Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Invisible Woman

A couple of months ago, Michelyn shared the following video with me. It was a GREAT encouragement to me, so I thought I would share it with you. The speaker is Nicole Johnson.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Give Me Your Eyes

In class tomorrow, we will be discussing how Jesus' view of the multitude in Mark 6 differed from that of the disciples. There is a great lesson for us in this, and as I was thinking about it, a song came to mind...

Give Me Your Eyes
By Brandon Heath

Looked down from a broken sky.
Traced out by the city of lights.
My world from a mile high.
Best seat in the house tonight.
Touch down on the cold black-top.
Hold on for the sudden stop.
Breathe in the familiar shock of confusion and chaos.
Are all those people going somewhere. Why have I never cared?

Give me your eyes for just one second.
Give me your eyes so I can see.
Everything that I keep missing.
Give your love for humanity.
Give me your arms for the brokenhearted.
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.

Step out on the busy street.
See a girl and our eyes meet.
Does her best to smile at me,
To hide what's underneath.
There's a man just to her right.
Black suit and a bright red tie.
Too ashamed to tell his wife he's out of work, he's buyin time.
Are all those people going somewhere. Why have I never cared?

Give me your eyes for just one second.
Give me your eyes so I can see.
Everything that I keep missing.
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the brokenhearted.
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.

I've been there a million times.
A couple of million lives.
Just movin past me by, I swear I never thought that I was wrong.
But I wanna second glance,
So give me a second chance
To see the way you've seen the people all along.

Give me your eyes for just one second.
Give me your eyes so I can see.
Everything that I keep missing.
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the brokenhearted.
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.

Give me your eyes for just one second.
Give me your eyes so I can see.
Everything that I keep missing.
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the brokenhearted.
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah
You can listen to the song here.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Bonhoeffer on Prayer, Part One

I have been reading The Cost of Discipleship for several months. It's the kind of book that you read a bit and then put it down for a while. There's a lot to digest. If the thought of reading this book is daunting to you, you should at least read the section "Of the Hidden Character of the Christian Life." The following passage is from Chapter 15, "The Hiddeness of Prayer."

We are privileged to know that he knows our needs before we ask him. This is what gives Christian prayer its boundless confidence and its joyous certainty. It matters little what form of prayer we adopt or how many words we use, what matters is the faith which lays hold on God and touches the heart of the Father who knew us long before we came to him.

Genuine prayer is never "good works," an exercise or a pious attitude, but it is always the prayer of a child to a Father. Hence, it is never given to self-display, whether before God, ourselves, or other people. ... Thus faith, which is the mainspring of Christian prayer, excludes all reflection and premeditation.

Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life. It is the antithesis of self-display. When men pray, they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon.

The essence of Christian prayer is not general adoration, but definite, concrete petition. The right way to approach God is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father.

True prayer does not depend either on the individual or the whole body of the faithful, but solely upon the knowledge that our heavenly Father knows our needs. That makes God the sole object of our prayers, and frees us from a false confidence in our own prayerful efforts.


Be encouraged today!