1/4/08 - Life Journal - I WANT MY RAINBOW BACK!

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth."
Genesis 9:12,13

There are few things that get people to stop and stare in awe more than God's gift of the rainbow. It's an amazing reminder of the Noahic Covenant He made with us. Noah's faith rekindled God's faith in humanity and he made this promise never to wipe out all living things in a flood every again. A reminder of His love in stormy weather.

That being said....I WANT MY RAINBOW BACK! First it was hijacked by the Rev. Jackson with his coalition. Great idea, bad results and even worse the power hungry, race dividing impulse behind his plan. Next His bow has become the symbol of Gay/Lesbian pride. How the heck did this happen? Honestly, the rainbow is a great symbol of unity, all the colors of the prism united. But they are united in one goal. Not in individual agendas.

Father, thank you for the visual reminder of your promise. I pray that I'll remember that and your love for me whenever I see one.

Life Journal Make-Up (cont.)

Click here for December 13th's entry

Life Journal Make-Up (cont.)

Click here for December 12th's entry

1/3/08 - Life Journal - Fruit from the Vine

Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Luke 3:8

The Jews thinking they had it made were like, "Hey, we're sons of Abraham, what do we have to worry about?" Sounds familiar. "Hey, I'm saved, I've got it made." That kind of thinking is what James must have had in mind when he said, "Faith without works is dead." John the Baptist was telling these people that their repentance was false without bearing fruit.

There is no way I can have received His saving grace without having the overwhelming desire to live my life for others. Anything else and it is just me crying out, "Hey, I'm a son of Abraham". I have to search my heart to see if I am truly in it for an incredible relationship with my maker or just hoping for a "get out of jail free card" and a free trip to the promised land. Without His love in me their will be no fruit, without fruit my faith is indeed dead.

Father, I keep saying it but break open the dam I've built inside me and let your love flow out so I can begin a fruitful relationship with you.

Livin' on the Edge!

I have a feeling my wife will have this ordered before I get home! Buy it here.

HT - Tony McCollum

The Parable of the Two Broads

? I don't recall this one in the Gospel anywhere ?

HT - Giggle Sugar

The Force is strong in this one.........

A padawan yielding his toy light saber chased off a man attacking his mother in Swardeston, England today. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi Wan would be proud.

If you don't know what I'm talking about you'd better ask somebody!

May the Force be with you.

(the story above is true, all joking aside, read it here)

Mark Batterson's theme verse for 2008

...actually an excellent verse for us all...

Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed.

Joshua 1:7-8

Check him out at evotional.com

Clayton King on Evangelism Done Right

Later during the weekend, late at night in their hotel room, all 4 of those girls decided that what they were really searching for was unconditional love and acceptance. They found that when they prayed with their christian friends and asked Jesus to forgive them of their sins. When the youth pastor shared that story with me the next morning, I realized that is how you do evangelism. You love people just as they are, right where they are, expecting nothing from them, showing them the mercy and grace of God. He will take care of the saving.

That's the guts of it, for the story of how the girls came to this decision read the whole article here. It's worth it.

We are the "oyayubi sedai"

That's what the young people in Japan are called and the title fits for people around the world. Translated it means "The Thumb Generation". Albert Mohler reports that we are using our opposable thumbs like no previous generation.

Click here for an interesting read on the cellular phone generation.

1/2/08 - Life Journal - The Fall

...she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:6

That's it right there. The death sentence for millions over the ages. The first time man uses his free will to make a decision he screws it up. This one act enslaves us all to sin for eternity and separates us from the Father. Not fair you say? You weren't there? Well that's true but I guarantee you've been screwing it up yourselves, I sure know I have. One bite of the apple and we lost the image of God we were first created in and became just as wicked as the world we are exiled in.

(It's kinda condemning to all us men that Adam was the first to use the old, "Wasn't me, didn't do it, it was her" excuse. I guess it's wired into our system.)

The awesome thing here is that it is all in God's overreaching plan for us. Instead of robots he now has people that can make a choice to be with Him or against Him. A true love between Father and child, not a forced love from our Creator. He knew that second that He would send His Son to die for us and redeem us from the sin that we can't escape on our own. Only through acceptance of Jesus into our hearts and the belief and faith that through Him we have eternal life will we be allowed passed the cherubim and flaming sword and back into the garden to tast of the Tree of Life.

