Bible In One Year

Well I have tried several plans, but I think I would like this one... It's through the Bible in a year in chronological order of events. Some parts of OT may bog you down and seem awfully slow, but it's all very important...just hang in there with me and we'll do it together...

Here's the link to the plan... http://cf.blueletterbible.org/reader/daily/more.cfm?planID=4

We'll work through it together...

Be in prayer as much as possible for baby Thaddeus...he's almost here!

Just Thinking and Thankful

Have you ever had one of those "perfect" days? Ahhhh, today was just one of those days for me. Victoria and I were both off work this whole weekend (as rare as Haley's comet). We got to sleep in, a great shower to start the morning, a nice little drive to run our son to basketball practice...tried a new flavor at Starbucks...oh, and these Smart Wool socks hug my feet like a mother nestling her new born baby against her chest....Just a wonderful day! I just got back from recording our 1 hour Sunday show for the church, so it was a great time in God's word. I arrive home and the whole house is asleep and it's only 9:30pm! Lord, are you in my head?! Haha...anyway Now I sit here listening to some really simple piano and jazz ensemble numbers and I just can not believe how content I am! I never ever thought I would be so happy and so content.

For a moment I stop and think because God has given us so much and because life is easy it is easy for me to be content. Then I also remember Ha! What has been easy? 2007 was another very hard year for us. I don't want to sound all pious, but it really is simply because of the Lord. I have all the riches of Christ and I am an heir of salvation and heaven, what else do I need? Has God not met every need in every urgent time? Even when tears are shed because things are so hard, He has always helped us out (mostly through our parents).

I also think as we approach 2008, I am very excited about some changes coming in our lives. I really have no skills. If thrown out on the street jobless today all I really have are my two hands to work with. God has been very good to us with our jobs. I also feel like the whole world is just sitting out there and I can be anything and do anything I want to do. Who knows where God will lead me, but I feel like a high school senior who is trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. It may sound funny, but like I said before I like to "tinker" and my interests change pretty often...so I feel like a student of life now.

My learning electronics (very basic and self-taught) has blown my mind wide open to so many possibilities! Computers, my web hosting and design, now some very cool home security and automation products....I am very excited about what I am learning. It's play to me. I have also recently for some reason become very interested in mathmatics. I can't believe those words even came out of MY mouth! I was always a straight F student in math! Microbiology, physiology.....biology....heck...all of life is SO interesting. In the words of Will Ferrel as Harry Cary..."Heck, I'm just curious like a cat!"

I remember one time talking about life like water skiing. Just hang on to that rope! Life is the water that wants to pull you down and keep you down....If you can learn to balance and hang on to the rope, you can find yourself actually kind of leaning back and gliding pretty effortlessly. I remember one time as a kid, we were water skiing. I crashed as I was just taking off and I held on to the rope and wouldn't let go. It almost drowned me! Haha...I had to let go and start over. Sometimes in life it's just blasting us in the face and we have to let go, sit and bob a little bit....think about what we did wrong and then go again.

The Chinese speak of "chi". In martial arts as the opponent comes at you, you kind of sit back and go with the flow of the action. You are not all tense and making quick, jerky actions, but very smooth actions that move with the opponent. Like trying to swim against the waves or go with the waves.

Now this is all very "worldly" and "Oprah-ish" but remember.... God is in control of all things and every day is for your benefit and growth. Every "wave" that crashes against you is to strengthen and test you. He is making you stronger, drawing You to Himself, calling You to come or if you have already come to Him through Christ, then He is working all things to make you more like Christ and it's all to the glory of God. If God is in control of all things, why worry?

Life is VERY hard sometimes, sometimes we cry and fear and worry. God is always there. He will meet our needs according to His will.

I am not sure why I feel so good today (rest probably has a lot to do with it) but I just think "Oh, if only every day could be so perfect!" I then remember one day it will be perfectly perfect one day when I arrive in heaven.

I sure hope I am the last of us to get there...but then again maybe we'll be whisked away in 2008 by the King of Glory who is coming again to make all things new again.

I always wonder what the next year will hold. I always wonder if this is the year "my number will be up". Well, one day I'll be right. I was recently reading some writings of a young man we knew who died at age 19. He was living and planning for the long term and then was suddenly surprised by death. I think it is wise to make smart plans for life, but always be ready to meet your God today. I have been a sad, sorry, lazy Christian this past month...but that ends tonight. The Lord has me, heart and soul. I just hope I can walk the walk....I don't want to be a Christian blow-hard who is all talk. How patient the Lord is with sinners! I am so thankful that He sees me through the blood of Christ as pure and holy. Now I just want to practically live it out.

God bless you and here's to a GREAT '08!!!

I fear the commitment it takes, but I think I will go for the through the Bible in a year again. Maybe we can help each other....

Rest well friends and family......Lord Jesus is Great and will make all things right. Just be sure to be found on the side of faith!

Daily Prayer 12/26/07

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. We didn't leave the house so I thought it was great! I have been a little sick lately so I didn't mind the extra rest. It also starts to wrap up a very busy season for us at work. Honestly as far as most people celebrate it, Christmas doesn't really do much for me. From a theological standpoint it is GREAT. I just usually feel pretty alone in my thoughts at Christmas time. I was happy though when my little one's give me a 5 minute speech on all the things Christmas is NOT....haha...."It's not about snow, it's not about presents, it's not about trees, it's not about lights, it's not about Santa, it's not about stars, it's not about ornaments....." on and on and on...finally it would end "it's only about baby Jesus who was born to die for our sins on the cross." YES!

Anyway, I have been taking as much time away from my computer as possible for a while. I'll get going again and just know that I am always praying for you. I'll probably take it easy for a while and pick up again at the first of the year. The daily study is pretty draining. I would like to get some form of Daily Bible Reading incorporated in this next years post's. It may be as simple as posting the scripture to read for the day up to posting actual audio for each day. We'll see....

If I think of something I'll post, otherwise keep praying for Thaddeus and Jill's baby and Jill's health and also now for Jena and her baby!

Again merry Christmas....hope you got what you wanted!

Behold!

For our company Christmas party we did a USO style variety show. I did about 30 minutes of "Magic, Mentalism and Feats of Strength". Here is my feat of strength. It's a real phone book...not tampered with in any way....

Enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

(It's probably better to right click and save the link above if you have a slower connection)

Go ahead, grab a phone book and give it a try....

A Man's Responsibility to His Wife

Today is Victoria's birthday (my wife). As I thank God for another year with her, I think back to the 14 years we have spent together. I can't believe I have known her that long. What a journey God has taken us on together! It has just been so wonderful with her. It reminded me yesterday of our wedding vows. Probably similar to yours.

"Do you, Jason take Victoria to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?"

"I Jason , take thee Victoria, to be my wife to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you.."


In a world where words may not mean much to some, I have made a promise to her and that means a lot to me. When we were 21 years old and not married and she told me she was pregnant, I held her as she cried and I promised it would be ok and I would be right by her side no matter what. I meant it. When I said these wedding vows above, I MEANT it.

I PROMISE to love her UNCONDITIONALLY. I will not disgrace her but HONOR her. She is valuable to me, I will CHERISH her as a very valuable treasure. Because I love her I will PROTECT her as a man should do. Most importantly I will not let another catch my eye....I have PROMISED to FORSAKE all others and cling to her alone. If she is sick and needs all my life to help her function or if she is healthy I will dedicate my life to her. If we are rich we will not forget each other and chase after our own desires, if we are poor we will not leave each other because another with money and a "better life" lures us away.

