Each day, especially for my husband, i pray the Lord to watch over him and have hedges of Angels round about him.  

Working with chainsaws, a backhoe and a chipper, accidents can be only a moment away; and suffice it to say, they have happened.  The other day, while he was working on removing a 30 foot tall, 100 foot long hedgerow of dead photinias, Father answered my prayer!

As you can see by the attached (click to enlargen), this is what a chainsaw does to a pair of jeans.  Usually the chain will then continue down into the leg and a serious injury occurs.  911 is the only hope due to the massive bleeding that would no doubt result.

When he showed me his jeans and I didnt see any blood, i was so grateful that all i could do for a long time is lift up my arms in praise to God.  I was in awe that He had spared him!

And this, after I had found things to fuss about like the ungrateful child i can so often be.  What a humbling experience He gave me.

Sing praises to  the Lord!                      

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A Christian Thinktank
Endless pages of information and analysis of scripture, run by an IT exec who does this as a hobby.

We've set up a new forum, called "Praises." As you can infer by the name, it's for posting about things the Lord is doing in your life that you feel compelled to share. 

Also, I personally think it would be good to share worship and/or general Christian music via video embeds, which are easy to do.

You can give suggestions for its use here in this thread, or on the Praises forum itself.

In the Lord always!  Wow.  The Lord is mighty and so loving and kind to bless us with each other!  This prayer meeting of ours has blessed me in so many ways.  He touched you and let me join Him today!

As He did so with just a few so many centuries ago, may He bless our few in each, as well as in our collective, efforts by using us as He wills.  

Love you all so very much.

Amen

It's not obvious to a lot of folks who read the Bible, but the Christians traced by the New Testament were generally a pretty minor presence in the Roman Mediterranean. There were countless pagan religions from way back already established in various houses of worship around the empire. And just a few decades after Paul's first missionary journey, a significant number of churches left the fold and plunged into all kinds of wild religious nonsense. A great many heretics went off and started new churches.

To the outside audience, there is very little discernment between the thread of biblical churches and all the other stuff that merely claimed to be biblical. Secular history of the era for that region scoops up a lot of crap that didn't belong, and simply assumes there is no substantial difference. That's because secular folk, along with all the outcasts, understood neither heart-led nor the Holy Spirit. They deny that whole area of scholarship in examining such things.

Get used to the idea that we will grow, but we may well remain numerically insignificant, so far as outsiders are likely to notice.

My current request for prayer is very personal and falls under the Western Freak Out, grey zone. My condition is common enough but, varies widely depending on the particular individual in question.
 First, I need to provide the context of my situation.
In 2002 almost to the day, I was at work when a muscle spasm caused my back to lock, I was in tremendous pain and could not stand up straight. I alerted my foreman and he said "you need to go to the ER" being understaffed on second shift, my wife had to come and take me to the old Blowing Rock Hospital ER, further away but quicker and benefited us better due to the fact my wife worked for the attending Physician. Prior to my accident I had been putting up pain in my right leg. Long story short; after X-Raze and an MRI, I was told I had degenerate disc disease in my lower backbackn(<this is what this tablet does randomly) along with osteophytes. So, I got the shots, epidural and PT. I had a consultation with a backologist who told me my chances of a favorable outcome was 50/50 and, although rare, occasionally it made things worse, as it did for my buddy Doc's brother in law. With this in mind I declined having myself surged. My Dr prescribed the NSAID, Celebrex. I told him that me and NSAIDs don't mix butbut(it done it agin!) he suggested that I take Prilosec with the Celebrex. I still got sick with severe abdominal pain that worsened with each dose. Then, after exhausting all other prospects, I was given prescription pain killers. At that time we had baby Graham and soon to premiere, sweetness & light, lil' miss I squall every time you turn your back, Megan. I had to work and to do that I needed  relief from pain.
   As time went on the same condition started in my neck. This brought on a level of pain far greater than the original and stronger pk's, it's a downward spiral and again I had to keep on working even though neck surgeration is usually effective. The trouble with painkillers is that you can't just take one when the pain is bad you must take them on a regular schedule, even if the pain is minimal, or you get sick.
 Taking painkillers as prescribed as I do doesn't make the patient high, it eases pain enough so that you can go about your daily  bidness. Bottom line, I'm a physician created junkie and I'm totally fed up with being dependent on anything other than Christ Alone, Sola Jesus. I have a job to finish by Tuesday evening.
  Wednesday morning, Cold Poultry! I've been here once or twice in the last 16 years when I've exceeded my dosage due to excessive pain. 
  Between hours 24 & 72 is pure hell, after that it slowly gets better.
  I  will do my best to keep you informed as to when I need fervent prayer.
  I will be sick but, resolved to see this bondage busted.
What are ya waitin' fer!? Git praying. With your support God will get Glory.
  Thank you in advance.

