Here is a before after satellite photo. It has two locations in Haiti juxtaposed next to each other showing the destruction of the earthquake that hit a few days ago.
Remember, that you can help the victims of Haiti by going to Baptist Global Relief. 100% of the funds will go to Haiti since our Baptist Churches pay for all the administrative costs.
Jan 1
So another year has come and gone!
I do not like the “let’s look back” stories that pop up this time of year. Lists of the best and worst of whatever year is passing. But we do have to remember to look back to learn and reflect and look forward to consider, hope and dream. So why not do so on January 1?
For me, I am too emotional at the holiday times of year. I get very expectant awaiting the coming of Christmas. I enjoy being with my family and taking a few extra moments during my week to slow down and just enjoy their company. I also get a little melancholy after Christmas is over. I do not do well evaluating honestly myself and where I’ve been and where I’m going at this time of year.
For me, the evaluation will be coming soon. For now, just remember the words of the devotion I just read. Psalm 90:12 says:
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Dec 15
If you use an iPhone and want to improve your prayer life, then this app is for you. PrayerParnter from Laridian is a nice little program and it is available in the app store now. I will update this post with a more in depth review, but just so you know that I will be giving it at least four and probably five stars in the App Store.
The basic gist of it is that it helps you keep track of your prayer requests and praise reports. It is able to tie requests to contacts and can email encouragement and requests to others. It is simple to use and Laridian paid attention to detail with this little app. At $1.99 it is a no brainer. I often get review copies of apps, but I just bought this one. It is already at 1.0 the best prayer app in the app store.
How very sad. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in China as they face persecution. For explanation of what I’m talking about see the link below.
Dec 9
Sorry, but this is not a post about my offering to enter into a prayer partner relationship with you. Although I might.
What I’m talking about is a new iPhone app that I’ve had the pleasure of beta testing from Laridian, the makers of the great new, and always improving, Bible app, PocketBible.
PrayerPartner is not yet available on the iPhone but it has been submitted so it could be ready in as little as 2 weeks. The app does what its name says. It partners with you to help you in your prayer life. The app lets you record and track prayer requests, praises, and people. It interfaces with the iPhone’s contact database so you can attach prayers to a person. You can also make prayers repeat. The app will probably cost just $1.99 so check back and I will post when it is ready. Below are some screen shots from the Laridian Blog article about it. By the way, I often get free review copies of the apps I talk about here. But this is one I will not even be asking for a review copy of … I will be paying. Not much but it shows the real value I place in this app.
This is the home screen
This is the screen where you edit a request
Here is the category list
This is the screen where you record the request.
You can also keep a prayer journal, email prayer requests to other people or send an email to a person for whom you are praying.
The Manhattan Declaration is a document that calls for Christians to stand with one another over conscience issues like abortion, same sex marriage and government involvement in these things.
I had not made a decision about whether I would sign it when one of my respected church leaders/members asked me to consider it and said he had signed it. I wanted to wait till I read the full text of the document. Due to schedule it took me a while to do so, but this week I finally got around to doing so. Then I read the list of those who signed. The men and woman were people that I have respected, learned from, and prayed for often. But something bothered me. So I began to look for opposing views. Of course there were the people who are not believers including those on the left politically and the news media outlets that think the three tenets in the document are foolishness. But I found one person that I also respect, have learned from, and pray for who said he was not signing it. John MacArthur. I read his reasons and they were a significant set of concerns.
So I thought and prayed and asked what God would have me do. Today, I chose to sign it. You can read about my concerns at my church’s web site where I posted about it at the request of my church member. You can also see at the bottom, the update which outlines why I chose to sign it.
But there is another document that I did not hesitate to sign and I want to focus on that.
I am a Southern Baptist. I have been sad to see that after our internal holy war was finished, our denomination began to decline. For the first time our numbers are smaller than larger than they were the year before. Sadly, this has been masked by growth in ethnic congregations. The heart of the Southern Baptist Convention used to be our Anglo churches. They have been in decline for a long time. I am sad to say that my own church has been one of those.
So when some of our denominations leaders have chosen to stand up for what is called the Great Commission Resurgence, I was interested. I learned about it and studied it and got on board. I chose to sign the list of people who are praying for the “Great Commission Resurgence” or GCR. There has been some debate about this issue, but the motion to appoint a study committee passed overwhelmingly and many of us were excited.
But then I read a blog post this week that criticized it. The heart of the GCR at this point seems to be a call to reorganize the way we are doing missions. And this blog post said that will have little effect because he said that the organizational structure of the denomination has little to do with our decline. He said that our decline was because Christians don’t care that much about the Gospel or witnessing. He said, announce to your church this Sunday that after service you are going to the local stores and passing out Gospel tracts. See how may show up to go. [Update: the blog has a new post about how the GCR could win]
I think he is right about part of what he states. But, does that mean we should not reorganize our denomination thought? No! I have long felt we needed a new way of doing things. The GCR is not this generation’s holy war. It is a sincere hunger to see our denomination growing again. It is needed and I still support it.
