PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Looking for a good report. Our prayer energy in August resulted in harvest in October.
HopeC merged into the Fold, a great move and the merger is growing.
Nuevo Pacto joined with HopeC to launch a bi-lingual outreach.
SOLUM - the mission to families is moving forward in a new location.
grandparentbenefits.org is off and running.
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Friday, August 09, 2019
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
As we obediently move into this season of prayer and miracles, the voice of the Lord opens my mornings. For several years, I wrote on prayer on a weekly basis and published across the world by email and later blog. One of those series is 52 lessons on praying for other believers based on Ephesians. Those who attend these sessions will receive a prayer journal to focus your prayers. They will know we are His disciples by our love for one another. When we find time to focus on each other and truely and transparently love one another with all of our blips and glitches and problems and pains, we will find extreme revival through personal redemption.
Here is a beginning lesson written first in 2006 updated to get you moving forward in prayer.
Through the Eyes of My Heart
“Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.
Bring me, O Lord, to what you have spoken of me.”
Genesis 18:19 19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
“Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.” That is my prayer. I want what Abraham had. Every day for a week, I have prayed it all day long. In the night, I wake praying that prayer. There is something about it that will not leave me alone. Why won't it go away?
Along with it, I now pray, "Bring me, O Lord, to what you have spoken of me." Yes, He has prepared the package and the place and the people. Yet, He must bring me to that place on my journey of faith. Through my mistakes and successes, He must mold me to the person ready to receive and bring me to that moment.
My heart turns toward my physical and spiritual and relational children. All are important. As a Dad, the children of my wife, Dian, and I are precious. They count a lot in my thinking and praying. As a minister of some 37 years now in the same metro and beyond, spiritual children who have looked to me for guidance and leadership are priceless. As a businessman and manager and community participant, those that have looked to me for direction are powerfully on my mind. As a personal mentor of men, those that have looked to me are present in my thoughts. In all of these ways people have been impacted and had direction pushed into their lives through example.
“Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.
Bring me, O Lord, to what you have spoken of me.”
Abraham was a commander of lives. Command pushes. Command influences. Command is generally not gentle. In Genesis 18:19, God tells us that Abraham received so that he could ‘command’ into the lives of his children and his grandchildren and his community. He was to command righteousness and justice. He was to command the way of the Lord. God gave to Abraham what He had spoken of him because He could trust him to live the message into the lives of others. Abraham was a generational influencer. God gave him much because of that.
“Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.
Bring me, O Lord, to what you have spoken of me.”
Abraham was a harvester of lives. What he commanded into others brought back to him the promised blessing. Through Isaac and his sons, Jacob and Esau, nations were born. Through Ishmael and his sons came nations. Entire people groups were birthed out of Abrahams fathering. He was known among the peoples of the area and respected and followed as an example. Not many dared mess with Abraham.
“Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.
Bring me, O Lord, to what you have spoken of me.”
Boy, I sure don’t measure up to Abraham. On the other hand, I need to. Every father does. Every businessperson does. Every pastor does. Every community leader does. We need to measure up. Our stature needs to go up not down. The world is a downward measuring stick. Someone like Abraham is an upward measuring stick. We need to measure up. lives should flow over into others that they would change. Our lives should change our world not just bounce off.
“Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.
Bring me, O Lord, to what you have spoken of me.”
Abraham was a flawed and failed human like the rest of us. He needed redemption. So do I. When God found him and redeemed him to the task of Canaan, Abraham had been under the leadership of his father. They had not journeyed forth into the promise but sat on the outside edge. Abraham took up the challenge after his father died, but he made some career ending mistakes. He traded his wife off to another man. He added another woman into his home to attempt to deliver God's promise with his own power. Yet, God redeemed Abraham and delivered the promise at 100 years old. Can I be patient to be redeemed from my mistakes?
“Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.
Bring me, O Lord, to what you have spoken of me.””
Daily thankfulness for all God has done impresses on me. There is a reason for His bringing to me what He has promised of me. There need to be bridges into the lives of others over which the blessing is carried in the ways of God, righteousness, and justice. Those bridges are built on trust and honesty and walking in the ways of the God of righteousness and justice. I am thankful and I am sober.
Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.
Bring me, O Lord, to what you have spoken of me.”
The prayer is dangerous. You are accountable to do something with what He brings. This journey is not just about hoarding. It surely is not about living with the world’s definition of humility. Humility is power and presence under control and right realization that God is in control not us. Great humility is only displayed when we have great resource.
“Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.
Bring me, O Lord, to what you have spoken of me.”
Prayer is meant to change us. This one will change you from the inside out. Are you prepared to handle God delivering everything He has spoken of you in His word? Get prepared. Focus on being prepared. Quit pretending in faith and make living God’s way in righteousness and justice a priority. Make sure your life is adequate and your bridges are in place. Then pray that prayer in faith believing. Your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, congregants, and others are depending on you doing just that. Your Father is depending on you doing just that. He is ready. There is much for which to be thankful. There is much more He would like to perform even as He has spoken of you.
“Bring to me, God, what you have spoken of me.
Bring me”
Remember what God has done for you. Expect more. Remember that what He has done for you He did so that you could pass it on.
Friday, March 02, 2012
considerwell | Life is worth consideration. So are people.
http://considerwell.wordpress.com/
Sent from my Samsung smartphone on AT&T
Sent from my Samsung smartphone on AT&T
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
The Center of the Moral Center
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
One of the principles of the moral center is compassion. Compassion is a world imperative and accepted in all creation-centered consciences. No on really believes that hatred and anger are good for mankind or the development of a congruent and healthy society.
