Monday, October 31, 2011

Praying Together on Monday...


I praise God for these morning when I am alone with YOU, where you can speak to my heart and I can respond to yours. 

Today, R. T. Kendall writes: The Value of Loneliness

After he has dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 
Matthew 14:23

Loneliness isn't for nothing. If you are in a situation of enforced solitude, there is a reason. God does not send the thorn in the flesh for nothing. Moreover, it is not punishment. Don't say, "Oh, I am getting my dues!" Wrong! 

God got even at the cross. The thorn in the flesh is preparation. We all need preparation in some way. Part of my own preparation has been learning to cope with loneliness. 

There is loneliness in leadership. Every church leader knows the pain of having to make unpopular decisions, the pain of not getting very close to those you minister to, the pain of treating everybody the same. The loneliness of leadership is part of the job. 

But there are advantages to loneliness. For example, you have time to pray; you may never have such time again. One reason for enforced solitude is that God wants you all to Himself. He loves your company, and you could be lamenting the very thing that He has designed in order to have your company. 

This is your moment to develop two things: (1) to become an intercessor, where you start praying for people, and (2) to get to know God with an intimacy beyond anything that you dreamed possible. 

Another value of loneliness is to make you sympathetic towards others. That is one of the main purposes of any trial. As Paul put it, "And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort" (2 Cor. 1:17). It produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings. You will be able to sympathize, and you will be able to identify with another person. Pray you will never forget what it was like, should this thorn be withdrawn from your flesh. 
(Excerpted from The Thorn in the Flesh (Charisma House 2004) 

Abba, 
today I thank you for loneliness, these moments and times when I feel so very much alone, abandoned etc. Thank You For What???
Yet, it is your Spirit that comforts me in knowing I am not alone, "...for thou art with me..." With me how? When no one seems to notice or for that matter care, your voice whispers, "I am here, I am near, fear not!" I sometimes wish you'd SHOUT, and make yourself heard above the noise and loneliness of my life. 

Yet, I thank you for R. T.'s words today, You call me to be a leader, and it is often an lonely job. I feel forced to make decisions I rather wish I could avoid, to do work I wasn't trained for, so Help me here as well. I thank you for making me aware of my need to spend time alone with you. My life is so filled with administrative tasks, that I almost forget the real purpose you me into ministry, to be your voice and bring your Word to this generation. It is your desire that i have an intimate relationship with you, Lord you know I'm not that crazy about that term. I almost wish you'f 'muscle' your way in, at least I could say "you made me do it!" but you want to love me and that I can know the gentle love of my Abba, (Father). 

Without this loneliness, I would not seek you, long for you or chase after you, nor care to be an intercessor. So here I am, Just me and you Jesus, I need to get away from rush of the 'madding crowd;' but I haven't yet learned, you're not often found in the crowd, but in the desert, valley and yes even the rough side of the mountain. Jesus, I may be lonely, but I am not or never alone. Thank you for your purpose, for sharing and showing me, "the value of loneliness." 

In your matchless Name I pray. AMEN!!!
--
T.A.B.

Friday, October 28, 2011

The God of Bethel Sees and Speaks

 (10/28/11)
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land. Genesis 31:13

There are things about you that only God knows. You have told nobody, but God has a way of getting inside your heart with a single word. This is the way He conquers the hardest heart and the greatest skeptic with a closed spirit.

Nobody but Jacob knew about Bethel. Bethel was the place so special to Jacob, and God knew exactly what to say. Jacob was so discouraged; he felt he had nothing to live for. And then God turned up with these words: “I am the God of Bethel.” God could have introduced Himself by saying, I am the God of your father, I am the God of Abraham, I am the God of Isaac.” But He chose to introduce Himself in such a way that Jacob knew it was the true God.

You may ask why Jacob waited twenty years to hear these words. I can’t explain God’s timing, but I know it is perfect. God sees the end from the beginning, but he knows we want answers now. It must hurt Him to see our pain, and He longs for the moment He can speak to us. But it will be at the time when it is best for us, and when He finally steps in, we will have no complaints.

It could be that you are struggling with a situation that is very painful, and you ask, “Lord, can you see what they are doing?” You may think you cannot go on because of the pressure you are under. But the God of Bethel is the God who sees. Her knows what you are feeling. He sees what they are doing.

God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). The god of Bethel will speak, and he will withhold nothing from you that is good.
Excerpted from All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

WAITING ON VINDICATION - R. T. Kendall

Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child: burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor. Isaiah 54:1

Isaiah could say that about one who longed for a special touch, a breakthrough, or vindication, and that’s god’s word for you. Do not be afraid. You will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace. You will not be humiliated.

