Sorry for the confusion

I created a post about Rubel Shelly's appearance on CNN- Nancy Grace Show. After I posted, I realized that the event has already occurred. Rubel was on CNN last night.

If you have no idea what I am writing about, and you care to find out, go to Mike Cope's blog for the gist (here). In the comments to his post is a transcript of the original telecast. Thus far, I have not discovered a transcript of Rubel's dialog with her. All I know is Jeff Garrett's blog stated that Rubel did good and Nancy was rude.

Quick Notes

It is great to see such a wide range of participation in the past few days. I hope that as you are reading this blog, you are also taking time to read some others as well. I keep a list of about 10 blogs in my favorites. I check them regularly. It is a very good way to keep in touch with happenings that are important to you.

In CofC news: 2006 is the year many are seeking to undo what was done in 1906. This year's ACU Lectureship and Tulsa Workshop has run the theme of Unity. Both events are calling for a greater acceptance and fellowship with our Christian Church counterparts. Bob Russell, minister of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, has been featured at both events. For a synopsis of what's going on, you can read this article in the Christian Chronicle:

100 years after split, unity events bring praise, concern


The Christian Chronicle has several articles addressing the ramifications of the proposed unity. Here are two more:

1906 - 2006: 100 years later, can we converse across the keyboard?

ACU lectures promote ‘spirit of fellowship’

The Christian Chronicle is a good source of updated information about significant events that specifically involve our fellowship.

Do I Have What it Takes to be His Disciple?

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 13:35
Disciple according to dictionary.com…
1. One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another.
active adherent, as of a movement or philosophy.
2. often Disciple One of the original followers of Jesus.

When thinking about being a disciple of Jesus two different thoughts come to mind.
1. Wow! What an exciting and blessed life.
2. Wow! What a difficult life to live.
It’s not that the life of being a disciple is so disappointing, it’s just the opposite – it’s a life of great blessing and joy in the Lord. I’m sure that all sounds a bit cliché, but it really is true. Being a disciple of Jesus is an out-of-this-world experience.
On the other hand, I have to acknowledge how difficult it is to continually die to myself and take up Jesus’ teachings – and cross -- and become his follower/disciple. I know both the joy that comes from being a disciple – at least trying to be – and the disappointment of realizing that my life is still lived for the most part, according to me.
Yet there is this beauty at the center of following Jesus that won’t let go of me… and that is, the world will know I am His by the way I love others. That is so Jesus isn’t it? To say that at the core of His teachings, at the core of His life, and at the core of those who would follow Him is Love for Him and one another.
I know that discipleship sometimes seems like it is too large to grasp, but it really becomes possible when He is involved. He takes us from living for ourselves to living and loving Him and those around us. In the words of Terry Rush…“we could do well with this… it’s in us!”

I learned a cool phrase a few weeks ago… "May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi!"

It is born out of the idea that if you were a follower/disciple of someone, then whatever they stepped in would be all over the front of you. If you were following them close enough that is.

So…May we all be covered in the dust of our Rabbi!!!!!

Prayers needed

As many of you know, my Dad had his friend, Steve Mullins, put in the bulletin for prayer dealing with losing his battle with cancer and for his soul. Today, Steve passed away at about 3pm in Ashland. I don't know where his heart was, only God knows that but, I know where our prayers need to be now.....with his family and friends. His father, Charles, just passed away a hand full of months ago. The Mullins family needs prayers of love for peace in their hearts.

Dewey mentioned tonight that we should get together next Monday for the Men's College Basketball Championship game down at Campus Ministry. We thought get together for a devotional and pizza at about 7:00pm and the game starts at 9:00 pm. Of course there is always ping pong, pool and air hockey to keep you busy if you are not interested in the basketball game. Let me know if there is any interest to do this. Who knows we may get to see George Mason pull this off!!!

Keep Praying

Just a reminder for you all to be praying for me.

