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May 2012 M T W T F S S « Feb 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Archives
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Jesus Culture – One Thing Remains
After a controversial post it’s time for some worship.
Posted in Videos
Susan G Komen vs. Planned Parenthood
My first media frenzy motivated post.
The news that the Susan G. Komen Foundation has cut funding to Planned Parenthood has hit the airwaves, the news medias and social media like an atomic bomb. People are outraged that funding for low income women in need of mammograms and breast cancer screenings will not be able to get them from their local Planned Parenthood agency. These same people should have been outraged about this long before the Susan G. Komen Foundation cut the funding because Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms or breast cancer screenings. Watch this video that was posted March 29, 2011:
LifeNews has more:
During a conference call with reporters this afternoon, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure CEO Nancy Brinker and President Elizabeth Thompson revealed the main reason why the Planned Parenthood abortion business lost its funding. It doesn’t do mammograms.
“It was nothing they were doing wrong,” Brinker explained. “We have decided not to fund, wherever possible, pass-through grants. We were giving them money, they were sending women out for mammograms. What we would like to have are clinics where we can directly fund mammograms.”
She added, later in the day on Twitter:, saying the money “will be invested in programs to serve low-income, uninsured and underinsured women.”
“Our Board approved new grants standards to improve direct services to women,” she said. “New grants standards strive for grants that provide direct services and outcomes. We have to put metrics, outcomes and measures to our grants so we can translate the science we’ve funded over 30 yrs. We will continue to provide services to vulnerable populations with care, treatment and screening.”
“We’ve decided not to fund pass-through grants. What we would like is to have clinics where we can directly fund mammograms,” she added.
Planned Parenthood hasn’t lost a dime from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The moneys from SGK were pass-through grants. But, due to the Foundation cutting those pass-through grants, Planned Parenthood is reaping the benefits of the outpouring of rage over the cuts. Planned Parenthood supporters are giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to “replace” the grant money. Within a 24-hour period donations have poured into Planned Parenthood making up far more than the $680,000 grant lost from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I wonder who’s going to track all those donations to see if any of it goes for mammograms and breast cancer screenings? And, with that kind of money flowing in, why should Planned Parenthood set the record straight about their lack of mammogram machines?
update
Susan G. Komen Foundation has reversed its decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.
Additional reading
Dig Deeper: A Case to Defund Planned Parenthood – Analysis, Life Issues, Political/Citizenship | Cit
Want to Know What is Actually Happening with Komen vs. Planned Parenthood? | LifeSiteNews.com
You Should Find the Anti-Komen Backlash Disgusting, Even If You’re Pro-Choice
Will goes on to point out, correctly, that the Komen rescission has been a fundraising bonanza for PP, and is also likely to redound to Komen’s pecuniary benefit in the long-run. He might have added that, in the first instance, there was never going to be a net loss in funding for women’s health. Komen was retargeting the $680,000 they granted Planned Parenthood, not dousing it with kerosene and setting it alight.
Posted in In the News
The Spirit of Prayer
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26
In my January 17th blog post I wrote the following:
Are our prayers silenced because we think we need to use just the right words and sound eloquent in order for God to hear us? Romans 8:26-27 tells us that the Holy Spirit will help us pray when we have no words and can only utter groans.
“…True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.” C. H. Spurgeon
Since then I have encountered that scripture in Romans 8 at least once a day. Last night as my husband and I were reading devotions that scripture once again was cited. Finally, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me that I needed to take some time, examine that portion of Romans a little deeper and then write about it. It only took 14 days for me to get the message.
The most obvious point of Romans 8:26 is that the Holy Spirit helps us to pray when we know not what to pray. After the revelation last night that perhaps the Holy Spirit wanted me to write about this He demonstrated in a mighty way His desire and ability to help me pray.
