Saturday

Prayer for Austin Stamper

It's Morning, Jesus
Now we crawl, like that woman
Through the pressure of this moment
Just to touch the hem of your garment.
To whom else shall we go?
We come to you
And lay Austin at your feet.
Please, Lord
Heal this child.

As you cleansed those lepers
As you renewed that blind man's eyes
As you told that crippled man to walk
As you called forth Lazarus from the grave
Do speak to Austin, now
Do touch this little child

Spirit of the living God
Fall fresh in this hour
This Saturday morning
Breathe the breath of life
Into this young man
Breathe the breath of wholeness.
Breathe.

Amen

Mobile, Alabama


It's Morning, Jesus
You are high and lifted up
And worthy to be praised
All of the earth is yours
May we, as men, become again, stewards of the earth
and of our hearts, and minds.
Grant that we be men of God
not of this world.
And fill us with your power.
Turn our eyes toward home
our hearts toward you.

Amen

Friday


Pray for our men in Mobile this weekend.


Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper

PROMISE 1

A Promise Keeper is committed to honoring Jesus Christ through worship, prayer and obedience to God's Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.

PROMISE 2
A Promise Keeper is committed to pursuing vital relationships with a few other men, understanding that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises.

PROMISE 3
A Promise Keeper is committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity.

PROMISE 4
A Promise Keeper is committed to building strong marriages and families through love, protection and biblical values.

PROMISE 5
A Promise Keeper is committed to supporting the mission of his church by honoring and praying for his pastor, and by actively giving his time and resources.

PROMISE 6
A Promise Keeper is committed to reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of biblical unity.

PROMISE 7
A Promise Keeper is committed to influencing his world, being obedient to the Great Commandment (see Mark 12:30-31) and the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:19-20).

Mark 12:30-31
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. (NIV)

Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (NIV)

A Prayer for Healing



It's Morning, God
Our reverent trust for healing is not in our prayers or actions, but rather in the healing power of Jesus Christ, our Creator and Redeemer.

We pray for Austin Stamper
We ask for healing
We seek healing
We knock upon the door of miracle, Lord
And ask for this young man's health.

We know the plans you have for Austin, Lord Jesus
Plans to help him and not to hurt him
Plans to give him a hope and a future

So we lay before you our request
In the mystery of this suffering
We lean upon the certainty of your love for him

May the doctor's hands at Eggleston
Be as the hands of Jesus on his body
Anoint every insrument that touches him,
For his healing

Let the oxygen give life
Let the medicine give life
Let the blood be cleansed
Let the blood cot be dissolved
Let the doctor bring health
Let the nurse bring health
Let the x-rays reveal wholeness and health

Lord we enter your word.
We enter your truth.
Fill our hearts with faith, our lives with miracle.

Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.

Matthew 6:9-10 "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven."

Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Matthew 8:5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, Matthew 8:7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." Matthew 8:8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. Matthew 8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. Matthew 8:14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.

Matthew 8:16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. Matthew 9:18 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."

Mt 9:21-22 She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

Matthew 9:27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" Matthew 9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matthew 10:1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Matthew 10:7-9) Matthew 11:20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. Matthew 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Matthew 13:58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Matthew 14:14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Matthew 14 : 36 And they begged Him that they might only touch the 1afringe of His garment. And as many as btouched were completely 2healed. Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Matthew 15:30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them. Matthew 18:18 "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matthew 18:19 "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on Earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven."

Matthew 19:2 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. Matthew 21:14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. Mark 1:34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him. Mark 3:10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. Mark 3:15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:

Mark 5:23 and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live." Mark 5:29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. Mark 5:34 And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." Mark 6:5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. Mark 6:13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. Mark 10:46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. Mark 11:24 "Therefore I say to you whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." Mark 16:17-18 "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted. Luke 4:38 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. Lu 5:15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Lu 5:17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.

Luke 6:18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. Luke 6:19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. Luke 7:7 Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. Luke 8:47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. Luke 9:2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Luke 9:6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Luke 9:11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. Luke 9:42 And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. Luke 10:9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you.' Luke 10:19 "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

Luke 14:4 But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Luke 18:42 Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." Luke 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, Luke 22:51 But Jesus answered and said, "Permit even this." And He touched his ear and healed him.

