GFBC Messages

Love and Death

2010-04-23T00:30:00.003-05:00

One thing that I've come to learn over the past 15 years is that who I used to think that I was is no longer completely true...and who I currently think that I am will likely change in the future, too. Let me try to explain without boring you with the metaphysics of my tiny pea brain. Over the past couple of decades, I have done things that I said I would "never" do, and I failed to do things that I always thought that I would or should.
That brings me now to the topic of Love and Death. Throughout my adult life, I have had very little fear or worry about death. Like I do with so many other aspects of my life, I held death as just an inevitable truth. "I don't have any control over it....why worry about it..." kind of attitude. Well, recently I had noticed a chink in my "why worry about it" armor. And, today as I was driving home from work, I passed a cemetery and experienced a physical and emotional response to seeing a grave being dug. My brain shouted out to the cemetery something like "Stay away from us!"
My response surprised me. But it didn't take me long to figure it out. I have never loved anything or anyone the way that I love my family. I want to protect them from everything. I don't want them to experience the pain of seeing someone they love die, and I don't want any of them to die (obviously). I know that this isn't realistic, but I'm not choosing to feel this way or think this way. This change in my philosophy wasn't by choice. I hate it; it's foreign to me; and I don't know what to do with these feelings of vulnerability.
So, I looked up death in the Bible, and the first thing I came to was 1 Cor 15:55 "Where Oh Death is thy victory; Oh where Death is thy sting?" That wasn't comforting to me......
But, then I read the entire chapter..... Paul discusses the resurrection of Christ. There are several passages that struck me, but the one that I read over and over...."And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame."
I was shamed somewhat by this, but more than that I was put back on point. "I die every day as surely as I glory over you.." What I read throughout chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians was "Yeah, this life is painful and sorrowful...there is no shelter from the deaths of this life. Don't wilt because of it. Make sure the ones you love know not just the harsh realities of this life, but also know the Message of our Resurrected Savior. Don't focus on sheltering; focus on empowering them to face this world's pain through the power of the Truth."

Stumbling Block

2010-04-18T09:26:00.003-05:00

From the time we are infants, we have goals set for us and by us. We are judged, by those around us, according to how well we achieve these goals. It is usually thought that the one who achieves the most is the most successful. Is it really prideful to achieve something, and then stand back and admire your work? I think the answer is "NO!"................Unfortunately, I also think the answer is "YES!"
In Daniel 4:30-33, King Nebuchadnezzar walked into his palace and said, "Is this not The Great Babylon that I have built by my vast power to be a royal residence and to display my majestic glory?"
Although the line may be fine between being prideful and celebrating a victory, the king went well beyond the fine line. He took full credit for things achieved through him by God. He took credit not for the work, but for the power and the glory.
I haven't built any kingdoms lately, but I have had plenty of opportunities to take credit for things that God has made possible. How hollow it feels when I fail to give credit where it belongs.

Low Blow #2 for Today

2010-04-13T15:18:00.002-05:00

From Zechariah 7:5, "When you fasted and mourned in the 5th and 7th month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?"

As you are running around doing your church activities, meetings, ceremonies and rituals; as you get up to speak; as you get up to sing; as you give your offering; even as you are dressing in preparation to attend..........who are you doing it for? Don't ask me the same question...... I'd often be too embarrassed to tell you.

Habbakuk Serves a Low Blow

2010-04-13T14:00:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, I was feeling particularly down...everything in my life seemed fouled up: go to work (problems), go home (problems), turn on the computer (problems), look at bank statement (problems), turn on TV (problems), start the car (problems), look in the mirror (problems)... you get the idea.....wah wah wah.

In the morning, I was reading Habakkuk 3.

And he was talking about how awful things were gonna get for Judah... you split the earth; mountains writhed; decay crept into my bones; my legs trembled; I wait for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us; fig tree does not bud; olive crop fails; fields produce no food; no sheep in the pen; no cattle in the stall.........things are looking bleaker and bleaker

and I was right there in it and thinking, "Oh Great! How sucky is my life that even when I'm trying to refresh myself by reading the Bible, I'm having to read about more cruddy things." And as I read, I got more disgusted and more hateful and.....and then....I read verse 18.

"And yet I will REJOICE in the Lord, and be JOYFUL in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my STRENGTH....He enables me to go on..."

I don't know how that hits you, but it hit me right in the gut; kind of the way Job Chapter 1 did. This life is a gift; you only have so long to enjoy it, and if you waste most of it seeking useless treasures, you're a fool. I report this with much authority....I am the captain of all fools at times.

The Sandlot

2008-08-06T22:44:00.003-05:00

In the 1993 movie, The Sandlot, two boys face off in a classic shouting match in which they exchange wicked barbs aimed at each other. My kids' favorite insult is, "You bob for apples in the toilet, and like it!" The final zinger is, "You play baseball like a girl!!!!" All the other kids looking on are stunned at the statement.
Yesterday, while reading in Matthew 23, I couldn't help but think of this scene as I read Jesus' shellacking of the scribes and Pharisees. The following is a condensed version hitting some of the highlights, but the entire chapter is full of vicious humor. It was particularly vicious because it rang true.
"They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. Blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. "
My favorite was the reference to "whitewashed tombs", beautiful on the outside but full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. I plan to refer to this one if I ever get into a shouting match with someone. Just joking ( I think).

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

2008-07-24T14:15:00.003-05:00

If you haven't checked out http://www.nakedpastor.com/, you have missed out on an extremely humble and insightful slap in the face. The author, David Haywood, submitted a masterpiece today.

Once again, his site is one of those places that if you are offended, you probably needed to be.

Annoying Little Sin

2008-07-22T23:27:00.001-05:00

Have you been beating yourself over the head with a favorite sin lately.....

Modern Day Pharisees and Sadducees?

2008-07-17T13:53:00.004-05:00

I've been reading Matthew lately and have really enjoyed Jesus' sense of humor in answering his disciples and the Pharisees and Sadducees. The below section of scripture is from Matt 15:1-20. I have read these passages about 5 times over the past 2 days because it really strikes me as being great humor mixed in with deadly truth. Additionally, the scenario is so very pertinent to our world today. In speaking with multiple young lost folks lately, a common pattern of concern was voiced from each... "I have a hard time accepting belief in something in which its believers say how much they love Jesus and then wag their fingers at my appearance. All the while, they are demonstrating a life that possesses none of the loving qualities that Jesus taught."

Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
‘ These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

How about you? Are you more concerned about the external issues (that will ultimately be "eliminated"), or are you more concerned about what is proceeding from the heart? Apparently, there are plenty of modern day Pharisees and Sadducees.

Worship & Healing

2008-07-09T22:57:00.004-05:00

Do you believe that God still performs miracles today? Do you believe that He can heal people today? Is there evidence in the way that you live your life that you believe God is able to do these things?

My sister Pam sent this to me today....

The Story

The Song

In The Story, I really appreciated the female band member stating, "The name of the Lord is a Strong Tower and a Refuge and a Fortress. And worship is how I remember that I'm in that Place."

Worship Anywhere

2008-07-09T22:38:00.004-05:00

I'm not a fan of Pepsi products, but I became an instant fan of this guy singing in a hotel vending machine room.

Naked Pastor

2008-07-04T22:40:00.006-05:00

That's a title that will grab your attention. That is the title of a blog created by David Hayward, who describes himself as a pastor trapped in an artist's body. His art and his blog posts are usually very pointed, insightful and disturbing. But, by disturbing, I mean creating turbulence much like a swimming pool cleaner creates turbulence within the water to get the muck moving towards the filter. In our nation, stagnation seems to occur rapidly and having a little disturbance now and again may be what the doctor ordered.
Take a look at his blog and take a look at his postings on Flickr. Here are a couple of my favorites....
The first time that I saw a few of his cartoons, I thought for sure he was some non-believer slamming Christians. As it turns out, he's a pastor slamming Christians who profess Jesus with their mouths, but deny them with their lives............ I'm alright with that; I need slammed on occasion apparently.
So, I warn you. If you are easily offended, you will be offended. But, if you are offended, chances are there is a good reason why you were offended, and you may want to spend some quiet time reflecting on your relationship with Christ.

Hillbilly Bible

2008-06-23T23:30:00.004-05:00

If you appreciate well thought out testimony and well thought out humor, you may want to take a look a this site: The Hillbilly Bible
The author says, "Aint making fun of the Bible; making the Bible fun." Here is a sample:
The Hillbilly Bible is a creative renderin' a the Gospel a John. The original author a this story is God. It come through John and then ole Stevie Rey rendered it into "Hillbilly" speak in the summer a 2007.
"Their religion is a joke, 'cause it ain't nuthin' but a bunch a man-made rules." (Matthew 15:9, The Hillbilly Bible)
"Hey y'all, let me tell ya somethin' wonderful that the good Lord has done whispered in my ear. We ain't all a gonna die, but we's all gonna be changed. It's gonna happen quicker'n you can blink your eye, when they commence to tootin' on that last trumpet." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, The Hillbilly Bible)
"Fer the good Lord commenced to hankerin' after the world something fierce, and up and gave His only boy so's whoever took a notion to believe in 'eem ort not die, but just keep on livin' with 'eem in heaven forever n' ever." (John 3:16, The Hillbilly Bible)

Make sure to check out his blog, that is my favorite part.

If It Was Good Enough For Him....

2008-06-23T22:16:00.007-05:00

Matthew 4

1-3 Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: "Since you are God's Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread." 4Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth." 5-6For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, "Since you are God's Son, jump." The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: "He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won't so much as stub your toe on a stone." 7Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: "Don't you dare test the Lord your God." 8-9For the third test, the Devil took him to the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth's kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, "They're yours—lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they're yours." 10Jesus' refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness." 11The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus' needs.

I read this passage this morning and came away with an appreciation for a very simple accomplishment that Jesus achieved by taking on flesh. He demonstrated that even He, the Son of God, sought the Holy Spirit's guidance, and He demonstrated the even He was best able to handle temptations thrown at Him by the devil by referring to Scripture instead of trying to handle it all on His own wisdom.

Thanks to Colin for the use of the photo of the wilderness in Israel.

Spoons

2008-06-18T15:03:00.007-05:00

This is a story shared with me by a good friend a long time ago......

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like." The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.
The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."
They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The holy man said, "I don't understand."
"It is simple," said the Lord, "It requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. While the greedy think only of themselves. A friend is someone who reaches for your hand, and touches your heart."

Spoon photo courtesy of Roger Smith.

What If You Were There

2008-06-15T00:21:00.004-05:00

I read an interesting blog post tonight regarding "Are We Any Different Today?" The point of it was exploring the question, "If you had been around during the years of Jesus' ministry on this earth, how would you have responded to Him?" It also explores the concept of whether the church of today possesses parallels with the religious sects of Jesus' time. It is a brutal question to answer.

This post really intrigued me because I have frequently imagined myself living in various biblical eras, and pondered how well would I have behaved in comparison to the characters in the Bible. To be very honest, I am confident that no one would have ever wanted to name one of the books of the Bible using my name.

