John Piper on prayer

A friend of ours had this quote on his blog:

Piper on Prayer
John Piper:
"But the hard truth is that most Christians don’t pray very much. They pray at meals—unless they’re still stuck in the adolescent stage of calling good habits legalism. They whisper prayers before tough meetings. They say something brief as they crawl into bed. But very few set aside set times to pray alone—and fewer still think it is worth it to meet with others to pray. And we wonder why our faith is weak. And our hope is feeble. And our passion for Christ is small.
And meanwhile the devil is whispering all over this room: “The pastor is getting legalistic now. He’s starting to use guilt now. He’s getting out the law now.” To which I say, “To hell with the devil and all of his destructive lies. Be free!” Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? … Is it a discipline?
You can call it that.
* It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater.
* It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers.
* It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns.
* It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food.
* It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water.
* It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid.
* It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin.
* It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey.
* It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold.
I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer.
God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there spiritual are means of grace. Resist the lies of the devil in 2009, and get a bigger breakthrough in prayer than you’ve ever had."

sermon - "Is suffering optional?"

Just listened to this sermon by Francis Chan - he is a prophetic voice in America right now. Hard to listen to, but I don't think there is any denying that he's right. I don't want him to be right!!! Funky time right now of God answering a prayer to give me an undivided heart. Ugh! Do I really want Him to?? Here's the link: http://www.cornerstonesimi.com/. Click on the sermon "Is suffering optional?"

My new favorite book

Okay,I just looked online at pics of Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, and Boxers and Daisy was definitely predominantly Rottweiler and probably some retriever mix. Her face was a Rott and not a pit. Somehow, this just makes me feel better because I think it will increase her chance of being adopted. I'm sure I'm going to get over this dog thing soon! LOL!

Anyway, my latest book recommendation is Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I know I already mentioned it, but now I've finished it and it's REALLY good. I wouldn't say that it's a "feel-good-and-be-content-to-stay-where-you-are-with-the-Lord" kind of book, but it so encouraged me to ask God for more love and passion for Jesus. It forces you to look at how your life is lining up with the words of Christ (and this book is full of them). His basic question is this: are we IN LOVE - passionate, radical, irrational, crazy LOVE - with the King of the universe. I've thought about writing more quotes, but I underlined too many things! I want to say with no reserve that Jesus really is my TREASURE and that there's nothing I wouldn't do in my love for HIM. Not there yet. But I'm in a sweet place of asking Him to cause me to come to that place and telling Him that I surrender as much as I know how to surrender in whatever moment I'm in. I'm daily astounded by my self-absorption and selfishness. But the sweet part of seeing my filth is seeing His beauty. Good night!?! He died - and He lives - to take me out of it! I'm asking to be completely dumbfounded by this truth again (or maybe for the first time?)!! May God deliver all of us from being innoculated against the ludicrous nature of this whole story we're in the middle of!! BTW, I checked out Chan's video blog tonight and it was encouraging. More than one of them made me cry. I esp. liked the one called "The Prayer Americans Won't Pray". He's right - my flesh wants nothing to do with that prayer! :) Check it out at http://francischansblog.blogspot.com/.

Daisy?!!!!

I'm pretty sure I could do some scientific study on how I've lost a large percentage of my brain cells since having children, but why waste time? The fact that I'm even considering what I'm considering right now proves without a shadow of a doubt that at least 73.8% of them have completely disappeared. But let's back up....We live in the "hood", right? I suppose there are some things to fear in our neighborhood, but my #1 fear is the dogs. Lots of stray dogs. Chihuahuas. Rottweilers. German shepherds. Retrievers. Mutt after mutt after mutt who include some combination of the aforementioned. And the infamous hood-dweller, the PIT BULL!