Paul decribed the armor of God in Ephesians 6, a passage we are all familiar with:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full
armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and
after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of
truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of
peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you
can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Then Paul follows this up with a request that I was requesting when I went forward and asked for your prayers yesterday.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and
requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the
saints.
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

I need your prayers to help me be the kind of Christian I need to be. And I know that you need my prayers, too. Therefore the challenge to earnestly pray for each other so that we can bring about a better congregation that will effectively work in our community.

Last night as I started my prayers, I made out my list of the 10 people I wanted to pray for. My list was too long. So I decided not to count family and close friends that I normally pray for anyway and prayed for them separately. Still too many, so I separated people who were sick into a catagory of "prayers for the sick" and said a prayer for them and went back to my list. Still couldn't get it down to 10 so I settled for 17 and went on with my prayers.

People, we need to be sharing our struggles and praying for each other. We need to light a fire of love that will blaze bright and bold!

This Is Who I Really Am.

This morning, before John got up to do the sermon, I was already thinking about how nasty of a person I am. A couple of days ago, I got a phone call from my mother. She was delivering mail and listening to the radio. Obviously, she was listening to the big game with the South Webster Jeeps because when I answered the phone, she announced with great excitment in her voice that we had just won. I had no idea what she was talking about because I don't keep up with sports and I havn't been going to high school games since I was in school myself over 14 years ago. I am completely oblivious to what goes on at my old school now. I just don't care who wins anymore. Unfortunately, I made this comment to my mother. I said, in a nasty tone of voice, "I don't care!" This, didn't seem to bring my mom down at all. She just continued to stay excited and informed me that she just thought I would like to know. I guess she just wanted to tell someone the good news. I just wasn't very gracious toward her. I was down right nasty and rude to her. My mother. Why? I couldn't begin to tell you. Nasty tones and rude words just seem to fly out of my disgusting, wretched mouth every time I talk to my family. I have often felt such tremendous guilt for talking to them in this way for no good reason.

This morning, while on the way to church services, I was talking to Tim about what happened on the phone with mom. I told him how terrible I was and explained how there will always be something to slap me across the face in order to keep me grounded in who I really am. You see, I often have people telling me how wonderful I am and how I write so well and always have the right thing to say, etc., etc. It doesn't take long before I begin to believe that what I have to say really does have alot of merit and people need to hear me speak. Every time I get caught in this haughty thinking, God sends me discipline like only He can. That slap in the face that I feel coming from Him also comes with a good talkin' to from Him. He tells me "How can you talk to your mother like that and still think you're such a good communicator to my people? You should be ashamed of yourself. Now go and appologize to your mother for talking to her the way you did."

So, this moring at church services, my mother was running a little late and came in to sit down in the row in front of me. God immediately spoke to me saying that I needed to appologize right then. So, I scooted Tim over a little and pulled my mother's ear close to my mouth and explained how I've been getting guilt trips for a couple days and wanted to appologize. As I explained, she began to cry (like a mother does). I then felt another nudge to kiss her on the cheek. This was uncomfortable for me because I'm not a kissing person. When God tells you to kiss your mother, you just do it!

After the sermon, my mom came over and continued to cry as she appologized for not calling me as often as she should in order to talk to me and she appologized for a few other things she's been feeling bad about neglecting too. I was disciplined and my mom was broken and healed. God is still good!......ALL THE TIME.

So, this is my secret sin that I am making known to the world through the blog venue: I treat my family like they are garbage while at the same time treating friends and total strangers like the best thing in the world.

I'm not a good person like you think I am. I don't always say nice things to people. I am human and I fail........miserably. There is no one perfect and no one without sin except for Jesus Christ my savior. If I were perfect, I would not need a savior! I need a savior and I thank God that I have one!

PRAY FOR ME.

Christianity, The Easter Bunny and 'Diversity Days'

I may be the only one on this website who feels this way, but, I enjoy listening to Jerry Falwell speak. I get his newsletters in my email and this one I felt was interesting enough to share here. Take a gander....