Fear is the most violent antithesis of compassion. Though anger and hurt and hatred form somewhat of a triangle of antagonism, fear is the most powerful foe of compassion.
Fear freezes action and causes defensiveness.
Fear results in good men and women abandoning responsibility in the face of pain and persecution.
Fear comes from the unknown and the response of those that have been abused and threatened in life.
A confidence of compassion can overcome any fear. The bond of love for another and a concern for their welfare is intensely powerful. Men and women will suffer for decades motivated by compassion for another human.
Compassion is the center of the moral center.
The great Teacher, Jesus, when confronted to reveal the greatest commandments began, continued and ended with compassion. Love the Lord Your God with all your soul and heart and might. Love your neighbor as yourself. These three models of compassion define the moral center. Love yourself. Love your neighbor. Love your God. Do that and all the needs of the world will be fulfilled.
The three do not separate easily.
To say you love God without loving yourself and your neighbor is vanity and results in judgmental attitudes and punishments. The good of mankind does not come from such self-centered complex. Those that say they love God above the other two find despotism and slavery as pliable options. Fear becomes a center point instead of compassion.
To say you love mankind without loving God and loving yourself breeds flawed reasoning. Reason in and of itself becomes an end and a means. Yet, reason alone will never solve issues. A scientific logic without the control of compassion eliminates the old and the weak as an option. It robs the unborn of live and opportunity and again proves out as self-centered narcissistic game versus real love and concern.
To say you love yourself without loving God and others is ludicrous. Even the most selfish person must realize the need for others to live and be healthy. This philosophy ends up in anarchism and fascism. Sadistic openings of a mind concerned only with itself soon cause many pains in social structure.
Compassion is the balance. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love yourself. Don't forget any of the three or you will find a lonely existence full of skepticism and doubt. Hoarding becomes obsessive and wars become common. It is difficult to shoot a missile at someone you love.
One of the principles of the moral center is compassion. Compassion is a world imperative and accepted in all creation-centered consciences. No on really believes that hatred and anger are good for mankind or the development of a congruent and healthy society.
Fear is the most violent antithesis of compassion. Though anger and hurt and hatred form somewhat of a triangle of antagonism, fear is the most powerful foe of compassion.
Fear freezes action and causes defensiveness.
Fear results in good men and women abandoning responsibility in the face of pain and persecution.
Fear comes from the unknown and the response of those that have been abused and threatened in life.
A confidence of compassion can overcome any fear. The bond of love for another and a concern for their welfare is intensely powerful. Men and women will suffer for decades motivated by compassion for another human.
Compassion is the center of the moral center.
The great Teacher, Jesus, when confronted to reveal the greatest commandments began, continued and ended with compassion. Love the Lord Your God with all your soul and heart and might. Love your neighbor as yourself. These three models of compassion define the moral center. Love yourself. Love your neighbor. Love your God. Do that and all the needs of the world will be fulfilled.
The three do not separate easily.
To say you love God without loving yourself and your neighbor is vanity and results in judgmental attitudes and punishments. The good of mankind does not come from such self-centered complex. Those that say they love God above the other two find despotism and slavery as pliable options. Fear becomes a center point instead of compassion.
To say you love mankind without loving God and loving yourself breeds flawed reasoning. Reason in and of itself becomes an end and a means. Yet, reason alone will never solve issues. A scientific logic without the control of compassion eliminates the old and the weak as an option. It robs the unborn of live and opportunity and again proves out as self-centered narcissistic game versus real love and concern.
To say you love yourself without loving God and others is ludicrous. Even the most selfish person must realize the need for others to live and be healthy. This philosophy ends up in anarchism and fascism. Sadistic openings of a mind concerned only with itself soon cause many pains in social structure.
Compassion is the balance. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love yourself. Don't forget any of the three or you will find a lonely existence full of skepticism and doubt. Hoarding becomes obsessive and wars become common. It is difficult to shoot a missile at someone you love.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
The Moral Center
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
What is a Moral Center? Over the years, I've read much about Judeo-Christian values. Most can't really tell me what they mean and most have a different interpretation. Most refer to people thinking and acting according to a personal definition of right and wrong acquired through reading and interpreting scripture, other writings, and personal experience. If that is true, then how do you steer lives and make decisions based on shifting values? Is that any different that situation based ethics? Yes, it is. And it needs to be.
Moral Center is a term I'd like to invent. Here is my definition. There are certain positive values of morality that are common to people of faith and especially people of faith in the Creator, One God. Justice Mercy Truthfulness Dignity Honor Authority Worship Faithfulness Loyalty Service Liberty Faith Love Hope Courage Sacrifice Benevolence Maybe more than these. Each definitely has a definition. Each is interpreted by individuals in action and words.
There are also negatives of the Moral Center. These are items that should not exist in us. Murder Anger Jealousy Strife Unfaithfulness in relationship Personal gain at the expense of others Greed Theft Dishonesty
We'll spend time on each of these over time. Stay blessed. Get in the discussion.
Of course there is disagreement on how to walk out the moral center. But surely there can be more honest and respectful commitment to the moral center.
What is a Moral Center? Over the years, I've read much about Judeo-Christian values. Most can't really tell me what they mean and most have a different interpretation. Most refer to people thinking and acting according to a personal definition of right and wrong acquired through reading and interpreting scripture, other writings, and personal experience. If that is true, then how do you steer lives and make decisions based on shifting values? Is that any different that situation based ethics? Yes, it is. And it needs to be.