John 4:47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. John 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, John 10:38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." John 14:11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

Thursday

TURN





It's Afternoon, Jesus
And the blessings are too many to count;
the activities too many to keep up with;
the opportunities overflowing the cup.
Thank you, for what you are doing in our midst...
raising up our children in the knowledge of the word
raising up ministers for the gospel
including the lonely and the desperate
making a way where there seems to be no way
surrounding hurting parents with love
cooking
cleaning
teaching
gaming
praying
playing
laughing
singing
crying

Thank you God
For all of it.
We get to bear witness in our days.

"Life is what happens while you are making other plans."

Amen

Going with God: Jason Heppner



Jason goes to Cali


Thank, you God, for still calling into ministry.


Jason was our middle school leader, with ferocious energy and devout passion.


It's Afternoon, Jesus
And we thank you for Jason.
Thank you for last evening when the youth dug into their memories, and did remember how you had blessed them. This was the guy who stood in the gap. This was the guy who helped hold us together. This was the guy who didn't quit, when quitting was easy. This was the guy you used as glue, to stick us to you.
Amen

Wednesday

Psalms for the Summer


It's Morning, Jesus
You are God alone.
From before time began, you were on your Throne
You were God alone
And right now...

Psalm 95

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Today, if you hear his voice,

Psalm 96

1 Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.

Psalm 97

1 The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.

4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.

7 All who worship images are put to shame,
those who boast in idols—
worship him, all you gods!

Tuesday

Wheat Fields All Around Us


It's Morning, Jesus
And Angelina is reading the bible
and Jenna is getting ready to sing at Children's Camp
and Sherri is getting ready to take pictures
and Hannah is going to work at Boy's and Girl's Club
and Chelsea is putting on her TURN to shirt and getting ready to go on stage
like she did at Camp Viola
and Susanna is getting ready too....
and the teachers will be praying soon that the Holy Spirit will anoint the teaching
and Freita will be cooking
and Kevin speaking
and about 25 other people giving their time and hearts to these kids
for whom you died.

Let it fall, Jesus
Let it fall.......
and tonight Jack and Mike will be at the prison
and tonight the Pastor's dinner will say welcome

Lord, there is so much of your work going on...
How wonderful that you are with us.
We could not do this work without you...
Indeed, it is your work that we are joining.

And the work of Sunday still goes on...
those folks at the altar did not come, moved by the flesh
or going through the motions...but you dealt with them greatly.
And that lady that cried on the front pew because you touched her
is still praising you.

And so am I.

Amen

Monday

Healing for our Hearts



It's Morning, Jesus
May your sun rise with healing in it's wings
to our mothers, our fathers, our sisters, our brothers,
our husbands, our wives,
our sons, our daughters, our dearest friends
our neighbors, whom you taught us to love as ourselves.

May that healing flow in
that your love will continue to flow out
that you may be glorified
in your creation.

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.

5 Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.

7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.

8 I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart."

9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips,
as you know, O LORD.

10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
from the great assembly.

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me.

Amen

Sunday

You Will Receive Power


It's Morning, Jesus
You said, "You will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you."
Thank you, Lord
For that power, that gifting beyond all other gifts
Which both convicts and converts
wounds and heals
By your Presence today in the Holy Spirit
May lives be changed.
Do stir the waters of baptism
Both this morning and tomorrow
For the cleansing and washing of sin
For the he removal of sins stain
And for the redeeming of our souls.

Amen

Saturday

Father to Child


It's Evening, Jesus
I thank you for Christian
This dad who took five days of his life
away from his wife
separated from his child
in order that my children might have an unusual blessing.
Thank you, Lord
For Christian's vision
Bless him mightily with compensatory time at home
with his own wife and children.
May this man who loved my children
Have time to love and serve his own children
And love his wife.

Amen

When We Find our Passion


It's Evening, Jesus
I thank you that each of us are fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together by your hand in our Mother's wombs. Grant it, Lord Jesus, that we should find that purpose for which you created us, and live it. Release us from the pride that makes us attempt to be that which we are not; rid us by your love of the insecurity and fear that causes us to bury our talents; redeem us by your grace, that we may reflect the glory you intended in creation...and by consenting to your creative work in us, let us give you glory.
Amen

"A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. A bush gives glory to God by being a bush. If it tries to be anything else, it does not give glory to God. And man gives glory to God by being himself...and lifting the arms of his life to his redeeming savior." ---Thomas Merton

Leadership




It's Morning, Jesus
It is our daily lives which gives you glory.
It is our love life, our thought life, our friendship life, our walking-it-out-life
That reveals or clouds your Presence.
Thank you for Kevin and Whitney
Thank you for a week of day and night, night and day ministry among our youth.
Thank you for their ministry and for their witness.
Thank you for Chrisitian and Emily
Thank you for the team you have brought around Christian
May our children be blessed in these hours and days by you.