No matter what, as much as I have to do with it, I have vowed before God to be permanently joined to this woman.


Oh, men....please listen to me! How easily we can slip and fail our wives! You say, "Oh, not me" why not....You betray God every time you sin. You and I even betray ourselves....are we not just as capable of betraying our wives?

PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

Fights over money lead to hurt feelings and the two are divided and begin to drift apart. We feel like we don't get the love or attention we deserve and so when a woman comes along who will give us that attention we are drawn to her. That is no better than a toddler! Does your hunger for pleasing yourself really lead you around that easily? Do you follow your desires like a toddler goes after whatever they want? Our selfishness demands our time and our needs BEFORE hers. That is not what the vows we made says.


BE STRONG MEN!

You see maybe as men we are not the husbands we should be because we are not first what a man should be. Will you let your sin and temptations destroy your life, marriage and soul?

BE STRONG! You must first be wise to be strong....you have to know the source of the sin and the dangers that are out there.

Back to the garden of Eden for a moment..... Eve SAW the apple, DESIRED it, then TOOK it.

The mind is where the war is waged. Say for example at work. A woman becomes a little "flirty" with you. Now right from the beginning you must make a decision. Will you "accept" the flirt or close that door? Being friends with a woman may also seem ok, but these are the most dangerous situations. A one night stand with no emotion is bad enough but add in the bond of "friendship" and it is VERY hard to stop it if or when the "flirt" comes. Men a professional work relationship is sometimes required but NEVER let yourself become personally attached with another woman.

I fear a mans selfishness will too easily give in. You must PROMISE yourself to never get past this first gate....it is a quick and slippery slope afterward.

Listen to the scriptures....

Pro 5:1	My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding;
Pro 5:2	That you may observe discretion And your lips may reserve knowledge.
Pro 5:3	For the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech;
Pro 5:4	But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Pro 5:5	Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol.
Pro 5:6	She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know {it.}
Pro 5:7	Now then, {my} sons, listen to me And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Pro 5:8	Keep your way far from her And do not go near the door of her house,
Pro 5:9	Or you will give your vigor to others And your years to the cruel one;
Pro 5:10	And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned goods {will go} to the house of an alien;
Pro 5:11	And you groan at your final end, When your flesh and your body are consumed;
Pro 5:12	And you say, "How I have hated instruction! And my heart spurned reproof!
Pro 5:13	"I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!
Pro 5:14	"I was almost in utter ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation."
Pro 5:15	Drink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well.
Pro 5:16	Should your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?
Pro 5:17	Let them be yours alone And not for strangers with you.
Pro 5:18	Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
Pro 5:19	{As} a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.
Pro 5:20	For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
Pro 5:21	For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths.
Pro 5:22	His own iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his sin.
Pro 5:23	He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

Oh, men BE STRONG don't be foolish and feed your lusts. She is unstable in her ways. She will ruin your marriage, and if a baby results how much money will go to her? How many families have been destroyed by a simple affair that they thought they could keep secret. Do people know that eyes see them even when they think their sin is hidden? If you think no one knows, you have only fooled yourself.

BE CAREFUL.....oh please BE STRONG stop it at it's first thought. DECIDE you will not give in to your desires....

GOD knows and sees all! If you are a Christian your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Will you involve God in the very sin you commit? Do you not realize He is RIGHT THERE!

Now...finally I say this: If you have not been tempted, thank God and prepare for the day temptation will come, satan desires to devour you like a lion. I have also noticed the greatest temptation comes to NEW believers. Satan wants to cause the weak to stumble.

Next if you are currently living with thoughts of sin or are in the sin.....end it today. Tell them you can not do this to God and your WIFE you made a promise to. BE A MAN OF YOUR WORD.

Oh thank God for our wives! Let's love them properly. As Christ loved the Church. Christ was willing to self-sacrifice be nothing and even die for his bride the church.

Take your vows seriously and most importantly do not sin against your dear wives.

How thankful I am for the woman God has prepared for me to spend my life with. The more I am with her the closer we grow together and I am just now beginning to learn what it means for the two to become one. I want to be of one heart and mind where we are both moving together in life as one serving one another. That is the vow!

Daily Prayer 12/19/07

Luke 2:8-14 In the same region there were {some} shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. "This {will be} a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

Some say this must have been spring because the shepherds were out with their flocks, but in fact Bethlehem was near Jerusalem and many of the sheep for the temple sacrifices would have come from the good grazing land around the area. You can not make any conclusions about the time of year, simply because shepherds were camped out in the fields.

This glory of the Lord is scary! It is obviously a powerful and impressive site. The poor shepherds who were used to the outdoors had never seen anything like this before! The city of David refers to Bethlehem where David was born, not the "City of David" on the southern slope of Mt. Zion.

A Savior, Christ the Lord. Three important titles. First one of only two times in the Gospels the word "savior" is used. Christ was the Greek equivalent of "Messiah" (anointed one). Lord could mean 'master' but here and in most of the New Testament uses, it refers to deity.

Suddenly very clear and visible, thousands of angels (did not sing) but said "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." Notice the peace on earth is not a peaceful earth, but peace between man and God. Peace is among the men with whom God is pleased (those who have responded to the Savior by faith). As Romans 5:1 says "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". You see I SO often talk about God's wrath directed at sinners and how God hates the sinner and is ready to destroy the sinner (as scripture says clearly). This is why, we MUST understand that there is enmity between man and God....our sin does not place a "wall" between man and God but our sin places a hopeless chasm between us and we can only expect hell. BUT, God rich in mercy sent His Son to bear our punishment. That is why the whole host of angels said "Peace among men with whom He is pleased." Want peace with God, it can only come by faith in the loving way He has made for You in His Son Jesus Christ the LORD and Savior of the world.

Imagine history having longed for this promise since the promise of a redeemer in Genesis chapter 3! Now after SO long it has happened! What a HUGE thing! The promised salvation of the world had come! Since His death and resurrection from the dead and Ascension into heaven, it is quiet because it is finished and the work is all done, the world has been redeemed and the Lord will come again soon to make all things new again. If He comes today in power and might, will You be OK? Will Your faith be in His work, not Yours? I hope so......

Father, What an amazing day! For about 4,000 years the world lied in wait for the promised Messiah. Anticipation filled the earth like air filling a balloon. It grew and grew and on this day we see in scripture, the anticipation burst out into the reality of the coming of the Lord with the proclamation of the angels! What a day it must have been once word began to spread to Your people!

Now Lord again the earth fills with anticipation of the day He will return to make all things new again and set the earth right and take away all death and decay and sickness and tears. What a GREAT day that will be!!!! Oh, Lord I pray our anticipation is stretching tight the bands of time and they will soon snap and our Lord will come on the clouds with a might trumpets roar! Then we will all be with Him and the next great day will be here when we who are chosen by God and given the faith to believe will sing the great song of heaven!

Lord care for our temporary cares and needs until that day comes.

We are clay in Your hands and we strive to live well for the One who died our death. Amen

A Christmas Poem

Here is a Christmas Poem I wrote a few years ago... I don't think I have shared it before....

Click HERE for the Audio

Daily Prayer 12/18/07

The human brain weighs about 4 pounds. It holds motor functions, memories, sights, sounds, smells, information....It also processes information and data from the world around us and the world inside our bodies. It operates with about 20 watts of electricity. It can hold 100 billion bits of information. That's over 500 full sets of encyclopedias! The more you exercise a part of you brain, it grows larger. Conversely areas that do not get exercised shrink. Just like a muscle really.

