Four Potential Prayer Foci

Sometimes a good specific list will guide a prayer time (e.g. Missionaries or School is Starting).

Other times a specific question will be the spark (e.g. How have you seen God at work?  Or What Bible verse would you like someone else to pray for you?)

A good direction can be helpful, like “Write down three reasons that stand out to you right now why God is AWESOME” or “Note the ways you know Jesus is better.”

A classic prayer leading technique is to read a psalm and let the participants mine the verses for prayer.

Cool Number Dates – 5/17/15-5/23/15

Wednesday, 5/20/15, has two cool operations going for it.  The day, month, and year are multiples of five.  And since 5 – 20 = -15, it is a minus subtract day.

But, the big news is the newly found palindromes!  We noted last week that 5/15/15, or 51515, is the same forward and backward.  It turns out that all the dates from 5/11/15 to 5/19/15 are palindromes!  So today, tomorrow, and Tuesday are all special: 51715, 51815, and 51915.

More Knock-Knocks

See more knock-knocks here.

Knock-knock. Who’s there? Ice cream.  Ice cream who?  Ice cream if you don’t let me in.

Knock-knock. Who’s there? Old lady.  Old lady who?  Didn’t know you could yodel.

Knock-knock. Who’s there? Alex.  Alex who? Alex the questions around here!

Knock-knock. Who’s there? Yah.  Yah who?  No thanks, I prefer Google.

Knock-knock. Who’s there?  Doctor.  Doctor Who?  Great show, isn’t it?

Knock-knock. Who’s there?  Dishes.  Dishes who?  Dishes the police – come out with your hands up!

Knock-knock. Who’s there?  ARCH.  Arch who? Sounds like you’re coming down with a cold.

 

TV Terrors

I was couch-stuck last Tuesday and watched three network television shows in a row:  NICS, NCIS New Orleans, and Person of Interest.  It is near the end of the season, so the stories are building to a climax; all have cliff-hanger episodes to encourage us to watch next fall.  The shows are well written and deal with criminal activity; this week the good guys were suffering loses against well-organized, well-funded enemies.  The list of evil bad guys was long:  terrorists; murderers; power hungry politicians and businessmen; smugglers and drug lords.  A common theme in the three shows was an amorphous group meticulously planning the destruction of a city, a nation, or the world.

Near the end of the evening I realized I was really getting paranoid.  When and where will the attack come on me and my family, friends, and neighbors?  Who is out there trying to steal my identity, destroy our culture, and crush my church?  How can we escape the coming wrath?

Fortunately, I remembered a great Pat Quinn sermon presented recently from Isaiah 43, simply titled, Four Reasons Not to Fear.  His summary line from David Powlison is comforting:  “We have good reasons to be afraid, let’s not kid ourselves.  But, we have better reasons not to be afraid.”  The four reasons: God has redeemed you; You are God’s witnesses and servants; God is doing a new and glorious thing in you; God will blot out your transgressions.

The good news is not just that Jesus died on the cross to redeem us from our sins and then rose from the dead to prove his claims were valid, although that is indeed a great comfort.  God’s plan includes work for his believers to do, and He will continue to do new and glorious things for those who believe in him.  He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4.4). No matter what unknown (or known) forces are plotting my destruction, I know someone who is bigger, better, and has more resources.

Penitential

Psalm 51 is one of the Penitential Psalms combining confession of sin with a desire to repent – turning away from the sin and toward God.  In the first six verses there are four words or phrases for being bad:

-Transgressions (2 times)

-Iniquity (2)

-Sin (4)

-Done Evil (1)

Those several instances of man’s corrupt nature in the psalm are overwhelmed by the bounty of restoration words describing God’s activity in the confession and repentance process:

Mercy                                   Steadfast love

Wash                                     Cleanse

Justified                               Blameless

Truth                                     Wisdom

Clean                                     Joy

Gladness                             Renew

Right spirit                           Restore

Uphold                                 Deliver

Salvation                              Righteousness

Praise                                    Delight

Pleasure

We may think of Psalm 51 as man’s confession of his sin, but it is clearly much more about giving man an incentive to confess through God’s great work of redemption from those transgressions.

Making the Best of A Wrong Number

The elevator malfunctioned one day, leaving several residents stranded. Seeing a sign that listed two emergency phone numbers, one resident dialed the first and explained the situation. After what seemed to be a very long silence, the voice on the other end said, “I don’t know what you expect me to do for you; I’m a psychologist.”

“A psychologist?” the resident replied. “Your phone is listed here as an emergency number. Can’t you help us?”

“Well,” he finally responded in a measured tone. “How do you feel about being stuck in an elevator?”

Treasure in Jars Of Clay

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4.6).   But, Paul goes on to say, this awesome light and knowledge are put into our weak earthly bodies so that all may know the “surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Paul experienced multiple troubles but he knew where the power source was, so in verses 4.8-10, he could say that he was

  • Afflicted in every way, but not crushed
  • Perplexed, but not driven to despair
  • Persecuted, but not forsaken
  • Struck down, but not destroyed
  • Always knowing the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus could be manifested.

For Paul, his ministry was about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  Since the essence of the gospel is the Son’s death for our sins and his resurrection on the third day -all done according to the scriptures as noted in 1 Corinthians 15.3-5 – Paul had great hope in the worst of times that God would “raise” him.  He would not be crushed, despairing, forsaken or destroyed because God would bring him through affliction, perplexity, and persecution the same way he raised Jesus from the dead.

The sacrifice of Jesus meant giving His life so that many would have eternal life.  Paul sought to imitate, in a human way, making a sacrifice in order to present the life-giving message of salvation.  This same sacrificial attitude is what powers many believers to minister to the poor, the grieving, the persecuted, and the unbelieving in such a way that any complicating indignities are borne faithfully, knowing the power source for true change.

Cool Number Dates – 5/10/15-5/16/15

Today, 5/10/15,  sports three cool facts all by itself!    5 + 10 = 15 so we have an Addition day.  All three numbers are multiples of five.  And, there is a sequence of five: 5, 10, 15.

Friday 5/15/15 is another case of Multiples of five.

Best of all this week, there are TWO palindromes.  5/11/15 is 51115, and 5/15/15 is 51515 – both are the same forward and backward.

Cryptoquips 2

See more of these word puzzle solutions here.

 

The trombonist on the red planet is a parade specialist.  He has played in many Martian bands.

If sailors chat about very large waves they’re encountering, I think of that as billow talk.

I imagine some would say that the world of elegant stylish fashion is truly a chic-dom.

Humanoid robot from “Star Wars” who was produced in a trio of reddish-brown hues: Three-Sepia.

If you’re wondering how fast commercial passenger boats travel, they move at ferriable speeds.