Consider this classic Christian story about giving

Consider this classic Christian story about giving

During Christmas, there is MUCH giving.

BUT consider our ancestors in 1881. Life was not as complicated. There was not as much money for gift giving. That did not stop benevolence.

This tale gets to the core of genuine charity. 

It demonstrates the vital importance of a parent modeling generous charity. Such good works have a deep impact on an impressionable child.

Christ is the reason for the Christmas season. And such practical giving to those in real need is an expression of the grace of God that was demonstrated in the Father sending His only Son to be our Savior.

It is said that people want to see a sermon more than just hear one. This tale is an illustration of that slogan.

If you are prone to tears, then get the tissues ready.

http://realtexasblog.com/christmas-1881/

Shalom

John S. Oliver

P, S. You might want to bless others by forwarding this to them.  

My Christmas Wish List is My Need for Clothes

My Christmas Wish List is My Need for Clothes

HEALTH

Thankfully the good news is that my health is finally stable. 

The keto diet that began in June caused all kinds of odd symptoms. By the grace of God, there were many answered prayers. Plus thanks to the nutritional supplements nearly all those odd symptoms are gone. 

I do have minor pains in my right leg as I sleep. It is much better than before. I would appreciate your best prayers for this to become completely healed.

Along this healing journey, I purchased more nutritional supplements than normal. That impacted my monthly cash flow. Thankfully God made a way for ends to meet. Please pray for me to recover the modest cushion in my checking account. 

CLOTHES

Recently I noticed that my clothes are getting worn out. Most of the time I bought clothes from a thrift store or they were given to me. However these days I live miles from thrift stores and I am without a vehicle. So I made this Christmas Wish List focused on clothes to share with and others.

Please pray that God will raise up sponsors for these basic items. And if they are not sponsored by Christmas Day then pray that God will provide the funds early next year. 

Ordinarily, I wear a dark gray Tshirt, dark gray sweat pants and dark gray hoody. I have 2 sets so I can wash one set and wear the other. 

I wear a dark gray stocking cap.

I wear 2 pairs of dress socks and these days I wear over those a pair of insulated socks. 

Lately, I have also been wearing insulated underwear. 

Note that I am retired and I do not have an outside job. 

I live at home alone. 

To save on my electric bill I let keep it cool and dress warmly.

Nearly all my waking hours are online at my workstation, in my reading chair that is a glider, or in my easy chair watching movies. 

I go outside to check my mail near the clubhouse or to go on my evening walk for 30 to 45 minutes around the apartment complex. 

The only times I change into street clothes is when I go to church each Sunday, Bible study here at the apartment complex twice a month, the monthly pot luck, when I go grocery shopping and when I go to the doctor about every 3 months. 

When I first moved here I would change into my street clothes to go for my evening walks. But then that seemed silly so I quit doing that. 

When it is cool outside I have the thermostat set as low as possible to save on the electric bill. Currently, the thermostat is set for 73. In the summer it is set for 81. 

When I go to bed my body temperature drops. On my bed currently, I sleep under a blanket and 2 comforters as well as a small electric blanket that is nearly worn out. 

I wear all the clothes mentioned before to bed as my pajamas. 

If I wore all this to bed 20 years ago I would have burned up. But these days that is what is needed.

Much of this is the impact of growing older.  

LIST

On the Christmas 2019 Wish List, I have listed insulated underwear because the current set is sagging. 

There are dark gray sweat pants and a dark gray hoody. 

There is a dark gray monk’s robe. I feel like this season I am a semi-hermit. It would be fun to wear that. 

There are khaki pants by Dickies. Today I have 2 pairs of pants and 1 of those is cargo pants that I wear rarely. 

There is a pair of black shoes. My current shoes are getting worn out. 

NEXT

I share this message and request your best prayers.

At the end is the link to my Amazon Wish List. My shipping address is embedded in that list. 

When I have shared such a list before some of the items were sponsored. And I am grateful for that.

If a person does not want to give using this Wish List they could give me an Amazon or Walmart gift card. Or send money to me on PayPal at fellowpilgrim@gmail.com  I will then send back to them a scanned copy of the receipt for such items. 

Most of the clothing items that are not sponsored will need to be bought early next year. Pray for God to provide those funds. 

Here is the link https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2N9DP1C30H3BX?ref_=wl_share 

Shalom

John

P. S. Dark gray is the core color of this season of my life. It is a quiet and restful color that matches all other dark gray items. 

Does your faith in Christ get dull sometimes?

 Does your faith in Christ get dull sometimes?  

Consider these 12 actions that helped me.