Father, let me be part of your plan in that I spread this beautiful story of loss/redemption, punishment/grace and judgement/mercy. If we could see with Your vision the beginning and the end it would be a no brainer but we can't. That's where faith comes in and where so many of us are lacking.

Life Journal Make Up (cont.)

Click here for December 11th's entry

Ansley Michelle...

...and the power of a community of believers prayer.

On Monday, December 31st, Ansley Michelle came into this world. She is the daughter of my pastor Adam Mayfield and his wife Lora. She was 1 lb. 15 oz.

That's correct, 1 lb. 15 oz. You see, she wasn't due to be born until February but God had other plans for her. Lora entered the hospital this past Saturday after some routine tests revealed that she had preeclampsia which is a narrowing of the blood vessels restricting the flow of blood to her major organs. Normally this isn't quite the emergency situation but with her symptoms accelerating the doctor's determined that her case had progressed to H.E.L.L.P. Syndrome which is a life-threatening obstetric complication considered by many to be a variant of pre-eclampsia.

With this news it became obvious that we would be meeting Ansley even sooner than we expected. The only question being how long could she stay in the womb. Ansley was never in immediate danger but it was becoming serious for Lora. A protocol of steroid shots was begun to help develop Ansley's lungs and steps were taken to control Lora's vitals.

Monday morning it was determined that an emergency C-Section would have to be performed and a new batch of emails was sent around the world, spurring thousands of prayers to heaven. The first answered prayer came when Lora's doctor decided that a local anethesia would be sufficient and Adam would be able to be by her side for the birth of their first child. Words can't describe what this meant to the young couple.

The next sign of God's presence was apparent in the skilled hands of the doctor. The C-Section was an incredible success and Ansley came out crying. The next few minutes and hours revealed more than prayers answered, more along the lines of an absolute miracle. Though Ansley was just under 2 lbs and at what was determined a gestational size of 28 weeks she was nothing short of perfect. Her first apgar score was an EIGHT! And a few minutes later a NINE! These would be awesome for a full term baby let alone a little girl that decided it was time almost TWELVE WEEKS EARLY!

Perhaps the greatest sign of God's hand in Ansley's birth is the fact that she hasn't been on life support for one second and has been breathing on her own since birth. The only thing that might signal the fact that she is a preemie is the feeding tube and this is only to help her rest as much as possible. They feel there is no need to attempt feeding her now in that it would just wear her out. She is truly a miracle and a result of a strong group of family and friends sending up prayer and having the faith that our God is bigger than anything that can happen in this world.

Please continue with your prayers as Ansley will be in the NICU for quite a while still and mommy is healing from her surgery let alone getting back to normal from the preeclampsia.

Thank you everyone, God bless. He is Awesome!

Life Journal Make Up Time (cont.)

Click here for December 8th's entry

...here for December 9th's entry

...and here for December 10th's entry

1/1/08 - Life Journal - Lord, Thank You for My Eve

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Genesis 2:18

Seems like a no duh situation now, but God definitely used his omniscience on this occasion. Bad enough what happens with the snake with Eve calling the shots. Imagine what would have happened if Adam was left to his own devices?

New Years Day is a great time to remember how important our wives are to each of us. We can boast all we want about bringing home the bacon and all that but stay at home mom or full time worker, our wives are the CEO's of our households. Everything would get messy real quick without them around.....getting the family up - dressed - and out of the house, running any errands needed, keeping everything in order, making sure we all have clean underwear, keeping the frig stocked and food on the table, seeing to all the school situations, keeping a smile on her face when we say what a tough day we've had, loving us no matter how big of an idiot we are and how un-handsome we look when we're "just lounging" around the house, actually using the same toilet and shower as us and basically just being there for any of us whenever we need them. On top of that many of our wives have probably saved our lives. I often say that if I didn't meet Sheri I'd be dead or in jail and that's not all kidding. I wouldn't say getting married has made me grow up but I've matured and gotten some priorities in order. The number one thing my wife has done for me is bringing me into my relationship with Jesus and there's nothing I can do to repay her for that.

Father, why do I take the things that mean most to me for granted? Thank you for blessing me with such an incredible person.