Aware of Weakness

It's been a while since I've posted, but now that we're settled in more in our new ministry, hopefully I'll do more often here; perhaps not daily, but at least more often.

Today I read a familiar Psalm, Chapter 136. It's the one with the repeated "His faithful love endures forever" after every line. After a description of Israel's history of deliverance, it makes the statement "He remembered our utter weakness...He saved us from our enemies (v.23-24; NLV). Many times in the course of my ministry I've been plagued with doubt over why God has me in the specific role I'm in. I have walked along side of many friends who, very obviously, had more musical talent, were better multi-taskers and delegators, and who seemed "to have it all together" more. It's easy to focus on our weaknesses in these times and get discouraged. The Lord whispered a thought to me through these verses today that He already knows where we're weak, and He knows about the strengths of others. And, as with the case of some folks I've encountered, some have fallen away from the faith or embraced false ideologies in some way. The Lord comforted me today by telling me that "I have you right where I want you." Because, perhaps, he knows that despite hardships with my faith, I just might be strong enough to do the task He has for me. Not strength of my own, mind you, but my utter weakness paired with his strength.

The Commission God Gave Me

I was reading a wonderful passage in Colossions today that the Lord showed me. After a sermon yesterday that reminded us ministers on the importance of what we do, I thought this was a good follow up:

1 Colossians 1:25-26 (NIV)
I have become its [the gospel] servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness - the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages, but is now disclosed to the saints.

We are servants of the gospel! We as ministers have been not only asked, but commissioned, called into service. And what an important duty we carry - that of being stewards of the great mystery! At the end of the chapter, another verse that gave me some hope with all of the tiredness I'm facing because of the move, VBS, and other things, was v.29:

To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy which so powerfully works in me.

Wow! Isn't is awesome to know that God's power is available to us? I know I'm asking for His power to work in me this week that's for sure. I pray that for all of the teachers involved in VBS as well, too.

In Chapter 3, another keystone verse for me was vs.8, which speaks of making sure no one leads you captive through human based arguments and philopsophy - something we call should be alert against.

"Early in the morning"

A while back, my little guy started singing in the backseat of the truck a little jingle he made up that repeated the mantra "Early in the morning....." over and over again, same pitch patterns, etc. It's been weeks since then, but tonight he brought back that same melody, so he and I (okay mostly me) came up with some expanded lyrics to the song:

Early in the morning
I will praise my Jesus
In the noon-tide hour
I will praise my King
When the sun goes down I
Still will praise my Jesus
Halle - Hallelujah
Let His praise abound!

Let His praise abound now
In His Sanctuary
Worshippers arise and
See His lasting light
Let His praise abound now
For His love surrounds us
United in one voice we
come to give You praise!

(More to come...??)

©2008 Chris Bridges & son

Ridgecrest Music Week - Prayer Time

The last morning at Ridgecrest was yesterday, and I was able to spend about an hour alone with God in the prayer garden. It was a really nice time. The Lord showed me a couple of passages in the Psalms that really inspired me.

First of all, in Psalms 101, he showed me how important it is to continually surround yourself with people that inspire you towards righteousness. And in Psalm 103, he showed me several things:

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

Often we think of all of the challenges, problems, and sacrifices we make to live a Christian life - but praise the Lord, there are, as this passage says - BENEFITS!!! The next verses outline them.

3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

What a beautiful picture here! His compassion is like a crown he gives us!

5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

Here's another emphasis on His compassion, which I believe is a theme of the passage.

9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

A third expression of his compassion, and probably the most tender statement in the passage.

14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

Verses 15 and 16 remind us of how temporal our earthly bodies are, but the verses that follow compare this with the ETERNAL nature of our Heavenly Father.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

The last verses in the chapter are a a simple doxology of praise to God, and a fitting way to end this wonderful passage.

19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

22 Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Ridgecrest Music Week - Day 4

Well, tonight ends one of the best Music Weeks at Ridgecrest ever for me. Not only was it special because of the hymnbook dedication and some very good classes, but it was a really nice getaway for the family. In fact, Nathan told us several times tonight that he didn't want to leave. Me either! Still, there's a lot of exciting things happening in our lives now in which we need to get back and attend to.