FALWELL CONFIDENTIAL
Insider weekly newsletter to The Moral Majority Coalition and
The Liberty Alliance http://www.moralmajority.com/

Date: March 23, 2006
From: Jerry Falwell

CHRISTIANITY, THE EASTER BUNNY AND ‘DIVERSITY DAYS’

I read with interest a news story this week in which a St. Paul, Minn., official decided to outlaw the Easter Bunny because the furry creature might offend “non-Christians.”

I don’t know what’s more disturbing — that this guy believes the Easter Bunny actually has something to do with the Christian celebration of Easter or that he is part of a larger problem in which pompous officials jump on the politically-correct bandwagon to eradicate all mention of religion (specifically Christianity) in public squares across our nation.

In this example, a toy rabbit, pastel-colored eggs and a sign with the words “Happy Easter” were removed from city council offices, the Associated Press reported.

Yeah, we sure wouldn’t want that artificial green grass and those colorful little eggs to alarm some innocent bystander who happens along.

Why, they might mistake those decorations as an endorsement of religion!

Don’t laugh — that’s about how ridiculous the modern anti-religious freedom movement has become. Groups like Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, American Atheists and the American Civil Liberties Union are working to fashion a sanitized, religion-free public square; these groups habitually deny and rewrite our nation’s history in order to enact their reprehensible agenda.

City leaders and education officials across this country have been so duped by this effort that even the most negligible reference to religion — or something as non-religious as the Easter Bunny that is perceived as religious — is outlawed.

In an unrelated event, earlier this week, in Wisconsin, a high school official cancelled a so-called “diversity day” when it was learned that a group of Christians, including former homosexuals, wanted to present Bible-based perspectives on homosexuality.

Viroqua High School officials had planned to present the viewpoints of several religions — including Hmong (an Asian ethnic group), Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, African-Americans, homosexuals, Latinos, Buddhists, the physically disadvantaged and the economically disadvantaged — but not the views of Christians.

Diversity day?

Right.

When a school official reported that the viewpoints of Christians and former homosexuals would be excluded, a resident contacted the Orlando, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel on behalf of several concerned Viroqua residents.

Liberty Counsel attorneys then sent a letter to the district administrator, explaining that the censorship of Christians and former homosexuals violated the Establishment Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection guarantee. After receiving no response, Liberty Counsel sent another letter a few days letter to the same official and the board of education.

Two days later, the diversity day event was cancelled.

This is a clear example of how anti-Christian many local officials have become.

There are untold thousands of former homosexuals (or ex-gays) in our nation who are flourishing in their new lives. But they are shunned as if they have the plague because they don’t fit into the “diversity” of the so-called mainstream.

Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, said of the case, “This is yet another attempt to indoctrinate our youth with the harmful message that homosexuals cannot change. While touting the message of tolerance, homosexual activists refuse to be tolerant of opposing viewpoints. Our youth deserve to know the truth about homosexuality — that people can choose to overcome same-sex attractions and that acting on those attractions results in devastating physical, mental, and spiritual consequences.”

I have no doubt that the same officials who want to disallow all Christian _expression on campuses or in public squares would at the same time have no problem with promoting “The Da Vinci Code,” or some other book or movie that disparages Jesus Christ.
There is no level playing field when it comes to the religious freedoms of conservative people of faith. We are literally viewed as second-class citizens by many in leadership in this nation.

My old tapes

Not too long after David Lewis came to Sunshine, Dad talked him into accompanying me on a trip to Harding University. I was struggling to decide where to go to college. David had recently graduated from Harding's School of Biblical Studies. David and I endured two 12 hour stints together in Dad & Mom's Monte Carlo. The ramifications of that trip deeply impacted the course of my life. However, that was not the biggest impact David made on me. The ramifications of another event made a more significant impact.

The second event was when David offered me a tape, the first in a series by Landon Saunders, called Lectures in Preaching. I had no idea who was Landon Saunders or why I was being given tapes for preachers. But, it was David, so I listened. I listened to those tapes over and over again. Landon's message about the man of God helped me understand not only why David Lewis was different, but who I wanted to be. I have gone through many copies through the years. I just recently spent 80-some dollars acquiring 2 more sets.

