Reasons to Pray (not what you are expecting)

Here is a partial list of some things that help increase my prayer life...

A group of three or more people walking abreast down a hall way... especially when I'm in a hurry.
Some one relentlessly clicking an ink pen.
An unhappy child who doesn't even want to be at that expensive restuarant.
That precious older person driving 6 miles under the speed limit where there is no passing opportunity.
That precious teenager who has never been taught how far to stay behind a car at night and who also doesn't know how to turn the high beam off.
That precious clerk at the fast food place (mind your own business Jamie) that forgot my fries or gave me a hot dog with relish when I clearly said chilli.
People who make me wait.
That precious person who is about to suck the enamel off their teeth after a meal.
When the receipt paper runs out with the customer just before me.
When cashiers enjoy a reunion and don't seem to notice me standing there ready to check out.

God is so good to supply me with so many things to improve my prayer life.
I hear a pen clicking, I need to go pray now.

One Giant leap

Remember July 20, 1969 when Neil Armstrong stepped off the Apollo 11 ladder onto the surface of the moon and said "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind"?

Well, let me use part of his quote ... "a giant leap BACKWARDS for mankind."

George Bush by way of veto in 2007 restricted federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to existing cells only and only private funding would be acceptable for new embryonic stem cell research. (I am reasonably sure of my statement) I don't think there were any restrictions on adult stem cells.
Today, March 9, 2009, President Obama is reversing that decision. So now, our tax dollars (I didn't think there were many of those left) will be used to finance embryonic retrieval and storage and research from aborted babies. This action further "legitimizes" abortion...after all if we use those embryos then the abortion wont be a total waste right? Sorry to sound so synical but these days seem to draw that out in me.

Of course this should not surprise anyone seeing how one of his first official acts as president was to increase federal funding for abortions.

This is not the kind of "change" I would have liked.

But here's the good news...ready... the dog is being trained and will soon be delivered to the white house. So all is well.

Daylight Savings Time

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour before going to bed Saturday night, march 8th...or you can set the alarm for 2:00a.m. if you wish and do it then, but either way don't be late for church Sunday!!
Blessings

Sunday chatter

I just finished writing a highly sarcastic blog dealing with our current national condition and our future hope or lack there of.
But after reading it, I simply hit delete on the whole page.

I choose to serve the Lord to the very best of my ability or at least attempting to give my best.

I choose to love Jesus and brag on Him any chance I get. I choose to let him stick out of me as much as possible.

I choose to be contagious and at times border line obnoxious...only in extreme circumstances.

I choose to trust Him...lean on Him and hold on tight. And if my grip fails, I choose to believe His will not!

I choose to pray for my country and my president and my church and my family and you...no really, I just stopped here this moment and prayed for anybody who reads this. So if you are reading this, I have already prayed for you and will do so again.

I choose to sing...can you hear me? And laugh! And shout (I did and I think I scared a child walking past my office)

I choose to say to you... God is alive and relevant and available and loving and joyful and amazing.

I choose to invite you to Chose Him!!

I Hope the current Change doesn't leave us Hopeless

Well President Obama stated in his inaugural address that "we have chosen hope over fear". Sounds good to me because I believe in hope but frankly my Hope is in the Lord and not our political system. Nonetheless, his tone changed a little last Wednesday when he said "A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe." What happened to hope over fear.

Well, I've got a few fears of my own. The first is the fast action he took on expanding tax payer funding for abortions and as I understand it, not just here but in other places in the world. Another fear appeared when I heard that his very first television interview as president was not with an American network or news company but a Muslim television station where he reminded his listeners of his Muslim ties.

Then there was his emphatic stand on NO PORK in the stimulis package and then when presented it was full of pork wherein republicans called it a spending bill. Mr. Obama's response was an arrogant "What do you think stimulis is?" His statement drew laughter around the democratic chambers, but who is the laugh on?

I am a little fatigued at the continued bashing of President Bush. Has everyone forgotten that just as this president can't just do anything he wants without some house and senate support neither could the last president and he dealt much of his presidency with a democratic congress. Not all of the catastrophe that we face can be blamed on President Bush.

Go back and look at some of Barney Frank's comments about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack when the republican whitehouse was trying to get some things done several years ago.

As I promised on election day, I will and do pray for my president and he is my president, and I do hope he will seek guidance from the same place I am.

Preach it, Brother!

I wonder how many people have to ask forgiveness for lying after they shake the preacher's hand after a sermon. "Great job Preacher" "Oh, brother that was awesome" "Good Word, Pastor" "Oh, my toes hurt this morning preacher"... well you get the idea.

One guy said one Sunday "Preacher, you sure used a lots of words today!"

I laugh sometimes (on the inside) when people's expressions and eyes and body language scream out something different from what they are saying.

Truth is not every sermon is going to move every person so a preacher can only pray hard, study long and think creatively... the real work comes from the Holy Spirit.

So, with all that said, it is really refreshing when people call or e-mail or show up a day or two or more after the sermon and say things like... "I couldn't shake what you said from my mind" or
"God really spoke to me Sunday and I want you to know that I have already ..." or, "Okay, preacher, here's what I have done since Sunday, can you give me some additional scripture or insight so that I can..."

When I get those kind of calls or comments the week following a sermon, I smile deep inside and thank God for allowing me to be a preacher. That has happened several times already this week and has blessed me greatly (no, it doesn't happen every week).

My sermon this past Sunday spoke to Doing your job, doing it now and doing it right. If God has laid an asignment on you (and he has) do it... do it now ... and do it right.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The President of the United States of America!

Today is a historic day of which no one can deny. Barak Obama will be sworn in office in just a few minutes from my typing this blog. What an amazing reality for our nation when you need look just a few decades back to a time when this day seemed highly unlikely.
We celebrated, yesterday, Martin Luther King's birthday and were once again reminded of his great dream for the equality of man in our country. No more appropriate time then today for this inauguration to take place.
President-elect, in just a few minutes to be called President Obama, was not my choice for president and was in fact probably my last choice of all the serious candidates offered a year ago.
I have even been called a racist because I didn't support him or vote for him. That's like calling me a vegetarian if I don't like steak. His race had absolutely nothing to do with my choice or non-choice of him as our president. In fact if race was an issue for any white person, they would need only to consider that he was birthed by a white woman and raised by her and his white grandparents. However, that was not and is not an issue for me.
My problem is his liberalism, having been labeled as THE most liberal senator in the U.S. Senate and the fact that he had and has so very little experience. He had barely begun serving as a senator when he was beginning an all out campaign for the presidency. He is pro abortion even to the extent of partial birth abortion which I cannot understand for the life of me is not a murderous act punishable by the same consequences as killing someone 30 seconds after they are born as opposed to before they were born. I could list many other reasons that I could not support him with my vote and will not (unless there are some drastic changes in 4 years in his platform) in four years from now.
HOWEVER, he is my president now and will be for at least four years and I will stand by him as an American and I will fervently pray for him regularly. I Peter 2:13-17 is God's command to me as a Christian to pray for and honor my leader and that I will do to the best of my ability.

For the first time since Truman, I think, the sitting president will not have the benefit of regular counsel from Billy Graham as his health and age have closed that chapter. I truly hope that President Obama will solicit the counsel of Rick Warren or someone of his strong convictions.

Obama received, overwhelmingly, the voice of our nation on election day and deserves this position based on the will of the people. It is a wonderful story of the American dream. Congratulations Mr. President! My prayers are with you and your family.
May God continue to Bless America!