The Archives
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10.07.08A Prayer God Won’t Answer?Here's part 4 of my review on Six Prayers God Always Answers, by Mark Herringshaw and Jennifer Schuchmann. I remember in high school, the whole skateboarding craze was firing back up, and many of my peers jumped whole-heartedly into the attending subculture. The problem was, a lot of my peers who went for the skater look, who talked the skater talk, couldn't ride board any better than I could (read: not at all). We had a special name for those types. We called them "posers," and there's nothing more embarrassing than for a poser to be found. In the spiritual realm, we ...
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09.30.08Review: Six Prayers God Always Answers, part 3Here's part 3 of my review on Six Prayers God Always Answers, by Mark Herringshaw and Jennifer Schuchmann. Social justice is one of the "in things" in today's culture, and rightly so. Part of the Gospel—while I would argue not the most important part—is showing the love of Christ to those around us. There is a built in meter within that tells us whether justice is being done—and with the Spirit inside guiding, we are given a higher, more holy insight. "Stop the injustice," we often breathe as an unspoken prayer as we watch the news each evening, or read the newspaper, ...
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09.19.08Review: Six Prayers God Always Answers, part 2Here's part 2 of my review on Six Prayers God Always Answers, by Mark Herringshaw and Jennifer Schuchmann. How many times do people find themselves at the end of the rope, literally at the end of themselves, and they cry out to God with a prayer in the form of a bargain? Does God answer these kind of prayers? How many times have you heard preachers and theological pundits say that we shouldn't ever pray these kind of prayers? Maybe so, but there is compelling evidence that God answers them anyway. He probably answers them because He already knows the outcome anyway, ...
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09.12.08Review: Six Prayers God Always Answers, part 1Wow, looking at my margin notes for this book, I may have to split this review into parts. At first glance, you might think that Six Prayers God Always Answers, by Mark Herringshaw and Jennifer Schuchmann, is going to be just another book on prayer and how to prayer. You crack open the pages expecting a kind of self-help book for a more active and powerful prayer life. It is actually nothing of the sort. Starting with a simple, but not completely formed idea, that "Prayer doesn't work. God works." we are taken on a ride through page after page of anecdotes ...
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09.11.08How do you deal?I had promised a book review today, but in light of the 7th anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11, I thought I might wait until tomorrow. I've read and heard many comments today about people remembering exactly where they were and what they were doing when the Twin Towers were struck. I remember that day very vividly. I was working in a private Christian school and church in Charleston, SC and had just come into the offices from running home after forgetting something. When I walked into the building, there was the smell of burning popcorn permeating the air and I commented ...
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09.10.08Audacious PrayersI've been reading a book for a while (into my second read-through) that I'll be reviewing in full tomorrow. Six Prayers God Always Answers is a very interesting read—at times both obvious and profound. One chapter has had quite an impact on my thinking, a chapter about audacious prayers. Audacious prayers could be categorized as selfish prayers, and at first glance this seems to be a bad thing. Actually, when you think about it, unless you pray only a prayer like "Your will be done," nearly every other prayer is a selfish one. Think about your own prayers, and how much ...
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08.04.08Worship Confessional: August 3, 2008It was good to be back in the saddle yesterday after a vacation the previous Sunday. Our crowd was extremely low, even for a summertime service. Maybe it was the combination of the record breaking heat and the pastor being out of town that did the trick. I also know there were quite a few folks out for vacation, so that gives you hit as well. I took the opportunity to share my heart for our church with the church yesterday, and I hope it was received in the spirit with which it was given. I may or may not write ...
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08.01.08DesperationI'm reading through Six Prayers God Always Answers by Herringshow and Schuchmann—which I'll be reviewing in the next few days— and I ran across the following statement. "Desperation forces us to overcome our inhibitions—we have nothing to lose." Granted, this quote from the book is in relation to a prayer for desperate needs, but it got me thinking in a worship context. What would truly being desperate to know God look like? What would happen if we were truly uninhibited in our worship and service to Him—a "nothing to lose" attitude? What does complete passion for Jesus look like? Do I have the guts ...
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07.31.08Pray like you tweetIf you're in my circle of tweets, you likely got to be a part of the birth of Chris from Canada's newest little girl. Around lunchtime Chris sent out a tweet saying, "Ok twitter time to pray. This baby doesn't want to come out and this family doesn't want a C-section. We need some movement!" Many of us responded that we were praying, and I myself took some moments here in my office to stop what I was doing and concentrate on praying for this need. A few minutes later, we received this tweet that said, "I don't know who said ...
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06.12.08Change of plans…Hey everyone. Just a quick note to ask for prayer, and let you know my posting may or may not be lighter over the next week. My wife is leaving in just a few hours to go up to her parent's place. We discovered yesterday that her Mom was in critical need of heart bypass surgery, and said surgery will take place today or tomorrow. Joy is going up for a week to see her Mom and to help out. Ironically, Joy's Dad just had bypass surgery back at Thanksgiving, so here we go again. The kids and I can't go this time ...
recent posts
- A Prayer God Won’t Answer?
- Worship Confessional: Sunday, October 5, 2008
- Mutual Following
- Book Giveaway: Six Prayers God Always Answers
- Review: Six Prayers God Always Answers, part 3
- Worship Confessional: Sunday, September 28, 2008
- Where am I?
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