Prayer For Our Nation
Billy Graham’s Prayer For Our Nation
“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!”
Good Friday
Good Friday…I am sure on that first Good Friday, that the first followers of Jesus would have called it anything but Good. That first Good Friday would have been an extremely long, tough, discouraging, dark day.
You see these first followers who had followed Jesus for three years and had had such hope, such confidence and such anticipation of the exciting future that Jesus would bring to their world and to their individual lives. And yet on that Friday almost 2000 years ago they saw their dreams and hopes dashed. You see they hadn’t read the rest of the story, they didn’t know how this exciting historic story was going to unfold.
All they knew was this Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had learned to trust, was now hanging before their eyes…dead on a cross. What must have been going through their minds?
You see even as we read this painful description found in the Bible in the 19th Chapter of John, it is only natural to quickly want to turn to the 20th Chapter and read about the victory that came on Sunday. But for just a moment on this Good Friday, let’s imagine what it would have been like for the first believers in Christ to see the one whom they had come to believe was the Son of God, the Messiah, was now hanging on the cross seemingly defeated.
What feelings must have been rushing through their hearts? They must have been experiencing feelings of discouragement, defeat, and hopelessness? You see…its Friday and although Sunday is coming, they didn’t yet know it!
Isn’t that the way it is in our lives sometimes?
We experience a discouraging setback at work…or possibly lose that dream job and we feel discouragement and disappointment. It is Friday and although Sunday is coming, we don’t yet realize it!
We suffer another tough day in our personal life feeling defeated by that particular temptation, addiction or enslaving habit. We feel stupid, embarrassed, angry, and defeated! It is Friday and although Sunday is coming, we don’t yet realize it.
We experiencing a heartbreaking setback in a personal relationship in our lives…We walk out of court with the words “Divorce” echoing in our ears. We feel rejected, lonely and unloved. It is Friday and although Sunday is coming, we don’t yet realize it.
We hear a bad report from the doctor for ourselves, or a loved one. Our hearts race with fear, anxiety and uncertainty. It is Friday and although Sunday is coming, we don’t yet realize it.
We stand beside the grave of someone we love very much and we feel a deep loneliness and ache in our heart. It is Friday and although Sunday is coming, we don’t yet realize it.
It is in those moments that we feel the darkness of that first Good Friday!
It is in those moments that we need to take to heart the example of Jesus that is described in the Bible in the Book of Hebrews. In the 12th chapter of that encouraging book, Jesus is described as our champion who initiates and perfects our faith. We are reminded that as Jesus went to the cross he had the following focus: “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross.” That was an incredible focus!
Corrie ten Boom, who suffered in a Nazi death camp, explained the power of focus: “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ you’ll be at rest!”
…This morning as we allow ourselves to feel the darkness that those first believers must have felt, let’s focus our thoughts on the fact that…Yes at times in life, the candle might have been blown out temporarily, but it will shine again very, very soon! You see…it is Friday, but Easter Sunday is coming! Let’s take a moment now and reflect on what they must have felt and the reminder that no matter what we might be going through in our lives…It is Friday, but Easter Sunday is coming!
Author Unknown
Taking a Closer Look…
I’ve got another great read from my buddy Tim. Enjoy.
Taking a Closer Look… by Tim Burkholder
NOT LONG AGO I ENJOYED BREAKFAST with a fine gentleman from across town. Over coffee and corned-beef hash, this information-technologist-turned-pastor recounted his transition from the IT industry into full-time ministry, and the joys and struggles along his journey.
Clearly at a high point in his career, he was an integral part of a technology-based company that, in his eyes, was on the cusp of becoming a multi-million dollar venture - but for one thing. It wasn’t a lack of vision or drive; it was what some might call micromanaging, and what I’ve come to see as shortsighted selfishness. Understandably, since this company was the president’s baby, he wanted to be a part of everything - he put his hand on every product, he controlled every decision. Feeling that the company’s success was being hampered by the president’s leadership, my coffee companion saw no alternative but to seek employment elsewhere. Essentially, the company’s growth was limited by one man’s inability to let go of his desire to be important.
The uncomfortable reality is that I too seem to have a natural inclination toward shortsighted selfishness. Too o?en, I have the urge to “fix” people who are different from me or try to make them more like me. Naturally we see others through our own self-lens, and this can have many different effects. Sometimes we want others to think the same way we do or have a personality similar to our own. Other times we want people to make the same decisions we would, or possibly even to make the decision for them. How many times have you said, “I don’t understand how they could do something like that?” Occasionally, and unfortunately, we can even become forceful, controlling, or manipulative.
This is not the way it was meant to be. When we attempt to make people more like us, we destroy fellowship.
On the flip side, I love to be around people who realize it isn’t about them and who aren’t consumed with themselves. They’re comfortable with who God has made them, and they desire to lead others on that journey of discovery. They epitomize servant leadership by equipping those around them to recognize their strengths and utilize them. Instead of controlling, they are capacitating. Instead of micromanaging, they are mentoring. In the second chapter of Philippians, Paul gives us a powerful image of selfless service. The Message translates it this way: “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death - and the worst kind of death at that - a crucifixion.”