In May 1974 a Burmese man recited 16,000 pages from a Buddhist religious text! Wow! What do you fill your brain with? Psalm 16:7 I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. Prov 15:14 The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on folly. Prov 22:17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge; Prov 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Father- What an amazing creation You have placed in our heads! Yet we can not even begin to know You until our eyes have been opened by Your Holy Spirit. You must teach us according to Your Word. Our knowledge of the Holy will bring great fear into our hearts when we see Your holiness and the light exposes the depth of our sin! Yes, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! I pray we fill our minds with Your Word and I pray You give us knowledge of the Word and wisdom and discernment.

For baby Thaddeus we pray...heal him Lord for Your glory. Don't ever let any of us think he has gotten better because of things we have done or prayed, but only because You have done it according to Your pleasure, for Your glory.

For Jill's health and her baby.

For Pastor Samuel. He is Your brave warrior along with the others in India who are in the spiritual battle and fight fearlessly. Your Word is their sword and it slays men and women as they count themselves dead to the world and alive to Christ by faith in His death for our sins. Protect them and may their efforts bear much fruit. For the church and school there....May they be blessed.

Lord I pray You would come quickly! End this world full of sin as we know it and bring in Your new Kingdom that is perfect and forever remaining without sin. I look forward to a place better than the garden of Eden that will never see sin and decay and death and sickness. Bring Your Kingdom soon Lord Jesus! In Your Name we ask the Father for these things, amen.

"Santa Clause Theology"

Here is a great article I read on crosswalk.com ( Click Here To View Original Article )

I wanted to share part of it with you.....enjoy!

'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' Theology
Dave Burchett

I am borrowing one little bit of content that is very timely during this month. John Lynch is one of the authors of the book and in this section he addresses how we are programmed from childhood to default to performance theology. He calls it the “Santa Claus is Coming to Town theology.”

You better watch out
Better not cry
Better not pout
I am telling you why
Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He's making a list…checking it twice…three times…every day
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He sees you when your sleeping, nows when your awake, he knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake.

Oh, he's watching. Waiting for you to screw up so you will get coal instead of a bicycle. You had better please him. And we teach our kids to put on the mask and be something they are not. Because Santa Claus is comin’ to town. This omniscient being who is judging our every deed is coming to town…and we learn to do the dance early. Buck up…be good. Don't cry. Don't pout. Santa Claus is coming to town

(© Copyright 2003, William Thrall, Bruce McNicol, John Lynch. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited).

He is exactly right. We learn that we get good things and receive love only when we are good. Santa is pleased (and we later substitute God) when we obey. So we learn early. We had better be good. Or least fool everyone around us to think that we are being good.

Ask any child this Christmas if they are being good and I will wager you will never hear this response.

“Well, to be honest, I am really struggling with the whole being nice thing. I have actually been pouty and I cried yesterday. It just isn’t working out this Christmas so I suspect the video game system will have to wait.”

Nope. What you hear is the lie that we learn early and too often keep handy in our arsenal for a lifetime.

“Oh yeah. I am being really good!”

I remember (vaguely) the tension of the Santa Claus years. I knew I hadn’t really changed much. I tried to modify my behavior for a week or two leading up to Christmas but I knew I had failed to really be good. I learned a couple of things early. I learned how hard it is to change behavior by sheer willpower and I learned that I could fool Santa by living a lie. I learned that that he would bring me presents in spite of my failures. I did not learn about grace. That maybe Santa gave me gifts because of who I was and maybe he came to my house because I was lovable instead of rewarding me for what I had done to please him. I figured I had fooled him and to get the good stuff I would have to continue to hide the little boy who broke an ornament and then hid it.

Isn’t that too often how we view God? We had better not cry. Better not sin. I’m telling you why. Jesus is coming to town. He’s making a list and He is checking it not once or twice but every moment of every day. God knows if you’ve been bad or good so if you want to be healed or happy or prosperous you had better be good for goodness sake. If I do mess up I am scared to death that I will get a bad life or miss all that God has for me. So I put on the mask and try to be really good for Jesus. If I can fool those around me maybe, just maybe, I can fool God too.

Satan sells the lie so convincingly. And we buy it for months and years and even decades.

But God and Santa are very different in their approach. God does not keep a list. He is not impressed by our hernia inducing straining to control sin. What God sees is Jesus in Dave Burchett when I sin.

Jesus offers us so many gifts. But the one we seem to have the hardest time unwrapping is the gift of grace. The gift that allows us to become who God desires us to become as we simply trust Him and quit trying to be “good” for goodness sake. We are saved by grace and faith in Christ. We become like Him by the same radical strategy. Faith that He has changed us into a new creation. And understanding the grace that gives us good gifts even when we don’t deserve them.

Don’t let the Santa Claus theology live into the New Year. Go straight to the gift of grace that Jesus left under the Cross. Open it. And clothe yourself in His salvation, acceptance and love. It may be the best gift you have ever given yourself.

Daily Prayer 12/17/07-Tinkering with Emotions

This week my interests (my tinkering) lies in the observance of human emotions. I often know the right thing to do, but do not do it when my emotions win out over what is logical and what I know to be right. The Greek philosophers called this stoicism. Their efforts were to minimize emotions and live by logic. Here's an excerpt from wikipedia:

Stoicism teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions; the philosophy holds that becoming a clear and unbiased thinker allows one to understand the universal reason (logos) . A primary aspect of Stoicism involves improving the individual’s spiritual well-being: "Virtue consists in a will which is in agreement with Nature."^[2] This principle also applies to the realm of interpersonal relationships; "to be free from anger, envy, and jealousy",^[3] and to accept even slaves as "equals of other men, because all alike are sons of God."^[4]

Stoicism's prime directives are virtue, reason, and natural law. Stoics believe that, by mastering passions and emotions, it is possible to find equilibrium in oneself and in the world.


-----Well---- If I could control my emotions, life sure would be a lot easier! Our emotions are the root of our sins and our problems in our life. All sin is self-serving and our emotions are the root of our sins. Oh if only we could control our emotions! So this week I thought I would just examine my emotions and how much trouble they cause and also try to control my emotions better. Ha! I gave up before the end of the day Sunday.

James writes of the problem well in James chapter 3 and 4...

James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, the {very} world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of {our} life, and is set on fire by hell.
James 3:7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.
James 3:8 But no one can tame the tongue; {it is} a restless evil {and} full of deadly poison.
James 3:9 With it we bless {our} Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
James 3:10 from the same mouth come {both} blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
James 3:11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening {both} fresh and bitter {water?}
James 3:12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor {can} salt water produce fresh.
James 3:13 ¶ Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
James 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and {so} lie against the truth.
James 3:15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.
James 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
James 3:18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James 4:1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
James 4:2 You lust and do not have; {so} you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; {so} you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend {it} on your pleasures.


So I know this is a long prelude to the prayer, but I see a problem with my prayer life. Because I am ruled by my emotions, I am selfish and I ask for things selfishly. We MUST seek God. We MUST seek His will. He must increase in our lives and we must decrease.

