What is the answer for America?

President-Elect Barrack Obama is not the answer for America.

Neither is Senator John McCain.

Don't get swept up into the division. Rise above by the truth of the Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit to HELP PEOPLE. Because the biggest thing God is wanting to do right now is not to see a president selected, but to see His people come back to him fully.

The answer for America is a revived, fully alive, church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It should be the church of the Lord Jesus Christ leading in every circle of influence, in every aspect of society.

- Dale Evrist, New Song Christian Fellowship

Habakkuk - Living by faith

Living by faith is a bewildering venture. We rarely know what's coming next, and not many things turn out the way we anticipate. It is natural to assume that since I am God's chosen and beloved, I will get favorable treatment from the God who favors me so extravagantly. It is not unreasonable to expect that from the time that I become his follower, I will be exempt from dead ends, muddy detours, and cruel treatment from the travelers I meet daily who are walking the other direction. That God-followers don't get preferential treatment in life always comes as a surprise. But it's also a surprise to find that there are a few men and women within the BIble who show up alongside us at such moments.

The prophet Habakkuk is one of them, and a most welcome companion he is. Most prophets, most of the time, speak God's word to us. They are preachers calling us to listen to God's words of judgment and salvation, confrontation and comfort. They face us with God as he is, not as we imagine him to be. Most prophets are in-your-face assertive, not given to tact, not diplomatic, as they insist that we pay attention to God. But Habakkuk speaks our word to God. He gives voice to our bewilderment, articulates our puzzled attempts to make sense of things, faces God with our disappointment with God. He insists that God pay attention to us, and he insists with a prophet's characteristic no-nonsense bluntness.

The circumstance that aroused Habakkuk took place in the seventh century B.C. The prophet realized that God was going to use the godless military machine of Babylon to bring God's judgment on God's own people - using a godless nation to punish a godly nation. It didn't make sense, and Habakkuk was quick and bold to say so. He dared to voice his feelings that God didn't know his own God business. Not a day has passed since then that one of us hasn't picked up and repeated Habakkuk's bafflement: "God, you don't seem to make sense!"

But this prophet companion who stands at our side does something even more important. He waits and he listens. It is in his waiting and listening - which then turns into his praying - that he found himself inhabiting the large world of God's sovereignty. Only there did he eventually realize that the beliving-in-God life, the steady trusting-in-God life, is the full life, the only real life. Habakkuk started out exactly where we start out with our puzzled complaints and God-accusation, but he didn't stay there. He ended up in a world, along with us, where every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something Good.

Introduction to Habakkuk
The Message - Remix, Eugene Peterson.

Our pastor talked about Habakkuk yesterday at church, and as I got ready for bed last night I decided to give the whole book a quick read in The Message I have laying by my bed. This introduction to the book hit home with me. This man was real. He didn't just have "a word to share." He wasn't so much being prophetic and telling people what was going to happen as he was observing it and asking God, "What's up?" I love that. He truly is, as this text said, our companion through so many of our daily experiences.

One phrase my pastor used struck a chord with me... so much that I texted it to my facebook account while I was sitting in church:

"There is nothing like suffering through the silence of God."

I have some friends right now that are in this right now... some know it, some don't. I'm there myself from time to time, and sometimes for an extended time... and how true is it. The book of Habakkuk puts this into the wonderful context of our ability to question God, to approach him, and even to trust him in the silence.

While the entire book (just 3 chapters) is a great quick read, especially (for me right now) in the Message, I think the beginning and ending verses make great book-ends for it:

The problem as God gave Habakkuk to see it:
God, how long do I have to cry out for help
before yuou listen?
How many times do I have to yell, "Help! Murder! Police!"
before you come to the rescue?
Why do you force me to look at evil,
stare trouble in the face day after day?
Anarchy and violence break out,
quarrels and fights all over the place.
Law and order fall to pieces.
Justice is a joke.
The wicked have the righteous hamstrung
and stand justice on its head.

Though the cherry treas don't blossom
and the strawberries don't ripen,
Though the apples are worm eaten
and the wheat fields stunted,
Though the sheep pens are sheepless
and the cattle barns empty,
I'm singing joyful praise to God.
I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.
Counting on God's Rule to prevail,
I take heart and gain strength.
I run like a dear.
I feel like I'm king of the mountain!

How do you get from point A to point B? From hopelessness to praise?

Read the book.

Wait. Listen. Pray.

Experience the God.

Hope.

Find a Few of His Friends

From Ransomed Heart...

Hopefully you will find a few folks who walk with God to also walk with you through the seasons of your life. But honesty – and Scripture – forces me to admit they are a rare breed. Few there are who find it. All the more reason for you to make the number less scarce, by becoming someone who walks with God and teaches others how.