I was not fully aware at the time, but my deepening appreciation of what it meant to be a man of God, shifted the focus of my faith from the Church of Christ to Jesus Christ. That may sound cliche, but the distinction is monumental to me. The call of those tapes continually causes my heart to burn within me. Landon calls the man of God to walk the highest road. He describes a difficult yet wondrous process in which a man receives his message and mission from Most High. I never actually met Landon. I shook his hand once, after he delivered a key note address at one of Harding's annual lectureships. But, I have always felt he was a part of my life.

I pick-up on references to Landon, especially references to Lectures on Preaching. I discovered James Walters, a professor I had come to deeply appreciate at Harding, was leaving to go work with Landon (He actually worked with him for 10 years). I remember Mike Cope announcing at one time, that he needed to recharge. He would be attending a retreat with Landon Saunders. Many times through the years, as I listened to lectures or sermons, I would catch a reference indicating to me that this particular speaker had his own set of tapes.

I just caught another. Lynn Anderson delivered a speech at the ACU Graduate School of Theology Alumni Association Luncheon at the ACU Lectures, February 22, 2006. He concluded with this reference:

As Landon Saunders said, "The nails of reality have been driven through the hands and feet of God's man, the sword of the spirit has pierced his side, and out of him flows the very life of God."

Those words depict the theme of the Lectures on Preaching series. If you are interested in listening to the series- I have two fresh copies, bits and pieces of several other copies.

Thanks to Milton Stanley (Transforming Sermons) for the link to Lynn Anderson's speech. To read Lynn's speech for yourself (and I highly recommend it)- click here.

Good News!

I just found out yesterday that my dad's brother rededicated himself to God after running from Him for 48 years, as he put it. My dad is one of seven children and I remember at my grandma's funeral, the preacher said that when my grandma was dying in the hospital she said that more than anything she wanted to have all of her babies saved. I have never forgotten that comment and made a decision long ago that I was not going to let her down. Being dead, she was unable to do further work in the lives of her children. So, that left things up to the rest of us ....but especially God. I don't want to stand by doing nothing while my family dies in sin and stubbornness. My grandma sent the rest of the family out of the room at the hospital because she wanted to talk to my aunt Kay. She told Kay to promise her that she would see to it that the rest of her babies were saved. Kay told her that she couldn't promise something like that but that she would do what she could. It's really up to each person and God. There is nothing we can do to send someone else to Heaven. That is unless you pray! ;)

Well, I've been told all my life that my uncle Ron use to be a preacher. I've been told all of the wonderful things he did when he was young and how serious he took things concerning The Lord. I'm 32 years old now and have never seen my uncle the way everyone else describes him in his youth. Remember, he's been avoiding God for 48 years. He now has quite a story to tell about his conversion and the man honestly talks more than ME! So be prepared if you ever meet my uncle Ron.

God hears our prayers. He always answers. Sometimes His answer is "Yes." Sometimes His answer is "No." Sometimes His answer is "Not yet." You need to fine tune your spiritual ears in order hear what He is saying.

I have prayed for many years about my family's salvation and asked others to pray as well, such as the elders of Sunshine. God's answer all this time has been "Not Yet." I am learning more and more lately that God's timing isn't as quick as we think it should be but it is ALWAYS perfect and right on time!

As for the rest of my lost family who may be reading this post, I'm still praying for you and you might as well give in because it's God's will that ALL would be saved. If it's God's will, you might as well just plan on it happening.

Stop Children From Being Exploited

http://www.grassfire.org/16/petition.asp?PID=3916297

Can you stomach growth? (hypothetical question)

Last night, somewhere between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00 am, a hypothetical question crossed my mind. If the price for Sunshine to grow by 1,000 new members was the cost of 1/3 to 1/2 of our current members, would you agree to pay?

I have been reading, Breakout Churches, by Thom S. Rainer. In the book, Dr. Rainer chronicles 13 congregations, he calls, breakout churches. These congregations have all experienced long periods of stagnation and/or decline, followed by a period of explosive and sustained growth. To be included in his study, the congregation has remained with the same leadership throughout it all. The book articulates the relevant findings of Dr. Rainer and his team, based upon extensive interviews and data from the breakout churches compared/contrasted to other (mediocre) congregations.

