Bills blog stop: Aug 16, 2008

Pepe's Great Escape!

Today, while we were foraging for a new food supply for our Love Bird, Pepe, we spied some new environmental enhancements for his cage(er, living habitat). An attachable, edible, beak sharpening branch to enhance his hunting and pecking skills and a beautiful red ring the size of a large swing with a bell hanging from it to accompany his visions of swinging in a tree in the jungle! After fighting the strong currents of traffic on the asphalt river to arrive back at camp, I proceeded to “green up” Pepe’s habitat. Well, as soon as I brought one of these strange new objects in through the door, he was having none of this! With wings of steel, he squeezed through as space so small I couldn’t see it without my glasses and off he went into the wild blue(uh, wondrous air spaces) in our house! Sooo… armed with nothing but a couple of soft towels and a non threatening, wooden back scratcher, we set out on a find and capture expedition that should have aired on “Wild Kingdom”! Through sheer strength and maneuvering on our part, we began to wear down the resolve of our adversary! At one point, I had to hit the switch for the overhead fan with the swift dexterity of a gazelle to extricate the fowl winged beast from his perch without flinging him into the wall! After many attempts to cast our nets(ugh, towels) over our ungrateful friend, I guess he just valued his newly found freedom too much, he finally managed to fly into the side of a cliff(wall) and wedged himself between it and a large bookcase! After great thought about our dilemma, we decided to pull one end away from the wall, then I proceeded into the dark recess with my trusty little belt flash light and towel. Much to my chagrin, the little beggar pushed forward behind the next book case! So with great trepidation, I place the towel next to this opening with one hand, and with the other, proceeded to simulate the tremors of a minor quake to the other case! Low and behold, I saw a small red and green streak flash into the towel and voila, I had him! So I transported him to his home and gently extracted him into his own, familiar environment with the new additions and left him to himself to get used to them. I came back a little later hoping to catch him happily swinging on his new swing only to catch him soundly sleeping away, totally oblivious to his new toys! oh well, so much for the great jungle experience!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Crosswalk: Power Point with Jack Graham

August 15, 2008

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

--1 John 5:14

You and I know that prayer changes things. It's a clear promise from Scripture.

But did you know that prayer also changes you and me? It changes our priorities, and it gets our lives in sync with God's plan.

There's a great formula for prayer I learned from my fellow pastor and friend, Dr. Ed Young from Houston. It's the acronym SELF:

S stands for surrender. Each day, you and I must surrender our lives to the Lord. We must say, "Lord, I report for duty, I give You my life today. I am Your child and I want to be in Your will today."

E stands for empty. Once you surrender your life to Christ each day, you must empty yourself of self and sin and anything else that would keep you from fulfilling God's plan and purpose for your life.

You must say, "Lord, I empty all my unresolved conflicts and issues. I want to get rid of everything that would keep me from connecting with You today."

L stands for lift. Once you surrender your life to the Lord Jesus and empty yourself of everything that would hinder your relationship with Him, you must lift your heart in praise, petition, and thanksgiving.

F stands for fill. This is when you ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that you will live in the fullness of His power and His blessing.

So SELF is surrendering, it is emptying, it is lifting, and it is filling. And if you do theses things in prayer every day, not only is your relationship with Christ going to be that much sweeter, you'll make an eternal impact on the world for Jesus Christ!

DURING YOUR PRAYER TIME TODAY, GO THROUGH THE STEPS FOR "SELF."

I was really impressed with this when I read it today, awesome! I think it is ironic that the meaning of the acronym "self" is totally opposite of being filled with "self"!

Bill