Prayer to Follow the Road

2008-06-10T22:43:00.004-05:00

After leading someone through the Romans' Road, hopefully, you will want to also lead them in prayer. Here is a great example of a prayer for someone who has realized that they are in need of a Savior. This prayer was found in AllAboutGod.com

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”

On the very same page are some helpful follow-up statements and questions. Remember Eph 2:8-9 though, and recognize that the following suggestions are ways to help make your Christian walk purposeful, but your salvation is not dependent upon your works; thanks to God's Grace:

Get baptized as commanded by Christ.

Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.

Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time. Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word. Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible.

Seek fellowship with other followers of Jesus. Develop a group of believing friends to answer your questions and support you.

Find a local church where you can worship God.

Romans' Road

2008-06-10T22:18:00.003-05:00

As I've stated not so long ago, the Message of the Gospel is very simple. Back when I was in high school, I learned a simple way to share the scriptural basis of the plan of salvation with someone else. It is called the Romans Road, because it utilizes scriptures in Romans to lay down the steps. I have used this pathway many times over the past 20+ years, and each time I've been grateful that the message is so simple and that the tool is so simple.....because, let's face it, I'm plenty simple, too.

The following is an example of the pathway and was taken from RomansRoad.org

Who is good?
Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous; no, not one.

Who has sinned?
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Where sin came from.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

God's price of sin.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.

Who paid The price?
Romans 5:8 God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The only way out.
Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Take God at his word and claim His promise for your salvation.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

3 Things

2008-06-04T23:15:00.003-05:00

I read an article from Pray! earlier regarding 15 Ways to Make Prayer a Natural Part of Your Family's Life. Most of the suggestions seem to be quite useful and practical. I really like #3: "Whenever you see or hear about someone in need, take time to pray about it with your children." I like the idea of praying immediately for things. Often, when someone says, "Please pray for me" or "Please pray for so-and-so", I pray with them right at that moment.
The article spurned me onto a tangent, which I am prone to find. Answer this question for yourself: If you could only teach your kids 3 things, what would those 3 things be?
I have my 3, but they were difficult to come up with. I'd like to know your 3.
My three: 1) The meaning and implications of Christ's life, death and resurrection; 2) How God wants a relationship with everyone through each person's day to day life and through prayer and 3) How to stay away from financial debt.
Coming up with only 3 is very challenging, and chances are, if I answered the question once per month for a year, I'd probably come up with at least one different answer each month.

The Next Level

2008-06-04T00:26:00.002-05:00

Coming from the perspective of residing within a church that is not quite ready to accept outmoded praise and worship songs from the 90's because it is a little too wild for their tastes, acceptance of The Next Level Church's methodology is not likely going to occur here within the next century. However, I am very intrigued by their ideas and leadership by committee approach. TNL is located near Denver, CO and was featured in an article in ChristianityToday.
More importantly, the have overcome the problem that so many churches around here have been faced with; most churches today do not have any true community and a majority of its members show up for Sunday morning services only. The solution, oddly enough, sounds much like what our pastor has requested us do. The solution was having small group activities occurring away from the church in homes and public places. I like it.

Strength in Weakness

2008-06-02T14:52:00.002-05:00

2 Corinthians 12 (New International Version) 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So many times we humans become focused on our inabilities and on the hardships we are enduring. The bulk of many church's prayer lists/requests are focused on relieving people of their burdens, illnesses and pain. According to Paul, we should take delight in our weakness and hardships. He reasons that Christ is more able to reveal his strength in us at these times. This makes perfect sense if you think that if He revealed His strength in you when you are flying high, then you would most likely credit yourself and not Him.

Once again, live your life with the understanding that this world is not your home and that we are merely being prepared for something far better. If you do, when difficult times arise you will more readily accept them as opportunities to rely more fully upon Christ.

Ministry of Reconciliation

2008-05-28T23:49:00.005-05:00

The NIV version of II Corinthians 5:18-20 says, "18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God."
As I read this passage today, I was really impacted by the notion that the moment an individual receives Christ into their heart, they instantaneously become a minister. The main purpose of the ministry is intended to be sharing the message of reconciliation. In essence, because I have become reconciled, I then should share the opportunity of reconciliation with everyone else.
Does this responsibility scare you? Do you feel that you are not possibly up to the task? Maybe you are too shy, too ignorant of the Word, too afraid to be rejected by your friends or made fun of, or maybe you just don't know how to get started?
What I came to realize today was that none of that really matters. If you are a Christian, you are, by default, a minister of the message of reconciliation. If you happen to be not actively seeking to minister, it doesn't change the fact that you are a minister. You just happen to be a fairly inept minister.
My next thought regarding this matter occurred after speaking with a friend about the above topic. I asked the question, "Could the idea of instantly becoming a minister discourage someone from becoming a Christian?" The answer that we came up with was, "Probably yeah." I could see someone thinking that not only are they not good enough to be saved, they definitely aren't ready for ministry. Of course a response to that could be, "No one is. There is none perfect. No not one. However, through Him we are able." But, after I walked away from the conversation, it occurred to me....being afraid of becoming a Christ Follower because you are afraid that you cannot live up to the standards or that you will be a poor minister of the faith is an extremely illogical thought. My reasoning, regardless of whether you are a Christian or not, you are a minister of something. If you are not ministering to your friends about Christ, you are encouraging (ministering) them to do something.
So, take a good look at yourself today. What is your ministry about? Reconciliation? TV? Food? Sports? Material interests? Laziness? Depression? Fear? Gossip? Road rage?

Prayer Cells

2008-05-17T00:23:00.004-05:00

Our pastor has recently called our church to prayer. Specifically, he has asked us to seek out prayer partners to begin meeting together for focused prayer on Kingdom matters. My initial response to this request was two-fold: 1) I would love to take part in such a thing, and 2) I doubt that the request will be fulfilled by greater than 5% of those asked.
Tonight I was pondering my response.
In regards to #1, I have taken part in similar experiences in the past, and have found them to be quite rewarding from a spiritual and social stand point. I really desire to have some meaningful male relationships in my life right now, and the idea of meeting with like-minded men to pray and share with God's Kingdom as the focus sounds like something that would be worthwhile.
In regards to #2, there are a litany of reasons why few people would share my #1 response. My thought is that the top 2 reasons are likely time and fear of the unknown. Participating in something like this must be somewhat intimidating to someone who has never experienced it before.
If you happen to be struggling with this issue, I would tell you that if you could only participate once, you would likely see that it is worth making time for and nothing to fear.
If you have Prayer Cell experience, I would love to hear your input.

Camp Nathaneal - 2008

2008-04-29T16:15:00.004-05:00

My wife and I attended the annual Couples Retreat at Camp Nathaneal this past weekend for a much needed time of instruction and attention to the most neglected relationship in both our lives.....the husband/wife relationship. We've got the mom/dad relationship down just fine, but rarely find time for the other couple in our house.

We attended the Retreat last year, and we came away from it with a renewed interest in each others needs as well as a strong interest in seeking financial peace. Reflecting back on the past year, we did a better job with the finances then with the relationship. We started off strong with some solid date times for about two or three months.........and then life got in the way.

So, we have renewed our interests in each other. I wish that we could go to a retreat once a quarter. I highly recommend the retreat for anyone that is married regardless of whether you think your marriage is great or on life-support. It is held the last weekend of April every year. This was year 17!!!

Better to Marry Than to Burn

2008-04-21T23:28:00.004-05:00

I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. I Cor 7:8-9 KJV

Last night I spoke on the phone with a family member from Texas, and we discussed how needy we both have been capable of being at times in our lives when we did not have a significant other in our lives. I found it ironic that in my scripture reading today I came across the above passage. Paul had a brutal sense of humor. In essence he says, "By all means, if you want to truly serve the Lord, stay away from relationships with the opposite sex, and spend all your energies serving. However, I know most of you are pathetic and cannot handle that; so, do yourselves a favor... admit your pathetic and get married. At least you won't be spending all your time lusting and wanting and not having."

It's not as if I had nothing to say......

2008-04-20T23:09:00.002-05:00

I have not posted an entry onto this blogsite since October, but it's not as if I had nothing to say. As a matter of fact, I feel like my lack of blogging speaks volumes. You may be totally different, but I doubt it. But, do you find that right about the time you are settling into a pattern of good, healthy routines that involve either prayer, exercise, organizational skills, quality time with loved ones, eating habits, money budgetting or sleep habits, life just seems to throw nasty curveballs at you? My life has become so amazingly busy just out of the blue, and the pathetic thing is that if I really admit it, despite the busy-ness, I am accomplishing very little each day.
So, tonight I have elected to post something....anything.... and this has been just that.
Quite edifying, wouldn't you say?

Don't Waste Your Life

2007-10-04T12:22:00.000-05:00

I was viewing the blog of Michael and Rie Ardenz today. Michael is a ministry representative for Gospel For Asia in New Zealand, and his function is to raise support for GFA in his country. If I were ever going to work in the missions field, I believe that is what I would want to do as well. His livelihood is based upon donations, so take a look at his blog and consider supporting him. As you know, my belief in GFA is high.
While viewing his site, I was struck by a video they have linked: Don't Waste Your Life - Randy Alcorn
Here is a quote from the website: www.dontwasteyourlife.com "What is the essence of the unwasted life? I just mentioned it: A life that puts the infinite value of Christ on display for the world to see. The passion of the unwasted life is to joyfully display the supreme excellence of Christ by the way we live. Life is given to us so that we can use it to make much of Christ. Possessions are given to us so that by the way we use them, we can show that they are not our treasure, but Christ is our treasure. Money is given to us so that we will use it in a way that shows money is not treasure, but Christ is our treasure."
Good stuff.

Amish School Tragedy One Year Later

2007-10-04T07:08:00.000-05:00

In response to the one year anniversary of the tragedy that occurred in the small school house in Nickel Mines, Pa, USA Today ran an article discussing a retrospective focusing on how the Amish community has responded to the event. The article is fairly well done, and includes Q/A with Steve Nolt author of Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy.
Within the article Mr. Nolt, who is Mennonite, relates that one reason that the Amish were able to so fully commit to forgiveness of the murderer is that they believe that in order to have their own sins forgiven, they too must forgive the sins of others..... I don't argue with that statement, but I will say that stated in that way, it places a great amount of emphasis on the thought, "I'm doing this in order to receive something in exchange." In actuality, my understanding of their motivations, and the motivations of other followers of Christ is more in line with this line of belief, "I have no right to judge others for their sins, because I myself am a sinner too. Furthermore, my Savior loved me despite my transgression so fully that He sacrificed His own life for me. Thus, it is a minor sacrifice on my part to forgive those who hate or hurt me. Any forgiveness that I afford is not to obtain forgiveness in exchange, but instead, is a response of gratitude to the One who has demonstrated amazing forgiveness to me already."
Once again, I encourage you to take a look at the responses to the USA Today article posted below it. Doing so provides some insight into how a lost world views Christians functioning as Christians. For some, it is hard to grasp the actions of forgiveness, but I can understand how confusing it may seem without the personal experience of forgiveness to form your perspective.