Father-

We spend so much time asking You for things that I wonder if we are even in tune with the things we should be praying for? So tonight my prayer is simple. I ask that we would know You and draw closer to You. How can we know Your will? We MUST spend more time with our Bibles open and seeking Your will for our lives. So I just carefully pray that You are glorified as You do Your work all around us each day. I know You have glorified Yourself and You will continue to glorify Yourself. I know that the purpose and end of life is not US but YOU. That means we need You to help us kill our desires for self protection, self promotion, self pleasing....I just pray that we would learn to be lowly servants. Help us to remember the Christian paradox. The way up is down. To go up in the next life we must first go down and be lowly in this life. To win is to lose. To win the reward of eternal life by faith in Christ is to lose in this life, counting it all loss. We have no personal ambition but to submit to You and live for You. Wherever You take us from there we leave to You.

Lord the stoics could not tame the emotions....it often lead them to self destruction and taking their own lives. They were ruined. I can not tame my emotions either. But You Holy Spirit change the heart and can remove my love for self and replace it with a love for others.

Right now I have a chance to be least and so now I close quickly so I can serve another. Help us Lord to be humble.....Amen.

Update from Pastor Samuel in India

Precious Brother Jason and all those who Prayed for the Out Reach in the Lord,

Thank God that we have finished Out Reach Programme and did saturate the Villeges with the Gospel Tracts,.. The Boys did well in distribution and at every Cottage Street Gospel Meeting, the Boys sang well and preached the Gospel.. The NOrtheast boys learned Telugu songs and they sang at every corner.. They were the attraction to the people of Guntur.

Glad thing is we have got 3 Families and they will be attending our church from this sunday onwards..They were not church goers sofar..

Still , the Results are not seen...

Just Yesterday afternoon, 5 of them left and 4 of the Team members left at night..

Pray continually that the Seed of the Word will be growing and bear Fruits...amen.

Brothers and sisters, According to our fixed schedule, all the activities went on well;. God has been with us..

Ohhhhh, Preparation of the food was so hard.. But we did that all..They too enjoyed staying together with us.. They were given our HOuse Terrace church place to sleep..Last sunday, I arranged them to preach in various churches..And three boys joined with us in our church..Thank the Lord to convey Christmas Message during this christmas time whereever we went.....

We all went once by BIcycles... One time by Auto Rikshaws.., by Train once and by bus once..

Surrounding our place...we all went on foot in distribution ...and at chirala sea shore, we gathered some group of people and preached to them....Halleluiah for the Work is done from our part and Iam leaving the Result to the Hands of God..

Bros and sisters, Regarding Feeding these men, I had to spend from my own pocket...Pray that the Lord would bless me soon with Financial sources as I need so badly some help ...coz we are all nearing to christmas Celebrations..

Pray that the Lord would provide some help for the Emma's Free tuition home for poor kids..

Pray that the Lord would Provide help to help 2 widows and 2 old aged Pastors ...

Pray that the Lord would Help with some GIFT to raise up walls of the Church..

Pray that the Lord would Provide some Help to have Christmas Meal at our church.... ( If He Gives)

Iam tired and Iam going to rest till evening..Pray for us..

We love you and we appreciate all your Prayers for the Gospel Out Reach work..

So soon, pictures will be sent here..

Hoping your reply and join with us in our Joy of leading souls to the saving knowledge of the Lrd Jesus Christ..

Regards to you and all and know that you are all in our Prayers and we think of you..

God bless you all and hoping your reply,

yours Brother in the Lord,

Pastor Samuel KOta

India

Daily Prayer 12/14/07

Colossians 1:13-23 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, {both} in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the {Father's} good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, {I say,} whether things on earth or things in heaven.

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, {engaged} in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.


Father- Help us to understand the depth of what is written above for us. There are so many things for us to see there if we will just slow down and observe all that the text is saying. Mostly I just ask for the last part. We were engaged in evil deeds, but now we are to be holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Wow this is hard considering we have sin in us! What will we let master us Lord? Will we let sin master us or will we let Christ master us. Our actions show us which we love more. That is hard Father. I know my heart and my sin and how easily I could slip. Keep us from sin and protect us from temptation. Do not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, but when we are tempted, also show us the way out so that we can stand up under the temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

For our needs and for our faith in Christ and for our personal holiness I pray.

For Thaddeus I pray.

For Jill and their baby I pray.

For Samuel and Stanley and all on this list I pray.

For those without warmth and electricity I pray.

As we approach Christmas, that our minds would be focused on Christ and not the secular commercial christmas that they celebrate. May ours be one fully focused on Christ coming to bear our sins.

For opportunities to share the Good News with others, I pray.

In Christ's name we bring our marriages to You. Protect them and always strengthen them. Help us to love the other with a servants heart, may we desire to be the less of the two halves and lift up the other to be the better half. May the husband be able to lead in a godly way. Strong and gentle. May the wife be able to follow the husbands lead and gently submit, a helper without taking the man's role from him. May we love each other as Christ loved the church and understand it's not about equality because we are equal and serve each other in love, but we understand You have given us different roles in the family.

We PRAY PRAY PRAY for our children.... May they be hard workers, and grow to be people of character and integrity. Protect them from the profanity and pornography and the sexually explicit and violent world they are exposed to so young. May they be holy and we pray that You are preparing spouses for them. You know their future spouse and we also pray for him or her. Keep them holy so they will be a special gift from You to our child when it is time for them to meet. We thank You for ALL things, in Christ's Name we pray, amen.

Daily Prayer 12/12/07

Luke 2:1-7 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Father as we are preparing for Christmas, we see at the beginning of the story a chain of events that must have been very displeasing to Joseph. The government was making him take his very pregnant wife on a long journey by donkey 70 miles through mountainous terrain to register in this census that was the first to occur every fourteen years.

Now Father history tells us this was mainly to register Jews that were previously forbidden to serve in the Roman army. History tells us about the event and even about Caius Octavius who was called Cesar Augustus. We know he took full power in 31 B.C. This is not so long ago that it could be called a "story". This like all of scripture is very factual. This is not the Christmas "story" in a sense of fiction....help us to focus on the reality of the events that happened as we are about to see in Luke 2.

Father I also want us to see how this unpleasant event was necessary. Joseph's obedience to the government and he may have even grumbled all the way back to Bethlehem. It had to happened and as You use the events of our lives every day for Your purposes, You also used this event for an amazing purpose! You fulfilled the prophecy of scripture! Mica 5:2 "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, {Too} little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."

Also important Lord that You tell us here that Jesus was Mary's FIRST born. In scripture You show us she had other children. (while some teach otherwise) We know from scripture Jesus had both brothers and sisters....natural not cousins or adopted as the early church fathers suspected...(see Matthew 12:46, 13:55, Mark 6:3)

Let us take away this,

1) All events are according to Your will and to fulfill Your purposes.

2) Jesus was not of a human father but from You God the Father, so the tainting of sin is not in Him as You planted Him in Mary's womb. This virgin birth is essential to our faith or there is no payment for our sins.


Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me for not lifting You up and giving You more praise and honor and worship. In a world that uses the word "God" a lot I pray that my worship of YOU as my Lord and my God would help show the difference. You are God who became flesh and fulfilled the prophecies of the scriptures. You took our sin and died our death, You suffered on our behalf, You died our death and You were buried cold and dead. Then just as You laid Your life down for us, You suddenly took a breath again on the third day and You took up Your life again. Power over life and power over death. You are all we need Lord! All the forgiveness and power and life is in You! Let us rest in that.

For Thaddeus we pray that things continue to go well. I really focus the prayers on his aorta Lord. Like a laser beam, my mind can just imagine that little tiny spot just a bit tighter that the rest of the aorta. Lord we focus our prayers on that spot and pray You would heal it.