In ancient times barrenness was regarded as a sign of God’s disapproval. Rachel believed her inability to conceive and the withholding of vindication meant that God did not approve of her.

Perhaps you are blaming yourself for what you don’t have. You keep thinking, What have I done wrong? What can I do? The truth is that God is sovereign. He can do what he pleases, with whom he pleases, when He pleases. This is His word for you. The day came when God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb.

There is a possibility that God wants to do something for you in the future that will make it seem that what you have now is nothing in comparison.

Rachel’s first son was the future prime minister of Egypt, although she wouldn’t live to see it. She named him Joseph because she wanted another baby. Indeed, God gave her another son, Benjamin. She couldn’t have known how strategic he would be. Paul said, “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day…of the house of Benjamin” (Phil. 3:4). What Rachel finally received was worth waiting for. To this very hour we all benefit from it, for it was Paul who took the gospel to the Gentiles.

We should see that her vindication was the result of prayer. The Bible says that God remembered Rachel. He listened to her. This means she had been praying. She needed and wanted something only God could do.

Have you settled for a premature, shallow vindication? God has your vindication scheduled too. He has a plan for you, and it’s far greater than the thing you thought would give you satisfaction.
Excerpted from All’s Well that Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005)

Abba, I thank you for this word for me today! AMEN!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Life Aboard the Fellow-Ship

Once again I find this article coming back to mind. I hope you find it as troubling and blessings as I do. Love ya, T.A.B. 

Life Aboard the Fellow-Ship

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do.
ROMANS 14:1 MSG
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ROMANS 15:7 NIV
Grace makes three proclamations:
First, only God can forgive my godlessness. “Only God can forgive sins” (Mark 2:7). Dealing with my sins is God’s responsibility. I repent, I confess, but only God can forgive. (And he does.)
Second, only God can judge my neighbor. “You cannot judge another person’s servant. The master decides if the servant is doing well or not” (Rom. 14:4). Dealing with my neighbor is God’s responsibility. I must speak; I must pray. But only God can convince. (And he does.)
Third, I must accept who God accepts. “Christ accepted you, so you should accept each other, which will bring glory to God” (Rom. 15:7). God loves me and makes me his child. God loves my neighbor and makes him my brother. My privilege is to complete the triangle, to close the circuit by loving who God loves.
Easier said than done. “To live above with those we love, oh, how that will be glory. To live below with those we know, now that’s another story.” Best I can figure the situation reads something like this…
Rocking the Boat
God has enlisted us in his navy and placed us on his ship. The boat has one purpose — to carry us safely to the other shore.
This is no cruise ship; it’s a battleship. We aren’t called to a life of leisure; we are called to a life of service. Each of us has a different task. Some, concerned with those who are drowning, are snatching people from the water. Others are occupied with the enemy, so they man the cannons of prayer and worship. Still others devote themselves to the crew, feeding and training the crew members.
Though different, we are the same. Each can tell of a personal encounter with the captain, for each has received a personal call. He found us among the shanties of the seaport and invited us to follow him. Our faith was born at the sight of his fondness, and so we went.
We each followed him across the gangplank of his grace onto the same boat. There is one captain and one destination. Though the battle is fierce, the boat is safe, for our captain is God. The ship will not sink. For that, there is no concern.
There is concern, however, regarding the disharmony of the crew. When we first boarded we assumed the crew was made up of others like us. But as we’ve wandered these decks, we’ve encountered curious converts with curious appearances. Some wear uniforms we’ve never seen, sporting styles we’ve never witnessed. “Why do you look the way you do?” we ask them.
“Funny,” they reply. “We were about to ask the same of you.”
The variety of dress is not nearly as disturbing as the plethora of opinions. There is a group, for example, who clusters every morning for serious study. They promote rigid discipline and somber expressions. “Serving the captain is serious business,” they explain. It’s no coincidence that they tend to congregate around the stern.
There is another regiment deeply devoted to prayer. Not only do they believe in prayer, they believe in prayer by kneeling. For that reason you always know where to locate them; they are at the bow of the ship.
And then there are a few who staunchly believe real wine should be used in the Lord’s Supper. You’ll find them on the port side.
Still another group has positioned themselves near the engine. They spend hours examining the nuts and bolts of the boat. They’ve been known to go below deck and not come up for days. They are occasionally criticized by those who linger on the top deck, feeling the wind in their hair and the sun on their face. “It’s not what you learn,” those topside argue. “It’s what you feel that matters.”
And, oh, how we tend to cluster.
Some think once you’re on the boat, you can’t get off. Others say you’d be foolish to go overboard, but the choice is yours.
Some believe you volunteer for service; others believe you were destined for the service before the ship was even built.
Some predict a storm of great tribulation will strike before we dock; others say it won’t hit until we are safely ashore.
There are those who speak to the captain in a personal language. There are those who think such languages are extinct.
There are those who think the officers should wear robes, there are those who think there should be no officers at all, and there are those who think we are all officers and should all wear robes.
And, oh, how we tend to cluster.
And then there is the issue of the weekly meeting at which the captain is thanked and his words are read. All agree on its importance, but few agree on its nature. Some want it loud, others quiet. Some want ritual, others spontaneity. Some want to celebrate so they can meditate; others meditate so they can celebrate. Some want a meeting for those who’ve gone overboard. Others want to reach those overboard but without going overboard and neglecting those on board.
And, oh, how we tend to cluster.
The consequence is a rocky boat. There is trouble on deck. Fights have broken out. Sailors have refused to speak to each other. There have even been times when one group refused to acknowledge the presence of others on the ship. Most tragically, some adrift at sea have chosen not to board the boat because of the quarreling of the sailors.
“What do we do?” we’d like to ask the captain. “How can there be harmony on the ship?” We don’t have to go far to find the answer.
On the last night of his life Jesus prayed a prayer that stands as a citadel for all Christians:
I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching. Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me. (John 17:20)
How precious are these words. Jesus, knowing the end is near, prays one final time for his followers. Striking, isn’t it, that he prayed not for their success, their safety, or their happiness.
He prayed for their unity. He prayed that they would love each other.
As he prayed for them, he also prayed for “those who will believe because of their teaching.” That means us! In his last prayer Jesus prayed that you and I be one.

