Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, Have you ever sought to be still and simply "listen" to God? Sometimes I must confess that my "prayer time" (if I can call it that) seems like little more than a rushed time of intercession where I try to offer up request after request for those people who have asked me to pray for certain things. Yet, having fallen prey to that on more occasions than I care to count, I'm convinced that's not what prayer was intended to be. At least it's not ALL that prayer was intended to be.                                                        When Jesus would go off alone to pray in an isolated place I find it hard to believe that all he did was bring His list of things people had asked Him to pray for and offer them up to God. I believe he spent as much time listening to God as He did speaking with God. It goes back to a definition of prayer I heard as a young believer: "Prayer is an intimate dialogue of speaking and liste

Dear Friends, Today's 'thoughts" come from a long time ago! To be exact, they are dated to around 370-390 A.D. I was gifted a devotional book entitled, "The Early Church Fathers" by Nick Needham, and have found it extremely interesting. In fact, although I find that people today tend to think that modern folk are more intelligent than those who lived long ago, some of the writings I have already looked at have made me see how false that contemporary generalization can be.                                                      Today's selections (I believe) are evidence of that. They are written by Gregory of Nyssa (335-394 A.D.). The introduction to his writings says, "He was one of the most profound and eloquent thinkers and writers on both the Trinity and Christian life... He sets before us the meaning of what it is to be Christian in language drenched in Scripture, heart-piercing and moving, and full of wisdom. He was unusual among early Ch

Dear Friends, I opened my email today to find the following “thought” sent to me by a friend from Honduras. As I happened to be searching for one to send out, I thought I would simply pass along the one she sent to me. (She must have known I have a busy week)! It is by Chuck Swindoll, and is taken from his book, “Great Days with the Great Lives.” This selection, entitled “It’s NOT About You!” is based on 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 . I pass it along because it addresses an error that is rampant in the modern church – the idea that God’s “job” (in relation to us) is to build up our self-esteem and make us comfortable, happy, healthy and wealthy. Swindoll’s thought, though contradicting that, is a much more biblically defensible position. It is far less popular, yet it is true. It’s not what many want to hear, but it is far more in line with God’s overall aim for us – that we be Christ-like, godly, and God-dependent people in whom the image of God (deformed by humanities fall i