Though the content of each breakout church is different (i.e. memberships demographics, geographical location, socio-economic make-up, doctrinal emphases, and denominational background). The process through which these congregations proceed is remarkable similar. For insight into the specifics of that process, read the book.

One step in that process is crisis. The needed change, upon which explosive growth is predicated, often results in crisis before growth is realized. One key difference between breakout churches and their mediocre comparison group is the ability of leaders to stomach the crisis. In many cases, substantial losses were endured (up to 1/2 of one breakout church).

No one wants to be divisive. No one wants to see people leave. But, what if such a crisis is necessary? Do you have the stomach for it?

What do you think?

[Please note: I am not saying that growth cannot occur at Sunshine without such a crisis. However, if one takes Dr. Rainer's findings seriously, such hypothetical questions will cross your mind in the wee hours of the morning.]

Jr. Youth Group Devo

I have a request of my brothers and sisters but I will get to that in a minute. First, I would like to say thank you to Shawn & Lisa for hosting tonight's devo. I believe it was a screaming success! Everyone seemed to have fun and learn something. (I didn't know how to clean a penny;) I know that when I get to a devo, I already have three kids with me ( Nick, Gideon & Abraham ). It's wonderful to see so many other children that have also been waiting on devo night to come. And what a ministry.....its great to see all the friends that our kids bring! I know that Nick has talked forever about wanting to be old enough to be in the Teen Youth Group. To get to be in the skit group, go to devos, go to Impact, and the like. Well, this is his time and place to be. Cool stuff is happening for kids this age. We all need to thank God for them and we all need to be involved with it. My thought is that these children are our future (to quote a silly song). It's true. They are the future Teens, young adults, Sunday school teachers, and eventually elders and deacons. This is just the beginning of a wonderful life in the Lord for them and it needs to be encouraged the best that we can.

So, my request of you is simply this: if at all possible, host a Jr. Youth Group Devo in your home. They are every other Thursday evening from 6:30pm to 8pm. All that you need to do is fix something to eat....and they will eat almost anything. You would be welcome to do the devotional (10 minutes, max) itself, but if you are shy about group speaking, you don't have to do that part. I have high school kids willing to step in when needed for that.

Please consider opening your home to host a devo and please continue to pray for this wonderful project. The following are the open dates.

March 30
April 13 (Minford kids are out of school the next day for spring break)
May 25
June 8
June 22
July 6
No devo July 20-Sunshine's week at Fort Hill
August 3
August 17
August 31
Spet. 14
Sept. 28
Oct. 12
Oct. 26
Nov. 2
Nov. 16
Nov. 30
Dec. 14
No devo Dec. 28-we are all so busy during the week of Christmas

Anyone and everyone is welcome to host.....young and old, with children the right age and without.

Thanks,
Stephanie

Definition of God?

Just out of curiosity, I typed in "God" on dictionary.com to see how one would describe it/Him. I am a believer of the fact that words cannot truly define or describe God. I'm a woman of many words (and usually spoken quite quickly) but this is one area where God completely shuts my mouth because I just can't wrap my mind around His presence.




1. God

a.) A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions.

b.) The force, effect, or a manifestation or aspect of this being.



2. A being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshiped by a people, especially a male deity thought to control some part of nature or reality.



3. An image of a supernatural being; an idol.



4. One that is worshiped, idealized, or followed: Money was their god.



5. A very handsome man.



6. A powerful ruler or despot.



Ok. Number 3 makes me think about how many of us that have little angel dolls in our homes or angel pins we wear on our coats or clothing. What about pictures of Jesus (we think we know what He looks like). I would say this is why we don't have a cross in our church building to look at. I think the danger in creating something to "remind us of heaven" is the fact that God doesn't want us to place importance on anyone or anything we simply make with our own hands. Like I said earlier, God cannot be described. He cannot be captured and placed inside a bottle or placed on a canvas. He's much too big! There is great danger in #3! God is GOD and we shall have no other gods before Him.