The absolute truth is this: until the American Christian church gets excited about changing people’s hearts by living and sharing the Gospel we will continue to decline as a church and anti-Christian beliefs and policies will continue to win out in the public square. We need a multifaceted attack. We need people to be the salt and light to preserve and guide our culture in Washington, state houses, local school boards, and court rooms. We also need them in Hollywood, universities, and civic groups. We need people to influence the culture for Christ by pushing our ideals.
At the same time, all of us need to be about the business of doing the work of the Evangelist. We need all hands on deck! It is not a time to sit back and coast or let others take the lead. It is time to lead and be involved in telling people about Jesus first!
Oct 19
Really?
God chose your team over the other guys? Really?
That is what people who do not understand the Christian vernacular assume we mean when we say such things.
We’ve all seen this play out after the big game. Some, fine young Tebowesque quarterback, pitcher, or point guard is interviewed by ESPN’s on the 
field/diamond/court reporter. And the first thing or maybe the last out of the mouth of the Christian players is “I’d like to thank God for this win.” And all of us Christians are impressed with his (or her) commitment to God and their outspoken witness. But what many non-believing viewers or listeners here is this: “Thank God that he randomly chose my team because our players are better Christians than those sad sacks over on that bench.” And often these non-believing fans will roll their eyes at the foolishness of this statement.
If that is in fact what the player means, then they are right to roll their eyes. God does not randomly select one team over another in order to show his love for that Christian player while punishing the Christians on the other team because they are not faithful enough.
This first hit me when I was a kid. The Milwaukee Brewers were in the World Series in 1982. I was in Bible class at Heritage Christian School in Milwaukee. Mr. Pereira, our teacher, asked us for prayer requests. One of my fellow students ask him to pray that the Brewers would win against the St. Louis Cardinals that night. Mr. Pereira asked if we really thought God would grant that request. Many said yes. Then he asked what about the Christians in Missouri asking for the same thing. Why would he grant our request and not there’s? Hmmm! It made me think. Then, when my Brewers lost game 7, I wondered. Is God a Cardinals fan? No! God was not a Cardinals fan. He was and is an Ozzie Smith fan and a Paul Molitor fan (Smith was their short stop and Molitor was our Third Baseman). He is a fan of all of his creation. He loves all of us. So like Peyton and Eli’s parents when the Giants play the Colts, he does not choose sides. He just wants his children to remain faithful to his teaching to love Him with all their being, and to love one another the way they want to be loved. He just wants us to ask Him to forgive us for our sins and repent. He wants us to live for Him. Do those things and you are a winner.
So, when Christian athletes say, “I want to thank God for this win” I wish they would say something a little more accurate and clear. Here is what I would say. “I just want to thank God for life and the chance to play the game. I want to say that I do my best to please him just like many of the players on the other side did. We just were able to win. But I respect and honor their commitment just like I know God does too.” It would take longer but you just won the championship. Are they gonna pull the mic away before they get to ask their ridiculous questions?
Someone email this link to Tim Tebow or Kurt Warner please.
Oct 14
Pray for Burke County is a new web site focused on praying for Burke County, NC. The site is kicking things off by supporting the Prayer for the Cities event on November 21, 2009 at Freedom High School Stadium from 5 till 7 PM.
Christ and Lynne Strange are New Tribes Missionaries in the Philippines among the Banwaon people in Mindanao. I met them while I was Pastor of Long Creek Memorial Baptist Church in Dallas, NC. I just received their prayer update email last week and they shared a touching story.
A young woman was brought five kilometers down a mountain the village they live in because after giving birth to her fifth child, she was not passing the afterbirth. She was in serious condition and they needed help. Unfortunately, what she really needed was a hospital, which was 44 kilometers away. That is 27.5 miles. There was no way to get her there except by either motorbike, 
which would be too much of a strain on her frail body, or by carrying her. So that is what the men in the village chose to do. They got a stretcher together and split into groups of four. Each group would carry her a certain distance and trade off. After the first 11 kilometers they approached a neighboring village and the Christians of that village did the same. They finally were out of the jungle but still not near a hospital. The men accompanied her another 40 kilometers in a jeepney to a hospital. When she finally arrived she was treated and was able to pass the afterbirth. The struggle and sacrifice of those men of God saved this woman’s life.
As I thought of that, I was taken back to the gospels and the friends who took their friend to a house where Jesus was teaching. Unable to get through the crowd, they climbed up on the roof, dug a hole, and lowered him down in front of Jesus, who then healed the man. Their faith and sacrifice made it possible for that man to be saved both physically and from his sins. These men of God from the Philippians made it possible for this young woman to be saved physically. I wonder what they are willing to do when the stakes are eternal and not just physical? What are we willing to do?
My prayer is that I would be more considerate of the people around me who need Jesus Christ. Simple things like praying for a waitress at a restaurant may open the door for a witness. Simple things like holding a door for a stranger might open a spiritual door for the Gospel. You never know what God might use. Pray for opportunities and look for chances to open proverbial doors through your kindness. And be read to walk through those doors.
And click the link at the beginning of this post to learn more about how you can pray for Chris and Lynne Strange.
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Verse:
John 3:16; Jn 3:16; John 3
Keyword:
Salvation, Jesus, Gospel
With Operators:
AND, OR, NOT, “ â€
