Think about this…

Dinosaurs make big noise…

                                                           but eventually get quiet when they die.

Gunky ice

Some time ago I wrote a post about ice.

The thought popped back in my head today as I was changing the filter on our ice making machine at work.

If you don’t change the filter, you get gunky ice. What’s “gunky ice?” Ice with yellow, gooey, snooty-like stuff in it. Believe me, you don’t want gunky ice.

Have you changed your prayer filter recently? Didn’t know you needed to do that?

The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. –Matthew 6:7-8

Look, one of the few things I’ve really had a chance to put to the test has been this pray thing. The cleaner my filter, the better the response. It is that simple.

Gunky prayer, like gunky ice, isn’t what you want…

Do you really want that?

Chatting with a fellow today:

I asked God to give me a deliverance ministry. I had no clue that he was going to start it in my family! Had I known that, I wouldn’t have asked for it.

Moral: don’t pray for things you don’t really want or haven’t thought through…

Priorities?

What are these two fellows doing? Why is everybody laughing? Are they:

a) Hanging out in a bar?

b) Watching an entertaining show?

c) Attending church?

d) Waiting their turn to play darts?

Correct answer: here

Boo!

This is so cool! Try your carving skills!

Thanks Brad! (I stole it from him )

AM in the Word

The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him…it is good to wait quietly…       –Lamentations 3:25

Sometimes waiting is difficult; at others it is actually a relief. When you ask and he tells you to wait, it’s probably a wise thing to do exactly that.

Stirring the pot

Interesting day so far…

Talked with a Buddhist who doesn’t want to “limit my options” when it comes to spiritual issues. She sees a Christian behind every bush, ready to jump out and violate her spiritually. It’s happened “many times;” “when a friend becomes a Christian they go all weird and terminate our friendship.” “Pastors want to take the fun out of life;” “I don’t want to be a Christian because I couldn’t live with myself if I was that arrogant.”

Talked with a fellow bent on wrecking havoc in his church. “They’re all a bunch of jerks and I’m gonna show ‘em.” Just what is he going to “show ‘em?” That innuendo, insinuation and outright lies can destroy the leadership and “spiritual” members.

Talked with a lady who has a cat with throat cancer. She is freaking that the cat may die. “I’ve been fasting and praying for 2 weeks for my cat to live! Please pray for my cat! I need God to understand that he can’t kill my cat!”

Quite a picture we Christians are presenting to the world, yes?

Hanan son of Igdaliah

Finished up the book of Jeremiah this morning.

I scanned back through it quickly, noting some of the different things I’d marked:

• 1:7 – “you must go wherever I send you”
• 4:3 – “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts!”
• 8:22 – “Is there no medicine in Gilead?”
• 10:24 – “correct me, Lord, but please be gentle.”
• 14:16 – give glory to the Lord before it is too late
• 16:9 – oh yes!
• 17:7-8 – trees by the river
• 18:6 – clay in the potter’s hand
• 21:9 – fire in my bones
• 21:15 – “A beautiful palace does not make a great king!”
• 23:24 – “Can anyone hide from me?”
• 29:11-14 – read it!
• 32:37 – “I am the Lord… is anything too hard for me?”
• 33:2 – I need to be asking God to reveal his secrets; he says he wants to tell me
• 35:4 – Hanan son of Igdaliah is called “a man of God.” We know nothing about him. Yet, he earned the moniker.
• 45:5 – “Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don’t do it!”
• 48:10 – “Cursed be those who refuse to do the work the Lord has given them”

A suggestion: should you read the book, insert “the church” where Jeremiah talks about Judah, Israel, Jerusalem and the Israelites.” It is mind expanding…

Playing in the rain

Getting ready to head out to clean up the beach in the rain on a Saturday morn…

Lifepoint is participating in the National Make a Difference Day. We’re going to be cleaning up around Ft. Fisher. It’s raining.

It’ll be fun!

Like I needed that…

A couple of days ago I was handed a list of prayer requests that was two pages long. The last request on the first page continued to the second page but only was a fragment of the sentence preceeding it on the first page.

What appeared at the top of the second page, all by itself was:

like I needed that…

It struck me that often our prayers are just like that, an afterthought that is at best an inconvenience. If in trouble, prayer is the last resort; if you are obligated to pray for something or someone, it is a bother. The thought that we are communicating with the Supreme Being of the universe is usually not part of the equation.

What if — humor me here — what if we prayed like this?

Would our like I needed… that turn into an I really need that…?

Just a thought…