Daniel's prayer

We've been studying The Book of Daniel in our men's group. Even though his prayer was written 2500 years ago, I believe it can relate to the world we live in today. No matter how bad it seems, God is still in control!

Daniel 9:3-17 (NIV)

3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:
"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
"Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."

Abortion

Some say that there are circumstances like rape that there is a need for an abortion. Some say if the mother's life is in danger. Some just say it's a woman's choice. Does the baby deserve a choice?

A family member sent me a link to Eduardo Verástegui's website. This is a very strong message against abortion and some of the pictures are graphic. He's a very popular hispanic movie star who made it a mission to speak for those who don't have a voice. After watching this video, I don't know how people could continue to hold a prochoice view.

Guysforlife.org is a great website with some interesting video interviews. They interview men who look back to their teen years having had a girlfriend who had an abortion and how the experience still haunts them years later. They also interview men whose girlfriend/wife had the baby while they were barely adults and how the child changed their lives. Very stirring footage that makes you stop and think.

Aaron choose abortion interview

Reproductive "Choice" Campaign (RCC)posts images of aborted babies on their trucks and then drive them around town. Some say this is going too far. WARNING: Graphic material. What is a life worth if someone sees this and doesn't go through an abortion? But children can see this truck as well and isn't that bad? I'm not even going to pretend I have an answer for this. It's interesting to read the responses on their feedback page. They are either very positive or super negative.

There's a movie based on a true story called "22 Weeks" WARNING: Graphic material about a young woman trapped in the bathroom of an abortion clinic who watched helplessly as her baby died after being born alive. This film was made by Angel Manuel Soto Vasquez.

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From the 1966 movie Alfie a deleted scene about abortion:

"Finger of God" DVD movie - review

I first learned about Darren Wilson on Sid Roth's show this year. In an interview Darren explains that he was commissioned by an angel to travel the world and document the miraculous. Darren comes from a non-"Word of Faith" Christian background and was resistant at first to all this healing business but an angel forcefully urged him to make the movie and the money to make the movie made itself available. How could it not be of God - everything fit in place for him to make this movie? Intrigued by this, I purchased the movie.

First Darren visits church meetings in hotels where people magically get gold dust on their body parts, heavenly jewels appear in people's hands, and mysterious manna is baked in their bibles. Sad thing is I suppose we'll never really know in this lifetime if these people are sprinkling gold dust when someone is not looking or pulling out a planted blue jewel out of their pockets. Darren's own uncle and aunt developed some gold teeth at one of these prayer meetings. Another reason he choose to explore the world of healing stems from the fact that he knows his aunt and uncle and can vouch for them being reasonable, sane people.

I believe it doesn't hurt to air a word of caution. The Word-of-Faith gang tries so hard to justify it's goofiness in similar activities that they lack or rarely show any discernment even though recent modern history has proved many of these healing ministries are complete scams that ultimately turn many away from Christ. A recent example is Todd Bently's dying false-fire empire who they are still making excuses for him even after he's getting divorced, admitting a problem with alcohol and God only know what else he's been into. Even though the guy was into all that and never preached a true gospel, they believe people were saved at Lakeland or more importantly healed while Todd was kicking them in the face with his bikers boot.

The movie also interviews young people in the US who go out and ask to pray for people they meet who have visible physical problems. I can't verify from the footage whether the injured who are prayed for are truly healed or not. Of course Darren doesn't follow up with any of the people at a later period so it's hard to say. One thing really bothers me is that they don't share the gospel with these people they have just healed. One young man even admitted it's weird going out with no tracts or literature about Jesus. Is healing more important than saving grace?

As the movie progresses, Darren goes into Africa and shows some amazing footage of the underground Chinese church. I have to admit I was brought to tears with some of these scenes.

I can't say if this movie is of God or not of God. And there are some things that leave you scratching your head. One is I didn't hear the gospel presented (I guess Darren assumes the potential audience already knows it) and never once do you hear anything about the ugly word - repentance.

Pilgrims Progress - Journey to Heaven - movie review

Recently, I purchased a copy of Reelchristian's "Pilgrim's Progress - Journey to Heaven" DVD. Having read the book a few years ago I had the story fresh in mind and was eager to see how they would portray John Bunyan's timeless book. The website describes it as a modern retelling of a classic story. Overall, it's is a very compelling rendition of the story combining some modern touches along the backdrop of the literal story. I liked the cast and the scenery along the way is beautiful.

The movie sells for around $20 and I would highly recommend it. After watching it a few times, it challenged me ask whether I was getting off the path in my Christian walk.

From their website:
"The goal was to stay as faithful to the book and its’ Gospel message as possible. At this time, over 6,000 people have seen the film in test screenings, with over 200 people surrendering their lives to Jesus. It is humbling to know that God is using the film for His glory and it’s just getting out of the starting gate."

Fireproof - movie review

This weekend my wife and I went to see "Fireproof", the movie from the guys who made "Facing the Giants." I was floored by this movie, it's really good. Fireproof is well written and acted. It is funny with romance and some pretty intense parts as this young couple tries to decide whether to end their young marriage or not. Kirk Cameron of Way of the Master plays the part of Caleb Holt, a frustrated fire fighter whose marriage is falling apart. This role shows us a not-so-nice side of Kirk that was good to see he could pull it off. The movie even deals with the difficult subject of pornography. There is a strong gospel presentation from Harris Malcolm who plays Kirk's father. I really liked Mr. Malcolm's character, very strong presence. Overall, this movie glorifies Jesus Christ our savior in such a way I almost had to ask if I was dreaming seeing a movie like this in the local movie theater.

I want to stress this is a good movie. I rarely go out to see movies because we all know what the majority of it is these days. But when I do see a movie I am very critical so I was very much pleased to have been entertained and enlightened by this one. Please consider going out and supporting it.

Bart Blair - "All for you" ep

My friend and former band mate of the 80's has released his new ep entitled "All of you" from Mississauga, Canada. The five song ep features some great Christian worship music in the vein of Chris Thomlin. The songs are "Follow You," "Psalm 148," "All For You," "You Are My Friend," and "Love Song for the Creator." The songs are well thought out and I've been listening to them for several weeks.

He also has an ep he did in 2006 called "Lifewater," I'd recommend getting as well.

His myspace page to hear the tunes.

His webpage to purchase a copy.

Here's a blog I wrote about Bart when we both had a lot more hair.
Bart, a friend from my past.

Jesus sign

Orissa India

Have you heard about the persecution that Christians in Orissa India are suffering? Orissa is located on the eastern coast by the Bay of Bengal. Churches are being destroyed, their homes are being burned down, people are being martyred for their faith in Christ. We really need to be praying for them right now. We are all busy but please make time for that prayer today.

How can you get involved? Check out Gospel for Asia's website.

Here's an update on the situation in Orissa India from K.P. Yohannan of Gospel for Asia (Sept 15, 2008)

Lost Cause Ministries

Last Saturday, August 16, 2008, I helped Lost Cause Ministries run their booth at the North Texas State Fair in Denton, Texas with several other volunteers who have a much better grasp at witnessing than I do. Ironically, the last time I was at the fair grounds was in 1992 when one of my bands played there. The same old stage was there, but they had added quite a bit to the fairgrounds since then.


We had a great time handing out "One Million Dollar bill" tracts and 10 Commandment coins.

Please listen to the interview I did with Jon Speed about his ministry:

Jon Speed
Lost Cause Ministries

Blow out...

Interesting story, I bought a new car a couple of weeks ago and we had to take it out of town this weekend because our other new car developed a light on the dash directing us to go to the dealership as we were attempting to leave that morning.

We drove up to Tulsa to see some relatives. We took 75N and got stuck for an hour behind the tragic bus wreck in Sherman where 17 people died. We had no idea what was going on at the time until we arrived in Tulsa and someone told us about it.

Saturday, mid-morning, while driving from Tulsa to Oklahoma City on 44 we had a tire blow out. I thought we could change the flat and get right back on the road but the jack in our new car didn't go high enough. About two inches short of what we needed. We were stuck out there for nearly two hours in the hot August sun. And I was praying pretty hard for someone to stop to let us borrow their jack but no one did even with a 2 year old baby sitting with us on the hill by the side of the road. If you're ever in a situation like this do not stay in the car, people mistakenly ram parked cars on the side of the road.

The guy from the service call finally shows up. He had driven by about 30 min before but missed us because he thought we were at another location! The dude was quiet and not saying much I think he knew he had screwed up. So he jacks up my car and we get the tire on in 5 minutes. Without saying goodbye, he gets in his tow truck and waits for us to leave.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a Mark Cahill "One Heartbeat Away" book and walk over to his truck. His girlfriend opens the passenger window. I asked if he ever read. He said some. I gave him the book and said it was good and walked off. Not easy to do when I wanted to ream him for leaving my family on the side of the road so long in August heat.

While stuck on the side of the road, I tried to think about Paul while he was chained to Roman guards (Acts 27:1) & (Acts 28:16) or how he and Silas sang in the prison when an earthquake opened the prison doors (Acts 16:16-40). And, amazingly for me, at one small point I prayed for the people who kept driving by and not stopping to help us.

All came out well. When we stopped to eat in Oklahoma City, the temperature was well over 100 and I realized that God's wonderful mercy had saved us from that kind of heat on the side of the road with no cover!

Also, after we got back on the road we saw several cars on the side of the road and we didn't stop. If you do stop to help someone, be very careful of the situation.

Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.


After our roadside experience: lunch time at Del Ranchos in Moore