Some of my friends know that I'm a big Tony Evans fan.   I really enjoy listening to his messages.  He gets so passionate as he delivers a message that you can't help but get fired up for God.

I received an email this week with his weekly devotional.  I thought I'd share part it here:

Most of us know what it means to be locked in spiritual warfare. There are times when even the strongest believer will be tempted to give up in the battle. That’s why we need to pray for one another. Prayer defeats the enemy right where he stands. Prayer also encourages the hearts of those in the heat of battle.

I do believe there is power in prayer.   If you're struggling with anything that you want to share, please post it below in the comments section.   You don't need to post your real name or a real email or anything.   Just share your struggles.  You will be prayed for by myself and others.

Be Strong.

[image by dtcchc]

I wanted to pass this along to anyone around the Indianapolis area that might have an interest in helping to serve a Thanksgiving Dinner at Brookside Community Church in Indianapolis.   My family helped serve last year and we're planning to help again this year.   We bring our 6 and 3 year old boys and they have a great time helping too.  It really is a blessing to serve other people.

Here's the info from our friend Erin:

Hello, friends of Brookside!
 
This email is going out to everyone that expressed interest last year in helping with the Brookside Community Church Thanksgiving dinner, those who have expressed interest so far this year, and those of you who are already serving on Sunday mornings.
 
Jim (my husband) and I will once again be coordinating the Thanksgiving dinner at church. This year we will be serving dinner on Sunday, November 22nd.  We will once again do what we did last year, which is to serve a light breakfast before church and then serve dinner immediately following the service.
 
We plan to serve the following:
 
Turkey
Ham
Stuffing
Green Beans
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Rolls
Pie
Milk/Coffee/Fruit Punch
 
One thing we'd like to do differently this year is to get individuals to volunteer to cook and slice a turkey at home the day before (November 21st) and then we'll reheat at church that morning.
 
We are eagerly looking for those who are willing to help with cooking turkeys, breakfast that morning, setup, cooking, serving, clean up, and any other fun thing we can think of! :)  And, of course, I have to be shameless and also say that we're looking for any financial/food donations to help us cover the cost of this meal, as it lies outside our church budget.
 
For those of you who have served at Brookside in the past, you know full well that you leave feeling more blessed than those you are serving.  I hope you'll prayerfully consider partnering with us this year in whatever way you see fit as we minister to the hearts, minds and STOMACHS of the Brookside community!
 
If you are interested in this opportunity, you can reach us at 317.253.8966.  We look forward to serving with you!
 
Erin Szalkie

If you're interested in serving, you could also comment below and be sure to fill out email address field (it won't be posted on the site) and I'll help coordinate too.

[image by hendricksfamily]

When you think of somebody as “childlike”, what comes to mind?  Is it immaturity? Recklessness?  I look at the word “childlike” through the eyes of my two boys.  I see adventure, no fear, joy, peace, trust and open mindedness.    My boys are bold in the things they ask of me.   I may not always say “yes” to them, but they nevertheless continue to ask with boldness.   They have no doubt in their minds.   They ask questions and accept answers.   Of course Caleb (3 years old) asks the typical 3 year old question “why?”, but it’s his curiosity for the world that drives his constant questioning.  

I was reading in Luke chapter 10 today and Jesus is talking with the 72 messengers that he had previously sent out.  They returned and were filled with joy because of what the Lord did through them on their missions.    Jesus responds full of joy and praise and says “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”

What Jesus was saying here is that everyone has equal access to God the Father through him.  We don’t come to Jesus through our strength or intellect or good looks, but through a childlike faith.   There are plenty more verses about having the faith of a child and I think what Jesus is trying to tell us is that trusting him doesn’t have to be a difficult or scary thing.   It just takes the faith of a child to say “Yes, Jesus, I need you in my life.”    Then, just as a child would do, we should trust and not have fear.

Are there any situations in your life where you know you’ve had to step out in childlike faith?

[image by teckie kev]

We’re close to wrapping up our RESET campaign at Northview and the week 5 topic of prayer has definitely impacted me.  The main idea I’ve taken from it is that Jesus reset the view on prayer in that it’s not a series of memorized prayers we spill out like zombies once day.  Or a quick prayer before a meal, but it’s a relationship with himself and an ongoing conversation.

Do you have a friend that talks all the time and never lets you say a word?   I bet you won’t be friends for very long, or at the very least, your friendship won’t be very deep.   That’s how I view prayer.   I want to be in a conversation with the Lord that is give and take and ongoing.  I don’t want to simply list out a list of prayers (or demands) and then just walk away.  I want to take time to listen.

I feel like my prayer life has definitely grown over the last few years.  However, we learned a simple acrostic that I wanted to share if you feel like you struggle with prayer:

Praise

Repent

Ask

Yield

Take some time (it doesn’t have to be long) and use each of those four word prompts and just talk to God.   Make it a daily thing and keep it ongoing. 

I’m going to expand on each of those four words in future blog posts.  What are your thoughts about prayer?  Does the PRAY model help?

[image by eggplant]

This post comes from Dave Boehi of FamilyLife as part of FamilyLife's Marriage Memos.  You can read more Marriage Memos here.

Love this song.   I've seen it in my own life as well as others.  

Watch it on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7elxC8LXfzE

If you could only describe yourself with two words, what would they be?   I’ve thought a lot about this and the two words I think of for myself would be “Hope Giver”.    At times this is a challenge for me because I get very focused on myself, but being a Hope Giver implies that I must be externally focused on other people and their needs.

There are a lot of people that you cross paths with that need some hope.   Perhaps they’re dealing with a broken marriage, or financial troubles, or infertility troubles, or self esteem issues.   You never know until you intentionally get past yourself and focus on the other person.

How can you become a Hope Giver?

Listen.   That’s pretty easy.   Just listen more than you speak.

Encourage.   You don’t need to preach someone a long sermon or even have any answers.  Just say a few words of encouragement to help lift up their day.

Duplicate.   Start teaching others how easy it is to be a Hope Giver and pass it on.

What two words would you use to describe yourself?   How can you be a Hope Giver today?   Share your thoughts.

[image by niznoz]

It has been almost 4 months since I started my Social Media Sabbatical.   Recently, I’ve started creeping back into social media, but I’ve taken slow steps.  I have decided to end the sabbatical and continue slowly back into the online world.

Here are 3 things I learned:

1. Family is way more important than social media “friends”.  I was just talking with a group of friends the other day and many have this feeling that social networking will be the new boom in higher divorce rates.  Any time we start to put more time into our online networks than our own family, we need to watch out and check ourselves.

2. God longs for us.   I’m serious.   I’ve really dug back into the Bible more these past few months and over and over I feel God’s warmth.  God pursues us.  Just make sure to take the time to spend with Him.  This has been an amazing thing for me and something that will not stop.  

3. Your spouse and kids long for you.  I can’t say it enough. Make sure you’re not neglecting your spouse and kids (or any important person in your life) by spending too much time on facebook or twitter or blogs or whatever your social networking choice is.

I learned much more than these 3 things, but these in my view are the most important.  Have you taken a social media sabbatical or are you considering one?   What have you learned?

[image by jeffry b]