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Category Archives: Praise

Intercessory Prayer

It is always a great day when you learn something new. Today is kind of like that. In my ever growing, humble knowledge of a sovereign God I have Jack praying often struggled with understanding the command for believers to lift up intercessory prayers for all the saints. Since God is sovereign, in control of all things, why would we need to pray on behalf of others? This has especially been at the forefront of my mind because my mother and Robin’s mother are both undergoing cancer treatments. We have been praying quite a bit for each of them lately. So why pray if God is sovereign?

The answer seems to lie (as it always seems to) in the way we view God. Do we view God as a wish genie, who is sitting on His throne granting wishes whenever a whim hits Him. Or do we view Him as the Almighty God who is indeed concerned with our lives and has everything sovereignly aligned for each of us. Things to benefit us and not harm us. Do we trust Him to know what is best for us? Back to the question at hand.

One of my favorite theologians and radio personalities, Dr. Albert Mohler, had recently been in the hospital for stomach surgery and subsequent blood clot complications and upon his return to the airwaves commented on this often asked question. The answer he provided made so much sense I had to blog about it. He said “In the bible, intercessory prayer is not presented as a means to change the mind of God. This is a huge mis-perception. When we intercede for others we are involving ourselves in a conversation with God that opens us up to a change that God would do within us.” In other words it is all about God and His Spirit (who at times intercedes for us) changing us through His sanctifying power and allowing us to participate in the process. This is so awesome. Praise be to God the Father for caring for us in all things for His glory. I am pumped to start thinking this way whenever I am in prayer. God is in the process of changing me as I live my life to be conformed in the image of His son Jesus. If you think about it, we read God’s word to know more about Him. We meditate on the things we read there and then as we open ourselves up in a spirit of prayer He is changing our minds.

It might be a good idea, if you do not already, to journal after your prayer time with God. Ask yourself these questions. What has God revealed to you about His word today? What has God revealed to you about yourself today? How is God changing you today?

Rock on!!

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Posted by barrydean on January 26, 2007 in Praise, Prayer, Theology

Exercising my faith

08 Dec

If you trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and the savior of your eternal soul then you have exp lifting weights erienced the internal struggle the apostle Paul speaks of in Romans 7:15.

For what I am doing, I do not understand, for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing that I hate.

This verse is just an exerpt within the whole text and the context should be read as well. I believe Paul is referring to sin in his life that he personally struggled with. I can relate to this and lately I have had an idea as to a personal correlation between the sin I struggle with as a believer in Christ and the struggle in eating right when you have adopted an exercise regime in your life.

When I am consistently exercising, losing weight, and getting into better shape I have this struggle against old eating habits. When confronted with the temptation to over-eat, my mind says “you have worked so hard to get to this point and you want to go futher right?” That usually is motivation enough to be able to win against eating more sweets than I should. Which is my major downfall. But sometimes I give in and eat too much and feel remorse afterward. If I were not in the middle of getting into shape and the temptation came around I would find it much easier to give into it. The motivation factor of working against what I have accomplished lately would not exist.

The same holds true in my struggle against sin. When I am self-focused and world-focused I am vulnerable to the temptations that may come my way. My mind will say “what the heck I haven’t been focusing on anyone but me, one more won’t matter.” and that, my friends, is a definite heart issue (as my friend and pastor Chris P. would say). But on the other hand when I am consistently praying, studying God’s word, involved in ministry, trusting completely in God my motivation factor is very high to maintain this pattern. Granted if it were not for the Holy Spirit of God within me I would have no “will” power at all. Thanks be to Christ that He did provide a helper to come alongside me and encourage me to to Christ-like. The same Holy Spirit is available to everyone who believes and trusts in Christ, and in Christ alone to save them from condemnation.

Hopefully I have made myself clear on this little personal revelation. I wonder if anyone else reading this has experienced this? I would imagine if you know Christ it might make more sense. Please post comments.

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Posted by barrydean on December 8, 2006 in Personal, Praise, Theology

The dating game

29 Nov

This past Saturday my lovely wife and I went out on a double date with some frien Dating image ds from church. It was an evening that we looked forward to and the expectations were exceeded in my estimation. We all went to a nice out of the way family Mexican restaurant. The food was delicious and very filling. They serve great enchiladas that are available with an assortment of fillings, one of which is cottage cheese. I had the beef and cottage cheese because I like cottage cheese but I’ve never had it on an enchilada. It was very good, and I ate every bite of it. After dinner we went to the theater to see The Guardian movie with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. The film took the time to develop the main characters which seems to be missing from most of the latest movies being made. The movie was well enjoyed all around and the evening was a big hit.