Too Close To Home

2007-08-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

My wife and I saw Thursday night on the Lexington news that a local church youth group leader was arrested for seeking out sexual relationships with minors over the internet. We were saddened by this.
Well, the next day, I found out that I know the accused's father. His dad is by far one of the nicest guys I have ever met. The result of knowing the father made me shift my thoughts quite a bit. The short of it is this: If you are a Christian, your actions matter. You represent your family, church, the Christian population and our God.
Satan would have you believe that your sins are between you and God. The young man that was arrested will be spending some time in jail, and will live with some embarrassment. But the repercussions extend out to countless others. It's scary to think what an impact (negative or otherwise) that you may be able to create on so many others with your keyboard sitting alone at home in the dark.

Comments on Comments

2007-08-04T11:40:00.000-05:00

I saw a post on someone else's blog that discussed the joys of blogging. One of the great joys that comes with blogging is having someone read your blog and make a comment on it. Even if the comment is, "I agree with that", it is great to get feedback.
The purpose of this blog from the outset was to function as a forum for followers of Christ. So far, however, it appears to have functioned primarily as a soap box for one voice, mine.
I really desire having your comments regardless of what they may say.
This would be a good discussion point: Do you ever comment? Why or why not? If you have a blog, how important are comments to you?
So, let's hear it. Hit the comment button.

GFA - Worth Checking Out

2007-08-01T22:14:00.000-05:00

Back in June, I made mention of Gospel for Asia, and since that time, have received my free book from them and have read about 3/4 of it so far.
Listen to me. Regardless of your spiritual state, regardless of your views on world missions, regardless of how wise or unwise you think you are, it is worth your 5 minutes to receive this book. If you do nothing but read the first 2 chapters, it would be worth it to you.
I have never had any interest whatsoever regarding world missions. If you would have asked me to name the top 5 most boring church services I've ever attended, at least 3 of them involved listening to someone's slide show or other presentation of some missionaries. I am serious.
The author of this book, however, has got it right. His approach is right on, and I am energized to support him. Not just that, reading his book has energized me spiritually period. Its about paradigms. I think mine has shifted....in a good way.
Do yourself a favor, check it out.

Prayer for Sydney

2007-07-16T12:26:00.000-05:00

Being a father of 2 young sons (4 and 2 years old), I have a keen sensitivity to matters regarding children. When Blake, my oldest, had to be hospitalized over a year ago and received an IV line into his little wrist, I could hardly bare the thought of my son being put through the ordeal. I argued with the nurses regarding whether it was necessary. Ultimately, I lost the argument, Blake got stuck and I nearly passed out.

Lena Brown emailed me today with a prayer request for a young girl going through a horrific ordeal. She has been battling neuroblastoma cancer for 3 years now. She had been in remission for 2 years. She had a lot of routine tests run last week and the test results were devastating. She has cancer back in her bone marrow, her spine, her pelvis, and a couple of places on her head. She will be starting chemo back tomorrow, but this is just a way of trying to keep it from spreading until they can come up with something else, which will be some sort of clinical study that may or may not help her. The one they are leaning towards is a study out of Vermont which will be a chemical they add to a normal chemo mixture and administer to her for a week then normal chemo the rest of the month. Only four patients have tried this study, two are still doing the treatments, two have passed away. There is nothing more the Dr's can do.

She feels great and is so full of life. The family didn't have a clue that this was back in her little system, because she laughs and cuts up all the time. She even comes out of an adult strength chemo session with a smile and asking for chicken nuggets. Her will power and determination to live far surpasses anything you have ever seen.

If there was ever a worthy cause for prayer, Sydney is it. I pray that God blesses you for your prayers regarding Sydney.

Comfort

2007-07-13T07:45:00.000-05:00

Over the past 3 months, Debi and I have talked about how the Amish have got it right in terms of denying themselves worldly pleasures and conveniences and being rewarded by a richer family life and spiritual life.
A fellow blogger responded to the Gospel For Asia article and commented that he is currently serving with GFA in New Zealand. I checked out his blogspot and saw an article titled "Comfort" that really spoke to me. I thought I'd share it with you. Check out his whole site, there are some really remarkable photos and articles. Enjoy.
Here is a quote from the "Comfort" article....
“Comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house as guest, and then becomes a host, and then master. Ay and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires. Though it’s hands are silken, it’s heart is of iron. Verily the lust for comfort murders the passions of the soul, and walks grinning to the funeral” - Kahil Gibran

Who Do You Serve?

2007-07-10T09:03:00.000-05:00

Over the past few years, I've developed a much better concept of what hymnists, poets and song writers have meant when they wrote words to the effect that "This world is not my home" or "I'm just a pilgrim in a foreign land." As my walk has become closer to Christ's (granted I'm still way off), it has become more and more evident that I don't fit in here. This world is not rooting for me, and my welcome has long worn thin. Things of this world make less and less sense to me because my perspective on life has become more Kingdom focused and less world focused. Thus, the world perspective just does not make a whole lot of sense to me. (And when it does make sense, it usually indicates that I wandering the wrong direction.)
Once again, I am referencing Alistair Begg's daily devotional. Today, he discussed citizenship and Ephesians 2:19.
This devotional struck with me with the thought that the Christian Walk is not just something that is "a good idea", "nice to do" or merely morally correct. If you view your citizenship as being of heaven and your ruler as being God, then you're at risk of treason if you are bowing down to or serving someone or something else.
Who are you serving today? Personally, I can only say, "Thank God for Jesus."

"Pray For Us."

2007-07-09T07:09:00.000-05:00

Allistair Begg's daily devotion today reminds us to pray for our pastors. In doing so, he cites I Thes 5:25 where Paul states "Brothers, pray for us." Begg goes on to relate how pastors/ministers are under amazing strains and pressures emotionally, spiritually, and often physically. Thus, our prayers are greatly coveted by them.
Additionally, it was pointed out at last years Prayer Conference that The Church of Satan teaches its members to bring their petitions against pastors, the government and pastors families. So, when you are praying for your pastor, remember his family as well.

E.M. Bounds - About Prayer

2007-07-08T00:02:00.000-05:00

I have been praying for real for only the past 3-4 years. Over the past 3 years, I have developed a real appreciation for people who exhibit remarkable faith and/or remarkable gifts that were obviously God issued. That being said, one of my newest heroes is E.M. Bounds.

Here is a sample of some of his writings. I find his writing to be stirring, educational and containing an assumption that the reader wants to serve God with his whole heart.

"IN any study of the principles,
and procedure of prayer,
of its activities and enterprises,
first place, must, of necessity, be given to faith.
It is the initial quality in the heart of any man
who essays to talk to the Unseen.
He must, out of sheer helplessness,
stretch forth hands of faith.
He must believe, where he cannot prove.
In the ultimate issue, prayer is simply faith,
claiming its natural yet marvellous prerogatives --
faith taking possession of its illimitable inheritance.
True godliness is just as true, steady, and persevering
in the realm of faith as it is in the province of prayer.
Moreover: when faith ceases to pray, it ceases to live.

Faith does the impossible
because it brings God to undertake for us,
and nothing is impossible with God.
How great -- without qualification or limitation --
is the power of faith!
If doubt be banished from the heart,
and unbelief made stranger there,
what we ask of God shall surely come to pass,
and a believer hath vouchsafed to him
'whatsoever he saith.'"

Here is a great link to some excerpts of his writings: EM Bounds writings.
And if you liked that, here is a link to some of his complete writings.

Full Throttle?

2007-07-03T07:08:00.000-05:00

Time for more confession. Another accurate description of me is "full throttle." No, I'm not a bundle of energy, but whatever I'm doing, I'm usually doing with laser beam focus with total disregard for what's going on in the rest of the world.
When I am geared up and serving the Lord, I am sold out for him. When I am geared up and working on a work related project, I am foaming at the mouth until it's done. When I am playing, I play hard. And when I am being a self-indulgent sloth, I do that with amazing zeal and with superhuman endurance.
Alistair Begg's daily devotion smacked me between the eyes today.

Praying The Names of God

2007-07-01T22:19:00.000-05:00

Prayer Conference speaker Dr. Bud Fray shared with us that it is God's character to speak. Additionally, God reveals his character through his names. One can greatly enrich a prayer-life by recognizing, understanding and utilizing the different names of God while praying.
Here are two good sources to review to assist you in this regard:
AllAboutGod.com: Names of God Reveal Him

Praying the Names of God: A Daily Guide By Ann Spangler

Long Distance Race

2007-06-28T13:20:00.000-05:00

Much of my life has been spent in a sprint. Spiritually, I've either been in a huge hurry to be God's servant or racing to please my flesh. Ultimately, I've fatigued of one or the other and then ran the race of it's counterpart. EXHAUSTING!!!! Especially for those in my life trying to keep up with me during it all.

Hebrews 12:1-13 describes the discipline that it takes to run a long race, which life is. In Alistair Begg's daily devotional today, he explores He explores Hebrews 12:2, and relates that the Holy Spirit's role is to turn our eyes from self and onto Jesus. Whereas, Satan is fully intent on us focusing on self, self, and more self.

Excerpt from the devotion: He (Satan) insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you do not have the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold on Jesus."
During my sprints, Satan has been pleased with my rapid fatigue and the wavering and self-doubt that went along with it. The end result was fractured relationship between my heart and the Father.

But, check this out, there's good news. Here is some more from the devotion: Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you--it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you--it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, although that is the instrument--it is Christ's blood and merits.

So, whether you are riding a spiritual high sprinting hard for Jesus' sake or riding a spiritual low feeling separation from Christ and The Father, keep your eyes off of self and onto Jesus. Pray that.

If you want to read more of the devotion, here it is: Looking To Jesus

Gospel for Asia

2007-06-28T07:23:00.000-05:00

I am not worthy of speaking of missions or the mission field, but Gospel for Asia really strikes me as a well structured, well thoughtout and extremely Christ-focused orgazination making a dramatic impact. 3 points that really grabbed my attention: 100% of dollars sent to field, focused on the unreached and the training/sending of native missionaries.

K.P. Yohannan is the founder and president of Gospel for Asia, a mission organization involved in evangelism and church planting in the unreached regions of Asia. K.P. has a introductory video online, and he appears well-centered in Christ. This video can be viewed by requesting a free book.

Mission and Distinctives
Our mission in life is to be devout followers of Christ and to fulfill the Great Commission among the unreached in Asia through training, sending out and assisting qualified laborers in partnership with the Body of Christ.

