prayer

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Toilet Paper Prayers

Praying is as easy as talking to your best friend but it’s not always that simple. Even after years to talking to God, I have a lot to learn. I was asking a good friend to please pray for us, as our ministry is once again out of funds and we’re not getting any paychecks. Agreeing to pray, she also told me this true story:

Katrina had recently devastated the Gulf Coast, and my friend joined a team from her church that was heading for Mississippi to help in the recovery. They were partnering with a church near the coast that had been acting as headquarters for a whole series of similar church groups.

Hundreds of people were coming through the Mississippi church, sleeping and eating in the church buildings, but supplies were still hard to come by. At one point, one of the church elders approached the pastor: “We’re out of toilet paper! What are we doing to do?”

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Read That, Not This

I spent yesterday working through my to-do list, trying to check off what I really need to accomplish before everyone arrives next week for Thanksgiving. One of the items at the top of the list was “write Friday’s blog post.”

I didn’t get it done.

Then my good friend Cynthia posted two back-to-back blogs that are much better than anything I would have come up with. So I’m sending you to her blog, while I take a much-needed break (and clean the house, buy a turkey, catch up on the laundry, edit a book, post-process about 200 photos, water the houseplants, pay the bills…).

First read this.

And then read this.

See you Tuesday.

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Read This

I don’t normally borrow material from other blogs, but this article by my friend Cynthia Bezek is too good to miss. I can’t re-post it here, since it’s copyrighted by NavPress, but I can send you to her site.

So click on over to “Let’s Talk” and be blessed by what Cynthia wrote about God’s answers to prayer. As her title states, there is An Alternative to “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait”!

Then read some of her previous posts. I think you’ll agree that her blog is well worth subscribing to.

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Worth the Wait

For the last several years, a friend of mind has been praying for a door to open. While she waits, her life is on hold—career, education, family—it all hinges on God’s answer. And until now, God didn’t say no, but He didn’t say yes either. In fact, He didn’t say anything at all.

Last week, she finally received an answer to her prayers. Amid the joy and excitement of God’s “Yes!” there’s the nagging question of why did God wait so long? From our perspective, He could have answered years ago. Even if He wanted her to wait, it would have been a huge help to know how long the wait was going to be. If you’re a planner, like I am, you understand.

Instead, God was silent while my friend prayed… and prayed… and prayed….

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A Church in a Church in a Church

Over the past few months I’ve written a couple of blogs about my confusion over how to “do” church—one in April and one in May. I explained that at our current mega-church, I felt more like a member of an audience than a member of a family, and that I was exploring other options. At the same time, my husband emphatically wanted to stay right where we are, and I wasn’t going to make any changes without him.

It seemed like a stalemate. Happily, God is pretty amazing. In His wisdom, He had the situation under control and a solution was waiting for just this moment.

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It’s All Good!

A week ago I wrote about our good friend who received an organ transplant. Much has happened since then, so I thought I should share the good news that God is amazing (just in case you hadn’t realized that yet).

Due to a series of delays, surgery didn’t begin until 27 hours after the phone call came alerting us to the possibility of a compatible donor. By the time the doctor finished at half past midnight, he (and we) had been up over 24 hours. (The same surgeon also removed the organs from the donor and accompanied them to Denver.) Finally, at 2:30 a.m. we were allowed to stop briefly in the ICU where our friend was somewhat awake and obviously in significant pain.

The next 48 hours were a struggle to find a balance between the much-needed pain medications and their side effects (primarily nausea). In addition, a nasal tube was causing gagging, intensifying the misery. Friends, family members, and others prayed earnestly for God to intervene. Things were so bad, an extra night in the ICU was added.

And then…

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Missionaries Worth Your Support

Everyone knows about organizations such as World Vision and Compassion. How many people are aware of The Seed Company, and Alex and Laura Crum?

Every so often I come across a ministry that I believe is worthy of support, but is not well known. Perhaps they’re small, or working in a part of the world that can’t be publicized. Or perhaps they’re just starting out, as this young couple is, and could use a helping hand.

Of course, I realize that there are thousands of places to give your financial, prayer  and other support—Pete and I can’t afford to support all the ministries we’d like to, either. We wish we were wealthy, just so we could give away more money. Giving is so much fun!

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Full-time Ministry

Does God care what you do for a living? Are some jobs more spiritual than others? Or more significant?

I think many of us subconsciously assume that “full time ministry” jobs are God’s favorites. After all, he called some fisherman and changed them into evangelists. He called one shepherd and asked him to free his people from slavery in Egypt, and another to become king of Israel.

But how many people does God ask to remain fishermen or shepherds? Is that a calling? Is working in a factory, writing software, or selling appliances something God wants us to do?

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The Spiritual Value of an iPhone

product-hero-iphone4-1Glenn Packiam is one of the pastors at our church, and a very wise man of God. I’ve recommended both his books (Butterfly in Brazil and Secondhand Jesus) in previous posts; this time I want to direct you to his blog.

Everything Glenn writes is gold—but this post I’d rate as platinum—or iridium! He has managed to take something we can all relate to and use it to convey a priceless spiritual truth. And he did it in under 200 words. You gotta read this!

Practicing the Presence of an iPhone

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Is God a Slot Machine?

coke3God is not a vending machine. How many times have we heard that statement? We know that we can’t manipulate God—that while he does promise to reward us when we follow Him, that reward is only guaranteed to arrive once we’re in heaven. A quick read of Hebrews 11 makes this abundantly clear: “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” While prosperity preachers may promise riches here on earth if we’ll only send them our money, our true treasure is waiting for us in heaven, safe and secure.

Yes, I know very well that God is not a vending machine. But this morning He woke me up and reminded me that He’s not a slot machine, either.

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