A Busy Time

I just don’t know about this blog thing sometimes!  I know the rule is to post frequently but somehow, I just can’t seem to manage the time.  Oh well, for those of you who do stick around, I appreciate you checking in and commenting so I know I’m not just typing into the nether reaches of cyberspace!

Our worship guy is quitting.  I’m bummed.  He turned in his resignation Tuesday effective July 8.  He’s been a great help to our work in the past year since we’ve launched.  There was nothing personal in his resignation.  His secular job is promoting him to a new position and with the new position comes increased hours and responsibilities.  He just didn’t think he would have the time to devote to our work and his new job.  I don’t blame him.  Family should come first and he was stretched pretty thin already.  Now the task of finding someone new begins.  I have a few resumes on my desk but I still need firm commitments from those folks that they would be able to start in a couple of months.  Pray for me!

Sometimes it’s discouraging when you don’t see much response from people.  It makes you go back and re-look at what you’re doing.  I’m confident we’re on the right track but Satan has a way of getting in your head and messing things up.  It’s amazing how easily he can make you feel like a failure when you’re not up to your own standards.  I just need to go back to God’s standards first.  People need to be saved.  I think we’re so afraid to say that sometimes in our “don’t offend anybody” world that we’re just content to use the PC terms like “life change”, “committing their lives to God”, and “taking the first step on this God journey”.  Those types of phrases all sound great to me but I also sometimes wonder what’s behind them?  People need to get saved and have a real encounter with Christ.  I think then I’ll be encouraged.  I talked to my pastor (Yes, I still call my old church pastor MY pastor–he is!) today and he awoke this thought in me when he was telling me about an older man he led to Christ in an auto dealership back in Missouri yesterday.  To hear the old phrase “He needed to get saved” sounded good in my ears for some reason.  It’s been a while since I heard it.

I’m reading a book on prayer by one of my favorite authors, Terry Glaspey.  Terry and I met when I was in the broadcast business and I interviewed him several times on my radio show about his work in the literary field.  Terry is a committed Christian and one of those guys who challenges your thinking.  His books have never been best sellers but in today’s marketplace, deep thinkers rarely get the publicity they deserve.  Anyway, this book is nearly 10 years old now and I’ve read it before but felt the need to pull it down from the shelf again since it dealt with prayer.  According to today’s rankings on Amazon, you can pick it up new and used for $0.63!!!  That’s a bargain by any stretch.  The book is a collection of thoughts regarding the nature and power of prayer.  Quotes from great Christian authors and closing prayers in each section by Glaspey himself challenge you to go ever deeper in the power of prayer to God.  I’m preparing myself to write a devotional that our church will use in the month of September for 30 days of prayer.  I’m hoping that when I’m done with Glaspey’s book, I’ll be ready to write my thoughts down in earnest for the booklet.