Texas State Prayer
Jonnie Wilson invited me to pray at the Texas State MLK luncheon last month. It was a great honor to play a spiritual part on campus.
Here is the prayer I prayed. It is rare for me to write a prayer out, but I thought it was appropriate for this occation.
Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning with thanksgiving.
Out of all the regions of the world and spaces of time to reside, you have hand selected here and now for us to fulfill a powerful and eternal purpose.
We are forever grateful for those who stood, sat, marched, and spoke before us. Specifically for Dr Martin Luther King Jr., who illustrated the dream. We pray that you would give our generation the wisdom, integrity and passion to live out the dream amongst all the challenges we face.
We pray for our academic, political, business, and social leadership may they lead us closer to unity without taking us farther from you.
We thank you for the food, may it be Blessed and be a nourishment.
We pray these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Robin Update
We moved into our new house 1 week ago and everything is fitting into place. Boxes are almost all unpacked. Kennady went to her new school today. We are remodeling a bathroom for her and it is about 75% complete. Woody Mendoza is painting a couple of our rooms. At night, I am not stubbing my toes as much around the new corners. Although, while cooking last night I sliced a part of my thumb and nail off. Ouch! I packed tightly with coffee grounds. That’s a secret I learned while working in a restaurant from my co-workers.
I am excited about church this weekend. We are going to have 3 different sermons. Each service gets its own speaker and specific message. They will all be focused on VISION! If you are a part of PSM, make sure to be there and invite someone to join you.
See you then,
Robin
Hormones Are Dangerous
If you live in Central Texas and travel rural roadways in late February, there is an aroma that will ‘peak your interest’. In the 6 mile stretch between my house and the church, there are 3 places where I have to either hold my breath or hold a clothe over my face. Although, I have to admit, lately I have been trying to become one with nature and learn to enjoy odor from the cute little black and white weasel. What? You didn’t know that skunks were in the weasel family? See all the great things you learn here!
Why is it so stinky in February? Skunks are hit by cars because they are on the roads. Why are there so many skunks killed on the road during this part of the year? Read the passage below found online:
Adult skunks begin breeding in late February. Yearling females (born in the preceding year) mate in late March. Gestation usually lasts 7 to 10 weeks. Older females bear young during the first part of May, while yearling females bear young in early June. There is usually only 1 litter annually. Litters commonly consist of 4 to 6 young, but may have from 2 to 16. Younger or smaller females have smaller litters than older or larger females. The young stay with the female until fall. Both sexes mature by the following spring. The age potential for a skunk is about 10 years, but few live beyond 3 years in the wild.
The normal home range of the skunk is l/2 to 2 miles (2 to 5 km) in diameter. During the breeding season, a male may travel 4 to 5 miles (6.4 to 8 km) each night.
The males are driven by their hormones into dangerous traffic situations and sadly many of them lose their life. It leaves the skunk population smaller and virtual clouds of fumes in the air. Then, after they are hit and laying in the road, cars swerve not to hit the little guys and almost hit other cars. This causes even more problems.
A situation that is so deadly for the skunks is really not any different for other species. Is it? Deer go crazy in late summer, early fall. Monster bucks walk right out in the clearing in broad daylight, much to the delight of hunters.
And humans…well…men are crazy year around.
Of course, females deal with hormone issues also. Hormones open the door to procreation and other vital bodily functions. Without them, we would not survive. In fact, my daughter who was born with a brain abnormality, does not naturally get a hormone from her brain and would die if we did not medicate her twice a day.
There is something powerful about the movement of hormones. They alter rational thought. Life saving thoughts. Moral thoughts.
What are your thoughts on something so natural or physical impacting our spiritual life?
-pastor
The Language of Worship
This post is based off the last one.
God receives worship from us, how is it understood or evaluated?
My immediate response would be that He listens and He watches. But, that is so ‘human’. God must be able to evaluate our worship with a different sense. The reason? Listening and watching is not effective when it comes to judging authenticity. Sure, we can look at someone and think they are telling the truth or are sincere, but God is not that sketchy. When our ‘worship’ arises to God, He must know from beginning to end if that worship is real or forced…if the motive is true or alternative.
Most modern churches place a lot of emphasis on the production of our worship at church. We ask questions like: Are the melodies and tempo right? Is everyone on key? Are the instruments tuned and ready? What about lighting and video sequences?
The focus drifts from original intent (communicating with God) to impressing the five human senses. We feel like if we hear, smell, taste, see, and touch that the worship is good, then it is pure. I can’t help but think that God’s senses rely on sensors beyond the human capability. They must be so much more reliable.
What if God received worship by:
- The Intent of your Heart (Romans 2:29) – If melodies and words come from your inner most being…
- The percent of Talent you use (Matthew 25) – If you are using all your available resources and not holding anything back…
- The unity of the Believers (Matthew 5:24) – If you are unified with others, holding no grudges…
If you are wanting to please God with your worship, offering, and talents, I would look at how you match up with the three above. Even more than making sure you are singing on key, getting the music just right, or saying the ‘right’ words.
-robin
Robin Steele 