Moral Center is a term I'd like to invent. Here is my definition. There are certain positive values of morality that are common to people of faith and especially people of faith in the Creator, One God. Justice Mercy Truthfulness Dignity Honor Authority Worship Faithfulness Loyalty Service Liberty Faith Love Hope Courage Sacrifice Benevolence Maybe more than these. Each definitely has a definition. Each is interpreted by individuals in action and words.
There are also negatives of the Moral Center. These are items that should not exist in us. Murder Anger Jealousy Strife Unfaithfulness in relationship Personal gain at the expense of others Greed Theft Dishonesty
We'll spend time on each of these over time. Stay blessed. Get in the discussion.
Of course there is disagreement on how to walk out the moral center. But surely there can be more honest and respectful commitment to the moral center.
Generation X - Will you have a cause?
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
A friend blogger posted this. I like it. It communicates. It talks. What will you do in response? This commands a response.
TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011
A friend blogger posted this. I like it. It communicates. It talks. What will you do in response? This commands a response.
TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011
Generation X
I am a member of what people call 'Generation X'. Why are we called Generation X? I think it is because there is nothing else to be. Where is the voice to listen to? Where are the leaders? The Ideas that change the world? Where are the Dr. Martin Luther Kings, the Malcolm X's, The Roosevelt's of our time? All the good ideas have been thought and sold. All the good themes used up and turned into theme parks. Who is there to look up to? Where are the fists in the air, the marching feet, the sound of will and individuality? There seems to be just this nothingness ahead of us. We are surrounded by mutiny instead of unity. Where are the ones to lead the change, and make the differences in the world? Everything is overdone and used up. What is left for us? Where are those who will stand? Those who will make tomorrow? Where are we? We are not Generation X by choice, there is just nothing else to be.
Friday, December 23, 2011
36 Square Feet
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
36 Square Feet.
The typical American has a privacy zone of 3 feet any direction. That covers 36 square feet of space for each person. When we allow someone to enter that space, there is possibility of major change.
By changing the person in the middle of those 36 square feet, you can effect change to anyone with whom they have personal contact. The more individuals you change through thoughts and actions the more catalyst potential exists in a community. Think of all those squares bumping into each other on a given day.
Decisions Change the Squares
Last year at this time decision makers made a decision. They decided to wait, watch, and see.
Community Collision
Our community had a long time resource named the Oklahoma Family Policy Council. Over the years, it had good impact among youth in the schools and in information among legislators and community leaders. Involvement in cooperative efforts with congregations and other organizations brought visibility and support to family and fathering needs.
The decision resulted in change. The organization is gone. The need is not.
New Needs
New needs erupt over time in any community and culture. New approaches with maybe ancient messages have to be engaged. New faces have to come forward.
Pain - Just Do It!
Change requires pain. My friend, Jesus, once advised that unless you plant a seed and let it die, you will never see growth. A single seed of corn can become a small piece of a meal or it can become the birth of thousands of other seeds through planting and growth.
Voice
In my prayers and pains watching and intersecting with our community, sensitivity to need strengthens. There needs to be effective voices for the right messages.
Fixing Fractures
Family is really the only positive and generational solution to community chaos. The co-commitment of marriage and relationships of blood and bond keeps a community vibrant and humility intact.
Fathers must be strong. There just is no way to make a community work without strong fathers and men that support and protect. It is the way of things.
Faith turns the tide. People of faith are people of action. Action brings results.
Friction must be engaged with conversation and cooperation. You cannot ignore disagreements and conflicts of opposing ideas. There must be engagement at a visible and invisible level.
Front-line leadership is required. Figureheads serve a major purpose. Ignore this at risk. People follow leaders within organizations. Leadership must be touchable. They do not follow organizations with no visible and touchable leadership.
Just Thoughts
These are just thoughts. My prayer is we find a community solution in Oklahoma. Yesteday, I met with another leader in the community working on sexual assault and violence prevention. Raging issues run in the undercurrents. Without a clarion call to action with a clear course to take, the issues will continue to pound our community stability. Symptoms of domestic violence, date rape, painful divorce, child neglect and abandonment, discordant souls reaching for drugs and gangs to assuage pains of fractured relationships, sexual abuse, bullying, and other anti-social ills will persist among us always. There must be voices to speak in support of solutions. People know the problems exist though they may not realize how much destruction happens daily.
36 Square Feet of Change
May we birth something in our society to change our sphere. We can't change everything everywhere. We can change the 36 square feet around us.
36 Square Feet.
The typical American has a privacy zone of 3 feet any direction. That covers 36 square feet of space for each person. When we allow someone to enter that space, there is possibility of major change.
By changing the person in the middle of those 36 square feet, you can effect change to anyone with whom they have personal contact. The more individuals you change through thoughts and actions the more catalyst potential exists in a community. Think of all those squares bumping into each other on a given day.
Decisions Change the Squares
Last year at this time decision makers made a decision. They decided to wait, watch, and see.
Community Collision
Our community had a long time resource named the Oklahoma Family Policy Council. Over the years, it had good impact among youth in the schools and in information among legislators and community leaders. Involvement in cooperative efforts with congregations and other organizations brought visibility and support to family and fathering needs.
The decision resulted in change. The organization is gone. The need is not.
New Needs
New needs erupt over time in any community and culture. New approaches with maybe ancient messages have to be engaged. New faces have to come forward.
Pain - Just Do It!
Change requires pain. My friend, Jesus, once advised that unless you plant a seed and let it die, you will never see growth. A single seed of corn can become a small piece of a meal or it can become the birth of thousands of other seeds through planting and growth.
