I was challenged this morning by the weekly column by Doug Giles of "ClashRadio". He has a way of directly attacking a problem in very vocal & blunt, but correct ways. He wrote, "For the Christian who has been paying even minimal attention to the state of our union and its current crappy condition, it's easy to see that our nation is in deep weeds from a 'God blessed' standpoint."
I agree...our nation is in desperate need of prayer, from an economical, political, cultural and spiritual perspective. Is there any perspective left? I'm afraid we have drifted far from our God-honoring intent and constitutional infrastructure.
Giles went on to write: "No civilization has lasted long when there was:
-This kind of insane debt and spending,
-A bizarre notion of entitlement,
-A death of faith,
-A degeneration of morals,
-A collapse of civility,
-A paralysis of the will,
-A decline in native born population,
-And unopposed foreign invasion."
As a nation, we are not invincible. It is time for us, as believers, to pull out the prayer of Jabez found in 1 Chron. 4:9-10. It's time for us to cry out to God to reign His favor back down on us as a nation.
Jabez, whose name means "pain," did not let the pain of his life keep him from crying out to God for His blessing, to have increased opportunities, and to have His hand be with us, and to be kept from evil.
For the next month, in particular, I am joining Giles in making this a priority prayer:
1. That God would reverse this curse we are under and leave a blessing instead.
2. That this land of opportunity we've inherited would continue to be a land of opportunity.
3. That God's mighty hand would be with us, instead of against us.
4. That the evil which is currently en vogue would cease to be that which characterizes our culture, and would be replaced with that which is holy, just and good.
Would you join me in this prayer? Perhaps God will stay our execution and shed His grace on us...again!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
This was sent today by MountainWings, the most-read religious email in the world. Enjoy...and let it challenge you today!
The Richest Man On The Bus
===========================
He is on my bus only occasionally, a worn man in crumpled clothing with disheveled hair. His life looks different from the rest of ours. We are mostly middle income. His face is etched with exhaustion and he carries virtually no belongings. We drive ourselves to the parking lot. He appears along a busy road seemingly out of nowhere. We sometimes wonder where he slept the night before.
A few weeks ago he boarded the bus, took one of the side facing front seats and as he typically does and looked down at the floor.
A few stops later a young woman boarded, a regular rider who speaks good but not native English. She swipes her bus pass only to find the machine would not accept it. The driver told her she would have to deposit the $2.25 fare. "I just bought this card," she said, "I paid the money."
The driver said she could take the card back to the sales office and explain the problem. In the meantime she would have to pay the fare for today. The woman became distressed and didn't understand why she would have to pay the fare. The rest of us just watched wondering how the problem would be solved.
Suddenly the crumpled clothed man rose from his seat, dropped a jingle of coins into the fare box and sat back down, his eyes returning to the floor. His act was so unobtrusive that the distressed passenger didn't even realize what had happened.
"You're good," the bus driver said quietly, "he paid for you."
The bus driver repeated it and pulled away from the curb. A hush fell over the bus.
The rest of us had watched the woman's discomfort, he felt it.
We wondered absently how the dilemma would be resolved. He resolved it.
We lawyers, journalists, business people were headed downtown to help fix the world. He fixed her world. We could have paid the $2.25 and never missed it. It's easy to imagine that was his fare home.
You never know when you'll be in the presence of greatness or of grace. To the world my fellow passenger looked like a man in need of solutions. I had looked at him and saw only what he lacked.
By the time he stepped off the bus that morning, it was obvious that he was a richer man then the rest of us. He had enough to open his eyes and his heart to a stranger, enough to give of what he had and trust life for the rest.
I haven't seen him since that day. Some people believe angels occasionally drop down and move among us. All I know is that I have a new respect for the simple act of kindness. It keeps the bus rolling, it speeds us along the way."
~Krista Ramsey; Cincinnati Enquirer; Nov 26, 2010; pg. A.150~
The Richest Man On The Bus
===========================
He is on my bus only occasionally, a worn man in crumpled clothing with disheveled hair. His life looks different from the rest of ours. We are mostly middle income. His face is etched with exhaustion and he carries virtually no belongings. We drive ourselves to the parking lot. He appears along a busy road seemingly out of nowhere. We sometimes wonder where he slept the night before.
A few weeks ago he boarded the bus, took one of the side facing front seats and as he typically does and looked down at the floor.
A few stops later a young woman boarded, a regular rider who speaks good but not native English. She swipes her bus pass only to find the machine would not accept it. The driver told her she would have to deposit the $2.25 fare. "I just bought this card," she said, "I paid the money."
The driver said she could take the card back to the sales office and explain the problem. In the meantime she would have to pay the fare for today. The woman became distressed and didn't understand why she would have to pay the fare. The rest of us just watched wondering how the problem would be solved.
Suddenly the crumpled clothed man rose from his seat, dropped a jingle of coins into the fare box and sat back down, his eyes returning to the floor. His act was so unobtrusive that the distressed passenger didn't even realize what had happened.
"You're good," the bus driver said quietly, "he paid for you."
The bus driver repeated it and pulled away from the curb. A hush fell over the bus.
The rest of us had watched the woman's discomfort, he felt it.
We wondered absently how the dilemma would be resolved. He resolved it.
We lawyers, journalists, business people were headed downtown to help fix the world. He fixed her world. We could have paid the $2.25 and never missed it. It's easy to imagine that was his fare home.
You never know when you'll be in the presence of greatness or of grace. To the world my fellow passenger looked like a man in need of solutions. I had looked at him and saw only what he lacked.
By the time he stepped off the bus that morning, it was obvious that he was a richer man then the rest of us. He had enough to open his eyes and his heart to a stranger, enough to give of what he had and trust life for the rest.
I haven't seen him since that day. Some people believe angels occasionally drop down and move among us. All I know is that I have a new respect for the simple act of kindness. It keeps the bus rolling, it speeds us along the way."
~Krista Ramsey; Cincinnati Enquirer; Nov 26, 2010; pg. A.150~
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