Have you ever been overwhelmed by prayer?
I am today.
There are just so many needs in the world. So many needs in my small corner of the world. So many friends and acquaintances who are hurting. I met a lady on Sunday who loves her husband, but is getting a divorce because all he cares about are his drugs, not his wife and kids. I've already forgotten their names, but all she wants is for him to be radically changed by Jesus!
It just seems like I could pray and pray and pray and never cover even a small portion of desperate needs the people around me have. Paul says in Galatians 4:19 "...I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!" Not only are there physical and emotional needs, but there is the great spiritual need of having Christ formed in the lives of people.
That was my biggest prayer today. I prayed for you. I prayed for myself. I want to see Christ come into our lives and change us in ways that we cannot possibly imagine. So, that was my prayer. I encourage you to join me as well praying that the Holy Spirit would not only show others the path to Jesus, but work in us, constantly forming and changing us until Christ returns.
Jesus says - how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask!
That's unbelievably overwhelming!
Well, as you all know, I have a
super popular blog.
I think my random musings get about 10 hits a month. However, if you're here reading this, you're probably reading my most read post to date, and I write that without actually knowing what's going to happen.
If you're here, you probably saw my post on twitter or facebook, and you want to know about SEX.
That's right boys (and probably girls too). You saw the post, and you couldn't help but click. That's why I wrote this to begin with - I couldn't help but click...
Anyway, my friend
Marla Taviano is an author. Mostly she writes books about marriage and family and directs those books toward women. If you're a Trinity lady, you may remember when she came to speak at MOPS a few years back. Well, she's written another book, a special book, just for guys called "The Husband's Guide to Getting Lucky." So, today is your chance to get a sneak peek at the book, and possibly even win a free copy! I have already started reading it myself, and she's very open and honest, and really has a desire to see marriages win. Which is totally cool.
Ok, so here's something else cool: Marla and her awesome husband
Gabe and some others from their church have been doing some missions to Cambodia over the past few years. Gabe helped turn Marla's book into an ebook for your iPad, Kindle, Nook, or just plain ol' PDF if that suits you, and by doing that, the proceeds from this book (it's only $4.99!) go to help their next trip to Cambodia.
So, you get a book about sex, and help a country that really needs our support at the same time!
Good deal.
Sorry for the ramble. Here's a short interview with Marla about her new book.
You can click here to buy the book yourself, or leave a comment below for your chance to win a copy for yourself.
1. When it comes to sex, do you think wives wish their husbands understood them better?
Great question, David, and the answer is ABSOLUTELY. And you just uncovered the biggest theme of the book. When guys take the time to understand their wildly complicated wives a little better, it can only mean good things for their sex life. Men and women are wired so differently, but a husband really can learn how to turn his wife on.
2. I know your book addresses the topic of porn. So many Christian men struggle with this area. What were your findings from your informal survey? (which I took, btw)
Out of 10 questions about sex, the answers to #8--What is your relationship with pornography and how do you think it affects your marriage?--shocked me the most. I mean, I knew Christian guys weren't immune to porn, but I didn't realize what a huge percentage of happily-married guys who love Jesus struggle big-time in this area. My prayer is that I was able to offer some real hope to husbands. Satan wants you to think that porn is something you'll never be able to conquer. That's a lie.
3. From many guys I've talked to, the consensus seems to be that we don't understand how our problems with lust and porn, etc. effect our wives, could you shed some light on the woman's heart in this regard?
Oh, wow. I don't have the space to write everything I'd love to write here (guess you'll just have to read the book, huh?). We wives long to be the most beautiful woman in our husband's eyes. We want him to think we're attractive and lovely and sexy and ENOUGH. I want my body to be enough for my husband. If he's looking at porn, that says (to me anyway), "You're not enough for me. You're not pretty enough, not perfect enough. Your body isn't hot enough. I need something better, something more, something you can't give me." This is crushing to a woman's spirit. Absolutely crushing. Even if you love your wife dearly and try to convince her it has nothing to do with her, you will never, ever get her to believe that. Never.
4. Ok, my first 3 questions kinda beat up on us guys. Any bit of encouragement you want to send our way as a result of writing this book?
Yes! I can't tell you how impressed I was by the thoughtful, thorough answers you guys gave me on your surveys. Wow. Kudos, my brothers! So many of you desperately want to be good husbands and love your wives like they want to be loved. Guys get a bad rap for being selfish, lustful pigs that only think with their you-know-whats, but we women really deserve a big chunk of the blame for the sexual disconnect in our marriages. I think that any guy who reads my book is going to walk away really encouraged that there is hope for his marriage. If not, he can have his money back.
Thanks so much for having me on the blog, David. Hope you enjoy the book!
Well, that's all! Make sure to check out http://www.husbandsgetlucky.com/ to score your copy and comment below if you want to be entered in the drawing!
This post is written specifically for my Trinity friends, but anyone else is free to read it and add some useful comments (since people from all churches and walks of life may have similar needs or desires)
So...
It is my desire to help people encounter God as much as possible and in as many ways as possible. I spend a large amount of energy helping people encounter Him on Sunday mornings, primarily through song, prayer and the reading of scripture, but I know that to have a vibrant, dynamic relationship with
anyone spending 20 minutes a week with them wouldn't create any kind of deep relationship.
I am on a mission! I want to help people (anyone really, but again, specifically people at Trinity) discover what a dynamic, open, and deep relationship with Christ can be like. I know that usually throwing another program at something might seem like a good idea, but is usually just a place where people can learn more information and not see real life change.