INTRODUCTION

I have set aside Sunday afternoons to focus on strengthing my Christian faith. If I get on a roll then that will last into the evening.

Typically I have an overabundance of projects that keep me busy during the week. I do take a little time out each day to pray and read spiritual literature. I may watch a few Christian videos. 

While attending church services is a part of my week, I still need to be a good steward of my time to invest in some of the activities listed at the end of this article during the week as needed. They cause my faith in Christ to be refreshed and to grow. 

These are practical exercises that have proven useful in my spiritual journey. You are invited to explore them and stick with the ones that work for you. 

HYMNS

During a Sunday afternoon recently my faith in Christ was feeling dull. I vaguely recalled what it was like to have a living and vibrant trust in Jesus Christ. 

I had felt worn out by all the routine tasks and depressing news reports.

I had tried to prime my faith on my own but that did not work.

After praying, I felt led by the Lord to do a search for the most popular hymns. Hearing the familiar hymns blessed me and I bookmarked them. 

This was on Youtube so there were suggestions of the history hymns. I watched and bookmarked a few videos of the history of individual hymns. 

Then I came on this excellently produced version of the history of 5 hymns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSPhqgfYVcQ

Over the centuries thousands of hymns have been written. Fanny Crosby wrote 8000 herself. Yet only a few dozen have remained as popular in most denominations for more than a century. 

I will not burden you with ALL my bookmarks. You can search for the most popular hymns on Youtube, Spotify, and the websites for hymns. 

Here are a few of the best ones I found and many show the lyrics as they are being sung.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGLVPtOYRgM

https://unlockingthebible.org/2013/07/the-25-most-popular-christian-hymns/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQFerfYfnBU  

http://popularhymns.com/  

You might also search for the history of hymns on Youtube and websites. It is inspiring how God worked to make these a reality. 

Here is a selection of videos on the history of hymns.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjwir8kr7jx4GNcYDWviKlA/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid  

My attitudes about hymns have shifted over the decades. As a child in the 1950s, I was taken to a traditional church where a loud organ and equally loud choir belted out the hymns. The members would barely mumble the lyrics. 

As a child the lyrics and the tunes became familiar.

Years later during my drug rehab season the words sunk into my heart. 

As a new believer, God used those lyrics to provide some understanding of biblical doctrine and theology. 

My rebirth was on January 16, 1977, at 23 years old. That is the era when the contemporary Christian songs were becoming popular on the radio and starting to displace hymns during church services. 

I understand the appeal. I had welcomed that change too. 

BUT those old hymns have a depth and sweetness that none of the modern ones do for me. 

The great opportunity that we have these days is easy to access to ALL the hymns and those sung by a wide range of soloists and choirs. 

These can be bookmarked by you and then there is the option to hear 24 hours a day. You can redeem the time commuting, doing housework, doing yard work or when having trouble going to sleep. 

OPTIONS

When your faith in Christ gets dim then consider these additional 12 ways that have helped me to restart and fuel my faith. 

These options are simple and easy. They do not cost money. But they do cost TIME. I have learned the hard way over the decades that I will never have EXTRA time for my Christian faith walk. So I must MAKE time due to the fact that it is a HIGH PRIORITY. Sometimes I need to get beyond a certain pain threshold to make that time.  

Consider these options as opportunities to experiment with new possibilities or practice old habits again.

From my perspective, these are like TOOLS in my spiritual tool kit. I use the tools as needed. And they are as MEDICINES in my medicine cabinet that I use the medicine as needed. And they are like PORTALS that I can use as needed to leave the fixation on the mundane world of my ordinary life to encounter God in vital ways. 

The following is written from my perspective as an account of what experiences that worked for me. I hate to be told what to do. But I like to imitate others in using what worked for them. 

I have attended many 12 step recovery meetings over the decades. The policy there is not to give advice but to share your experience, strength, and hope. Then others can listen to get inspired. They can take what they like and leave the rest. God has used those sharing to greatly help my life by providing me with valuable insights and practical tools. 

1. I watch videos on the biographies of Christians and especially missionaries.

2. I listen to an audio version of the Bible read and especially with dramatic sound effects. (These can be found on Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud, and many more online platforms. Plus you can buy MP3s and CDs.)

3. I go for a long walk and pour out my heart to God. I tell Him ALL about my thoughts, feelings. worries, fears, resentments, etc. This is done best with the most nature present. Yet suburban sidewalks and bike trails have worked too. I go on extra-long walks when I feel deeply troubled to renew my faith in Christ. Plus I take a walk most days just before sunset. This helps me to clear the decks and stay current in my prayers. 

