“Dude, you’ve got to hear this!” My friend was holding out his phone and laughing hysterically. “What is it?” I asked. “A voice mail from your mom.”(I totally didn’t see that coming) So, I took the phone and listened. I don’t remember the details of her message, but I’ll never forget the way she finished …
Tag Archives: prayer
No More Business As Usual
Talking about the objective truth of Scripture is comfortable for me. I love a good discussion about how Jesus became the sacrifice for my sin or how my life should reflect the gospel. But I have difficulty when the topic turns from objective truth to subjective experience. I tend to shy away from discussions about …
Power of a Praying Pastor
In Mark 9:14-29, Christ’s disciples encounter a boy who has been plagued with demons. As a result, the boy was blind and mute. He frequently was thrown to the ground in violent fits. He would foam and the mouth and grind down his teeth. The demons would even cause him to fall into water and …
Practice Public Prayer
Growing up in Church, I remember questioning the need for public prayer. After all, didn’t Jesus tell us to go into our closets to pray? And what about His critique of the Pharisees who loved to stand and pray loudly for show? It turns out, however, that Jesus is not against public prayers –He’s simply …
No More Beating Around the Bush
According to my quick Google search, the phrase, “beat around the bush” has its origin in medieval hunting practices. Hunters would hire men to walk around taking whacks at trees and bushes to see what animals would come out. Sounds to me like a great way to get mauled by something with sharp teeth and …
Aren’t You Forgetting Something?
It may be the most creative question in the history of the world. Out of the blue, with no warning whatsoever, my son loves to ask, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Then he loves to wait in silence to see if I can guess from the 43 billion possible things his overactive five-year-old brain is thinking …
Does Prayer Matter?
Awkward church moment #41: At the end of a long “prayer request” time, you are called upon to pray for all of the requests. What do you do? That’s right, you pull out the old, “Lord, please be with all of these needs.” And, for bonus points, you might even add, “I don’t know all …
Stuffed Animal Prayers
A few nights ago, my five-year-old son and I ate dinner with my parents and my aunt Jane. As we sat down at the table, my dad asked my son, “Bryce, would you like to say the blessing?” Bryce said, “Actually Clifford wants to say the blessing.” For a second, I was confused (Nobody in …