Intentional Encouragement

     Those of you familiar with our situation right now know that we have purposely put ourselves in a position where we will be in trouble if God doesn't come through.  That's a rough quote from a statement made by Francis Chan that I got from a friend a few weeks ago.  I'm still mulling over those words and have found myself enlivened and refreshed by their challenge.  It's funny how we see things more often when we are consciously thinking about them.  I was reading this morning from 1 Kings 17 about Elijah the prophet of God.  He was singularly used of God in a dramatic way.  He prayed and it stopped raining...for 3 years.  He prayed again and it rained.  He prayed and God raised a young man from the dead.  God did some incredible things through Elijah.      This morning I read the account of the widow that Elijah stopped to visit in the little town of Zarephath.  You're probably familiar with the story.  Elijah stopped there to get a meal as he traveled throug

     Have you felt at times like you had no idea where you were going?  Obviously, as a guy, I never admit that I don't know where I am going.  Even if I might be going the wrong direction, I hesitate to stop and ask when I am making such good time!  But of course, what I want to talk about today is not driving directions, but those times when life puts you in a spot that you don't know where you are going.      I have a couple of thoughts to share with you from Hebrews 11.  You may recognize that chapter as the "Hall of Faith" in the Bible.  Don't get scared off by that.  It mentions a lot of people who saw amazing victories because they were willing to walk by faith: people who "conquered kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, received back their dead by resurrection."   Are some of those stories you learned in Sunday school coming back to mind?  But it also mentions others, who were "tortured, suffered mocking and flo

     I'm working on some thoughts for an upcoming message that will conclude a study in the life of David (King of Israel).  There is a lot to learn from his life, both good and bad (mostly good).  He was, by the description of God Himself, a "man after God's own heart."  I've entitled the series of messages on his life "In Sync with God."  We've been studying about what it's like to live the kind of life that would evoke that description by God.      As I draw the series to a conclusion, and focus my attention on 1 Chronicles 29, I'm reminded of something that was pointed out to me about 12 years ago by a counseling professor during grad school.  She pointed to Acts 13:36 as a verse by which she guided her life.  "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with fathers and saw corruption..."      I suppose your reaction may be the same as mine was: "What?"  Why woul