A few years ago, a radio station ran a contest. Disc jockeys invited their listeners to tune in their clock radios. "Just for fun," they said, "when you wake up to the sound of FM-106, call and tell us the first words you spoke when you rolled out of bed. If you're the third caller, you'll win $106."

It didn't take long for the contest to grow in enthusiasm. The first morning, a buoyant disc jockey said, "Caller number three, what did you say when you rolled out of bed this morning?" A groggy voice said, "Do I smell coffee burning?" Another day, a sleepy clerical worker said, "Oh no, I'm late for work." Somebody else said her first words were, "Honey, did I put out the dog last night?" A muffled curse was immediately heard in the background, and then a man was heard to say, "No, you didn't." It was a funny contest and drew a considerable audience.

One morning, however, the third caller said something unusual. The station phone rang. "Good morning, this is FM-106. You're on the air. What did you say when you rolled out of bed this morning?"

A voice with a Bronx accent replied, "You want to know my first words in the morning?"

The bubbly DJ said, "Yes, sir! Tell us what you said."

The Bronx voice responded, "Shema, Israel ... Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." There was a moment of embarrassed silence. Then the radio announcer said, "Sorry, wrong number," and cut to a commercial.

Try to remember. What did you say when you rolled out of bed today? Chances are, those words set the tone for the rest of the day. For the Jew the first words of each morning are always the same, and they were the words spoken that morning on FM-106. They were first spoken by Moses, who said, "Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Teach them to your children and talk about them when you lie down and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

I'm curious, what did you say this morning when you rolled out of bed? Mine sadly were, "Ah, I can't believe I have to get up already...sigh."

Who Should I Pray To?

One of the questions that usually comes to the forefront when people from different streams of Christianity come together is who should we offer our prayers to? The Father? Jesus? The Holy Spirit? The Virgin Mary? Various Saints? Our Common Unnamed God?

Scripture makes it pretty clear that we are only to pray and worship the one true God, the triune God of the Bible. The apostles never allowed people to pray to them or worship them when they were alive (Acts 10.24-26), and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t want us to pray to them now that they are dead.

The worship of the Virgin Mary is a Roman Catholic phenomenon. Millions of Catholics pray to her in the hope that she will influence her son to move on their behalf. While we should always be very respectful of how we talk about Jesus’ mom, there is no indication that anyone considered praying to her in the early Church when she was alive. In fact, praying to Mary is a relatively recent development (the last several hundred years) and is of questionable origin. It doesn’t represent a truly Christian approach to prayer.

It is also fashionable at secular gatherings to pray to “our common God”. While I realize the intent of the practice is to help us get past our religious differences, I find it a bit challenging. Who are we praying to? Who is our common God? If we are speaking of the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible, I probably am great with it. If it includes Allah, Buddha or others, then I certainly have a problem with it.

What about the Trinity? The traditional Christian position has been to direct our prayers to the Father as Jesus taught us to do (Matthew 6.6). To conclude the prayer in Jesus’ name signifies our identity as His followers and our trust in Him as our redeemer (1 Corinthians 6.11, Colossians 3.17); and to pray under the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit is something that is encouraged in Scripture as well (Ephesians 6.18, Jude 1.20). I have never encountered anything in the Bible that forbids us to direct our prayers to Jesus or the Holy Spirit as long as we understand their part in the Holy Trinity and the importance of the Father.

I am interested to know how you have processed these questions and issues. What do you think?

Prayer

Isn’t it interesting that the disciples didn’t ask Jesus to teach them how to preach, how to witness, how to organize a major church event? They asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.

In their time with Jesus, the disciples watched Jesus start His day with prayer. As they watched Him commune with God, the Father, the disciples couldn’t help but notice that Jesus was energized and empowered by His contact with the Father. They wanted to know how ordinary humans could make that kind of contact with God, the Holy One! Jesus’ model prayer shows us how to make contact with God. In Matthew 6:9-13, the first half of the prayer focuses on God, and the second half on our petitons.

This prayer is like a sandwich – it starts with God and ends with God, and the concerns of our hearts are the meat in the middle. Jesus demonstrated that our focus in prayer should always be on God. To Jesus, praying was like breathing. Prayer was an intricate part of His life, and He wanted it to be that important to His disciples.

