The Story of Zac Smith

Just wanted to update this post and note that Zac died on 05/16/10. I pray his family and friends know peace while missing this inspirational man.

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Question on Injustice

"Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it.”

“Well, why don’t you ask Him?”

“Because I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.”

(Anonymous) -a quote from A Hole in the Gospel, by Richard Stearn, President of World Vision.
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This was an eye-opening quote that I read yesterday. Please go read the remainder of the post where I saw it.

Too Big for Our Britches

We are quite arrogant, aren't we?

How many times have I said, "no" to the Creator of the Universe? How many times have I ignored Him or put Him off or tried to wriggle my way out of something He wanted me to do?

He gave us the free will to do what we choose, and too often we choose to tell Him, "No."

How is it that the Voice that spoke creation into existance can have such a minute impact on our lives? His very voice put the planets in orbit. His voice placed every one of the billions of stars in the sky. His voice created the delicate ecosystem we reside in. His voice created all of the intricate biological functions that make us function as the superior earthly beings. And we tell Him, "No."

I think we are a bunch of arrogant fools sometimes...too often, really.

Tuesday Tunes

I almost forgot that last week when I joined the Bloggable Music Network that I noted that I would use Tuesday to talk about music. That's a new habit I'll have to get in, so please bear with me until it becomes routine.

Today's song that I am featuring is one that I love rocking out to right now from Big Daddy Weave called What Life Would be Like.



The lyrics are as follows:

I wish I was more of a man
Have you ever felt that way
And if I had to tell you the truth
I'm afraid I'd have to say
That after all I've done and failed to do
I feel like less than I was meant to be
And what if I could fix myself
Maybe then I could get free
I could try to be somebody else
Whose much better off than me
But I need to remember this
That it's when I'm at my weakest
I can clearly see

He made the lame walk
And the dumb talk
He opened blinded eyes to see
That the sun rises on His time
Yet He knows our deepest desperate need
And the world waits
While His heart aches
To realize the dream
I wonder what life would be like
If we let Jesus live through you and me

What if you could see yourself
Through another pair of eyes
What if you could hear the truth
Instead of old familiar lies
And what if you could feel inside
The power of the hand that made the universe
You realize

He made the lame walk
And the dumb talk
He opened blinded eyes to see
That the sun rises on His time
Yet He knows our deepest desperate need
And the world waits
While this heart aches
To realize the dream
I wonder what life would be like
If we let Jesus live through you and me

All our hearts they burn with hate in us
All our lives we've longed for more
So let us lay our lives before the one
Who gave His life for us

He made the lame walk
And the dumb talk
He opened blinded eyes to see
That the sun rises on His time
Yet He knows our deepest desperate need
And the world waits
While this heart aches
To realize the dream
I wonder what life would be like
If we let Jesus live through you and me

Real Life - Legacy

Once again it is time to examine the Real Life of a Christian across Blogland. You may notice that there is no button for this week's post. That's because Blogger is not allowing me to upload images to any of my posts at the moment. Stupid blogger.

So, we'll have to go at this without the pretty little graphic.

So this week I had a reality check. I was attending the Beth Moore Bible study that we're doing at church and on the video Beth was discussing leaving a spiritual legacy for your children. Well, the Holy Spirit must have been talking to me because the message I got out of her saying that had nothing to do with the point she was trying to make.

I had an eye-opener though. I got to thinking about how Patrick would view my Christian walk. I wanted to be a Christian mom and guide to him and not someone who is a Christian some of the time. You see, there are times that I get frustrated at Patrick. Really frustrated. I know...we all get frustrated at our children because, well, they are frustrating creatures sometimes. However, I had a memory of a recent example that I yelled at him. Not raised my voice, but yelled. He looked crushed and although my heart broke at his expression, I was no less frustrated about the situation. That's when I realized that my Christian example would not hold as much water if I were yelling at this precious gift that God gave me.

Sure, it's fine for Chrsitians to be mad, but I was not expressing my anger in a Christian manner, or even an effective manner. I ended up hurting his feelings more that I was expressing why I angry.

So, I am resolved to only express my anger to him in a healthy constructive manner from now forward. I want him to remember me not as someone who yelled at him when I was mad, but as someone who firmly disciplined him while loving him all along. I don't want to leave a legacy of anger, but one of control.

This most likely will not be easy. I've been doing great since this past Tuesday, but only 3 days have past. Can I keep it up? Will I falter? I need strength to keep this up and break the habit. Everyday I must choose to handle these situations with the right attitude and control regardless of my emotions surrounding the situation. Until this because part of my character though, I ask you to pray for strength for me in this effort.