Voice
In my prayers and pains watching and intersecting with our community, sensitivity to need strengthens. There needs to be effective voices for the right messages.
Fixing Fractures
Family is really the only positive and generational solution to community chaos. The co-commitment of marriage and relationships of blood and bond keeps a community vibrant and humility intact.
Fathers must be strong. There just is no way to make a community work without strong fathers and men that support and protect. It is the way of things.
Faith turns the tide. People of faith are people of action. Action brings results.
Friction must be engaged with conversation and cooperation. You cannot ignore disagreements and conflicts of opposing ideas. There must be engagement at a visible and invisible level.
Front-line leadership is required. Figureheads serve a major purpose. Ignore this at risk. People follow leaders within organizations. Leadership must be touchable. They do not follow organizations with no visible and touchable leadership.
Just Thoughts
These are just thoughts. My prayer is we find a community solution in Oklahoma. Yesteday, I met with another leader in the community working on sexual assault and violence prevention. Raging issues run in the undercurrents. Without a clarion call to action with a clear course to take, the issues will continue to pound our community stability. Symptoms of domestic violence, date rape, painful divorce, child neglect and abandonment, discordant souls reaching for drugs and gangs to assuage pains of fractured relationships, sexual abuse, bullying, and other anti-social ills will persist among us always. There must be voices to speak in support of solutions. People know the problems exist though they may not realize how much destruction happens daily.
36 Square Feet of Change
May we birth something in our society to change our sphere. We can't change everything everywhere. We can change the 36 square feet around us.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Reticence or Patience?
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
This blog has been neglected.
Reticence or patience?
Neither - persistence on other fronts.
In the last year, we have sent out over 100 new devotions and prayers.
In the last year, we have over 2000 on a weekly basis receiving prayer and devotion.
In the last year, we have added eight new legislative bodies in eight new states to prayer.
In the last year, we have preached and prayed directly for people for over 40 hours in person and will surpass 60 by end of year.
This year, I intend to get this blog back to higher ground and write to you once a week. It does not need to be long.
When you come here and are looking and don't find what you seek.... go on over to
prayermetrodevotion.blogspot.com
There is always fresh and new on that site.
This blog has been neglected.
Reticence or patience?
Neither - persistence on other fronts.
In the last year, we have sent out over 100 new devotions and prayers.
In the last year, we have over 2000 on a weekly basis receiving prayer and devotion.
In the last year, we have added eight new legislative bodies in eight new states to prayer.
In the last year, we have preached and prayed directly for people for over 40 hours in person and will surpass 60 by end of year.
This year, I intend to get this blog back to higher ground and write to you once a week. It does not need to be long.
When you come here and are looking and don't find what you seek.... go on over to
prayermetrodevotion.blogspot.com
There is always fresh and new on that site.
While crossing the metro, I have seen Him in the watchfires
As I crossed the city these last two months from the south to the east to the north to the west and to the middle, I have seen the same God.
In Latino, Black, and White churches - He is here.
In Nazarence, Baptist, Full Gospel, Independent, Pentecostal - He is here.
In quiet and noise and stillness and jumping - He is here.
In formal and informal - He is here.
He is stirring His people that call Him by His name.
He is healing His people who look up to Him.
He is calming His people who put their hope in His grace.
He is gathering His people to Himself in sweet embrace.
He is here.
In Latino, Black, and White churches - He is here.
In Nazarence, Baptist, Full Gospel, Independent, Pentecostal - He is here.
In quiet and noise and stillness and jumping - He is here.
In formal and informal - He is here.
He is stirring His people that call Him by His name.
He is healing His people who look up to Him.
He is calming His people who put their hope in His grace.
He is gathering His people to Himself in sweet embrace.
He is here.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Dignity
Over the last few weeks decision makers in our nation have wrestled with mercy and justice. They seem to chose neither but asuagance of public conscience.
Tax breaks for the people (less government intrusion) were doled out.
Guests among us who came seeking refuge were pushed aside (more government intrusion) and dreams crushed. Sure, justice means we have deported a record number of people in the last year. Where is mercy?
An unstable man is unstable in all of his ways.
It seems we have real instability in our government. Our government is our people. It seems we have real instability in our people.
The stock market is climbing as companies are seen as more valuable than ever. Justice of value is prevailing.
Unemployment continues to stay at record highs and wages are frozen and even declining as the people that do the work in the companies are seen as less valuable than ever. Mercy is cast aside as we fear the future and hoard our dollars.
Instability will bring unstable results.
Solomon oversaw a mighty nation that intersected with many others. One of his thoughts goes like this. Let mercy and truth (justice) hang as ornaments about your neck. Let them both prevail. Justice without mercy is despotism. Mercy without justice is anarchy. Together they stable the legs of the chair on which we sit.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Tax breaks for the people (less government intrusion) were doled out.
Guests among us who came seeking refuge were pushed aside (more government intrusion) and dreams crushed. Sure, justice means we have deported a record number of people in the last year. Where is mercy?
An unstable man is unstable in all of his ways.
It seems we have real instability in our government. Our government is our people. It seems we have real instability in our people.
The stock market is climbing as companies are seen as more valuable than ever. Justice of value is prevailing.
Unemployment continues to stay at record highs and wages are frozen and even declining as the people that do the work in the companies are seen as less valuable than ever. Mercy is cast aside as we fear the future and hoard our dollars.
Instability will bring unstable results.