Look to those who have walked with God down through the ages. Certainly that is why the Bible is given to us. If God had intended it to be a textbook of doctrine, well then, he would have written it like one. But its not; it’s overwhelmingly a book of stories – tales of men and women who walked with God. Approach the Scriptures not so much as a manual of Christian principles but as the testimony of God’s friends on what it means to walk with him through a thousand different episodes. When you are at war, when you are in love, when you have sinned, when you have been given a great gift – this is how you walk with God. Do you see what a different mindset this is? It's really quite exciting.

And there are those who have walked with God since the canon of Scripture closed. Here is an Athanasius, a Bonaventure, a Julian of Norwich, a Brother Lawrence, a Tozer – here is how they walked with God. When it comes to time and place, temperament and situation, they could not be more different. Julian lived in a cloister; Tozer lived in Chicago. Athanasius fled to the desert; Lawrence worked in the kitchen. But there is a flavor, a tang, an authenticity to their writings which underlies whatever it is they are trying at the moment to say. Here is someone who knew God, really knew him. This is what its like to walk with God, and that is what its like as well.



(Waking The Dead , 107, 108)

DAB Read-Along... now with COMMENTS

Last winter, I developed a "read-along" for the Daily Audio Bible that I listen to each day. That allows the people who listen to have something to read-along with in the same version we're using week to week. It also puts content related to the readings and the DAB up front and personal for the search engines to latch on to. I've recently seen hits from all over the world for people looking for passages in their own language, and, since I have the read-along in 5 or 6 different languages, it's getting quite a few h

Publish Post

its... simply by putting the Word out there.

Today I added a feature I've been thinking about for a while - COMMENTS. The system identifies each verse and it reads it from Bible Gateway and then creates a link to add a personal comment to that verse, as well as a listing of any other comments that have been made. I don't know if it will catch on, and it's as much proof of concept for myself as it is something useful, but I'm happy to have it done... especially since I didn't do a whole lot else today.

The site's available at www.c2itconsulting.net/apps/bible.

From a technical sense, this page now uses all sorts of ASP.NET controls, SQL Server, IIS, some AJAX, some JavaScript, and a couple cool Telerik tools for the popups.

It Is Well - On a Starlit Night

I found a wonderful rendition of this favorite hymn of mine last night by Chris Rice. It is simple, pure, and honest. I was listening to it late last night as I worked outside putting chickens up for the night. It was dark outside. The only light out was a gibbous moon, and as I stood there, I raised my hands and just took it all in.

As I looked up in the sky, guess where my eyes landed?

Orion. I think, although I'm not sure... At least it looked like him, although I couldn't figure out the whole constellation, but I think it was his belt that drew my eye. I didn't know he was in the sky this time of year at that time of night, but there he was.

This is simply my favorite hymn. Maybe my favorite song. It's the story of my life. Standing their, arms freely raised, giving it to my Father last night, I was so humbled. And so thankful.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.


It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.


Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.


My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!


It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.


And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.


It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Prayer Changes Things ... Or Does It?

We had some services at our church. They were called revival services. Two or three months ago, you start hearing talk about this planned revival we're having, and my first thoughts are, "You can't schedule revival." How lame is that, to think that just because you put some dates on a calendar and put the word "revival" on them that something is going to change?

I retract those feelings. Confess them as prideful.
Admit I did not understand.
And attempt to learn something from it.

I still believe you cannot schedule revival by putting it on a calendar. It's not something that happens just because a few people want other people to change. BUT, if you can get it into the hearts of those who PRAY, I now believe you can have INTENTIONAL revival. Not the services. Not the speaker. Not even the topic or the spur-of-the-moment decisions... but when people start praying for revival - it's not "them" that change... it's "ME." I've seen this time and time again in my own life as I come to points of reflection. Sure, there are plenty of things and people I'd like to see God change, but when I start to really pray, what changes, is my heart. I become intentional about what I think and say. I find myself actually caring about the people involved in a situation instead of the situation itself.

All that to say, prayer changes things... sure... kind of... but really not. It's not the folding of hands, the closing of eyes, or the bowing of head. It's the POWER behind the prayer. The power of the one we pray TO, and the power He has instilled in US that makes things change... and most often, it starts, and finishes, with me. That is where the difference is going to be made. If God is going to change others, He seems to most often do so not by my prayers forcing them to change, but by an internal change in their own heart... and then, the "him" or "her"I'm praying for becomes their own "me."

I read in Galatians 4 this morning... about slavery and FREEDOM. Freedom. I love that word now. Probably because I have a glimpse of what it really is. And I understand more what I am still enslaved to, unwilling or unable (on my own) to be freed from.

