How many of you have heard this famous bedtime prayer?
I am not going to lie – I find this prayer extremely creepy and morbid. I relate a lot with this guy…
*IF THE VIDEO ISN’T WORKING, CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS FUNNY VIDEO.
Archive for September, 2008
Today is a weird day in the office. Today is the first day that I have been an employee at the Shannon Oaks Church without one of my co-workers (and friend) being here.
A great friend of mine is moving from Sulphur Springs. Jon Paul Dennis has moved on from his position as the worship minister at the Shannon Oaks Church. He has faithfully and selflessly served the Shannon Oaks Church as worship minister for eight years. JP and I have worked on the same staff now for over four years. He and his family have felt God’s pull to focus on their family and move to Dallas to be near other family members.
___________________
This part is just for JP:
Hey brother. I have been thinking for a week on what I wanted to say to you before you left. I couldn’t think of the words when I was helping you move your incredibly heavy stuff on Friday. I couldn’t think of the words when I was leaving church yesterday morning. I guess the reality of you leaving did not really hit me until I got in the office this morning and you were not here. I walked by your office to see the remnants of what used to be your stuff.
I just wanted to thank you so much for everything over the last 4+ years. From the first day I stepped foot in Sulphur Springs, I felt accepted by you. Please know that I view you as much more than a colleague. You are a mentor, a friend, and a brother. It has been an honor standing beside you and ministering with you the past 4+ years. I will miss your humor, our conversations, our venting sessions, your ability to fix anything, and your booming laugh. Take care of your family and your wife. You are one of my heroes. I love you, bro. You will be missed, JP.
Last night was part three of the four week series called “LIFE REMIXED” that I am teaching on Wednesday evenings at our Revive mid-week service. The title for last night’s message was “PRAYER REMIXED”, where we looked at a way to remix our prayer life.
(Giving credit where credit is due, I first heard the idea for this message many years ago when hearing a similar message by Louie Giglio at 722 in Atlanta, Georgia.)
We looked a common prayer (or different variations of that common prayer) that we often pray – “God, bless me.” We are so captivated with receiving the blessings of God. Listen closely to prayers and you will hear tons of petitions directed towards God to bless me, bless my family, bless my friends, bless my church, bless my finances, bless my grades, bless my sports teams, bless my relationships, bless my country, bless my dog, bless my coffee table, etc. You name it, we probably ask God to bless it.
Why do you think Dan Wilkerson’s Prayer of Jabez book was so popular when it was released in 2000? This book that focuses on a man in the Bible named Jabez’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 sold more than 9 million copies in its first two years. Why? Because many believed Jabez’s prayer was the key to receiving more of God’s blessing.
After diving into God’s Word a little more, I found out that Abraham was promised a lot of blessing. Check these verses out when you have time: Genesis 12:2-3 (Abraham receives a promise of blessing), Genesis 17:3-4 (Abraham receives a promise to become the father of nations), and Genesis 22:17-18 (Abraham receives another promise of blessing and that all nations would be blessed through his offspring).
In America, we live in a very consumer-driven society. A society where we cannot get enough stuff. There is always something bigger and better. Heather and I are saving our money right now for a large, flat-panel TV. Why? We already have 4 TVs of some kind already in our house. Maybe we look at God’s blessings with the same consumer-driven mentality.
In studying I found out that the term “Bless you” is used 36 times in the Bible – 34 in the Old Testament, 2 in the New Testament. The term “Bless me” is used 6 times in the Bible – 6 in the Old Testament, 0 in the New Testament. The term “Bless” is used 89 times in the Bible – 84 in the Old Testament, 5 in the New Testament.
Isn’t that interesting? Seems there is a fundamental change and shift when it comes to blessings in the Old Testament and the New Testament. So what changed? That question can be answered in one word – JESUS!
With Jesus we have received the ultimate blessing. Through Jesus, Abraham’s blessing came to fruition and we were blessed more than we could possibly imagine (Read Galatians 3:14 – really, really cool).
So here is how I was asking them to remix their prayer life:
Instead of always praying “GOD, BLESS ME.” Remix that by praying “GOD, LET ME BLESS YOU.” Live a life that blesses God. Live a life worthy of the incredible blessing that you have been given through Jesus. Live a life that brings honor and glory to God with everything you do. Realize that you are blessed beyond your wildest dreams and live a life that brings a huge smile to God’s face.
In response time, I challenged them to think of specific ways they could bless God with their lives. I asked them to write them down. It was amazing to see them brainstorm about specific ways of how they could bless God with their life. Commitments were made last night to honor God by maintaining sexual purity until marriage, to honor God by never submitting to drugs and alcohol, sharing God with specific friends, and even being a catalyst for revival in their schools, their cities, and their world. It was powerful seeing all these commitments to bless God through their lives.
That was PRAYER REMIXED. Thanks for reading this far.
With that being said…BLESS GOD today.
Cannonball Baptism
Posted: September 23, 2008 in Funny, Life, Ministry, People, Random, SpiritualityTell me this wouldn’t liven up a church service…
The Yankees played their final game in historic Yankee Stadium last night. They won the game 7-3. I recorded the game on my TIVO and it will probably be on there for a long time.
An expression I love is “Captain Obvious”. Captain Obvious is used when somebody says something that is incredibly obvious about a certain situation.
For example, let’s say that I were to have a huge bruise across my entire face. You walk up to me, point at my face, and say, “Man, I bet that hurts!” That is a Captain Obvious statement.
