Sunday's Prayer Priorities

At yesterday morning's worship service at Faith Bible Church, we tried a new way to involve the congregation in corporate prayer. We were looking for something that might also help people to focus in on some of our church's prayer priorities and remember them throughout the week.

Just before the sermon, I asked a couple of the leaders of our small congregation (Don McGuire and Allen Nelson) to join me up front. I had printed off the prayers and given them copies beforehand. We then explained to the congregation that one of us would read a specific prayer and then we would have a period of silence (15-20 seconds) where we could all lift these appeals to God together. We believe it worked very well and so I thought I'd pass it on to you this morning. It might be something you would like to try in your church. Or, perhaps more immediately relevant, you'd like to lift up to our Lord right now these same prayers.

1. Denny prays, “Dear Lord Jesus, we pray this morning for Christians throughout the world who are being persecuted for their faith in You, the Savior.  We pray for mercy and justice for them, their families, and their church congregations. We pray also that their testimony would have tremendous effect.”

2. Don prays, “We pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  We pray for peace and liberty in Ukraine, in Egypt, in Sudan, and in other places so deeply troubled by violence.  We pray for the gospel to be preached with great power in all nations today and throughout this week.”

3. Allen prays, “We pray this morning in Your Name, dear Lord Jesus, for a spiritual awakening in the United States.  Lord, we ask You to awaken Your Church and help believers serve You with a whole heart. Please make our land one that again promotes and protects life, marriage, and religious freedom.”

4. Denny prays, “Our heavenly Father, we pray together as a church family right now for our sister Harriet.  Make Your strength and joy strong in her life. Please touch her body and spirit with healing. And, for all of the others in our fellowship who are enduring serious trials regarding their health, please show Your mercy to them in abundance.”

5. Don prays, “Father, we ask that You minister in great power through all of the missionaries that our church supports.  Give them vision and health and perseverance.  Minister in their families and shine Your light through them to many. Please grant them all of the financial and prayer support they need.”

6. Allen prays, “As a church family this morning, we come together to praise You, Lord, for Your goodness and faithfulness and power.  We thank You for Your Word and for the marvelous gift of salvation through Christ. We thank You also for the promise of heaven and all of its eternal joys, given freely to everyone who believes in You.”

7. Denny prays, “Dear Father in heaven, our desire is for Your kingdom to come on earth and that means in us too.  Help us to overcome those ‘easily besetting’ sins in our lives. Free us from cowardice and worldliness and unbelief.  Move us to become better Bible students and then more consistent doers of what we learn in Your Word.”

8. Don prays, “We ask this morning for fresh blessings upon Faith Bible Church.  Please give wisdom and courage to her leaders.  Give us love for one another and help us to carefully avoid gossip and critical spirit and division.  Help us to grow spiritually and to minister effectively in Your Name in all we say and do.”

9. Allen prays, “Dear Father, we ask You to guide America’s leaders in truth and righteousness.  Protect them but enlighten them in Your ways.  We pray the same for judges and others in positions of power.  Cause their hearts to seek Your will and to humbly serve the One and Holy God.”

It's Spring for "When Swing Was King"

It's a double-barrel day for "When Swing Was King" as we start off our March schedule with presentations at Bethany Lutheran Home in Council Bluffs this afternoon and House of Hope in north Omaha this evening.

The show will be a good one, a wonderful mix of music from the greatest of the big bands, crooners, and canaries (plus a couple hundred photos) which will take our audiences on a "sentimental journey" back to the days of their youth. We can't wait to get started.

By the way, here's the song list of Volume 3, Series 3 that we will be playing in all 11 facilities this month.

1) Glenn Miller Orchestra (Vocals by Ray Eberle)

"At Last"

2) Artie Shaw Orchestra

"Lady Be Good"

 

3) Harry James Orchestra (Vocals by Helen Ward)

"Where or When"

4) Harry James Orchestra

"Fly Me to the Moon"

(This is the only example in all 23 volumes of WSWK that we play two songs by one artist. We do so because the Harry James/Helen Ward number played just before is a short, radio recording that only features that bravura trumpet of James' at the very end...just enough to whet one's musical appetite for more. And so, that's just what we give them -- more! And we do so with the most dramatic and lovely instrumental version of "Fly Me to the Moon" they've ever heard!)

