Faith Sense

(First published at Qassia)

Do Hard Things is a book written by teenaged twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris. It is about their rebellion against the low expectations that are placed on teens by our culture. They were unsatisfied to think of their adolescence as a vacation from responsibility until they reached adulthood and out of their own experiences there has grown a “Rebelution” among young people around the world, but especially here in the U.S.A.
At 16, after some years of speech and debate competition, the boys began to research some of the great things that had been done by young people. They were inspired to undertake some hard things themselves, as well as to inspire others of their generation to Do Hard Things.

They established a website, TheRebelution.com, which drew interest from many young people, rebelutionaries, who were convicted that they were wasting a lot of time and energy. The book tells of the experiences of not only the Harris twins, but of many of those with whom they have come in contact.

The book is inspirational. Every teen should be given a copy and challenged to a new vision for themselves and their future world!

I just found out a little while ago that a young man that grew up in my youth group, and is now a minister himself, has produced a very popular video. It is called to Stethoscope and is on You Tube. It has been viewed by nearly three million times and is being shown in lots of churches. I am very proud of the young man and pleased at his success!

The short answer to this week’s topic is found in the book of Acts, chapter 17 verse 26. I’m here because this is where God put me and when he thought I should be here.

When faced with a life-and-death dilemma, Queen Esther was admonished by her cousin Mordecai, “and who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). In the last chapter of the book of Genesis, Joseph, who had been sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt, had risen to the second most powerful position in that land. His brothers were afraid of reprisal, but Joseph assured them, “as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.”

The providence of God is an interesting topic, but one that is very hard to see at any given moment. It is much easier to recognize in the rearview mirror. For example, as a young man I hopped from job to job in the first 10 years of our marriage. The only thing I was consistent in was coaching teenagers in baseball. When I decided to go back to school to get my degree so I could coach at the high school level, I thought my destiny was set. I intended to go to night school where we lived, but through a series of events and a couple of hard decisions, we ended up moving to a college town three hours away.

During my time in school I made good grades and was very active in the church where we worshiped, teaching teen Bible classes. There was a lot of growth in the group through that period of time. As I was approaching graduation and fielding job offers to coach, the elders of the congregation came and offered me a position as youth minister. I accepted it and begin my work in the ministry.

To make the story short enough for one blog, I prayed that God would use me in whatever way he chose. The next thing we knew we were living in Dallas, though we hated the big city. But while we were there we became first foster and then adoptive parents who are youngest daughter, Bethany.

As our older girls neared their teens we began praying that we would find a congregation in South Texas in a small town that had lots of kids for her girls mix with and ultimately date. Within six months we were in a small town in South Texas. We had a good ministry there for quite a few years, but we believe one reason we were there was to find Mike, who’s now my son-in-law.

After nine years there, I was approached about the job that I now hold, though I was not looking for a new job. There were lots of changes in my life after I accepted this job, but I could never figure out why I was here. But in recent years have come to believe that the predominant reason I am here, by choice, was because the congregation has been supporting my daughter in a mission field for more than 16 years. Not many places would send a young single woman overseas, but our congregation did with very little reservation. So I have come to believe that being HERE is not about me, or even really about my daughters, or Mike, but about Him.

Happiness is something we find, almost by accident, when doing something worthwhile. The days that you awake and say to yourself, “I’m gonna be happy today if it kills me”, usually turn out to be the worst days.

It is on those days when you are actively doing something beneficial and you find yourself most happy. God intends His people to be happy, but self-gratification is not their prime motive.

Psalm 40:8 “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.”

The first presidential race I recall was between Eisenhower and Stevenson. For a long time I had a button that said, “I like Ike!” But after the ordeal of the last week and the clean up that is still ahead because of the recent hurricane through here, I can unequivocally say, “I don’t like Ike.”

My home is about seven miles from Galveston Bay, but in an area that was not requested  told to evacuate, in fact we were advised to shelter in place. So we rode out the storm in our home. The first half of the night was not terrible, winds were sustained near 100, but did not do much damage. When we were in the eye, around 3 am, my wife woke up and we went out on our front porch to assess things. There was only one limb down in the front yard, which faces north. The winds had been blowing from the northeast. We were only in the eye for around 20 minutes, then the winds started from the southwest. My wife had gone back to bed (my grandsons slept from about 11:30 till nearly 9 the next morning, we were without power from 12:40 Friday night till about 7:15 last night).

Between 4:30 and 5:30, things got a lot stronger, sustained winds about 115, but the difference was significant. The wind whistled down the chimney and every few minutes I could hear another branch snapping in our front yard. When daylight came, the winds were down considerably, but it was not safe to go out till about noon. We had 16 limbs down from the big tree near our front door, but not one on the house. We lost our fence in the back, but we had water through the whole ordeal.