I would recommend dating your spouse on a consistent basis. It is something I am attempting to pursue with my wife. It is nice to spend time getting to know your wife again. It seems it is the only time we can put the day to day activities aside and focus on each other. I hope we will use this time to know each other so when the time arrives when we are alone together, and all of the kids are gone, we will have something to talk about, and things to do together because we still know each other. This weekend we will be attending my company Christmas party and we will be on another date for that.

God is good.

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Posted by barrydean on November 29, 2006 in Family, Personal, Praise

I’m such a geek

11 Oct

And I couldn’t be happier. It has been quite some time since I last posted. Much has happened. I have finally realized that door to door sales is not a career suited to me. I do admire those who can do it.
I will admit that the attraction of career independence and the possiblity of unlimited personal income was also an attraction. But the sales were just not coming. I couldn’t deal very well with the “no” after each presentation. So for the past week I have been considering going back to my original career in the Information Technology field. (Robin has been silently considering this longer.) This thinking was even more emphasized when I found her looking through the classifieds the other day in order to provide for some supplemental income.
About the middle of last week I got a phone call from a woman who works for a local consulting firm. My name was given to her from a good friend of mine and she that he had given me a raving reference, even knowing that I was no longer in the career field. She said they had some opportunities to present to me and wanted to know if I might be interested in meeting with them. I met with her and with their president. I really liked what I was hearing and seeing. Things have indeed progressed since last week. So much so that as of today I went to the office to fill out paperwork with their HR person in order to be officially hired. I will be working as a project leader at one of their client sites in Lincoln which happens to be Cabelas (very cool).
Praise the Lord!!
I am just amazed (God thing) at the way things have fallen into place (God thing) in such a short amount of time. (God thing) I have never been hired for a job so quickly, especially without doing much of the job searching work on my own. (again a God thing) When I met with everyone at the office the other day they were all amazed at how quickly this has all come together. I said that it was “defintely a God thing”.
I know that God is sovereign over everything in my life and that there was a reason I went through the sales adventure. I’m thinking it was to humble me for the most part. It had become a source of pride as of late. Enough of that, I didn’t mean to write an essay. I just wanted to share some of what has been going on recently. I will again try to make my posts more frequent.
Thanks be to God for His enduring patience.

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Posted by barrydean on October 11, 2006 in Family, Personal, Praise

Let the healing begin

24 Jan

Praise the Lord! Robin’s hernia repair surgery went very well today. The surgery was at 7am and she was out and in recovery by 9am. She was put in an observation room until tomorrow. Thanks mom, for being there for her this morning and waiting with me until she was out of surgery and her room. When I left at 4:30pm she was a little more coherent and getting a bit hungry. The doctor said that she should not be lifting anything heavy for about 6 to 8 weeks. We will keep an eye on her to make sure that happens. Again, Praise God!
On a more somber note, I have not mentioned that my mom has been diagnosed with lung cancer. She is taking it pretty well, that I can tell over the phone. Please be praying for her. Also, my sister’s stomach ailments have finally been diagnosed. Her doctor has prescribed some medication and she hopes to be better in a few weeks. PTL! My Ninnie is out of the hospital, she was having some dementia problems and her bladder was really acting up again. She will be staying in a nursing home for a few weeks.

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Posted by barrydean on January 24, 2006 in cancer, Family, healing, Personal, Praise, Prayer

Getting Wet

20 Dec

PTL, three young saints were baptized Sunday evening at church. I was privileged to be a participant in the event. Our associate pastor asked me to help him with the baptisms and to do the closing prayer after. It is an honor to serve my church and ultimately my Lord. It is also a blessing to see folks obedient in following the Lord in baptism.
As a side note please pray for my wife as she had a weird experience Sunday night on the way home. We stopped for Starbucks and she had a red eye, which is coffee with one shot of espresso. We stopped at Walmart after that and she started to get a bit fuzzy in her vision. By the time she got home she couldn’t think very clearly at all. She was muttering about not remembering a word that describes knowing something without having to be told about it. She was not seeing correctly and had some numb sensations in her right hand and in her mouth. She has an appointment to see our doctor this today.