Fast forward to today - I started this post yesterday when I was actually considering taking in this stray mutt (which I'm guessing had some pit in her) because my kids were so in love with her. Our dog, Gracie, who weighs about 12 pounds and is a "designer" mutt, given to my daughter by her Grandma, got out on Sunday and tried to show this large dog who was boss. We were certain she was running to her death, but Daisy (yes, we named her) was actually scared of our vicious lap dog. I couldn't help it, I could see her ribs. Yes, I fed her. She was a little skittish around us for about 30 minutes and then she acted like she belonged to us. Very sweet dog. However, she weighed...well, I don't know how much, but it was a lot. When she got up on her hind legs she put her paws on my chest. She was really cute, but she had large jaws. I bought a lease and collar for her yesterday and she chewed right through the nylon leash. She wouldn't leave my front porch and so every time I went outside I had to keep her out of my house, while trying to get my baby and other kids where they needed to be. She was very strong. In fact, today she finally pushed her way into the house and I almost couldn't get her out. She REALLY liked us. We're just not big dog people - they take more work if you've got young children. But tell that to my sweet kids who kept BEGGING and BEGGING and CRYING and CRYING, trying to convince me that we could train her not to jump and chew, etc. etc. The city pound never showed up to pick her up today after I called and when I called again, they informed me that there were 350+ calls pending! So we took her to the humane society tonight. McKenna went to bed crying. Josiah cried for over an hour. He made me the saddest. He doesn't usually get so emotional about these things. But I'm seeing that he's a boy who wants a big "manly" dog. :) Luke was happy as a lark and wondering why everyone was so distressed. He hates big dogs and she scared him the whole time she was here. Moriah went into these wailing laments several times today as she thought about Daisy leaving. She has always had quite a command over large dogs and really enjoys them - fits her. Sigh. I know we did the right thing, but this mama sure felt like the bad guy tonight. If you're interested, she'll hopefully be up for adoption at the Humane Society on Lancaster within the next week. She has to pass the aggression test for adults, children, and other animals. I could have told them that she passed all those already - we covered all the bases here at the Brown house!

Can somebody please say "STOP IT!"?

I know that I can't deal with many more doses of worldwide "reality" right now, right? So last p.m., my husband takes me on a date for my b'day to Texas de Brazil (he found a 25% coupon! LOL) and we're sitting there remembering our last visit to this restaurant with 20 people from the hood. I still wish I had a video tape of that whole experience. Anyway, he thought we should go see "Slumdog Millionaire". It's a foreign film that was nominated for Academy awards and he knew it was about people in poverty, but he said he'd heard it had a happy ending (which it did, but...). Okay, it was a great movie, but INCREDIBLY sad. It was about these orphans from the slums in India. Too realistic, too hard. I'm done with these movies for a while. I was just mad at God last p.m. Sorry, it's my blog, and I'm just being honest.
So on to another topic. I'm now reading this book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. You know, I realize that it must sound like that all I do is sit around and read all day, but really I don't. I just grab 10 minutes here and there - really I promise. I only sit around reading and eating my bons-bons 3 days a week! :) The chapter I read this a.m. is called "Profile of a Lukewarm Christian." It kicked my you-know-what! Here are a few quotes:
"In the United States, numbers impress us. We gauge the success of an event by how many people attend or come forward. We measure churches by how many members they boast. We are wowed by big crowds.
Jesus questioned the authenticity of this kind of record keeping. According to the account in Luke chapter 8, when a crowd started following Him, Jesus began speaking in parables--"so that" those who weren't genuinely listening wouldn't get it.
When crowds gather today, speakers are extraconscious of communicating in a way that is accessible to everyone. Speakers don't use Jesus' tactic to eliminate people who are not sincere seekers.
The fact is, He just wasn't interested in whose who fake it...."

There's more:
"[after reading a section of the parable of the sower] My caution to you is this: Do not assume you are good soil.
I think most American churchgoers are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns. Thorns are anything that distracts us from God. When we want God and a bunch of other stuff, then that means we have thorns in our soil. A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it.
Most of us have too much in our lives. As David Goetz writes, 'Too much of the good life ends up being toxic, deforming us spiritually.' A lot of things are good by themselves, but all of it together keeps us from living healthy, fruitful lives for God."

"Are you satisfied being 'godly enough' to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison to others? Or can you say with Paul that you 'want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death' (Phil 3:10)?
For a long time this verse had just too much Jesus for me. In my opinion, the verse should have ended after the word resurrection, so I could have an appealing popular Jesus who didn't suffer. The feedback I received from other Christians reassured me that this was a fine perspective, and it gave me little reason to strive to know Christ more deeply. I was told I was good enough, 'godly enough'.
But this went against everything I was reading in the Bible, so I eventually rejected what the majority said and began to compare all aspects of my life to Scripture. I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don't swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. That's for the 'radicals' who are 'unbalanced' and 'overboard.' Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involve suffering."