After the morning devotions this morning, I attended a very interesting class on ministering to younger children in regards to motivation for singing. Following that I was able to hear a lecture on flow in worship by David Edwards, who had performed in Tuesday evening's feature. Some very good reminders there.

The afternoon saw me in a continuation of yesterday's classes with David Odle on Blended worship, this one centered around the future of Sanctuary Choirs. There were lots of good ideas on helping to transition your choir into being true worship leaders. I also was able to attend part of a class on projection systems and screens, which served as a reinforcement for the research I've been doing for the vision I have to expand the multimedia ministry of our church.

The evening feature was a culmination concert featuring the children, youth, and adults who participated in the conference choirs. This is most always a highlight of the week, tonight being no exception.

Tomorrow we go home. It really has been a refreshing and fulfilling time for me and my family. I hope I am able to spend some time in the prayer garden up on the mountain tomorrow morning. That is something else I always try to do each time I'm here. It is a real communal time between myself and the Lord.

Ridgecrest Music Week - Day 3

What a busy, but fruitful day! Today begin with a short devotional time up on "Rocking Chair Ridge" where we sang several songs from the new hymnal together. After that began a full day of classes, beginning with a class on "how to purchase the right keyboard" and one on how to teach melody to preschoolers. In the latter of those I got to make a streamer craft to take home (Nathan was very impressed I might add.)

After Morning Worship, which was again very good, I took a class with Maribeth Johnson on vocal praise teams which was interesting. Her husband, as I mentioned in the last post, is a songwriter for LifeWay. At the end of class I got to request to her that they play "Great is Your Faithfulness," my favorite of her husband's songs that night at the songwriter's afterglow. And not only did she remember my request, but they used it to end the program, which I thought was very special.

I also attended a very engaging session on worship team building and leadership this afternoon that was quite good. I plan to go back to some of the follow-up sessions tomorrow on that.

This evening's feature was again a very unique blend of performers. There was a former Truth vocalist gone soloist named Peter Penrose who has a very soulful and powerful voice (with a very high range I might add. I got to talk with him personally after the program, which was really neat. We swapped some worship leading stories and talked about hand-signals(I had noticed he had used some in communicating with the band on stage). Also in the program was a group called "This Hope." They reminded me a lot of GLAD, one of my favorite all time Christian groups, as they did a lot of a capella numbers. Very good harmonies and blend!

And I've already mentioned the afterglow concert, which we could hear very well after opening the window in the room. That was a great close to a great (but tiring) day. I was also able today to reconnect with a few other contacts and Ridgecresters I hadn't seen in a while. Tomorrow looks to be busy too, but the blessings keep coming!

Ridgecrest Music Week - Day 2

Well, we're just now closing shop on the second day of Ridgecrest. All-in-all, today was a bit of a low-key day. Normally the first full day of Ridgecrest is filled with classes, but for me I actually had two very nice breaks to go to the room, rest, or do some work from the office.

The day began with some more information about the new hymnal. This will actually be the first hymnal that has the option to buy recordings of all of the songs within it. Further, there are about 200 more songs available from the online and CD resources. There are going to be video and powerpoint materials already done for you. This really seems to be a pretty big deal. I'm putting a link to more information about the new hymnal and what they're calling the Lifeway Worship Project here.

The only specialized course I took today dealt with creative ideas to involve youth in creative evangelism projects, specifically, dance and rhythym (step/stomp). There was some good info there.

Tonight's evening event was a triple feature - Dan Oxley, a concert trumpeter, songwriter David M. Edwards, and the Burchfield Brothers, who are, well....unique. I had seen them before, but I had forgotten about them. One of them is a classical guitarist, and the other plays a mallet kat, which is in essence a digital marimba of sorts. Together, it sounds like a "Christian Manheim Steamroller." here's a link to a taste of them.

And speaking of tastes, we also made an obligatory visit to the Nibble Nook tonight for ice cream.



