Monday, October 25, 2004
At Just the Right Time
I'm enjoying writing more and more. Not that I really have a lot to write about, but...Romans 5:6, Paul states that "at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." I suppose it could be broken down several ways, but the main three that stick out to me are:
1) just the right time--I've often wondered about the "what if" Jesus had come in today's time with Cell Phones, the Web, Guns, etc. But that really is useless to think about. God's appointed time was part of the redemptive plan. Thank you God for your sovereignty!
2) when we were still powerless--."we" were powerless up to that point. All "we" could do was burn an animal and ask the priest to take care of the rest. But now "we" are no longer powerless, we have resurrection power.
3) the ungodly--that is us. And yet it is his that covers us and presents us in a way that God can truly look upon us.
Kind of quick but wanted to get this out.
Be blessed
1) just the right time--I've often wondered about the "what if" Jesus had come in today's time with Cell Phones, the Web, Guns, etc. But that really is useless to think about. God's appointed time was part of the redemptive plan. Thank you God for your sovereignty!
2) when we were still powerless--."we" were powerless up to that point. All "we" could do was burn an animal and ask the priest to take care of the rest. But now "we" are no longer powerless, we have resurrection power.
3) the ungodly--that is us. And yet it is his that covers us and presents us in a way that God can truly look upon us.
Kind of quick but wanted to get this out.
Be blessed
Thursday, October 21, 2004
The Jesus Prayer
My brother reminded me this morning of the power of unceasing prayers. A breath prayer that he shared with me (which I had heard of and others may have as well) is commonly called the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." Richard Foster tells of an anonymous russian peasant from the 19th century who tells the moving story of his search to pray without ceasing in The Way of a Pilgrim. "Once he learned the Jesus Prayer, he prayed it continuously until the prayer moved from his mind into his heart and finally throughout his whole body--becoming so internalized that it was present with him at all times, whether he was awake or asleep."
Foster suggests that whether we use this prayer or make up our own to begin praying it as often as possible. "Allow God to plant it dee into the depths of your spirit...Commenting on breat prayers, Theophane the Recluse notes, 'Thoughts continue to jostle in your head like mosquitoes. To stop this jostling you must bind the mind with one thought, or the thought of One only. An aid to this is a short prayer, which helps the mind to become simple and unified."
(Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home.)
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."
Foster suggests that whether we use this prayer or make up our own to begin praying it as often as possible. "Allow God to plant it dee into the depths of your spirit...Commenting on breat prayers, Theophane the Recluse notes, 'Thoughts continue to jostle in your head like mosquitoes. To stop this jostling you must bind the mind with one thought, or the thought of One only. An aid to this is a short prayer, which helps the mind to become simple and unified."
(Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home.)
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Dark & Light
First off, let's go Astros!!! (And while I'm at, go Sox!)
On Monday night, I was looking forward to watching baseball and football, just constant channel flipping, but at about 7 all the power went out. Not just our house but the whole neighborhood. Complete darkness! No stormy weather, it just went out. The kids all panicked a bit, claiming that they would all have to sleep in our bedroom. I got a flashlight that I keep next to my bed and we went about lighting candles throughout the house just to offer a bit of light. Each child wanted to hold "my flashlight" so while they were taking turns, I fumbled around the garage for the area where we keep other flashlights. I think we must have 11 and 2 of those worked. So I'm searching for batteries for the lights so that each kid can have there own. (I'm secretly looking for batteries to put into one of the kids jam box so that I could get the game on.)
Why the detail? Well, complete darkness is a freaky thing. The very rooms that our kids so easily walk in and out of throughout the day and night, all of a sudden are out of the question because there is no light. There rooms, which they have memorized where everything is, no longer are safe because of the complete darkness. Even our dog in the backyard new something wasn't right. But, when we cast light anywhere, the darkness fled and with it, the fear.
That's what God's Light is all about, and we need to constantly cast it in the areas of our life that remain in darkness. To stay in the darkness, ultimately is a very frightful and lonely place.
On Monday night, I was looking forward to watching baseball and football, just constant channel flipping, but at about 7 all the power went out. Not just our house but the whole neighborhood. Complete darkness! No stormy weather, it just went out. The kids all panicked a bit, claiming that they would all have to sleep in our bedroom. I got a flashlight that I keep next to my bed and we went about lighting candles throughout the house just to offer a bit of light. Each child wanted to hold "my flashlight" so while they were taking turns, I fumbled around the garage for the area where we keep other flashlights. I think we must have 11 and 2 of those worked. So I'm searching for batteries for the lights so that each kid can have there own. (I'm secretly looking for batteries to put into one of the kids jam box so that I could get the game on.)
Why the detail? Well, complete darkness is a freaky thing. The very rooms that our kids so easily walk in and out of throughout the day and night, all of a sudden are out of the question because there is no light. There rooms, which they have memorized where everything is, no longer are safe because of the complete darkness. Even our dog in the backyard new something wasn't right. But, when we cast light anywhere, the darkness fled and with it, the fear.