100 percent of Support Dollars Sent to the Field

When a donor sends in the monthly support for their missionary, nothing is deducted for administrative purposes--100% is sent directly to the mission field for its intended purpose.
Focusing on the Unreached

Our focus and goal as a ministry is to reach the 2.7 billion people in the 10/40 Window who have never heard about the love of God. In India alone, there are over 500,000 villages with no Gospel witness.
Training and Sending Native Missionaries

Native missionaries have few or no cultural barriers to overcome. They can readily share the Gospel with those who, unlike their western counterparts, have never heard. While national workers do face difficult obstacles as they take the message from village to village, they still have an enormous advantage over their coworkers from North America and other non-Asian lands.
GFA currently has 54 Bible colleges where nearly 9,000 students are preparing to become full-time church planters among those who have never heard.
Tremendous Results by God's Grace

Currently, more than 29,793 churches and mission stations have been planted by Gospel for Asia native missionaries where no church existed before. On average, our missionaries establish approximately 15 fellowships every day in Asia among unreached villages and people groups.
But none of this has come easily. Our native missionaries are paying a high price of suffering, hardship and intense persecution to see churches established.
The churches planted in each culture are truly indigenous in character, self-governing, self-propagating and, as soon as possible, self-supporting.
Training Tomorrow's Leaders at the GFA Biblical Seminary

Over 600 students now attend Gospel for Asia Biblical Seminary in India, where they are being trained to become devout followers of Christ and to fulfill the Great Commission in Asia.

The Many Faces of Biblical Humor

2007-06-26T10:17:00.000-05:00

I have come across a book that seems to have captured some of the funniest items in the Bible.

The Many Faces of Biblical Humor examines how the Bible writers intentionally used humor, irony, and sarcasm to argue their points concisely. This work begins with the dysfunctional families of Genesis, continues delightfully through every book of the Bible, and ends with a glorious fulfillment in Revelation. Along the way, the reader is presented humorous stories, pathetically funny characters, and poignant quips and quotes from prophets, poets, and principals. The author paraphrases each biblical text in an engaging prose that highlights the humor of that passage – humor that may not have been previously noted by the reader. Between the paraphrases, the author sets the historical and linguistic setting, allowing the reader to see how the humor (and puns) of the text enrich the biblical understanding of God's message. Also included are applications of these marvelous passages to our daily lives as we see our own foibles portrayed in the biblical characters. In many ways, this is a Bible commentary with an accent on the humorous. In another sense, it is simply a delightful book that makes the Bible come alive through the latent humor of its characters and their stories.

Here is list of the authors favorite Biblical one-liners.

Silver Ring Thing 434

2007-06-25T20:58:00.000-05:00

Apparently, there has been a youth group movement over the past few years called the Silver Ring Thing that is based upon I Thes: 4:34. It is a committment to service, relationship and abstinence until marriage.
Check out there website: Silver Ring Thing website.

Well, of course, service, relationship and abstinence is bound to upset somebody because we all know how terrible they can be when mixed together (humor intended - sarcasm). Sure enough, here is an article from FoxNews.com regarding a girl who is in trouble at school for wearing her ring. Silver Ring Thing girl trouble.

I have read this on the heels of reading an article where a school district has made a formal apology for trying to edit a photo of two homosexual males kissing from their school's year book. Now tell me, has the world just gone nuts or am I missing something here?

World Changers

2007-06-25T16:39:00.000-05:00

Here is another organization to look at if you are interested in putting your faith in action and impacting the world around you.
World Changers is an organization that seeks to provide Christian youth and adults with opportunities to meet the physical and spiritual needs of others through practical learning experiences of servanthood and personal commitment to missions. Over 24,000 students and their adult leaders have committed to grabbing hammers, saws and paintbrushes this summer to make a positive change to the world one project at a time.
Participation is exclusively for Christians who have demonstrated spiritual maturity in their home church. Take a look at the stats page from 2006, and you will see why. They are not only making needed repairs to peoples homes, but allowing the Holy Spirit to repair broken lives through them.

Acts 1:8 Challenge

2007-06-25T13:32:00.000-05:00

Acts 1:8: "And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."

This month's edition of OnMission features a story describing the participation of a few churches in a program called Acts 1:8 Challenge. The feature story shares one pastor's comments that "We are a church of rednecks." And he goes on to say that they don't try to be something that they are not, and yet they have found that what they are consists of being a church that loves they the Lord, and they are living their love through their actions. It is inspiring to read about "normal" folks going out and doing the abnormal. They make it sound so easy.

Take a look at the story: OnMission feature story.

And take a look at the Acts 1:8 Challenge site.

Adopt An Annuitant

2007-06-25T10:15:00.000-05:00

I learned about GuideStone Financial Resources via an article at the back of our church bulletin yesterday. Paul encouraged the Galatian believers to do something with their faith - to worship with their actions throughout the week as well as with their hearts and voices on Sunday. This organization's Adopt An Annuitant ministry allows you to make a positive impact for retired ministers and their widows.

Taken from The GuideStone website:
In 1918, the Board of Ministerial Relief and Annuities was born of a vision in the heart of Dr. William Lunsford. Burdened by the plight of retired Southern Baptist pastors and their widows, Dr. Lunsford sought to provide care for his brethren and their widows in their declining years. Decades later, GuideStone Financial Resources continues its commitment to Dr. Lunsford’s vision and to those who have labored in the Lord’s work by offering an array of personal investment, retirement, life, health, and disability plan option. But the realization of Dr. Lunsford’s dream is seen most clearly in the Adopt An Annuitant ministry.

Through the Adopt An Annuitant ministry, GuideStone provides financial assistance to retired Southern Baptist ministers, workers or their widows whose regular income is insufficient to meet their needs. Often, this small monthly income makes the difference in paying the electric bill or obtaining needed medications. The Adopt An Annuitant ministry relies on the support of churches and individuals to provide this vital assistance.

You can participate in this ministry by sending a gift, funding a Charitable Gift Annuity, designating the ministry as the beneficiary of your life insurance, will or estate plan, or requesting materials to share with others.

Movement

2007-06-25T08:09:00.000-05:00

I have stumbled upon a guy's blogspot that I find remarkable and refreshing. He appears to be living a fairly heroic Christian walk. His profile states, "Joe co-leads an effort in Mexico City to launch missional Christ-centered movements on more than 400 university campuses before 2010. He joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ in 2003 and served for three years in Albuquerque, NM, where he launched movements with Latino students and athletes that are still active today. In 2006 he moved to Mexico City to work with "Enfoque Mexico", the Campus Crusade church partnership strategy he helps lead today. "
If you are interested in knowing what it takes to launch your own movement, here is a good starting point. "How to Launch Your Own Movement"
Regardless, if you are a regular blog reader, add Joe Cross' blog spot to your regular destinations. Check out his profile, because in addition to his personal spot, he is also co-blogger on a few other blogspots that are worth checking out.

What's InYour Wallet?

2007-06-21T10:40:00.000-05:00

I have been introduced to a polling application by Brian Green, and thought it would be interesting to begin asking random questions from time to time to see what those of you who visit this blog think of different issues.
So, take a moment and take a look at the poll question in the right column. The poll is completely confidential, and I won't know who answered what. Furthermore, as soon as you make your choice, you will be able to see the current results of the poll.
It will be interesting to see how many of you actually participate in the poll.
Thanks Brian.

Pastor Einstein

2007-06-18T07:27:00.000-05:00

This is a quote shared today by the CEO of the hospital where I work:
"Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for insects as well as for the stars. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper." -- Albert Einstein
I've heard it said by non-believers that the belief in God is for small minded, ignorant sorts that feel a need to believe in something because of their inherent weakness. That's odd. I had never heard these terms used to describe Einstein before.
This quote and others can be found at QuoteWorld.org.

Biblical Humor

2007-06-16T21:06:00.000-05:00

I love finding humor in the Bible, especially some of Jesus' exchanges with the Pharisee's (for example, "Why are you so concerned about the speck in your brother's eye when you have a plank in your own?"), and Jer 5:13 referring to some self professed prophets as speaking wind (flatulence) instead of words.
Here is a link to a page that explores Biblical humor in an in depth way: Biblical Humor.
It is not the easiest reading, but if you sift through it a bit, you will find some gems. Here are some examples:
Puns/wordplay – the naming of people throughout Genesis, such as Jacob and Esau (25:25–26); Jeremiah 5:13 plays on ruah , ‘word', ‘wind' (with implications of flatulence) in the mouths of false prophets.
Ambiguity – Haman is led up the garden path (Esther 6).
Sarcasm – Paul's anger at the Judaizers (Galatians 5:12).
Scatological references – Eglon's servants thinking he was relieving himself (Judges 3).
Mention of the taboo – sex and prostitution (Ezekiel 16:33); priests and prophets vomiting drunkenly (Isaiah 28:7–8).
Misfortune of others – Balaam humiliated by his donkey (Numbers 22); the Philistines' god Dagon flat on his face and the people covered in tumours (1 Samuel 5).
Absurdities/the ridiculousness of others – Abraham and son repeating old and increasingly silly errors (Genesis 12, 20, 25); arrogance of the builders in Genesis 11; bizarre and repetitive episodes in Samson's career (Judges 13–16).
The grotesque – Eglon's fat belly swallowing up Ehud's blade; Nebuchadnezzar reduced to an animal (Daniel 4).
Things unexpected, out of place or incongruous – a camel through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:23–24); stagey bargaining in front of Sarah's corpse (Genesis 23); the Lord 's mockery of creatures asserting their superiority to their creator (Isaiah 10:15).
Irony – Jesus' teaching throughout the gospels; Philip's comment that nothing good comes out of Nazareth (John 1:46); Caiaphas noting that it is better for one man to die for the people (John 11:50).
Satire – against the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14; but also through Jeremiah and most Minor Prophets.
Parody/lampoon – the Lord 's mimicking of Pharaoh (Ezekiel 29:3–5); the Lord 's taunt to priests and prophets (Isaiah 28:9–10); Israel's priests are dogs calling for beer (Isaiah 56:9–12).

Total Eclipse of the Heart

2007-06-14T14:43:00.000-05:00

Prior to beginning our Vision Committee meeting last night, I read this passage from Psalms 55:1-11 "1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, And do not hide Yourself from my supplication. 2 Attend to me, and hear me; I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily, 3 Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me, And in wrath they hate me. 4 My heart is severely pained within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, And horror has overwhelmed me. 6 So I said, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. 7 Indeed, I would wander far off, And remain in the wilderness. Selah 8 I would hasten my escape From the windy storm and tempest."
9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, For I have seen violence and strife in the city. 10 Day and night they go around it on its walls; Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it. 11 Destruction is in its midst; Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets."
The images these words convey are of pain, fear, hopelessness and misery. Now compare this imagery to the words offered in verse 22: "Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you."
Both of these images are brought to life in drama, obviously created by a high school aged youth group, that I happened upon today. In light of the scripture reading last night and the topics discussed, this video seems very appropriate to share. Total Eclipse.

Scars of Life

2007-06-11T07:50:00.000-05:00

Lena Brown shared this story with me today. The story itself may not be true, but the representation of God's love for us is. This is a story that I will likely share for a long time. Thanks Lena.

SCARS OF LIFE

Some years ago, on a hot summer day in South Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.

His father, working in the yard, saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.
Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him.

From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go.

A farmer happened to drive by, heard his screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father's fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Dad wouldn't let go."

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you.

