Pastoral Thoughts for New Disciples

Devotional Reading:  James 5:13-16 Pray.  It is that simple.  God wants us to talk to Him.  If you are happy - sing a prayer!  If you are sad - cry out to God!  If you know someone who is sick - bring them before God in prayer! Pray. Pray. And pray some more. Daniel got sent to the lion's den because he prayed to God three times a day.  Elijah the prophet prayed for a drought and it happened.  The church prayed for the healing of the sick and people were healed.  Pray. Devotional Reading:  James 5:13-16   When my husband and I first got married we decided to do a Bible study on the book of Isaiah.  In the first few chapters of our study we quickly recognized a theme in its message - God responds differently to the prayers of the righteous. Here again in this passage we read these words, "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."  It does seem like some people's prayers get answered more positi...

Devotional Reading:  Daniel 6:1-28 When we think of the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den images of a children's story often come to mind.  But if you sit and read the full text of Daniel 6 you'll discover there is much more to this story than a children's Vacation Bible School lesson.  In fact, it is a story that has been played out over and over throughout history: a group of people wanting to take down a person of authority regardless of the person's integrity or good character.  Daniel was such a man. Daniel lived a live that was above reproach.  His integrity and skill in the political realm allowed him to govern through multiple ruling powers. In this story, Daniel is basically acting as Vice-President to King Darius. His co-presidents and the governors do not like the way he has gained the king's favor and so they decide they are going to find a way to get him out of his place of power.  The problem is that Daniel is a man of integrity and so...

Recently a colleague said "this is a week full of Mondays."  I wasn't quite sure what he meant, so I asked. He explained that Mondays are often the day you have to get more done than there is time.  Actually it was more like, "every day this week my schedule is trying to haul two tons of fertilizer in a one ton truck."  Well... you get the idea. Sometimes on a Monday morning, what you really need is a moment of worship .  Today feels like one of those Mondays.  Enjoy!

I'm not sure of the original source of this piece, but I found it in my grandmother's notes about the book of Revelation. "The singing of a hymn should be a great experience for us--it can be a testimony, a praise, an invitation to others. Someone has written some interesting comparisons on the hymns we sing: We sing, 'Sweet Hour of Prayer' and content ourselves with ten or fifteen minutes a day. We sing, 'Oh, For a Thousand Tongues ,' and don't use the one we have for praise. We sing, 'There Shall be Showers of Blessings' but don't come when it's raining. We sing, 'Blest Be the Tie that Binds' and let the least little offense sever. We sing, 'Onward Christian Soldiers' and wait to be drafted into His service. We sing, 'Serve the Lord with Gladness' and gripe about all that we have to do. We sing, 'I Love to Tell the Story' and never mention it." Now, I know these sayings don...

I wonder.  I wonder what worship with abandon looks like to each of us.  Merriam Webster defines abandon as giving up control or influence to another or giving up the right to claim interest in an item such as property.  What if when we worshipped God we let God be in charge of our worship?  What if we gave up the right to choose how we worshipped or expressed our worship and let God be in charge?  Would it look different? As a "transitive verb," abandon connects us with another object.  I wonder, to whom have we abandoned control or the parameters of worship?  God or the corporate local church?  God or the voice of a well-meaning elder from our past?  God or our own sense of respectful constraint?  To whom do we direct our abandon or even our worship at all? Merriam-Webster also defines abandon as giving "oneself over unrestrainedly."  I wonder...  as I contemplate how immigrants to this country wonder why we are so const...