Solomon oversaw a mighty nation that intersected with many others. One of his thoughts goes like this. Let mercy and truth (justice) hang as ornaments about your neck. Let them both prevail. Justice without mercy is despotism. Mercy without justice is anarchy. Together they stable the legs of the chair on which we sit.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Perfect, Perfected, Perfecting
Matthew 5: 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The Message of Christ
The message of Christ can be merry or lonely. During the depth of winter and the shortest days of the year, we offer celebration and tinsel and gift giving. The world groans for rescue from loneliness. People duck behind computer screens in bedrooms and living rooms. Time is consumed with fish and farm that will never be smelled, touched, or bite back. Churches are full of services meant for the indoctrinated while extending meaningless invitations to the leprous. When the invited come, few really connect, we are too busy with each other and our secret handshakes and vocabulary. Sterile relationships can never share a cold or a Christ.
Our world is full of shallow and painful relationships. Jesus offers friendship that can be felt. The message of Christ offers acceptance and friendship that is fellowship to all of us. Jesus stepped out from the great beyond of the untouchable and brought God face to face and hand to hand to us.
Catching Christ
Christ can be caught. While Christ is a title indicating the anointed, the messiah, the savior, there is a man/God behind the tile. Jesus is contagious. His attitude is contagious. His thoughts are contagious. His approach to living is contagious. God reached to us to touch us and infect us. He makes us perfect. He makes us like Him.
Perfected
Being perfect is less about being perfect than it is about being God-like and infected and perfected. Love the unlovely and the lovely. Greet with honest appreciation and thanksgiving, each. Each person is placed as a gift of God to us. Receive the gift offered. Make a place. Don’t get hung up so much on “your thang” than you leave out the person sitting next to you. Quit breeding loneliness in others by focusing so much on “your thang”. That is perfection.
Perfecting
Be a perfecting person that changes the world in which you live. Who do you need to touch? Who could use a face to face visit? Who could use a hug outside the foyer of the church building? Who needs a smile that locks and looks eye to eye longer than an uncomfortable quickie at the checkout counter? Who could use a word of encouragement that is thought through and covered with prayer?
Repentance = Mind Change
Okay, I am feeling convicted at this moment. Every time the word’s of God and the example of Christ touch me, I get a little uncomfortable. That is purposeful on His part. He is contagious. To repent means to change your mind. That might be a good vocabulary change for the Christ folk. Who in the heck understands that religious idea of repentance? Most of us struggle to accept a new thought. Most of us struggle to give up an old thought. There, try that one.
Right now, I am thinking of some not so close relationships that should be closer. Over time, I have let them become distant. They are unlovely. They are painful to the touch.
Let’s Pray
Father, how do I get beyond my own resistance to change? Touch me. I am unlovely in so many ways. Maybe, I think I am super lovely. But, there are ways in which I am really unlovely. You keep touching me. You keep coming to me. You never let up. Teach me to do the same with those around me that seem unlovely. Really, they are most lovely. You love them. You offer them friendship and fellowship. Jesus sat with the blatant prostitute and the thief and the sloppy drunk. He even took time for mother-in-laws and government tax agents and politicians and lawyers and whiny busybodies. He called them friends. Break me out of my shell to do the same. That is the real message of Christ. All are human and fragile and flawed and failed. All are worth being loved and changed and infected and perfected.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
The Message of Christ
The message of Christ can be merry or lonely. During the depth of winter and the shortest days of the year, we offer celebration and tinsel and gift giving. The world groans for rescue from loneliness. People duck behind computer screens in bedrooms and living rooms. Time is consumed with fish and farm that will never be smelled, touched, or bite back. Churches are full of services meant for the indoctrinated while extending meaningless invitations to the leprous. When the invited come, few really connect, we are too busy with each other and our secret handshakes and vocabulary. Sterile relationships can never share a cold or a Christ.
Our world is full of shallow and painful relationships. Jesus offers friendship that can be felt. The message of Christ offers acceptance and friendship that is fellowship to all of us. Jesus stepped out from the great beyond of the untouchable and brought God face to face and hand to hand to us.
Catching Christ
Christ can be caught. While Christ is a title indicating the anointed, the messiah, the savior, there is a man/God behind the tile. Jesus is contagious. His attitude is contagious. His thoughts are contagious. His approach to living is contagious. God reached to us to touch us and infect us. He makes us perfect. He makes us like Him.
Perfected
Being perfect is less about being perfect than it is about being God-like and infected and perfected. Love the unlovely and the lovely. Greet with honest appreciation and thanksgiving, each. Each person is placed as a gift of God to us. Receive the gift offered. Make a place. Don’t get hung up so much on “your thang” than you leave out the person sitting next to you. Quit breeding loneliness in others by focusing so much on “your thang”. That is perfection.
Perfecting
Be a perfecting person that changes the world in which you live. Who do you need to touch? Who could use a face to face visit? Who could use a hug outside the foyer of the church building? Who needs a smile that locks and looks eye to eye longer than an uncomfortable quickie at the checkout counter? Who could use a word of encouragement that is thought through and covered with prayer?
Repentance = Mind Change
Okay, I am feeling convicted at this moment. Every time the word’s of God and the example of Christ touch me, I get a little uncomfortable. That is purposeful on His part. He is contagious. To repent means to change your mind. That might be a good vocabulary change for the Christ folk. Who in the heck understands that religious idea of repentance? Most of us struggle to accept a new thought. Most of us struggle to give up an old thought. There, try that one.
Right now, I am thinking of some not so close relationships that should be closer. Over time, I have let them become distant. They are unlovely. They are painful to the touch.
