Why Pray?

Do you pray? And if you do pray, what is the major emphasis or focus of your prayers? Is it to somehow persuade God to do what you want or believe that you need? Or is it to learn what God wants you to do or be? Think deeply about this question because the answer reveals much about your understanding of the relationship that you have with the Father. If the  answer is that the vast majority, as I would say it is in most cases that I have observed, the focus of our prayers is to tell God what we want Him to do  or ask Him for what we perceive we need, then our fundamental paradigm is that God exists to serve us and or please us. What percentage of your prayers are focused on asking God what He wants and then listening and watching for His direction? In reality we exist to serve and...

To A Great 2010!

Happy New Year! On this first day of 2010 I am looking forward to the New Year 2010 with genuine excitement and expectation! At 72 I feel great and have already accomplished more in my life than I ever imagined because of God’s grace manifest. I have nothing left to prove and no pressure to do anything but I am anxious to get going in 2010! I am a blessed man and extremely grateful for the life I have and have lived. My only remaining goal is to finish my race strong and run through the tape! It wasn’t always this way for me. I have known the emptiness that comes from following the world’s system of hedonistic materialism. I have set meaningless goals and accomplished them over and again without ever gaining lasting satisfaction or peace through the processs At 30 I...

One Life – Mentoring parts 2,3 – Marriage and Family

One of the most obvious indications of an intimate relationship with God that we might observe as we evaluate potential mentors are qualities of their marriage and family lives. The family is God’s smallest church unit and individual intimacy with God developed through the disciplines of consistent time in His Word, prayer, and meditation produce and model an understanding and commitment to the application of His ways in marriage and family life. A husband who loves his wife as Christ loves His Church and sets aside his desires to serve her needs and a wife who is an equal but submitting partner, and children that are blossoming but well-behaved are the normal fruit of a godly marriage in most cases. I say in most cases because we can’t put God in a box and in some cases we...

One Life – What Matters Most to You?

In the book “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan, which I heartily recommend, Tim Kizziar is quoted as saying “Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” Think about that, to succeed at what doesn’t really matter. And what might those things be? I suggest that for the most part they are things that most of us think matter most! Career success and reputation. Personal net worth statements. Physical beauty. Financial “security.” Personal popularity and reputation with other people. A beautiful really big house. Expensive baubles to hang on our bodies. The American Dream turns out to be pretty much an eternal waste. ...