Thomas Edison and the Lightbulb

When Edison and his staff were developing the incandescent light bulb, it took hundreds of hours to manufacture a single bulb. One day, after finishing a bulb, he handed it to a young errand boy and asked him to take it upstairs to the testing room. As the boy turned and started up the stairs, he stumbled and fell, and the bulb shattered on the steps. Instead of rebuking the boy, Edison reassured him and then turned to hi staff and told them to start working on another bulb. When it was completed several days later, Edison demonstrated the reality of his forgiveness in the most powerful way possible. He walked over to the same boy, handed him the bulb, and said, "Please take this up to the testing room."

Corrie ten Boom and Forgiveness

“It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former SS man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing centre at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie’s pain blanched
face. He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. “How grateful I am for your message Fräulein”, he said “To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!”His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.
Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your Forgiveness.As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.
And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.”

How is your prayer life?

As I think about this question I realize that it should be the same as asking how is your life. After all we are told to pray without ceasing. However, there is a check list for us:
1. Have you taken time to find out the will of God in a matter of prayer or are we trying to change God’s mind?
2. Have we really learned the secret of praying through?
3. Are we concerned about God’s reputation?
4. Do we view our sin as a sin against a Holy God or are we concerned about the social context of our prayers?
5. Do we ever see a tension between God’s written truth and the world around us?
6. Have we ever tried to bargain with God in prayer?
7. Have we ever felt silenced in the presence of God? Have we ever just covered our mouth?
8. Do we see prayer in a narrow confines of talking with God or do we see prayer in all our worship?
9. How do we pray for others? Do we give thanks for other people? Are we concerned about their spiritual well-being?
10. Have we learned to pray forgiveness prayers? Is there someone who we must forgive?

Confession

The Bible tells us that if we confess our sins then He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So what is confession?
First it is owning up to our sin.
Second it is God centred and not self pity. We come to God and rely on His grace.
What does God do?
He gives us a new beginning.
He releases us from a past of guilt into freedom to forgive and serve others unconditionally.
Forgiveness of God is based upon the cross.

Why we need forgiveness and to forgive.

There are some principles that we need to understand abut why we need forgiveness.
1. Sin makes us guilty. All have sinned. When we understand that sin is not actions but our condition then we can understand that we are guilty before God.
2. Forgiveness is offered to us by God. We cannot earn forgiveness it is only by grace.
3. Confession is necessary. Confession is owning up to my sin. It must be God centred and not self centred. It is not self pity but relying on the grace of God. It is not reforming our actions or feeling guilty because we were caught in sin.
4. Forgiving one another is not an option. God forgave us unconditionally and we must forgive others.

Weighing a Prayer

A visitor to our class gave me the following story last Sunday after class. I just read it now and I want to share it with you.

Shortly after World War II, a tried-looking woman entered a grocery store and asked the owner for enough food to make a Christmas dinner for her children. When he inquired how much she could afford, she answered, "My husband was killed in the war. Truthfully, I have nothing to offer but a little prayer." Although the man was unmoved at first, he thought of a clever response to the woman's simple request. "Write your prayer on a piece of paper and you can have its weight in groceries", he said sarcastically. TO his surprise, she plucked a folded note out of her pocket and handed it to him saying, "I already did that during the night while I was watching over my sick baby." Without even reading it, he put it on one side of his old-fashioned scales. "We shall see how much food this is worth", he muttered. To his dismay nothing happened when he put a loaf of bread on the other side. But he was even more upset when he added other items and it would not balance. Finally he blurted out, "Well that's all it will hold anyway. Here's a bag. You'll have to put these things in yourself. I'm busy!" With a tearful, "Thank you", the lady went happily on her way. The grocer later discovered that the scales was out of order. As the years passed he often wondered if that was just a coincidence. Why did the woman have the prayer already written before he asked for it? Why did she come at exactly the time the mechanism was broken? Whenever he looks at the slip of paper which bears that mother's petition, he is amazed, for it reads, "Please, dear Lord, give us this day our daily bread!"

Who prayed?

In Mark 9 we have the story of the transfiguration. When Jesus came down from the mountain there was a problem. A father had brought his son to the disciples to be healed but they were unable to do it. They were powerless so they started to argue among themselves. Jesus was disgusted with them and said that they should bring the boy to him.
He immediately heals the boy. The disciples then asks why they couldn't heal and Jesus tells them that this type of healing only comes by prayer and fasting. What is remarkable in the story is that the disciples had prayed but Jesus didn't pray. So what did Jesus mean? He meant that the disciples' lives and our lives must look like His life if we expect to have answers like His answers.