Ed's blog entry Friday ended with five words "our existence is His glory" made me pause and I realized that I couldn't recall a specific moment when I came to the conclusion that my sole purpose for being was to bring God glory. The whole idea of a gradual conversion is anathema to evangelicals because it takes "I" out of redemption. I do remember when I was told I was saved, being a noob I believed what I was told. I was also told that certain things would instantly change but, they didn't so I then told I was backsliding and needed revival because backsliding was caused by a lack of faith which, needed constant self flagellation.
  After all these thirty plus years, I've come to realize that what the evangelicals told me was salvation was God tapping me on the shoulder and whispering "I, the LORD, choose you, you're mine kiddo". It took years of study and prayer to begin to know God. Years of horse feathers before I was led to a man like Gordon Noble whose attitude was "welcome, no one cares where you were or what you did yesterday, we love you as God loves us. Let us praise the Lord". It's a rare thing to find a western church that doesn't want to get it's hooks into you and control every thing you do. Not having people trying to indoctrinate me was God's lighting the path that led me here. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
    The Way that Jesus taught his disciples, the way the priests, scribes and pharisees had lost, the way the Church in the west has lost. The heart led path of Christ that we are trying to revive begins when turn our back on the world focused church and turn our face towards Jesus Christ and truly embrace: our existence is His Glory. Amen.

Hey.  I hadn't heard from my youngest for quite a while.  She has no phone that works and no internet access to email.  Last night there was a text from an unknown number, but it was from her.  There was no way for me to contact her as she said the phone wouldn't be available after that.  She and her boyfriend are now living down at the river.  I am not sure where the homeless colony is there, but i have no doubt there is no shelter, bathroom or other basics.  They have no car, no money and no roof.

With no transportation they can't get to other places/parts of the state where help may be,  provided their probation officer would sign off on it.  They did have a place to stay but their po said the folks they were staying with didnt pass background checks.  Shoot, most folks in this county probably wouldnt either. Its a rough/lawless part of the state.  Our county has no resources for folks such as them.  We can't put them up for so many reasons that would take too long to explain. 

Please pray that somehow  things will work out and doors will open up for them.  They do and have been learning to have faith; this is definitely a trial that will take them to the task.  Our Father knows and will do for them according to His plan.

I hurt for them and agonize over it, although i truly have given it to Him.

First, I ain't castigating nobody so don't go getting your unmentionables in a wad. I'm not takin' myself seriously even though Prayer is a vitally and seriously important activity. I'd say most of us can recognize that Paul's admonition to pray without ceasing may have been hyperbole used to drive home the importance of keeping a continuous heart connection to Jesus. So we pray a lot but don't often share. In my opinion it is a tangible link to one another much more powerful than ourselves on our own. If we agree and pray at the same time on the same things, it would be us petitioning the Lord as one, separate on Earth but together at the throne of Grace. At 5:00PM Wednesday July 11/ 2018, I'm gonna start praying for the Lord to guide those He chooses to find us. I stumbled on Ed's blog when I did a desperation search "Christians who don't believe America is God's chosen nation" or something similar three years ago thinking I was all alone and I'm still here. Join me, if you wish I ain't twistin' no arms. Lord, send us your own for your Glory. Amen.

How do I post a picture from my kindle fire or would it be easier to use my daughter's laptop?   See, I ain't totally useless I can use a smelly.