As the Church

             As the Church goes, so goes a nation. ~~ Derek Prince, Intercessors for America’s 25^th Anniversary conference

Tolls for thee

            No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. ~~ John Donne (1572-1631)

Living the Lord's Prayer

            The way we tinker with our temptations and tweak our reasons for acting on them are indications that we actually enjoy dancing the tango with the Devil. ~~ Albert Haase, Living the Lord's Prayer

Tiring

            We must pray without tiring, for salvation does not depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone. ~~ St. Frances Cabrini

Get a crowed

            When Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes, it was not to get a crowed but to feed the crowed that was already there. ~~ Rodney G. Lensch

Sinner

            There never was a sinner half as big as Christ is as a Saviour. ~~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

            

What you say?

Empowered Evangelical

We believe

            We believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is both man and God. Once I was meditating on Romans 1 where Yeshua is described as Seed of David (verse 3) and Son of God (verse 4).  I sensed the Holy Spirit ask me which was more important.  I answered: "Being the Son of God."  The Holy Spirit said, "No."  To which I responded in surprise, "That He is the son of David?!"  I sensed the Holy Spirit say again, "No."  I was perplexed.  The solution came in the still voice within: "That He is both together."

It is by being both God and man that Yeshua becomes the source of our salvation.  He is God in the image of man, and man in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).  He is the divine judge who punishes our sins and the human substitute who takes away our sins. ~~ Asher Intrater

My head is in the sky

            O Lord my God I feel so helpless and weak.  I know you are the only one that can help.  Thanks so much for allowing me to talk nonstop unto the wee hours of the morning.  I know you have heard this conversation over and over again.  (2 Chronicles 14:11)

The Lord and His Prayer

            To say "lead us not into temptation" does not … mean that God himself causes people to be tempted. … First, it means "let us escape the great tribulation, the great testing, that is coming on all the world." [Second], it means "do not let us be led into temptation that we will be unable to bear." … Finally, it means "Enable us to pass safely through the testing of our faith." ~~ N. T. Wright, The Lord and His Prayer

Forgive men

            He who cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself. ~~ George Herbert

May 20, 1940

            First prisoners arrive at Auschwitz.

Some

            “Some carry their devotion only in books, some in pictures, some people show respect to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips; but little of Me is in their hearts and minds.  Their fear and reverence for Me consists of tradition that is learned by repetition and becomes rote” (Isaiah 29:13, paraphrase by author).

See above the Clouds

See above the Clouds

            “We pay more attention to the bad news according to cable TV than to the good news according to Christ Jesus.”

            Lest we forget, the mighty Lord God, Ruler of the universe, is still in the charge.  As the prophet Nahum stated so confidently, “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.  His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet” (Nahum 1:3).

            Stop. Read this again, only slower this time.  When God is in focus, His power eclipses our fears.  The clouds are nothing more than “the dust of his feet.”

            Seeing above the clouds won’t just happen, however.  Not as long as we feed our minds only on media madness and political pessimism.  We need to release our fears and refresh our souls by lifting our thoughts to the living Lord and His perspective.

            I can’t promise the clouds will dissipate.  Sometimes warning signs precede mountain-shaking storms, a present heavy with foreboding.  But as we learn to see above the clouds, we change.  And in the final analysis that’s what counts, isn’t it?  Transformation.  Not moving the clouds, but seeing above them, past the dust on the footstool to the One worthy to receive blessing, honor, glory – to the One who sits on the throne. ~~ Chuck Swindoll Chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary

            

Wondering

            What people are really wondering is whether there is life before death. ~~ Shane Claiborne author of “The Irresistible Revolution”

Testimony

            There is no testimony without a test.  And I tell you I am tired of being tested.  I haven’t anything to say I am without words!

There with Him

            The ultimate reality of life is to be in the presence of my Father.

Fervent Prayer

Please feel free to e-mail HeartTalkperLeo@gmail.com if you would like prayer.