The Scripture teaches that God loves you. You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead. The swimming hole of life is filled with peril - and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That's when the tug-of-war begins - and if you have the scars of His love on your arms, be very, very grateful. He did not and will not ever let you go.

Meaning of the Flag at Military Funerals

2007-06-07T09:09:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting insight into the symbolic meaning of the folding of the flag at military funerals. It really brings to the forefront how seriously our founding Fathers held their Christian beliefs as an integral part of what our country should be about.
The folding of the flag is almost entirely about honoring God the Father and Jesus the Son........
The existence of the USA should be almost entirely about honoring them as well.
The Meaning of the Flag

Cozy With Sin

2007-06-07T08:07:00.000-05:00

I have heard it said a multitude of ways: Your prayers are a reflection of what is in your heart. So, it can be said, if you are praying about selfish needs, you posses a selfish heart; if you are praying about fearful needs, you posses fear in your heart; and if you are praying about the Kingdom needs of others, you posses a selfless heart that is Kingdom focused.
I am definitely capable of being selfish and being fearful, but I would have to say that the obstacle that hinders my prayer-life on a most frequent basis and to the greatest degree is unconfessed sin. I'm not necessarily talking about any majorly thrilling sins that would be tabloid fodder, but just minor things that I allow to fester and thrive unchecked for a period of time. At times, it seems that we humans enjoy allowing certain little sins into our lives with an almost entitlement-type attitude. "I have worked hard, or I have been so good for so long, or this or that has happened to me, so I deserve to........." fill in the blank. And then, instead of recognizing our sinful nature, we just bask in that sin despite how miserable it may be making us.
It reminds me of a college dorm mate of mine who came to my room one night and announced, "I need to find me a bad habit; I just can't decide which one to choose."
Psalms 66:18-20 is a good example of the relationship of sin with an effective prayer life:
If I had been cozy with evil, the Lord would never have listened. But he most surely did listen, he came on the double when he heard my prayer. Blessed be God: he didn't turn a deaf ear, he stayed with me, loyal in his love.
Alistair Begg's daily devotional also hit on this topic reflecting on Psalms 97:10. He explores how cozying up with sin has the ability to wreck your life in so many ways. Here is a small excerpt:
You have good reason to "hate evil," for just consider what harm it has already caused you. What a world of mischief sin has brought into your heart! Sin blinded you so that you could not see the beauty of the Savior; it made you deaf so that you could not hear the Redeemer's tender invitations. Sin turned your feet into the way of death and poured poison into the very fountain of your being; it tainted your heart and made it "deceitful above all things, and desperately sick."

It's a Jungle

2007-05-25T07:31:00.000-05:00

Taken from Weekly Devotional by Max Lucado:
The story is told of a man on an African safari deep in the jungle. The guide before him had a machete and was whacking away the tall weeds and thick underbrush. The traveler, wearied and hot, asked in frustration, “Where are we? Do you know where you are taking me? Where is the path?!” The seasoned guide stopped and looked back at the man and replied, “I am the path.”
How often do we get frustrated with not knowing the direction that God is taking us? However, usually we are most frustrated because we are not considering the direction that God is taking us, but instead, are focused on where our wordly "leaders" are taking us.
A large majority of the time, my times of frustration are a result of losing sight and faith in My Navigator.
If you are frustrated, irritated or discouraged, take a look at Psalms 46; pay particular attention to verses 1-5 and 10.

1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 8 Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. 10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Galvin

2007-05-19T00:11:00.000-05:00

While looking and listening at the Free Music site, I heard a song that really caught my attention. I wanted to know who wrote and sang it, so I went to his site. What I found deeply moved me, and I would like to share it with you.
Galvin is a young Singaporean man who has recently come to Christ. His testimony is profoundly touching to me. You can read it at his website or view it a video explaining it. I recommend viewing both.
God has obviously blessed him with many talents including musical voice, composing, artistic ability....etc, but Galvin would likely tell you that his greatest blessing received has been God revealing Himself to Galvin and his family.

Debt Free

2007-05-15T08:47:00.000-05:00

My wife and I are currently undertaking a major overhaul of our financial habits by implementing lessons learned from Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace seminar. One of the keys to accomplishing financial peace is removing debt and the tremendous burdens that debt can cause.
In this world today, it is very rare to find an adult that does not have debt. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to find adults that are absolutely overwhelmed by debt. I have been there, too. It is a desperate feeling to see the bills come in every month and having the realization that I am not in control of my finances. What a nauseating feeling to see the pile of debt and recognizing that your monthly income is greatly smaller than your monthly expenses. It is no wonder that finances are cited as the primary reason for most divorces and in the top 3 of reasons for suicide. WHY? Because, when you are faced with such an ugly monster that you yourself have created, there often appears to be no answer.
If this is where you are today financially, I highly recommend that you take a look at what Dave Ramsey has to offer in terms of regaining control of spending and reduction of debt.

NOW, imagine if someone would come to you and offer to accept all of your debt, and pay it all for you with no strings attached, no IOU. Imagine the relief. Imagine how it would impact you the rest of your life. Imagine how it would radically impact your family. Imagine the absolute freedom that it would give you to be the person that you would like to be and to do things for the ones that you love. Imagine how you would respond to that person that gave you such a remarkable gift. Imagine the joy!

Jesus Christ has done this for you!
The ugly debt of sin that we ourselves have created, that has no answer, that is corrupting the peace of our lives, that is interfering with our ability to give of ourselves to our loved ones, that is so amazingly overwhelming, and that appears to have no end in sight, HAS been paid in full upon the cross.
So NOW, imagine the relief. Imagine how it would impact you the rest of your life. Imagine how it would radically impact your family. Imagine the absolute freedom that it would give you to be the person that you would like to be and to do things for the ones that you love. Imagine how you would respond to that person that gave you such a remarkable gift. Imagine the joy!
Here is an excerpt from Alistair Begg's daily devotion for today:
We are now--even now--pardoned; even now are our sins put away; even now we stand in the sight of God accepted, as though we had never been guilty. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."(Romans 8:1)

Max Lucado - Manna

2007-05-11T12:28:00.000-05:00

Max Lucado - Manna From Heaven story

Max Lucado has always been one of my favorite Christian writers, and when I think of him, I have to think of my sister-in-law Renee. She is the one that introduced me to his writings. Renee does a fair share of writing herself, and after I read the above linked story, it struck me that Renee and Max both have the ability to relate to the reader through simply illustrated terminology and imagery.
I look forward to letting my kids experience the manna from heaven experience.

Get Service

2007-05-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

If you've never been to SermonSpice.com, it is worth the visit. It is a for profit site that sales video clips that can be used in church services or at Bible study type events. There are a bunch of Mother's Day items available right now; some that are sappy and sentimental, and some that are just funny or thought provoking.

I have a bunch of favorites:
MeChurch - depicts a church that tries to bend over backwards to meet everyones needs.
Evangelism Linebacker-linebacker goes around tackling people who are not sharing their faith.
It's All About Me - worship singer sings selfish praise songs to himself.

Tonight, I found one that was profound. It has some Matrix or 6th Sense qualities to it. It is called Get Service, and it makes you wonder how different your response to the world would be if you really understood the needs of others.

What's In Your Offering Plate?

2007-05-10T12:44:00.000-05:00

The topic of stewardship has been interesting to me over the past few years because a few years ago I learned that my long-held notion of stewardship was only partially right. In the past, as soon as someone said "stewardship" I immediately tuned out because I knew that they were talking about giving money, and I felt I already knew what I needed to know about that. Well come to find out, there is so much more to stewardship than the offering of money.
Likewise, there is much more to giving an offering to God than just putting money in the plate. Psalms 27:6 gives one example of this: ...I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord.
The Lord counts our praises as an offering as well. So, as you receive a blessing from God, voice your pleasure and thank Him sincerely.
Also, as you are singing hymns of praise and worship to God at church, remember that you are not just singing a song to set the mood for your worship or for your enjoyment/entertainment. Remember that you are offering Him your shouts of joy and singing as a sacrifice because your Creator is so deserving of the praise.

7 Words of Christ

2007-05-06T23:46:00.000-05:00

Here is a well thought out look at the last 7 phrases uttered by Christ while on the cross.
Seven Words

National Day of Prayer - GFBC Event

2007-05-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Garrett FBC will be holding a National Day of Prayer evening prayer event tonight at 7pm. The primary focus of the National Day of Prayer is for praying Christians to unite to petition God on behalf of our leaders and those who are in authority over us, as we are instructed to do in 1 Timothy 2:1-2: "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."
As you humbly come before the Lord and seek His face, please pray that these men and women will be granted divine wisdom, guidance and strength to fulfill their important roles.
For a better understanding of what the National Day of Prayer organization would have you pray, take a look at What To Pray.
Pay particular attention to THE FREEDOM FIVE just passed the midway point of the page.

The World is Not Your Friend

2007-05-03T07:43:00.000-05:00

Yet another daily devotional from Alistair Begg. As you walk further and further following Christ, it would seem that the walk would somehow get easier. I haven't found that to be the case thus far. Based upon the writings of some the Christian "greats", I reckon an easier walk is just wishful thinking. I don't recall reading anywhere in Paul's writings where he states, "Everything is going just great now. The Lord has blessed me with vacation, sunshine and plenty of relaxation. Yep. Everything is great."
This daily devotional explores the concept that "the world is not your friend." So, when the world is not treating hunky and dory, don't be shocked. It's not really your friend.

Expect trouble, then, Christian, when you look beneath you. Then look around you. Where are you? You are in enemy country, a stranger and an alien. The world is not your friend. If it is, then you are not God's friend, for whoever is the friend of the world is the enemy of God. Be certain that you will find enemies everywhere. When you sleep, remember that you are resting on the battlefield; when you travel, suspect an ambush in every hedge.

Take a look at the entirety of this daily devotional. If you get half way through it and start feeling discouraged, overwhelmed and scared, take heart. The ending is good. The victory has already been decided.

Free Music

2007-05-02T17:15:00.000-05:00

If you like praise and worship type music and you are a fan of not paying for stuff, check out 4Praise.com
This site has a 1000's of songs that can be downloaded or just listened to. Many of them also have lyrics, MIDI and chords available. I did not see a single artist name that I recognized or a song title that I recognized, but of the 10 songs I've listened to, 9 were good to great. The EVENTS page was very good, and has listings by state of Christian groups (that I have heard of) that are playing this year. While there, I saw that ApologetiX will be in Owensboro in July.

The 3 Young Trees Parable

2007-05-01T23:12:00.000-05:00

The following story was taken from the daily devotional page at Persecution.com, which is the website for The Voice of the Martyrs which is an interdenominational organization working with Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ. They have over 30 offices around the world with staff members from many different denominations, all working with the common goal of helping the suffering church.

The Parable of the Three Young Trees
In a forest one day, three young trees all agreed to pray that they would be used for some noble purpose rather than decay from old age.

The first tree wanted to become a manger where tired cattle could feed after a long day’s work. God rewarded the tree for having such modesty. It became a very special manger—the one in which the Son of God was laid.