The Command of Acceptance
Of all the lessons we can draw from this verse, don’t miss the most important: Unity matters to God. The Father does not want his kids to squabble. Disunity disturbs him. Why? Because “all people will know that you are my followers if you love each other” (John 13:35). Unity creates belief. How will the world believe that Jesus was sent by God? Not if we agree with each other. Not if we solve every controversy. Not if we are unanimous on each vote. Not if we never make a doctrinal error. But if we love one another.
Unity creates belief. Disunity fosters disbelief. Who wants to board a ship of bickering sailors? Life on the ocean may be rough, but at least the waves don’t call us names.
Paul Billheimer may very well be right when he says:
“The continuous and widespread fragmentation of the Church has been the scandal of the ages. It has been Satan’s master strategy. The sin of disunity probably has caused more souls to be lost than all other sins combined.”2
“All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.” Stop and think about this verse for a minute. Could it be that unity is the key to reaching the world for Christ?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

A response to this mornings devotional...

The Proof of Conversion (October 20, 2011)

There are many women who are angry with god because they feel He did not give them good looks, and men find them unattractive. Perhaps you feel this way, Let me ask you a question: So you wish you looked different, that you were better-looking than you are? I suppose we all wish that. But maybe, one day, when we get to heaven, we’ll see it was a particular kindness, which we couldn’t see at the time, that god made us just as we are. Do you know what God wants to achieve in you and me? He wants us to come to terms with our looks, with our gifts, with our limitations, with our place in society, with our parents, with the way we’ve been treated, and to learn to like ourselves like that. One of the greatest evidences of grace is that we like ourselves just as we are.

The proof of conversion is that you see through to the true God and don’t let circumstances divert you. I have often been amazed how black people in the deep South ever became saved when I consider how badly their masters treated them. Yet they heard talk of heaven and knew one day they were going there, where they would be out of their misery. They could identify with that. That’s why they were converted. God has a way of getting us past our circumstances. No matter how dreadful our experiences might have been, God has a way of reaching us, and the most unlikely person can be the most glorious convert. The experiences that may have caused us to feel the deepest bitterness can turn out to be our salvation. God has designed all things to get us to look to Him.
R. T. Kendall – Excerpted from: All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005)

My Response:
Abba, I must begin with confession (again;) I have not been pleased with how you made me. You’re not surprised by this are you? Then again, I haven’t worked well with what you did give me, either. You made me as you have for a reason, and today I say, THANK YOU! Maybe one day in heaven I will be all I wish I were, but for today, I thank you. I may not be fully aware of what you want to achieve in me, but I want to permit you to do your best work in me. Help me to begin to, yes come to terms with, my looks, gifts and yes, my limitations, even my place in society. I thank you for my parents, Paul and Evenly burns; for how I have been treated, (and those like me.) Help me to like myself as I am, and not as I wish I were. Thank you for teaching me to like myself as I am, and not as someone I wish I were. Grant me grace to be the person you meant me to be.

I thank you for the gifts you’ve given me, to care for others, it matters not who they are, their place or position, thank you for allowing me to reach out to them as a demonstration of your love to someone who might otherwise be considered a stranger. You have time and time again, allowed me to see them as they are, and show your love and care for them, by offering nothing more than friendship. Grant me grace to accept the fact that not everyone won’t see this as a good gift. Help me not to be diverted from giving love and concern for them.

