What does your prayer life look like. If it looks a
nything like mine, it consists of prayer for your spouse, family members, local church leaders, leaders of our country, missionaries, sanctification, the unsaved, the return of Christ, and so on. I’m not saying I pray for these all of the time but when I pray these folks almost consistently come to mind. Are you in ministry together with other believers in your local church? If so, I would like to encourage you to pray for the ministry and for the individuals as well. Pray that God would be glorified in the ministry and bless it. Pray that God would watch over and care for those whom you serve with. That God would meet their needs no matter how trivial. I am writing this because I have not been praying for my fellow laborers in ministry. I was prompted to repent of this by an article I read at the Grace To You website. The article pointed out that Paul prayed for those in ministry with him at all the churches he had visited or helped to establish. The book of Philippians chapter 1 contains much about Paul and his thoughts and prayers with those who labor with him. I would encourage everyone to read this chapter and become very intimate with it. Especially if you are serving in a ministry.
Praying for ministry
Was Jesus just a martyr? Atonement and Hope (part 1)
As we begin to approach the time of the year western civilization uses to celebrate Easter, my mind begins to meditate on the sacrifice of God’s one and only son. What exactly was accomplished with that sacrifice? Many modern day theologians assert that Jesus did nothing more than die a martyr’s death for the poor and the destitute. They argue that His death was more a political act than a spiritual one. When Christians use the phrase “Jesus died for you”, is that all that happened on the cross? Would folks understand that because of our sin he had to die? Jesus atoned for the sins of those who would believe. As believers we should greatly rejoice in His death. Without the death of the one perfect man Jesus Christ, humanity would have no hope of being reconciled to God, and man would receive his just reward in hell for his sin. In the coming weeks I want to write about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as we go into the Easter season. As I conclude this posting I will offer somewhat of a secular world view of the Jesus the Martyr. One of my favorite bands to come out of the Seattle grunge invasion is Soundgarden and below is a video of one of their songs “Jesus Christ Pose”. It’s a song about celebrities and their use of martyrdom symbolism to attract and make some sort of statement. Some of the images may offend. They use some abstract depictions of the cross.
Praise from a free will theologian
“How Great I Art”, “To Me Be the Glory”, “Great Is My Faithfulness”, and “I Need Me Every Hour” could be the hymns of choice based on a free will theology. If you are not sure what free will theology is please follow the link provided above.
I held this very view for more years than I haven’t. And even though I would not admit these hymns even remotely described my theology, I still affirmed man’s free will in salvation. So if you hold the view that man is ultimately responsible for his salvation because He chooses God then you should indeed pat yourself on the back and sing a praise in your behalf.
Now some might think this a bit too far fetched. But if you honestly look at the rational conclusion from the theology that says salvation has been provided by God and it was up to you to choose God, then you should rejoice in your salvation. And not only praise God for your salvation you should also rejoice and praise yourself as well. This is much like what a pastor friend of mine once envisioned getting to heaven and high-fiving Christ and proclaiming “We did it!”
But if you are from the “God does it all” camp then the stuff above would seem pretty silly. This is the camp I now sing around campfires in. And sing I do. If it wasn’t for the grace of God who gave me the faith to believe I would still be in opposition to a holy God. I would still be destined to be condemned to God’s just wrath for my sin. For it is God and God alone, which is known in theological circles as monergism, that provides the way and the means for salvation. He does it all. This my friends causes me to greatly praise my God.
Check out the lyrics for the following song.
Praise on!
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 
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!!
Our Creator knows us well
I am not sure why I haven’t posted anything in almost a month. It may be that I haven’t had anything relevant to say and I have been trying to limit the number of personal posts. After all who really wants to read about someone else’s life experiences. I know there may be some of my friends and family who do read those personal posts and I appreciate it. I am going to try and post something more often, but this year I am trying to post more relevant topics.
Now for the first post of this year. This past Sunday morning our associate Pastor, Eric, presented a message about people being made in the image of God and what that means. He used selected scripture verses to effectively describe what this means. The message definitely got me to thinking and I followed this thinking to my next logical step. Since we are made in the image of God and God is also our creator wouldn’t He know what is good for us and what is harmful? I say absolutely and this is what I would like to write about.
Whenever we begin a new year one of the things 
we think about are resolutions for the new year. Some of the more popular resolutions are exercising and eating right, followed by a plethora of others. I think the common theme for most of them is starting a habit or a consistent activity that is better for us. I believe God not only has given us the knowledge that He exists and the knowledge to know right from wrong. But along this same line of thinking he has given us the knowledge to understand what is good for us and what is harmful. He has definitely given us this knowledge through His commands in His perfect scripture.
Exercising my faith
If you trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and the savior of your eternal soul then you have exp
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.
Working in the panhandle
Last night I drove out to Sidney, Nebraska to be present for the beginning of a new project for t
he world’s foremost outfitter. The drive wasn’t too awfully bad. It was only about 5 hours and I basically did it with only one stop for fuel and a sandwich.
Today I spent a good portion of the day in meetings trying to iron out some of the project requirements and definitions. I believe I am going to like the people on this project. The facilities at their headquarters are excellent, and I am using a much better PC. The building is huge on the inside and out. It will take me a little while to be comfortable finding my way around in it. I was able to find my buddy Steve who just recently moved out here to the middle of nowhere. He and his wife and I are going to try and get together for dinner tomorrow night That should be fun. I will probably grab some dinner on the way to the hotel tonight and veg-out in front of the television. They have cable, 75 channels and nothing’s on.
I have an idea for a creative correlation between another real life personal struggle much like the struggle we have with sin as believers. So stay tuned I may post it tomorrow night.
The dating game
This past Saturday my lovely wife and I went out on a double date with some frien
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.
The Game of the Century?
It remains to be seen. But it was one of the best games I’ve ever seen. I loved the outcome.
Is God the author of evil?
Every time you plug into the news you learn of another incident where someone
consumed by evil perpetrating that evil on another human being. This week outside a Walmart in Putnam, Conn. two armed men attempted to rob folks waiting in line to purchase the newly released PlayStation 3 gaming system. In the attempt one man was shot because he refused to give up his money. Locally, last night (Friday) a man was shot and killed in North Omaha. Most of the world lives in fear that they will be the next victim in a evil terrorist attack.
Upon This Rawk 