Attitudes and Relationships

            Bob Bosworth in his booklet, “Attitudes and Relationships; A key to successful prayer and Christian living,” says “It is sin in our nature that separates us from God; yet, we cannot help ourselves.  It is necessary that God miraculously recreate us to conform to His image.  This transformation is regeneration through God’s Spirit.  As the result of God’s Spirit working in our hearts, we must renounce our sin, and accept Christ’s Lordship and total authority over our lives.

            Christ’s love for us is spiritual.  Because it is so high, beyond man’s comprehension, He uses the tenderest love, that between a bride and bridegroom, to illustrate to us His passionate longing for us.  The complete body of God’s people, the Church, is compared to a bride.  Those who belong to the Church through repentance of sin, lovingly surrender all of their being to the bridegroom.  In this relationship, the bridegroom, Christ, lovingly gives all of Himself to the Church.  This release of His life to the spirit of the penitent brings about the transformation that creates the true Christian, fully equipped for a lofty fellowship with a holy God.”

Sign

            Joy is the surest sign of God’s presents.

The Cross

            Writer Thomas Merton a Trappist monk points out that, "no one saw the Resurrection. Everyone saw the Crucifixion. Everyone does see the Crucifixion. The Cross is everywhere.”

A stretch

            Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.”  I tell you a human spirit stretched by the Holy One never regains its original dimensions.  It is just plain messed up for life, of course, that is for those who only want to dabble in spiritual things.

Do you think?

            If you have to talk about a relationship or discuss it with another, you don’t have a relationship.

            Henri Nouwen writes in his “The Genesee Diary” the following, “Only in retrospect do I realize that something very important has taken place.  Isn’t this true of all really important events in life?  When I am together with someone I love very much, we seldom talk about our relationship.  The relationship, in fact, is too central to be a subject of talk.  But later, after we have separated and write letters, we realize how much it all meant to us, and we even write about it.”

A real man admits

            Power Team bodybuilder Jamie Morrison says, “It doesn’t take a real man to tear a phone book, but it does take a real man to admit that God is greater than he is.” 

Culs de sacs

            C.S. Lewis writes in his book “A Grief Observed”, that he understands why grief of a loved one feels like suspense. “It comes from the frustration of so many impulses that had become habitual. Thought after thought, feeling after feeling, action after action, had our loved one for their object. Now their target is gone. We keep on through habit fitting an arrow to the string; then we remember and have to lay the bow down. So many roads lead thought to our loved one. We set out on one of them. But now there’s an impassable frontier-post across it. So many roads once; now so many culs de sacs.”

Teach

            Socrates tells us, “I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only make them think.”  The purpose of this Blog is to stimulate your thinking, maybe to see it just a little different than your have.

Kiss of Jesus

            Oh! How lovely is the kiss of Jesus, the expression on His face, the expression of His love.

A real man admits

            Power Team bodybuilder Jamie Morrison says, “It doesn’t take a real man to tear a phone book, but it does take a real man to admit that God is greater than he is.” 

Agnosticism

            The companion of prayerlessness is unbelief.

What counts?

            Success is never final; failure is never fatal.  It is courage that counts. ~~ Winston Churchill

Delay

            If the heart be right, blessing cannot be withheld, it can only be delayed; and to delay such blessing means that it should overwhelm us when it does come. ~~ John ‘Praying’ Hyde

Response to the struggles of man

            Man thinks or says more than he knows about the problems he sees in others and in himself.  He says because of his faith he has received a formula to explain everything he sees.  In this way, he needs not trust God about things that do not make sense.  For example, in the opinion of Job’s caring friends, he had to be hiding something that would explain his suffering Job 4:7, 8.  We need Grace in how we treat or relate to others and ourselves without speculation.

Change society

            If you hope to see God change society, you must be an ordinary radical who prays – and then is ready to become the answer to your own prayers. ~~ Shane Clairborne