During our April “Vision Prayer” times, we gave out free copies of Fireseeds of Spiritual Awakening by Dan Hayes (a book of stories of God working powerfully among his people through the ages!).  I asked you to get back to me with “the most impor¬tant thing you take away” from the book.  Here are some of your responses:

Here are a few key ideas from my report at last Tuesday’s meeting:

The devastation through natural disasters in the last couple weeks has been mind-boggling.  The death toll from Myanmar’s cyclone may now reach 125,000, and it’s estimated that more than 50,000 died in the Southwest China earth¬quake.  Imagine! 

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain”
                     (Psalm 127:1).

Last weekend Cheryl and I visited New York City for the first time in many years.  The sights, sounds and smells, along with the teeming throng of humanity flooding the streets of Manhattan, registered in my brain, “Warning: sensory overload!”  Here are a few things I noticed:

Next Sunday evening we begin our Vision Prayer gatherings!  Clear your calendar:  we ALL have an appointment to meet with God from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Worship Center—and the same each Sunday in April (nursery for ages 0-3).

So what was “Vision Sunday” last week all about?  What are we to make of the string of interviews and flurry of hopes, dreams, and challenges that formed the day’s message?  Think of it as a halftime locker room talk:  the Lord sat us down to make sure we knew the game plan, trusted him to lead us, and had the will to follow him as we run the race of faith.

Super Bowl XLII is today, and, having come from the Midwest, I must admit I’m still in shock that the NY Giants came onto Green Bay’s frigid arctic tundra two weeks ago and beat the Packers.  So it’s Patriots vs. Giants, Tom Brady vs. Eli Manning!

At the end of the sermon last Sunday I gave this challenge:  pray the prayer of Jehoshaphat, plugging in your own specifics, every day for the rest of January, and see how God impacts your life.

To pray this prayer, here’s what you do:  give praise, recall God’s past provisions, name the problem you’re facing, and cry out for help.  For Jehoshaphat, the crisis had to do with a coalition of invading forces, “a vast army” that threatened the security of Judah and the safety of all.  For you the need of the hour might be depression or illness or spiritual dryness or unemployment or relationship breakdown or entanglement in sin … you name it.

Take Jehoshaphat’s prayer (see below) and insert your praises (i.e., what you admire about God), your reflections on how the Lord has cared for you in the past, the particulars of your current crisis, and your plea for help.  Keep the balance of desperation and hope:  “We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”

2 Chronicles 20:6-12 (NIV):  6) O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.  7) O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?  8) They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9) ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’  10) But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.  11) See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.  12) O our God, will you not judge them?  For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.
 

Not long ago I bought myself an MP3 player—can you picture me with the little wires dangling out of my ears as I listen to tunes?  You see, for some time I’d been noticing gaps in my schedule when I could be listening to something useful or just enjoyable, and these days you can download all kinds of music, sermons, audio books, etc., and listen on the go.  So I got plugged in.

By now many of us have been alerted about the movie, “The Golden Compass,” opening in theaters on Dec. 7.  Many of us have also heard some serious warnings about this film.

Our Missions Conferences concluded on Wednesday with “Mission-Prayer,” a time to plead with the Lord on behalf of his servant-leaders in the global church (i.e., missionaries) and for the unreached peoples of the world. 

Life with Christ is full of surprises.  It’s God’s wise design:  not everything goes according to our plans—it’s not supposed to.  If it did, we’d lose track of the fact that God is God and we’re not. 

So are you ready for the unexpected?  Ready to account for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15) with someone you never talk to?  Ready for afflictions that invariably comes to all true Christians (John 10:33; 2 Timothy 3:12)?  Eager for Christ’s return (Hebrews 9:28; Matthew 24:44) so you can join him in glory (25:10)?

We’re all glad that the 19 remaining Korean hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan were recently released. But with this happy outcome some serious questions arise: was a ransom paid, was wise of South Korea to negotiate directly with terrorists? 

At our July 22 “Town Meeting,” I had an opportunity, as your Senior Pastor, to respond to several questions.  As I think back, however, there are a couple clarifications I’d like to make.