Year: 2012

Five Friends 30 years later

Published by

When five teenagers sat down and posed for a picture at Copco Lake in 1982, they didn’t plan on making it a tradition. But that’s what it became. Every five years for the past three decades, John Wardlaw, John Dickson, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney and John Molony have been meeting at the California lake and taking the same photo. The first photograph of the high school friends was just happenstance. Wardlaw, known as Wedge in the group, had a family cabin at the lake where the friends gathered in July 1982. While hanging out on the deck of the cabin, Dickson, or J.D., set his 35-millimeter camera on self-timer to take a group photo. “For some reason, we all chose to have dark and mysterious expressions on our faces,” said Wardlaw. “I’m sure we all thought we were being really cool.” read more here ____ CNN

WORRY

Published by

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25-34 If God covers with so much glory things of no farther value than to serve the meanest uses, will he not take care of his servants, who are so precious in his sight, and designed for such important services in the world? The question at the heart of these few verses could not be posed any better than the way it is above. The answer to that question is, of course, God cares so much more about his servants than anything else in creation. He has set his affection on us and will crown us with his grace and provision. Unfortunately, a lot of us struggle with believing and trusting God to provide for us and take care of our tomorrow. We are some times too anxious about our future, that we …

Bible Trivia on Steroids?

Published by

Get ready for the American Bible Challenge. Okay, there is a new game show coming to the Game Show Network. It is a bible trivia kind of a deal and will be starting sometime in August of this year. Is there anyone out there that would like to be a part of it if you had an opportunity? For me, no! Not because it’s a bad idea to make lots of money to give away to charities, but because I don’t want to disgrace myself on mainstream television by missing question about the bible. Here is a little breakdown of what it’s about: The Show The American Bible Challenge is a spirited game show that will celebrate the Bible and its place in American culture. Bible enthusiasts from all across the country will compete in a variety of challenges that put their knowledge of the Good Book to the test. The Host Comedian Jeff Foxworthy is the largest selling comedy-recording artist in history, a multiple Grammy® Award nominee and the best-selling author of 11 books. …

Break my heart for what breaks Yours

Published by

Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like You have loved me Break my heart for what breaks Yours We are living in a day and time where everything we see or hear, potentially, has a deadening effect on us spiritually. The movies, the tv shows, the music and even our culture has this deadening effect on our sensitivity to what is holy and of God. Some of us have already become desensitized to these horrors and filth all around. To become desensitized is to become numb, stupefied or less likely to feel shocked or distressed at scenes of horror, sexual perversion, cruelty, violence and suffering by overexposure to such images. That is why a prayer like “break my heart Lord, for what breaks yours” is so powerful and timely. Would you join me today and for the rest of the week in praying this prayer – “break my heart Lord for what breaks yours?”. Would you join in sounding the alarm …

Raping the Innocence of Generation Z (revisited)

Published by

Raping the Innocence of Generation Z (revisited). Vai – ChurchRelevance Generation Z is still undefined but could loosely be labeled those born from 1996 to today. In 2009, we highlighted University of Pittsburgh’s research discovering the connection between musical lyrics and sexual activity. Lyrics Influence Teens Exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex was one of the strongest associations with sexual activity. Compared to those with the least exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex, those with the most exposure were more than twice as likely to have had sexual intercourse. Similarly, among those who had not had sexual intercourse, those in the highest third of exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex were nearly twice as likely to have progressed along a noncoital sexual continuum compared to those in the lowest third. Movies Influence Teens Now 3 years later, there is new research linking movie consumption to sexual behavior. Psychological Science will soon be publishing a 6-year study by Ross O’Hara while at Dartmouth College that states: Much research has shown that adolescents’ sexual attitudes and behaviors are influenced by media, but the role …

What is the single most Important need in the American Church?

Published by

Caution: This is tough read! For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 A few prominent church leaders were asked the following question in this short video clip:  “What is the single most important need in the American Church?” After the third pastor said discipleship, I was hoping that the last one will say something different. Here is what I think and I’ll tell you why. We are generally skeptical to anything supernatural. We’re encapsulated in a worldview that is materialistic. In other words, if I can’t feel it, touch it or wrap my brain around it, than I don’t want to come anywhere close to it. We usually write it off and condemn. Even some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, have a difficult time accepting what the bible teaches about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Healing, prophecy etc… God is Supernatural. Everything He does is supernatural: The creation The New Birth of Salvation Regeneration Everything God does is supernatural. So it’s not very strange to me that He wants …

Let the Bishop Speak: Longevity as a Christian and a minister

Published by

My 12 year old daughter has been at youth camp for the past five (5) day at my spiritual Father’s church. Well, yesterday was the last day so I went to the church to pick her up. Before I did, I spend a few minutes with my spiritual father. I call him bishop, but his real name is Forrest. He told me a few awesome things that happened in my daughter’s life during the five days she spent there. How the Lord touched her the night before and watched streams of tears flow down her cheeks. He reminded me of the very same picture of me in 1992, a picture he kept in his mind and will never forget. A picture of me at an all night prayer meeting, just like my little girl, with streams of tears flowing down my cheeks. I thought about for a while and have not been able to shake the thought of the impact he has had on my life and now my daughter’s. Talk about affecting generations! What if …

Top five (5) Things that Paralyze a Leader

Published by

Lack of prayer power… Allen Vartlette once said that “seven days without prayer makes one weak.” A prayerless leader is a paralyzed leader. He has no power to lead. He has no inspiration to lead. He has nothing to move him forward. I don’t know where we got this prideful thinking that we are more creative than God himself is. We go about doing things without him. Prayer makes a world of difference in our decision making process. It makes a world of difference in our leadership abilities. I wish that we could take it a bit more seriously. Because prayer avails much… James 5:16 Lack of courage… “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke Doing nothing express no risk, exerts no initiative, and experiences no reward or truimph. Doing nothing is the natural bent of most men. Nothing is the fruit of passivity. Nothing is the consequence of a lack of conviction. It’s the by-product of lazy leadership at home, at church and in …

Let nothing cause your spirit to waver and your soul to sink

Published by

Those of you who know me well know that am a big fan of David Livingstone. In fact, he is an inspiration to me, a hero if you will. One of the things I admire the most about him is the sacrifice he made in spending so much of his life in Africa. The amazing thing about this is David himself doesn’t even regard it as anything extraordinary. Here is his perspective on the subject: If you knew the satisfaction of performing a duty as well as the gratitude to God which the missionary must always feel in being chosen for a noble and sacred calling you will have no hesitation in embracing it. For my part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk about that sacrifice I have made in spending much of my life in Africa. Anxiety, sickness, suffering or danger from now and then, with a foregoing of common conveniences and charities of this life may make us pause and cause the …