You can find Captain Obvious statements lots of places, including the Bible. I am trying to make a list of Captain Obvious Bible Verses and I need your help finding more. Here is an example of a C.O. verse:
MATTHEW 4:2 – “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
Can you help me find more?
_________________
By the way, I say all this with a ton of respect, awe, and reverence for God’s Word. I am not writing this to be disrespectful of Scripture at all. Just having a little fun.
Today I was on the road when another car passed me. As the car passed beside me the gentleman driving the vehicle turned his head my direction as to communicate driving superiority. As we made eye contact, I noticed that the gentleman had some tattoos scattered across his face. During that moment I had a realization:
IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO ON YOUR FACE, YOU HAVE BAD JUDGEMENT.
Can you think of any other human features or actions that automatically brings “that person has bad judgment” thoughts to your mind?
For example, possibly a mullet?
Here is the newest Sports Illustrated cover that landed in my mailbox:
The countdown is officially on…
Only 4 more games left in historic Yankee Stadium. It is sad. It is even more sad that there will not be playoffs games played in Yankee Stadium this year. As a Yankee fan, it is a tough pill to swallow.
It ranks right up there in sports sadness with…
- Michael Jordan retiring.
- The Titans coming a yard short from winning the Super Bowl in 2000.
- Michael Jordan retiring again.
- My intramural basketball team, INJURY PRONE, losing the 2003 championship game.
- The Yankees 2004 ALCS collapse (known in the Cromer house as “the playoffs we do not speak of”).
- Michael Jordan retiring yet again.
What sad sports moment is on your list?
Relationships Remixed
Posted: September 17, 2008 in Faith, Inspirational, Life, Ministry, People, Spirituality, The Bible
What if we started having relationships the way Jesus designed them to be when he shook everything up so many years ago?
What if we started having relationships where we cared more that person’s relationship with God more than that person’s relationship with us?
What if we made a fundamental mind-change and started to think more about other people’s needs over our needs?
What if we started loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us, blessing those who curse us, and praying for those who mistreat you? (Luke 6:27-28)
What if we stopped thinking that turning the other cheek was a sign of weakness, and embraced that action as being like Jesus? (Luke 6:29)
What if we give to everyone who asks us? (Luke 6:30)
What if Luke 6:31 – “Do to others as you would have them do to you” – became a reality?
What if we started forgiving each other freely without the fear of being taken advantage of?
What if we started treating other people the right way for their sake, not ours? (Where the motivation for treating people right is not to simply make us feel good but to be a blessing in other people’s lives.)
What if we started living to bless God instead of to be blessed by God?
What if we took the life and teachings of Jesus and applied them directly to our everyday relationships?
Would our relationships look different?
Would our marriages look different?
Would our friendships look different?
Would our lives look different?
______________________
Tonight I am teaching part two of the series “LIFE REMIXED”. Tonight the title of the message is “Relationships Remixed” where we will be looking at how Jesus completely changed (remixed) the way humanity did relationships. Pray that God will speak his truth through me tonight. That I will be able to get out of the way and let God shine in that room tonight.
______________________
Here’s how you can help:
When you look through the Gospels, how do you see Jesus changing the then cultural norm regarding relationships? If you want to share some God-truths of how Jesus remixed relationships during his time on this earth with me, that would be great.
I am wierd. I know it. I have accepted that fact.
To understand me better you must know that my mind is always going about any and everything. From the time I wake up to the time I enter a deep R.E.M. sleep, my mind is going one hundred miles per hour. Please do not misunderstand me, this does not mean that I am in a constant state of deep, important thought about pressing global issues and the theological mysteries of this world.
That being said, I was thinking this morning what it would like to be on death row. Now for the majority of the time, I think it would be an unpleasant experience. However, there I can think of a couple positives in the death row experience.
Being a pretty hardcore introvert (meaning I get my energy from times of being alone or with a small group of close friends, not that I do not like people), I think I would enjoy the time of quiet and solitude. I could probably some serious thinking and reading done during that time.
I also could see the LAST MEAL being an incredible experience. I think this is the one advantage death row people have over us non-death row people.
If you do not know what the death row last meal is, it is the last meal that inmates on death row get to pick everything they get to eat before they are executed. They get to hand pick everything without any rules or limitations. If they want breakfast food, they get it. A great steak from their favorite restaurant, they got it. Aside from the whole execution thing, not a bad way to go.
I started to think about what would be on the menu for my last meal. Here is what I came up with for my last meal:
- Mongolian Beef from PF Changs
- Grilled Shrimp from Saltgrass Steakhouse
- A Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog from Yankee Stadium
- A small, Heather-made Caesar Salad
- My mom’s Sweet Potatoes
- My mom’s Fruit Salad
- Cajun French Fries from Popeyes
- Rolls from O’Charleys
- Break and Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies from Nestle (with a tall glass of cold milk)
- A grande, no venti (what the heck, it is my last meal) Caramel Frappochino with extra caramel from Starbucks
- A slice of Key Lime Pie Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.
- Banana Split flavored Dippin’ Dots
- Heather-made sweet tea
IMPORTANT NOTE: this list is subject to change.
What about you? What would be on your last meal? Be specific. Meaning if you want Gatorade at your last meal, tell what specific flavor. If you want a nice steak, tell what restaurant or grill you want that steak to come from.
What would be on your last meal?
