Friday, July 3, 2009

A Prayer for Patriots

This is my prayer for our nation this Fourth of July:

Dear God,

Please do not send us anymore politicians. We have more than we can stand. They fill Washington DC, our statehouses and even our city and village halls. Lord, we don’t need anymore politicians in America, but we sure could use some patriots.

We do not need politicians who stand up for their party in blind loyalty; we need patriots who stand for your principles in uncompromising love for their country.

We do not need politicians who use people to seek power; we need patriots who will use power to serve people.

We do not need politicians who give their allegiance to lobbyist; we need patriots who give their all for liberty.

We do not politicians who will foist our freedoms away; we need patriots who will fight for our freedoms everyday.


God, our nation is in trouble. We need you now more than ever. And so my prayer is this, please send us some patriots… before it is too late

In Jesus name

Amen

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Proverbs 14:34

Sunday, April 19, 2009

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Is there ever a time when I should not tell the truth?

Ephesians 4:29 says “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Four verses earlier Paul says “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”

Yet we do have some biblical incidents when people lied and was blessed by God. One is in Exodus 1. Here, we’re told that the Egyptians began to fear the Israelites that lived in their country. And the Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew mid-wives who always helped women deliver their babies: "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live."The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive." (Exodus 1:16-19)

Now, were the mid-wives honest? No… they lied!These women were speaking to the Hitler of their day, the Stalin of their era. He was thug intent upon murdering all the boy children in Israel. Had they told him the truth there is no telling what evil he would have devised.

BUT THEY LIED! Yep they did. And how did God respond? “So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.” Exodus 1:20-21

He rewarded them! WHY? Because, what they did, they did for God. They didn’t lie because they feared for their own lives. They lied because they “feared God.”

Is there any lesson from this event? What would you say to this statement? “The only time we shouldn’t be telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth… is when that truth damages and destroys the people around us.” Does this wxcuse beign less than truthful in certain situations?

Jeff Strite shares the following story:
I once knew a man who was “honest” with his wife. He told her what a bad housekeeper she was. He told her what a rotten mother she was. He told her how unattractive she was. He emotionally brow beat her until she began to tell falsehoods to protect herself from his constant accusations.THEN when he caught her telling those lies… he told her that she was a liar.

Now what he told her always had a measure of truth to it.
· She probably wasn’t the best housekeeper in the world
· She probably wasn’t the perfect mother
· She may not have won any beauty contests
· AND she did lie to avoid his emotional abuse

This husband spoke “truth” to his wife: But it wasn’t a “wholesome” truthIt was NOT a truth he used to “edify” her. It was truth intended to drag her down and destroy her.

Paul tells us: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Eph. 4:29)And: We should always “Be kind and compassionate to one another... "
Ephesians 4:32

What do you think?

Sunday, January 25, 2009

A Lesson From my Sister's Blog

My sister has a blog that is often funny and inpisrational. This week she tells a story about and incident between her and her son Jack. It is cute and tells a powerful message hope you enjoy it.

I'm in the midst of Beth Moore's study, Believing God (It's very difficult for me to say Believing God instead of Believin' due to the impact of Steve Perry telling me "Don't stop believin'" all through my pre-teens.). I started attending this particular group around week 5 of the study, so I have been going back and watching the other lessons at night before I go to sleep. David somehow manages to dose off while I am doing this until I startle him with a random "Glory!" because when Beth tells somebody to say "Glory!", I know I am that somebody and I let it fly. "Glory!"

Beth also has us repeat a pledge with her at every session:

I believe God is who He says He is.
I believe God can do what He says He can do.
I believe I am who God says I am.
I believe I can do all things through Christ.
I believe God's word is alive and active in me.

Then at the end you declare "I'm believing God" complete with hand motions for emphasis. My struggles with doubt and distrust seem to multiply with my age as I get further away from that faith of a child, so reciting this pledge has been a great reminder to me to hold onto my belief. Anytime a fearful, distrusting thought pops in my head, Ive been stopping immediately and saying the pledge out loud. The looks on my children's face the first time I did it was priceless.

Now D.J. even jumps in with me. Johnny will applaud and cheer when I finish. Jack, however, is not so sure about this spontaneous pledging. Yesterday while waiting in line to pick D.J. up from school, I decided to just say the pledge out loud. As soon as I said, "Im believing God!" Jack declared, "Hey....mom, no, you don't be leavin' God. You stay with God" and then he started crying. "I don't want you to leave God". So then I had to attempt to explain to an almost four-year-old that BELIEVING is not the same as LEAVING. Now that's a daunting task. Who knew my innocent pledge would spark severe separation anxiety in my son? I guess you could say he's preached his first sermon.


From: http://walnutgrove1.blogspot.com/

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Glen Miller

On Tuesday a dear friend, mentor, teacher and shepherd went home. Glen Miller was a remarkable man. He taught me how to be a better husband, he taught me more about parenting than any person I have ever known. He was an elder who “smelled like sheep” because he was amongst them feeding, caring for and protecting them.

A successful businessman Glen would rather lose money than lose a friend or hurt the church. The last week of his battle against cancer he did not want pain medicine because he wanted to be alert when people came to see him. He told those who visited that he loved them and that God loved them. He shared with them the importance of family and the church. He finished strong.

His family and friends will miss him; our church has lost a patriarch. His wisdom will not be replaced. This community has lost a good man. But the tears we shed are for us not for him. Glen’s gone home – we experienced a loss but Glen won a great victory in Christ.

This man of God will be missed but his legacy of faith, family and love will live on.