Last night I heard my pastor share some of his heart, in no insignificant way... he was talking about the services, about the impact they were having, and about how the one thing he knew... was that they were impacting him. Oh, if we could all say that... make it personal, applicable to my life, the people I influence, the life I live... to quit thinking "oh, he needs this" or "I wish so-and-so was here..." that is not it, at all.

Father, my heart is open to you. Cleanse it. Clean house. Fill it with Your Spirit. Not the tingly feeling I get when something emotionally or deep-down connects with me, but the filling that affects my life - that pours out of me without effort, without my getting in its way. Father, use me as You see fit. Waiting on you is hard, but yet, wonderful. It is painful and confusing, yet it is cleansing. I do not know where I will wind up 10 years from now, 5 years from now, or a week from now. And I do not care. Let me see how you want today to look. Give me enough of a glimpse of tomorrow, even it's not one I can understand, so that I can use today for your glorious future, on earth, or in heaven.

My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold, I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.

Psalm 62

Freedom Quotes from Braveheart

I'm thinking of watching this movie today on a spare monitor while I work... but I was reading about Freedom this morning and this movie is one of the most vivid pictures of the battle for "freedom" that I can think of.

William Wallace: It's all for nothing if you don't have freedom.

William Wallace: There's a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.

William Wallace: And if this is your army, why does it go?
Veteran: We didn't come here to fight for them!
Young Soldier: Home! The English are too many!
William Wallace: Sons of Scotland! I am William Wallace.
Young Soldier: William Wallace is seven feet tall!
William Wallace: Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds. And if HE were here, he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse.
[Scottish army laughs]
William Wallace: I *am* William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men... and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?
Veteran: Fight? Against that? No! We will run. And we will live.
William Wallace: Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!
[Scottish army cheers]
William Wallace: Alba gu bra!
["Scotland forever!"]
Army: ALBA GU BRA! ALBA GU BRA! ALBA GU BRA!

William Wallace: Go back to England and tell them there that Scotland's daughters and her sons are yours no more. Tell them Scotland is free.

[last lines]
William Wallace: [voiceover] In the Year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland - starving and outnumbered - charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets; they fought like Scotsmen, and won their freedom.

Malcolm Wallace: Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it.

Robert the Bruce: I'm not a coward. I want what you want, but we need the nobles.
William Wallace: We need them?
Robert the Bruce: Aye.
William Wallace: Nobles.
[laughs a little]
William Wallace: Now tell me, what does that mean to be noble? Your title gives you claim to the throne of our country, but men don't follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them to freedom, they'd follow you. And so would I

Campbell: I'm dying. Let me be.
Hamish: No. You're going to live.
Campbell: I've lived long enough to live free. Proud to see you become the man you are. I'm a happy man.

Royal Magistrate: The prisoner wishes to say a word.
William Wallace: [shouts loud and long] Freedom!

Hamish: Your dream isn't about freedom. It's about Murron! You're doing this to be a hero, 'cause ya think she sees ye!
William Wallace: I don't think she sees me. I *know* she does. And your father sees you, too.
[Hamish punches him, knocks him down, and stalks off]
Stephen: [to the sky as he goes to help William up] Jesus.

Thanks to IMDB.COM for the quotes...

The List I've Needed to Write for Some Time

This is a list of things I've had on my heart for several months now. Things I've refused to write down because if I do, it makes them a little more real... actually a LOT more real. Several of them have to do with my health, and it's time to finally put them on "paper."

• No more pop. That means diet, sugar-loaded, and even caffeine free. I know my body is hooked on caffeine, and I don't necessarily feel the need to complely break that right away, but I think by cutting out the pop it will go a long way toward it. Coffee in the morning and/or a cup in the evening: fine. Tea... ok... but pop - WHY? Time to cut it out.
• Situps and Pushups. I've had this on my mind since probably last spring or even winter, but still haven't done much about it, on a consistent basis. Writing it down won't force me to, either... but at least I'm not denying it anymore.
• Taking Intentional Breaks. I'm getting better at taking breaks, but I need to make them productive breaks. Breaks for fresh air, exercise, or family time.

Well that list seems a little trivial to me when put on paper, but really, it's not. It's stuff that's been on my mind for a long time, and each thing there really requires more than I have to offer. I cannot do them on my own, or simply do them through will power. Consistency in these areas is a weakness of mine, but one I am willing to let my Father make me strong in.

So God, take these words and make them real. Make them something that doesn't just help me lose the pounds and stress but something that frees me to be yours. That's what this is about... Not being healthy. Not being physically strong. Not being fun to be around... but instead, simply being yours. Able to see you work, able to jump on board where you are, alert, focused, and diligent. Only you can do this in me, and I pray you will bring me the things I need to make this happen - friends, partners, motivation, decisiveness... whatever. Make it real. Amen.