I thank you for making me as you have, forgive me for those moments when I would like to be someone else. I have allowed the culture to say to me, “if only, if only I were…” Thank you for your portion to me. Help me to love without purpose or desire for it to be returned, to give without thought of getting, of caring without the demand for reward.

I thank you for your ability to get past my circumstances, you had a lot of work to do here, but thank you. May I see you in the difficult places and moments s my life; may I be do filled with your love that those I meet may know of your care for them. “O drive these dark clouds from the sky, Thy soul cheering presence restore…”

I love you Jesus for loving me, and converting me in your likeness, a little more each day. You are cleansing me from the bitterness of hatred and self loathing I have so often felt. I thank you for doing your bet work in me. AMEN!

A Great old Hymn with very deep meaning for me this morning...

How tedious and tasteless the hours 
John Newton, the well-known converted slave-trader who authored "Amazing Grace," also wrote this little-known hymn. It expresses the centrality of communion with Christ to the Christian's joy. I grew up singing this song, but it was years before the lyrics hit home. Read, meditate, and be moved to seek Christ as your all. (Unknown)

How tedious and tasteless the hours
When Jesus I no longer see;
Sweet prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers,
Have all lost their sweetness to me;
The midsummer sun shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay.
But when I am happy in Him,
December’s as pleasant as May.

His Name yields the richest perfume,
And sweeter than music His voice;
His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice.
I should, were He always thus nigh,
Have nothing to wish or to fear;
No mortal as happy as I,
My summer would last all the year.

Content with beholding His face,
My all to His pleasure resigned,
No changes of season or place
Would make any change in my mind:
While blessed with a sense of His love,
A palace a toy would appear;
All prisons would palaces prove,
If Jesus would dwell with me there.

Dear Lord, if indeed I am Thine,
If Thou art my sun and my song,
Say, why do I languish and pine?
And why are my winters so long?
O drive these dark clouds from the sky,
Thy soul cheering presence restore;
Or take me to Thee up on high,
Where winter and clouds are no more.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Thank you Pastor...

Pastor,
I thank you for being there and sharing God's Word with me and those I love
Thank you for preparing yourself in study and prayer before sharing the Word with us
thank you for sharing yourself with me and us daily
Thank you for the gift of love you and your family share with us
Thank you for that hospital visit
Thank you for standing with me at the funeral home of a family member who isn't a member of our church
Thank you for listening, as I try to explain what I don't understand myself
Thank you for opportunities to share in the ministry
Thank you for your teaching
Thank you encouraging me when I needed it
Thank you for hanging with the young people when you didn't have too
Thank you for not forgetting me as I got older and my steps were slower
Thank you for staying among us, and never let us forget our value
Thank you for that time when...
Thank you for laughing at my dumb jokes
Thank you for showing me the way to Jesus
Thank you for accepting me and welcoming back when I've fallen
Thank you for being a friend long before Face Book came along
Thank you for blessing and loving my children
Thank you for loving me when I was a child
Thank you for being my pastor.

I have a friend who is writer and poet, she wrote...


LOVED

I am loved
Oh yes, I am LOVED!
From the top of my head
To the tips of my feet
Inside and out
From eternity past 
To eternity future
On my good days
And my bad
By One
Who knows 
And sees it ALL
Can't even pretend with Him
Don't even want to
'Cause it feels so good
To just be
Knowing His love
Doesn't depend
On how good I look
Or how well I perform
Because He IS Love
The very definition 
The Source
From which all other loves flow
So I bask in it
This never-ending Sun
Warming my very soul

Did He give me roses today?
Did He give me roses?!!
He gave me the endless ocean, 
The blue sky
Fields of grass
Fifty different kinds of palm trees
Birds with wings spread before me
The soft breeze flowing through everything
Oooh yes!  I am LOVED!
I don't have to wonder
There is no doubt, no fear
Nothing that can take
This love away
In it I feel...
So good
Secure
Free
Can't stop smiling
Just might do a little dance
Joy spilling over
Don't be jealous
You can join me
There's nothing like this
Tastes so sweet
I know you're thirsty
Take a deep drink
Aaah...feels so good
To KNOW that I'm LOVED.
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A response from the heart...

The Unloved Woman

When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “what is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I?” Genesis 29:25

Leah, Jacob’s first wife, not his choice and not part of his plans, can be seen in the bible as the unloved woman. Perhaps she was unloved by everybody. Jacob didn’t love her. She was plain, and Jacob never pretended to notice Leah. So we see Leah was unloved by her father, because no father would have treated his daughter like that if he cared about the way she felt. Leah was manipulated and controlled by an uncaring father. Can you identify with that?