During the holidays we went to a family gathering. As we were leaving I put my coat on, reached into my pocket and discovered that somebody had slipped a silver toned bracelet into my pocket. It is a sweet gift. I’m not positive as to who gave it to me but I suspect who it was. The person who I believe is the giver had been on my heart a lot. Unfortunately, the bracelet is too small for my wrist but it has resided in my coat pocket ever since. Every time I encounter it there I use it as a point of contact and a reminder to pray for this loved one. Most of the time I don’t know what to pray so I pray the usual blessings and thanksgivings for her life and family.
Last night, I again held that bracelet in my hands and prayed for her. This time, however, there was a deep groaning and urgency in my spirit for her. I didn’t know what to pray. I asked the Holy Spirit to help me. Nothing more happened right then. Later, was when we had devotions and, like I said, Romans 8:26 was again referred to.
Early this morning I woke up about an hour and half before the alarm went off. I looked at the clock and then went back to sleep. As I was sleeping I had a very vivid dream in which I was praying fervently for and with the giver of the bracelet. Part of the dream prayer involved me singing prayers over her. As I was surfacing to wakefulness the prayers were still proceeding out of my heart. I continued to pray for her as I lay awake waiting on the alarm. Even now, hours later, I can clearly remember what I was praying.
I am truly amazed at the way the Holy Spirit bypassed my own thoughts and prejudices to help me pray. His sweet presence throughout the dream and after I awoke left me with such a lightness of spirit. The heaviness I felt last night when I attempted to pray is gone. The Joy of the Lord has supplanted it. I pray that the object of those prayers is experiencing that same joy this morning.
Posted in Inspirational
Who’s your prayer partner?
Have you ever felt alone in your prayers? It feels like no matter how hard you try to pray, the words leave your lips and seem to just fall to the floor. Your attempts to touch the Father’s heart seem futile and weak. Sometimes what’s on our hearts is just too big for us to handle or even pray about. So, what do you do? You call or text someone who you just know has more prayer influence than you have. Perhaps you call your prayer warrior mother who has fought giants on her knees. Maybe you go to a friend or fellow church member who you can trust to pray and reach the heart of God. If it’s really big, you might even put in a call or send a message to your Pastor asking him to pray. Surely, God always hears the prayers of pastors?
All of those are good choices. But I’m here to tell you that you have someone with even more influence than all of those put together praying for you… all the time… even when you don’t know you need it.
Romans 8:26-28 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
Hebrews 7:24-25 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Jesus is praying for you right now. He prayed for you yesterday. He’ll be praying for you tomorrow. In fact, Jesus is praying for you constantly.
The 17th Chapter of John give us the opportunity to listen in on what Jesus is praying for us. As Jesus is preparing to face his darkest hours he prayed for his disciples. He prays for them to hear so that “they may have the full measure of [his] joy within them. ” (v. 13) Not only does Jesus pray for the disciples who were there with him, Jesus also prays for us.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message” (v. 20).
What does Jesus want so much for us that he prays to the Father for us to receive?
Jesus prays that we will be protected from the enemy. Jesus states that we are no longer of the world and as a result the world hates us.
The Lord prays that we will become truly sanctified through God’s word, the word of truth. Jesus, himself, was sanctified so that we may be sanctified.
Christ Jesus prays that we will become truly one with the Father, with himself and with all believers. Why? So that the world would know that the Father sent his Son Jesus to show his love.
Jesus prays that we will be with him in eternity and see his glory.
And, finally, in his prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus promises to continually make the Father known to us so that we would be filled with his love and that Jesus would live in us.
“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” (Robert Murray M’Cheyne)
The next time your prayers seem to fall from your lips to the floor, listen by the Holy Spirit and hear Jesus praying for you in the next room. Hear the heart of the Master. And then, lift up your voice and join in.
