A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Women in My Life

I am so grateful for the women of our community of Global Service.  I am honored by your presence and your willingness to be in a mutual relationship with the men of Global Service. Together we are servant leaders and ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Savior.  I encourage you to continue “speaking the truth in love, that together we may grow up in all things in Him who is the First Born of Creation and who is the Source ("Head") of the Church.  Jesus Christ the Lord of Heaven and Earth.” (Ephesians 4:11-16 and 5:15-21)

This is my prayer on the morning of September 26th 2018 beside the Crystal River near Redstone, Colorado:

"Thank-you Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit three in One for opening my eyes to see the wonder of the virgin Mary the mother of the body of Jesus. Mary, you gave life to the Savior and Redeemer of the heavens and earth. Mary, thank-you that you as a young woman in spite of the cultural norms of your day choose to receive by grace through faith the gift of God in your womb to conceive the body of Jesus who was born in Bethlehem on that first Christmas Day. Mary, you are the giver of the life of God, and therefore, of love, of beauty, of joy, of grace, of reconciliation, of nurture, of learning, of language. Because of your surrender to the will of God I can now experience the presence of God. May the heavens and earth be filled with the Glory of God forever and ever." Amen

For all the women of Global Service who I love (“phileo”) as a brother, I pray for you to enjoy all the gifts of creation today. I pray for healing from the wounds of angry sinful men who covet the power of life that you possess. I pray for you to have wholeness of life, for abundance, for provision of food and clothing, protection and shelter. I pray that you may have freedom of movement and expression in your home, in your workplace, in the marketplace, in your neighborhood, in your church, and in society. I pray that you will experience the love of God and be energized by the life (“eros”) of God so that your mind will be renewed, your body will be strengthened, your voice will sing of the truth of God and your soul will be refreshed by the unconditional love (“agape”) of God.

Today I pray that you will see the beauty of creation, that you will smell the fresh air of the Spirit of God, that you will taste the goodness of God, and that you will hear the voice of God’s assurance, and feel the gentle touch and comfort of the heart of God. May all creation be filled with the voices of women today to drown out the voices of self-serving and self-centered men who have joined in the rebellion of the ages against God.

I pray Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit three in one that you hear my voice, a man broken by my own sin and the sins of men who are held captive by the angel of Death (“Azreal” in Hebrew and “Thanatos” in Greek).

By His Grace and For His Glory! Amen

Originally, I wrote this pray for my wife of 41 years, Brenda, my daughter of 37 years, Kelly, and my granddaughter Ruby who is 4 years old. I later decided to share this prayer with the women of our mission.

Born Again Church

In every generation the Lord extends his kingdom through the church as it is born again by the gospel of the kingdom. This new birth in no way diminishes the timeless "never-changing" truth of the scripture or the timeless "never-changing" message of the gospel, but the "church" must be recreated so that it will be salt and light in an "ever-changing" culture where it lives. Peter refers to the church as "aliens" in a foreign land living a life that is radically different then the world.

The church through no malice will naturally seek to either conform, to confront or to hide from the changing culture and world around. She grows comfortable with it's forms, with it's practices and with it's expectations of what it is supposed to be and as the world changes the church loses it's ability to "connect to the culture," and to "influence the world with kingdom values." The salt becomes tasteless and the light grows dim or is covered by the forms and practices that seemed best 40 years ago.

So as followers of Jesus we are faced with the choice of being "crucified, dead and buried with Christ," in order that we might by faith be reborn as a new creation to reflect the beauty and the new life of the resurrected Jesus in this new generation. The church must see herself as entering into the mission of God in the earthly realm with wisdom from the heavenly realm.