One of you believes in prayer

The story is told about prayer. The situation was that a strip club was opened next to a church. The church was upset about their neighbour so decided to have a prayer meeting. They asked God to remove the club. That night there was a thunder and lightning storm and the lightning struck the strip club and it burned to the ground. The owner of the club sued the church but the church said they were innocent. The club's owner said that their prayers had caused the lightning to strike the club but the church claimed that it was just an accident.
After hearing both sides of the argument the judge said, "It is obvious to me that someone here believes in prayer but I am not sure which of you it is."

The Only Reason

The only reason why we can pray, "Give us today our daily bread" is because we have the confidence that God is our father, we see God in His glory, we humbly acknowledge His wisdom and we know we are reconciled to Him. This is the first half of the Lord's prayer. If we don't know that He is our Father; if we don't see Him in His glory; if we don't acknowledge His infinite wisdom: if we are not reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ then we are just treating God as a Genie and not as a Father.

Parsnips

Growing up we ate parsnips. I hated parsnips. I never wanted to eat parsnips again. However, I got married and my wife likes parsnips. Not only does she like them but she cooks them in a totally different way than what I ate as a child. So I ate the parsnips. Guess what? After eating parsnips for many years I can honestly say that I now enjoy parsnips.

So what has this to do with the Lord's prayer? Spiritual disciplines are like that. We have difficulty praying or reading our Bibles but as we discipline ourselves we begin to like doing that and then the time comes when we look forward to the time in the Word and in prayer. We are told to discipline ourselves to godliness. Many people give up because they tried their parsnips once and didn't like them.

Helen

On March 21, 2010 the blog entry was called Helen's prayer. Helen passed away last night. We took time to pray her prayer in class this morning. I will copy and past this prayer at the end of the article.

Let me explain how it came that Helen wrote this prayer. I was putting together a study booklet on Hebrews and I had asked a number of people to write prayers for the lessons. The person I asked to write the prayer for Hebrews 11 decided that he couldn't do it. I had a number of people in mind who I intended to ask but before I could ask them I saw Helen come into church. I knew I should ask her so I did. Her prayer was part of her anchor during this time. Here is her prayer.

A Prayer of Faith.

O God !
Have mercy, I pray !
Deliver me from the onslaught of these fears -
These dark imaginings,
These dreadful possibilities that are only that -
Possibilities - NOT facts.
They roll over me like the waves of the sea,
And fill me with despair.
Help me to realize that the voice that whispers them in my
mind
Is neither mine - nor yours.
Help me instead to turn my thoughts to You -
To remember Your precious promises
Given so often and so clearly in Your Word -
To comfort and sustain,
To defend and protect,
To fight for those who put their trust in You.
Help me to go over them, Lord,
The ones You have given me,
Word by word,
Promise by promise,
Step by faltering step,
Until I reach Your peace -
Until I am enfolded by the Comforter -
Until I am safe in the light of Your love -
And I can truly speak the prayer
That never fails –
"Thy will be done."
Thank you, O Lord, my God,
For Your sustaining love and grace.
Amen.

by Helen G.

Privileged to refuse

Someone wrote the following poem:

Sometimes reading
...I look out
at everything
growing so wild
and faithfully beneath
the sky
and wonder
why we are the one
terrible
part of creation
privileged
to refuse our flowering.

Should I or Shoudn't I?

We talked to a lady today who we knew well in another city. She was in a dilemma. Sin had come to light in her church and the leadership was not dealing with it. When she confronted the leadership she was told that she was being judgmental. She decided that there was only one thing for her to do and that was to leave. However, leaving meant that her ministry would come to an end. Should she chose service for God and ignore the sin around her. Even though she knew the answer she needed confirmation. That is why she phoned us.
Many times in doing the will of God we know what we are to do but we need confirmation. It is an important idea to talk to others who you know to be spiritual to confirm your leading.

Problem with Western Christians

Os Guinness said, "The problem with Western Christians is not that they aren't where they should be but that they aren't what the should be where they are." To grow the Kingdom we must make disciples as we go. To do that we must be what we should be everywhere we are.