5) Vaughn Monroe Orchestra (Vocals by Vaughn Monroe)

"Blue Moon"

6) Larry Clinton Orchestra (Vocals by Bea Wain)

"Heart and Soul"

7) Benny Goodman Orchestra

"After You've Gone"

 

8) Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (Vocals by Frank Sinatra & the Pied Pipers)

"Stardust"

9) Russ Morgan Orchestra

"With the Wind and Rain In Her Hair"

10) Bing Crosby

"Stranger In Paradise"

11) Les Brown Orchestra (Vocals by Doris Day)

"My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time"

12) The Mills Brothers

"Paper Doll"

Six Scintillating Reads

 Here's six informative, stimulating articles (covering a wide range of subjects) that you shouldn't miss.

* “Ukraine: Barack Obama and the West are weakened by a fatal narcissism” (Janet Daley, Telegraph)

* “Four Businesses Whose Owners Were Penalized for Their Religious Beliefs” (Kelsey Harris, Heritage Foundation)

* “Stop Sharing and Preach” (Bryan Loritts)

* “Common Abortion Myths in Rolling Stone” (Anna Franzonello, National Review)

* “300,000-Member Union Drops Bombshell Obamacare Report” (Wynton Hall, Breitbart)

* “The Cult of the Visioneer” (Todd Pruitt, Reformation 21)

"Planning Isn't Killing"

AWOL for the Academy Awards

Oh, don’t tell me I missed the Academy Awards show again!

Well, okay. I'll come clean. The last Academy Awards show I watched was in 1966 and I was in the 9th grade. I remember that Lee Marvin was named Best Actor that year for his dual role in “Cat Ballou.” I was pleased because I had actually seen that movie.

I’ve missed most of the Hollywood movies since then.

As a matter of fact, I checked through the list of the films nominated for Best Picture awards in the last 30 years and discovered I had seen…get ready…5 of them.

In 1984 Claire and I saw “Amadeus.” I didn’t like it. The history was lousy and the acting self-indulgent and overdone.

1995 is a puzzling year because I actually saw three of the films nominated for the top prize: “Braveheart,” “Apollo 13,” and “Babe.” The only one that made a lasting impression was “Babe.” I watched it again (years later) on video and liked it just as well.

And then the last movie I saw that was nominated for Best Picture was “Seabiscuit” in 2003. I didn’t care much for this movie either. The book by Laura Hillerbrand was absolutely fantastic. But the movie…well, let's just say that the movie wasn’t.

Hmm. 30 years of the most highly acclaimed films in the land and I’ve only seen 5.

Why this deprivation, this denial of what so many Americans consider the primary artistic arena of their lives? (Well, not counting television, of course.) It’s simple. It’s not because I’m Amish and it’s certainly not because I avoid taking my Christian faith into the crucible of the public square. Rather, it’s because I have a distinct preference for books, for social activity, and for quality films — think 1930s and 1940s.

Oh yes, there's one more important factor. I have a strong desire to keep my morals, emotions, and moral convictions unsullied by the cultural propaganda of modernity.

So, yes, I’ve missed the Academy Awards again. And I’ve missed yet another year of going to the movie theater.

If only Hollywood would consider a re-make of "Babe."

Tim Tebow Helping Wishes Come True

Eryn’s W15H (November 5, 2013)

Eryn, a 17-year-old girl battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, wished to go on a date with Tim Tebow! Eryn, her sister and grandmother flew out to Los Angeles for a custom W15H experience. Eryn was able to spend one-on-one time with Tim at practice. However, the real surprise happened later that evening when Tim showed up at dinner in a limousine with flowers! Eryn’s smile and joy were obvious as she exclaimed, “This made my life!” Her W15H experience also included a makeover at a renowned salon in Beverly Hills, shopping at the amazing South Coast Plaza, a day at Disneyland and more. Eryn’s cheerful attitude is truly inspiring! Since her W15H, Eryn has been invited to share about her W15H and her battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
 
Hunter’s W15H (November 12, 2013)

Hunter is a 16-year-old with a fantastic sense of humor and a vast knowledge of Tim’s football career. He has been courageously fighting Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome since he was five days old. Hunter met Tim at one of his workout sessions and was excited to showcase his knowledge as he recited Tim’s University of Florida promise speech verbatim. Hunter enjoyed visiting with Tim and getting numerous special items autographed.  His W15H also included a spectacular hotel stay with views of the Hollywood sign, delicious meals at some of L.A.’s best restaurants, a tour of the NFL Network Studio with NFL Redzone host, Scott Hanson, a tour of Dodger Stadium and a Dodgers replica ring and a full day at Disneyland.  Hunter shared the following after his W15H, “Thanks to Tim Tebow for an awesome day!  It was the best day of my life and I’ll never forget it!”