Let’s Pray
Father, how do I get beyond my own resistance to change? Touch me. I am unlovely in so many ways. Maybe, I think I am super lovely. But, there are ways in which I am really unlovely. You keep touching me. You keep coming to me. You never let up. Teach me to do the same with those around me that seem unlovely. Really, they are most lovely. You love them. You offer them friendship and fellowship. Jesus sat with the blatant prostitute and the thief and the sloppy drunk. He even took time for mother-in-laws and government tax agents and politicians and lawyers and whiny busybodies. He called them friends. Break me out of my shell to do the same. That is the real message of Christ. All are human and fragile and flawed and failed. All are worth being loved and changed and infected and perfected.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
A Journal of Praise and Prayer
The expressions of love to God during the week leading up to and on the National Day of Prayer were incredible. Words really do escape me for describing the moments of the day and getting there. I'll try a simple attempt to reflect some of God's grace from that day.
Phil
Friday, May 08, 2009
Citywide Praise and Prayer Service
TimeLine
Pastor Jeff Mitchell, Tabitha Baptist 00:08:30
Tabitha Baptist Praise Team 00:15:25
Pastor Amanda Conner, The Cathedral 00:33:10
Pastor Charles Smith, Bethesda and SHUB 00:33:40
Antioch Full Gospel Praise Team 00:40:11
Psator Lester Cezar, Antioch Full Gospel 00:55:15
Dick Wegener, CBMC 01:03:30
Quail Springs Church of Christ Praise Team 01:09:15
Pastor Charles Martin, Integrity Voice of Victory 01:21:00
Integrity Voice of Victory Praise Team 01:31:00
Joint Choir 01:50:00
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
In Spring in Winter
The wasp, the ladybug, and the squirrel all seem alive in this Spring moment of Winter. Sitting outside at the lake, I’ve contemplated this phenomenal week. All around me the cardinals and finches wisp through the air at the neighbor’s bird buffet. It is February. It is time for ice and storms and cold. Yet, the grass is attempting to grow.
When we entered our lake home late last night after an exhausting week, how surprised I was to find a wasp jumping about on the ceiling of the living room. What was he doing awake? After taking care of him, I notice a ladybug flying. A ladybug! The sure sign of Spring was in my home in the dead of winter. Sure it had been 70 degrees that day. But on the road down, there was ice constantly on the side of all the north facing hills. Ice and Spring seem odd mixture.
In Spring in Winter, this week has been odd like that. It has been absolutely phenomenal. For months, I have been attempting to get some sort of stable ministry going with our young married couples at Catedral. For months, I have been attempting to get my work organized and sales started in motion in my business. Neither want to make any progress. Every day is a hard struggle and a push against resistive force.
In Spring in Winter life is exploding in areas that seemingly should be dormant. In Matamoros, the explosion of God’s grace was phenomenal. You will have to read that story elsewhere. It is too big for this spot. The Father performed miracles, substantial miracles, and built relationships that will last a lifetime. In Oklahoma City, I came across a new film being produced that needs to be prescreened in the Latino community. We will work alongside Los Abuelos and see miracles. Miss HIV is out and has some great clips of friends in it. A minister friend took a copy for his congregation. EGM gave me ten more to distribute. This week I speak alongside friends at an urban ministry school convocation. The one minister and his congregation were a key part of that movie in OKC. Not an unnoticed happenstance that God puts us together in the right week. A large organization agreed to send us food for the poor in Mexico and Oklahoma City. A sponsoring church directly across from the business of a friend involved agreed to give us storage space to receive and ship. Ministers are meeting and talking about joining together in efforts.
Where does all of this Spring activity fit in the winter of struggle? Seemingly it jumps from nowhere. In a moment we are launched into an effective mission organization being prepped to bring solutions to our own city and sister up with a congregation in Matamoros. In the same week, a local alternative school in the middle of the worst gang infestation in our metro wants our involvement. The principal asked me to work weekly with his teachers in building a community of peace. This is the start of then reaching those students and influencing their home world. Couple this with the HIV work and Los Abuelos and you have a more than full time ministry changing a community and the world through partnerships.
In Spring in Winter, I am a business man with multiple businesses to run? Again, this week I’ve been asked to speak at yet a third conference this Spring (the real one). In two months I will speak in Vegas for a computer conference, in Philadelphia for a digital publishing conference, and in Washinton D.C. for a facility and engineering conference on exactly the same subject. In the next two months we will launch two new nationwide clients. What gives? Why now? There are other pieces wanting to launch in the background. This is a monumental week of happenings birthed out of years of relationship and cultivation of friendships in Christ across the community. The Father is speaking. The Holy Spirit is organizing His agenda not mine. Jesus is advancing His ministry and life to others. Stay tuned. God so love s the world.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
When we entered our lake home late last night after an exhausting week, how surprised I was to find a wasp jumping about on the ceiling of the living room. What was he doing awake? After taking care of him, I notice a ladybug flying. A ladybug! The sure sign of Spring was in my home in the dead of winter. Sure it had been 70 degrees that day. But on the road down, there was ice constantly on the side of all the north facing hills. Ice and Spring seem odd mixture.
In Spring in Winter, this week has been odd like that. It has been absolutely phenomenal. For months, I have been attempting to get some sort of stable ministry going with our young married couples at Catedral. For months, I have been attempting to get my work organized and sales started in motion in my business. Neither want to make any progress. Every day is a hard struggle and a push against resistive force.
