Our church, Cumberland Community Church, is focusing on prayer. Our pastor will be teaching about prayer every week in 2010. I’m excited about a year long teaching on prayer as it is one of the ways I feel closest to God.

Yesterday, we studied Abraham’s conversation with God in Genesis 18 concerning the city of Sodom. Abraham was bold in his petition to save Sodom from God’s wrath because his nephew Lot lived there. He had a reason to care about this city. He was willing to “stand in the gap” on behalf of Sodom (see Ezekiel 22:30).

The sermon focused us in to the need to pray for our city. It occurred to me during our praise band’s playing of Chris Tomlin’s God of This City, I have complained about my city’s middle school for years as it has many academic and cultural struggles. Never once has it occurred to me to pray about it, asking God to work in the lives of the students and families and teachers. I could have been praying for God to increase the academic skills and decrease the cultural struggles of the students that attend there. I must admit I’m ashamed at this revelation as I’m a former teacher. I worked in schools that experienced academic and cultural struggles.

I’ve been convicted to pray instead of complain.

Our mayor, our fire chief, our parks and recreation director, an assistant prinicipal and many teachers attended the service yesterday. We, as a congregation, prayed over these servants of our community. Many of our congregation committed to ongoing prayer for our city, the servants in our city,our schools, and our church’s outreach to our community. I can’t wait to see what God will do!

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National Novel Writing Month is over! This year’s success was especially sweet as I not only finished my 50,000 words in 27 days, but my group of second graders blew me away with their stories and word count. Their imaginations and creativity came out as their incredible stories unfolded.

Twenty-three of the twenty-four students (and their teacher) participated in the Young Writers Program of National Novel Writing Month. Their goal was to write a 750 word novel. Seventy-five percent of them wrote 750 or more word novels. Twenty-one percent of them didn’t meet the 750 word goal, but they participated. Their collective word count was 21,328 words. That is amazing!!!! I could not be prouder!

Below is a picture of all of the novelists. I had them hold up their novels across their faces to protect their identities. The chart was their way to see their progress. Great motivator!

This has been a memorable experience for me. One I will always cherish!

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Last night, my fine man and I attended the U2 concert at the Georgia Dome along with 100,000 other fans. U2 put on an incredible show, but it paled in comparison to the show in the seats directly in front of us.

We found our seats before the opening band started. A nice-looking family of four (Mom, Dad, and two teenage girls) were seated in front of us, eating their dinner. We briefly talked with them about the concerts we’d attended and those they’d attended. Having never seen U2 before, they were very excited to be there.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Finally, Dad gathered all their trash and took it to the trash cans. He returned several minutes later with three beers, handing one to his wife and one to his teenage daughter. All three of them quickly downed the alcohol. Dad got up again and purchased more beer. In my head I’m trying to convince myself that the teenage daughter is 21 or older, but I just couldn’t do it. The other daughter drank her Coke.

By the time the opening band finished, the teenage daughter had consumed three large cups of beer and took her mom’s cup of wine away from her. During the 30 minute intermission, the teenage girl passed out cold. Her mom nudged her dad, pointing to his drunk daughter. He shrugged his shoulders, stopped the beer concession guy, and bought another beer for himself. At the end of the concert, the parents roused their drunk daughter and took her home.

I do not know her age, so she could have been 21. But still . . . parents buying a large amount of alcohol for their young daughter, knowing she’s getting drunk? Something feels really wrong with that.

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Hello all! I had planned to take a little time off from my writing this summer, but it turned into an extended vacation! My boys and I thoroughly enjoyed our eight day road trip to New York. Check out my facebook page to see the pictures. I must say I’ve really missed my interactions with you through my blog. I’m ready to get back at it!

I love the story of Moses’ journey to the Promised Land. Receiving the Ten Commandments from God had to be one of the highlights of his 40 year journey. There are so many lessons to be learned from Moses and his million or so traveling companions. It’s easy for us to read the story and think: I would have done that differently; I would have had more faith; I would have been happy not to have to worry about making dinner for 40 years.

REALLY?

I often wonder if God were to take a group of Christians today on a journey like theirs, how would we fare?

* Would we wait patiently while God conversed with His chosen leader about the direction we needed to go?
Not likely. Most of us get impatient waiting in a long line at the grocery store.
* Would we have made an idol to worship while we waited?
Probably. We make idols every time we elevate our possessions above our relationship with God. Heck, we’ve even made idols of people who can sing well and have good stage presence.
* Even though God would take care of our every need, would we still complain and decide it was better the way it used to be?
Probably. Our society has taught us to rely on ourselves to make things happen. With this mentality, there’s no room for God.
* Would we complain about not getting to go shopping for new clothes?
Likely. That Macy’s sales flyer tempts us every time it comes in the mail.
* Even though God would supply our food and water, would we complain it wasn’t enough?
Definitely. Our society has brainwashed us into thinking we need to super size every meal to get enough.