4. There are times that I need to get away from the ruts of my routines. I get out of the house, get away from my workplace, and turn off screens. I go to a place of solitude. Possibilities that have worked for me in the past included a library, a chapel in a hospital, or a park bench in a city park. I take a Bible and paper for journaling. I pray EARNESTLY and LISTEN very intently. 

5. I keep lots of blank paper and a pencil by my reading chair. When positive or negative ideas keep going over and over in my head then I write them in my journal. That might be just a few words or it might become a few pages. Some times that will lead to action steps to take. 

6. I contact a prayer group offline or online. I request that they pray over the matters that are bothering me the most either externally or internally. 

7. I just give thanks to God as much as possible. I thank God for small and large things. I thank God for people. places, and things. I may go to a private place and say this out loud. I  may write this down and refer to it later.  

8. I recall the ways that David and others renewed their faith was to recall the testimonies of God. In the psalms and elsewhere in the Bible there are accounts of when David was discouraged but remembered what God had done for him and others. I think back on how far God has brought me. I remember what God did for me and others when all seemed impossible. (What are the testimonies in your life and the lives of your family and friends? You can search for testimonies on Youtube and in a search engine. You can buy or borrow books with testimonies.)  

9. I meditate on the Word of God. I keep hundreds of index cards at my workstation. They have Bible verses that I resonated with over the years. I built my collection of index cards by writing the key verses that stood out to me from books, websites, and sermons. Only a few at a time are especially alive for me at any one time. I would carry 6 to 12 of those with to view at any moment. I would tape 3 to 6 near my computer. (You can search online for lists of bible promises to find those few that resonate with you these days.)  

10. The most important and most difficult option was to memorize key Bible verses. Over the decades it has been those few Bible verses that I hid in my heart that have helped me the most during difficult times. But memorizing is not easy fo me. 

11. When my faith in Christ has grown dim that was when I was excessively self-absorbed. I was too much in my head thinking about my needs, wants, problems, disappointments, fears, etc. Over the decades I have learned that the best antidote to such selfishness is to be constantly on the lookout for those I can serve. I seek and find small ways to help neighbors and friends. As I do that I  get out of my head and into my heart. I leave my tiny world for a moment. The love of God flows through me by the Holy Spirit. 

12. There is a simple slogan that has helped me hundreds of times. The five words of Let Go and Let God is packed with wisdom and guidance. I have found that my simple faith in Christ became dim due to my holding tightly to my expectations. I needed to accept my current reality. My external circumstances were not in harmony with my internal ideal wishes. Fretting was not helping. Letting go is another way of saying releasing. Letting God is another way of saying turning it over. I recall that the reality is that Jesus is Lord. The Bible teaches me that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. So making the choices of letting God and letting God is surrendering to His Lordship. That has brought renewed peace and intimacy in my fellowship with God.  

CONCLUSION

Every day and every night the invisible enemies of the world, the flesh, and the devil are at work to undermine faith in Christ. This happens to every Christian everywhere. 

This does not shock God. In His grace and mercy, the Lord has made many provisions for each believer.  The provisions involve the use of the mind and will to take suitable actions. Besides the options here there are many more that others have used. 

Ultimately most of these options involve taking action steps to intake the Word of God, or reaching out to God with a tiny mustard seed of faith in prayer, or by clearing the junk out of the head and heart that block hearing spiritually. 

The beauty is that these spiritual practices are free. It does not require money to do what I listed here. It does not involve getting special permission. Thanks to the internet most can be done 24/7. 

Nothing listed here is unique to me. These actions have been done by millions for centuries. 

There have been sermons and books about these ane related subjects. 

People have made New Years Resolutions and set goals about these.  

So then why are such matters not commonly practiced?

I suggest that the Bible says we fall short of these matters due to the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Note that the Great Commission from the Lord Jesus sends us to go make disciples. The root of the term disciples is discipline. Those who excel in sports, music, academics, and more enjoy the fruit of diligent discipline. 

I admit that most of the time that I use one or more of the options listed here was when I had neglected them for a long while. I have intended, prayed, and planned to be more proactive. But I have stumbled in my self-discipline.  

Thankfully God reminds me of these proven tools when I seek Him.

Are you interested in learning about Church History?

INTRODUCTION 

This is a long and complex message with many links. This is a simple summary of hundreds of hours of research by me. I wish some people had shared this with me long ago. It would have saved me time and energy from going down hundreds of dead ends.

I have lived a difficult life. My faith in Jesus Christ has waxed and waned. And God used what follows to restart and strengthen my faith in Him.