In Spring in Winter life is exploding in areas that seemingly should be dormant. In Matamoros, the explosion of God’s grace was phenomenal. You will have to read that story elsewhere. It is too big for this spot. The Father performed miracles, substantial miracles, and built relationships that will last a lifetime. In Oklahoma City, I came across a new film being produced that needs to be prescreened in the Latino community. We will work alongside Los Abuelos and see miracles. Miss HIV is out and has some great clips of friends in it. A minister friend took a copy for his congregation. EGM gave me ten more to distribute. This week I speak alongside friends at an urban ministry school convocation. The one minister and his congregation were a key part of that movie in OKC. Not an unnoticed happenstance that God puts us together in the right week. A large organization agreed to send us food for the poor in Mexico and Oklahoma City. A sponsoring church directly across from the business of a friend involved agreed to give us storage space to receive and ship. Ministers are meeting and talking about joining together in efforts.
Where does all of this Spring activity fit in the winter of struggle? Seemingly it jumps from nowhere. In a moment we are launched into an effective mission organization being prepped to bring solutions to our own city and sister up with a congregation in Matamoros. In the same week, a local alternative school in the middle of the worst gang infestation in our metro wants our involvement. The principal asked me to work weekly with his teachers in building a community of peace. This is the start of then reaching those students and influencing their home world. Couple this with the HIV work and Los Abuelos and you have a more than full time ministry changing a community and the world through partnerships.
In Spring in Winter, I am a business man with multiple businesses to run? Again, this week I’ve been asked to speak at yet a third conference this Spring (the real one). In two months I will speak in Vegas for a computer conference, in Philadelphia for a digital publishing conference, and in Washinton D.C. for a facility and engineering conference on exactly the same subject. In the next two months we will launch two new nationwide clients. What gives? Why now? There are other pieces wanting to launch in the background. This is a monumental week of happenings birthed out of years of relationship and cultivation of friendships in Christ across the community. The Father is speaking. The Holy Spirit is organizing His agenda not mine. Jesus is advancing His ministry and life to others. Stay tuned. God so love s the world.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Foreward Thoughts
http://www.dalegentry.com/
Check out this video of Dale's latest thoughts on where our world is going.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Check out this video of Dale's latest thoughts on where our world is going.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
New Days Dawning
Rejoicing takes many forms during a transition of cultures. Some rejoice in what appears to be a downfall of opposing ideas. Some rejoice in having the rush of new power in the center of ego. Some rejoice just because others are rejoicing. Some rejoice as feelings of newness and emotion engulf their community. Some have taken time to consider and study and see a new road. Rejoicing takes many forms in the heart of mankind.
Weeping takes many forms during a transition of cultures. Events that mark the path can be viewed as destroying old ways. What was once held sacred is now viewed with disdain. Careful building had taken decades of foundation and structure. No one likes to see their investments of time and talent be slashed in a second. Letting go of what was for what is never appeals to many.
Fear takes many forms during a transition of cultures. Violence can erupt. The conflicts of men's hearts has to be resolved at some point. Some settle quickly with forgiveness. Some settle with tolerance. Some settle with a quiet resolve. Some escalate to vitrolic speech and pundit making. Some escalate to withdrawal or denial. Some just get nasty.
In the warp and woof of the United States, we find ourselves in transition. This new culture bubbling from beneath the surface has an undetermined end. Struggles to define legally acceptable and binding relationships push for a new cultural norm. Struggles to protect the lives of others clash with personal expression and personal rights. Ancient taboos against throwing out the weak, the infirm and unbeautiful clash with ancient rituals of Spartan child abandonment and sacrafice to Molech. A desire for Utopia where all have access to the science and caring of education and health care and housing clashes with realisms of the unsharing nature of the soul of mankind.
more later......
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Weeping takes many forms during a transition of cultures. Events that mark the path can be viewed as destroying old ways. What was once held sacred is now viewed with disdain. Careful building had taken decades of foundation and structure. No one likes to see their investments of time and talent be slashed in a second. Letting go of what was for what is never appeals to many.
Fear takes many forms during a transition of cultures. Violence can erupt. The conflicts of men's hearts has to be resolved at some point. Some settle quickly with forgiveness. Some settle with tolerance. Some settle with a quiet resolve. Some escalate to vitrolic speech and pundit making. Some escalate to withdrawal or denial. Some just get nasty.
In the warp and woof of the United States, we find ourselves in transition. This new culture bubbling from beneath the surface has an undetermined end. Struggles to define legally acceptable and binding relationships push for a new cultural norm. Struggles to protect the lives of others clash with personal expression and personal rights. Ancient taboos against throwing out the weak, the infirm and unbeautiful clash with ancient rituals of Spartan child abandonment and sacrafice to Molech. A desire for Utopia where all have access to the science and caring of education and health care and housing clashes with realisms of the unsharing nature of the soul of mankind.
more later......
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Queen Rania
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Some cleanup and focus
prayermetrodevotion.blogspot.com
prayermetrostudy.blogspot.com
Okay, so I put up two new blogs to differentiate. This one was getting too clouded.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
prayermetrostudy.blogspot.com
Okay, so I put up two new blogs to differentiate. This one was getting too clouded.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
The Call of Jerusalem - City of Peace
When Jesus attempts to come to present day Jerusalem, he is met with missles and tanks and barbed wire. Tear gas and rubber bullets bang against his body. He would like to return. People all over the world pray for his return. They just don't want him to come in the form he seems to prefer in this season.
Some want him to come in the clouds out of the east and establish a new kingdom. Some want him to come peacefully on a donkey. Some want him to come and turn over the tables and walls that keep people away from his place of prayer. Some want him to come as Messiah. Some want him to come as prophet. Some want him to come as king. Some want him to come as priest. Some don't want him to come at all.
