Tag Archives: prayer

Requiem For A Friend Part 2

Today, your obituary with a memorial service date appeared. Looking at your picture, tears welled to my eyes.  (It is now Friday, and tomorrow we gather to say “good bye”.) 

But are we ever going to say, “good bye”? I am not talking about the spiritual piece, for that is so important, but the places he will be “seen”.  In his children and grandchildren, for instance. In many of the folks who gather tomorrow. In the people of the community and the region. In places and people, many will never know. 

The impartation remains. The legacy he has left continues. (How many for so many reasons will not be there, that he sowed into? I wonder. Proverbs 13:22: “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.”

What does it look like? How will it take shape? 

Many years ago, he and I were praying about a situation and I was struck by his childlike faith. 

One of my favorite areas of his life, that I admired about my friend, was the area of prayer. When he prayed, you could sense the humility and the wonderment in his voice, whether it be for an individual, the church fellowship, or a community and region. The simplicity of his prayer, in the expectation, was always there. 

I recollect a time, he and I, along another local pastor traveled, to a prayer summit. It was a great time of fellowship, and friendship. (Perhaps one of the most fun things that happened, was that the three of us roomed together. It was about 4 in the morning and there was a knock on the bathroom door. He asked me what I was I doing sleeping in the tub. I explained to him that the snoring didn’t allow me to sleep so I figured I ought to come into the bathroom and pray a while, laying in the tub with a couple of towels inside of it. He just laughed and said what do you expect from old men.) He had been instrumental in our area and bringing leaders of fellowships together to pray for the region, the state and the nations. His times of prayer and praying were one of the many reasons I was attracted to him in our early days together. 

And he was never too prideful to ask for prayer. (Not all leaders were or are like that.) He would sometimes share the most painful or personal things to be prayed for. He was authentic. 

He desired to see unity. And he did not just pray for it, he worked hard to maintain it. 

Seeking unity was one of the things I truly admired about my friend. His willingness to do as much as he did for the cause of unity. It could be a pastor’s meeting or a get together with others.

In the late 90’s, I had a dream, related to unity. He and 3 other leaders were in that dream. We began to talk about it, and he encouraged me to contact the others. We met in his home. And the dream began to be real. Thank God for his heart for unity. Our first meeting took place a month later. From around New England and New York, they came. 60 men and women.  

Out of the five us who originally met, four of you have gone home to be with the Father. Out of that 60, there are 7 of us left in ministry.)

He often opened his Church Fellowship and the building to a call for Unity across the region. Whether it was a night of worship or a night of Prayer or simply a gathering of leaders to break bread he never thought twice about it. He truly was an ambassador for the sake of unity often crossing barriers that others had put in place that people make feel welcome. 

He taught me to include, rather than to exclude. 

A few years later I was going through a very tough time, losing my mom, stepmom, spiritual dad and having my son in a coma in just a few short months. Besides the phone calls, he made trips to let me know as long “as I swing the bat” I was still in the game.

Death is neither timely, nor convenient.

I thank you for the heart and thinking, that you have shared with me.

I will be adding to this in the near future.

Prayer That Doesn’t Work? NO WAY!

"Use me!"
“Use me!”

Prayer That Doesn’t Work? NO WAY!

John 14:13-14 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

How many of you are aware of this verse? How many of you implement it or practice it? Today is your day to change the facts. To overcome your “back story”. If God can rewrite the story of Sarah, calling her a woman of faith (Hebrews 11), imagine what He can do with you in a better covenant. Continue reading Prayer That Doesn’t Work? NO WAY!

Definitely Not My Time!

paulRobbinsThe following testimony is from my friend, Paul Robbins. It is a strong story about him as a believer and his faith in God.  A moving, powerful testimony of the goodness of God.

March 17th about 11am I decide to hike out into the woods to a spot where I saw a moose the previous week. I dressed fairly lightly thinking I would build up a sweat. The hike is about a quarter mile flat then heads uphill. I took my cell phone knowing I don’t get very good service but more for the picture taking and my wife Jeanne has asked me to take it. Continue reading Definitely Not My Time!

Meeting With God And His People

sockmonkeyHave you ever been guilty of saying “I will pray about something” and then forget or get busy? Years ago, I found myself in that place. At the time I was pastoring a church and people called all the time. Sometimes I was engrossed in a project or family and would say “I will pray about it”. Then get busy and forget. I felt guilty. I was upset with me. Continue reading Meeting With God And His People

I Can Because I Want To!

preachingatvillageAs I entered the large Christmas store, I was excited. I had my decorated bag in my hands. It had my stuff in there. Things I had brought. Nothing fancy or extravagant, but they were mine. They were things I carried. As I walked into the store I was ready for the beauty of Christmas. I opened the door and there were large empty shelves. It looked like there had been something there, but nothing to make me say “wow, I am here”. I was actually a little bit bummed I think. As I passed some of the shelves there were the helpers, the elves and I thought “this is weird. Where was the joy?” They looked down at the bag in my hand and while I thought they might ask to hold it, they did not. Continue reading I Can Because I Want To!

Move To Turn Mourning Into Dancing

You never know the impact.
You never know the impact.

Personal change

Last night as I was going to sleep I was praying for friends, family, my community, pretty much anything I could find as a target.

I felt this pressure and a voice saying “teach them to pray”. I froze. I knew it was God but it was if He had opened something that was hidden away. I got nervous. I do not always do well with learning curves and change. Continue reading Move To Turn Mourning Into Dancing

The Consequences Are Real

Beating the odds
Beating the odds

In my dream last night I was called to inspect military systems of deployment of weaponry. Most specifically these systems dealt with observation, reconnaissance and utilization of weapons. The systems were run by folks who were settled away in underground bunkers. Continue reading The Consequences Are Real

Like A Child…

alyssacamera 004Like many, I often find myself caught up in wanting to pray or needing to pray. In the middle of the night, I awoke feeling the need to pray. As I prayed about what I felt was given to me to pray, another picture formed in my mind. Actually, two pictures.

The first was a scene with me, running in the house, telling my parents, they “needed” to see something. I am sure you have seen the scene. The child bursts into the house, the parents look towards him or her. They indicate “wait a moment”. The child starts to squirm and get antsy, waiting to tell what is on his or her mind. Finally, it is “their turn” and a string words begin to spill forth. “Urgency” accentuating each and every word. Sometimes a discovery they made or the sounds of an ice cream truck going by. But it is now. This minute. Continue reading Like A Child…