That's what God's Light is all about, and we need to constantly cast it in the areas of our life that remain in darkness. To stay in the darkness, ultimately is a very frightful and lonely place.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Monday Afternoon
I've answered all the emails, made phone calls, gone to meetings read other various things and now I'm ready to head home. Want to "root, root, root for the Astros!" and read the last part of Harry Potter to my oldest!
Life really is good! We had the best time last night at our church building. We had Kidzblitz (www.kidzblitz.com) come and what an amazing night. I got to participate as the team captain for the blue team. My voice is still hurting as is the rest of my body from the funky girations to the music. I poofed in the face with flour and I swallowed a worm (no, it doesn't taste like chicken!). Our children's minister promised that if the kids, 5th grade and down, numbered 200 that we could dump worms all over her. They did it with 279 (plus another 120 parents). Amazing stuff.
But still better! We introduced a new member yesterday morning who's story is all God. He is driving by on a Wednesday night and the radio program says that "you need to be at a church right now, get involved, find a place." So he pulled into our parking lot and was greeted and fell in love with the body of Christ here at Southlake. Neat right, well (keeping in mind that he was introduced as a new member yesterday), he came to kidzblitz even though he had no kids and enjoyed it and then stuck around and asked for vaccuum to clean off the stage (somewhat of a big mess when the big hammer came out and squashed the dried oatmeal box!). I thanked him several times and spied on one occasion that as he was vaccuuming on our stage, at one point he looked up a the cross and smiled a very humble smiled and went on with the task. His only need of recognition was from His heavenly Father, my praises to him, while nice, meant nothing compared to this. What are you doing to serve: at church, at home, at work, in public?
I think I'm going to enjoy this blogging stuff.
One final comment, I'm a worship leader and not only love what I get to do, I'm very thankful for it. But I found that at a recent conference where I got to lead worship with a lot of other worship leaders in the audience, I'm very arrogant and love the lime light...there's this hunger for acknowledgement. So I found myself wanting the speakers that followed to say something about how amazing my leading was or how great that song was. I share this now because my whole desire is to bring the evils of my life into the Light. By doing this I feel that I have that much more ammunition against Satan. I used (use) this need for acknowledgement as a food to feed my pride-filled soul. An amazing and aweful addiction. And so I begin by treating it as such, one day at a time I deal with the joy and satisfaction that I can be confident in Jesus Christ and what God has made me to be. He validates me and really, I hold a power to validate myself. So that's a little bit of my journey.
Grace, mercy & peace,
Life really is good! We had the best time last night at our church building. We had Kidzblitz (www.kidzblitz.com) come and what an amazing night. I got to participate as the team captain for the blue team. My voice is still hurting as is the rest of my body from the funky girations to the music. I poofed in the face with flour and I swallowed a worm (no, it doesn't taste like chicken!). Our children's minister promised that if the kids, 5th grade and down, numbered 200 that we could dump worms all over her. They did it with 279 (plus another 120 parents). Amazing stuff.
But still better! We introduced a new member yesterday morning who's story is all God. He is driving by on a Wednesday night and the radio program says that "you need to be at a church right now, get involved, find a place." So he pulled into our parking lot and was greeted and fell in love with the body of Christ here at Southlake. Neat right, well (keeping in mind that he was introduced as a new member yesterday), he came to kidzblitz even though he had no kids and enjoyed it and then stuck around and asked for vaccuum to clean off the stage (somewhat of a big mess when the big hammer came out and squashed the dried oatmeal box!). I thanked him several times and spied on one occasion that as he was vaccuuming on our stage, at one point he looked up a the cross and smiled a very humble smiled and went on with the task. His only need of recognition was from His heavenly Father, my praises to him, while nice, meant nothing compared to this. What are you doing to serve: at church, at home, at work, in public?
I think I'm going to enjoy this blogging stuff.
One final comment, I'm a worship leader and not only love what I get to do, I'm very thankful for it. But I found that at a recent conference where I got to lead worship with a lot of other worship leaders in the audience, I'm very arrogant and love the lime light...there's this hunger for acknowledgement. So I found myself wanting the speakers that followed to say something about how amazing my leading was or how great that song was. I share this now because my whole desire is to bring the evils of my life into the Light. By doing this I feel that I have that much more ammunition against Satan. I used (use) this need for acknowledgement as a food to feed my pride-filled soul. An amazing and aweful addiction. And so I begin by treating it as such, one day at a time I deal with the joy and satisfaction that I can be confident in Jesus Christ and what God has made me to be. He validates me and really, I hold a power to validate myself. So that's a little bit of my journey.
Grace, mercy & peace,
Monday, October 11, 2004
First Try
This is a first shot at blogging. I've enjoyed reading some friends stuff and thought it would be great to have something to jot down thoughts each day. A much needed journal, if you will.
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