Thank God!

Giving thanks to God is a prayer we should use often. We have so much to be grateful for that giving thanks as an expression of our hearts should easily spring from our lips.  It is not difficult to be thankful for the good things in life that we enjoy, but what about the admonition here to give thanks in "everything?"  Everything includes the tough times in life like spiritual trials, persecution, sickness, financial stress, insults and so on. When we learn to give thanks in the midst of everything that we expereince in life, we will surely find true peace and happiness in God.          

A Prayer begins . . .

Heavenly Father, we praise your name.  We are thankful that you are God and hear our prayers. 

An Announcement begins . . .

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Selected book quotations begin . . .

Father Tim Cries Out

" 'Lord,' he said, 'speak to me, please, I can't go on like this.  Speak to me in a way I can understand clearly.  I've read Your word.  I've sought Your counsel, I've whined, I've groveled, I've despaired, I've pled--and I've waited.  And through it all, Lord, You've been so strangely silent.'             

He said for a time, in a kind of misery he couldn't define; wordless, trying to listen, his mind drifting.  Then a last he drew a deep breath and sat up straighter, determined.

'I will not let You go until You bless me!;' he said, startled by his voice in the silent room.  

He took his Bible from beside his chair and opened it at random. 

Stop seeking what you want to hear, Timothy, and listen to what I have to tell you.

He felt no supernatural jolt; it happened simply. God had just spoken to his heart with great tenderness, as He'd done only a few times in his life before; it produced in him an utter calm.

'Yes,' he said. 'Thank you.  Thank you.'

Where the book had fallen open in his lap, he began to read with expectation and certainty.

He found the passage only moments later.  Instantly, he knew:  He'd discovered at last what God had held in reserve--expressly for him, expressly for now, and expressly for tomorrow morning.

The peace flowed like a river.

Though he'd known for decades that the exhortation was there in First Thessalonians, and had even preached on it a time or two, it came to him now as if it were new, not ancient, wisdom.  It came to him with the utterly effulgent certainty that this Scripture was his, and he might seize upon it as upon a bright sword that would help him pierce . . . . . . pierce what?

The darkness.

The time to begin was now.

'Thank You,' he whispered, 'for this time of darkness.' "

SoAmazing Review: Jan Karon presents a plethora of pleasing character vignettes engaging readers in simultaneous and multiple story threads expertly woven into a pleasing tapestry at the end.  In This Mountain is a delightful book by a superbly gifted storyteller.

Buy In This Mountain Now! Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Christianbook.

Broken Men

Dr. James Dobson, Bringing Up Boys, Practical Advice And Encouragement For Those Shaping The Next Generation of Men, Tyndale House Publishers, 2001, Inc., p. 60. SoAmazing.com

"Prisons are populated primarily by men who were abandoned or rejected by their fathers.  Motivational speaker and writer Zig Ziglar quotes his friend Bill Glass, a dedicated evangelist who counseled almost every weekend for twenty-five years with men who were incarcerated, as saying that among the thousands of prisoners he had met, not one of them genuinely loved his dad.  Ninety-five percent of those on death row hated their fathers.  In 1998, there were 1,202,107 people in federal or state prisons.  Of that number 94 percent were males.  Of the 3,452 prisoners awaiting execution, only forty-eight were women.  That amounts to 98.6 percent males.  Clearly, as Barbara Jackson said, 'it is far easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.'

Some years ago, executives of a greeting-card company decided to do something special for Mother's Day.  They set up a table in a federal prison, inviting any inmate who so desired to send a free card to his mom.  The lines were so long, they had to make another trip to the factory to get more cards.  Due to the success of the event, they decided to do the same thing on Father's Day, but this time no one came.  Not one prisoner felt the need to send a card to his dad.  Many had no idea who their fathers even were.

SoAmazing Review: In Bringing Up Boys, Dr. James Dobson presents facts and statistics to demonstrate why boys are at special risk in families where fathers are absent.  He also shares parenting suggestions and answers for women who head up one parent households.

Buy Bringing Up Boys Now!   Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Christianbook.

Editors: Douglas W. Scott, Douglas E. Scott, Marilyn R. Scott

Another Great Book Quotation

Christian

"It takes a tough soul, maybe somebody slightly mad, to hate God. Who is a big enough fool to wish God bad luck?" Lewis Smedes, p. 84, Buy Forgive and Forget, Healing The Hurts We Don't Deserve Now!

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