Recent Posts
Feeding The Beast
May 10, 2012
Oops!
May 3, 2012
What If This Present Were The World's Last Night?
April 26, 2012
prayer
The Jesus Prayer
August 4, 2011
Soon after he got in our car, he said to me, “I haven’t talked to God so much as I have in the last few hours.” These...
August 4, 2011
Soon after he got in our car, he said to me, “I haven’t talked to God so much as I have in the last few hours.” These...
Sunday Morning Coming Down: Part Two
October 11, 2010
Scriptural Basis: [Jesus said], "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me." John 16:32 "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16 Application: Kristopherson focused on it as he wrote "Sunday Morning Coming Down": that familiar, palpable loneliness which in one way, place, or time or another everyone experiences. Just consider how much of your life, even...
October 11, 2010
Scriptural Basis: [Jesus said], "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me." John 16:32 "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16 Application: Kristopherson focused on it as he wrote "Sunday Morning Coming Down": that familiar, palpable loneliness which in one way, place, or time or another everyone experiences. Just consider how much of your life, even...
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah
August 26, 2010
Scriptural Basis: “These people come near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Isaiah 29:13 “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” Psalm 63:3 “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34 Application: When we are preparing to give our cat, Coco, a can of wet cat food, she, knowing what is coming, begins meowing like crazy. My wife was saying to her, “Hold your horses!...
August 26, 2010
Scriptural Basis: “These people come near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Isaiah 29:13 “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” Psalm 63:3 “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34 Application: When we are preparing to give our cat, Coco, a can of wet cat food, she, knowing what is coming, begins meowing like crazy. My wife was saying to her, “Hold your horses!...
The Deafness of God
July 15, 2010
Scriptural Basis: “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.” Isaiah 1:15 Application: Surely at times it seems like God is deaf and cannot or will not hear my prayer; that He is blind and does not see my situation and come quickly to my rescue. There are those who have sought God in “foxhole” circumstances or in less dire need out of mere spiritual curiosity, and have soon abandoned their quest...
July 15, 2010
Scriptural Basis: “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.” Isaiah 1:15 Application: Surely at times it seems like God is deaf and cannot or will not hear my prayer; that He is blind and does not see my situation and come quickly to my rescue. There are those who have sought God in “foxhole” circumstances or in less dire need out of mere spiritual curiosity, and have soon abandoned their quest...
Specific Actions Parents Should Take When They Pray with Their Child
October 7, 2009
Help him or her recognize who God is! He is real, and He hears us, even though we cannot see Him with our eyes. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) ‘Without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) Teach them to pray using the pattern that Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:9-15. We pray to our Heavenly...
October 7, 2009
Help him or her recognize who God is! He is real, and He hears us, even though we cannot see Him with our eyes. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) ‘Without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) Teach them to pray using the pattern that Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:9-15. We pray to our Heavenly...
How can I pray for my child…a 10 point guide
October 6, 2009
Whatever you do bathe your son or daughter in prayer. Here are 10 Scriptural truths of prayer to encourage and guide your prayer life for your children: It is a sin not to pray for them: “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” (I Samuel 12:23) You should not grow weary or give up in prayer: persevere: “Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show...
October 6, 2009
Whatever you do bathe your son or daughter in prayer. Here are 10 Scriptural truths of prayer to encourage and guide your prayer life for your children: It is a sin not to pray for them: “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” (I Samuel 12:23) You should not grow weary or give up in prayer: persevere: “Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show...
How can I pray for my child…what’s most important
October 5, 2009
The most important matter for which we must pray is our child’s salvation. Because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for our sins (John 3), our child could be born again at an early age, as was apparently true of Jeremiah and John the Baptist in their mothers’ wombs (Jeremiah 1:3, Luke 1:39-45). It is possible our child may not know or remember a day he or she did not know Jesus as his or her Lord and Savior. Other children may not profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior and live as though...
October 5, 2009
The most important matter for which we must pray is our child’s salvation. Because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for our sins (John 3), our child could be born again at an early age, as was apparently true of Jeremiah and John the Baptist in their mothers’ wombs (Jeremiah 1:3, Luke 1:39-45). It is possible our child may not know or remember a day he or she did not know Jesus as his or her Lord and Savior. Other children may not profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior and live as though...
How can I pray for my child…why we as parents pray
October 3, 2009
Too frequently, our prayers are general and lack careful thought or Biblical arguments. “Lord, bless Johnny and keep him safe today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” There is nothing wrong with praying for God’s blessing on our son or daughter or asking God to protect him or her. However, our prayers often stop there. They lack specificity that should arise from our loving and careful observation of our children. They also lack our intentional and meditative consideration of the particular traits that...
October 3, 2009
Too frequently, our prayers are general and lack careful thought or Biblical arguments. “Lord, bless Johnny and keep him safe today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” There is nothing wrong with praying for God’s blessing on our son or daughter or asking God to protect him or her. However, our prayers often stop there. They lack specificity that should arise from our loving and careful observation of our children. They also lack our intentional and meditative consideration of the particular traits that...
How can I best pray for my child?
October 2, 2009
As a parent, our greatest treasure is the child God has entrusted to us. We cannot make a more lasting investment than the spiritual qualities we nurture in our children. No other person holds a more influential key to molding our children than you have as a mother or father. Others may influence our children’s lives for good and for eternity, but God has created in every child a desire to look to his or her parents for love, security, and direction unlike any other people in his or her life. We have...
October 2, 2009
As a parent, our greatest treasure is the child God has entrusted to us. We cannot make a more lasting investment than the spiritual qualities we nurture in our children. No other person holds a more influential key to molding our children than you have as a mother or father. Others may influence our children’s lives for good and for eternity, but God has created in every child a desire to look to his or her parents for love, security, and direction unlike any other people in his or her life. We have...
I have a child who…refuses to go to church or participate in family devotionals
August 18, 2009
I have a child who…refuses to go to church or participate in family devotionals. Key verse: Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” There is a world of difference between the words "teach" and "train." Teaching is the verbal imparting of truth, whereas "training" applies those teachings moment by moment, day after day. The dictionary defines "Train: to mold the character, instruct by exercise, drill, to make...
August 18, 2009
I have a child who…refuses to go to church or participate in family devotionals. Key verse: Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” There is a world of difference between the words "teach" and "train." Teaching is the verbal imparting of truth, whereas "training" applies those teachings moment by moment, day after day. The dictionary defines "Train: to mold the character, instruct by exercise, drill, to make...