How a man who works for Costco hears God’s voice: Curtis Zeigler Part I
A Cross Between Indiana Jones And Billy Graham Read More
“If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
John 14:13-14
That Snarky Guy At Work Read More
Voices From The Sky
Jesus said, “Father glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.”
John 12:28-30
Communicating With The Man In The Sky
One time I was on a fire that destroyed eleven Read More
A Man I Know Who Prays Without Ceasing
I have this friend who stocks shelves for a big box store. We were in his truck talking about praying before making big decisions and he commented that, sometimes, while he’s putting up merchandise at work, he prays for most of his eight hour shift.
I thought that was pretty cool.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
[Image via liz west – Creative Commons]
Prayer and Church (And What An Agnostic, Progressive, Single, Childless Sociologist’s Book Says About Them)
Nicholas H Wolfinger progressive sociologist and coauthor of the book Soul Mates
What An Agnostic, Progressive, Single, Childless Sociologist’s Book Says About Prayer And Church
I just read an article in Christianity Today about what an agnostic, progressive, single, and childless sociologist’s book says about prayer and church. Here’s a summary:
Research on the nation’s two largest minority groups, Latinos and African Americans, confirms that prayer and regular connection with a church community is of great benefit to marriages and families. (Later in the article we learn that this applies to the white demographic too.)
This research comes from the Oxford University Press book titled, Soul Mates: Religion, Sex, Love and Marriage among African Americans and Latinos. The agnostic progressive sociologist is Nicholas H. Wolfinger. To be fair, he coauthored the book with another sociologist, W. Bradford Wilcox, who is married, a catholic, conservative, and has children. When Christianity Today asked Wilcox why he chose to team up with someone holding a different worldview he said, Read More
Why Didn’t God Heal Me?
So last post we saw my friend Mike’s miracle: how he had a heart attack but was healed. It really was remarkable the way things turned out. But when you read that post, you may have said in your head, “Yes, that’s great that your friend Mike was healed. But what about Christians who aren’t healed? What about Christians who have a thousand people praying for them, but then they die anyway?” Read More
My Friend Mike’s Miracle
Last post we talked about one reason God was so responsive to Jesus’ prayers was because he loved God so much. And because he loved God so much, Jesus was always seeking to give Him glory. If you’re interested you can check it out here: The One Thing You Can Do To Give Life To Your Prayers
Well Monday, two days after that post I received a text from my friend Mark. He and another friend Mike host a podcast called Solomon’s Porch Radio. And Mark’s text said,
“Hey Kurt …..let everyone know to be praying for Mike….he had a heart attack. ..and just went in for surgery.”
So I just arrived home from Portland late the night before and I missed that text. But another friend, Luke Salyer, sent me a DM on Twitter about it, so I called Mark and asked him to keep me up to speed on Mike’s condition.
Then Wednesday morning I received another text, and this one was from Mike (via Mark). And this is what it said: Read More
The One Thing You Can Do To Give Life To Your Prayers
The one thing you can do is at the end of this post. It’s worth it, I promise. If you do it, it will change your life.
Taunts From An Atheist About Praying In Jesus’ Name
I have this friend who’s nearly an atheist. What I mean is, he’s the most atheistic leaning agnostic I know. And around the fire station he sometimes loved to taunt Christians. One time he said to me, (in the snarkiest tone possible), “So the bible says if you ask for anything in Jesus’ name that he’ll give it to you. Right? So ask for a Mercedes Benz tonight. And see if it’s in your driveway when you wake up tomorrow morning.”
In Jesus’ Name: What That Means
Now there’s an obvious answer to that taunt. Asking in Jesus’ name Read More
Why Did Lazarus Have To Die? (And why do I have to suffer?)
Why Did Lazarus Have To Die?
I’ve been reading Eric Metaxas’s Miracles again and there’s a section where he addresses the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. And Metaxas really made me think. Why did Lazarus have to die anyway? Why did Lazarus have to endure the suffering? Why was it necessary for his family to mourn? I mean, Jesus could have shown up earlier and healed him as he did for so many. But he didn’t. So Lazarus suffered–and died.
By the time Jesus got there his sisters and his friends were weeping. And in answer to anyone who would say that God is some sort of impersonal metaphysical force, Jesus, God incarnate, was overcome with grief himself. And he wept for his friend, and for his friend’s family, and for his friend’s friends. Jesus wept. (John 11:35)
Lazarus, Jesus’ friend, had been dead for four days. Four days. That’s significant because there was this idea in Jewish culture at the time, that when a person died their spirit hung around for three days. And here we find Lazarus dead beyond that time period. In fact when Jesus directed the men to remove the stone that sealed the tomb, Lazarus’s sister Martha protested.
“Hang on, he’s been dead for four days. He’s been decomposing,” she said, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench.”
But Jesus went ahead with it anyway.
He prayed out loud, not so God could hear him, but for the benefit of the people there.
And Lazarus walked out of that tomb.
And here’s where I have to ask: Why? Why was that necessary? Why did Lazarus and the people who loved him have to suffer that way? Why couldn’t Jesus have just healed him?
And the answer is found when we ask the question: Read More
The Thing I Never Noticed About Jesus, Why Christians Are Creatures Of Two Realms (And what that has to do with praying together)
I Never Noticed This About Jesus
I recently noticed something about Jesus I never realized before. He never talked much about how to preach (or how to blog), but he did talk about Read More