Read more inspiring reports here and then learn the details of how you can help the various activities of the Tim Tebow Foundation right here.

The Dangers Have Left the Horizon. They're Here.

Must-read articles covering just a few of the crises we're facing as of this frigid Monday morning.

* “Mikheil Saakashvili: Lessons From the Putin Wars” (Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal)

* “The Terms of Our Surrender” (Russ Douthat, New York Times)

* “Syrian Jihadists Are Forcing Christians to Become Dhimmis Under Seventh-Century Rules” (Nina Shea, NRO)

* “Ukraine Just The Latest Example of Obama’s Limited Global Influence” (Michael Crowley, TIME Magazine)

* “Obama and Hagel have surrendered our military strength” (Allen West)

* “How computer-generated fake papers are flooding academia” (Guardian, writer unlisted)

Reviewing Hleb's Omaha Visit

Earlier in the week, I posted a brief account ("Hleb Goes Back to School") of Hleb Yermakou's first day in Omaha. As his time here draws to a close, I'll go ahead and review his hectic but quite productive schedule since then. Indeed, I'm pleased to say that days two through four of Hleb Yermakou’s visit to Omaha proved to be as solid and delightful as the first day he was here. 

Wednesday started off with a breakfast conversation between Hleb, Claire and I at La Peep's restaurant.  Then Hleb checked in via Skype with his wife and kids back in Minsk.  He also talked with one of his colleagues from Encouragement International as they planned next week’s schedule in Los Angeles.

After these things, Hleb and I took off for South High School. Teachers there had been in discussion with Student Venture director Gary Warrick about bringing Hleb in to address a Human Geography class.  That went very well.  Hleb was in fine form – informative, personable and entertaining – and the students really got into the presentation. Hleb's talk was also a neat connection to Gary's ongoing SV chapter there at South.

Next up was a cup of coffee at the Westroads Panera with some profitable conversation about church life, sanctification, the problem that VDPs (Very Draining Persons) pose to ministers, and more.  Hleb also fit in a quick shopping trip to get a dress for his daughter -- on sale!  We then moved on to KCRO where Hleb taped a quick program with Jackie Mahr and then did a live ½ hour show with Greg Vogt and Make Shane. Both were very good.

Wednesday closed with another dessert meeting, this time at our house.  The previous night Quint and Carol Coppi had served as hosts for 9 other people in an exciting meeting that lasted 2½ hours. The meeting Wednesday night had a similar feel -- 9 guests, an interesting, compelling presentation by Hleb which covered a host of topics, and a lot of questions. We went three hours that night!

After such a pace for those first two days, I figured Hleb needed a little extra rest so I let him sleep in Thursday morning while I joined John and Pat at Panera’s for our regular fellowship at 6:30.  But Hleb was ready and raring to go when I picked him up later for the next event, a talk to young adults enrolled in a special GED program. We met Gary at the Boys and Girls Club at 27th and Hamilton for this event.  This was a really active group of about 20 people and they responded well to Hleb’s testimony of conversion to Christianity. 

Hleb's next job was to give an address to the Student Venture group meeting at Central High School Thursday night.  Claire and I had a “When Swing Was King” presentation at Brookstone Meadows at 6:30 but Gary picked him up at our house, grabbed the pizza, and headed down to the club. It was, as we learned later that night, another terrific opportunity for the Lord to excite, inform and stimulate to action young people through Hleb’s ministry.

Day four started with breakfast at the Westroads Panera with Hleb and a brother in Christ who plans to join the team of Encouragement International. I dropped Hleb off for this meeting, briefly spoke with the other guy (a recent transplant from California to Nebraska), and took off to get some other work done.  It turned out that Hleb had a productive time and, at the end of the 90-minute conversation, he was encouraged and excited at the prospect of being ministry partners with this young fellow, a recent graduate of Master's Seminary.

