Giving & Prayer

As I am reading How to Pray (R. A. Torrey), he goes through several hindrances to our prayers being heard & answered. Proverbs 21: 13 says "Whoever stops his ear at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard."

Torrey goes on to say that "there is perhaps no greater hindrance to prayer than stinginess" and reminds that with the same measure we use, it will be used with us as well (Luke 6:38).

"Many a man and woman who is seeking to find the secret of their powerlessness in prayer need not seek far, it is nothing more nor less than downright stinginess. George Mueller was a mighty man of prayer because he was a mighty giver. What he received from God never stuck to his fingers; he immediately passed it on to others."

Oh Lord refine my heart. Remind me that I am a manager of your wealth... It was never intended to be mine, to be hoarded. Break my fingers that they be released from all that I am gripping ever so tightly.

Jesse Tree

Looking for a family Christmas tradition? This is one we started with our family last December and loved it. It is called a Jesse Tree & is THE best advent waiting calendar I have yet to see. This advent calendar starts in Genesis with the story of creation (on December 1st) and goes through the Old Testament until December 25th, when you celebrate the birth of Jesus.

It can be easy to view the birth of Jesus as an isolated story... All the while missing out on the grand story of redemption that God has been writing since creation. For after sin entered in the Garden, God has been wooing the hearts of His children back to Him. We can see this all throughout the Old Testament as God prepares the way for His Son.

Hebrews makes it clear that the endless, daily sacrifices that were offered up could never cleanse the conscience or make perfect. (Hebrews 9:9, 10:1-4, 11-12) But God had a plan... A better plan than the sacrificial system that could finally reconcile a sinful people with a holy God.

Enter Jesus. The spotless Lamb whose blood does cover. Blood that once for all would be sufficient. No more living with guilt. No more condemnation. No more sacrifices in hopes of being "okay" for that day. No more veil to keep us from the Holy of Holies- the very presence of God.

Through the birth, life, death & resurrection of Christ, we now have right standing with God. The story of the babe in the manger is huge. For this is the life that brought us life.

Join us in making a Jesse Tree this December as we anticipate "The Word made flesh who made his dwelling among us." (John 1:14)

Making A Jesse Tree:

1. For each of the 25 Days of Advent, you will make an ornament for your tree. For example, Day One is a SUN for creation, Day Two is a MAN for Adam, Day Three an APPLE.... You can be as creative as you want with your ornaments. We've added googley eyes to our animals & people- just for a fun extra effect the kids enjoy. Make your ornaments as basic or elaborate as you'd like them to be.

2. Starting on December 1st, read the scriptures for that day. (included at bottom of blog post)Then the first ornament is hung on the tree. By Christmas Day you will have completed the Jesse Tree & will have a tree full of ornaments that tell the redemptive story of God's pursuit of man... Beginning with creation in the garden all the way through the birth of the One- the tiny babe- who would come to reconcile us & give us right standing with a Holy God.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1: 14

Scriptures for Jesse Tree: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc86hr5f_9hfvpnkcq&btr=EmailImport

For information on the history of the Jesse Tree: http://www.cresourcei.org/jesse.html

Right Action Follows Right Thinking

There is a dynamic principle shown throughout God's Word, and no person will ever walk in victory unless he understands and operates in it: Right action follows right thinking. Where your mind goes, your life follows.
-Joyce Meyer

And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will if God. Romans 12:2

"I don't believe that one of us serious about God will forego this test. It's no 30 minute quiz; it's a lifelong essay test written in blood. Will we loose our hold on anything and anyone else as a prerequisite to following Christ in the intensity of aloneness? If you can answer quickly, I'm not sure you grasp the question's seriousness. . ."

("Beloved Disciple" by Beth Moore)

"For I am not ashamed of the Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes- the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."

Romans 1:16-17

"In the beginning God made man in His image. Man has been making God in his image ever since."

-Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase

Taking Headphones Off

Last weekend at a Lead Now conference, a music video was played when we first arrived. It was a Jars of Clay song entitled "Headphones". I could have stood up after that song, left and felt that it was sufficient. It spoke exactly what I needed to hear.