Many places in the Bible it says we are to remember His testimonies. The default setting for humans is to forget the good things that did happen and worry about the bad things that might happen. So it takes a choice and effort to remember. 

When as you go down this path you will be amazed and delighted to learn what God has been doing for the last 2000 years. Like me, you will recognize that God has done great things when it seemed impossible. That encourages faith to trust Him to do great things again even in my life. 

These days I must take care to monitor my intake of the news and commentaries. If I do not then I can get depressed and discouraged. I do my best to pray and meditate. But I need other inputs like what follows. 

What you have here is like a self-paced and self-directed college course in the highlights of parts of church history. Plus there are bonuses at the end.

It will take many hours to explore these options. You are already busy so you will need to make adjustments. What I did was to set aside some time on Sunday afternoons to explore these kinds of links. 

You might go down this path on 3 day weekends, vacations, or staycations. 

Maybe you get fed up with watching the same kinds of movies over and over. I do. Then watch these for a while. 

Maybe you have had trouble falling asleep or wake at night cannot go back to sleep. This will put your mind on what God has done instead of your worries.

Maybe you are at home sick or at home watching a child. Here is a way to redeem that time. 

If you are ready to go wider and deeper in your faith walk then here are more than enough resources to get you started. These are free. They will stir you up, challenge you,  and comfort you. They will raise all kinds of questions that you can put into a search engine. 

Many exciting adventures are ahead if you take the bold steps to click on the links that follow. 

CHURCH HISTORY

The sad reality is that most Christians are ignorant of church history. 

Note that many of the feasts and festivals in the Old Testament were ordained to guide the Jews to learn and recall their history.  

Note that Black History Month in February is used to help people learn about and remember their roots.

Yet Christian know little of their heritage. Mostly there are not designated times of ways to remember the past that shaped our current conditions. But a few Christians promote Reformation Day as October 31st.

MARTIN LUTHER

Did you know that on October 31st, 1517 or 502 years ago today Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church?

Previously I believed that each thesis was a long document. But in reality, nearly all of them are one sentence long. They were just thesis statements.

Shortly before that, he had posted 97 theses on the same door. Those were written in Latin. They were addressed to the scholars who could read Latin. He wanted to enter into lively discussions with his peers about those scholarly matters. 

But when he posted the 95 theses his seminary students noticed the profound importance to them. So without his knowledge or consent, they translated those into German. Then they sent them to several printers that spread them widely all over Germany. This is like a blog post or a personal video that goes viral these days. 

The 95 theses could be printed out as a 3-page document. It is worth reading because that was the spark that started the Reformation and that in turn shaped the thinking, writing, preaching, and theology that led to the various denominations we have today. 

Here is a copy just of the text.

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/274/pg274-images.html  

Here is the Wikipedia page that gives much historic context.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-five_Theses  

Here is an illustrated lecture about Martin Luther and the 95 Theses.

Martin Luther and the 95 Theses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJITsWCua1M

Martin Luther was a monk and professor when he nailed the thesis. He was pressured by the Roman Catholic church to recant. He refused. He was under a death warrant and fled. Then he wrote books in German to the common people about what the Bible taught.  

At that time the Bible was only available in Latin. The common people could not read Latin. 

While felling the authorities Martin Luther translated the Bible into German for the common people. then they could have faith alone in Jesus Christ.  

Later William Tyndale translated the Bible into English. He was also fleeing from the authorities with a death sentence on his head.  

Many times each year I earnestly thank God that the Bible is available in my native langue. I have heard testimonies of Bible translators of how having the Scripture in their mother tongue made a huge difference in the lives of seekers. 

To fully appreciate why Martin Luther stood up to so much pressure it is useful to dig into his background before the 95 theses. He had earnestly sought for many years to be clean of his personal sins. As a monk in a monastery, he would go to confession for hours in hopes of getting right with God. He did all the church told him to do to the extreme. Yet he felt that he fell short. So he prayed, fasted, and studied the Bible early. 

Then God opened his eyes to see the grace of God comes by faith and not by works. 

This reminds me of the many testimonies of ex-Mormons on Youtube. They had been working super hard for many years. Yet when they came to faith alone on Christ they deeply appreciated the grace of God in the gospel message.  They too faced persecution by family and friends. Yet those that went public wanted to know Him without works to earn salvation. 

Note that there are millions of believers in strict Muslim countries today that are facing all kinds of persecution for their faith. A recent report said that 7 people die each day instead of denying the Christian faith. 