Yeah. Convicting and true. If you want to watch something really encouraging go to this guy's website crazylovebook.com and watch the "Awe Factor of God". He IS amazing and His love IS really CRAZY! I'm asking God to awaken me again to the utter strangeness of this story that He's put us in! The rest of this particular chapter is a "list" of what would qualify us as lukewarm along with scripture after scripture of Jesus' words. Being lukewarm is really making me tired. I'm ready to WAKE UP and be FEARLESS!

birthdays and Valentine's Day

These pics are posted in the wrong order, but oh well! This is our family Valentine's Day dinner on our new kitchen table! My parents gave us a longer table for our anniversary and we are SO thankful! I know it's a terrible pic, but fun memories!
Malachi, like all my other children (except Luke), despised getting birthday cake on his fingers. We took the obligatory pictures and then saved him from his misery.

We celebrated Malachi's first birthday with my parents this weekend. Here are my four handsome men! What a blessed woman I am!!

My little guy is not so little anymore! He turned one on Feb 4th.

He was pretty proud of himself for climbing into the dishwasher - such a big helper...

reading

Okay, so I'm caught in this weird place with God right now. I suppose you could say that I grew up in a bit of a "bubble", not really noticing or caring about what was going on with people in my own town or anywhere else in the world. I was really into ME! This was true pretty much all the time until God started changing it when we moved to the Metroplex about 7 1/2 years ago. Slowly, after going to many World Mandate conferences and after being a part of Christ Fellowship, God has begun to open my eyes to people and life and pain and suffering. I read this book called Sold last week and it shook me up. It's a young adult lit book (fiction) about the sex slave trade in India. It was SO sad. At one point I just put it down and wept, asking God to have mercy! The main character is a 12 year old girl and the book is written in the form of short journal-type entries. The author wrote the book after interviewing several girls/women who had been rescued from the slave trade, so it gives a pretty accurate picture of what they go through (I wouldn't recommend this book to any unmarried teenager, by the way). Then Randy and I watched Hotel Rwanda before we went to bed last p.m. (Somehow we missed renting the romantic Valentine's Day flick! ha!). I was overwhelmed. I'm embarrassed to confess that I didn't even really know what had happened with that whole deal until last p.m. and it was only about 15 years ago. One of the most piercing lines in the whole movie occurred when an American reporter had captured footage of some massacres. The Rwandan hotel manager said that surely when he showed this video in America and Europe that someone would come and help. The American replied that unfortunately he thought that they would say how sad it was and go back to eating their dinner. Ugh! Is that not SO true? Injustice. All I have found myself thinking about is the indescribable UNFAIRNESS of it all. Almost ONE MILLION people killed in Rwanda and the world just watched (after making sure that we got all the rich white Europeans and Americans out safely, of course). I'm finding myself wondering what in the world God's heart does when He sees all of this. My husband informed me that similar things are happening right now in Sudan. He is currently reading a book about the Lord's Resistance Army, etc in Uganda called First Kill Your Family. The Mighty Men Ugandan trip this summer is the reason for all this reading. BUT...I had a conversation with a close friend this week and she reminded me that we have to be consumed with Christ, staring at HIM, worshipping HIM, if we're going to get any kind of right perspective on the injustice that's happening all around us. SO! I'm only humbly left with my smallness and the incomprehensible HUGENESS of a sovereign King who has held all the past, present, and future pain of a very broken world in His own heart. Then He rose from the dead. There is hope - and it is only found in Him. I love Him now more than I ever have.

Haiku anyone?

Facebook is too much
Makes me want to take a nap
Call me on the phone.

or this one:

Met in junior high
Haven't talked in nineteen years
You sure I'm your friend?

lighter note?