Honestly, I don’t think we would act so differently than the Israelites acted. They complained and complained and complained. Their complaining stirred God’s anger. We do the same. And I would bet complaining still stirs His anger. I wonder if we really realize the impact our complaining has on our lives?

Reading through the book of Exodus again has given me a new resolve to pay attention to the amount of complaining that comes from my mouth. I am striving to do better in this area of my life.

Will you join me?

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Several years ago I had an Oprah-like Ah ha moment. I doubt she coined the phrase “This I know for sure”, but it works well with my Ah-ha moment. Please allow me to explain.

On a drive to my in-law’s home, I began thinking about the messages on the road signs we passed. Weird I know, but for some reason they resonated with me. It occurred to me that many of the road signs boasted themes that God asks us to incorporate into our lives: stop, yield, do not enter, to name a few.

Once home, I dove into my Bible to see if there indeed were connections between road signs and God’s Word. Once I found one road sign - Scripture connection, I couldn’t stop. Over the course of the last two years, I’ve found over 200 verses that use road sign language. In fact, the idea intrigued me so much I wrote a nonfiction book titled Follow the Signs.

I’d like to share excerpts from my book during the next few blogs. I hope you’ll join me. Feel free to comment.

The following is from the section titled Trusting God. It is called “One Way to Live.”

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6, NIV

* Scripture does not specifically say ‘one way’. For the purposes of this work, ‘the way’ is equivalent to ‘one way.’

Before we knew God’s plans for our lives, we were way-ward (not knowing the way). Most of us sought direction for our lives, but from all the wrong places. Some of us even were brought up in Christian homes, knowing the way, but choosing not to follow it. Somewhere along your journey through life, you realized God’s Way made sense and the world’s ways left little to be desired.

Will that be the only time you will be asked to choose God’s Way over the world’s ways? Not likely. Let’s look at how the ways of the world continue to tempt us to travel in the opposite direction of God.

The Way of the World

Bombarded by endless advertising campaigns and other people’s opinions, we daily face a crossroads sign. The signs pointing in every direction force you to make countless decisions – some trivial and some eternal. Keep in mind, the well-thought out messages on the crossroads signs are rarely boring and rarely unattractive. Each of the emotionally-driven, brightly-colored messages encourages you to follow their way.

They offer enticing promises: “Gain happiness this way! This way to fame and fortune! Go this way for a better body! This way to a better job, husband, house . . .” Some people sadly discover following the world’s ways result in far greater negative outcomes than they would have ever imagined. The outcomes of following the world’s ways include ruin, decay, and destruction.

Watch the news one night and you’ll quickly see the results of choosing the world’s ways: Families broken by divorce experience further pain when one of the disgruntled spouses murders their ex-spouse. And sadly, the violence often times occurs in front of their children. Drug busts are shown nightly and are a result of greed for “big money” and someone’s addiction. Gangs participate in drive-by shootings, killing innocent children and by-standers. A seemingly upstanding man gets overwhelmed by his large debt (possibly from gambling or buying too many things on credit) and robs a bank. These individuals have bought into Satan’s lie – the one that says his way will bring happiness, money, intimate relationships and relief from pain. The list of his lies is innumerable (John 8:44).

After following the world’s ways and experiencing the unfavorable outcomes, those frustrated and broken people ask, “Isn’t there a better way?” Jesus answers their question with a resounding “Yes!” Jesus boldly proclaims, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Jesus shows us a radically different way to live.

The Way in God’s Word

The Old Testament is replete with examples of God offering to teach people the way. Adam and Eve were given explicit instructions about the way they were allowed to eat from any tree in the garden, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God knew eating from this tree would give them knowledge of the way of the world. Satan, disguised as a snake, enticed them to follow the way he offered. Eve, and then Adam bought the lie and disobeyed God’s instructions. As we know, they reaped the ultimate consequence – removal from the Garden of Eden (and a few other unpleasant consequences).

In the New Testament, the book of John immediately introduces its readers to the way: “There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light” (John 1:6, the Message). At just the right time, Jesus assumes his role of Messiah and teaches the way to salvation: through the forgiveness of sins.

He offers the same spiritual healing to each one of us: “God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness” (Titus 2:11, the Message).

Notice that we are to “turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life.” He means for us to actively turn away from the ways of the world by repenting of our sins and receiving His forgiveness. In this verse, He also calls us to “take on a God-filled, God-honoring life.” If we want to follow the way of Christ, we must actively take on filling ourselves with God and honoring Him daily with our lives.

“This I know for sure”: God offers us the ultimate way to live. He doesn’t force it on us. We must choose to accept it. I find God’s way full of freedom and life. Each time I see a “ONE WAY” sign I think of how following God’s Way has enriched my life in many many ways.

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