For Samuel and His great outreach....You have protected him and his group even in areas expected to be hostile to the Gospel. May the truth of guilt before a Holy God break down the prideful and make them guilty just like the "untouchable" Dalit. We are all untouchable by a Holy God! We will all die alike.... But Christ comes to us and loves the unlovable and heals the one who is unclean with sin. In HIM we are truly clean and holy. Prepare hearts for salvation Lord, give them faith to believe! May the ones You have chosen hear the call of the Gospel and come quickly. Protect them from the ones who are haters of God.

For Jill I pray for her health.

For our ice problems, keep those without electricity warm.

For my boss at work, You know his prayers for our business. Help us as managers to do what is necessary to make it happen. We even lay our careers and job performance at Your feet.

For the salvation of the elect and the quick return of Christ I pray, Amen.

Daily Prayer 12/11/07

Father-

I know tomorrow Adam and Mindy will go to their doctors appointment. I pray that You will fill their hearts with joy as they see the good work You have been doing since the last appointment. I just ask for good news Lord, that is all. Just give us a little more good news. We eagerly wait to hear the latest results.

For Samuel, keep them safe and prepare hearts for the Gospel.

For Jill's health we also continue to pray.

Keep us safe as we travel in the ice to and from work.

Keep us warm and meet our needs Father.

God bless our parents and help us to love one another as Christ loves us, in His Name we ask these things, Amen.

Cold Weather Update.

God has been VERY good to us. We have not lost power here at our home except for about an hour today. The kids are all staying warm. I know some friends who have been without power since Monday night. They are very cold. Thank God for keeping us warm and dry! I pray our dear friends would be able to stay warm with friends or that power would soon be restored to them. I was supposed to go get Dad today and take him to the airport, but someone with long hair who loves me wouldn't let me go. He made it OK though. Pray that the ice would melt soon.

For Samuel and Edward in India and Africa, I will get some video of the ice and snow for you to see. Amazing how pure the ice is. It's like the city is glowing from an unknown source of light. Beautiful! Even though it is pure it's weight is also crushing. Trees are destroyed all over town. It's sad to see big old strong trees split in half. God is also Pure and Beautiful, but He is SO Holy that all under Him would be crushed if exposed directly to Him. The weight of His glory is more than mankind can bear. That is why we need Christ to make the way we could never make.

Update from Pastor Samuel in India

Dear Bro Jason in the Lord,
Thank you for praying for our out Reach Programme during this christmas Month.. Sofar, we are able to saturate 8 villeges on Saturday and MOnday during day time and at every evening, we are conducting Street Gospel Crusades...Amen..And HAlleluiah that things are going on well ... At one place by name Kakani , they are reluctant to take Gospel Tracts ....But still, we have distributed..Good response is seen from villege people..
I was afraid to take the Team to Reddy Palem yesterday because high caste community in HInduism(Reddies) live there.. Expected opposition there.. BUt Thank GOd, nothing has happened..Sofar N church is existed there..Pray that Goid will help us to start a HOuse Church there in Reddypalem.
I just came to write to you that keep praying for the work here.. we are all happily doing this and infact, enoying somuch..
Team Boys are adjusting with us...One boy left on sunday due to his daughter's sickness..he is from Mizoram state.
This evening, we will be going to Mangalagiri place for out reach as well as for Street gospel meeting. NOw, we are at Swarnabharati nagar for distribution of Tracts and street preaching.
God is good and helping us sofar..Hoping He will be providing still when we need certain things..
Jason Brother, I will be back tomorrow with Update if God willing..
Busy in HIs work..Busy in preparing food for these Gospel Workers...amen.
We are taking pictures and I will try to send you after scanning..
Hoping your reply and continual prayers for the Ministry here,
yours Brother in the Lord,
Pastor Samuel Kota
India

Cold Weather Update

We are expecting an inch of ice tonight and tomorrow. Power could very easily be knocked out. If you don't hear from me for a few days, it's simply due to a lack of power. It will warm back up by Wednesday or Thursday. I hope we don't end up like times when tens of thousands lose power for up to a week. So God willing I will meet you online tonight and tomorrow as planned. I will be watching and pass along family and friends who have no power. Use alternative heat sources carefully and be mindful of carbon monoxide poisoning. We will just pray for each other to stay warm.

Daily Prayer 12/8/07

Daily Prayer not posted today due to specific prayer requests I would prefer to keep from public eyes. Please check your email.

A Few Prayer Items

First here's a quick letter from Samuel...

They are very busy right now with sharing Christ.

Precious Brother Jason in the Lord,

Thank you somuch for your Prayers and Fellowship.
Pastors Meeting on Nov 24th went on well.. and a Team , consisting of 8 members coming from Bharat Bible college, Hyderabad to do out reach ministry in Guntur and in surrounding villeges.. They will be stayinig with me..
Four of the students are from Manipur and Nagaland men..
2 of them are from Kerala state and 2 of them are from our Andhra Pradesh state..
They will be arriving tonight at 9 pm...Here is the schedule , I fixed for them..

7th night at 9m..Arrivak to Guntur
8th.. during day time......Tract Distribution towards Takkellapadu( Takkellapadu, upplapadu, RM Puram., Old guntur, sarovar, N Velugu and medipalem etc villeges will be covered)

8th Eve , Iam arranging street gospel Meeting at Sister Ramanamma house..

9th( MOrning) sunday worship and at evening Tract Distribution at guntaground centre

10th ( Morning)- Tract Distribtion towards kakani, Nambur, Kaja, Venigandla, reddy palem, Agavatarapadu, Rpalya villeges..
10th Evening- Street Gospel meeting at Sister kamala house..
11 th (MOrning)- Tract distribution towards Gorantla, sb nagar, nagaraalu, adavi TK padu, palakalur, gujjanagundla etc...villeges
11 th (Evening)- Open air Gospel Meeting at Mangalagiri( 20 kms away from Guntur)
12th Morning till Evening, Out Reach ministry near Sea shore , Chirala Town ( 70 km away from Guntur )
13th morninig- Tract Distribution towards our Free Home centre, kvp colony, chuttugunta centre, AR Palem, Nallapadu and pottur etc villeges..
13th evening, participation in semi christmas celebrations of my friend's church ..
14th morning, departure

we will will be going by Bi Cycles and covering these villeges..

Pray that the Lord would be more gracious to me during this time..
When these men are sent by the seminary where I got my B Th degree, I just wanted to open the opportunity..

My dad and Deepa were little upset saying how will you manage therm.>/? food etc..
Ofcourse, they will be staying on our house Terrace church...Iam asking some believers to feed them..let us see...

Transportation is given by the Seminary President.. All though I asked him some help....but he said he cant..he doesnot have money to support us.. Its okay. God has to open the doors of help.
Jason Bro, please keep praying for this out Reach work...
I try to get some pics of this Out Reach ministry..
we will be busy but i will be taking time to send you everyday update report,Pray with us and join with us to proclaim Christmas news during this month of Christmas..amen


I pray that this Christmas we can offer them a little help. It's a great investment in God's work. I will send them a gift from Mt Hope Church so that will help them some.

Next a quick update from Jill (my sister): Titus (or as I call him, Titus 3:5) is still sick with a nasty cold. Pray for that, also for an upcoming doctors appointment in January and that her body's chemistry would stay balanced. This is very important to prevent seizures.

Please keep praying daily for Thaddeus. Pray his heart would keep growing and the aorta problem would be healed.

I have been really busy and a little sick, but I will be fine. I just need rest. If you want to pray for my family, just pray that we would always be more dedicated to our Lord

There are ONLY 2 Religions In The World

2 doors
Which will you choose?