The last thing we heard as we started settling down to bed was some praise and worship from songwriters Jeremy Johnson and Paul Marino, who were playing an "afterglow" concert in the courtyard below our room. For any Southside folks reading this, they are the arrangers of the version of "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross" that Randy Hart sang not too long ago.

Ridgecest Music Week - Day One

Wow. It sure is great to be back at this place. This is a real place of spiritual renewal for me. Ever since I first came here in 2000, I've always found encouragement and a touch from God here.

We just finished our opening concert, which featured the dedication service for the 2008 Baptist Hymnal. The Jubal Choirs from Georgia and the Gettys (authors of In Christ Alone) were here for this special service, emceed by Mike Harland, the chief music guy for LifeWay. My early take on the hymnal - thumbs up. It leans much more progressively contemporary than its predecessor, but it does give a nod of respect to many of the great country hymns like "I'll Fly Away" and "What a Day That Will Be" that were overlooked in the 1991 edition. I was impressed at the variety overall, though. The only real criticism I have at this point is that some of the contemporary additions may be a little too rhythmic and hard for many of the pianists, singers, and choirs in smaller churches. I do look forward to the possibilities that will be available with the unveiling of the Lifeway worship website, which will launch in October. We are to hear more about that later in the week.

Tomorrow will be the first full day of events here. I'm going to try to make it a goal of mine to make a report on this blog each day, but no promises. But for now, my eyes are heavy, Nathan is being put to bed, and I will soon follow (I'm in the lobby, so as to not disturb or distract him). More later.

Spending Time with Jesus

Just down the hall from my new office is a giant life-size picture of Jesus. Although I spend time with the Lord regularly, I thought I would actually have a photo op this time.

Just a little light-heartedness for the ministry blog today!

Chris

I read the sign wrong...

My eye caught a church sign recently that I misread. Here's what it actually said (paraphrase):

"Try to be more Christ-like and less Christ-less"

Here's what my brain perceived it to say:

"Try to be more Christ-like and less like Christians"

I had to giggle at myself for that mistake, but then I thought, wait a minute. Society has such a bad taste in its mouth over the word "Christian" today that perhaps my mental mistake may have some truth to it! There are plenty of folks out there who are focusing so much on being a good "Christan" that they forget it's not just the regiment of church going, tithing, and circle meetings that makes us holy. It's our relationship with Christ. Therefore, let's all stop focusing on what makes a Christian, and focus on modeling our lives after Christ.

Dave Burchett's book "When Bad Christians Happen to Good People," which I'm reading now, really addresses how Christians in our society have let each other (and the world) down in many ways. Dave's also got a blog if you want a snapshot version of his philosophy: http://www.daveburchett.com/

Also, while I'm sharing links, in trying to find the source of the above sign quote, I stumbled upon a very funny blog about church signs. Warning: if you're easily offended, this site does poke a bit of fun at some of the silliness we allow our churches to advertise. It's cynical humor to say the least. http://crummychurchsigns.blogspot.com/

A Post Card Moment, kind of

I thought I would do a "super spiritual" thing one day of my vacation and take my Bible out to the beach and just hang out with God for a few minutes. I imagined all of the great revelations that would come out of this picture perfect post-card type setting. However, I had to giggle to myself when the continual distractions of dog walkers, gusty wind, and other things made it more like a comedy than a post card.

Still I was able to read some "random" (nothing ever really random with God's Word) passages, and here's what the Lord reminded me of:

From Isaiah 66, I was reminded that God will not forget the unjust. They will be punished, but in his own timetable.

From Acts 8, through the encounter with Simon the Sorcerer, I was reminded that money can buy a lot, but it can't buy the power of God in one's life. And through Phillip, I was reminded of our mission to win the lost, and how sometimes the Lord "yanks" you away somewhere else! (v.39)

From the gospel of John, Chapter 6, I was reminded that Jesus is the Bread of Life. He is our sustenance. Acceptance of that sacrifice (internalizing it) is the only was we can have full "communion" with God. The key to eternal life is BELIEF.

