THE TRAGIC SHOOTING IN NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT

Taking prayer out of public schools is getting a lot of attention in light of this recent tragedy. I remember reciting The Lord’s Prayer each morning in the fifth grade with Mrs. Mullens at Center Street Elementary School. That freedom is gone. BUT…
Mommas can still pray over their kids before they get on the bus each morning.
Pastors, priests and rabbis can still gather with colleagues and pray for their city.
Daddy’s can still pray with their kids over dinner or when tucking them in at night.
Churches can spend some of service times praying.
Children who love Jesus can pray for their classmates and pray to themselves any time throughout the school day if taught to do so.
Teachers and Administrators can humbly call on God for the daily task before them.
Churches and denominations can still host prayer meetings.
We can still support our local Youth for Christ, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Moms in Touch, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Youth Alive, Chi Alpha, etc.
We can Google and participate with on-line prayer opportunities.

Why not exercise your FREEDOM TO PRAY this week! Our children are counting on it!

UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

(blog is a reprint from my article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on 8.19.12)

All the TV commercials touting presidential candidates have me talking to myself. Do I really need almost three more months of commercials to decide how to vote? Probably not. The two viable candidates are clearly opposite on major issues. Most voters could decide today.

So what's my role as an individual citizen?
Well God's assignment to you, per the Bible, is to pray for the leaders of your land.

Yeah, yeah, I know, but for most of us Christians, that's just a religious cliche, isn't it? We would rather discuss the candidates, vote (or not), then spend the next four years criticizing the winner on Facebook, at the office, at family gatherings, you name it!

Oh, quit it.

I'm just sayin'. . . . So what does God ask of me again? I got a bit distracted there.

Pray for your leaders. "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority. . . ." (I Timothy 2:1-2 ) I don't think it's a cliche nor just a suggestion. Verse 3 says "This is good and pleases God our Savior." Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. . . ." We have a president instead of a king, but you get the idea.

I thought this column was going to be about presidential candidates. Why are we talking about my responsibility to pray?

Hey, you're asking the questions.

Well, here's something that keeps me from praying. Can the prayers of a no-name, individual citizen like me really make a difference in a powerful place like Washington, D.C.?

Well, can you think of any examples in the Bible where God's purposes were accomplished through praying citizens when the ruling king didn't even believe in God?

Wait a minute, I thought I was asking the questions!

Sorry, you're right. Well, let me tell you then. There was King Cyrus, not a God-lover, yet God stirred his heart and accomplished his purposes through Cyrus (Ezra 1:1). Then there was King Nebuchadnezzar through whom God worked as a result of a teenager named Daniel, a God-loving man of prayer.

That's encouraging. Now do I pray because I'm a pastor or is this something every Christian should do?

Prayer isn't a special assignment to just a few people. Sure, we've made up some titles for a few who pray, like "prayer warrior" and "intercessor," which has caused the rest of us to mistakenly think we're off the hook. But just like your physical body needs to breathe, every God-follower who's spiritually alive needs to pray.

So I'm going to pray for my leaders instead of criticize them. How should I pray?

That's the question the disciples asked Jesus (Luke 11:1). "Lord, teach us to pray. . . ." Jesus gave them a great model to follow. The highlights are: forgive us, help us forgive, we honor you as God, bring the ways of Heaven down here to earth, lead us, free us up from evil, let God's will happen, give us what we need daily, your authority is above all else.

I think you're paraphrasing that. Where can I look up that prayer?

Google "The Lord's Prayer" or dust off your Bible (kidding) and look up Matthew 6:9-13 or Luke 11:2-4.

I better get busy praying then. Did you know there's a national election coming up?

The Rev. Donna Barrett is the pastor of Rockside Church in Independence. She borrowed her "talking to myself" format from The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto, a sports and faith columnist.

MARRIAGE RESOURCES ... from the pastor who's not married

I laugh now at the 18 year old version of myself who bought a life insurance policy. My reason at the time was "I want to start now preparing myself to be the best me I can be for my future husband". Okay, go ahead and laugh out loud with me. :-)

Whether married or single (as am I), possibly the single greatest influence we can have in showing the love of God to others is the way in which we reflect God's perspective on marriage. If you're not married, pray for those who are, encourage them, and live to honor God as a single adult. If you are married, consider that people will spend more time this summer learning how to work their smart phone or arranging their facebook page than they will spend learning how to care well for their marriage. A great book to increase your Biblical understanding of marriage is by Tim Keller entitled The Meaning of Marriage.

