Author: Rev. Dan Danno
Preaching & Teaching the Gospel of Christ Holy Faith Bible Church
Tearing Down Strongholds
Strongholds in our lives can manifest in various forms, often related to our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that can hinder our spiritual growth and our relationship with God. Here are a few examples:
1. Fear and Anxiety: Worrying about the future or feeling overwhelmed by life’s circumstances can be a stronghold that prevents us from trusting God. Philippians 4:8 offers guidance on focusing our thoughts: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
2. Unforgiveness: Holding onto grudges can create emotional barriers, affecting our peace and relationships. This stronghold can prevent us from fully experiencing God’s grace and forgiveness in our lives.
3. Pride and Self-Reliance: Believing we can manage on our own without God’s help can lead to a stronghold of pride. This can isolate us from guidance and support found in community and Scripture.
4. Negative Self-Image: Lies we believe about ourselves, often rooted in past experiences, can form strongholds that inhibit our identity in Christ. It is important to counter these lies with the truth of God’s Word.
5. Addiction: Engaging in behaviors such as substance abuse or unhealthy habits can create strongholds that become difficult to break without God’s intervention and support from others.
6. Legalism: Focusing on rules and regulations rather than on a relationship with God can create a stronghold that leads to guilt and shame, distancing us from the grace that Christ offers.
As you reflect on potential strongholds in your life, remember that you have the spiritual resources to confront these challenges. As noted in 2 Corinthians 10:4, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” Engaging in prayer, reading Scripture, and seeking accountability from fellow believers can all assist in tearing down these strongholds.
The Sacrifice of Christ
Hebrews 10
Legacy Standard Bible
Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All
10 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,
“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But a body You have prepared for Me;
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come,
In the scroll of the book it is written of Me,
To do Your will, O God.’”
8 After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until His enemies are put as a footstool for His feet. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says,
17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
A New and Living Way
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Warning Against Willful Sin
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy by the mouth of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as defiled the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33 partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and afflictions, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. 34 For you also showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted with joy the seizure of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better and lasting possession. 35 Therefore, do not throw away that confidence of yours, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
37 For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
38 But My righteous one shall live by faith,
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
Don’t be Afraid
Joshua 10:25 GW
Joshua told them, “Don’t be afraid or terrified! Be strong and courageous, because this is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you’re fighting against.”
Podcast Episode: Faith, Strength, And Mercy
Pip: Dan Danno Romann writes like someone who keeps a Bible in one hand and a very direct question in the other — and today's posts are no exception.
Mara: Rev. Dan Danno covers a lot of ground here — prayer, love and anger, the biggest book he's ever read, and what it actually means to put on spiritual armor. Let's start with prayer and what it promises.
Prayer And Divine Guidance
Mara: Jeremiah 33:3 is a short post, but the verse it centers is a direct invitation — call, and expect an answer.
Pip: The post frames it as a standing offer, not a one-time event.
Mara: Which means the stakes are practical: prayer isn't a formality here, it's the mechanism. The post treats the verse as a genuine promise worth taking seriously.
Pip: From there, the territory shifts — same conviction, different temperature.
Anger, Love, And Mercy
Pip: The question underneath this cluster is whether love is a feeling or a practice — and the posts take a clear side.
Mara: First John 3 lays it out directly: "Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words."
Pip: So sentiment doesn't count. The standard is what you actually do when another person is in need.
Mara: Fools Vent Their Anger approaches the same territory from the opposite direction — what unchecked anger costs. And Mercy Found a Way rounds it out by showing the exit ramp: mercy as the thing that breaks the cycle when anger and failure have done their damage.
Pip: Love as verb, anger as warning, mercy as the door out. That's a complete argument.
Mara: And it points straight toward the question of who's steering — which is where providence comes in.
Providence And Christian Reflection
Mara: Two posts here open with the same question: "What's the longest book you've ever read?" — and the answer shapes everything that follows.
Pip: That's either a great hook or a very committed bit. Probably both.
Mara: The post titled Providence answers it plainly: "The longest book I've ever read is Providence by John Piper." That's the anchor — a serious, sustained engagement with the idea that God's purposeful governance runs through everything.
Pip: Which makes it more than a reading log. It's a claim about how the world works.
Mara: Providence by John Piper frames the same territory from the book's own angle — Piper's argument that providence isn't passive background but active, specific, and personal. The Dan Danno Podcast is also linked here as a companion, a place where these ideas keep moving beyond the page.
Pip: A book that size demands that kind of follow-through. The armor passage fits right alongside it.
Spiritual Strength And Armor
Mara: Be Strong- opens in Ephesians 6 and doesn't ease into it: "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness."
Pip: So the armor isn't metaphorical decoration — it's the appropriate gear for a real conflict.
Mara: The passage lists each piece: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the word of God — and ties it all to persistent, Spirit-led prayer. The point is that none of it works in isolation.
Pip: Full kit, fully worn. That's the standard.
Mara: Call and expect an answer. Love through action. Read the long books. Wear the full armor.
Pip: Consistent thread — none of it is decorative. More to come next time.
St John 1:1-14
St JOHN 1: 14
The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Providence
What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?
The longest book I’ve ever read is Providence by John Piper
Providence by John Piper
What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?