The Lord's Prayer

Most of us can quote the Lord's Prayer. The passage is so familiar, it is easy to miss its depth. Kirk Wellum is working through the Lord's Prayer one phrase at a time. His blog is entitled, Redeeming the Time. Here is a sample from part II, Hallowed be your name--

This is an urgent petition in our day. God's name is dishonored in many ways. We dishonor his name when we fail to live up to our high position in Jesus Christ. When we distort his character by our own lack of love towards our brothers and sisters, and towards the lost for whom he gave his Son. God's name is dishonored by false religions and cults that tell lies about him and by prophets who claim he has sent them when he has not. God is dishonored when his word is ignored, abused or misinterpreted. He is dishonored when his Gospel is not believed or when we justify our own sinful folly by appealing to his Spirit or some inner leading that has nothing whatsoever to do with his real work in our lives.

I urge you to read all of his posts in this series. Check back daily, as this series is a work in progress.

A little more on formality and relevance

Bren Hughes, of Gallatin, TN, has written a thoughtful post entitled Formality in Worship. In it he references Bill Gnade's Informed Formality in his discussion of CofC worship. He also makes reference to us.

Click the link above to check it out. Bren shares some ideas that continue to challenge our thinking as we seek to be more relevant.

Please share your thoughts.

Questions

During my years at Harding University, I received the privilege of taking a number of Bible/religion classes. My all-time favorite was Principles of Biblical Interpretation. The professor was James Walters (he is now a NT prof at Boston University). I remember looking forward to that class everyday. In the context of looking to the Bible for answers, Dr. Walters taught that the answers we obtain depend heavily on the questions we ask. Originally, I thought a class about biblical interpretation would be about answers. Dr. Walters, gently, prodded us to think instead about the questions. It all seems elementary to me now, but at the time, it opened new vistas of thinking. I loved that class.

Anyway, Mike Cope has another post on interpreting the Bible. He also has a new blog site. You can check it out here.

Mike is emphasizing the role of community in the process of interpretation.

I need your input regarding an outreach ministry opportunity. I have been talking with some folks from the Sciotoville Church of the Nazarene's Potter's House Ministry. They have been working for over a year to become a distribution site for Angel Food Ministries.

Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing grocery relief to communities throughout the United States. Angel Food works through churches and community organizations in over 32 states.

A little about how the program works:

Angel Food's groceries are sold in a quantity that can fit into a medium-sized box at $25 per unit. Each month's menu is different than the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $50. Comparison shopping has been done across the country in various communities using a wide range of retail grocery stores and has resulted in the same food items costing from between $42 and $78.
Generally, one unit of food assists in feeding a family of four for about one week or a single senior citizen for almost a month. The food is all the same high quality one would purchase at a grocery store. There are no second-hand items, no damaged or out-dated goods, no dented cans without labels, no day-old breads and no produce that is almost too ripe.

To learn more, go to their website: angelfoodministries.com

Sciotoville is having difficulty generating enough initial support to convince Angel Food to commence deliveries to Scioto County. If Sunshine gets onboard, it could help put them over the hump. It will require no financial investment on our part. It will require volunteer support for 3-5 hours 1 Saturday/month.

The core of this ministry is the provision of food for a discounted price. However, it is far more than just that. There is a wonderful opportunity for our folks to volunteer in a quick, stress-free manner, that makes a deep impact. As members of our community come to our building to pick-up their units, we gain an opportunity to build relationships. It would promote awareness within our community about our desire to serve and edify. With a little creative thinking, we could spin-off any number of outreach efforts.

Check out the website and let me know what you think. I have a video presentation of the ministry on DVD, if your interested.

Mike Anderson

Mike just got back from a week long mission trip in Panama. His church has a website and he sent me the link yesterday. http://www.shinerchurch.tk/

I've discovered that you can click on the button that says sermons and then select a sermon preached by Mike and actually listen to him preach it. How cool is that? I just listened to "The Olympic Life" and I think it would be worth your time to give it a listen.

