please update your feeds, your readers, and your habits accordingly!

Looking forward to it!
Frank

But instead of telling you the story, I want to send you to another blog. I want you to read the story yourself. I want you to understand the depth of what God has done.

What else do we need?

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/03/herein-is-love.html

The lyrics:

God of all Creation, Lord of heaven’s light
Descended into evil’s darkest night
Infinitely Holy, Your perfections know no end
Selflessly You died my rightful death

By this we know love that He laid down His life
God’s very own Son came from Heaven to die
Suspended He hung as He shed His own blood
What grace in His pardon, by this we know love

Forsaken man of sorrows, hated by all men
You willingly surrendered for my sin
Scornfully derided, yet in silence stumbling on
Bearing wrath for all that I’ve done wrong
© 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)

Below is a video of Zelos singing it at the NEXT Conference last summer.

#1 – I wish my dad a happy birthday!

#2 - I wish my wife would just give in and tell me that I’m right. Always.

#3 - I wish that the thought process I used to make my NCAA picks proved to be more productive than the process my 4 year old daughter used (which included her giggling every time I said “Butler”).

#4 – I wish I would learn to quit whining when something didn’t go my way. (See wish #3 above)

#5 – I wish I knew what tomorrow holds.

****The “I wish…” disclaimer. It’s fun to dream, and to wish. If we stop there, we’re in trouble. Some of our dreams will only ever be dreams if we don’t get off our lazy rear ends and do something about it. Some of our wishes are selfish, because we don’t want to depend on God. I am fully aware of that. This is simply a collection of random ways I would finish the sentence – so relax.

Then, right after I saw this comic, I was traveling to Virginia to visit our college students there, and heard this song by 33 Miles. God used it to open my eyes, help me realize what is most important, and to understand that no matter what happens, we have a good, gracious God who is in Heaven, and in control! Love the song, love the message! Certainly one that I need to remember more often.

You can listen to the song by going here…

And can see the lyrics below.

Woke up to the pouring rain
Stumbled out of bed with half a brain
Twenty minutes late for work again
But it’s alright, it’s alright
No time for coffee, gotta hit the door
Grab a shirt from off the floor
Never noticed it was stained before
But it’s alright, it’s alright
Oh, but nothing’s gonna bring me down
No, not now

CHORUS
It’s just one of those days
When everything’s right
God is in his heaven and I’m walking in the light
So hallelujah anyway
It’s just one of those days
You look at the sky
Throw your hands up and you laugh at life
So hallelujah, Lord be praised
It’s just one of those days

The boss calls…yeah, I know I’m late
I had a flat on the interstate
Tell the man that he can wait
Don’t get uptight, it’s alright
Hold on…there’s another call for me
No, I didn’t buy a diamond ring
Somebody stole my identity
Hey it’s alright, it’s alright
Oh, but nothing’s gonna lay me low
Cause I know

CHORUS
So come on rain, lightning strike
Just you try to shake my life
You got no power, you got no hold
Cause it is well with my soul

CHORUS
So hallelujah, Lord be praised
It’s just one of those days

Read More Here:
Few of us, probably, are satisfied with our private, family, and corporate prayer habits. And surely we all recognize that the Church of our day, at least in our land, is weak in the way of prayer. We do not pray often. We do not pray with Scriptural proportion, nor does our prayer much reflect the language and thought of the Bible. We do not pray fervently. Some, perhaps, lack confidence in the efficacy of prayer. There are many roots to this problem, and hence many aspects to its solution, but I can think of no more significant component to changing our prayer habits for the better than learning to pray according to Scripture.