LEADERS

Over the decades I have explored the many facets of church history. I found it to be very complicated. It is full of all kinds to twists and turns. There was much evidence of the grace and goodness of God as well as the greed, foolishness, and pride of human leaders. 

Repeatedly God used key individuals at critical moments to bring about major changes. 

Notice that when teaching about the Bible to children there are key individuals in the Old and New Testaments. 

The same is true about church history over the past 2000 years of church history. There were key individuals that God used in amazing ways. These include preachers, teachers, theologians, and missionaries. The textbooks of Bible colleges and seminaries go into plenty of details of each person.  

The book that brings all this together in an understandable way it Streams of Living Water subtitled Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith by Richard Foster. He has presented a simple summary of mountains of confusing details. His chapter headings give the overview.

The Contemplative Tradition: Discovering the Prayer-Filled Life 

The Holiness Tradition: Discovering the Virtuous Life

The Charismatic Tradition: Discovering the Spirit-Empowered Life

The Social Justice Tradition: Discovering the Compassionate Life

The Evangelical Tradition; Discovering the Word-Centered Life

The Incarnational Life: Discovering the Sacramental Life

In the appendix, there are 75 pages of brief biographies of the individuals that God used to start and grow all these traditions. Each brief biography is only one paragraph long. 

Note that all those leaders had the same Bible and it was the King James Version. Yet God moved in mighty ways through them and others that followed them unto today. 

So if you want to understand the history and context for the church you attend and the many other denominations then this is a great primer. 

VIDEOS

While I like to read I love to watch videos. I especially enjoy videos that are biographies. 

Many times over the decades my faith has become dull. Yet God used watching biographies of Christians to rekindle my faith in Him. 

There are hundreds of leaders listed in the appendix. But there are only a few that were made into biographical videos. 

You can do what I did and search for Christian biographies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Youtube. 

You will find that there are several on Martin Luther and a few on William Tyndale.

The well-produced videos offer an engaging account of the background of the person and the context of the message that transformed lives. 

Here are the Wikipedia articles that give the facts in the text.

Martin Luther

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther

William Tyndale

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tyndale

PBS - Martin Luther – Complete documentary. (Parts 1 & 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp77mcJKsIk

Luther 2003 Full movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rJwCqhTyY8

Luther: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer (Full Documentary)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VK0p-tuuao

Martin Luther (1953) Full 1080p HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAP-VfvClAs

William Tyndale Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_whF2WlyDE

William Tyndale movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0MgINLgsdQ

God's Outlaw - William Tyndale Story full movie (1986)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVOrQg8Wq0M&

Teaching by John Piper on William Tyndale

William Tyndale - John Piper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpy2U3y2GzY

OTHER BIOGRAPHIES

Over the years I have invested parts of my Sunday afternoons to hear the biographic messages by John Piper. You might enjoy these too. I have been used by God the slowly paint a grand mural of God at work over the centuries.  

https://www.desiringgod.org/biographies

There are biographic movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Yet the most are on Youtube and here is a playlist of movies about Christian missionaries.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUEPkBhqLc63TF4Kl8w1ps09ev_q9_bvE 

ALONEs

The documentaries and lectures about the leaders of the Reformation usually say that their major contribution was to insist that salvation is by faith alone in Christ. That is true as far as it goes but that is not the full story. 

The full story is contained in this simple sentence. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, based on Scriptures alone to the glory of God alone. 

When I preached on Saturdays at the church for the homeless like me I used that simple sentence as the core for many hours of sermons. I used it to weave together dozens of Bible verses. 

The Latin word for alone is sola. Here is the Wikipedia article about those 5 alone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_solae

These 5 alones are not some boring footnote of church history. They are foundational like the Constitution of the USA. Much branches from this simple sentence that I like to view more vertically to notice each part.

Salvation is

by grace alone, 

through faith alone,

in Christ alone,

based on Scripture alone,

to the glory of God alone.

CAMBRIDGE  DECLARATION 

While I was working at the seminary I came on a brochure in the Student Center that shook my life. It was a copy of the Cambridge Declaration. This was written in 1996. It is a critical commentary on how far the church has fallen from the high standards of the Five Alones or Solas

Note that most of the twists and turns in church history came from a response to imbalances or impurities in the church at that time. This document is such a response. 