The second tree prayed that it might become a boat. The prayer was answered, and soon its fine wood sheltered a very special passenger—the Son of God. It heard Jesus calm a fierce storm by saying, “Peace, be still.” The tree counted its life as worthwhile in order to witness such a scene.

The third tree, however, was made into a large cross to serve as an instrument of suffering. The tree was initially deeply disappointed in its fate. However, one day Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to its limbs. Strange, but the cross did not hear groaning and cursing as on other crosses. Instead it heard the Son of God offer words of love and divine forgiveness —words that opened paradise to a repentant thief.

The tree then understood that its part in the crucifixion of Jesus provided for the salvation of humankind.

Devout Non-Belief

2007-05-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I was naive, ignorant, blind, shielded, deceived, non-perceptive, or just did not pay attention in the past, but until recently I always thought that people could be classified fairly easily: either they were theists (believed in a supreme being) or were atheists. And with the latter classification, I believed that the non-believers either had never really heard a believable form of theism or had heard it and rejected it. End of story.
I have recently seen more and more indications that many non-believers are not merely just non-believers. They are, in fact, ardent, devout, pious, fanatical, staunch believers of their non-belief. I have come across article after article, blog comment after blog comment, YouTube video after video, etc., of some non-believer spewing their non-belief beliefs. In a sick way, it is somewhat humorous to me to think of this spewing non-believer as being the identical twin of the Bible thumping Holy-roller that he so greatly despises. It would make a great comedic movie having some poor average Joe living in a home directly between the two.
My point is this... There is a very intelligent, highly motivated, highly dedicated, overly ardent, mobilized army of non-believers that are progressively becoming highly organized, focused and committed to their ideals and beliefs. They are not sitting back and being merely humored by "those silly Christians and their ridiculous beliefs." No. They are, frankly, quite upset with the God believing people of the world, and believe that a majority of the world's problems have either been created or have been perpetuated by God-believers.
There are multiple concerns that could be discussed regarding the organization of non-believers, but I want to address 2:

1.) With organization comes political persuasiveness.
2) The non-belief promotional information seems to multiply daily in mass and in creativity.

Regarding #1, take a look at FFRF which is The Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. The FFRF is an educational group working for the separation of state and church. Its purposes, as stated in its bylaws, are to promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to non-theism. This is one organization and one website among a multitude of similar ones. It is nearly impossible to Google a religious type keyword without getting hits by one of these type sites. More importantly, the organizations and sites, for the most part, are not fly-by-night type ventures. They are well thought out, well articulated and highly persuasive.
To understand what I'm sharing regarding #2, take a look at a site like GodTube.com and read the comments that follow some of the content. You will find comments from people who are ranting regarding their agenda of non-belief, and often the comments have very little or nothing to do with the content of the video. Or, go to a site like YouTube, and search for Christianity content. You will find, again, very well thought out, well articulated, highly persuasive and extremely creative God-belief bashing.
It would appear that, in a world desperately in need of a Saviour, the pathway to the Way, the Truth and the Light is becoming increasingly harder to perceive.
So, if you, as a Christian, believe that you are serving God to your fullest by attending church services on Sunday mornings, praying on occassion and reading some scripture, maybe you could learn something about living an active life of belief by studying the life of some of these flag-waving non-believers. Just a thought.

Please Don't Give Me What I Deserve

2007-04-30T07:17:00.000-05:00

As a teenager, I wrote a poem in which the subject is crying out to God, complaining about how miserable his life has become and how unfair God has been to him so far. He then yells out, "God! Give me what I deserve!" Well, God hears that prayer, and rewards him with Job type tribulation, and each possession and relationship that he was given to him by God is taken away. The final line has God telling him, "You do not even deserve your life."
This morning, I was reminded of this poem by Alistair Begg's daily devotional, "AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL GRUMBLED." In this devotional, Alistair discusses the grumblings of Christians today and throughout history. Within the devotional, he asks the question, "Are you punished as severely as your sins deserve?"
That is a sobering question to ponder when you feel that you need to grumble to God about how unfair he has been to you.

Trading My Sorrow - Amish Style

2007-04-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

As a result of my wife's cousin Marlene living near and spending much time with many of the Amish in an area not far from Fort Wayne, Indiana, I have recently developed a particular interest in learning about these seemingly odd people.
My previous knowledge of the Amish was much like yours probably is. My first real memory of the Amish came from a Weird Al video, "Amish Paradise." I've heard comedians make fun of their life choices such as not using automobiles, phones or modern appliances. I always assumed that these folks were just idiotic. .....I now fully believe that I am idiotic. We all are.
The Amish got it right. They are not idiotic. They are living life at a pace that is much more conducive to having real relationships with our Maker, our spouses, our families and our friends and community. What kind of relationship do you have with your community? Chances are, the answer is "What relationship?"
Prior to singing "Trading My Sorrow" last week, I shared a story that was told by Richard Blackaby in which the pastor of a church in South Africa was shot by one of his own members in the church. The gunman then killed himself. The wife of the pastor demonstrated her love for her Lord and Savior by insisting that the church family embrace, comfort and financially assist the family of the killer as they were doing to her. She traded her sorrow and pain for the joy of the Lord.
I am sure that few do not recall the shooting that took place Oct 2nd, 2006 in a one room school house in Amish Country in Lancaster, PA. The killer, Charles Roberts IV, killed 5 and injured 5 young girls 13 years of age or younger. He then killed himself.
Once again, in this modern world where we are so smart, and the Amish are so backwards (sarcasm is intended), the Amish got it right. Here is a link to how the families of the victims responded. Amish Response
And, here is a link to how the family of the killer responded in kind. Roberts Family Response
Honestly, I have no idea how I would respond if faced with the tragedy that these folks experienced. But, I do know that I fully believe that the way they responded served God, the Roberts family, the victims, the survivors and themselves in the most positive way. That is a true living breathing example of living by faith. The actions of those fine people spoke volumes more regarding God's love, God's mercy, God's strength and Christ's ability to heal than any book or sermon ever could present.

Camp Nathanael

2007-04-28T22:52:00.000-05:00

My wife, Debi, and I took part in a "Couples Retreat" at Camp Nathanael in Knott County, KY this weekend. It was an excellent experience for us, and will likely be an event that we will look back on years from now and say, "That really made a positive impact on our relationship." This event takes place annually, and is held the last weekend of April. If I remember correctly, this was the 16th such event held here. Our cousins Tim and Kim, who invited us to attend, have been to the retreat 13 different times, and plan on returning as many more as the Lord will allow.
The retreat was remarkable for many reasons: excellent speaker, thought provoking knee slapping skits, excellent subject matter, excellent food, calming environment, fun activities, excellent food, great accommodations, lots of laughter, great worship music, great staff, great fellow retreaters, and did I mention excellent food?
I highly recommend that all couples consider attending this event next year. Further, I recommend that you go to the Camp Nathanael website, and learn more about this amazing place that has been performing an amazing ministry for 75 years now. They have events going on year round for all age groups. I will be creating more posts in the future regarding events.

Why Pray When I Can Worry?

2007-04-27T10:12:00.000-05:00

One of the speakers at the Great Commission Prayer Conference summed up a lot of prayer lives as being like a relationship with a vending machine. In essence, utilizing prayer only when a need arises.
Unfortunately, the reality is that at times many of us don't have a praying relationship that meets that meager standard. I will be the first to confess that I often seek God's help regarding issues only after I've already exhausted every other possible solution. I was just beating myself up regarding that very issue yesterday, and lo and behold, look what Alistair Begg's daily devotional discusses:
It is strange how little use we make of the spiritual blessings that God gives us, but it is even stranger that we make such little use of God Himself. Though He is "our God," we scarcely give ourselves to Him, and we ask so little of Him. How seldom do we seek counsel at the hands of the Lord! How often do we go about our business without seeking His guidance! In our troubles how we constantly struggle to bear our burdens ourselves instead of casting them upon the Lord, that He may sustain us!
Take a look at the entire article and the related scripture. And, seek Him today in faith with your cares, worries, stresses, pains, decisions and needs. Daily Devotion

I'm Trading My Sorrows

2007-04-19T16:56:00.000-05:00

Sunday, we will be singing I'm Trading My Sorrows in church. The message of the song is clear, "Give it up to the Lord. Regardless of what happens to you in this world, he's got better things in store."
While singing this song, I recognize that all the trials, pains, ills, hurts, sorrows and shame that I may suffer today can be used for God's good someday. Thus, my prayer is "Here I am God. Use me."
Take a look at the song's author's motivation for writing it at Trading My Sorrows

National Day of Prayer

2007-04-19T10:49:00.000-05:00

Coming off our recent 24 hour prayer and fasting vigil Easter weekend, our church seemed to have a much needed shot in the arm in terms of seeking God's face. This past week, however, has seen many challenges, not the least of these being the flooding that prevented us from holding services on Sunday or the emotional/spiritual baggage associated with being bombarded by the tragedy at Virginia Tech on Monday. With adversities, as we have seen, comes the additional responsibility of a praying church to increase their emphasis on seeking God's Will through prayer, fasting, scripture reading and meditation.
The National Day of Prayer will be held on May the 3rd. Our pastor has requested that we consider holding another 24 hour prayer and fasting vigil in honor of this day. So, you may be asking, "What is this Day of Prayer thing?" Well, here is a site to go to in order to learn more about it.
National Day of Prayer
Their mission is simple "The National Day of Prayer Task Force's mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the five centers of power: Church, Education, Family, Government and Media. "
Take a look at the history of the National Day of Prayer: History of NDP
Additionally, you may look at NDP Event Search to find a prayer event near you.

Below is the listed event that is closest to us:
Pikeville's Noon Event
Additional Information:
The public is invited to meet at the gazebo in the City Park. The DAVA will present colors. The Ministerial Association president will introduce prayers for our Families, our Churches and our Nation as people gather in groups to pray.
Location:
Pikeville City ParkCollege StreetPikeville, KY 41501
Start Date & Time:
05/03/2007 12:00 PM
End Date & Time:
05/03/2007 01:00 PM
Coordinator:
Debby Bailey (606) 424-1669 debby.bailey@wcg.org
MapQuest directions

ApologetiX song video

2007-04-19T00:29:00.000-05:00

I found a video made to the Bethlehemian Rhapsody. Very funny. Watch the whole thing including the credits.
god-wins-every-battle

Amazing Grace

2007-04-18T23:46:00.000-05:00

I attended a Promise Keepers conference in 1995 at RFK in Washington DC. It was a spiritually transforming weekend for me and for thousands of other men. There were over 52,000 men in attendance at the event, and it was a thing of wonder to hear us all singing together praises and adorations to God.
One song that I remember singing was Amazing Grace. It was lead by a man named Wintley Phipps and literally transformed that football stadium into a heavenly place on earth. He shared his interpretation of the origins of the song. I have shared this story with multiple people over the past 12 years. Well tonight, I ran into a video of that very night at RFK, and if you will click on Amazing Grace, you can be transported back to 1995. Look carefully. I was sitting on the field section on the right, towards the middle, in the 6th to last row. You just might see me. Remember though, back then I had hair.