Our community is coming back to life, many of the residents are returning now. School may be able to resume Tuesday. Most of our neighbors had similar damage to ours, but in the congregation, two families had considerable water in their homes and have lost every thing, material. The ones of us that were in town have been cleaning up debris for the members who could not do for themselves, widows and elderly. It has been tough in some ways, but great blessings of brotherhood and belonging have been experienced by all of us.

If the storm had not made a little jog to the east within the last 30 miles before landfall, the storm surge would have inundated some very populated areas and much of the crucial refinery and chemical output that is so much a part of our local and national economy. Some say we were lucky. I attribute that to Something much greater!

This prayer was written as part of a writing challenge on another site. The assignment was to write as though from another time or era.
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Our Mighty Lord who art in Heaven,

Mayst Thy name be held in honor in all Creation. Wilt Thou receive our petition as a sweet savor. We are wretched and unworthy of Thy concern, it is only by Thy lovingkindness that we are sustained.

We lift up our supplications before Thy throne on behalf of our families. We beseech you to encircle our offsprings with a hedge of protection from the Evil One, deliver them from his schemes and snares. Let each one set his foot on the strait path that leadeth to an eternal residence in the mansions Thou art preparing.

Lead each of us to recognize Thy sovereignty in our lives, even as we gratefully receive Thy bountiful blessings. May we grant forgiveness to our neighbors with the same beneficence that Thou hast bestowed upon us. Grant us, Oh Father of Mercies, remembrance of Thy holy writ, that Thou loveth obedience more than sacrifice, yea that Thou wilt reward he that doeth Thy will!

Reprove us, Lord when we falter, but cast us not away from Thy presence,
In the name of the precious Lamb sacrificed in our stead, Jesus the Christ,

My daughter has put together a small consortium of blog sites that will allow advertisers to deal directly with the bloggers to place ads at reasonable prices and cut out the middle men expenses of dealing with a broker.

The blogs are carefully targeted and present the advertiser the opportunity to select the blog or blogs that match their advertising interests. Each of the blogs is maintained with a high level of writing and creative content.

Abject

Presentation

Of my

Lamentations

Over

Grievous

Injustice done,

Expressed

Sincerely!

The diagnosis was breast cancer. We all began to pray for Mom. My specific prayer was that she would overcome the cancer. I prayed it for three and a half years, everyday, many times a day. Then when I returned from a trip to Jamaica, the first of Mom’s children to leave the States and Mom did not recognize me, I knew she would not live much longer. I wept bitterly and wondered before God why He had not answered my fervent prayers.

But He had. She overcame cancer with dignity and faithfulness and courage. And I thank Him! ***********************************************

The story above is posted in response to Jellen’s Writing Challenge

There is a Washington-Israel Summit of Christians United For Israel coming up quickly. The dates for this third annual meeting are July 21-24. On the 22nd there is a special banquet set, being called “A Night To Honor Zion.” On that evening there will be a nice dinner, but the real feast will be the speakers, which will include, John Hagee, Senator Joseph Lieberman and Ambassador Sallai Meridor.

One of the sponsors of the seminar is Zion Oil and Gas, a U. S. corporation that does exploration for oil and gas in Israel. Those interested in knowing more about the company can go to the Zion Oil and Gas Website for information.

Press Release:

Zion Oil & Gas to Sponsor Christians United for Israel’s (CUFI) ”Night to Honor Israel”

DALLAS–Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (Amex: ZN) of Dallas, TX and Caesarea, Israel announced today that it will sponsor the Night to Honor Israel banquet at the Third Annual Washington-Israel Summit of Christians United for Israel (CUFI). The Summit will take place in Washington, D.C. during July 21-24 and the banquet on Tuesday evening, July 22. Pastor John Hagee, Senator Joseph Lieberman and Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Sallai Meridor, are scheduled to speak at the banquet. It is expected that John Brown, Zion’s Founder and Chairman, will be interviewed by Pastor John Hagee during the Summit and that the interview will be broadcast on the Daystar Television Network during the Night to Honor Israel.

In addition, CUFI will broadcast a video about Zion at the banquet’s pre-event, and the banquet’s proceedings will be telecast by live-feed over the Daystar Television network. John Brown, Zion’s Founder and Chairman, commented today, “Zion is proud to be a part of the CUFI Washington-Israel Summit and to support CUFI’s educational and public policy work in support of Israel.”

Zion Oil & Gas, a Delaware corporation, explores for oil and gas in Israel in areas located onshore between Tel-Aviv and Haifa. It currently holds two petroleum exploration licenses, the Joseph and Asher-Menashe Licenses, between Netanya on the south and Haifa on the north covering a total of approximately 162,000 acres.

NOTICE: Zion Oil & Gas has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC for the offering of its securities. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents Zion has filed with the SEC for more complete information about Zion Oil & Gas and its offering. You may get these documents free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, Zion Oil & Gas or its underwriter will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by calling toll free 1-888-TX1-ZION (1-888-891-9466). A direct link to the prospectus in PDF format may be found on the Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. website at http://www.zionoil.com/investor-center/investor-relations.html.