Amen

Friday

Where the Spiritual Filling Came From






It's Morning, Jesus
And last night they praised you
after they served you
in memory of your provisions
rejoicing in their victories
the victories of paint brushes
the conquests of ladders
the arrival of school supplies
they got out of their space
and off of myspace
and into yourspace
and touched the pain of others-space
and saw and found you all over the place.
Forbid it Lord, that this morning,
I should confuse my peace, my quiet, my meditation
and my personal desire to know the uplift of prayer like a cup of coffee...
Forbid it that I should confuse all of this with Your real presence
in a suffering world
For when I read your story all over again, Lord
You were with your disciples most powerfully
when they were overwhelmed with needs they could not meet
Your spiritual filling did not come in meditative posture
Your spiritual filling was not reduced to giving them a morning rush of peace and quiet
Your spiritual filling came in grave yards and in hot valleys and in crowded, messed up places that you dared to take your disciples and to which they later dared to go.
And your spiritual filling upon our youth came in an old, run down building with 18 foot heat filled ceiling.
Your spiritual filling came when they dared to look into the eyes of an abused woman and believe they could make a difference
Your spiritual filling came when they smelled the urine soaked stains on the wooden floors and declared this would not be
Your spiritual filling came when their salty sweat rolled off their faces into their paint brushes
Your spiritual filling came when they asked God for help with an air-conditioning stand and you showed up
Your spiritual filling came not when they poured another cup of coffee, or coke, but when they poured out themselves in ministry for the seemingly impossible task of helping someone else.
And so, they praised you, Lord
They praised you last night
Not for a feeling
Not for a pesonal uplift
Not to whip up an emotion
They praised you out of the emotion of service touched by a saviour
out of sacrifice blessed by your touch
out of selflessness emptied of all self and filled with you
They served and sacrificed
for four hot mornings
four sweltering days.
Why was their laughter greater than in their air-conditioned homes?

I will get off this porch this morning, Lord
I will go to the hurt places of the world
Where only you can provide
I will dare to get out of my comfortable life
and look into the eyes of someone I cannot possibly help
and trust your all-possible, all-providing love.
I will praise you.
Amen

Shoot the Hoop


Camp Viola---by Chelsea Brown


It's Morning, Jesus
Sometimes we get it, sometimes we don't
Sometimes we nail it from 300 feet
Sometimes we miss a lay up
But at all times, you are there
It's Morning, Jesus
And I arise this morning to thank you for life itself
for the opportunity
for the challenge
for the gift.

Amen

Thursday

Lord Grant, That We Should Fish


Photo of Bass Club being formed at church on Wednesday Night


Lord grant that we should fish.

And this is why I fish. My fishing, you see, actually has little to do with fish. There is something else I am after, out there in the deep. I am fishing for an even more elusive prey…something that can only be found with the help of the wild, the wilderness, the water…I am fishing for my heart.
I am never alive in an office, never alive in my car, never alive on a sidewalk, but I am alive in the wild, alive on the water. The adventure of fishing, or hunting, or golfing even, takes a man’s heart where something primal in nature surrounds him. When I esacpe into my boat or hunt on a mountain or trail a deer, I am around a geography that matches my soul. I am not around computers and scanners and e-mail and cell phones. I am in the wild with God, as God created it.
(Re-written with apologies to John Elredge, of Wild at Heart.

One Foot in Front of the Other



It's Morning, Jesus
I live and love among a great people.
I serve among those who will not give up.
I tend to those who have learned life, learned love, learned you
And put one foot in front of the other
And live with such grace
That I sometimes weep in their presence.
In them,
I stand in awe of you.

Amen

Wednesday

Sometimes We Can't See


Look closely at this picture. Can you see her? She is there, in the periphery, on the edge, in the shadows. It is easy to walk by her. But she is there, still. Move your head a little. Move your eyes. Adjust your screen. Slow down. You will see her, if you try. She is there.