I could write pages again about injustice and the poor, etc. but I told my husband it was about time for another entertaining haiku to lighten things up a bit - he has failed to come through, so I thought a couple of fun kid stories would do.
Let's start with my baby boy's first birthday. Malachi turned one yesterday! When McKenna turned one, we had just moved to Tyler, TX for residency and knew no one except Randy's sister and her husband. We invited the entire first year class of residents and their spouses over for a hamburger cookout. We figured it was a good way to get to know them? My brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and both sets of grandparents were also there. The theme of the party was watermelons. McKenna wore a cute watermelon dress and I made a lovely cake decorated to look like a watermelon. I also made a Martha Stewart sherbert cake that looked like a watermelon when you cut into it. Yeah...it was CRAZY! Josiah wasn't a lot better. Then came poor Lukey. My grandfather had just passed away and so we were in Midland. I went to the grocery store, bought an Elmo cake and a balloon, and celebrated with McKenna, Josiah, Randy and my parents. Fast forward to yesterday. I was looking at my calendar while Malachi was eating breakfast and saw the words "MALACHI IS ONE!" I gasped and immediately told my sweet baby boy Happy Birthday. Hey, at least I wrote it on my calendar - I would've remembered, eventually! We're actually celebrating his birthday with my parents next weekend, but it is amazing how perspective changes from one child to six! :)
Tonight I was bathing Malachi and Isaac and left Isaac in the tub while I went clear across the house to Malachi's room to dress him. I hear Isaac running through the house calling me. I let him know where I am and he runs in, buck naked, and proudly makes this announcement: "Mom! I just tooted in the bath tub unduh(er) the watuh(er) and it made a sound!" He wasn't done with his bath - just had to let me in on his latest accomplishment.
Back to Malachi. Since I didn't blog on his birthday, I just want to list a few things that I love about him. I love his sweet little smile and how he giggles when I kiss his large belly. I love that he is all BOY and growls, grunts, and hits/throws things. I love his cute little walk and that he has discovered climbing this week! I love how he gets really excited when his Daddy arrives home. I love that he can hang out in his high chair for a ridiculously long time because he's so entertained by all the "goings-on" around him - he's a pretty easy-going baby. I love that he is alive and that God knew we needed him long before I did. I can still remember everything about the night I found out I was pregnant with him. I kept saying "I can't be pregant, I can't be pregnant." The next morning I had a long conversation with Jesus on the porch of my mother-in-law's cottage at the lake house. It was a sweet conversation. I'm so thankful for his life. So is everyone in our family!
It's late, but I'll try and post a couple of Malachi pics tomorrow.

more thoughts on thanksgiving and self-absorption...

Been thinking more about this thanksgiving thing and entering the presence of God.  It's true.  I've been trying to wake up earlier to meet with Him and I'm finding that until I start listing things that I'm thankful for and speaking those things out to Him, I'm pretty distracted and joyless.  His presence is recognized by my soul when I wake it up through praise and thanksgiving.  Reading a really sweet and practical book called From Duty to Delight by Ron Parrish (pastor of Hope in the City Church in Austin).  It's been really helpful.  He gives practical ideas/assignments to experiment with in your prayer life.  They are all ideas that I've probably heard before, but it's good to have someone reminding me of what's true.  Floyd McClung comments in the foreword that if we had a friendship with someone in which we sat quietly with our eyes closed in the same position in the same place at the same time every day we would be bored because it IS boring.  Ron is reminding me that Jesus is here.  He's speaking, he's laughing, he's encouraging, he's confronting, he's touching me, he's is here.  And he is anything but boring.  Here's the problem - I think I need about 4 quiet times a day!!  I'm a big fat mess again just hours after I've filled up on the Living Water!  LOL!  The riches of His grace....

   Okay, here's a sad story.  Friday p.m. I had been over at a friend's house for coffee.  Another friend of mine and I had ridden together and she was bringing me back home about 12:30 a.m.  As she rounded the corner in front of the apartments by our house (she was going slowly, praise the LORD!), she had to swerve to miss hitting the man that was lying, curled up in the middle of the road.  We momentarily panicked and decided to go get Randy.  I had seen the guy moving so I knew he wasn't dead, but my first thought was that he might have been shot/stabbed and that maybe this was potentially dangerous.  As my very sleepy husband got dressed, I asked him what he was going to do if the guy had a gun.  His apathetic and sleepy response?  "I guess he'll shoot me."  Anyway, the guy was gone when we got down there.  We're assuming he was probably drunk and managed to get up to the apartments after realizing he had almost been hit by a car.  But here's what my friend says to me in a very non-critical, matter-of-fact sort of way:  "Your response to this is interesting - I'm wondering what might have happened to this man and you keep wondering if he's going to shoot you...."  Her statement haunted me all night long and the next day as I thought about how my gut response wasn't as much concern for the man as it was concern for me and my husband.  Now before some of you start thinking that I'm being too hard on myself, please realize that this isn't a self-condemnation sort of thing.  It really was the Holy Spirit reminding me for about the umpteenth time this week that He loves people and His goal is to empower me to love them as much as He does.  Anyway, we prayed for him as we went to sleep....Ugh!  Everything is so broken.  BUT, He is stronger!