From Psalm 73, I was reminded again (in a bookend way) that the Lord will judge the wicked - that I have no need to worry about enacting justice myself. The Lord has me by "my right hand" (v. 23) and will help my embittered spirit, and will provide care and sustenance of my spirit.

Why argue?

A quote from Dave Burchett, in his book "When Bad Christians Happen to Good People" says,

"If Christians are onto something that is life-changing, if we posess a relationship worth dying for, if we believe in something enough to change our worldview in order to embrace it, then why are we arguing about things like whether women can teach in the church? In a world that is clearly on a moral slippery slope, why are we debating whether seeker-sensitive churches are more effective than traditional ones?"

Now, I'm not asserting my opinions on the controversies expressed in these statements, but Dave makes a good point. We as Christians waste our time arguing over things that don't mean a hill of beans when it comes to eternal significance. Something to think about.

Dealing with Guilt

One of the things about an event like a "Souper Bowl" Party, or Homecoming, or any covered dish meal is the Baptist rationalizing that tends to go on while we overeat. It starts an internal conversation with yourself that goes something like this:

“What a spread of food! Mmmm, that smells good. Looks good too. Of course, I should stay true to my diet. I’ve been doing pretty well here lately. Yeah, I have, haven’t I? Shouldn’t I reward myself for that? – great idea! Still, this could set me back – Oh, who cares? Look at all of the fun everyone else is having!!! They are piling their plates full, and after all, this event doesn’t happen everyday!
-LATER- “Wow, that first and second plate were good, but you know I didn’t try Aunt May’s Rhubarb Pie. And you know her, she’ll ask later if I tried it, so I don’t want to make her feel bad about it. “
-LATER- “Boy, I’m stuffed, that filled me up more than it should have! My eyes were bigger than my stomach! Still, we’ve got a while to go before we leave, so I need to pass the time somehow. Maybe I’ll grab another cookie or something. Hey Marvin just brought it a new cake. Is that one of his wife’s famous pound cakes?”
-THE NEXT DAY- “Why did I do that? What was I thinking? I must have gained five pounds last night! I’m going to have to work harder now to get back in my routine, more exercise – something!!! I can tell you this I will NEVER do that again.”

That is until the next event comes around, of course. Does this sound like you? Now contrary to what you’re thinking, today’s thought is not about gluttony. It’s about temptation and guilt. In our humanness we sin. This is truth. Our guilt is the reflection of the Holy Spirit’s prompting that something in our lives is not in perfect alignment with God’s plan for our character. In the case of overeating, our bodies sometimes pay that price and the “temple of God” is ultimately affected. In the case of other sins, not dealing with guilt can lead to hard hearts. A hardened heart can lead to more rationalizing of sins and an endless cycle much like the many trips to the buffet table. If you know you have sinned, deal with it. First, with your Creator, and then with the others affected in the measure. Merely making an appearance at an altar call doesn’t erase guilt, unless it is coupled with genuine repentance and actions that back them up. And then after that, be patient. Trust is not like a Lego tower that can be quickly rebuilt.

Top Ten Hymns for Your Church Football Party

OK, I pulled out all of my corny-ness for this evening's big game party at our church. As the music minister, I came up with the Top Ten rejected hymns to use at such an event

(drum roll)

10. O Perfect Season

9. When We All Get to Halftime

8. When the Ball is Thrown Up Yonder

7. Shall We Gather at the Endzone

6. He Touchdown-ed Me

5. Half-time Thine Own Way

4. Blest Be the Tied Up Game

3. Lord, Send a Receiver

2. Amazing Grass, How Sweet the Turf

1. Pass Me Not, O Eli Manning

The Marriage Road

This weekend I officiated the wedding of Ivis and Matthew back in a former church in Virigina. Ivis was one of my former youth. The young couple met on the side of a road when Ivis' brother had forgot to pick her up one day. I used this part of their story to draw some biblical parallels, which I've posted below.