The next speaking engagement took us back to Omaha Christian Academy for a high school world history class.  The teacher had let slip that the students had been studying the Byzantine Empire and he was delighted when Hleb began his talk with insightful comments about that very subject!  The rest of the talk went well too and there were, like the previous classes, plenty of engaging questions. At the end of the talk, Hleb was presented a folder full of thank-you letters from the students. There’s no doubt that Hleb has left a wonderful impression on Omaha Christian Academy with his four visits.

Friday night proved to be something really special. It was another home visit but this one took us towards Blair. And it wasn't a dessert we were looking forward to but a meal. And what a meal! Perly and Sandy Schoville had prepared a very festive, very elaborate, and very American gift for their new Belarusian friend.  Indeed, they served up for Hleb (and 8 others) a full, traditional Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, oyster dressing, rolls, mushroom dressing, asparagus, cranberry sauce, and two kinds of pie!  It was a splendid meal – fun and delicious – but the fellowship with the Schovilles and the friends they had invited along was even more enjoyable.  Thanks so much, guys!

What’s left?  Well, we had planned today (Saturday) to drive Hleb down to Kansas City to meet friends there. But the weather not being the greatest (there and here), we decided to make this a day of rest.  We're listening to music, conversing, reading, dining on chili and orange scones -- all in the warm glow of logs burning on the grate. Very nice.

Tomorrow will be Hleb's last day here in Omaha.  He will be delivering the morning sermon at Faith Bible Church at 10:30, followed by a lunch with friends afterward, and then another home fellowship meeting at 2 o’clock hosted by Allen and Cindy Nelson.  All in all, a very full week and we're so grateful to the Lord for allowing us this time together. We hope and pray that he has made many new and lasting friends while here. 

Planned Parenthood Boss: When Life Begins "Isn't Relevant"

Andrew Johnson over at NRO’s The Corner reports:

The president of the country’s largest abortion provider said she didn’t think the matter of when life begins is pertinent to the issue.

“It is not something that I feel is really part of this conversation,” Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood told Fusion’s Jorge Ramos on Thursday. “I don’t know if it’s really relevant to the conversation.”

When pressed, Richards said that in her view life began for her three children when she delivered them.

She explained that the purpose of her organization is not to answer a question that “will be debated through the centuries,” but to provide options for pregnant women.

A Place for Mom...Isn't the Place for Mom, After All.

Medical ethicist Wesley J. Smith writes:

We’ve all seen the soothing Joan Lunden ads for the elder services referral business A Place for Mom. Amidst the warm colors and gauzy colors, it turns out the group supports assisted suicide…

In an age of terrible elder abuse, it is appalling that a business that seeks to earn the trust of seniors and their families would boost the ultimate abandonment of assisted suicide.

If I ever need help caring for my 96-year-old mother, A Place for Mom is the last organization to which I would turn.

Here’s more.

Chick Webb: "The Lord Gave Me Some Years To Play"

Chick Webb, one of America’s most talented and influential leaders of a big band, held court at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, New York throughout the 1930s. Chick was the man who discovered and mentored Ella Fitzgerald and his inventive, popular band posed a friendly rivalry to those of Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and others. However, behind the engaging and generous personality, the ever-present smile, and the happy sounds of one of the greatest dance bands in America, Chick Webb lived with pain and a knowledge that his life would not be long.

Chick Webb suffered from tuberculosis of the spine. It had stunted his growth and badly deformed his spine, giving him the impression of being hunchbacked. Nevertheless, Chick wanted to play music and he worked long hours as a newsboy in order to purchase a set of drums, the instrument suggested by a doctor who thought it might “loosen up" his bones. It did that…and more.

Chick first played professionally at age 11. And he never looked back.

In late 1938, Chick’s health went into a steeper decline. The pain grew worse as did the exhaustion and lack of mobility. But he kept playing, knowing that the musicians in his band needed the jobs that were otherwise so hard to find in the Depression. But in 1939, at only the age of 34, Chick Webb collapsed and was taken into Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, dying shortly afterward.  His last words were, "I'm sorry, I've got to go."

It was sometime earlier, however, that Chick Webb explained to a reporter the reason he was able to go on, to delight music lovers all over America despite his severe limitations. Said Chick, “I can't understand the pain God gave me, I can't understand my sickness, but that's secondary. The main thing is, the Lord gave me the talent to play drums. He gave me some years to play. That's what I wanted to do.”