What follows is a long quote from the Wikipedia page with the context and then the content. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Declaration

Reasons for the Declaration[edit]

The conference and the eventual declaration that was created was broadly influenced by the following:

• The culture of the modern world (as represented by Postmodernism) is changing the message that the church preaches.
• The erosion of Christian doctrine within the modern church, including the lack of Expository preaching.
• The increasing influence of Relativism within the church, which has led to an environment where "truth" is subjectively determined, and where church leaders aim to preach only "positive" messages.
• The increasing focus upon man, rather than God, within the church.
• An increasing focus on man's ability to respond to God's grace, rather than a focus upon God's ability to save man.
• A focus on the quantitative and measurable aspects of church growth (which thus links Christian ministry with outward success) rather than the qualitative and spiritual aspects of Biblical ministry.

Content of the Declaration[edit]

The declaration is a call to repentance for the evangelical church in order to reaffirm the historic Christian truths that are articulated by The Five solas and deny modern teachings:

1. Sola Scriptura: The Erosion Of Authority

• A reaffirmation that the Bible contains all things necessary to understand and obey God.
• A denial that any other form of authority is needed to bind the conscience of the Christian.

2. Solus Christus: The Erosion Of Christ-Centered Faith

• A reaffirmation that Christ alone and his penal substitutionary atonement on the cross are the means by which all Christians are saved.
• A denial that the Gospel can be preached without the atonement being declared and without faith being solicited from the listeners.

3. Sola Gratia: The Erosion Of The Gospel

• A reaffirmation that salvation is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.
• A denial that salvation is in any sense a work of the human heart, either fully or partially.

4. Sola Fide: The Erosion Of The Chief Article

• A reaffirmation that a person is justified (declared innocent) before God through faith alone and through Christ alone - that Christ's righteousness is imputed to the Christian.
• A denial that justification relies upon any human merit, and that churches which teach this cannot be considered legitimate churches.

5. Soli Deo Gloria: The Erosion Of God-Centered Worship

• A reaffirmation that salvation is ultimately for God's glory rather than man's, and that Christians everywhere should understand that they are under God's authority and act for his glory alone.
• A denial that God can be glorified through "entertainment"-style worship; the removal of law and/or gospel in preaching; and preaching that focuses upon self-improvement, self-esteem, and self-fulfillment.

Detailed commentary on the Cambridge Declaration

http://www.alliancenet.org/cambridge-declaration

PROTESTANTS and ROMAN CATHOLICS

DOCTRINES

BIBLE STUDY

Starting an Online Prayer Ministry Soon

SUMMARY

I request your best prayer now and later.

May God grant me His wisdom from above for launching and leading an online ministry about prayer.

My longterm intention is to serve international college students online. 

These precious souls are passing through an intense and complex season of their lives. 

After graduation then they will return to their home country to become leaders. 

What they experience during the few years they are in the USA will have major ripples for them, their families, and their communities for decades to come. 

There are many ways I want to benefit this group of visitors to our shores during the coming years. One of the most valuable takeaways they could receive is to learn to pray better and to enroll in a prayer support network.

Like any college student, they must deal with the challenges of academics, social life, time management, money management, health, fitness, travel, housing, etc.

Plus to confuse matters more there are cross-cultural communications complications. English is usually their second or third language. Besides that, they need to navigate the American way of life. Imagine what it would be like in terms of dealing with daily life for a young American to go to college in India, China, or Germany.

Then there are the pains of separation from family and friends in their homeland.

All these matters and many more are best addressed with much prayer.

Thankfully over the decades I have experienced and witnessed hundreds of answered prayers. Those prayers were made my me privately, made for me by others, and that I prayed for others.

For decades I have asked God to help me to pray better.  I have asked others to pray for me to pray better.

Along my prayer journey, I have learned many lessons and gained many insights about prayer.

I am ready and willing to share what I know with others. And I want to learn much more. That is why the name of this ministry is Let’s Pray Better. I want to pray better and I want to associate actively with others that want to pray better too. 

BACKGROUND

During the first few months of 2018, I took an online course about ministering online.

It was inspiring and informative. During the course, I had a plan to offer interactive online education about the four gospels.

That would offer a summary of what others taught with links to them. It would cover the basics for new Christians, intermediate materials for most Christians, and into advanced for those ready to go deeper.

There would be ways for learners to interact. This would be in the format of a MOOC or Massive Open Online Course. My role was to create the structure and facilitate the interactions.

However, that did not become a reality by the deadline of the first of June. I never got it organized and structured enough.

What followed was a short season of discouragement and depression.

Then I prayed much and others prayed for me.

Initially, my gameplan was to do a similar MOOC treatment on prayer BUT a year later.

As I prayed then I felt God prompt me to START with prayer.

SO I argued with God.

I told God that prayer is a very COMPLICATED subject.

