Life is War

The Missions Committee at church is reading "Let the Nations be Glad" by John Piper. Since I'm a member of the committee, I'm reading this too, only at a slower pace than the others. Needless to say, I'm a little behind. I sat down a little while ago to read chapter 2 but I haven't been able to get past the first paragraph.

"The Supremacy of God in Missions through Prayer" (chapter title)

"Life is war. That's not all it it. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of frontline forces and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider."

The Renewed Mind is the Key?

A friend shared this video with me. It makes me laugh, a lot!



If you want to laugh a little more, try this....

Okay

I love church signs, especially those found in small towns. Here is one from a church in a town I drive through almost daily.



In case it is too blurry for you, it says "Not sure you believe in God? Just don't die!"
My initial reaction is still my reaction...WOW!!!
I'm not sure what else to say about it.

Thanks Katy

Here's a fun website! Some of these are obviously more funny than others and I definitely have my favorites; which do you like best?

The scariest thing is that a couple of these look very much like my mom's high school photos.

I hope you enjoy!

Don't Get Crazy

Last year, it was Charlie the Unicorn and Candy Mountain. This year, it is Bon Qui Qui and King Burger. It CRACKS me up! Enjoy.

("Olynpics Rings")

My roommate told me about this blog today. It's good for some laughs and you might want to return to it every once in a while to see new additions.

Oh, I See

I saw the goodness of the Lord today, only I didn't realize it at first because it wasn't about me. Tonight was our monthly night to feed the homeless downtown at Linn Park. I had been looking forward to it all week, but was beginning to look for excuses not to go as the time got closer. If I weren't expecting to see LaTonya there, I probably would have stayed home.

I met LaTonya in June, my first time going to "homeless," but Shannon and I actually spent time talking with her last month. She has had 3 little girls and is pregnant with her 4th. Her oldest died of a blood disease (or something like that) a year or so ago; she is only in her twenties. Her 2 children are in foster care, and when we talked last month, she was beginning mandatory parenting classes and trying to get her life cleaned up in order to get them back. She didn't seem too excited about all she was being held accountable to do and she DID NOT like the parenting classes. She just didn't seem very motivated.

Tonight, after everyone was finished eating and we had our devotional, LaTonya, Shannon, and I sat down to really talk. We began asking about her children and her court date, when she went over to her belongings and pulled out a bright yellow folder. She brought it back over to where we were sitting, opened it, and began to show/tell us what she had been learning in parenting class. She was SO excited as she talked through things! It was so incredible to see the difference from last month. We then began to talk about some of those things in her life that would have to change before getting her children back. Again, she was very excited to tell us how things are beginning to change, slowly, but there is change.

The first night I went to Linn Park, I walked away almost despairing for these people. Their life situations can seem so hopeless. I wish I could say that I had been praying for LaTonya over the past month but I haven't. However, I am convinced that this is the goodness of the Lord and it spurs me on to really pray for her.

I asked her tonight how we could specifically pray for her, and this is what she wrote down: "for my children to get back with me and to get a place to live with my children." If you think about LaTonya, please pray for her, and pray for Shannon and I to be able to speak words of Truth to her. Please pray also for Jerome who we met tonight. He has a very interesting story but simply asked us to pray for any kind of employment; he isn't being picky.