So why is this story relevant? It is especially relevant to any woman who feels unloved. It could be because of an unhappy relationship with her father. You have felt unloved as long as you can remember because you haven’t known a father love. Perhaps you feel unloved because of an unhappy relationship with a brother or a sister. It could be you feel unloved of a husband or because of another man who hurt you and rejected you. My word to you is this: God cares about that. Furthermore, this story is relevant not only to woman, but also to any man, any husband, any father. If you have been insensitive to a woman’s feelings and have underestimated the hurt she feels by her rejection, you may come to appreciate the depth of her pain.

We are all different, and because we do not share the same problems and weaknesses, we may feel it is hard to find someone else who will understand how we feel. The point is that God sees and understands, and to prove it, He sent His Son into the world, who lived on this earth, tempted at every point just as we are, yet He was without sin. And even if no one else understands, Jesus will understand completely. Do you know we can talk to Him and tell Him just what we’re feeling? No one ever cared for us like Jesus.
Excerpted from All’s Well that Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005)

My Response to today’s devotional
Abba, first let me thank you for your Father love to me. Today I know this. For so very long I didn’t,… I rarely felt it from my dad, but you gave me or sent me those men to love me; Uncle Richard Allen Burns, Bishop W. W. Smith, Dr. Hylton L. James, these three and more, I thank you for.

You are my ideal father, your love and embrace I long for. May I learn how to do this for our girls, yes, even now; and for those you bless me to be a part of their lives, may I be that to them in your name and by your spirit.

For those men and women who are unloved, because they are too ‘plain, or ordinary, not too intelligent, or even not too beautiful” they too are longing to be loved, may I be one of those who by your spirit becomes a ‘spiritual father’ and friend as these men were to me. For those like Leah who feel unloved, be there Jesus, (I know you are,) but may they ‘feel’ your presence and be reminded of your love for them.

For those of us who even now feel rejected by society by those we’ve known or met, because of our race, class or education status, position in society, that we too may we know we are embraced by you and those who love you. While we love and serve the poor and unloved, as we work and try so very hard and are ‘walked over’ as if we don’t exist, give us courage and grace to love one more day in your name.

 I confess that I too have been insensitive to my family, trying to care for those in ministry, forgive me. It matters not what ‘the world’ thinks of me, when they lie broken in their hearts because of what I felt called to do. I can’t know their pain.

Oh how good we have become at covering our pain of being a Leah, the unwanted one, the rejected. Oh, the pain our heart feels. Help me to draw close to you and to them where possible, help me repair some of the damage. Where not, you be their loving, caring embracing father, lover and friend in a very real way.

Abba, you get me and us. You love me, as I am and where I am; you won’t leave me alone here forever. I may be ‘an outsider, or the other,’ to some, but not to you. Unloved perhaps by those who are so very much like me without knowing it, yet by you, Abba, because of Jesus, you love me in ways I’m just finding out, and yes, feeling. I am important to you. Have I forgotten who you are? You are God, the creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus, you not only know about me, you became like me. Not only to save me from sin, but to walk with me through every pain and empty moment of my life.

The words, thank you are so few but filled with real meaning and joy. Help me to pass on your grace, love and mercy to these the unloved that I meet each day. May I be so much like you, that they see and sense you, present in this and other moments, Jesus it’s not me but you.

Thank you for loving me, the unloved, unappreciated, under-valued, ordinary looking, not so smart or handy. Thank you for a love I not only know but feel (sense) as well. I love you Abba, because you started it first, I only hope to be as much as you want and will me to be. AMEN!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A response to Experimental Faith...

Experimental Faith

Hebrews 11 two four by it the elder's obtained a good report the vast possibilities of faith described in Hebrews 11, then, on derived from experimental faith. Why call it won't, experimental."? Because it is a word that not only implies our experience, but also invites being tested at the empirical level. The Marvel of faith is that it derives its strength from believing God without the evidence of things “seen” but produces works that are clearly visible to anybody who cares to observe.

The question of order is at stake in Hebrews 11:2. if we fail to see the nature of faith, as it is indicated in this profound verse, old the folks in Hebrews 11 will need much less to us. The right to simply says that by faith the people “obtained witness" (v.4, KJV) It is to be seen that they produce the witness, not vice versa. The things that they did, then, are not what produced the faith; what they did came as a result of their faith. The us, by believing and not see, a great many things happen. But they are doing these things did not earn them salvation. They were not trying to earn salvation-the opposite is true-it is because they were already assured of God's integrity and faith oneness that they accomplished what they did.