My question to you all is: what would you like to see available to you to help encourage your own personal growth in Christ? How can I encourage, train, instruct, facilitate, etc. you best in this manner. A relationship with Jesus is a Monday-Sunday thing, and what we do on Sunday mornings really should be a celebration of what God has been doing in our lives throughout the week, but unfortunately, for many of us, we allow life to get in the way of the most important relationship we have.
Well, that's probably enough rambling on this subject - comment away!!
Also, feel free to ask questions, I encourage dialogue!
Have a great weekend friends!
Having read Gabe Lyons' first book, Unchristian, I was very excited to hear the culmination of his research contained in this book. I myself have met many people who are disenfranchised by Christians they have met, or more likely, by Christians they have heard about in the media, but as Lyons points out, there is great hope in a new generation of Christians.
This book is written in a very conversational style, making it easy to read and digest the great wealth of information he offers. It is very encouraging to read about a group of people of all ages and from places all over the world who see the mission of Jesus Christ as a major priority. Lyons calls this group the "restorers." The second half of the book describes in great detail and with hope the attitudes and actions of this group.
I would highly recommend this book, not only as a text to read for encouragement, but also as a challenge to live out the Christian life with service and sacrifice, showing others the way to Christ.
So, I couldn't help it.
I was reading Psalm 16 this morning, and had an accompanying devotional reading on the same passage, and I couldn't help it - I had to share it!
Psalm 16
A miktam of David.
1 Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those will increase
who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood
or take up their names on my lips.
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
11 You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Look at verse 8 - I have set the LORD always before me. What does that mean? Think about that,
meditate on that for a minute. Stay focused on Him. Revere and worship Him - always.
Here's what the writer of the devotional had to say:
If David is a worshiper's great example, Jesus is the great fulfillment of our desire. His Spirit in us worships God as He worshiped God on earth. David tried to make everything in his life point to God. Jesus not only tried, He succeeded.
Our priority, according to Scripture, must be God Himself. Not the tings God gives us, but God. Not the ways God leads us, but God. Not even the worship of God, but God. It's so easy to understand, so hard to grasp. Be relentless about it. Set the Lord always before you.
Selah
Have a wonderful day friends!
I wouldn't call myself an avid reader, but I do like to read and have recently begun to pick up some extra books to enlighten and encourage. So, I heard about a program where I can get a copy of a book for free in exchange for writing a blog post about it. This is the first of those posts.
I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to discover in Mark Batterson's new book, Soul Print, but I was pleasantly surprised. If you have read any of Batterson's previous books, his blog, or heard him speak, this book's accessible and friendly style will be very familiar to you. That said, this is not only a book that would be a great encouragement to those already walking with Christ, but is also a story of Christ's love for us to those who don't know Him.
At first, I thought Soul Print was just going to be another "Jesus loves you, and has a great plan for your life" book, but it ended up being so much more than that. Using the story of David as an outline, we discover God's plan for our life has nothing to do with who we are (or who we think we are), but instead with who God is and who He created us to be. David came from the humblest of positions to be king of Israel, and our destiny is tied up in God's plan for our lives as well.
Our world tries to tell us that our image and worth are tied up in our clothes, our jobs, our families, our physical shape, but God tells us that our worth is tied up in His unimaginable love for us.
I would recommend this book for anyone struggling with finding who you are meant to be, or just anyone needing to be encouraged and reignited with the knowledge of the uniqueness with which we were all created. This would also be a great book for small groups to study together with the included discussion questions sure to create some excellent dialogue.
Click here to get yourself a copy if you would like...
Why is it so hard to do what is best for us?
In many ways, we are supposed to be disciplined people, but how often do we truly live disciplined lives? Let's look at some simple disciplines:
Don't watch too much TV
Don't overeat (or eat too much bad food)
Do the dishes (this is more of a discipline for some people)
Dust the house!
Exercise
Read the Bible
Pray
Seek after God
So many things get in our way from practicing important disciplines for our lives. Why don't I exercise? I'm too tired. Why don't I read my Bible? I'm too busy. It seems simple enough, we don't do the things we should do because we're too caught up in the things that we "want" to do that we thing we "have" to do, or because we just find a "good" excuse not to. For the past few months, I've been teaching a class on spiritual disciplines at church, and I've discovered that first, they're not as hard to integrate into my life as I would have thought, and second, it's actually much better for me to live a life of discipline.
How about exercise? Yeah, I've been doing that lately too. It's super hard work, and it makes you tired, but the interesting thing is, the more you exercise, the less tired you actually are. Your body gets used to the activity and you end up having even more energy for the rest of the day (assuming you're getting enough sleep at night).
Then, there's the most important discipline of seeking after God. The most common response I hear from people who don't regularly spend time with God is "I'm just too busy." Busy with what? Here's what I've found. I certainly spend way too much time doing things that I really don't need to be doing. Not that those things are inherently bad, they just take away time I could be doing more important things. Also, I've discovered that when I set aside time for God it effects the rest of my life. My heart and mind are more full of God's Word, effecting my attitude, thoughts, speech, and relationships.
Living a life of discipline can really change us. Getting up even when it's nice and warm under the covers and exercising can dramatically effect us physically and spending quality time with God can really change us from the inside out. Another great thing about being disciplined is that the more we do it, the easier it is to keep going. The more we exercise, the less difficult it becomes, and the stronger we become. The more we seek after God, the more we want to seek after God and the more He forms us more into the image of His Son.
So, join me! Let's all work on living disciplined lives together!