(Photo of Bobbie Ann Scott)
What does it take to see? Sometimes it takes slowing down to allow God to turn the lights on. Sometimes it takes "time". Sometimes it takes an intentional kind of focus, away from our routine. Sometimes it takes a personal insistence on searching after and finding God in our midst. Is God only present in the things that get our attention? Is God only interested in our "to-do" list? Could God be sitting in the shadows with her, watching us go by?


It's Morning, Jesus
I give you my eyes, today. Today I will walk slowly. Today I will slow down. Today I will search for you and your presence in others, who sit at the gate of my coming and going.
Amen

Tuesday

Rain Dance




Thank you God, for rain! (Some of our youth coming in from Mission Columbus where they are helping pack 3,000 return to school bags. Almost 50 youth are serving in Mission LaGrange and Mission Columbus this week. They are staying overnight at the church.)

Mission LaGrange










It's still Morning, Jesus
They are painting, and cleaning, and helping someone get on their feet again.
They are hurting for her, too, and the circumstances of her life.
So they put down their ipods and got off of myspace and entered into herspace and yourspace with her. And this is what you said: "Even as you have done it to the least of these, you have done it unto me."

Amen

Refreshing Rain


It's Morning, Jesus

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
(Acts 3:19)

Today, Lord
I will turn my mind toward you more often
I will listen to my speech and idle talk sooner
I will watch over the longings of my heart quickly
I will reflect more deliberately on all I do, think and say
To discover myself moving toward you or away from you

Send your holy spirit to help me stay close
Indwell my thoughts, inform my words, assist in every action
That you may be glorified today.

Amen

Monday

Shepherd

Father,
Grant today that I may both guard the flock and protect the individual sheep you have placed under my care.

Give me wisdom and discernment to know the condition of every lamb.
I would be the good shepherd today:

You have provided for my needs (even when I did not know what they were)
You have made me lie down (sometimes when I did not want to)
You have led me beside still water (you knew my fears)
You have restored my soul(you gave me individual attention)
You have led me in the paths of righteousness for Your names sake (you knew the dangers when I didn't and guarded your own name as Shepherd)
You have anointed my head with oil (you have tended my personal wounds.)

Sunday

We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder


11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway [a] resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
Genesis 28:11-13

It's Morning, Jesus
You were, and still are, the bridge between heaven and earth. By you, in you, through you...by your anointing and at your appointing, angels converse with earth, and man fellowships with God.

There you are, seated at the right hand of God the father.
You are high and lifted up.

Grant that all father's today, have the ladder's they climb leaning against the right building.

There is no greater strength, than the strength of one who steps toward you
no purer direction than the one that leads to you
no loftier goal than the goal of having fellowship in your company.

Amen

Saturday

The Shepherd Will Come for His Sheep and the Valley will Bloom Again


It's Morning, Jesus
And she breathes for you, now.
Each breath draws you closer, her closer
She stood at the altar on Sunday, healed and whole.
She stood at the altar, cleansed and forgiven.
She stood at the altar alive and spiritually well.
And then she stepped off the mountain top
And walked right down into the valley
Not alone, not afraid, not by herself
But with you by her side
With you alive and living in her heart and mind and soul
And so you cradle her now, in the invisible places we cannot see
And you hold her now, as a shepherd holds his lamb.
This is our trust, our faith, our lonely cry and our hallelujah.
Amen

Before We Go On


Camp Viola photo taken by Chelsea Brown

It's Morning, Jesus
Before we go on to other things,
Before we just take up the next thing.
Let us give you thanks.
You have been with us in sport and ministry
You have been with us in camp and service
You have been with us in recovery and baptism
You have been with us in baptistry and lake
You have been with us in hospital and hospice
You have been with us in birth and death
Thank you, Lord Jesus, thank you.
We are the people who know you, not just by name
But by relationship
We know you, not by religion
But by life.
We know you not just in good times, but in bad
You have met us on the mountain tops of our own history
You have walked with us in the valleys of our own destinies.
You, who still are the way,
Have found the bend in our way,
And moved us toward you
By drawing, by wooing, by winning, by converting, by saving.
So we do move on to Honduras and Africa
We do move on to city and state
We do move on to ministry and outreach
Touched and blessed by You who allow us to join your work.
Amen

Friday

These Treasures


It's Morning, Jesus
I thank you, God,
For that tribe of friends who can blow bubbles with each other.
I thank you for the giggle and the gum
I thank you for the wholeness and health
I thank you for the joy and the wealth

We hold these treasures in earthen vessels.
Amen

Thursday

When I Was Born


It's Morning, Jesus
Be with my little girl today.
She's questioning.
She's going to the doctor again.
Mama's taking her.
She doesn't want her daddy to go
because it's embarassing to sit in that night gown
with no buttons
and she's growing up
and changing.
Even her questions are changing.