Here's a list of carefully selected and reviewed Marital Resources to help you grow in this most important area of your life. The Bible says that it is by our love others will know we are Christ's disciples. What if marriages were so healthy, it attracted the attention of onlookers toward the God we serve! Marriage became the covenant (not contract) the Bible uses as a prototype to show us how Jesus is in covenant with us (his church). May an onlooking world see us live Biblically and love well, resulting in them sensing the love that God has for them.

(cut and paste this link for the resources or click on the link above)
www.rocksidechurch.com/documents/MaritalResources.pdf

ONLY TWO YEARS OLDER

You’re only two years older than me, but you’ve always seemed so much wiser. “How does she know these things?” I would ask myself when you imparted deep truths like how to read a map; how to pull into traffic on the freeway on-ramp; how to use your elbow as a shock absorber so your beverage doesn’t spill while driving; and the news that mascara can be applied without a mirror because your eyelashes are always the same distance from your touched cheek.

“How can she be so brave? I thought, when you took a trunk and hopped a ride with another student to Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri as a freshman, having never seen the campus but convinced it was God telling you to transfer from Ohio State University at Christmas break. Or this past year when you went to Sudan with medical colleagues on a missions trip.

Just two years apart, glad I wasn’t leading but willing to be your side kick, we’ve been through some interesting scenarios when I’ve asked myself “How can she be so strong under this pressure?” When we packed up your house, infant in arm, and drove the moving truck ourselves to where you now live; when mother nature turned your house into a swimming pool; and most recently, when I sat with you beside the hospital bed of your burned son, the third child in the hospital within a month, listening to you describe the incident, the life flight helicopter ride, and what goes through your mind in times of crisis ... continuing to shake my head in amazement at your incredible strength.

We were just two years apart, you were 17 and I was 15, sitting in the back left section among teenagers … giggling, passing notes and whispering throughout the Sunday morning service. Somehow my attention shifted when the invitation was given. “Will you go forward with me?” I whispered to you and we were headed down the aisle passed the blonde wood pews to kneel at the altar at 1900 Canfield Road in Youngstown. You stayed by my side while Pastor Alford lead me and several others in a prayer to ask Jesus Christ to be Lord of the rest of our lives. Looking back, the life you were living as a Christian teenager no doubt heavily influenced that decision for me … a decision that would forever change the rest of my life and my eternity. I ask myself, “How can I ever thank her?”

Today, on your birthday, as you work a 12 hour shift at the hospital, I hope at some point you’ll stop and think about how your life has blessed so many people, especially me, your younger sister, both of us decading-skipping through life, but still … two years apart. I love you, sis! Happy Birthday!

PRAYING ON THEIR TURF!

I joked with a friend that I would be driving 2 hours to say a prayer that was to be 2 to 3 minutes last Wednesday (4.25.12). So what was the significance of praying on location? Why not pray for the leaders of our land from home or from our church sanctuary as we often do? I didn’t fully realize the value and privilege until I was there. Sure, talking to God in prayer was familiar to me … but this time it was from a significant desk, in an awesome room, with the public servants for whom I prayed listening and then joining in. Ohio House of Representatives (99 in Ohio I learned) plus a packed gallery of guests… students on field trips, law students, media members, observers? I was definitely on their turf and it was great! So I prayed then concluded with “…and borrowing the words of Christ when his disciples asked Him to teach them to pray… Our Father, who art in Heaven…” I was fully expecting to continue praying along but was pleasingly surprised when voices nearby and from the gallery loudly joined me in the Lord’s Prayer. May we never take for granted that public prayer is permitted and still requested in these settings in our country. I learned a great lesson last Wednesday that IT IS significant to pray on other people’s turf, in their presence, inviting them to join you… yes, even if it’s 2 hour drive for a 3 minute prayer. So tomorrow, it’s your turn. May 3 is the NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER across our nation. Sure you could just pray from home. But why not make the effort to pray on location, for your leaders, with other Christ followers? Type in your zip code at and I think you’ll find a location closer than a 2 hour drive.  For the 6 sites in the city of Independence, log on to www.rocksidechurch.com

The Sunday After Easter

No, there’s no official name for the Sunday after Easter on the Christian calendar. But today sure seemed like a special day. Maybe we’ll call it “the first Sunday after Easter.” After a rich time of worship and prayer, we heard some powerful testimonies from the Columbus Teen Challenge ladies of how Christ has set them free, healed brokenness and given them new life! They told us fresh examples of signs, wonders and miracles like is mentioned at the end of Mark 16 … following the story of Christ’s resurrection. How appropriate, this first Sunday after Easter, to be reminded what it looks like to live out a life with resurrection power! If the same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us, He must have a purpose for that power beyond simply attending church and waiting for heaven. The end of Mark 16 (last Sunday’s text on Easter) tells us that purpose: Christ rose from the dead so that we could partner with His resurrection power to a) revive the church and b) reform the culture.

