We give thanks at Laurel Hill UMC we share in a mission partnership with the Friends of Barnabas Foundation. We look forward to our Medical Mission Trip in May of 2015. See the earlier post from today about our Missios Yard Sale. . For these and many reasons I ask you to pray for the ministry of the Friends of Barnabas Foundation. If you are wondering how you should pray, pray for the Pediatric Cardiac Program in Honduras. Pray for our Mission Team’s preparation and effectiveness. Set aside a few minutes of your time each day from now until we have our mission yard sale and pray specifically for this ministry. Let the front page of the Foundation’s September newsletter help you pray.
Tag: prayer
Prepare Yourself for Peace
There a few places in the Bible that need no preaching to accompany them to be plainly understood. We read from one of those places yesterday: Jeremiah, chapters 6 through 8. It is there Jeremiah announces the coming judgment against Jerusalem and why it is going to occur. Read these chapters and I hope you will have eyes to see America’s days are numbered without repentance and revival. Read them and see how God calls us to peace even when there is no peace to be found in the land.
First, I want to tell you the three things that were happening that prevented peace from God from taking root in the heart of the people. Secondly, I want to share the three things the prophet reveals that declare, despite the people’s refusal, the call of God upon our lives. First, read and see the three things that keep us from peace. #1. They sinned with impunity. They thought they could do whatever they wanted and they wouldn’t suffer any consequences for it, even if they continued to do wrong. Even the spiritual leaders were bankrupt in their enjoyment of wrongdoing. #2. They made the word of God a perversity. The dictionary defines perversity as “contrary to the accepted standard or practice”. They reckoned the word of God contrary and not themselves. They made for themselves new standards, perverse standards, and called them appropriate and the new normal. #3. They didn’t take their situation seriously. Have we? For over 40 years, we have murdered millions of innocents, shed their blood, and sacrificed them for our convenience. Is there any sign of stopping? For over forty years, we have been warned about the dangers of debt and the inevitable collapse of our economy, have we corrected that? Have we taken seriously the lawlessness that is expressing itself or are we rallying for the lawbreakers? Is their a root of bitterness that divides us in the nation? Seriously, is there anyone doing anything about it? Are we pointing the finger of blame against each other? Are we locked into our own way of looking at things? The vast majority of Americans say we are going in the wrong direction as a country but where is the repentance?
Can anything be done to find peace when there is no peace? God speaks through the prophet and offers this call today. #1. Return to the ancient path. Ask for the good way and walk in it. #2. Reform your ways and your actions. Do not trust deceptive words. As Dr. Edwin Louis Cole used to teach, “Change isn’t change until it’s changed.” #3. Remember Shiloh. God’s presence given at one time in a particular place is no guarantee for perpetual favor. The people had sinned so egregiously before, God had removed his presence and the word Ichabod (the glory has departed) was written over the place. I believe if we do not seriously stop sinning and respond to God’s word in a humble and faithful way, soon the glory that was once America’s will be gone for good.
Prepare yourself to be at peace with God. We are soon coming to the time when God will not allow us to pray for America. It will be too late for prayers
Korea – Here I Come!
It’s official now; I just booked my travel reservations for the Pilgrimage for Spiritual Renewal to Korea for October 16 – 25th, 2014. I am looking forward to traveling with our Bishop, Young Jin Cho and the other clergy participants from the Virginia Conference.
Thanks to everyone for their generous support enabling me to be a part of this spiritual experience. I look forward to what I will learn from the Lord and from our sisters and brothers in Korea.
Please keep my ministry in your prayers as we finish the work this week necessary for recording Hymned in by Grace this fall. If you would like to support that work, share your donations with Norman directly or send it c/o Norman Ramsey Ministries, 2501 Caliber Drive, Henrico, VA 23231 or give through PayPal to reverendnorm@msn.com. Thank you so much.
Bishop’s Convocation on Prayer
Register for the
Bishop's Convocation on Prayer.
. Deadline for registration is March 24, 2014. Get more details at http://vaumc.org under Upcoming Events.
Lenten Service, March 26th
Watch and share the video for our