Prayer

One of the things that we value at Norwalk Alliance Church (and most churches for that matter) is prayer. This is something I don’t feel I’ve touched on enough so I thought I’d give you a different view of what prayer is….I hope you enjoy:

Prayer to me is like the Bluetooth device for your cell phone. It is something that allows you to talk to God no matter what you are doing, hands free even! Think about that for a minute….could it be that Jesus was the original Verizon Wireless guy walking on the earth looking up at our Heavenly Father and asking him: Can you hear me now? Seriously, with Holy Spirit Wireless (which you get for free when you sign your own personal I want a personal relationship with Jesus contract) there are no dead zones, right? You can be in the shower, on the road during your daily commute, leaving a deposit at the bank or the toilet, or even at church….can you say that about your worldly wireless plan?

All kidding aside, prayer is a fundamental building block for your faith. How many legit reasons can you make for not praying today? No, that first one that came to your head doesn’t count, that is just a lame excuse. No, that one doesn’t count either, we can all say we don’t have time! Oh, and what kind of things should you be praying about daily? Would you like your kids to do better in school? Have you not only asked God for that to happen, but expected him to fix the situation? Yes, He might give you more to do in order to fix it, but He IS answering your prayer, people! Stop hoping that God will take care of what you ask and instead expect Him to fix it.

Now I know, I haven’t always been the same way when it comes to prayer. Let’s take a look at where I’ve been in my prayer life.

Stage 0: No prayer
Stage 1: Praying only when something is needed for myself or someone else, and at church. Always hoping he’d help.
Stage 2: Praying when something was needed, for others, at church, and when I had time for it (barely ever). Still hoping
Stage 3: Praying when stuff was needed, at church, and because I felt it made the day better. Still hoping
Stage 4: Praying more often since it seemed to work for everyone else, and it made me feel better. Still hoping
Stage 5: Praying because I knew I should be praying, starting to hear others pray differently…more expecting than hoping, and trying to figure that out.
Stage 6: Praying with purpose, knowing He’ll answer….but not always expecting yet
Stage 7: Prayer on fire, knowing that God already has it answered, and I just need to open my eyes as I KNOW He wants to take care of all that I expect.

Now, you may have noticed one thing, I never say that I’m a super prayer. In fact I know how people feel about others who just have it flow off their tongues….while the rest of us can’t do that. Let me tell you something bub….it doesn’t matter! So what if your prayer won’t be taped and sold worldwide as THE example for the world. He doesn’t care about that, He wants all of to be ourselves and talk to Him. That is all that prayer is…a conversation between you and God. Take full advantage of it, as your time here on Earth is limited, and you just may want to get to know Him better…and prayer is just the way to do that.

Bud....Wise.....Errrrrrr

I think most people who are over the age of 18 remember those ads, right? You know, the ones with these guys:



Now most people at this point are wondering why I'd put up the Budweiser frogs onto a blog focused on Christian values, etc. Well, let me tell you: those frogs had one thing on their mind didn't they? Sure they might have said their part of the word at variable times depending on the commercial and the circumstances they were in, but they always got their point across!


So, if a frog can become famous for shouting out what is on their mind, why can't you and I? Why is it that we all don't have just one thing on our minds - JESUS! Those dumb frogs spent all their time shouting out their one love and in the long run we should want to be just like them. We should be talking about God and showing Him in everything we do. Go spread the message from the mountain and roof tops people! You should want to share Him with everyone you come in contact with, just like those frogs did all day long!

It's not our timing but His instead

Did you know that statistics show that 1 out of every 1 people die at some point in their lives? I know that is a staggering stat, but I don’t think we look at things that way very often. Did you know that the variable in that stat is not if someone dies, but instead when!? You and I cannot predict when that will be with any degree of certainty.

I bring this up as last week a guy I played basketball with died in an accident. It kind of shook me I have to be honest. He was 19 when he died. Todd had started coming to play basketball with us at the church on Sundays last fall/winter. He was a pretty good player and with some work many of us thought he’d be very good. But, the other night that promise was taken in a car accident.

Now I’m not writing all of this to bum people out. Instead, I want to make a point and use Todd and myself as an example. Todd came to church off and on although this summer he was working all the time trying to get a better car. Before he’d made that decision he was scheduled to play softball with the church team. I had thought how great of an opportunity that was going to be as that way we’d all have more opportunities to witness and mentor him. When he decided to work instead of play I just figured that I’d have more opportunities in the future to do those same things.