Just as Jesus required prayer to make it through His day, we need intimate communication with the Father to live this life.

Read: James 5:13-20; Psalms 145:18-19

Hang In There

"So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life--whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing...Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not" (Matthew:25-27). "And He will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern" (Matthew 6:33).

How often do you wake up int he middle of the night with burdens on your heart that keep you from going back to sleep?

It happened to me last night. The clock said, 4:30 am and I was wide awake. Baggage from yesterday and worries about tomorrow weighed heavily on my mind and heart. What Jesus said in Matthew 6:34 is true. "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."

Do you start you day thinking, "I don't have enough on my mind. I'm going to borrow trouble from tomorrow and make up some new problem?" Yeah, me neither. The word trouble means adverse circumstances, problems, hardship. Certainly, each day has enough of its own.

In effect, Jesus is saying that you can't carry the weight of your past, that's what forgiveness is for and you can't carry all the uncertainties of your future because that's what faith is to do Simply, we are to focus on today and deal with what we can. I must admit, I struggle with this principle, but I also know that peace only comes when I learn to apply it. Can anyone relate to my struggle?

If someone poured sugar in our gas tank or introduced a virus to our computer we know the possible results. Usually something breaks down. That's exactly what worry does to the human spirit. When you gather up in your mind on a regular basis a list of all the unknowns of the future and repeatedly review and extrapolate, the uncertainties become so large that it will cause a break down. Everything gets sideways when you're on the anxiety program.

You were not fashioned to fear.

You were not wired to worry.

You were not made for anxiety.

You were made to live today--"Today's trouble is enough for today"--to focus on the thing that you can affect and to work on the thing that you can improve that are right in front of you. You and I have limited capacity. I can't carry yesterday or my imagined tomorrow. I've got to trust the Lord today and so do you, even if it's from one day's 4:30 am to the next.

Generous Living

Okay, I thought I would give this another opportunity. I'm not sure how people find the time to twitter, blog, facebook, myspace and etc. Any way, I thought I would give blogging another month or so, before I choose to quit.

I've been thinking a lot about the recession that we are going through and all the rhetoric about taking care of self. In challenging economic times it’s easy to retreat to one’s comfort zone and focus on self and individual concerns. The reasoning goes something like this, “I’m pretty stressed right now. I need to take care of myself, my business and my family. I don’t really have time to give to others. I’m worried about my job. When things get better, then I’ll have extra (money, time, energy) to give back in some way.” The belief is that generous living comes from abundant resources, but the fact is that generous living occurs regardless of one’s circumstances.

While healthy limits are important, there’s a problem with the logic that we wait until we have excess before reaching out to others. Research in the area of positive psychology points to what many faith-based sources have been saying for years, namely, that focusing on one’s self does not produce the desired outcome of a peaceful heart and satisfying life. Not only does a “me driven” focus produce a poverty of personal spirit, but it also leads to poverty in the community in which one lives.

In this season of uncertainty, I would challenge all of us to strive to live a life of generosity. How can we ever pay it forward if we don't find ways to be generous with the little we have right now?

I hope you have a great day!

FROM THE MOUTH OF BABES

I thought this was very funny. I'm not sure if I laughed out loud because I'm a pastor or a parent.



Have a great day!

Working out can be tiresome, and for me it's NOT what I live for everyday. I know, some of you love working out. It makes you feel good, gives you an adrenaline rush and you get incredible results. However, some people like me question..."Is it worth it?" We look at ourselves and we don't see any major changes in how we look. Our body aches in way too many places and can you believe no one hasn't even noticed that we lost 5 lbs. Well, of course not. It takes several of those 5 lbs to began to make changes in our bodies.

Isn't that the same question we ask spiritually, "Is it worth it?" I don't see any major changes in my spiritual life. No one has even noticed that I'm trying so hard to live right. My pain seems to be increasing instead of decreasing. Why am I having so many problems. But the truth is, things are changing and you are growing spiritual. You just haven't been able to see it yet. You may be only growing 1-5 lbs spritually at a time, but your are GROWING and the results will eventually be seen.

Bottom line...don't stop working out physcially and spiritually. The results are coming. Just continue to do your part and TRY to be patient. Here's the scripture for today.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).