Choose Life

I was a Senior in High School when Roe v. Wade became  the legal framework for abortion in the United States.  It was not until my Senior year of college - while at a seminar on the decline of Western Civilization led by Francis Schaeffer - that I first heard a compelling analysis of the culture of death that Roe v. Wade reflected.

I have spent most of the 35 years since then as a pastor in a local church setting.  I have sat, listened and counseled with a number of women who were considering abortion, and a much larger number of women who, at some point in their lives, had decided to have an abortion.

One thing stands out as I listened to all those stories.  All of the women who decided to get an abortion did so because they felt they had no other choice.

Resources for Your Prayer Life

Cultivating a prayer fruitful life requires more than collecting lists and forms for prayer.  At it's core, prayer is a conversation between the Heavenly Father and His child.  When I look for resources to encourage my own prayer life or to share with others, that is the goal I have in mind.  Does this resource cultivate conversation?  Or does it replace conversation? 

Here are some specific suggestions.

No Wonder The World Is Confused!

Perhaps you heard me scream Sunday night.  A recent article in USA Today entitled "Evangelicals May Face Choice: Electable Candidate Or 'Moral' One" completely misrepresented the nature of grace.  Unfortunately, the misrepresentation was by an "evangelical" spokesman for a political advocacy group.  USA Today simply quoted him correctly.  Here's the offending statement:

My Devotional "System" for 2012

Whether it is getting up in the morning and getting the kids to school, getting the bills paid on time or getting regular exercise, everyone I know benefits from having a plan or system for taking care of the routine needs of our life.  It's the same for the devotional life:  Here too, I benefit from a system for regular Bible reading and prayer.

As part of our Covenant Renewal focus for January,  we'll be talking about growing our life in areas of spiritual discipline like Bible reading, prayer, service and the like.  But I won't talk a lot during that time  about systems for doing those things.  That's because I know that while a heart that is seeking God can benefit from a system for regular spiritual disciplines, no system of spiritual discipline can overcome a heart that is distracted.  We'll be preaching to the heart in January because that is where the real need is and that is where the Gospel of grace changes us.

Still, systems have their place.  So I thought I'd share mine for those that might be interested.  Let me begin by saying that my system is helpful for me, but I suspect it may not be helpful for most people.  People are different.  I'm a task-oriented, tech-friendly, driven sort of guy.  You can see that in my system.  Different people will need different systems that fit their own needs, habits and goals.  I'd rather have a conversation with you about what works for you than squeeze you into my system, but I'm happy to share where my heart is finding strength each day.