Posted in Inspirational
Quote on Faith
“If we are to be the Christ-like people of God we are called to be, then it will not happen through faith in a list of beliefs “alone”. It will only come about when the confession “Jesus is Lord” ceases to be merely a pleasant thought, and instead becomes a way of living and being in the world through which all of creation is oriented towards its Creator so that the kingdom of God begins to dawn “on earth as it is in heaven”. This is the sort of “faith” we are called to have.” – Zack Hunt
Posted in Other blogs
Prayer: There’s an App for That
Obviously, I’ve been thinking about prayer a lot lately. I want to write more about prayer but, naturally, I want it to be something new, something relevant to today, something that hasn’t been said thousands of times before by thousands of believers. As I was meditating on the subject of prayer and asking the Lord to help me, I began wondering if prayer is just too outdated for this hi-tech, instant messaging, Twitter culture. I thought, “Maybe we need a prayer app to bring prayer back into vogue.” Given my sometimes irreverent sense of humor I created the title for this blog post. Then it occurred to me that I had better check to see if there were prayer apps. I keyed “prayer app” into the search bar and, low and behold, I got a lot of hits for prayer apps. Who knew?
iTunes has PrayerJournal – Daily Prayer App For Christians which lets its users organize their prayer lists and give them reminders to pray. iTunes also has iPrayed which allows users to share their prayers using Twitter, Facebook, or Email. There are many other prayer apps available.
In 2009 a Sacramento teen, Allen Wright had an idea for an iPhone App named Note to God which he submitted to and was built by MEDL Mobile. Allen wrote,
“I think that there should be an app so that when you don’t have anyone you can talk to, you can write a note to God.”
In March of 2011, Allen Wright was struck by a hit and run driver which left him in a coma. Neurosurgeons at Mercy San Juan Medical Center said that he had only a 30 to 40 per cent chance of regaining consciousness. Allen’s father sent out a plea for people to pray for his son. Thousands all over the world began to pray for Allen. Eight days later Allen regained consciousness.
While we don’t need to use an app to have our prayers heard it is clear that God still hears our prayers and answers them–even electronic prayers. Our delivery may change but God never changes.
Genesis 35:3 We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”
Psalm 65:5 You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our savior. You are the hope of everyone on earth, even those who sail on distant seas.
James 5:13-16 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Read more:
Teen’s Recovery From Coma Described As Miraculous
Teen Inventor of ‘Note to God’ Prayer App Back-to-Normal After Life Threatening Hit-and-Run
Posted in Inspirational
What is so scary about praying?
In my previous post, I asked why is it so hard to pray when faced with challenges and issues in our life. That brought up for me another prayer issue that has been pestering at me for awhile now– What is so scary about praying?
Here’s the usual scenario:
“Who would like to pray to open our meeting?” Dead silence.
“Who would like to say grace?” Dead silence.
“Would someone like to volunteer to close us in prayer?” More dead silence.
The response is akin to asking for volunteers to scrape gum off the bottom of the pews — it’s a nasty job but somebody has to do it but it won’t be me if I can avoid it. I can understand that kind of reaction to gum-scraping but prayer is a privilege, right?
I understand that some people are shy or uncomfortable about speaking in front of people. But I truly believe that shyness is not the prevailing issue causing the lack of willing prayer volunteers. It certainly isn’t the issue around the dinner table when asking someone to pray results in a response of “I prayed last time, it’s your turn.” Saying grace has apparently been relegated to a shared chore much like washing the dishes or clearing the table.
E.M. Bounds said that prayer should not be regarded “as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.”
Do we actually see the beauty of prayer? Do we find it to be a delight? The answer is obviously a deafening “no”. Why? The only answer I can see is that we are seriously neglectful in developing and maintaining an intimate, loving relationship with Jesus Christ.
When teaching about prayer Jesus said in John 16:
23 At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. 24You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.
25 “I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. 26 Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God. 28 Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”
The more time we spend getting to know Jesus the more confidence we will have to pray, the more we will realize and experience the love of the Father, the greater our joy will be as we discover how much the Father loves us, and how willing God is to answer our prayers.
“Faith in a prayer-hearing God will make a prayer-loving Christian.” Andrew Murray
I am dreaming of the day when not only others but I, myself, will respond with enthusiasm and joy to the invitation to pray. Hm, maybe I should stop dreaming and just respond.