The Beach Invites - From June 2009

I went to the beach yesterday afternoon for my first time in '09. My son and a friend of his went with me and we had a good time with other friends in the sand and surf. As I came off of the parking lot and over the dune to see the beautiful blugreenish ocean with nice little swells I felt relief come over my shoulders, mind, and even my soul. It was good to enjoy the sand, surf and sun and be with my son and friends. It was relaxing and challenging to walk into the water, paddle out and start trying to catch the first wave of '09. For a lurfer (a person learning to surf) the water and waves were nice. Good sets, not to mushy and just the right size for an inside lurfer. As I sat in my chair while takaing breaks and looked over the vast water and floated on my board in the water looking to the horizon while watching for swell to form I could not help but think how big God is and how small I am, yet the big God I worship knows my name, my weaknesses, my strengths, my concerns, my joys and my hopes. He knows me. That is good news. He is real, personal, and involved. That brings relief. It also makes me desire to invite others to Him just as I often invite others to the beach.

P.S.
At the end of the day my son and I took a few minutes and shared God's message of hope with our new friend. In doing so we found out that he had accepted Christ a few years ago by some others friends sharing with Him the message of Good News, the Gospel. CooleO.

My Captain

Out of the light that dazzles me,
Bright as the sun from pole to pole,
I thank the God I know to be
For Christ the conqueror of my soul.

Since His the sway of circumstance,
I would not wince or cry aloud.
Under that rule which men call chance
My head with Joy is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears
That life with Him! And His the aid,
Despite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and shall keep me, unafraid.

I have no fear, thought strait the gate,
He cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul.

Dorothea Day

Good Clip About The Bible

The Bible - God's Word

Revival - Prayer

Logan County Revival

No Matter What! A Little Humor

Christians Are A People Of The Resurrection - Thank God For Life

Caution For The Church

The local Church must be cautious of focusing on activity rather than the purpose of the church. Activity does not always accomplish the purpose of the church. Concentrating on the God given purpose of the church will almost always lead to accomplishing the purpose of the church and to church planning and activity that is very fulfilling, rewarding, exciting, joyful, world changing, Kingdom building, and challenging which invariably leads to a deeper and wider fellowship throughout the whole Church family.

The Bible - Redemption

Very good article.

Jim Denison - What is the Bible about?

Yep!

Quotes Worth Your Thought Time

Now, with God's help I shall become myself. - Soren Kierkegaard

If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion, probably God is as weary of it as you are. - Frank Laubach

Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity with out Christ. - Dietrich Bonhoffer

Joy is the serious business of Heaven. - C.S. Lewis

People nowadays take time far more seriously than eternity. - Thomas Kelly

We are all worms. But I do believe I am a glowworm. - Winston Churchill

In general the soul makes greater progress when it least thinks so...most frequently when it imagines that it is losing. - St. John of the Cross

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life. - King Solomon, Pr.4:23

Going in faith does not necessarily mean going in serenity or without doubts. Faith can be difficult. - John Ortberg

These are taken from The Life You've Always Wanted, John Ortberg

This Is A Good Place To Be When Seeking To Hear From God

Pivotal Prayer - When You Need Direction

Lord, I need to know what to do, which direction to take. Frankly, Lord, some of the options in front of me are inviting. Like Paul years ago, I need to know soon, "What shall I do Lord?" Help me especially to know which way will give you the greatest glory. Help me to discover and walk in Your peace. And, Lord, when I do know the direction to take, give me humility to walk in that direction and in Your ways.

From Pivotal Praying

Demonstration

The Church is called to be a provisional demonstration of God's will for all people. - Prebyterian Book of Prayer.

From Creating A Missional Culture, JR Woodward

Worth Thinking About

Pivotal Prayer - For A Miracle

Dear God,
I need a miracle - or at least I think I do. This situation has me completely overwhelmed. Instead of being lost in Your wonder, I'm lost in the pain and the fear of an uncertain future. I need your help. Help me to call on You more often. Please remind me that a life of bitter, prideful ingratitude is empty. Give me a taste of Your glory, Your wonder. The lions are roaring, and I'm afraid. Please help me! Amen.

Pivitol Praying, John Hull and Tim Elmore

The Picture For Christianity

See

Open our eyes, dear Lord,
That we may see
The far vast reached of eternity,
Help us to look beyond life's little cares
So prone to fret us
And the grief that wears
Our courage thin.
O may we tune our hearts
To Thy great harmony
That all the parts may ever be
In perfect, sweet accord.
Give us Thine own clear vision, blessed Lord.