Audio from Mt Hope church is still online. Instructions and link is HERE

What is a Mormon?

You can read the LONG technical version here: http://www.blueletterbible.org/study/cults/exposem/index.html

You can read the SHORT version here: http://www.blueletterbible.org/study/cults/acts/acts_m.html

Daily Prayer 12/5/07

James 4:13-15 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are {just} a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, {you ought} to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."

Father, so often we make such great plans for our lives and our work and our families. We make big plans and set courses often with little thought to how You would have us go. Help us to carefully seek Your will for our lives as we pray and ask for wisdom when we make these plans. Help us to remember our future is not in our hands and plans, but Yours. Help us to be wise and certainly plan for the future, but seeking to do it according to Your will.

I pray we would know You and the exact representation of Your Nature in Your Son Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit teach us so we may know the Father.

For Thaddeus we offer still continual prayers for his heart's growth and the healing of his aorta.

For Jill's health and chemical balance

For Jena, myself, Beth, Tatum, Zekke and Titus and everyone else who has been sick lately....help us all to stay healthy and strong in these cold months.

Darlene from work has had her mother in the hospital for a month, she came home last night and then had congestive heart failure again. I pray for her mothers health and strength and also for Darlene's peace and stamina. Help her to deal with the stress of the situation. As she seeks peace and seeks You, help her to rest in the work of Christ and Your sovereignty.

For Samuel and the needs there in India Lord, You know them even better than we do.... I pray that his bank would be more friendly to our help and move the money quicker to his account without trouble.

An urgent need Father, I pray for the mother of our boy from Big Brothers / Big Sisters. Her name is Kari and she is close to being homeless again with no money for food and no money for Christmas and possibly no home to live in.
Father, You know the situation with her paycheck being delayed. I pray it will come in the mail tomorrow so they do not lose their home. You know Lord that I don't have money, but show me some way I can show love and care in the situation and I pray You would work on her heart and pull her out of an evil and satanic lifestyle and into a life eternally forgiven and forever changed by Your Holy Spirit. Save her Lord...protect her children.

For all believers I pray Lord for our growth and endurance and commitment to Christ.

For all unbelievers Lord I just pray that we would have the opportunity to love them and show them love. May we be an image of Christ's love for them.

Daily Prayer 12/4/07

First a note:
Can you imagine boarding a plane and being attacked by other passengers because you were a Christian? Arun faced this terrifying situation when he shared his faith with another passenger on a train in Haryana, India. Read more about the dedication of this faithful missionary even in times of great trial:
http://www.gfa.org/persecuted-on-a-train

Now another note:

I have been teaching myself electronics lately. It has given me such a HUGE appreciation for the creation of the human body. In electronics you have input through a sensor that sends some kind of small electrical signal to an input. The input is read and a microprocessor decides what to do (output) based on the instructions given. For example I press the letter "K" on my keyboard. A small electric blip enters my computer and my computer must decide what size and color of "K" to place on my screen and how to do it and what's connected....Which pixels on my monitor will go dark while the rest of the pixels around it are lit with red, blue and green to form white background around my letter. Wow... that's quite a bit of processing for one simple letter. Even the most complex computers can not even compare to the human brain and nervous system though.

Think about it, you body is an electrical and chemical machine. The only thing that is used to charge it is food and water. Just the energy we produce is amazing. Next consider the super sensitive finger tip. It sends millions of electrical signals to the brain.... There are well over 10 Billion nerve cells in the brain. On average in the cortex of the brain a nerve cell, one nerve cell has 60,000 inputs!

For example a simple circuit you could build about the size of a note card. A battery, an LED light, a few components and a push button. The input is the ONE sensor and a computer board determines where to send the proper voltage for the commanded duration....the output is the ONE light flash. Now to have 60,000 inputs in our project, it would be bigger than a table, yet God has done it in ONE neuron. How many "wires" would have to connect all those neuron's to send messages back and forth....uncomprehendable! But it was easy for God. It wasn't a weekend project, He did it in one day. He didn't have a Radio Shack near by to get the parts, He created this body of minerals and chemicals from the earth. It's just dirt but in a miraculously delicate balance! Most important part, He breathed life into man. Anyone can destroy life, but only God can give life.

I listen to a class online from MIT about the human brain and neurological science. They were talking about the history of trying to find the human soul. No man can find or touch the soul....but if you have ever seen a loved one after the life has left them you know that the soul has left them. They seem to be just a shell after they pass. We surely know this is a fact. We must also think about what will happen when our spirit leaves our body and we find ourselves before the Lord. "It is appointed to man once to die and then the judgment". Don't worry about your body. It's just animated dirt. It will turn into dirt again one day. Instead worry about making sure you are prepared to meet the Lord.

The Elvis song "Return to sender, address unknown" is popping into my head...haha....well like a computer communicating with the server, what happens if an unknown device suddenly tries to become part of the network? It is rejected, not even recognized, it doesn't even have the capabilities to become part of the network if it wanted to. The server will reject it's attempts to connect.

Christ warned to those who were still broken and not in fellowship with the Father In Christ "I will say to him in that day, depart from me, I never knew You"

We are just junk, but the Creator has love for us and comes to us broken ones and will fix us who were headed to the trash incinerator. He must reprogram you and He must connect you to the "server".

That is a really bad computer illustration and I hope not too geeky to understand, but as usual I am just sharing the thoughts going through my mind.

Very busy this week so I will tackle the study of Apostle John next as soon as I can.

God Bless You and feed yourself even just a little scripture each day and pray as often as possible...by that I mean just talk to God. You don't need "formal" prayers....just talk to Him. What's on Your mind, what do you need help understanding, whatever it is..... He loves the believer and wants to hear from you and Christ wants a relationship with you. How does that happen? Well pray about it, talk to Him and then read your Bible and I'll let Him give you the answer.


Until tomorrow, good day and may our lives honor Christ.

Father, be with us and may we know You more through Your Word and the exact representation of You, Your Son Jesus Christ. For all our many needs we have been praying for, we bring these needs before You again tonight. We of course trust Your wisdom in how You answer our prayers. In Jesus Name we pray, amen.

Daily Prayer 12/3/07

A more complete quote from Peter shared in part last night:

2 Pet 3:14-18 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord {as} salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all {his} letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as {they do} also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him {be} the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.


Father you know our needs, we ask for help with them. Lord You know our joys, we praise You for them. We thank You that we can know You and we pray that we would be humbled and follow our Lord Jesus Christ from the heart remembering what He has done for us when He died for our sins.

In His Name we pray, amen.

Ahhh Now I Like That!

This has nothing to do with the Christian life, but just a great quote that I really liked because it hits my other passion. "Tinkering" I am not a pro at anything, but I love to learn a little about everything. I love to figure things out. Systems, machines, technology...I am very inquisitive. I figure if you can figure out how something works you have a whole new world opened up to you. For example if I can figure out how a home heating system works, I can fix it and save a lot of money, in the mean time I can dream up new principals for heating a home. That to me is fun. What about computers and circuits and chips.... If you can figure out how it works you can build literally anything to do anything you need it to do! What a world is opened up when you "tinker" most importantly it should be something you enjoy or have an interest in. Just think, tinkering put us on the moon and eventually on mars! Tinkering has resulted in countless vaccines and medical technologies. How lucky the person who can tinker in an area that interests them and get paid for it! OK enough on that... Here's the quote:

"Tinkering is what happens when you try something you don't quite know how to do, guided by whim, imagination and curiosity. It's about letting the spark of and idea ignite, no matter how far the idea is. When you tinker, there are no instructions, but there is no failure, no right or wrong ways of doing things.