The panama trip was blogged about on their church's website and it's a good read. Check it out by clicking on "shiner blogs".

Be Careful Out There!

Recently, at church, Joanne asked for prayer from all of us because Satan had been hitting their family hard during that week. A several weeks earlier, Gabe posted on this blog asking us "do you feel it?". I feel it, and I think I know why.

For the past couple of weeks, I have felt like crying for no apparent reason. I have been trying to find out what it is that has caused me to change so much lately. Aside from having a funeral of a family member to go to every week for several weeks, I think I know what my problem is. My prayer time isn't what it was a month ago. Tim and I use to pray together every night before going to bed. Some how or another, this has recently stopped happening. We joke at home about how as soon as my head hits the pillow, my eyes shut and I'm instantly asleep. We like to act this out for stupidity's sake and we throw our heads back with our eyes closed and snore!

I have found, looking back over my life, that the times when I wasn't praying, I had a much harder time dealing with things in life. It had nothing to do with me not getting my way. It had everything to do with missing someone terribly and not realizing who it was that I was needing to visit with and talk to and listen to and....and....and. I found myself trying to look everywhere for the answer except where it could be found.

A couple weeks or so ago, I realized I had just been forgetting to take my vitamins and I thought that was what was making me feel bad. So I started taking them again. Well, my skin and hair look and feel a little better and I'm not as tired feeling during the afternoon hours like I was when I wasn't taking them. So everything physically was taken care of but emotionally I was still feeling the need to cry. Why? I've been thinking about all of the funerals I've been to lately and Tim's week long business trip without me coming up, and thought that could be what is making me so emotional. To a point, it is but there's so much more to it. It's not that I don't talk to God throughout the day, everyday, because I do. The only thing that is different is the fact that I havn't been praying with Tim.

There is amazing strength in praying with someone else. Especially with your spouse! I remember when we first started praying. It was the most uncomfortable thing we had ever done (praying outloud....and together). It bothers me that it was so uncomfortable for us to do that because praying together should be so incredibly natural. Afterall, that is what we were intended to do....have a full relationship with God together! Tim and I have even had our own prayer time with God at the same time being right beside one another holding hands. It's not the same! I need to hear him and he needs to hear me and together we hear God. There are times when I have been so completely upset and not able to even form the words for a conversation with the Lord about how deeply I was hurting. It was then that my dear husband went to God in prayer for me. There have been times when Tim was unable to pray along with me because he was simply too sick to. So, I, (his dear wife) prayed for him.

I have noticed that Satan will use any and all ways he can to stop us from doing the very thing(s) that cause the most damage to him and his kingdom. This tells me quite clearly that prayer is powerful and it hurts Satan! *Insert evil laugh here* I have also been thinking about how powerful praying together must be, because he's been so sneaky in order to get the two of us to stop praying .....and for so long! I, for one, want to see him fail at stopping us from doing anything! My prayer is that the rest of God's children will decide for themselves to make this kind of committment as well. WE WILL NOT LET SATAN WIN! ----How's that for a motto?!

Plain Management

Some time ago, I wrote about my disillusionment with the "plain meaning/teaching of Scripture." It is my contention that many of the interpretations which define "tribes" of Christians are really not so plain. Interpretations are plain between folks who share a particular perspective (i.e. history, values, meanings). Typically, we assume that our perspective is either the only perspective or at least the superior perspective. There is a great temptation to resist the appreciation of other perspectives. Understanding becomes more complicated once multiple perspectives are taken into account. It is also dangerous. Once you allow yourself to appreciate other perspectives, the impact on your consciousness cannot be undone. However, I believe I cannot hold claim to a search for truth and simultaneously defer appreciation of other points of view.

Today, Mike Cope has written a post that delves into these issues. I am begging you all to follow the link and read it. It is easy reading and reasonably short. Please share your thoughts. This is a very important discussion.


Mike Cope's 3/7 post.

