Prayer of Repentance

This is years old, but I had never read it until now and was just blown away by it's truth. Paul Harvey shared this prayer by Joe Wright on air and I have to share it with you. Joe Wright gave this prayer before the Kansas Legislature years ago and it's truth rings on.

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We confess:

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.
We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

The Gospel in Genesis

God is full of hidden surprises and never boring. I was excited to read about the meanings of the names of Adam and his descendants. The meaning of their names reveal the Gospel message thousands of years before Jesus ever lived!

Hebrew--English
Adam--Man
Seth--Appointed
Enosh--Mortal
Kenan--Sorrow
Mahalalel--The Blessed God
Jared--Shall come down
Enoch--Teaching
Methuselah--His death shall bring
Lamech--The Despairing
Noah--Rest (or comfort)

Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.

The Star of Bethlehem

^"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge."
Psalm 19: 1-2

Ever wonder if the stars reveal something about God?
One of my favorite verses says that God "determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name." (Psalm 147:4)
The Star of Bethlehem DVD reveals amazing details about the stars and the timing of the conception, birth, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This is by far one of the most awesome videos I have ever seen.
If interested, I encourage you to check this movie out, or at least read about its content on the website: http://www.bethlehemstar.net/ (The info is numbered under "Site Overview").
You may just come to realize, if you haven't already, God's plan of salvation was mapped out in the stars way back at the beginning of creation when He put the stars in place.

New Age Movement

Between Oprah, pop culture, and random run-ins with new age followers, it seems like new age philosophy is growing more and more. New age thinking is nothing new. In fact, it is the same false thinking that deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden (remember--she was told her eyes would be opened and she would be like God!). But as the Book of Ecclesiastes says, "there is nothing new under the sun." So true!!

New Age thinkers teach that man is Divine and All is God
The Bible says all are sinners (Romans 3:23)

New Age thinkers teach we are separated from divine because of lack of knowledge/enlightenment
The Bible says sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2)

New Age thinkers teach that man's basic nature is good and Divine
The Bible teaches we are sinners (Romans 5:12)

I'm starting to notice a pattern here: this false teaching refuses to acknowledge sin. Without acknowledging sin, there is no need for a Savior. No need for a Savior, means Jesus died on the cross for no reason. (I can't speak for anyone else--but I need Jesus and am thankful for His sacrifice! I know I'm a sinner!!)

I could go on and on outlining the ways New Age philosophies contradict the Bible, but will spare you the reading; but I do encourage you to investigate it on your own. As with all false religions, you will find many new agers quoting the Bible. You will quickly find they will take one verse out of context, and ultimately, twist its meaning.

In light of all this, we have to remember two things Jesus stated about Satan: (1) he is the father of lies (John 8:44); (2) he masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). The enemy doesn't come at us blatantly telling us to follow lies and become evil. He disguises himself with people, thoughts, and ideas that are appealing to our nature.

"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." John 7:24

Why Do Bad Things Happen to God's People

Last month our pastor taught on 2 Corinthians 1:3-11. He said the question we often ask is "Why do bad things happen to good people?" But Romans 3:12 makes it clear that there are no good people, "All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Romans 3:12

Instead, the question should be, "Why do good things happen to bad people?" This is quite a different perspective from popular opinion.

Here are 10 of the reasons our pastor gave why bad things happen to God's people, according to the scriptures:

1. Verse 3-4: It allows me to know God better. Suffering is a prerequisite for knowing God's comfort.
2. Verse 4a: It equips me to be a comfort to others. You can relate to their problem and to the solution.
3. Verse 5: It is part of belonging to Christ. Abundant sufferings and abundant comfort is part of the package of belonging to Christ. (The cross has demolished for all time that life is fair).
4. Verse 6a: It is the price of reaching lost people. (2 Corinthians 12:15)
5. Verse 6b-7: It is the opportunity to demonstrate my faith. When do people watch me most closely? When suffering comes into my life!
6. Verse 8: It causes me to focus on what's really important. C. S. Lewis said, "God whispers in our pleasure, but He shouts in our pain."
7. Verse 9: It keeps me from trusting in myself.
"God won't put more on you than you can bear." This is not in the Bible as people often claim.
Verse 8 says "...we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength." This is "more than we can bear."
8. Verse 9b-10: It makes me trust in God alone.
9. Verse 11a: It shows me my need of others. When you're suffering, you ask others to pray. It also allows me to ask for help and allow others to serve me (and vice versa).
10. Verse 11b: It brings more praise to God. Results of others praying: I get help and God gets more thanks.

Concerned

But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" Jonah 4:10-11

Another point in the Book of Jonah was very convicting to me. God had made a vine grow up around Jonah to provide shelter from the sun and wind and then He destroyed it. God was using this as an object lesson for Jonah. After He destroyed it Jonah got all upset over this vine. God made the point to Jonah that while he was so concerned with this vine, God's concern was for the people of Ninevah (who were lost & needed God's truth revealed to them).

The question from this is what are my concerns?
Are my concerns all about me?
Are they about the temporary things and not things of eternal value?
Are they about my comfort?
Are they about what I want?

God has one concern: PEOPLE. God's point was that our concerns should be His concerns. Vines die, fads end, material goods will perish. People will live forever--somewhere; that is what God cares about and that is what I should care about. I'm praying for God to make my concerns the same as His!!

Abounding in Love

Last week while visiting Joplin I got to go to my sister's church in Carthage. I always enjoy the sermons there. This particular Sunday the topic was on the Book of Jonah. I learned so much! I suppose because I have never really heard a teaching on that book before. I had read the book on my own, but I had some misunderstandings about it.

We all probably know the story. God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell the people there to repent and turn to God. Jonah refuses and ends up in the belly of a big fish. I always thought that Jonah didn't want to go because he was scared. However, that is not really the reason (well, I suppose that could have been part of it). The people of Nineveh were enemies of the Israelites. To put it bluntly, Jonah hated them. The reason He didn't want to go is because He knew God's character and He didn't want to see God show compassion to his enemy. Jonah wanted God to punish them for their evil ways.

So Jonah goes to Nineveh, tells them to repent and they do! And God shows them mercy!! Jonah's response to God not only reveals his own heart, but it reveals the heart of God:

He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." Jonah 4:2-3

God is...
gracious
compassionate
slow to anger
abounding in love
one who relents from send calamity