Each New Day, Corrie Ten Boom

One Word by Jon Gordon

This is worth a look.

One Word

Prayer - Quotes

Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.  D.L. Moody

We are too busy to pray, and so we are to busy to have power.  R.A. Torrey

Prayer is the first thing, the second thing and the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray then my dear brother; pray, pray, pray.  Edward Payson

Dear Lord, never let me be afraid to pray for the impossible.  Dorothy Shellenberger

Everything we do in the Christian life is easier than prayer.  D. Martin Lloyd Jones

Hurry is the death of prayer.  Samuel Chadwick

Trouble and perplexity drive us to prayer, and prayer drives away trouble and perplexity.  Philipp Melanchthon

Pray for great things, expect great things, work for great things, but above all, Pray.  R.A. Torrey

Prayer does not lead to greater works, it is the greater work.  Oswald Chambers

Prayer is not conquering God's reluctance, but taking hold of God's willingness.  Phillip Brooks

There is only one limit to what prayer can do; That is what God can do.  R.A. Torrey

When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians the devil smiles. When he stops reading the Bible the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.  Corrie Ten Boom

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.  Martin Luther

If you pray for bread and bring no basket to carry it, you prove the doubting spirit which may be the only hindrance to the gift you ask.  D.L. Moody

Prayer is not a convenient device for imposing our will upon God, or bending His will to ours, but it is the main way of our submitting our will to His.  John Stott

If Christians spent as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would soon have nothing to grumble about.  Anonymous

The greatest tragedy in life is not unanswered prayer, but un-offered prayer.  F.B. Meyer

Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power, adores His providence and secures His aid.  E.M. Bounds

Prayer is where the action is.  John Wesley

Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.  Sidlow Baxter

Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.  E.M. Bounds

I would rather teach one man to pray than teach ten men to pray.  Charles Spurgeon

The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.  Andrew Murrray

6 Things - Forget Busy - Get Productive

Six Things Really Productive People Do

Cats New Years Resolutions - Smile

My human will never let me eat his pet hamster, and I am at peace with that.

I will not slurp fish food from the surface of the aquarium.

I will not eat large numbers of assorted bugs, then come home and throw them up so the humans can see that I'm getting plenty of roughage.

I will not use the bathtub to store live mice for late-night snacks.

We will not play "Herd of Thundering Wildebeests Stampeding Across the Plains of the Serengeti" over any humans' bed while they're trying to sleep.

I cannot leap through closed windows to catch birds outside. If I forget this and bonk my head on the window and fall behind the couch in my attempt, I will not get up and do the same thing again.

I will not assume the patio door is open when I want to race outside to chase leaves.

I will not stick my paw into any container to see if there is something in it. If I do, I will not hiss and scratch when my human has to shave me to get the rubber cement out of my fur.

If I bite the cactus, it will bite back.

When it rains, it will be raining on all sides of the house.

It is not necessary to check every door.

I will not play "Dead Cat on the Stairs" while people are trying to bring in groceries or laundry, or one of these days, it will really come true.

When the humans play darts, I will not leap into the air and attempt to catch them.

I will not swat my human's head repeatedly when he or she is on the family room floor trying to do sit ups.

When my human is typing at the computer, his forearms are *not* a hammock.

Computer and TV screens do not exist to backlight my lovely tail.

I will not stand on the bathroom counter, stare down the hall, and growl at nothing after my human has watched "The Walking Dead."

I will not drag dirty socks onto the bed at night and then yell at the top of my lungs so my humans can admire my kill.

I will not perch on my human's chest in the middle of the night and stare until he or she wakes.

I will not walk on the key board when my human is writing important adagfsg gdjag ;ln.

I found this at preaching.com

There came a man...

There came a man sent from God whose name was John. John 1:6

There came a man - person = YOU

sent from God = GOD SENDING YOU

whose name was John the Baptist = HOW WILL YOU BE KNOWN

Memorize and Practice - This is what I told myself when I saw this quote

"Celebrate what you want to see more of." - Tom Peters

Now That Christmas Is Over

Nine Things You Should Know About Christmas

By the way, Christmas is not really over. We have moved past the Christmas Season, but God is still very near, we have opportunites all around us to give, and Chirstmas is really about God, the giver of life.