Yet, if walls experimental Faith, not saving faith, that produced the commendation. Saving faith is in the tangible; experimental Faith is tangible. Hebrews 11 contains one graphic demonstration after another of what one can do experimentally if one already feels accepted by God. God motivates men, by accepting them. Our wills are not set free to ask for unlimited possibilities through faith unto a hot our first persuaded that God loves us. In short, saving faith must calm before experimental faith.

So by saying that faith obtains a good report, our writer shows that what is at first saving faith should become an experimental faith. For the things that experimental faith demonstrates are not accomplished with a view to proving to ourselves that we are saved; we should already know that and be beyond the need for that assurance. Nevertheless, a good report gives proof that saving faith is there.

R. T. Kendall – Excerpted from Believing God – Morning Star Publications & Ministries, 1997

My Response:
Abba, grant that I would have experimental faith. I thank you for your saving faith, where you have redeemed me by your blood on the cross; now to accomplish what you wish and want I must move into another place, that of experimental faith. A faith that moves beyond what I can see or even hope for. That experiement where all things are possible to him who believes; a place where what you want of me becomes reality, bit by bit, piece by piece, day by day.

What these believers accomplished and over-came, are the result of trusting you to do what you asked of them, by faith. No not trail and error, but following your leading, where there was nothing for them to believe, except your Word; pomises and directions that would have seemed impossible, when they looked at what you wanted. Why many of them never saw the compilation of your promise in their life-times. But you are faithful, ever so faithful.

I thank you for the intangible faith and now by your grace, the tangible will come forth. If the idea(s) are from you, “…all things are possible.” My hesitation isn’t in or about you, it’s me Jesus. Anything you ask of us, would often seem impossible or at least, highly improbable. I like your servant Moses wonder, how can I lead so great a people, (or idea.) The people around me have caused me to question myself and what I’m capable of doing. Forgive me.

Help me to trust you completely as these men and women in Hebrews 11 did. They were very much like me, nothing special and very ordinary. But you had a plan and a purpose for their and my life as well. May I now begin to live out what you want done through me.  Jesus, I’m thankful that you’ve chosen me for this task, and I’m certain you will provide all I need as it is needed top accomplish your purpose. So I thank you for the needed resources to do your work. Thank you for what I need to be for your glory. In Jesus name, AMEN!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Praying together . . .

Abba, I love you because of your love for and to the world and for me as well. 

There are moments when I feel alone, abandoned and forgotten, but it is in that moment you remind me of your love,you are amazing. The emptiness which comes (for whatever reason) to plague me and say to me, you're not worthy, is washed away by your overwhelming Holy Spirit's presence. Thank you for finding ways to feed my self-esteem and self worth. Thank you for holding me in your great and strong arms. 

I thank you for these my brothers and sisters who dare to walk with you; who trust you beyond those times when funds and resources are few or low; We trust you with our very lives and for those who don't know of your sacrifice for them or don't care. You love them and us just the same. I thank you even when I'm not feeling well and my body aches and my steps are sometimes halting, thank you giving me courage to continue to trust you, not only for healing but faith to keep going.  

I thank you for work to do, lives to be touched, hope to seen in my eyes for those who believe all hope is gone. Help us to wage war together, to fight for the lost, the weak, the under-served and marginalized. For our places of service, where our rewards will only be know in eternity. Give us faith to to see beyond the present moment, there are so many questions for which we don't have answers, but our faith is in you for the answers. 

Bless I pray their work this week, somehow grant them a glimmer of hope in what we are doing. Thank you seems like so very little for what you've given and have already done. Thanks you for walking with me; thank you the desire to see lives changed and others blessed. 

I thank you especially for those hundreds of young people I met and saw last weekend at CCDA, they are challenging me to stretch myself to do all I can for your kingdom. I thank you for your promise and word to me, that I am not done yet, you have more for me to do. Thank you for helping me get it done. I love you Jesus, but you love me more, I have bled for none, you not only bled, but died and rose again for the likes of me. You are an Amazing God! 

These things I pray in the strong name of Jesus, Amen.

Love ya, 
-- 
T.A.B.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

A legend on a coffee cup - never to be forgotten

As you ramble through life brother,
Whatever be your goal,
Keep your eye upon the donut,
and not upon the hole.

The Mayflower coffee shop, NY, NY

An Anglican Prayer

What We know not, Teach us.
What we are not, Make us
What we have not Give us.