It's about figuring out how things work- and about reworking them. It's about pursuing a fascination and letting it unfold into a process of discovery, about seeing the potential in a pile of junk and creatively re-imagining it as a treasure. Contraptions, machines, wildly mismatched objects working in harmony- this is the stuff of tinkering. Tinkering is, at it's most basic, a process that marries play and inquiry."

It's play.... Go play and learn and discover! God has great things in this world for you to enjoy!

Daily Prayer (and study) 12/2/07

How about a quick study of some of Christ's disciples.... We see them listed in similar groups each with an apparent leader. Group 1 Peter, James, John and Andrew with Peter as the apparent leader of the group. Group 2 Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew. (Philip always listed first). Group 3 James, Lebbaeus, Simon and Judas Iscariot. (James always listed first). Group one seems most intimate with Christ, Group two there at most major events and Group three mostly unknown except the sin of Judas Iscariot who betrayed Christ.

Peter, James and John were the most intimate with Christ. Let's look at Peter first.

Peter has been called the disciple with "the foot shaped mouth". I can relate there.... He was a fisherman who was eager, aggressive, bold and outspoken. He had a habit of "revving his mouth with his brain in neutral." His name was Simon but Jesus called him Peter (Luke 6:14). Simon Peter, Simon and Peter are all used in scripture referring to him. In greek the word petros it means a stone, a piece of rock. In Aramaic it was Cephas. Funny because by nature Simon was not dependable. Made bigger promises than he could keep. He would bite off more than he could chew and then bail out. (I love Peter...he reminds me of myself) He was foolish, but Christ's nickname reminded Peter what he must become. OK, split personality time.... When Jesus refers to Peter's secular life He calls him "Simon" Concerning Spiritual things He calls him "Peter" Rock. When Peter acts like his "old self" and fails, Jesus calls him Simon again. But in obedience he is called Peter. I am sure he enjoyed Christ calling him "Rock" so he must have cringed to hear Jesus call him Simon when he was messing up. When Simon Peter denied Christ on the night He was betrayed, he wept bitterly and returned to fishing eventually. On the shore after Christ rose from the dead and prepared a meal of fish and asked Simon if He loved Him( John 21), it was the last time Christ would call Peter..."Simon" after that he was restored and never called Simon by the Lord again.

Peter was from a small village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee called Bethsaida, but they moved and the family fishing business was centered in Capernaum. (Both cities are ruins today.) They caught sardines, barbels (a carp type fish that was up to 15 pounds), and musht. Musht are still cooked and served in restaurants along the Sea of Galilee today and often called "St. Peter's fish"

Archaeologists have found a church in Capurnaum believed to have been built over Peter's house.

Simon Peter was married. In Luke 4:38 Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. In 1 Corinthians 9:5, Peter took his wife on a mission trip. The Bible doesn't mention if they had children or not.

Matthew 10:2 calls Peter first or leader of the apostles..."protos" in the Greek.

No apostle speaks in the Gospels as much as Peter and the Lord speaks to Peter more than any other apostle. No other disciple is rebuked by the Lord as much as Peter and NO ONE else has the nerve to rebuke the Lord except Peter. Peter was also the only disciple the Lord called "Satan". The Lord was at time harsh with Peter. Simon Peter had the right natural talents and life experience along with the proper character qualities the Lord chose and would mold into the "Rock" who would carry on after Christ was gone.

Peter was a true leader of strength and love who lead Christ's church after He ascended into heaven. Scripture doesn't record Peter's death but church history says he was crucified. It says he was first forced to watch the crucifixion of his wife. He reportedly called out to her "Remember the Lord". When it was Peters turn, he pleaded to be crucified upside down because he was not worthy to die as his Lord had died. Peters own words in 2 Peter 3:18 say "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." Let's remember his words...

(Information came from "Twelve Ordinary Men" by John MacArthur)

Father- Thank You for Your providence in setting men over us to shepherd us in the faith. May they have a love for us sheep as the Lord did. May they care for the sheep and help them grow, not fleece the sheep and lead them to slaughter. Give us men who will carefully feed us the Truth of Your Word in the Scriptures. Certainly where there are sheep, there are wolves who desire to devour. Protect us from the evil ones who desire to destroy our faith. We know that Peter has been called the Rock by You Lord Jesus, but may we always remember that You are the cornerstone that Peter the Rock rests on. On Peter other saints and more on top of them even up to today when we are little stones in the wall that is Your church. The church is growing and being built and this church is Your body. May each part of the body grown and be healthy and serve the rest of the body as You intended. You know our needs Lord, meet them according to Your plan for our lives serving You and serving the body of Christ that is founded upon Christ the Cornerstone and Peter the Rock and all the faithful who continue in the Truth.

Let any founded upon their own thoughts and ideas not in agreement with the Cornerstone crumble and fall into useless rubble.

We praise Your Name with all our heart and soul. To the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit we give our whole hearted worship. Amen!

Content

It hit me this week sometime..... I think for the first time every I feel completely content. There is nothing I want, there is nothing I feel I am lacking. It's not that we don't need things and that we could surely desire some needed things. I just feel totally satisfied in life. I know I have Christ and that is all I need. My wife's contentment has always amazed me. How could a person want nothing and be so satisfied? It has been a really nice week and such a great feeling to want nothing. I honestly can't think of one thing I really want or need right now. Christ is enough. It was such a wonderful day in Church today. I love the Lord so much! It's so great to just worship and get to know Him more. This morning and this evenings message go together..... Let me post the link here. If you get the chance, it's good stuff. Morning (part 1) Evening (part 2) I'll post evening audio when it becomes available.

Daily Prayer 12/1/07

Pro 6:16	There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
Pro 6:17	Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18	A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,
Pro 6:19	A false witness {who} utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers. Father, so many would say "God can not hate! Here it is clear you surely HATE these seven specific things. It's sin. You HATE sin. Help me to remember that when I sin Lord. Help me to hate my sin the way You hate sin. I am always SO thankful for people who will continue to listen to Your Word even though they could have turned away from me a long time ago. I am thankful that they continue with me. I pray it's just because we all together just want to learn more about You and learn Your Word. I pray as always for Thaddeus. We are all still praying so hard for his hearts growth. We pray for the aorta to be healed....also Lord for the baby Mindy told us about with the bad heart and Downs. This very easily could have been and almost was Emma's condition. So we share our hearts with them knowing Emma could have had those struggles. For Jill's health, Father her body's chemistry is in Your hands. I pray you will keep her in balance and she will not have any seizures. We also pray they can stay healthy with their very busy schedule and business. I have just been resting in You lately Lord. Since last Sunday it has been good for me. I know I could have studied, but I have been lazy. It has been nice, thank You for the good time with the family. Now help me get back on track this next week. Father we look forward to a wonderful time in worshiping You and our Savior Jesus Christ our Lord and Master and Brother and King...help us to examine our hearts, confess our sins and set our minds on You as we come to worship. In Christ's Name, Amen.

Mt Hope Audio Still Online

If you haven't had the chance to hear about "The Rock" the audio from when I filled in at Mt Hope church is still online. Instructions and link is HERE

Aubrey Anderson comes home!

After nearly losing her life and a month in the hospital, Aubrey has come home!
You can read the news story HERE. I am so thankful the Lord has brought her through this!