Japanese Hibachi Grill PLANS

Tim and I are planning the get together at the hibachi grill in Huntington for THIS SATURDAY (March 11th) at 6:30pm. We need to know how many people are coming so we can make reservations for that number of seats to be available. Let me know on here if you are coming and how many will be in your group AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Sunday Evening Services

Man, I so enjoyed church services tonight!! I loved not knowing what time it was but I especially enjoyed not caring what time it was. I enjoyed hearing the great concern for loved ones being expressed by my brothers and sisters as the microphone was passed around from person to person making prayer requests. You could hear the tears by listening to their voice. I felt a great sense of bonding during this time because people were just opening up and sharing some things in their lives and in their family's lives that most people would typically want to try and keep silent about. I saw us more as a family tonight during the Prayer and Share session than at any other time we've been together. Prayer does something to you. It transforms you individually and as a group. We become more humble and learn to lean on one another more in the presence of God. It's truly a beautiful thing......having one another!

A good week

It has been a great week here at the blog. Our discussions of a need for ladies' fellowship has led to positive action. Last night, several ladies met together to plan future activities. I hope that went well. Also, we had some good discussion and interaction with Bill Gnade. Interestingly, Milton Stanley at Transforming Sermons has also linked to Contratimes, as well as two other blogs, also addressing the state of the North American Church. You can link to them from Transforming Sermons. You will find them well worth the reading.

Here is a sample from Kirk Wellum/ Redeeming The Time:

My suspicion is that there is little serious prayer. Prayer meetings, where the church comes together to seek God's face, are almost non-existent today. And even where they do exist, they are not well attended. I know, I know, people are busy!!! But all those busy people always seem to fine time to do lots of other things. That is why I have a difficult time taking their "I'm so busy excuse" seriously. The fact of the matter is we are all busy. And I would be prepared to argue that pastors who are doing their jobs properly are just as busy as anyone else and more so... busy without statutory holidays, a 40 hour work week, a pension after 25 or 30 years... incredibly busy without a lot of the basic labor reforms considered common place in the society at large. So busy is a lame excuse. It is a relative term. Who isn't busy?

Let me know what you think?

Chris Glispie

Chris is in the hospital at the moment and has been since yesterday evening. Kathy called me a little while ago to let me know what was going on and I told her that I would post a prayer request about him on this blog. Chris hasn't been eating or drinking anything and has been running a fever for a week. He hasn't shown any interest in his toys.....not even his veggie tales toys. Anyone who knows Chris knows that this is highly unusual concerning a lack of interest in veggie tales.

Please, Please pray for him!


UPDATE ON CHRIS:

He's home now (as of late Saturday afternoon)! He's eating and drinking some but still not quite up to par. If he continues to get better....great. If not, then they will just take him back to the hospital on Monday, according to Kathy. He's up walking around some now and I figure that by itself will be good for him. Not only that, but just being home again would make anyone feel better. He seems glad to be home too. Keep the whole Glispie family in your prayers considering they've all been sick for quite a while.

Also, thank you (from the family) for all the prayers so far!

THAT'S MY KING!!!

An awsesome mini-sermon that was played last night at the Ohio Restoration meeting in Portsmouth by Ken Blackwell our Secretary of State. If you ever wondered if you could describe our KING just listen to this and it will make you think twice. As it says HE IS INDESCRIBABLE. Makes you feel good to see one of our state leaders lead off his talk with this. It is about 3 minutes long. Enjoy!

p.s. After you view this, on the same page to the right is a link to Evangelism Linebacker, that is fun to watch if you want.

http://www.sermonspice.com/catalog/product_info.php?format_selected=wmv&length_selected=long&play=1&products_id=114

Lent is off and running

Today is Ash Wednesday, six weeks till Easter, or the beginning of Lent.

We do not make much of these liturgical traditions in our fellowship. We have our reasons. And, they are good reasons. Let me make the following disclaimer: The following suggestion is in no way meant to cast doubt on our current approach to worship nor is it intended to provoke change in our current practices.

Take time to read Contratimes' latest post. Bill Gnade writes about the value of liturgical worship. I think you will find it interesting and very thought provoking.

Ready, set, GO! <-- Click