Quoted by Dr. Alistair Begg

A remarkable speech about the American Bicentennial in 1977

The Queen’s Speech – The Bicentennial July 1977

During the events surrounding the United States’ bicentennial, Queen Elizabeth took participated in a ceremony held in my beloved Philadelphia, the nation’s first capital. The Queen presented a Bicentennial Bell to the United States, with the help of strong assistants… Her remarks were remarkable for their graciousness and wisdom, especially considering that soldiers and citizens on both sides of the revolutionary war died. The text of the speech (below) is also preserved at the wall of the bell tower in Old City Philadelphia, at the southeast corner of 3rd and Chestnut Streets. It is not a bad way to reflect on the significance of July 4th. D. G. Hart
Remarks Of Queen Elizabeth II At The Presentation Of The Bicentennial Bell, July 6, 1976
“I speak to you as the direct descendant of King George III. He was the last Crowned Sovereign to rule in this country, and it is therefore with a particular personal interest that I view those events which took place 200 years ago.
It seems to me that Independence Day, the Fourth of July, should be celebrated as much in Britain as in America. Not in rejoicing at the separation of the American Colonies from the British Crown but in sincere gratitude to the Founding Fathers of this great Republic for having taught Britain a very valuable lesson.
We lost the American colonies because we lacked that statesmanship “to know the right time, and the manner of yielding, what is impossible to keep.”
But the lesson was learned. In the next century and a half we kept more closely to the principles of Magna Carta which have been the common heritage of both our countries.
We learned to respect the right of others to govern themselves in their own ways. This was the outcome of experience learned the hard way in 1776. Without that great act in the cause of liberty performed in Independence Hall two hundred years ago, we could never have transformed an Empire into a Commonwealth!
Ultimately peace brought a renewal of friendship which has continued and grown over the years and has played a vital part in world affairs. Together we have fought in two world wars in the defence of our common heritage of freedom. Together we have striven to keep the peace so dearly won. Together, as friends and allies, we can face the uncertainties of the future, and this is something for which we in Britain can also celebrate the Fourth of July.
This morning I saw the famous Liberty Bell. It came here over 200 years ago when Philadelphia, after London, was the largest English speaking city in the world. It was cast to commemorate the Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges, but is better known for its association with the Declaration of Independence.
Today, to mark the 200th anniversary of that declaration, it gives me the greatest pleasure, on behalf of the British people, to present a new bell to the people of the United States of America. It comes from the same foundry as the Liberty Bell, but written on the side of the Bicentennial Bell are the words “Let Freedom Ring”.
It is a message in which both our people can join and which I hope will be heard around the world for centuries to come.”

A Thought on Maturity...

"Maturity is knowing more and more what is worth fighting for and what is not worth fighting for."

Author unknown

Pastor Appreciation Month, For those who serve...

So often we who are called to serve the Lord and His people are among those who are the forgotten among our society. Please allow me to to one of those who's like to say, THANK YOU! 

Thank you for the hours you spend preparing to preach and teach the Word of God
Thank you for the time you spend in prayer for me and countless others
Thank you for caring, for our community and those who are in need
Thank you for being yourself, a real person
Thank you for being willing to serve in places where you may never be honored with a celebration
Thank you for your years (decades in some cases) of service
Thank you serving at the low end of the pay scale
Thank you for attending the funerals of my (and others) loved ones
Thank you for caring for my children and my family
Thank you for fighting on behalf of the underprivileged and forgotten among us
Thank you stand nearby and not saying a word when I needed it
Thank you for speaking to me, when no one else would
Thank you for listening 
Thank you for that e-mail
Thank you for your humor
Thank you for loving me, when it seemed no one else cared or would
Thank you for being a friend
Thank you allowing me a place in your life
Thank you for words of encouragement when I needed it and I didn't know it
Thank you for your timing (it was the Lord who used you just then)
Thank you for sharing my struggle; and I your's
Thank you for be 'Real' 
Thank you for sharing your heart
Thank you for those hospital visits to my loved one you didn't know
Thank you for encouraging me and others to finish High School
Thank you for encouraging my children to finish college
Thank you for attending an endless string of children's programs 
Thank you for allow God to use you in countless ways
Thank you for "THAT' message, that Sunday
Thank you for being the wife of a pastor, even when you didn't want to be anymore
Thank you for that 'dry-wit'
Thank you for telling that story, one one I've heard a dozen times, but continues to make a point
Thank you for putting up with me when I...
Thank you for loving me
Thank you for 'just showing up'
Thank you for being God's angel when I needed it
Thank you for being a friend 

Perhaps you'd like to add to this list, please do so. If you know a pastor or minister who might benefit from reading this, please pass it along. 

Love ya, 
Bishop T.A.B.

This month of october

October is Pastor Appreciation Month! While I may no longer be a pastor, I care for those who are. Take a moment and share your heart with the person who is your pastor. Send a note or a card and encourage and thank them for the work they do for the Lord and you his people. Love ya, T.A.B.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Praying together . . .