The heart of the people appears to be violent toward Him in Jerusalem and throughout the nation of Israel these days. He approaches in strange dress and strange language too different to suit his keepers. His ways live in people speaking in Aramaic and English and Hebrew and thousands of other languages. The Israeli nation builds walls and fences to keep such words and ways at a distance. the affect of Jesus/ ways coming in by means of those who study his life is too frightening for them. Laws prevent open and decisive conversation of his life.
Today it would be easy to say the walls and lawas are meant to keep out the violent. They invite violence. As surely as the disparity of "colored" restrooms and restaurants and backs of busses in the United States in another era or the apartheid of South Africa, the walls and laws of the Israeli nation invite violence, anger, and grief. To deny fact is a symptom of insanity. These rules of separation prevent the purpose of the the city of peace, Jerusalem. It is a place of God designed to invite people to his solutions. Through history it has been a place of refuge and worship and prayer. Today it is a site of anger, division, and persecution.
Jesus, Yeshua, Isa - met that situation in his earthly lifetime. Jerusalem was much the same as today. Political pressure and religious rightness stirred anger and violence among the people. He brought an attitude of dedication to holiness, openness, service, and kindness to resolve such days. What if the Israeli nation opened to such thoughts? Many Muslims study and work ot live them. Many Christians study and work to live them. Many Jews study and work to live them. If we believe that Jesus was a rabbi or teacher from the Judaic heritage of thought, then there seems to be a point of agreement among these warring faiths.
What if the nation of Israel could return to God thoughts? What if the state of godless Israel would open to seek and allow him and his ways to prevail through those that already seek him? They are so close, yet walled apart.
Sure, there are violent Christians, Jews, and Muslims. They are the exception not the norm and only a small portion. Do we make walls and laws in reaction to the violent few or open the door to be flooded in blessing by the peacefilled many? Walls and laws invite violence and cursing. Open windows and kindness invite peace and blessing.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Some want him to come in the clouds out of the east and establish a new kingdom. Some want him to come peacefully on a donkey. Some want him to come and turn over the tables and walls that keep people away from his place of prayer. Some want him to come as Messiah. Some want him to come as prophet. Some want him to come as king. Some want him to come as priest. Some don't want him to come at all.
The heart of the people appears to be violent toward Him in Jerusalem and throughout the nation of Israel these days. He approaches in strange dress and strange language too different to suit his keepers. His ways live in people speaking in Aramaic and English and Hebrew and thousands of other languages. The Israeli nation builds walls and fences to keep such words and ways at a distance. the affect of Jesus/ ways coming in by means of those who study his life is too frightening for them. Laws prevent open and decisive conversation of his life.
Today it would be easy to say the walls and lawas are meant to keep out the violent. They invite violence. As surely as the disparity of "colored" restrooms and restaurants and backs of busses in the United States in another era or the apartheid of South Africa, the walls and laws of the Israeli nation invite violence, anger, and grief. To deny fact is a symptom of insanity. These rules of separation prevent the purpose of the the city of peace, Jerusalem. It is a place of God designed to invite people to his solutions. Through history it has been a place of refuge and worship and prayer. Today it is a site of anger, division, and persecution.
Jesus, Yeshua, Isa - met that situation in his earthly lifetime. Jerusalem was much the same as today. Political pressure and religious rightness stirred anger and violence among the people. He brought an attitude of dedication to holiness, openness, service, and kindness to resolve such days. What if the Israeli nation opened to such thoughts? Many Muslims study and work ot live them. Many Christians study and work to live them. Many Jews study and work to live them. If we believe that Jesus was a rabbi or teacher from the Judaic heritage of thought, then there seems to be a point of agreement among these warring faiths.
What if the nation of Israel could return to God thoughts? What if the state of godless Israel would open to seek and allow him and his ways to prevail through those that already seek him? They are so close, yet walled apart.
Sure, there are violent Christians, Jews, and Muslims. They are the exception not the norm and only a small portion. Do we make walls and laws in reaction to the violent few or open the door to be flooded in blessing by the peacefilled many? Walls and laws invite violence and cursing. Open windows and kindness invite peace and blessing.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Jesus - In the Father's Heart
Matthew 1:19: Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
Joseph was both honorable and compassionate. Who else would the Father choose for His Son's training and upbringing? What better choice than a flawed human with a heart of compassion?
Joseph, with no knowledge of the power of the situation, with no knowledge that the Son of God was involved, took the route of best treatment for Mary. He was taking measures to keep her protected in the embarrassment of the situation. He had the heart of the Father to cover and protect. Who else would God chose but one with His own heart?
ACT! What in your life needs silent treatment? Give it to the Father. He will secret it away in forgiveness.
PRAY! Compassionate Father, release me from my past. In Jesus, I find forgiveness and covering. Thank You for being You.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
Joseph was both honorable and compassionate. Who else would the Father choose for His Son's training and upbringing? What better choice than a flawed human with a heart of compassion?
Joseph, with no knowledge of the power of the situation, with no knowledge that the Son of God was involved, took the route of best treatment for Mary. He was taking measures to keep her protected in the embarrassment of the situation. He had the heart of the Father to cover and protect. Who else would God chose but one with His own heart?
ACT! What in your life needs silent treatment? Give it to the Father. He will secret it away in forgiveness.
PRAY! Compassionate Father, release me from my past. In Jesus, I find forgiveness and covering. Thank You for being You.
PrayerMetro puts out thoughts to provoke thinking not preach religion. Think. Meditate. Pause. Pray. Consider. Act.
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