Cosmic Chicken

2007-04-17T16:39:00.000-05:00

It seems the Cosmic Egg that was the birth of our universe logically requires a Cosmic Chicken...

I love that quote. I don't care who you are, that's funny!!! Take a look at the article that contains it.

Purpose Driven Life in Neutral?

2007-04-14T23:44:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has experienced 40 days walking through the Purpose Driven Life book of Rick Warren's may be able to tell you what their purpose in life is. Hopefully so.
However, based upon postings on sites such as YouTube.com, and the like, one of the major turn offs that the unchurched world has with the churched world is that the vast majority of the churched world really doesn't have a very firm grasp of what their purpose is, what they believe and why. There are multiple individuals that I've seen on YouTube.com, who submit, on a regular basis, video discussions in which they rip to shreds an individual Christian's beliefs utilizing passages from a book that the Christian was not real clear on.....The Bible. These non-believers' biblical knowledge blew the Christian's knowledge away, and the non-believers were able to expose the Christian's lack of knowledge and lack of conviction. The non-believers sum up their videos with "the moral to this story is: Christianity is bonkers because it's followers have no clue what they believe."
This is unsettling to me on so many different levels. However, tonight I have spent some time reviewing short-clip documentary type videos created by a group of Christ followers at a site called Highway Video. (Look in the "Classics" section.) A majority of the 2-7 minute clips were simple roving reporter type films in which a guy with a mic would stop people on the street and ask various questions. Among the questions were: Do you pray?, What happens when you die?, What does it mean to be a Christian?, Is it always okay for 2 consenting adults to have sex?, Are people evil?, Why don't people go to church?, and How do you connect with God? The one that compelled me to create this post was, "What is your calling?"
The answers that were given to this simple question made me realize that humans, regardless whether they are of faith or not, really don't spend much of their time investing in meaningful soul searching pursuits. We are so caught up in the temporal issues that we are unable to even give hardly a moment of pause to something that would seem so vastly more important, such as "Why are you here? What is your purpose?"
Now most of us think that we know what our purpose is, but take this test: Write or record your purpose in five minutes or less. A majority of the people polled in the video, when initially approached with the question, "Do you have a calling?", the answer was absolutely "YES", but when questioned further with, "What is your calling?", these same folks obviously had never really given it any thought before or had become so far removed from their calling, they couldn't remember what it was.
In addition to non-believers not knowing their purpose, they also demonstrated a very poor understanding of what they did believe when it came to things such as life after death, morals, prayer, or the existense of a Creator. A majority of the answers sounded something like this, "I've never really thought about it all that much."
Now for the point. If Christianity is bonkers because a certain number of its believers are not fully clear on what they believe and why, then Non-belief is bonkers for the same reason. In reality, it would serve us all to spend some meaningful time understanding why we believe what we believe and having a clear understanding of what our individual purposes are.
If you would like to start today, here is a good starting point: The Purpose Driven Life.

How Great Thou Art

2007-04-14T21:35:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, we will be singing "How Great Thou Art" in church, and I was reviewing the lyrics to the song when I was struck by what a perfectly balanced song it is in terms of presenting a picture of who God is.

Verse 1:

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works Thy hands have made.

I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy power through-out the universe displayed.

Refrain:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee:

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Verse 2:

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

(Repeat Refrain.)

Verse 3:

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;

That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin:

(Repeat Refrain.)

Verse 4:

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration,

And there proclaim, my God. how great Thou art!

(Repeat Refrain.)

It starts off with a description of God as a mighty Creator and powerful being, moves on to discussing the beauty and grandeur of his creations, then discusses His amazing grace and love for us as demonstrated through the Gift of His Son, and finally, describes His Awesome Power over sin. He is worthy of us bowing down and humbly adoring Him. My God. How great Thou art!

My appreciation for these lyrics lead me to research the origin of the hymn. I came across the following site....
How Great Thou Art
The history of the song is worth reading. The site that contains this history is called
AllAboutGod.com. It has some well developed resources and materials for Christians, and looks like a great place to nudge anyone towards that may be curious about what this "Jesus stuff" is all about.

Probability of Earth Not Created By Supreme Being

2007-04-14T21:15:00.000-05:00

If you have ever wondered what the chances were of Earth just randomly being formed by some fluke of a celestial event such as the Big Bang take a look at this site.........
Theory of Relativity Video
I was a biology major in college, and I remember learning some of the things discussed here, but I've never seen it put together so logically. The world would have us believe that by believing in a Creator, we are being illogical, silly, foolish, simple minded and unscientific. If you take a look at what scientists say in regards to just how amazing our planet and existence is in the grand scheme of things, you would have to surmise that anyone that did not believe in a Supreme Creator must be illogical, silly, foolish, simple minded and unscientific. As our pastor has said, "If you don't believe that God created the earth, let me shake your hand because you obviously have a great deal more faith than I do." Faith, that is, in a theory that has about a one in 1,000,000,000,000,000 opportunity to be accurate at the very best.
After you watch the video, check out the site. It has much to explore. Feel free to invite to the site your scientific minded friends or family members who think that you are illogical, silly, foolish, simple minded and unscientific.

Johnny Lang

2007-04-12T22:01:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have never heard of Johnny Lang, he is an incredible musician with an incredible story. He received his first guitar when he was 13 and by the time he was 15, he had a Platinum album, "Lie to Me." Lang spent his teenage years with guitar legends like B.B. King and Buddy Guy and toured almost non-stop with the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and Sting. Altogether, he’s recorded five albums and earned a Grammy nomination.
Running with a crowd like that was probably a blast, but it had it's price, too. He became addicted to alcohol and drugs, and was fascinated with magical religions. He was as far from wanting a relationship with God as you may possibly imagine........ God chose him.
His testimony of his salvation is remarkable. It is evidence that you need to keep praying for those souls that you've been praying for. God can move anything or anyone.
Take a look at Johnny Lang's Testimony and see if you don't agree.
Also take a look at his website.

Praying Scripture

2007-04-12T07:33:00.001-05:00

I came across a bulletin board at ourchurch.com with a multitude of discussion points. In our efforts to diminish the quantity of temporal and self-centered prayers, shifting our focus to praying scriptural promises and praying for the kind of things that Jesus and the Apostles prayed for can only help. Here is an excerpt from the bulletin board. Click on "praying scripturally" to see more.

PRAYING SCRIPTURALLY
-Ask the Lord to send the people He wants to the fields He wants them in - Luke 10:1-3
-Ask the Lord to send hard working people to spread the Gospel -- - - Luke 10: 2
-Ask the Lord to give us opportunity to share the Gospel - Col.4:1-3
-Ask the Lord to give us the right words and the right way to say them - Col. 4:4
-Ask the Lord to make us bold but loving in our deliverance of the Gospel - Ephesians 6:18-19
-Ask the Lord to keep the government from interfering with the church, the ministers, and the
deliverance of the Gospel - 1 Timothy 2:1
-Ask the Lord to keep each minister/laborer shielded from their enemies - Romans 15:30
-Ask the Lord to help us believers to accept His Word when we hear it - Romans 15:29-30
-Ask the Lord to help us believers live clean lives above reproach - 2 Corinthians 13:7
-Ask the Lord to help us to remain constant in prayer - 1 Thes. 5:17

Fear of Change

2007-04-11T09:10:00.000-05:00

Henry Blackaby's daily devotional for 4/11/07 shares insight into the fear of change. Sometimes the fear is more deeply rooted than just the typical, "We can't do it different.....We've always done it this way." Sometimes the fear is a demonstration of resistance due to a heart that wants what it wants when it wants it.
Ask yourself the question, "Am I only being obedient when it fits my needs or is in my comfort zone?" What blessings are we missing out on because we are holding on to something else. Jamie Martin shared an old prayer request last night that sums it up pretty well.
"Lord, keep me in Your Will so that I'll stay out of Your way." Amen.

ApologetiX

2007-04-10T16:11:00.000-05:00

Anyone who loves the sound of secular music (but not necessarily the message), has a sense of humor, loves new ways of learning scriptural truths, and has found at least one of Weird Al's songs entertaining MUST check out this site and this band.
ApologetiX - parody band
I have heard two of their songs on XM-radio, "We're a parody band" (sung to the tune of Grand Funk Railroad's "We're an American band") and "Meshach" (sung to the tune of "Love Shack" by the B-52's). Both songs were very well done musically and lyrically. Both contained scriptural references. They were humorous but not overly edgy or offensive or disrespectful to The Word.
I have not heard but have seen the lyrics to their version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."Their version is "Bethlehemian Rhapsody" and tells the story of David and Goliath in rock-operatic fashion. Hilarious lyrics. I look forward to hearing it.

Roland Martin - Where did he come from?

2007-04-09T06:06:00.000-05:00

I don't know where Roland Martin came from, but I am very impressed with his ability to land himself on a big market channel like CNN primetime on a Friday night and discuss Christian matters with major Christian figures for an hour. Very impressive! His show Friday night included TD Jakes, Paula White, Jerry Falwell and Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life), and a majority of it was spent discussing the same issues that were discussed in his editorial Friday morning. The common theme throughout the show as "If Jesus where here now, how would he handle today's issues?"
Rick Warren stated that he thought that He would spend a great deal of His time with HIV/AIDS patients and referred to them as the "lepers of today." Interesting.
My overall take on the hour long show was that it was managed very well by Martin, allowed for some pointed discussion regarding real issues facing Christians and the world, and did not appear to be watered down nor overly slanted.

Winter Easter Wonderland

2007-04-07T14:54:00.000-05:00

Easter Egg Hunt 2007 occurred today at GFBC during a virtual blizzard. There were approximately 25 kids in attendance. We had all pretty much decided that it was too cold to hide the eggs outside, and had elected to hide them inside and just make the best of it. Well, while the kids were eating hotdogs, the sun came out and the wind calmed down. It was actually quite pleasant outside if wearing a jacket. So......... we decided to move the festivities outside and proceeded to scramble outside to hide eggs. After we had "hid" about 80% of the nearly one billion eggs that we had, the sun disappeared, the wind picked up to hurricane strength, the temperature dropped to seemingly -30 degrees and it began to snow your typical April blizzard quantities of snow. I say "hid" because we basically littered the ground with them all.
So, as you may guess, we were faced with a moral, ethical and potentially legal dilemma: Do we send our children out into the blizzard conditions to collect all types of candy and noise making, choking-hazard type toys that no parent would want to give a child? Or do we chalk it up as just one of those humorous twists in God's grand plan for our lives, keep our beloved children in the warm safety of the church facilities? Needless to say...........we then decided that since we had desecrated the church grounds with plastic orbs, that we may as well clean up our mess, and we couldn't possibly find anyone more willing or energetic about cleaning up such a mess as a bunch of 2-12 year old children who conveniently had presented to the occasion equipped with baskets that were ideal for the retrieval of such items. You bet!!!! We bundled them all up, pushed them out the door and sent them out in pursuit of the plastic treasures.
Granted, I am from South Texas, but it was a very surreal experience watching an Easter egg hunt during a winter weather advisory. I am pleased to announce that the kids absolutely had a ball. They were cackling with laughter as they scrambled around through the snow drifts. When it was all said and done, you just had to smile with a satisfied feeling that you have created some amazing memories for a bunch of kids. So, a few of them lost a finger or two to frost bite, but that just gives them another way to cherish the event that was Easter Egg Hunt GFBC 2007!
By the way, I have disposed of all photos and video of the event due to fears of social services interventions.