OUR LATEST UPDATE ON AUBREY ANDERSON

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30

We checked out of the Wesley hospital at around 6:00 last night. It is great to be home and we are so grateful to everyone who prayed for her recovery and sent encouraging notes. In Psalms 106:1- It says, "Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."

I was reminded the other morning in my prayers, that what Aubrey went through was truly for the pleasure and glory of the Lord. What she had could not be cured. The doctors and nurses could only come along side and support her body for healing. It was the power of prayer that healed her, and brought her home. Rejoice in the Lord's goodness. Thanks is not enough for what everyone has done. Realize the power and the impact of offering up a prayer to a living and holy God. He rejoiced in them and used them to heal my precious daughter.

-Bill/Karen

Old Churches

I love old churches! Every now and then I have to do some audio work in an old church here. It's an old Presbyterian church. Lot's of old wood and creeky steps and creeky wood floors under the carpet up the dark back hall into the choir loft. From the rafters of the church I look out over old wooden pews and a pulpit that looks so old. I love to imagine old time preachers clearly sharing the Scriptures. I love to imagine people sitting on their old wool and cotton Sunday clothes listening to God's Word and worshiping. It seems I have a pretty hard time finding good stuff to read from pastors post 1940's or 1950's. I know just a little about the change in American culture in the 1950's and 1960's.... It seems a pretty dramatic shift in theology came along. I can't be too specific, I haven't researched it enough. Anyway I love the old sermons from some of the Puritan's. I think of a young America when these churches were new and the doctrine was pretty pure. When preachers talked about the state of man before a Holy God.

I also LOVE old Bibles. To hold a Bible in your hands from 100 even 200 years ago and see it's the same exact words! The same exact truth and it works the same way it always has....unchanging truth of God cutting to the heart to reveal sin and our need for Christ.

Gotta run....have a great day.

An Army of ONE

I just finished my weekly meeting with Pastor Samuel in India. Tonight we discussed the urgent need to get Telugu language Bibles in the hands of people there. Every day they ask him and he has nothing to give them. I want to get MANY Bibles in the hands of people there. With the current exchange rate, a Bible is $3. If you have any ideas on how we can raise some money to purchase Bibles, please let me know.

We also discussed again (he asked again) me going to them by the end of 2008. He said they want to load me up and tour me all over the Southern states preaching the Word. You see they don't have the preachers there like we have here. They don't have much theological training. That's why it surprises me so much because I don't have any either, but it did remind me how thankful I should be for a church that feeds me and teaches me so much, so well.

I admitted to him that the thought really scared me. Preaching to over 300 pastors at once in one place they have planned and then all these churches. Let's be honest, there is true persecution over there and I don't know if an American can make that big of a splash without drawing some unwanted attention. My love for Samuel and the Christians there quickly rushed over my fear and I told him I would honestly pursue this goal.

In my mind I visualized what it would be like the day I leave to go there. I am sure my family would not want me to go and worry about me.... I am pretty sure my mom would worry about me. I also think she would be proud of me. That's when it hit me.... Wow what an opportunity! Think about it. We grow up with dreams of being able to impact the world. This is a true opportunity to truly impact the world with the greatest message and the greatest gift the world could ever receive or desire! God has given me great connections with a great man of God in India plus great connections with the opportunity to go to Africa with the Gospel message!

That thought suddenly flashed me back to a night here in Hutch at Holy Cross Catholic Church. I remember I was hit really hard in the heart by God's Word. I remember I got up and went to the restroom and prayed (don't ask me why...I just had to go talk to God about things) Walking in they foyer I prayed with the deepest prayer I could pray...."Lord I do not want to just live and die. How many lives were wasted and meant nothing! I want to live my life for You Lord! Don't let me come to heaven well rested without wear. Let my life be used up serving You. Lord Jesus take my life and let it stand for something! I have done nothing with it and will not do much with it.... I want You to have it! When I die, let them know that my life was not wasted, but was used to further the Kingdom of God." That's pretty close to exact word for word as I prayed it.

So it just hit me. The Lord is answering my prayers! Every time I get to read His Word and get to know Him better. Every time an uneducated man like me gets to use a God given spiritual gift to share His Word with others.... Anytime a person responds..... It's all His work, I know I can take none of the credit....but I am so humbled by it. I am on such a wonderful ride! I don't know where He will take me, or how He will use me. I am filled with fear as to where He might take me or what He might call me to do. I often try to derail the path He has me on with my sin. Yet, He is faithful. He has heard my first prayer to Him. He has said OK and called me His son and saved me from my sins by His grace. He is daily step by step using my life. How much or how little he uses me I don't care, just to know that the Lord loves me and that He would use me.... Is it possible? Can this man from such a small town impact the WORLD for the Lord? In His power and His strength according to His will....yes.

Guess what, He wants to do the same with You. Will you turn your life over to Him to use where He pleases, as He pleases..... Want Your life to count for something worthwhile? Join the Lord's Army. You may serve in ways that go totally unnoticed with no thanks. You may get pats on the back.... You may get the opportunity to talk to others around the world...then again they may be on your street. You may even be killed or beaten or imprisoned. Is that life served for our King's glory worth it? Join the Prince of Peace. He IS the Army of ONE. One Way, One Truth, One Life.... No one comes to the Father but by HIM (Jn 14:6) Wow... It almost makes me brave enough to donate blood......( I said ALMOST).

Daily Prayer 11/27/07

Father- Thank You for Your wonderful mercies! You are so good to us. What a privlage that we could even know You!

We thank You for the health of Aubrey Anderson. It sounds like she is finally doing much better. I just pray no long term damage was done to her kidneys, but of course even if there is, it will be according to Your plan for her life. It will be used by You for Your glory, we know this.

For the wonderful pastors and Bible students in India....I know so many meetings have been going on and so much teaching has been happening. I pray for spiritual discernment and that Your Holy Spirit would teach them and help them to accurately understand the Scriptures.

I thank You that You would even open our eyes to behold such wonderful things in Your Word! We know we do not know anything because we are smart or have figured things out, but simply because You have taught us from Your Word.

More praise for Tatum and baby Aubrie's growth.

Of course we continue to pour our hearts out to You with concern for Thaddeus' heart. We rest in our trust in You Lord.....Thank You so much for the growth in his heart so far...we just pray that it would continue. I have not forgotten my bold request and I know You remember it Lord. I pray for His healing according to Your will for Your glory and for His health.

Father I also pray for Jill. No one said it, but I am a bit concerned about her health with the new baby she has on the way. I just pray You would keep her healthy and keep her body's chemicals in balance and prevent her from having any seizures.

I want to really pray Lord for Peter Krause. Peter has Downs Syndrome and has had a heart surgery. He is now 6 months old and not eating like he is supposed to. They may have to do a G-tube (what Emma had) because he is not eating on his own. He has pulmonary hypertension and his parents are scared to put him through a surgery for fear of what might happen. We certainly understand their fear Lord. Please comfort them and help them to rest in You and may they seek You more earnestly in this time.

I am still so very happy it worked out that we got to get together as a family....Lord You know how special those rare occasions are and how much they mean to us. Thank You for the safe return of every one.

I also thank You for the positive feedback on the Mt. Hope Message. It can be a hard message to hear but also a great message to hear. I thank You that the one's I feared the most would be upset have so far responded well....I pray for the others that it would be received well. I hope they feel comfortable enough to contact me about it Lord. We just want to seek You and our Savior in truth.....may we all regard ourselves as the least and just come to Your Word and deal with the text.

In Christ's Name, Amen.