I Cannot

An unknown author wrote the following:

I cannot say "our" if I live only for myself.
I cannot say "Father" if I do not endeavor each day to act like His child.
I cannot say "Who art in heaven" if I lay up no treasure there.
I cannot say "hallowed be Thy name" if I am not striving for holiness.
I cannot say "Thy kingdom come" if I am not doing all in my power to hasten that wonderful event.
I cannot say "Thy will be done" if I am disobedient to His Word.
I cannot say "in earth as it is in heaven" if I'll not serve Him here and now.
I cannot say "give us this day our daily bread" if I am dishonest or seeking things by subterfuge.
I cannot say "forgive us our debts" if I harbor a grudge against anyone.
I cannot say "lead us not into temptation" if I deliberately place myself in its path.
I cannot say "deliver us from evil" if I do not but on the whole armour of God.
I cannot say "Thine is the kingdom" if I do not give the King the loyalty due Him from a faithful subject.
I cannot attribute to Him the power if I fear what men may do.
I cannot ascribe to Him the glory if I'm seeking honor only for myself, and I cannot say ""forever" if the horizon of my life is bounded completely by time.

F. B. Meyer

One day F. B. Meyer was on a ship crossing from the US to England. As they were coming into the harbour he noticed the thousands of lights and wondered how the captain could steer the ship into harbour with so much distraction so he went and asked the captain. The captain pointed out three large lights and told Meyer to watch. As the captain controlled the ship slowly the three lights lined up. As soon as they lined up he sailed right into the harbour.
We have three lights. Scripture, the Holy Spirit and circumstances. These three lights can guide us but we have to be careful. Unlike F. B. Meyer's three lights we must remember that circumstances can mislead us but the Scripture never will.
Sometimes I think a better picture would be the picture of a guide. It is not that we have been given guidance but rather a Guide.
When we lived in Manila we found it difficult to find our way around the city. Maps were of little or no help so it was often easier to hire a guide than to to rely on a map.

The Paradox of Prayer

Prayer is a paradox. God is sovereign and knows what we need before we ask Him but He has told us to humble ourselves and pray.
First, I believe in the sovereignty of God. Without that believe God would not be God. He is in control of everything and nothing happens without his knowledge or permission.
But, second, I believe in prayer and the power of prayer. I believe what Jesus said that this can only happen by prayer.
This is the paradox of prayer. If we believe in prayer without the sovereignty of God we are falling into the trap of the open theists. We have demoted God and promoted man thus making man God. This is heresy.
However, if I believe in the sovereignty of God so that prayer does not matter I fall into the heresy of the hyper Calvanists. Man is just a puppet and God is the puppet master.
I believe that both the sovereignty of God and the power of prayer have to be believed and held in tension. We cannot find a middle ground. To look for a compromise between the two only demotes God and weakens prayer.

The Word of the Lord came to me

People have often asked how they could know what the Lord wanted them to pray about. How do we know that we are praying in the Lord's will? It struck me as I read the book of Ezekiel how he came to know the Lord's will. The Word of the Lord came to him. The Word of the Lord will come to us if we are in the Word. We cannot expect to know the Lord's will if we ignore His Word.

By Him, to Him, for Him

"Beware of anything that completes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him... The one aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not a call to do something for Him." Oswald Chambers.


"We are not primarlily called to do something, or to go somewhere, we are called to Someone." Os Guinness.

God's will for us

Paul writes this to the church at Thessaloniki, "Be joyful always. Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:14 - 15
When we pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven we know that praise and thanks giving is what is happening in heaven and it should be happening on earth. All too often we bring our requests to God that we don't have time to give thanks and to praise Him but this is the will of God for us.

The Prayer is the Answer

Have you ever gone to pray and prayed for a specific request only to rise from prayer without the answer you were seeking but knowing your prayer was answered? Some times the prayer is the answer. You go to prayer seeking one thing but in your prayer you encounter the living God and what you prayed for is not longer important, only God is. He is the answer.

Fred and Heather

When you think about the Kingdom from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth you cannot help but think about missions. Many people think that short term missions are a waste of time but not so for Heather and Fred. Heather is around 20 and has been to Guatemala twice. Missions is now in her blood. Fred is in his 70's and has made numerous missions trips. Fred saves his money so that he can go and help other missionaries. I admire that in him, as a matter of fact, I admire both Heather and Fred. May their tribes increase.