Lots of very important things happen “on the side of the road.” In scriptures we find the Lord led Moses and the Israelites down a winding and long road to freedom. Our Lord Jesus tells of following “a narrow road” that leads to life. He also tells us of a Good Samaritan that lends a hand to someone injured by the roadside. Our Lord was praised with palm branches as he triumphantly rode the road to Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. And after our Lord’s Resurrection, one of Christ’s first appearances was walking down the Emmaus road with some disciples. And who can forget Paul, whose life was changed dramatically on the side of a road. When I asked Ivis how she met Matthew, she told me it was literally “on the side of the road.” While this sounds like a very unconventional place to meet the love of your life, I think it’s important to view the symbolism of a road in the context of a marriage. The imagery of a road implies a journey. Matthew and Ivis, your presence here today means that you acknowledge that your meeting on that roadside was not by chance, but by the divine intervention of God Almighty. You are willingly choosing to walk down life’s path as partners. Like the Israelites with Moses, there will be plenty of times where the journey may seem long, mundane, and frustrating. Like the Good Samaritan, there will be plenty of times where you must humble yourself and lean down to help the other when they are hurt or need a helping hand. Like the triumphant entry, there will be times, such as this moment today, where you are filled with insurmountable joy. Like Jesus’ presence on the Road to Emmaus, sometimes you just need to walk along side each other as quiet and trusting friends. And like Paul’s conversion, there will be events in your life that will completely turn your world upside down. In these times your support of each other will be very important.

I'm No Superman

Perhaps as a minister I shouldn't disclose this vice, but one of my favorite shows is "Scrubs." Although the morality of the show can be questionable at times, it sometimes can be very accurate in its portayal of humanity and also very touching. While doing my devotion this morning, I had music playing in the background, and the theme song "I'm No Superman" begin to play in the shuffle. I almost turned it off, but then let it play because the line "I can't do this all on my own. I'm no Superman" rang out. That caught my attention because I tend in my life to tackle too many things at once. I have never been the best delegator. Maybe you're like that too?

Also, to hit it home, my LifeWalk devotional reading this morning was about the temptation of Jesus passage in Luke. The author of the devotion suggested that we should carry a small battery in our pocket all day long to remind us of the source of power that we have in the Holy Spirit, both to resist temptation as well as a general source of strength in our lives. I may try that today. After all, I'm no Superman! I certainly need all the power and help I can get!

Loving God, Loving People

An artice that appears in the NC Biblical Recorder that was just posted has the following quote:

Almost three-fourths of Americans who haven't darkened the door of a church in the last six months think it is "full of hypocrites," and even more of them consider Christianity to be more about organized religion than about loving God and people, according to a new survey.

Wow. This is very sad. However, I cannot deny it. We as Christ's church need to do much better. I think we can still integrate ourselves into society, as well as show love to the unchurched, while at the same time not compromising the principles that we stand for. I do believe that there is good in people. I believe that people can be loved and should be loved. I believe that the hardest thing about loving people is the fact that, they're still people.

Is it easier to love God, or to love people? For some like me, loving God is easy, for He has evidenced Himself in my life and calling, and gave His Son to die for me. Loving people is the challenge. For others, God may seem so unknown, unreachable, untouchable, that it is easier for them to love people, for even with their shortcomings, at the end of the day they can wrap their arms around them and hold onto something tangible. However, as believers, we are commanded to do both. After all, paraphrased, these are the greatest commandments!

I've been hypocritical. I know others of you reading this can say you have been too at times. We can do better. We must do better. It's my calling. It's our mission.

Bring Your Best/Natural Consequences

Below I'm pasting my newsletter articles for the past two weeks. Both deal with the book of Malachi, so I thought I would put them in the same post.

I began working through Malachi today, which for me, sadly ends my trek through the key stories and characters of the Old Testament study I’ve been working though for most of 2007. I went into it not expecting much, but realized very quickly that just because it is the last book in the Old Testament, it still packs a punch. It actually deals with some key concepts in worship that I think that are important reminders for us. In the first chapter (1:11-13), Malachi reminds a very lazy people about how God feels about worship. This is a somewhat more colloquial reading from the Message version of Scriptures.

"I am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me by bringing their best to me. They're saying it everywhere: 'God is greater, this God-of-the-Angel-Armies.' "All except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, 'Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,' and when you say, 'I'm bored—this doesn't do anything for me.' You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it's a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I'm going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!