The music of the Chick Webb Orchestra is regularly featured in the “When Swing Was King” presentations that Claire and I give in nursing homes and senior facilities. We love it and so do our audiences. But knowing more about the man makes that music not only enjoyable, but inspirational too.

Want an example?

"The Morality of the Last Days"

Over at NRO, Jack Fowler remembers William F. Buckley on the 6th anniversary of his death by quoting WFB from a letter he once wrote to some high school students.

“In the passage you quote from Up From Liberalism I intended, indeed, to refer to the religious truth that is our central heritage and to the moral philosophy and human insight that derive from it.

Sometimes this position is referred to (in a phrase going back, I believe, to the days of the Roman Empire) as ‘the morality of the last days’ — by which is meant the world-view of men who know that death is close. But, in the long view, we all stand sentenced to death, and whether it comes in 1995 or tomorrow makes no difference. That is why the morality of the last days always applies to what is ‘finally important in human experience.’

All our techniques of social welfare, all our science, all our comfort, all our liberty, all our democracy and foreign aid and grandiloquent orations—all that means nothing to me and nothing to you in the moment when we go. At that moment we must put our souls in order, and the way to do that was lighted for us by Jesus, and since then we have had need of no other light.

That is what is finally important; it has not changed; and it will not change. It is truth, which shall ever abide in the future. And if it is ‘reactionary’ to hold a truth that will be valid for all future time, then words have lost their meaning, and men their reason.”

Amen.

Truckin' with Jesus!

Writing the February LifeSharer letter got me to thinking about my early days in Omaha, days that included riding around in Tom Meradith's exuberantly decorated "Jesus truck." I'll be writing about this more next week but I wanted to promote it a bit by posting this delightful photo.

Plus it might make you interested in that LifeSharer letter too! You'll find it right here.

As We've Said, These Aren't Your Mom's Girl Scouts

As millions of moms consider digging into pocketbooks for Girl Scout cookies this year, they may be interested to know about the hiring of Krista Kokjohn-Poehler in the Girl Scouts executive office in New York City.

Kokjohn-Poehler is an out lesbian married to a woman named Ashley Kokjohn. And, given her sexual preference, it may strike some as odd that her job title is "Girl Experience Officer.”

Her hiring five months ago was largely missed by the coterie of Girl Scout critics around the country who make the claim that the Girl Scouts have drifted leftward in the past 20 years…

The main charge leveled by Girl Scout critics concerns the leftward drift of the Girl Scouts, which was founded along conservative religious principles. The leftward drift began in the early '90s when God was made optional in the Girl Scout promise. This precipitated the founding of American Heritage Girls and the first widespread exit from the Girl Scouts.

In the ensuing years, social liberals insinuated themselves into national leadership of the Girl Scouts so that now it is unremarkable when they feature and promote women who are offensive to the sensibilities of hundreds of thousands of traditional-minded moms, including: Betty Friedan; Gloria Steinem; Hillary Clinton; Kathleen Sibelius, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and chief promoter of the Obamacare contraceptive mandate; and Wendy Davis, advocate for late term abortions.

The leftward drift likely made them tone-deaf to the inevitable controversy in their hiring of homopunk-rocker Josh Ackley, whose band The Dead Betties and their music video depicting violence against a woman became national news after reporting by Breitbart News last fall.

Penny Nance, former Girl Scout and president of Concerned Women for America, told Breitbart News, “In the last ten years the Girl Scouts have lost about a few hundred thousand members, and part of the reason for that is their tone deafness toward the cultural values of American moms."

Read the entirety of Austin Ruse's article for Breitbart right here.

The L'Abri Connection

The conference we attended was sponsored by the Rochester chapter of L’Abri, one of the Christian study centers started decades ago by Dr. Francis and Edith Schaeffer.  It was the first conference Claire and I had attended in several years and we went with great anticipation, especially because we have a rather intense history with the Schaeffers and the ministry of L’Abri.  Would you like to hear about it?  I sure hope so because that’s the focus of this month’s LifeSharer!

To start at the very beginning, we’ve got to go back...and I mean way back...to the spring of 1971.

Want the rest of the story? Here it is at the Vital Signs Ministries website.