What do you have to lay down today? Do you have a situation that needs prayer? Do you hold on to your "ways of the flesh" more than we are called to do? Leave a link to your site telling us what you are in need of prayer for or leave a comment. We all need to be lifting up each other in prayer so we can make our time on this earth as Christ-like as possible.

Notes from the Flock

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me -- John 10:27.

The Bible frequently refers to God and Jesus as a Shepherd and to the believers as sheep. To most of us, this is a cute little analogy, but to a people that were very familiar with sheep and shepherding, this comparison held a much more profound significance.

You see, sheep are not so very smart. In fact, they really are just outright dumb. They pretty much don't do really well when trying to take care of themselves.

Did you know that sheep have no self-defence mechanism? That's right...they are truly at the mercy of any type of predator. That's what the shepherd does. Shepherds don't get a lot of sleep. Their light dozing is often interrupted by any unusual sounds that they may encounter. They are very watchful and are often perched high above the herd to have a perspective of the entire flock. Just like our Father.

Did you know that sheep will eat an area completely dry? They will eat and eat and eat the grass until there is none left...even down to the roots so that none can grow back. If left to themselves, they will exhaust all means to survive and will not be able to find their way to more food. They will inadvertently destroy themselves and the entire flock because they don't know how to make it to the greener pastures alone. Just like us.

Did you know that sheep can recognize their shepherds voice? It's true. Shepherds talk to their sheep. This make look a little insane to the outsider, but when sheep get intermingled with another flock, a shepherd can call his flock and they will come to his voice. How do they know his voice? He speaks. And they listen.

However, there are a few times when sheep do not listen to the voice of their shepherd. Why? Sometimes they are new to the flock, sometimes they have not been listening to him along the way, and sometimes they are just stubborn. Do you know what shepherds do to get their sheep to listen to their voice? Ready for this one? They will break one of its legs. It's true. Now, PETA, don't go after shepherds just yet...keep reading. It is for their own good...seriously. Once the sheep has a broken leg, the shepherd commits himself to carrying that sheep everywhere they go and feeding it himself. He also nurses the sheep's wound back to health. The whole time the shepherd is cradling that sheep, he is talking to the sheep...you know...one to one. By the time the sheep is healthy and ready to rejoin the flock, it knows that shepherd's voice and is much more likely to listen. You see, it's had personal time with the shepherd and become very intimate with that shepherd's voice. It has felt the warmth of that shepherd's arms and the love in his voice. It has been fed by the hand of the shepherd. Trust is established, and love is secured. But before the sheep came to this conclusion, it had to have a leg broken. Now the sheep will listen to the shepherd, keeping itself out of danger and not mingling with the wrong herd.

So although those broken legs hurt, being wrapped in the arms of the Shepherd is truly a bonding experience like no other. And in the end, we do recognize His voice more clearly. We are less likely to get involved in the wrong flock. We are less likely to fall down a mountainside that the Shepherd was warning us about.

We hear His voice and we know Him and follow Him.

Photo credit: Reza Vaziri

Top 10 Predictions After the Election

No, I'm not getting all political on you here, but I got this email and wanted to share it with you.

TOP 10 PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed teaching and healing.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost.

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CONTROL?!!!!

Learning to Pray as a Child

Last Thursday we took our son, Patrick, to one of the playground areas in our neighborhood. All three of us were climbing around on the euqipment when suddenly something "bit" me. Then I realized that it wasn't a bite at all, but a sting...and I was being swarmed with bees. We quickly got off the equipment and got away from the swarm, but not without my being stung. Twice.

Luckily I'm not allergic to bee-type insects or their pointy stingers.

Fast forward to that evening when Patrick still had the bees stinging me on his mind.

When I say prayers with Patrick I ask him to think of 5 things to thank God for. The first three are always the same: Mommy, Daddy, & Patrick. The other two are always interesting, but that evening took the cake. The next item he was thankful for were "those bees at the park." The fifth thing he was thankful for: "for those bees stinging Mommy."

What?!

I was about to question him about that one, but I quickly held my tongue, deciding not to correct him. Who am I to tell him what to be thankful for?

...............................

Friday morning while doing my Bible study I had a stark realization--I needed to be more like our (almost) three-year-old in my prayer life. I should thank God for the bee stings.

When life is not going well. When life is painful. When life is not what we expected it to be. We should thank God.

We don't know what His plans are. We cannot see the horizon as He can. However, we can trust that He is in control and faithful to never leave us.

And we can thank God.

Photo credit: Scyza