Life Goes On

At our church we usually pray conversationally for as much as 20-30 minutes.  Our people are being trained to pray about one subject at the time for up to a minute, and then to give others the opportunity to either join in that prayer topic or introduce another one.  They are free to pray as many times as they choose, but asked to keep each prayer focused on one topic.  The result thus far (we've been doing this for about 6 weeks) is that more people pray about more topics than in the old method of one or two people recruited to open and close the prayer time while everyone else prays silently (if at all) We have the opportunity to study the Bible in Sunday School, to be encouraged, inspired and challenged by a sermon in church.  On Wednesday we have the opportunity to impact the world through prayer.  Ron Dunn, great Bible teacher/preacher now deceased, described intercessory prayer as an ICBM missile, launched from a pad no larger than your knees wh...

As usual, Andy Stanley get right to the "heart" of the matter in this book.  With personal anecdotes, clear scriptural exposition and to-the-point conclusions, Andy helps the reader expose the fountainhead that feeds the outflow of their life.  Guilt, anger, greed and jealousy are identified as the enemies which torment us all.  Not content to just help the reader discover these insidious foes, Andy then gives a clear-cut path to defeating them. At the end of the book there are discussion questions on each chapter which makes this book a great tool for Bible study groups, Home Groups, etc.  Get your hands on this book ASAP.  You'll be glad you did.

Today I was eating lunch at our local Wendy's.  Just across from me was a group of tables, pulled together to accommodate a contingent of Sr. Adults.  As more and more arrived, they embarked on a lively conversation about lousy service they had experienced at other fast food places.  Their conversation was peppered with profanity, and interestingly, the women held their own with the men in the cussing competition. It reminded me of times when I've signed up without a partner to play golf with the association where I live.   I've been partnered with some of the most profane guys around.  It almost seems as if they are once again in Middle School and trying out all the curse words they can come up with.  The last guy I played with dropped "f'" bombs left and right, and never seemed to think a thing about it. I think it may be that we grow older, but not UP.  Somehow our development gets arrested along the way and we never progress be...