God’s message is clear to us. Worship is important, and what we bring to worship is important! The people in Malachi’s day were trying to short-change God by bringing in animals that were flawed and imperfect as sacrifices. In other words, they were not giving their best to a God, who in the very first verses in chapter one begins by saying “I Love You!” Let me encourage you to give Your best to God in this new year. Give your best to God through faithful giving of the tithe. Give your best to God though humble acts of service both within the church and without. Give your best to God through allowing focus on ONLY Him in our corporate worship times. And as alluded to in the passage above, our gifts to him must be done in the proper attitudes. Oh, and by the way, in case you feel I’m getting too “preachy” here, Malachi also later has words for the “priests” as well.


______



God loves You. He really does! I mentioned last week in Malachi that the first thing mentioned in this book of prophecy (and judgment) is the fact that He loves us. And as if God saying it weren’t enough, God explains throughout the first chapter how he has showed it to then nation Israel through the blessing of Jacob’s lineage. God loves, He forgives, and He shows grace. So should we. However, much of Malachi speaks on judgment. Chapter one speaks of the people not giving their best. Chapter two deals with priests who were promoting false teachings. Chapter three deals with robbing God through the withholding of tithes. Chapter four, the final chapter, appropriately deals with the great Day of Judgment to come. I realize that this is ancient Israel we are talking about here, but are these issues that far from ones that we see happening in Christ’s church today?

Yes, I believe our God is loving. But I also believe our God is just. Through belief in Christ and what He has done for us, and through the grace of God the Father, we as Christians now share in the inheritance of eternal life. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We cannot campaign before God Almighty for our souls. Only Jesus, as the sacrifice, can do that on our behalf. But in that, has God through grace, “let us off easy?” Ultimately, yes. However, I do want to clarify that our sin, although forgiven, often (but not always) carries natural consequences that even the most repentant heart will have to bear. Now a repentant heart will not have to bear this ALONE – The Holy Spirit’s counsel guides during these times. To flesh out the example, if I had an internal sinful thought to which I entertained and dwelled upon, then I repented, there would probably be no further repercussions. However, I once had a friend that was imprisoned once for a very serious crime. I spoke with this individual after their legal conviction and could see their repentance. Still, they had to go to jail. That was a natural consequence. Did God forgive them? Of course! Perhaps even the folks directly affected by the crime did as well. Repentance, true repentance is the key. And my friends, only God knows the innermost being, and can only be the full judge of that.

So, God does love us. He really does! But if we love Him in return, we should show it by our changed lives. We should not complain about the consequences our own actions (or inaction) have created. We should praise God for His grace, thank Him for His discipline, and love Him for His Son. And we should remember that God’s grace isn’t an excuse for us to live however we wish. As Paul said in Romans 6:1-2,

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Avoiding the Hall of Shame

I was just reading an article about Britney Spears. The article was from CNN and was describing how as Britney was released from the Hospital, Dr. Phil provided counsel to her and her family. This is his quote:

"My meeting with Britney and some family members this morning in her room at Cedars leaves me convinced more than ever that she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention"

I still do not fully understand the public's fascination of the downfall of her life. It's very obvious she needs help. We didn't need Dr. Phil to tell us that. One of the saddest parts of the whole story is how Britney has done so many kooky things, that it barely can fit into a summary for news "soundbyte" purposes. The last paragraph of the article states just that:

Spears and Federline married in October 2004. Her life has spiraled downward since their divorce in July. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control in public. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab.

I normally wouldn't blog about something so overpublicized as this, but this particular paragraph really just blew me away. I'm thankful for the power of Christ to change lives. He changed mine! I'm not perfect, but if you were to summarize the past several years of my life, I'd like to say my "rap sheet" for the most part did contain some bits of attempting to make a difference in this world for Christ. What does your rap sheet say? Have you done anything as of late that would put you in the hall of fame, or hall of shame?

