We all pray.  I dare say even atheists do at times.  There is even an old saying about there being no atheists in foxholes.  The reason behind this is that when the going gets really, really tough even the tough need someone to turn to.

The Church of God denomination is focusing on prayer as a method of effecting the change we need in our lives and for the nation we live in.  This focus has caused me to pray and to reflect on prayer more than I sometimes do.

This Tuesday discussion is in line with this focus.  I have three questions to ask or one really, with three aspects to it.  If God was to promise to answer only these three prayers what would you ask for?

What one thing would you have Him change about our nation or society?

What one thing would you have Him change about your own life or family?

What one thing would you have Him change about yourself?

The tendency might be to say that you would ask for all people to love each other, and for you to see all of your kids saved, and to make yourself serve and be totally Christlike.  But we should all want these things.  I want to hear what you think would impact the world, your life or yourself.  I want to hear if you just need some personal changes or things.  I want honesty and I want to know what is important to you.

(By the way, what you say has an impact on me.  After writing about criticism last week, my Town Hall graphic was criticized and made fun of, so I am experimenting with some others.)

Love you all

Last week’s discussion brought out a number of things that people do not like about church, theology and such.  There is a lot of information there to digest and see if we can come up with ideas and solutions.

There are almost always some things that get to us that just really do not matter.  As for these, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us drop and get over them.  But a lot of us do have some valid pet peeves and some of us do not.  There just is no question about that.

But when we do see a problem, what do we do.  A lot of times we resort to criticism.

This brings me to my questions for this week.

Do you criticize people, things, systems, beliefs, etc?

How often do you think you criticize?

When you criticize, do you think of solutions before resorting to just criticism?

And finally, is criticism necessary at all?

I know some of you may shy away from this one, but I ask you to boldly go where you might have never gone before.  Remember, it’s just a blog.

Love you all

Greetings everyone. I hope you all have had a blessed holiday season. I know that many have been very busy and the commentary here has reflected that. I tried to keep the Tuesday posts a little less divisive or controversial for this very reason. But this week I had determined to get a little more confrontational, but I am not.

It is a very personal reason that made me change my mind. This reason has a name and it is James Jr., (we call him JJ), and he is my two year old grandson that is staying with me and I must keep him while my wife is working. It is a joy but also a handful.

So let’s keep it simple once again.

Peeve as a noun is defined as ‘a source of annoyance or irritation’. And I am sure you have heard the expression ‘pet peeve’. This has the sense that there is something that irritates us and we focus in on it or make it our ‘pet’. So I want you to share with me your responses to the following this week.

Do you have any theological pet peeves?

Any preaching pet peeves?

Any biblical pet peeves?

Is there something being taught out there that just makes you fume, and why?

Have a great day and let me know what you think.

Love you all

I just realized it was Tuesday again.  Time really does fly sometimes.  I wonder if God feels this way sometimes.  That is for another discussion though.  Things seem to get messy and involved whenever I mention God and either time or foreknowledge.

Since we are still in the “holiday season”, I realize a lot of you are still very busy with friends and family so I want to keep this Tuesday Town Hall discussion light and easy again.  So I will once again focus on the holiday that will arrive in a couple of days.

We call it New Years Day.  There are some traditional ways that people have ushered in the first day on our calendar, but some of them just do not line up with the biblical worldview we should all have.

I know that most of the times that I did celebrate this holiday in the past was by spending half of it in bed with a hangover.  That is not the case now.  So here is what I would like to know:

How important is this holiday to you?

If you celebrate it, how or what do you do?

If you do not, what do you do on this day off?

I just now realized that a lot of us get the first day of the year off from work every year.  That is a good thought, at least.

What say you?

Love you all.