I told God that prayer is a FUZZY subject. Prayer is unlike the four gospels with a well-defined source that has four chunks of text.

I told God that prayer is NOT my strength.

I told God that I wanted to get plenty of experience leading others online before I dealt with prayer.

After wrestling with God … He won.

Note that I have wrestled with God lots of times over the decades.

I set a new goal to launch in September of 2018. But that did not happen.

Many other things have happened in my life during these past 13 months. But I always felt that God was calling me to launch and lead an online ministry about prayer.

I am reminded of 2 Cor. 12:9 when Paul wrestled with God about his thorn in the flesh.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

So soon I will do what it takes to make a start.

I will offer my good intentions, plans, and weaknesses for God to guide.

It is my hope and expectation that is finally going to become a reality soon.

ORGANIZATION

The mere word prayer is simple. Yet the subject of prayer includes a wide range of knowledge and various applications.

Other simple words that cover such a complex range of facets include cooking, parenting, and gardening. All of those subjects have an overabundance of books, websites, seminars, workshops, etc. for the beginner, intermediate, and advanced learner.

My biggest challenge currently is crafting the initial organizational structure about prayer.

If I was dealing with parenting then the timeline of the parent would be a built-in core reference. For example preconception, pregnancy, and then the parent relating with the infant, child, teen, and adult. 

Cookbooks and gardening books are ordered into useful categories that become chapters.

Pray for God to guide me in making sense of prayer. I need this for my sake as the leader and teacher. This is especially needed so that I can effectively educate and guide others.

PIECES

During the last 13 months, I have been diligently collecting an abundance of ideas related to why and how to pray better. When I would get an inspiration I would write it on paper and then later transfer that to my online mind map.

Over the decades I have made many attempts to improve my prayer life. I have hundreds of index cards with headings to prompt better prayers.

I have started but not continued prayer lists of people to pray for daily. 

When I lived at the homeless shelter for 3 years I preached on Saturdays at a small church for homeless people. There I preached more than a dozen sermons on prayer. I have those sermon notes to adapt. 

I have read some books on prayer that I would highly recommend.

Over the decades I have made prayer requests at online prayer groups and from that, I witnessed amazing answers to prayers.  I want to share the links to the best online prayer groups.

I have written some one-page prayers that many have liked.

I have written more than a hundred tweet size prayers.

I have moved all my clothes out of my walk-in closet and put them in a stand-alone wardrobe in my bedroom. That was inspired by the movie War Room. I go there to pray in the mornings and evenings.

I have a large box with notes about prayer that dates back before the Internet.

SO there are plenty of pieces to assemble into useful and simple lessons for others.

STEW

What I intend to create in the coming months related to prayer is like a stew. That image works for me because all the ingredients blend together yet they remain somewhat separate.

In a salad, the ingredients stay separate.

In a smoothie all the ingredients get blended.

Here are some of the ingredients that will be in this stew in the coming years.

I have much from the files that I will review and revise. These will appear as lessons, sermons, written prayers, worksheets, and more to put online gradually.

I will offer links to the best resources related to prayer. 

I plan to write many short ebooks or 12 to 24 pages with suitable application exercises during the coming months.

I intend to offer a few short ecourses before this time next year.

The most valuable offering is an online membership site. I plan to use Ning www.ning.com  which is like a private Facebook page but it is much easier to navigate. I have been a member of Ning communities and it is a great way to bring together like-minded people in interactive ways.

At the online community, people can post their own prayer requests, pray for each other, and testify about answered prayers.

I enjoy interviewing people. So I will include some interviews for those who have major prayer needs. I will ask the community members to pray for them. Then I will follow up with another interview later to notice progress, testimonies of answered prayers, and new prayer requests. 

I still want to offer a MOOC Massive Open Online Course on prayer. I seek to enroll many supporters to make that a reality starting in January 2020.

Unlike some college courses that you take one time and then forget; there is no end of learning about applying lessons about prayer. So this stew will continue to simmer and have more added for a very long time.

I have a huge amount to offer others as this starts. And I have much more to learn for others. SO there is more than enough potential present. 

I again request your best prayers now and later. 

Then as God answers our prayers He will do more than I can ask or think according to Ephesians 3:2.

STRUCTURE

In the popular book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People the writer Stephen Covey teaches to begin with the end in mind. What has worked for others is to have a vision for the long term and craft a gameplan to get there.

One of my current challenges is to work with God to write a summary of what the end is that God has put on my heart. This is like a pencil sketch of a large landscape. It is the long term and big picture of how I intend to serve international college students in the coming 3 to 5 years. 