Resorting to a more Scriptural pattern of prayer may be a simple (but profound) answer to many problems in our practice of prayer. Praying Scripturally will teach us what prayer is, even while we do it. It will correct “shopping list” views of prayer which abound in the Christian community. It will begin to solve in our own minds the question of “unanswered prayer.” It will remind us of just how much there is to pray about day by day. It will teach us of the extreme urgency of prayer. It will return proportion to prayers long on petition, but short on adoration, confession, and thanksgiving. It will instruct us how best to pray for ministers, missionaries, and one another. It will show us the proper way to approach God in prayer. It will remind us of the good things that God does for us (which we, more often than not, take for granted). It will remind us to always give thanks to God (which, paradoxically, is so important for our own assurance of His faithfulness in answering prayer). It will begin to engrave in our minds Biblical patterns of thought which can help immunize us from the enticing folly of the world’s view of life. It will force us to rehearse the solemn warnings and precious promises of God (which will do eternal good to our souls). And it will move us from our inherent man-centeredness in prayer to a Biblical, God-centered way of praying.

Over the next few weeks we will look at biblical patterns for prayer, but for now there is a book which I heartily recommend as an aid to your renewal of Scriptural prayer in daily life. D.A. Carson’s A Call to Spiritual Reformation (Baker Book House), a study of Paul’s prayers. It is perhaps the best book recently written on Scriptural prayer. A dear friend of mine, Dr. Mark Dever (Minister of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC), reported to me that when Professor Carson gave the lectures on prayer that eventually became this book to the Christian Union at Cambridge University, it made a profound and lasting effect on the students’ Christian walk.

May the Lord revive our hearts and make us a people of prayer.

Taken from: http://www.thepracticeofleadership.net/2010/02/21/are-you-a-leader-or-just-a-boss/

Are you a Leader or just a Boss?

by George Ambler

I often find that many people confuse leadership with positional power. We tend to believe that a person in a position of authority or someone with a title, has their position or title due to their leadership qualities. However, in many cases there is no correlation between someone’s position and their leadership ability. Just having a title does not make you a leader, leaderships is about influence. Title only buys you time to exercise true leadership, and in this time your leadership either increases or diminishes and eventually fails. There is a huge difference between being a boss and being a leader…! Consider the following…

“The boss drives group members; the leader coaches them.
The boss depends upon authority; the leader on good will.
The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm.
The boss says ‘I’; the leader says ‘we.’
The boss assigns the task, the leader sets the pace.
The boss says, ‘Get there on time’; the leader gets there ahead of time.
The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown.
The boss knows how it is done; the leader shows how.
The boss makes work a drudgery; the leader makes it a game.
The boss says, ‘Go’; the leader says, ‘Let’s go.’“

– Author unknown

People follow the boss because they have to if they want to keep their jobs. People follow leaders because of who they are and where they are going.  Too many leaders today rely on their position to lead. How about you?

Taken from http://withoutwax.tv/2010/02/26/defeat-and-hypocrisy/

Defeat and Hypocrisy

By Pete Wilson

I continue to be amazed at how it always seems that religion complicates what God has made simple. I was reading last night in Matthew and reminded at how often Jesus tried to expose the complexities of religion.

Matt 23: ¹ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. ³ So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. ⁴ They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

I grew up in a system of religion that was very similar to this. The “demands” often left me feeling crushed and wondering if God could ever accept and love me.

I discovered over time that religion and the rules that accompanied it really only produced two things: defeat, if you were honest, and hypocrisy, if you were not.

I spent years in hypocrisy which was fueled by my fear that I wasn’t “good enough.” I’ll be forever grateful that I eventually exchanged that system of religion in for a story of redemption. I’ll be forever grateful for discovering the meaning behind these beautiful words of Jesus…

Matthew 11: ²⁸ “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

But articles aren’t like magic pills that create a meaningful relationship between you and God. No, there are no magic pills. Instead, there is an amazing gift that we are given. That gift is prayer.

J.C. Ryle wrote a powerful article on prayer. This stood out to me:

I do not deny that a man may pray without heart and without sincerity. I do not for a moment pretend to say that the mere fact of a person’s praying proves is everything about his soul. As in every other part of religion, so also in this, there may be deception and hypocrisy.

But this I do say, that not praying is a clear proof that a man is not yet a true Christian. He cannot really feel his sins. He cannot love God. He cannot feel himself a debtor to Christ. He cannot long after holiness. He cannot desire heaven. He has yet to be born again. He has yet to be made a new creature. He may boast confidently of election, grace, faith, hope, and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured it is all vain talk if he does not pray.

Read the rest here.