Abba, I come top you today with thanksgiving, not so much for the things and stuff of life, but for your grace and mercy show to me during times of trial and testing. Your Spirit had walked with me as I faced challenges I didn't know or expect. Some where and at some moment you reminded me of your love, I questioned what was going and and yes, why. Without thinking I began to fight back in my own weak and failing ways. It was there in that moment, your voice was heard, "trust me." Thank you. 

May I run to you again, like the child I am; I want so much to grow up and handle things on my own, yet I know I'll never be that grown up, I will always need you as my Abba Father. So here I am, thanking you for being present. There may not be trouble or pain and for some of us there is, but it is in this moment I acknowledge you as my everything, the one who can and has always held me as your very own. So lead on oh King eternal is more than an old hymn, but a living need in this moment, on this day. 

Bless these my brothers and sisters who stand alone or even with others and yet seem so alone. comfort and grant rest not only because of yesterday's labour, but what lies ahead this week. we are yours, we belong to you; you are our good shepherd, great and chief shepherd, who have never forgotten or abandoned us. I embrace you now and hold tightly to you, thank you for being present, in Jesus name I pray. AMEN!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

What I just published...

"Frankly, I "don't like it!"

I would have been interested in attending this and other meetings about solutions to ending poverty, but I wasn't notified or invited. Who should I call and ask to be advised when events like this are to be held?

I may be 'retired' as a pastor, but that fact does not say anything my and our concerns about the needs within our communities. I think we who live (yes, some of us still do,) and work in our inner-cities care passionately for our children. I'd like to 'op-in.'

Love ya,
T.A.B.

Paying attention


Advocate shines harsh light on plight of black children



The Columbus Dispatch Thursday October 6, 2011 7:16 AM
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The devastation is plain to see, in nearly every city and community across America. Less apparent is the outrage.
As many black children slide deeper into poverty, dysfunction and despair — nearly 46 percent of those younger than 5 are now poor — child-welfare advocates question whether the nation has gone numb to the problems.
“How is it that ordinary people of faith are not up in arms?” asked Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Washington-based Children’s Defense Fund.
“Something’s come loose,” she said. “We are normalizing poverty.”
Edelman, one of the nation’s foremost voices for the disadvantaged, was in Columbus yesterday to brief a handful of invited civic, school and church leaders on the Defense Fund’s Black Community Crusade for Children, a research-based push to draw attention to the plight of black children.
The recession has only made matters worse. “The child is not to blame,” Edelman said in an interview before the meetings.
The Defense Fund’s recent report on child inequality says U.S. census data show black children are three times as likely as white children to be poor and four times as likely to live in extreme poverty.
In the city of Columbus, black children younger than 6 are the poorest group, with 54 percent living in poverty in 2010. That’s twice the percentage of young white children in city households at or below the poverty line, defined as about $22,300 a year for a family of four.
Extreme poverty is half that, or about $11,160, and about 20 percent of Columbus children younger than 6 — of all races — live in households at that income level.
“It is staggering, just staggering,” said Adrienne Corbett, executive director of the Homeless Families Foundation, where more than half of the families served are black.
She said the challenges often seem overwhelming. “I think the problem, in some respects, is that people don’t know where to start.”
Poverty’s attendant issues are legion: out-of-wedlock births, underachievement in school, poorer health, high rates of unemployment and incarceration and crime victimization.
Edelman said there aren’t enough community members — including the poor themselves — fighting for change. The Defense Fund is working to train a new generation of young people to take up causes, bringing many of them together at the organization’s CDF-Haley Farm near Knoxville, Tenn.
The leadership void is there to be filled, she said.
“Tell me five leaders in America today,” Edelman said. “Any color. Who do you listen to in Congress? Where are our moral voices? Where are the corporate leaders who will say it’s not about us, it’s about the country?
“I think the very notion of America is on the line.”
Jobs, decent wages and education are the obvious needs, she said. Young people, for example, are less likely to become parents too soon if they envision bright futures.
“I always said hope is the best contraceptive,” Edelman said. “If people have a sense of what their lives will be at 21, they won’t want to be mothers at 17.”
Maria Goss, Head Start director at the Columbus Urban League, often wonders about the future of her preschoolers.
“Where are the adults rallying around these children?” said Goss, who attended Edelman’s program. “The adults have to stand up, too, but sometimes they’re so beaten down.”
Communities can’t afford to throw up their hands, said Ellen Moss Williams, executive director at the Godman Guild, a settlement house in the Weinland Park area.
“I like to ask people around here, ‘What part of the elephant are we going to eat today? It’s big, but small bites matter.’ ”
Edelman praises such efforts. But she still worries that the nation is on the verge of losing much of the civil-rights progress amassed over the past 60 years.
“It’s a very dangerous time,” she said. “And this is a time for real debate.”
Dispatch reporter Bill Bush contributed to this story.
rprice@dispatch.com