With the founder of Teen Challenge, David Wilkerson, passing away this week, we were reminded of what had been accomplished through one country preacher willing to walk out a life in the resurrection power of Christ. The ladies testified and sang, we cried, clapped, cheered then prayed together. We shared a meal among our missions committee and board and the Teen Challenge friends prepared by one of our members. What a rich time of fellowship.

Then I went (with our team pastor, Amber) to the Cleveland City Mission to participate in the Bible read-a-thon where the entire Bible will be read aloud from today through Thursday leading up to the National Day of Prayer. Why did I care about this? A few reasons… City Mission is one of our supported partners and it’s a joy to participate in anything they host. Reading the Bible aloud is significant even if there’s no audience because of how it impacts the unseen world. City-wide transformation is fed by unity among Christians so to participate in something bigger than us outside my “tribe” is important to me.

Today was one of the most satisfying Sunday’s I’ve experienced in a long time. I have a sense that God was pleased/glorified as people praised Him today and walked in Resurrection Power. This “first Sunday after Easter” was a special day. I think we should make it an official holiday!

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LOST ART OF HUMAN BLOGGING

I’ll admit my curiosity was piqued when the entertainment for our area ministers’ Christmas party this past Monday night was advertised as a story-teller, song-writer from Wyoming. We gathered around after the eats in the cozy overstuffed leather furniture, hot beverages in hand. Layton Howerton was his name. He had a book of one-page stories that were simple, yet powerful and delivered upon the platform of his warm personality. As I listened, I thought “it’s like he’s reading his blog to us”.

Unpretentious and engaging, Layton picked up his Gibson guitar darkened with age and began his first song, finger picking “Chet-Atkins style”, a style my Uncle Richard used to play, almost better than Chet himself. When he got to the chorus of his first song, that easy-gravel, booming male voice reminded me of my Uncle Dewey who would sing gospel songs with passion and what I later came to know as the “anointing” of God. It was just understood among our family that after a time of conversation, a guitar or two would come out and music began. No one asked. It just happened.

Layton’s next story was about an orange… the sole Christmas present received with deep appreciation, not too many decades back, not many miles from where we live … a story very similar to ones I’ve heard from my dad and his siblings. How did life get so materialistic so fast? My emotions were being bumped.

If I stop the noise and listen right now, my memory can surface the voices of the deep, slow southern draw of my dad and his brothers as they would tell stories. And we knew how to prod the stories. “Hey dad, didn’t your Uncle Lee test his Martin guitar for being water proof once?” That’s a great story (involving a river, a boat, a rope) that makes me lol right now. “Laugh out loud”? Oh, that was a contagious, rumbling reality among a room (without a T.V.) of present people who loved each, not just the push of three lower case letters on a cell phone.

A Christmas song with the mandolin, another story, then Layton reached for his “neck stand” that would hold his mouth organ a.k.a. harmonica so he could play it at the same time as his guitar. My dad had a large collection of harmonicas in various keys. But the most interesting was a double length silver harmonica, kept in a padded case, with a chromatic button on the end. He purchased it in Germany while in the Army during the Korean conflict and we knew not to play with it. Dad might have liked a neck stand like Layton’s to hold the harmonica, but he didn’t need one ... because he had me. As a child, I was just the right height to reach my dad's face with the harmonica when he sat holding his guitar. Wow, were we amazed he played two instruments at once.

My dad and his brothers have all passed away. But the stories? They’ve been replaying in my mind since Monday night’s party. It seems when the story being told intersects with OUR story, we are deeply moved as was I at the rich evening among colleagues enjoying the beautiful art of human blogging … or storytelling.

This Christmas, why not do some story telling of your own among your loved ones. And remember, the greatest story ever told is the story Christ is writing and He's written you into His story. May your stories intersect.

http://www.thestorytellersjournal.com/