Monday, April 18, 2016

This is my Bible

This is my Bible.
I am what it says I am.
I have what it says I have.
I can do what it says I can do.
Today I will be taught the Word of God.
I boldly confess.
My mind is alert.
My heart is receptive.
I will never be the same.
In Jesus' name.

-Joel Osteen, and verbally affirmed by those at one of his services, while standing & holding up their Bibles.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Pray 10k

I was inspired (and challenged) by this quote from "Riding on Faith: Keeping Your Balance When the Wheels Fall Off" by Alice Teisan -

"[On] Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers: The Story of Success. My curiosity was piqued by the thesis: it takes ten thousand hours of practice to make a prodigy. So I got the book and began reading. After finishing the first chapter, I went to prayer. The Lord challenged me to become a “prayer prodigy.” By then I was comfortable praying one to two hours a day and had seen the amazing results of God’s divine orchestrations.

But I wasn’t sure about this new idea. Out of shock, I repeated the challenge out loud: “Pray ten thousand hours. Pray 10K!” I wondered, How long would it take? What would the commitment entail? What would I have to give up to reach the goal? How many hours are in a year? A week?

The next morning I calculated the hours: 24 in a day, 168 in a week, 720 in a month, and 8,760 in a year. It was going to be a long journey. As an athlete, I knew that if I was going to enter training and take my skill to another level, I needed a plan and a strategy. I first had to ask myself, “Am I willing to invest and seek hard after my goal?” Simultaneously I wondered if I could get out of Pray 10K, because it sounded like an impossible idea.

Since I couldn’t see the end of the goal, I wasn’t sure I wanted to venture down the road by faith. However, a quote by Herbert Lockyer gave my prayer journey perspective: “Holy men of old came boldly before God believing that prayer was ‘the slender nerve that moveth the muscles of Omnipotence.’” I wanted what Lockyer described.

But I also knew prayer is the hardest terrain to traverse, wrestling “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  It was also something that lasted into eternity. “While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”"

Start reading this book for free: http://amzn.to/1qRJsMS

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Adopt from a shelter!

Patrick McDonnell's Mutts comic strip, whose protagonists are Earl & Mooch, runs an ongoing series of Shelter Stories encouraging pet adoption.

Nilla & Mocha particularly like the 11/3/2013 strip, and encourage you to adopt from Red Dog Farm & Rescue.

(chalk art by P, one of my evening church kids, who came to the latest No School Now What day)