Sweet conviction. Refreshing refinement. Lord have your way.

The video was filmed in Dallas of a man sitting down to watch the news. At the sights & sounds of the tragedy he stands to leave, putting his headphones on.

"I don't have to hear it, if I don't want to

I can drown this out, pull the curtains down on you

It's a heavy world, it's too much for me to care

If I close my eyes, it's not there"

He walks down the street, passing a homeless man on the corner. The homeless man looks up at him, hungry & needy with anticipation and hope that maybe this man will be the one to reach out. The man looks away, passing the homeless man while eating his snickers bar, headphones on.

A little further in his walk a young boy sits alone on the curb holding a football. Clearly hoping for a friend, a father, a hand to reach out and love him. The self-absorbed man looks away, consumed with his music & his life... with his headphones on.

On the bus he sits across from a hurting lady. He knows He should offer hope. He wants to offer a word, a touch, some love... But his headphones are on. It's easier to just drown it out. It's easier to "pull the curtain down".


Do I live life with my headphones on? It's easier many times to decide I don't want to hear it. I can drown it out and go on with my life.

But is that what we are called to? Did Christ die to give us comfy lives, free from suffering, secluded from the oppressed & hurting?

Suffering is difficult to look at. But it's all over the Bible. To turn my nose to it is to turn my nose to the heart of Christ.

Our son's verse, a verse we have prayed and spoken over him since he was born, reverberates the heartbeat of Christ.

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

(Micah 6:8)

I cannot act justly, love mercy and walk with my God if I am drowning out the needs around me. If I am oblivious.

Lord take off my headphones. I began praying this over the weekend. Take off my headphones. Make me aware of those around me. The needs, the desires, the hurts. Awaken my heart again to the lost. The oppressed.

Take off my headphones.

The very next day as I walked into Walmart I begged God "Take off my headphones".

As I walked through the checkout line, the woman scanning my groceries was HUNGRY. Not physically, but spiritually. Emotionally. She needed something.

I could have been a monkey with a wig on, inviting her to any church, inviting her to a cult even... and she would have accepted. She just wanted SOMEONE to extend an invitation.

Thank you Lord that you took off my headphones. Now she is coming to check out our church... And I know YOU WILL REVEAL YOURSELF. May she find what her searching heart is longing for... in You.

May we take off our headphones. In our homes, in our neighborhoods, communities, churches, in our cities, in a hurting world, with a global mindset... To pull back the curtain, STOP long enough to look deep into the eyes of the one in front of us, and extend a hand.

With our headphones off.

Give Us Eyes To See

"Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes,
The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries."

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Six Steps

Six steps... How I long to get the place where my heart beats in worship so passionately, so brilliantly, that I cannot go even six steps without praising.

This is why he is called the man after your own heart. David could not take six steps without breaking out in worship. He got it. He understood the One we call God.

"So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When whose who were carrying the ark of the Lord has taken six steps, he sacrified a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts & sounds of trumpets." (2 Samuel 6:13-15)

His first two items on the agenda as King: Conquer Jerusalem making it the city of God's people. Get the ark of God back to it's rightful place in the city of God's people.

In 1 Chronicles 13:3 he says "Let us bring the ark of God back to us, for we did inquire of it during the reign of Saul."

I wander what our motives & agenda would be were we crowned king & queen. What would my first priority be? Or what about each morning- What is my agenda for each day I've been given? That the glory of God would reign in me... or that I would reign?

Is it to have God's presence in my heart & my home? Is it to seek and worship the One... The Only One who is worthy.

Oh Lord may our hearts beat for the glory and honor of our King. Tear down every competing idol in our hearts, that YOU alone would reign as Lord and receive the praise due your Name. This holiday season... as Thanksgiving & Christmas approach, may our hearts & attitudes be FULL of praise. Give us the heart of David that cannot make it through breakfast, cannot make it through lunch, cannot make it through the afternoon & evening... without a heart overflowing in praise to our God.