Isn’t it funny how we have those same plans with people all the time? We just figure that we’ll have more time to be a witness into other people’s lives, or that someone else will do it for us instead? We deny ourselves the opportunities given by God because we figure there will be more. Well, with Todd there was not.

How many people have you put off witnessing to because you didn’t want to spend the time that day or were too busy doing something else, etc.? Don’t expect those opportunities to keep coming, as God has other plans than ours at times. Spend time witnessing and mentoring others whenever you are given the opportunity….you never know when those opportunities will end.

Who Do You Rely On?

Don’t Rely on Washington…

Now, I don’t normally get all political on things, and I haven’t yet before today in this blog. Yet, I have to get this off my chest as it’s been sitting there for awhile now: Don’t rely on the government to solve your problems. They have no idea what is best for you, and frankly they don’t care about you that much (unless you haven’t paid your taxes recently!)

Do you want an example? Let’s look at the math on this brilliant Cash for Clunkers Program they just had to shut down because so many Americans thought it was so wonderful:

-Your car must be a 1984 or later model and get less than 19 miles to the gallon
-You have to go to a dealership who gives you the discount, and then the government repays them and we all win, right?

Let’s look at the math for a moment:

Car Price: 25,000
CARS discount 4,500
---------------------------------------
Total Cost = 20,500

That brand new car you just bought in 4 years time will depreciate to roughly a value of 8,000. More than likely during that time you’ll be making payments of 450 a month. So, not including taxes / interest and all you’ll have that car paid for in around 46-50 months. Or you could say 3.8 – 4.2 years.

Now, let’s say that instead you paid yourself that 450 car payment for 20 months. Guess what, you could have the cash in hand to buy a car worth 9000 much faster! In fact, you could do that twice in the time it took you to pay for that brand new car you just bought!

So, if this program wasn’t great for you and I, then who was it good for you may ask? The credit companies were the biggest benefactors. Some would say the dealerships because they got product off their lots, but the program also took away a number of people who would have bought cars and kept them going for a longer period of time. The companies that gave everyone the credit are the ones making that difference between what you could have bought and did buy if you took part in the program.

The reason I mention this is two fold. First is to help you start thinking like a millionaire. I hate to tell you this, but most millionaires drive used cars. Many will tell you that over and over again. Sure, they have nice cars, but they also aren’t brand new. Secondly, I say this to tell you not to rely on the government to make your life better. There is only one person looking out for your well being. That person isn’t even on the Earth but instead is your Heavenly Father. He cares for us and has the best plans and programs for our lives. When we get inpatient and try these programs because we can’t wait for His timing we get ourselves into things that benefit others instead of ourselves. God wants all of us to prosper and knows how you’re going to do that in the future. When we start relying on Him to help us instead of the government we will become more prosperous than we can ever imagine.

-CARS example was mostly gathered from the Dave Ramsey newsletter. As always, I put my own little spin on it all.

Going Through The Motions

Have you ever felt like you were going through the motions in your life or relationship? You know, the day to day routine has become ordinary, or that your marriage or friendships have become stale? I know it's very easy to get into a funk like that right now with school starting up for the kids, summer ending, etc. What does it feel like to be in this type of status in life?

How can you prevent this from happening? How about trying prayer on for size! Pray that God will protect you from these feelings of boredom or blandness. Pray that He keep your relationships fresh and exciting so that you don't feel your heart straying. Pray that He protect you and all that you love from all of this as He is more than capable of doing just that for you.

Yet, let me direct you on one thing....don't go and ask for Him to help, go expecting Him to help! When you pray for this, or anything else for that matter, don't go doubting or questioning if He'd want to help you out. God has told us time and time again that He wants to help, and all we have to do is ask. So, go and pray confidently that He will take care of your needs and does not want any harm to come to you. He WILL take care of His children and keep you from feeling like you are just going through the motions.

Lions, and Tigers, and Monsters?

Today I wanted to talk about something that I really enjoy, christian rock music. Specifically I want to discuss the latest offering from the band Skillet which you can see beside here is called Awake. The reason I mention it today is the fact that it was released to the general public today.

I purchased this CD presale and have only had it for a few days, however I've been listening to the first two songs that were released for weeks now. those are Hero and Monster, which just happen to be the first two songs on this CD.

Now, I realize that many of you reading this won't listen to Skillet or their music, and I respect that as we have different tastes. That is why I'm going to post some lyrics here for you to read and have you think about for a minute:

The secret side of me

I never let you see

I keep it caged

But I can't control it

So stay away from me

The beast is ugly

I feel the rage

And I just can't hold it

It's scratching on the walls

In the closet, in the halls

It comes awake

And I can't control it

Hiding under the bed

In my body, in my head

Why won't somebody come and save me from this?