Nehemiah's Unfiltered Prayer

My devotional reading was in Nehemiah this morning. I've been rereading the major stories in the Bible chronologically through a Bible Gateway plan: I've also been using the Message version, which although not my favorite, is definitely an interesting take.

There is something within all of us that really just wants to be candid with God when we pray. However, there is another more "churchy and refined" part that acts as a filter when we begin to pray, sanitizing thoughts such as "Lord, do them in!!!" into "Lord, please let them see the error of their ways." Hey, and some of you may even have the KJV filter on top of that that turns it into "Lord, Blessest thou mine enemies with Thine revelation of their transgressions."

Well, I think Nehemiah may have let one of the unfiltered ones out. In chapter 4:5-6, he prays to God because of the persecution of Sanballat and others who continually try to discourage and sabotage his plans of rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah prayed, "Oh listen to us, dear God. We're so despised: Boomerang their ridicule on their heads; have their enemies cart them off as war trophies to a land of no return; don't forgive their iniquity, don't wipe away their sin—they've insulted the builders!"

Wow. And although the Message makes it more direct or colloquial than it may actually have been, other translations still have the same content. Sanballat sounded like a real jerk. When you read through the context of the passage, you'll be rooting against Sanballat as well! Because of him, the workers had to arm themselves. Because of him, Nehemiah was almost tricked into a sham meeting where his life would have been on the line. Sanballat was a conspiring gossiper. He was paranoid that his influence would be threatened. I can understand Nehemiah's "mean" prayer. It was justified. After all, one could argue that i was well before Jesus came along and said "Love Your Enemies."

Still, I'm not sure that Nehemiah's prayer is still one we should model. That's probably why the Prayer of Jabez was marketed a little more successfully. I do believe that we should feel the freedom, without being blasphemous of course, to be candid with God in our personal prayer. Love is always the better answer, and God always acts out justice in His way.

So, what happened to Sanballat? Did God bash him in the head? Did someone pull down his robe in public revealing his "I love Samaria" boxers? Well, no. And I'm not the greatest Biblical historian, so I could be wrong here: nothing happened. I can't find scripture again mentioning his name, except for a later passage in the book in which Nehemiah drives away one of Sanballat's relatives (13:28). So perhaps Sanballat's punishment was just the fact that he had no lasting legacy or imprint on history. If any of you out in blogosphere land know anything further about Sanballat, I'd love to hear it. I think it's important to note, though, that God didn't act immediately or directly along with the lines of Nehemiah's unfiltered prayer. God chose to do then, as He does now, to act in His own timetable in regards for justice.



I'll close with a further point of note. A little later, Nehemiah does turn the filter back on, just a bit. He's still mad, but his words are a bit softer.

Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, because of what they have done (6:14)

In this case, the prayer filter works appropriately. Leave it up to God. Atta boy, Nehemiah.

Alone in the dark

One of my favorite computer games growing up was one called "Alone in the Dark." It was a murder mystery/clue type game, and it truly had some scenes that were frightening! Looking at how computer animation has changed since then, I have to wonder how I ever got any entertainment (or authentic "scares") out of it.

This morning, I was alone in the dark. The cold front that came though brought very unseasonal cold winds to our area. The power went out one near midnight, but then came back on. It went out again at 4am, about an hour before Sharon gets up for her trek to Kings Mountain to the school she works at. Although I had more sleep time ahead, I couldn't get back to sleep, mainly because I discovered it was 50 degrees in the house! I got up primarily so I could put some clothes on to stay warm. I turned on the radio and literally sat alone in the dark for about an hour before I left to go make an early morning hospital visit.

As I sat there, an overwhelming sense of gratitude engulfed me. How blessed am I to have power, water, & heat! Millions around the globe wake up to darkness, drought, & cold. Instead of complaining about the inconvenience, I instead praised God, because most likely, I'll have power when I get back home later today. Later on this morning, I had another moment of praise when I realized that millions often wake up to spiritual darkness as well. I have hope. They do not. And while, I often focus on doubt in my life, I still for the most part always turn my mind to my faith in God when times are uncertain. There are many who have nothing to turn to - they literally continue to sit . . . ALONE IN THE DARK. Let's be lights for them.