"When I was born I had this broken heart
Daddy said you made it
Like you made me,
Fearfully and wonderfully
In mama's tummy
And the Bible said it too.
You sewed me together
Like needle and thread and all that stuff.
So, why did you make a hole in my heart?
Today, Jesus, I go to the doctor
to see what they can do or what they have to do
about some other things that are wrong.
I used to like to go to Atlanta
and see Mee-maw and Pa-paw
and miss a day of school.
But I don't really like it anymore.
And now I'm confused, sort of....
I mean
And what's this about not getting to have a baby
or maybe or maybe not
and what's this about surgery someday, and what kind?
and tell me again why I can't run a lot or play basketball or soccer
I mean, I do all right cheering and playing volleyball
and I don't really get tired
not that much.
Mamma said my heart might be getting bigger..
so why is that bad?
Isn't a big heart better if it's doing all that work?
Wouldn't it be worse to have a heart too small or not big enough?"

It's morning, Jesus
You are all present in all of life
and today you accompany my daughter and wife
the doctor and the nurse
the question and the questioner
the woman and the little girl.

Amen

Well my name is Jenna. I'm 13 I go to LCS I am in the 8th grade I LOVE to hang out with my friends! ANGELINA, ZOE, PEYTON, BETHANY, JOSSY, JANET, KIM, ADAM, TIMMY, JEFF AND A LOT MORE!♥ I go to WHBC I am a Christian I can't concentrate for long periods of time. :) I have two sisters, hannah and chelsea I listen to music 24/7 Some people say i have A.D.D. I love shopping! I play volleyball I'm a cheerleader. I love going to football games I love jamming out in the parking lot My friends rock! They're the ones that keep me going! I love fried pickles! I love fried okra Chapstick is my life saver I eat lots! PINK is my favorite color. Sometimes I start laughing for no reason I don't care what people think of me I love the summer I like to act I take pics of myself when I'm bored I love my youth group I love almost everyone. If you can make me laugh, we'll get along just fine! I love JESUS!

Wednesday

Before I Brush My Teeth


We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ
2 Corinthians 10:5

It's Morning, Lord
This is a gross kind of prayer.
Before I brush my teeth, I brush my tongue.
I see the sediment of all I have placed in my mouth.
My tongue, to a doctor, is the "readers digest" of all I ingested yesterday.

I brush my tongue for freshness of breath
But, how Lord, Jesus, do I get to freshness of soul?
What good is the sweetness of breath when my soul is still sour as onion and biting as garlic?

What happened yesterday, or the day before, that turned my tongue so sour?
And what happened yester-year that shaped the color of my tongue?

Am I ruminating upon a painful memory?
Am I still tasting the bitterness of an ancient fight, a cruel word, a hurt-filled moment?

How did my tongue get so sharp, so cutting, so biting, so cruel, so negative, so bitter, so pain-filled? How did I come to view life or people in the fashion that I do? Why are my words about him or her, they or them, so filled with bitterness?

Brush my soul, Lord Jesus, with the sweeping movement of your grace
Reveal and heal my deepest wounds
Show me my soul's state by allowing me to listen to my words today
Show me my spirits state by allowing me to hear my own thoughts expressed out loud.

Allow me to lay these things before you with thought and care
And allow me to bring every thought captive, to the feet of Christ.

I will put chains today on every thought....before it gets to the diving board of my tongue.
I will speak less and think more
I will talk less and listen more
I will keep a spiritual diary of my thoughts, and by writing them down,
bring them captive into the light of your truth.

Who am I?
What has happened to me that gave me these thoughts?
Who am I?
Where did these thoughts come from?
Who am I?
How did these particular words expressing anger, skepticism, doubt, fear...ever get on the diving board in my mouth, ready to plunge into the world?

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
2 Corinthians 10:5

Monday

Church Fire and Verbal Arsons


Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. (James 3:5)

Write 25 Times


But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.









(James 3:8)

An Evil Tongue Destroys


He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
(Proverbs 17:27)

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue
Keeps his soul from troubles.
(Proverbs 21:23)

Keep Your Tongue from Evil


Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit. (Psalm 34:13)