Instead of becoming preoccupied with self, we can look to Jesus and serve those around us. How freeing that we don’t have to make others think and act like us! Christ’s example shows us that the less we make life about us, the better it is for us - and for those around us. We can encourage our friends and family members to be confident in who God has made them. By serving others in this way, we can help them realize their unique identity - that they are loved infinitely by their Creator. We have the great opportunity to create a community that is increasingly more like Christ.
Think about the uninspiring dullness of a monochromatic world. Imagine a lifeless place where anyone has the power to make everyone else identical to him or herself. Thankfully, God’s design is something very different: a colorful, varied mosaic. The beauty of the mosaic is that each little piece, though significantly different from the others, is integral to the larger picture. Every prismatic piece is a part of something beautiful. I think it’s time I traded in my shortsighted spectacles for a chance to step back and experience the full mosaic. How about you?
All of Life…a Trade?
I came accross this article that my good friend Tim Burkholder wrote. Smart man, Tim is. That’s probably why I was able to get through college…ha ha. Anyways, I hope you find it as intriguing as I did.
All of Life…a Trade? By Tim Burkholder
IT WAS SIX WEEKS BEFORE the sessions with my career counselor provided anything tangible. “You’ll never be able to accomplish what you want, in the manner you want,” the counselor said to me, a confused freshman. “Life is a series of seasons, and you will have to choose wisely the things you desire during each season.” My counselor then pulled a note card out of his desk drawer and quickly scribbled some words down. He handed me the card and verbalized the words on it: ‘All of Life is a Trade,’ he said. At the time, I just scoffed at this man who was three times my age and in youthful naïveté, knew I could accomplish anything I wanted.
Truth can sometimes be a funny thing. Jesus says (in John 8:32) that “truth contains the power to set you free.” The converse of that implies that untruth holds the power to shackle us. At the time I was meeting with my counselor, I would have said that lies are the untruth that enslave us; little did I know that a small piece of paper set me off on a journey to prove that hypothesis to be only half true.
Over the next several years, that note card sat on my desk and those six words unknowingly became my credo. Aſter all, the man was a nationally esteemed professional counselor, how could he lead me astray? All of life is a trade. This message rooted so deeply in my mind that every decision I encountered soon passed through a personal economics filter; complete with supply and demand curves, opportunity cost calculations, and risk mitigation strategies. Every decision became an automatic, deliberate choice against every other possibility. Ordering pizza meant not eating burgers or barbeque. Dating Sarah forfeited the opportunity to know Jessica or Jill. A degree in engineering was a choice against literature, arts, and education.
“Choose wisely,” my counselor had said, and the words echoed through the caverns of a young mind searching for truth in the strangest of places. “Life is a series of seasons,” he said and the fall leaves of my life fell. With winter came an inability to make decisions. I was paralyzed by the fear of the unknown, and afraid of missing out on God’s best by choosing instead something just good.
Lies are not the only untruths that ensnare us. Potentially more destructive and harder to spot, half-truths can be just as devastating as outright lies. I recall hearing a speaker a few years ago talk of a half-truth some of Christ’s followers met when reading the truth of (Romans 3:23) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The problem is not that this is untrue, but that it is not a complete thought. We tend to place a period at the end of that statement, and then miss the point, quite literally. The end of that verse is not a period at all, but a comma. It is absolutely true that we are sinners and we fall short of the glory of God. However, that is not the whole truth. We are sinners, comma, “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). There is not much hope if we miss the second half of that truth.
That is exactly the problem with a half-truth. It is believable. It is hopeless. It is easy to recognize we are sinners, short of the glory of God, and to continue becoming enslaved in our sin. However, we are not simply sinners. The whole truth is that we were once sinners and we are being transformed into saints through the power of Christ’s redemption. We are justified freely, and the full truth of that sets us free.
While my counselor’s six words of advice may have been somewhat true, they are absolutely not the whole truth. Life as a series of tradeoffs is not freeing. If we only make correct decisions, then there is no room for mistakes, for failure or for risk. However, there is also no room for grace. We were not created to be paralyzed by the fear of mistakes and wrong decisions, but to embrace the mystery of the unknown, the wonders of the truth and the grace of the gospel. Life may be a trade, but grace is always there alongside us.
As I ripped up the half-truth on the 3×5 note card, I tried to think of what words might replace the ones that had held me in captivity for so long. Perhaps all of life is a giſt, or maybe even an adventure. It certainly is a mystery. Who would ever think that a true statement could be as harmful as a lie? Jesus holds the truth that sets us free. Be cautious of truth that doesn’t lead to life. If the truth you believe is enslaving, take a closer look. Chances are, there is a second half to that truth which incorporates the Grace and Redemption of our Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace.