Pulling No Punches

“Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of front-line forces, and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the glory. Thus prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us with endless grace for every need.” (John Piper, “Let the Nations Be Glad”)

"Prayer is surrender-surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God." E. Stanley Jones, in Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, K Hughes, Tyndale, 1988, p. 73

Our churches today need to be a spiritual house. Many times our churches have become a social house where as one old preacher said: We traded our upper room into the board room, the fire of the Holy Spirit for a warm heater, our prayer meetings for chicken dinners, and we have become as weak as our tea, cold as our soup, and dead as the chicken we eat. Tony Abram, Sermon Central

Americans Support Christian Monuments In a new USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll Americans are overwhelmingly thumbing their noses at liberal judicial activists who seek to strip the public square of all references to God. The poll shows the following preferences: * The inscription “In God we trust” on U.S. coins: 90% approve. 8% disapprove. * Non-denominational prayer at public school ceremonies: 78% approve. 21% disapprove. * Monument of the Ten Commandments in public areas: 70% approve. 29% disapprove. * Monument of the Koran in a public area: 33% approve. 64% do not approve. * Federal funds for social programs run by Christian organizations: 64% approve. 34% disapprove. * Federal funds for social programs run by Islamic organizations: 41% approve. 56% disapprove. These numbers are interesting not only because they show the nation supports generic religious expression, but also because Americans clearly prefer Christian references to those of other religions, the antithesis of our courts today. (PWB 10/3/03) From SermonCentral.com