Friday, July 13, 2007
The Sweet Spot of Prayer
Two weeks ago I was attending one the small groups that meets on Sunday Evening. Continuing in the series on prayer, Jim Cymbala talked about how important it is to know the Word of God when you pray. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is to be able to pray back to God his promises to us. A second point was even more significant to me. When we know the Word of God we have a basis for our praying and our faith. Information, facts, and truth are things we live on everyday. Each day we use things that have been produced, developed, and used throughout the world. This can be even more powerful when we understand it in the spirit world. When we pray and add faith to our prayers, we don't have to approach prayer without resource. We have historical fact. solid truth, scriptural information to base our prays and faith on. If we read and know the word of God we can come to Him not in ignorance but based on solid truth. This challenges me to read the Bible more intently seeking truth and not just for the discipline of reading, but also for the foundation it gives me in prayer. How much greater prayer can be when we can use His truth to develop our prayer life and talk to God out of knowledge with his Word. Then we won't have to wonder if we are in his will, the sweet spot of prayer.
Below is something I just read from H.B. London who is with Focus on the Family. Thought you might find it interesting. 
Artifact Supports Accuracy of Scripture
A small clay tablet, that was unearthed near Baghdad in 1920, was deciphered for the first time only last week. The cuneiform inscription, dating from 595BC during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, mentions an official by the name Nebo-Sarsekim, who is also spoken of in Jeremiah 39. "This is a fantastic discovery ... a world-class find," said Irving Finkel of the British Museum's Middle East Department. "A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."Dr. Michael Jursa of the University of Vienna, who has been studying artifacts at the museum for over 15 years, found the two-inch-wide tablet among the museum's collection of more than 100,000 inscribed tablets. According to Jursa, who is one of only a handful of scholars worldwide who are able to read cuneiform script, the text of the inscription is basically a receipt, acknowledging the payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.
A small clay tablet, that was unearthed near Baghdad in 1920, was deciphered for the first time only last week. The cuneiform inscription, dating from 595BC during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, mentions an official by the name Nebo-Sarsekim, who is also spoken of in Jeremiah 39. "This is a fantastic discovery ... a world-class find," said Irving Finkel of the British Museum's Middle East Department. "A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."Dr. Michael Jursa of the University of Vienna, who has been studying artifacts at the museum for over 15 years, found the two-inch-wide tablet among the museum's collection of more than 100,000 inscribed tablets. According to Jursa, who is one of only a handful of scholars worldwide who are able to read cuneiform script, the text of the inscription is basically a receipt, acknowledging the payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Just got back for Dustin and Hannah's wedding. The wedding went really well. While it was outside and there was a threat of rain, it held off for the duration of the evening. There was a large contingency of people from Welcome who attended. Dustin and Hannah as well as their family expressed appreciation for our being there. Of course and Matt and Ashley participated in the wedding as well. Dustin and Hannah will be back home on Saturday.
Martha and I had planned to attend Mt Zion Wesleyan church on Sunday. I looked at their web-site and the times for the services was 9 and 11 AM. We arrived at 10 minutes to 11 only to find out that they had changed the times to 8:45 and 10 AM. It reminded me to keep our own web-site up to date. An any rate Martha and I had a leisurely drive home down through the country roads of NC and finally to SC scenic route 11.
Martha and I had planned to attend Mt Zion Wesleyan church on Sunday. I looked at their web-site and the times for the services was 9 and 11 AM. We arrived at 10 minutes to 11 only to find out that they had changed the times to 8:45 and 10 AM. It reminded me to keep our own web-site up to date. An any rate Martha and I had a leisurely drive home down through the country roads of NC and finally to SC scenic route 11.
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