What I have begun to do is write a simple summary of the mission, vision, and core values. This will serve guidelines for me and those I enroll in helping along the way. Obviously, I can be very wordy, yet this needs to be very brief. So pray for simplicity with clarity. 

MARKETING

Besides the content related to prayer, there must also be marketing to deliver the content. Those marketing parts need to be woven together into synergistic systems. In other words, it is one thing to have valuable resources to offer others. But there also needs to be effective ways to identify the target audiences, contact them in ways that appeal, and guide then through simple steps to enjoy the promised benefits. Pray for God to guide me in designing the short term and long term ways for the online community, ecourses, emails, and more work together as a fluid system.

Over the decades I have made several large websites. I have written dozens of pages of articles that I posted online. I published sermons online. But I failed to market them well. So I understand the importance of internet marketing. 

My brother has been involved in internet marketing for years. He has passed to me lessons and resources that will help in the short term to get the operations launched.  This is a new skill set for me so pray for God to guide me.

NEXT

Recently I began to rent a Ning www.ning.com  community space. 

I will populate that Ning site with a selection of my lessons. Then many more lessons will be added in the coming months. 

I will design the initial ways for the members to interact. 

I will review my notes and consult my brother on how to design systems to enroll in the Launch Team. 

These Launch Team members will include intercessors, helpers, beta testers, editors, donors, and advisers. We will collaboratively co-create the MOOC and other services for the international college students to be launched in January 2020.

Before the January launch, we will conduct online and offline research about prayer and international college students. We will use surveys, polls, and questionnaires. The intention is to focus on solving the challenges of prayer with biblically-based solutions. 

Other college students and anyone else is welcomed to use this Ning community if they follow the community guidelines. But they are not the main emphasis. For example, there are pizza places that cater to kids' birthday parties. Any senior citizen can eat there. But it was designed for them. 

Obviously, I cannot do this alone. I must enroll and work with talented and active volunteers. These will mostly be Americans that want to help serve the international college students. As the founder and executive director, I must clearly communicate the vision of where we are going long-term, the game plan of how we will get there, and the mission of why this is important. I have never done anything like this before. Some times I feel like when Gideon who was called to do the impossible. So I ask for your special prayers. 

INVITATION

You are invited to pray as soon as you finish reading this. 

Then please pray as the Holy Spirit prompts you. 

The greatest need is always more prayers. 

During the coming weeks, I will gradually develop segmented email lists.  Some messages will go to intercessors that opt-in for a weekly summary of prayer requests and testimonies. There will be a group of intercessors that gets the monthly summary.

Besides as an intercessor, you are invited to help me as a beta tester. I want to have a group of people that receive my lessons about prayer and give me constructive feedback. 

Part of what I will be offering in the Ning community is lists of recommended resources about prayer. I can easily find long lists of daily devotionals. But I want to know from you and others what few would you most highly recommend? Please reply to this email with those titles and authors.

What books, workbooks, sermons, online courses, etc. about prayer would you highly recommend?

What healthy habits, routines, rituals, etc. have helped you gain and maintain your prayer life?

What are the main problems, challenges, difficulties, etc. do you have with prayer?

What are your biggest questions about prayer? I will take such questions and pray about them. I will do the research. I will include my findings in the online community without revealing your name. 

Where there are many similar questions and problems about prayer that will shape how I create future interactive ecourses.

What are your favorite Bible verses related to prayer?

PRAYER

Thankfully as a retired person, I have plenty of time and energy for this endeavor. 

Getting this going and keeping this growing is my top priority. 

The vision and game plan are far too big for me to do alone. So I must enroll and work with others. 

Pray for me to gracefully enroll and communicate clearly with the Launch Team. 

I will be seeking intercessors as well as advisers and donors to serve together on the Launch Team.

Pray for me to find advisers like international college students themselves, missionaries, and college pastors.

As a retired person I have plenty of time to contribute to this. So during the coming months, I will be seeking to enroll other retired people like teachers, missionaries, pastors, chaplains, and professors.  May God prepare them and bring us together. 

Pray for God to guide us and provide the people as well as resources when needed.

CONCLUSION 

Finally, the name I have been using in my mind and notes for this is Let’s Pray Better.

I believe that many Christians want to pray better. There is always room for improvement. 

But in order for prayer life to improve there needs to be effective instruction as well as suitable support. 

There are proven principles of prayer that can be understood. 

But there is a gap between the theory and making practical applications. 

I believe that we can work together so that all of us pray better. 

At the end of the day, I am asking you to have faith that God can and will work through us for His glory.

Shalom

John