Grace is a single-word definition of the gospel. The gospel is the good news of God's grace to mankind.  The nature of grace is giving, and the Bible tells us more about giving than getting, because it is God's nature to give. Our Father is a Father of grace because He is a God that freely gives.  It has nothing to do with anything we have done, or will do, or have failed to do; it can only be received. 
God is gracious because of who He is, not because of who or what we are. I have heard it said, that His grace is therefore unmerited, unearned, and undeserved. It depends entirely upon the One who gives it not on those who receive it.  GRACE is God's self-motivated, self-generated, sovereign act of giving!
God's grace has another demension that places it further above every other type of giving.  The greatest gift of grace is self.  GRACE is therefore God's Self donation.  His self-giving.  He not only gives blessings to men, He gives Himself! So infinitely more important and precious than any blessing God gives us, is the gift of Himself.  Just think... the God of the universe has givien Himself to sinful mankind.  We read in Ephesians that God grants us His salvation, His Kingdom, His inheritance, HIs Spirit, His throne, His riches, His wisdom, His love, His power, His peace, His glory, and every "spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ"
(Eph. 1:3).  But far more than all these blessings, He blesses us with His presence!  Our Savior, Christ within us, the "Hope of Glory"  Our Father owes nothing to sinful man.  He does not owe us the smallest of blessings or favors.  Yet through His grace He has given us the "Blessing" of all blessings, the imeasurable blessing of His Holy Spirit within us! (2 Pet. 1: 3-4).
When we choose a partner with whom we plan to spend the rest of our lives together, we are so careful to pick someone who is worthy of the self-giving that marriage demands.  That person is the one above all others to whom we will give our love, our time, our thoughts, our devotion, our loyalty, our resources;  in short, ALL that we have.
Yet, check this out... when God "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). He did so out of pure grace and not from anything He saw in us that made us worthy of His care.  Remember: "For God so loved the "WORLD" that He gave His only Son" (John 3: 16). All God can see of our world is sin, yet what boggles my mind is, He gave Himself to this sinful world through His own Son in order that this world might be redeemed.  The Son also gave Himself and emptied Himself of His glory to offer mankind eternal life. (Phil. 2). In this giving of HIs own life He provides a way that spiritually dead men might live.  This is the story, by our choices, we get to help write.  The story of Eternal Life!
Come on  Friday mornings for Gladiators for His Glory at 8:30 a.m. if you are in our area and check it out for some good coffee, donuts and fellowship.
By the way, the most self-giving person I have ever met or been around is Sheri Irwin.... my wife!
I'm just sayin'    
Keith

Originally Posted October 21, 2014

This is the question I get asked almost daily. 
How come you walk around with that silly grin on your face when sometimes the whole world is crumbling around you?  You must be fakin' it- I've heard some people say.  Or you must not be in touch with reality!  That's another I've heard through the years.  
If you don't know me, let me let you in on my secret. Which is no secret at all. I have lived a life of encouragement and peace for the last three decades because I have done my best to live out Psalm 37:4 That says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart!" This doesn't mean I can just ask God for anything and He gives it, because I'm one of His. It means when my desires or will becomes His will, He is a good Daddy and longs to give His children what they need. (Notice I said "need" not want.) This is a cause and effect relationship. So, when my desires become His desires, He gives us the desires of our hearts. I have counseled many people who struggle to know God's will for their lives. This should not be! Do you know that God wants us to know His will for our lives more than we want to know it! He doesn't hide it from us like some believe. It stands written in the Word. Trouble is, we just don't look hard enough or long enough sometimes to find out the truth of God's will for our lives.
We get to thinking sometimes, I got this God. Or, I can handle this one without you. It is our own selfishness that causes sin in our lives, and for us to do things our way. If you know me, Some of you have heard me boast about being the happiest man on the Earth! I am at peace with everyone I know. I have no bitterness or unforgiveness in my heart. I owe no one on the Earth, that I know of. And I have the greatest wife God ever created for a man. The Word of God continues to guide me to discover how to walk in truth in all these areas and more.  This peace and happiness is available for you also.  If  you are interested in living out the truth of Psalm. 37:4  email me and I could coach you in this worthy walk of faith.

Originally posted in August 4, 2014.

One of the most intriguing books in the Bible is the letter that the Apostle Paul wrote from a Roman prison.  The believers at Ephesus, as well as believers today, benefit greatly from the wisdom found in this letter.  
We discover what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ in the pages of the book of Ephesians.  Paul exhorts people to walk a worthy walk of faith. What does this mean? It means to be kind, to love one another, and to forgive one another, just as God thru Christ, has forgiven us.  This letter also contains cutting edge, up to date instructions for how to enrich any marriage.  He concludes with a strategic battle plan on how to defend against our greatest adversary. It bears reading and rereading the entire letter. 
Originally posted on July 30, 2014.

We are all addicted to something. Some in good ways and some in bad ways.  Our world and culture seems to be addicted to all the wrong things.  I won't start naming a list, because as sure as I do, I wouldn't name yours and you would think you are off the hook.
But when we are addicted to something, and want to quit, we tend to focus on the fight or the addiction so much, instead of the Father.  If you have longed for deliverance from a life long addiction, I have the solution...... Focus on God every morning, and all throughout your day.  Make Him the focus of your goings and comings. 
Read the love letter He wrote to all His children on a daily basis, and talk to Him about everything. He really cares about the things we care about  here on Earth. 
There is a new video podcast on Keith Irwin Ministries YouTube page.  It is the testimony of a dear friend of mine named Victor Thomas.  Enjoy. 
(I am always open for questions or comments.)

Originally Posted on June 16, 2014.

Have you ever been awakened by the rhythm of the fallen rain?  There's no other feeling or sound quite like it! 

Just this morning the tranquil peace of God's watering His Earth made me simple want to roll over and enjoy another complete night's sleep.  But our day calls out to us doesn't it?  We can't just stay in bed all day because of the sounds or feelings around us.  What would that accomplish?  In the same way our Father is calling us to get out of bed and do something for His Kingdom.  The problem is, many  a Christian has come into the Kingdom  by way of Salvation, and because of the sounds and feelings around them, they never get out bed.  The abundant Christian life is a walk of faith.  We must start off rolling over,  then crawling,  then walking,  and finally the Biblical authors write,  "we should be running a race to win!"  We don't need to remain "Spiritual Thumb Suckers."  We must grow up and mature in Christ.  How tragic it would be if any of our children stayed babies all their years of life!  Yet our World is filled with infant Christians that just feed on the milk of the Word and never advance to the meat of the Word.  Sometimes we come to a personal relationship with the One and Only Living God, then because of the gentle sound of the fresh falling rain, or the warm bed of the new acceptance and Christian love all around us, some never grow up, some never are discipled and some never mature.  (Some never get out of bed!)  

The battle begins and ends in our minds.  The only way to grow and mature in the Lord is by transforming our minds from worldliness to righteousness.  We can do that by walking out Romans. 12:1&2.  that says, "I beg you Brothers and Sisters, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as living sacrifices, which is your reasonable act of worship.  And do not be conformed to the image of this world, but be transformed, by the renewing of your mind,  that by testing  you may discern what is the will of God, and you may get to show what is good and acceptable and perfect.  Just my thoughts.....Let's show God off!  

Any comments or questions?   

Originally Posted on June 9, 2014.