Make it end!

The above lyrics are from the song Monster. I think in this song they point out a great point: a lot of the reasons a person doesn't come to a relationship with Christ isn't because they don't want to have it, but instead the reason may be hidden deep inside them. It could very easily be something that you and I will never see on the outside looking in at their lives. Yet, that very reason can be very consuming for that person.

Do you see at the end of the lyrics how they are crying for help, yet throughout they haven't allowed anyone in due to it's all consuming nature? Do you now see why it's so important to get close to other people, especially those that need Him? They might not seem like they have problems, but WE ALL DO! We all have had reasons in our lives that have kept us from Him and many of those same reasons no one else around us would have ever known.

You have to get involved with other people. It's not enough to just know of someone, you have to KNOW someone. This is why we have to focus on things like mentoring and interpersonal relationships. We have to help people get past the monsters that are in the closet and under the bed, and know that the only way we can do that is by spending time with them. It's not enough to just do the work on the surface, instead you might have to get deeper. It's those deep relationships with others that will lead to them, as well as you, having a closer relationship with Jesus!

MoMentum....car style

Hello everyone. Today I’m going to tell you about something that just came up last night. This all stems from a discussion on an e-mail sent out by the head elder at Norwalk Alliance Church every week in regards to the elder of the day. Every week Larry Lepard sends out the information to all the elders and board members on any meetings we have on Sunday as well as who the EOD is, and that last part is written in some funny way that might be obvious to some, and to others maybe not. Here is this week’s clue:

“The elder who is still driving his first used car from his teen-age days is elder of the day.”

If you haven’t guessed yet, that elder would be yours truly. Now, that clue brought about some ribbing I definitely deserved (due to how much of a pain in the rear I normally am with the group) in regards to if a rolling piece of duct tape (my words not theirs) actually qualifies as a car, etc. It was all in good fun, and as I said earlier I’m sure it’s very deserved! However, it did remind me that I haven’t shared the story about my car with many people. That realization led me to this writing:

“You know I’m darn proud of my moving tin can. First off, no duct tape on it, thought there should be. I know Lep knows this and knows I’m not taking offense to anything when I point this out: The Grand Am is a great example of our faith in God and trusting in Him, along with the resilience that He’s given my family. We’ve had numerous times when we could have, maybe even should have, bought something else but our faith in Him has kept that car going. I know that His desire is for my family to get out of debt and that car allows us to not put money into something else - while continuing to focus on Him and not ourselves. The good news is that we’ll be out of debt by the end of 09 in every way minus our house and student loans, and in ’10 we can put some money aside to get something else! Woo Hoo!

So, every day I drive that car is another day that we get closer to Him, and I tell you what, it’s a beautiful thing! I’ve told Lep that our goal in this is to be able to actually have money in the monthly budget to give to people for no reason other than them have a need and feeling lead by God to do that at the time. I can’t wait to leave the $50 tip for the waiter/waitress who looks down on their luck and provided great service. I can’t wait to see a guy who I think needs fellowship with other men and pay for them to go to Men’s retreat or to play softball, etc. This is what God has laid on our hearts. That is why Traci and I both work 2 jobs, why we don’t buy much for ourselves, etc. It’s His kingdom that will be the better because of my driving that thing until the day it croaks! (Ok, I also can’t wait for the day to have heat and AC in the primary car I drive again – but overall I drive it such short distances, who cares….I’m willing to sacrifice!)

BTW – I’m taking donations of duct tape any time. I’d prefer it in red if you have it!”

Here is a picture of the car I’m driving:

My Grandma Reta gave me that car when I turned 16, and it’s been mostly a blessing ever since (It is still a car you know). In other words I’ve had it half of my life now! Traci drove it for awhile after college, but it became my primary car again after we bought the van as the family kept expanding! BTW - This is a picture of the good side of the car!

As you can see above, I'm not just writing this stuff for you guys and not living it, but instead we're fighting the good fight along side each and every one of you. We sacrifice in many ways. Traci and I hadn't been on a vacation without the kids in 10 years before last week, and even then we didn't go too far away. We didn't buy the bigger house that would have stretched us pretty far budget wise and instead bought one that was enough to meet our needs. I don't tell you this to make you feel that we're better than you, or deserve praise or pitty, etc. I do this to show you that it can be done. You have to take the leap of faith that HE WILL PROVIDE and that what he gives you is good enough. Come, walk along side of us getting close to Him each and every day.