Women of Faith Conference

2007-04-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

My wife told me that she is interested in attending a conference called Women of Faith, so I checked it out on the web, and I was very pleased with what I saw. There is one in Columbus,OH the end of April. It looks good. Max Lucado is one of the many speakers along with Luci Swindoll (Chuck's sister), Sandi Patty, Sheila Walsh and multiple others.
It really looks like a quality program that takes place on a Friday nite and Saturday til 5pm. Basically 10.5 hours of program.

Over the course of the conference, you’ll have the opportunity to:

Renew your spirit with messages of hope and humor from the Women of Faith speaker team
Recharge your spiritual batteries with drama that tickles your funny bone and touches your heart (at the same time!)
Rejoice with music from top Christian music artists
Reconnect with God and each other as the WOF worship team leads an arena full of women in praise to God
Revitalize your life with resources that will help keep the conference experience alive all year
Relax in the comforting knowledge that God loves you – right where you are

These are all things that I think we could all use. I am going to encourage her to go, and to take as many friends as possible.

http://www.womenoffaith.com/conferences/columbus/
This is the link to the Columbus conference.

http://www.womenoffaith.com/About/whatsthis.asp
This is the link to info RE: Women of Faith

CNN.com Editorial: WWJD Really?

2007-04-06T16:59:00.000-05:00

My buddy Nathan pointed out an editorial in today's CNN.com editorial section called "What would Jesus really do?" by Roland Martin. Mr. Martin is states that he is a Christian who is concerned that we as Christians are becoming too concerned about our own hot-button issues and not concerned enough about issues that we don't feel directly affect us. He also states a concern that there is a lack of Christ-like love and compassion for others and that there is way too much hate language being used by Christians instead. Further, he voices a desire to see more unity among the Christian leaders of America. Here is a small portion his writings:

I'm looking for the day when Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Joyce Meyer, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, James Kennedy, Rod Parsley, " Patriot Pastors" and Rick Warren will sit at the same table as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Cynthia Hale, Eddie L. Long, James Meek, Fred Price, Emmanuel Cleaver and Floyd Flake to establish a call to arms on racism, AIDS, police brutality, a national health care policy, our sorry education system.
If they all say they love and worship one God, one Jesus, let's see them rally their members behind one agenda.
I stand here today not as a Republican or a liberal. And don't bother calling me a Democrat or a conservative. I am a man, an African-American man who has professed that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that's to whom I bow down.
If you concur, it's time to stop allowing a chosen few to speak for the masses. Quit letting them define the agenda.
So put on the full armor of God because we have work to do.

I thought that he had some very strong points that echo the points that the guys from TheChurchYouKnow.com are trying to make. Regardless of whether you agree with all of the points being made, you probably do agree that we need to be aware of what messages we are really conveying to the unchurched world. Are we focusing our attention where it really belongs? Are we really doing what Jesus would have us do?
What do you think?

Alistair Begg's Daily Devotional

2007-04-05T07:25:00.000-05:00

The following is today's daily devotion presented by truthforlife.org which is the website for Parkside Church in Cleveland, OH. The pastor there is Alistair Begg. He is a dynamic speaker with a keen sense of humor and a firey Scotish disposition. I discovered him on channel 170 on XM-Radio. You may hear him for free by going to his website and selecting ListenNow. He is worth hearing.

I thought this devotional was overwhelmingly appropriate today for multiple reasons. In particular, the following lines capture much of what was discussed at the recent Prayer Conference: "Notice, Christian, that Jesus does not suffer so as to prevent your suffering. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you may endure it. Christ exempts you from sin, but not from sorrow. Remember that, and expect to suffer."

April 5, 2007
“. . . LAID ON HIM THE CROSS, TO CARRY IT BEHIND JESUS.”Luke 23:26 We see in Simon's carrying the cross a picture of the work of the church throughout all generations; she is the cross-bearer after Jesus. Notice, Christian, that Jesus does not suffer so as to prevent your suffering. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you may endure it. Christ exempts you from sin, but not from sorrow. Remember that, and expect to suffer. But let us comfort ourselves with this thought, that in our case, as in Simon's, it is not our cross but Christ's cross that we carry. When you are persecuted for your piety, when your faith is the occasion of cruel jokes, then remember it is not your cross, it is Christ's cross; and what a privilege it is to carry the cross of our Lord Jesus!You carry the cross after Him. You have blessed company; your path is marked with the footprints of your Lord. The mark of His blood-red shoulder is upon that heavy burden. It is His cross, and He goes before you as a shepherd goes before his sheep. Take up your cross daily, and follow Him. Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. It is the opinion of some that Simon only carried one end of the cross, and not the whole of it. That is very possible. Christ may have carried the heavier part, against the transverse beam, and Simon may have borne the lighter end. Certainly that is the case with you; you only carry the light end of the cross Christ bore the heavier end. And remember, though Simon had to bear the cross for only a short while, it gave him lasting honor. Even so, the cross we carry is only for a little while at most, and then we shall receive the crown, the glory. Surely we should love the cross and, instead of shrinking from it, count it very dear, for it works out for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

The Church You Know

2007-04-05T00:07:00.000-05:00

I have recently discovered a website created by two guys who say they want to "see the body of Christ (i.e., the Church) transformed into a greater likeness of Christ. We love the Church. We are a part of the Church – not above it, not outside of it. All followers of Christ are on this journey together – a journey that starts with Christ, and remains in Him eternally."
At their website are multiple short video clips that remind you of a public service announcement. The clips are humorous, but also are quite thought provoking. The message of the clips appears to be less about humor, and more about making the point that to be in a relationship with Christ requires some effort on your own part. This could be said in regards to any type of relationship, I suppose.
Again, the clips are humorous and thought-provoking; however, they are definitely not for everybody. Some people will watch them and get their shins bruised. Some people will watch them and feel that certain clips are overly silly for such a serious topic. And some people will watch them and feel that they are being out right disrespectful.
I could see all three of these different peoples viewpoints as having merit. However, the value that I see that these guys' ministry provides is a fresh perspective. These two guys are church going guys who love and serve God. They are stepping outside of their Christian shoes for a moment and are asking, "Are we being relevant? What is the unchurched world seeing when they see us? Are we being Christ-like, or are we being driven by tradition or the desire to please self."
Although you and I may not agree with their type of humor, if we truly want to reach the people that we are not reaching, then we may want to ask got to radically examine us, and to reveal to us the ways in which he wants us to serve Him.

Take a look at www.thechurchyouknow.com and let me know what you think.

Great Commission Prayer Conference

2007-04-04T20:55:00.000-05:00

The Great Commission Prayer Conference March 30-31 in Louisville, KY was sensational. From start to finish, I have nothing but praise for the job that Eric Allen and his associates did in preparing this year's conference. The speakers and musicians did amazing jobs, and the choice of Richard Blackaby, as the guest speaker was excellent.
Each year I have come away from the conference with one main thought to chew on and to share with my brothers and sisters at my home church.

Last year's thought was:
Listen - God still speaks
This year the primary message I brought home with me was:
Pray for the Kingdom and let God use you for the Kingdom.

This was exactly the message I needed to hear. God wants us to rely on His sufficiency and on his plan for us. Pray for His Will to be done and then expect your life to be used in His Way; even if it means not sleeping for multiple nights for multiple months.
God is able to use all things to make good come from
it..............however, the "good" may not be evident to you at the time. Trust that He will use your life in a meaningful way. Chances are that He already is.

At lunch on Saturday, many of the prayer coordinators/directors/ leaders in attendance at the conference had the pleasure of meeting for dialogue. [It was called a Dialogue Lunch - someone asked me what that meant, and I said, "I think it means that we may be eating our words."]
This lunch was helpful to many of us for multiple different reasons: new ideas, networking, re-energizing, refocusing and getting oriented. For me it was reassuring to see so many like-minded people with similar stories, similar concerns, similar failings, similar victories, similar frustrations, similar goals and definitely similar love for a Savior who loved us first.

I look forward to growing in Christ with you all, and I pray that God will let His Kingdom to come into your lives in a real way, that He will provide you with your needs so that you continue to seek Him first in all things, and that his continuous presence will be sensed by you through every waking hour of your lives.

God Bless you and keep you near to Him,

First Blog from a man in need of a Savior

2007-04-04T17:07:00.000-05:00

Greetings blogging world. It is absolutely amazing how in a world where people are too busy to sit down and have dinner with each other, too busy to sit on the front porch swing, too busy to visit each other and too busy to spend a few minutes in prayer to a Lord that desires a relationship with them, that Blogging has absolutely exploded in popularity. I have been impressed with many of the sites that I've visited in terms of thoughtfulness, creativity, and clarity. Without being overly idealistic, it is almost as if journaling in this fashion has become a type of prayer method for some people...... expressing their pains, joys, fears, hopes, frustrations, needs and awe of their life experience.
Over the past decade, I have become increasingly convinced that humans are utilizing their brains less and less. It has been my contention that a majority of Americans have very rare occasions when they actually venture into an original thought, and are blissfully walking through life as dumb driven cattle; similar to a close up on Homer Simpson's brain processes displaying a TV Test Pattern. However, scanning through multiple different blogs, over the past few weeks, has radically altered my opinion. I have read real people writing on topics of meaning utilizing correct grammar and making valid points that obviously required the use of grey matter.
So, what's the point? My thought is that if we are actually capable of generating original thoughts and are capable of finding time in this overly busy world to reach out to the world to express ourselves and to respond to others' expressions of self, then maybe we can become capable of treating each other with love as Jesus expressed as major priority.
It is my hope/desire to utilize this blog not as an opportunity to demonstrate my immense intelligence......... because it usually only takes about a sentence, if not just a word or two, to demonstrate my amazing ignorance.... but, instead to utilize it as a way to reach out to a world in need of a Savior. I pray that God will be able to utilize His servants to encourage each other, extend their hand to others and do His Will for the purposes of His Kingdom.
Heavenly Father, you are the maker of all things and you are deserving of our praises and our service. Thank you, God, for your forgiveness, mercy and faithfulness. Thank you for the beauty that surrounds us, and allowing us to share in this world that you created for us. Forgive me, Lord, for my pride in myself and quickness to judge others in my own ignorance. I ask you to mold me into the servant that you would like me to be. Conform me to meet your needs. Lord, I ask you to place an urgency within me to seek your Kingdom first, and supply my needs for seeking your Kingdom. Utilize our website and this blog to your glory and purposes only. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen