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Twas the month before Christmas

Twas the month before Christmas*
When all through our land,*
Not a Christian was praying*
Nor taking a stand.*
See the PC Police had taken away,*
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*
The children were told by their schools not to sing,*
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*
December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*
Something was changing, something quite odd! *
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*
Are words that were used to intimidate me.*
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*
So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday !*

Friend Day Sermon Online

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Spiritual Triathlon - Part 6

Well, so now you are praying, reading your Bible, and meditating for 5 min each day, for a total of 15min of intensive time with God. Most importantly you are doing it all with faith in God!

Now, slowly start increasing the time of each “event”. When you increase the duration, strive to keep them balanced. Soon you will be spending 10min on each “event” for 30mins of powerful, concentrated time with God. When you are praying talk with God about how much He wants you to increase your times as ultimately this is between you and Him. Remember to keep a log of your times and look back on it periodically. I find it energizing to add up the time at the end of each month. For my log I have a simple three column Excel form that I put my times on. If you would like a copy of the spread sheet let me know and I would be happy to send you one.

I hope that you have found this time as refreshing and exciting as I have. I would love to hear how God is working in your lives through the Spiritual Triathlon. You can email me privately at Jay_McCaig@juno.com .Keep praying for me as I pray for you!

Thank you and God Bless You!

Spiritual Triathlon - Part 5

… If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Mathew 17:20

Today we are going to examine a component that must be present in each of our events for them to be effective. That component is faith. Without faith prayer is just words, without faith the Bible is just a book, without faith meditation is just daydreaming.

In Matthew 17 is the record of a child who is possessed by a demon, the disciples have tried to cast it out of the boy and failed. Jesus arrives and refers to the disciples, with a sorrowful voice, as “a faithless generation”. You see, the disciples had been trained by Jesus and had access to all of the power needed to accomplish the task – but they lacked faith. If you lack faith, your Spiritual Triathlon will be waste of time.

Jesus later tells the disciples “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting”. Both prayer and fasting are symptoms of faith. Faith expresses itself in communication. If we have little faith then we have little communication because we feel “what is the point?” Fasting is self-denial and surrender to the work of God If we want to do anything significant with God it is going to take spending some time with God and sacrificing some things for Him. Those who do not believe will not pray. They will think it is foolish to spend time with God. Those who do not pray will certainly not sacrifice.

How is your faith? Ask yourself this question “Do I believe God can do anything?” You may have quickly answered yes, but do you live your life like you believe? Are you worried about what tomorrow brings? Are you worried about how you are going to pay your bills? Do things of this world keep you awake at night? Whatever you fear or whatever worries you shows a weakness in your faith. Go to God right now and give it all to Him. Remind yourself everyday that God is God and He is still in control. He is all-powerful and can do anything. When you pray do it with the expectation that God will answer. When you read the Bible, do so with the knowledge that every jot and tittle is blessed, true, and written by the hand of God. When you meditate keep close to your mind that God is answering your prayers, visualizes what that will be like and prepare for his answer.

Pray for me as I pray for you.

Spiritual Triathlon - Part 4

My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes. Psalm 119:48

Today we are going to look at the third “event” in our Spiritual Triathlon, Meditation. Since meditation is often associated with eastern religions, you may be wondering if meditation is an activity that Christians should participate. The answer is yes – it is Christian and it is biblical. Meditation is mentioned several times in the Bible; Isaac is recorded meditating in Genesis 24:36, Joshua is commanded by God to meditate in Joshua 1:8 and the Psalms are full of references to meditation.

Christian meditation is different from the eastern religion type of meditation. The goal of eastern meditation is to empty the mind and create a vacuum. Unfortunately, nature abhors a vacuum and your mind will quickly be filled with something worldly. Christian Meditation is the emptying of the mind and filling it with something from God.

For our Spiritual Triathlon we will be meditating immediately after our Prayer and Scripture Reading, so we will be meditating on the Scripture we just read. So how do you meditate? Well if you know how to worry then you know how to meditate. Worry is meditating on our problems (not productive), Christian Meditation is “worrying” on God’s Word (very productive). There are many ways to meditate on God’s Word, I have listed some of my favorites for you;

1. Memorizing Scripture is an excellent way to meditate on The Word.

2. Re-read and concentrate on those portions of scripture that caused you discomfort or confused you.

3. Imagine the story read and recreate it in your head. What did it look like to someone watching? What did it smell like? What did it sound like?

4. Play “If you were there” what was going on in the persons mind when he/she was involved in the events described? What did they see and feel?

Try meditating for 5 min after you prayer and Bible reading – you are now spending just 15 minutes of your day intensely focused on God, easy. Tomorrow we are going to talk about something that must be present in all three events in order for them to be the most effective. Keep praying for me as I pray for you.

Spiritual Triathlon - Part 3

2 Timothy 3:16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Today we are going to look at the second event in our Spiritual Triathlon – Scripture Reading. While most Christians I know do pray at least a little to God, most only read their Bibles on Sunday when directed by their Pastor. The Bible is food for your spirit. If the only time your spirit eats is when it is spoon fed at church it will starve and will never grow to its full potential. The spirit that God gave you at the point of salvation must be fed regularly so that it can grow inside of you.

When we pray we are talking to God. When we read our Bibles we are letting God talk back. What good would a telephone without an ear piece be? That, in affect, is what we have when we pray without reading the Bible.

So, where in the Bible do we start? That is really up to you and God. The books of John and Romans are excellent for new Bible readers. Proverbs and Psalms are also good choices for new readers. Or maybe you want to start at the beginning and read to the end. Wherever you start keep track of what you read and try to read in an orderly manner. Don’t worry if you do not understand everything at first. God describes His book as “living” meaning that the more you read it the more it will reveal to you. Things that are unclear today will be clear and profitable to you a year from know when you read it again.

How much should we read? Try and keep your reading balanced with your prayer so if you are praying for 5mins then read for 5mins.

What Bible version should we use? I study, teach, and preach from the King James Bible. I have yet to find another English version of the Scripture that is closer to the original Greek & Hebrew text than the KJV so that is what I recommend for you to use.

So now we are praying for five minutes and reading our Bibles for five minutes everyday. Only ten minutes total. No sweat!

Tomorrow we are going to look at our next event Meditation. Keep praying for me as I pray for you.