Welcome to Hank’s Place — 

Here we place an emphasis upon the GRACE of God. Jesus was full of grace. Through Him we have received grace upon grace. Acts and Paul’s epistles constantly remind us of the grace of God toward all believers. We have believed through grace, we have been saved through the grace, and much more.

I remind you of John 6:28-29 – when the disciples asked Jesus,“What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, (in other words, this is the ONE THING God requires of all men) that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” You do believe in Jesus don’t you? The Savior God has sent to save us from ourselves, right? 

So, salvation is ours by the grace of God, as we express FAITH in Him. Faith and grace; grace and faith. Not our works. Remember Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Striving is not the secret to life — asking of God — that’s the answer. 

Maybe you say, “I don’t get blessings. They don’t fall upon me. God doesn’t favor me; He’s got a low opinion of me. And those I pray for get worse.” What can you do about that, when it seems as if God is your problem?

No, the real problem is devils, this world, our flesh, promoting UNBELIEF. If we believe according to these things, it is impossible to believe the REAL truth. So, how do you know what you are believing, dear friend? 

The EVIDENCE of what we believe is found in what comes out of our MOUTHS, for the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart. Matthew 15:18. So, listen to how you respond to life. That it’s going to happen to you? That you can’t do anything about it? That you are going to lose…something? Those words are a sign — of unbelief. Even a mixture can keep God’s hand from moving, James 1:6-8. And many Christians live in that mixture today.

I urge you, do not believe the media or thoughts that just ‘come your way.’ Ask God for wisdom, and understanding; He gives generously. ASK ASK ASK of God, it’s what pleases Him. 

Challenges to our faith happen all the time. Demonically inspired voices around us attempt to pump lies into our minds. And bad things do happen. Time to believe God DOES work all things together for GOOD for those who love Him. For you and me. 

Today, believe — make the good confession. Let the world hear it from your lips — you’ll COME ALIVE!

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*

Welcome to Hank’s Place — 

Here we place an emphasis upon the GRACE of God. The world, everything around you, places an emphasis upon OUR performance. Paul said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them (the other apostles), yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10. He achieved much, by God’s grace — and so can we through His grace.

We urge you to have FAITH in God. From pleasing God, to moving mountains, to casting out demons, conquering kingdoms – read Hebrews 11. Many go around magnifying their troubles, depressed over world issues, expressing hopelessness, when they could, and should, be magnifying God by expressing faith in Him to save, deliver, heal, help — you know, talking the talk, walking the walk found in Scripture.

In this New Covenant Jesus has given us His RIGHTEOUSNESS. We look at ourselves and see miserable performance failures. God does not see us that way. As Romans 4:5 says, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” He has justified us, dear Christian. Made us completely pleasing in His sight. Believe it, for it is true.

We talk about the HOLY SPIRIT at Hank’s Place. When we were born again, we were sealed in Him by the Holy Spirit of promise. Ephesians 1:13. We urge you to keep moving forward and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit — begin experiencing the gifts of the Spirit as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12. They are for today, for you and me — to help us help others, and ourselves, Come Alive!

At Hank’s Place there is DELIVERANCE from demons. The very first sign of those who have believed is that they will cast out demons. Mark 16:17. Whoa! Instead of being kicked around by demons, or stand by helplessly while loved ones and others are tormented by them, believers will cast them out. You and me! We’ll help you get going in this vital aspect of expressing the authority God has given all believers over the power of the enemy – without fear of retaliation. Luke 10:17.

Many Christians come up with excuses why there are no Holy Spirit gifts in their lives, why they still call themselves sinners when the bible calls them New Creations, why they feel they haven’t done enough to please God, why they are being kicked around by the devil. Well, we don’t talk that way here. We don’t talk in words of unbelief. Here we’ll help you change your talk. It’s what we do.

You are welcome to come on in to Hank’s Place, get renewed, empowered, restored, and of course — COME ALIVE! It’s beyond cool.

NEW BLOG NOTIFICATION

Be notified when a new blog posts

Thanks for joining Hank's Place!

Name

Email*