Let It Fade ... a song by Jeremy Camp

Let this wash over you today and see how it hits you:

Have you been walking on a surface that's uncertain?
Have you helped yourself to everything that's empty?
You can't live this way too long.
There's more than this, more than this.

Have you been standing on your own feet too long?
Have you been looking for a place where you belong?
You can rest, you will find rest!

Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace.
Let this old life crumble, let it fade, let it fade.

Have you been holding on to what this world had offered?
Have you been giving in to all these maqueradees?
It will be gone, It will be gone.
Are you carrying the weight too much, are you running from the call?

Acts 4:13

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

Wow! I pray that as we go throughout our day, others might say the same about you and I. We may not have the opporunity that the apostles did of seeing Jesus physically and following him for 3 years, but we do have a chance at any moment to spend time with him. Let's spend some time with Jesus today!!!

Stay strong and TRUE! PLD!

STP, an IronMan

Update on Christmas Wish opportunity

IronMen, just a reminder and some more info on Blanca Alfaro, the lady we are going to help this holiday season. We really need two things if you can help:

1. Money is good or Home Depot gift cards so that we can get supplies for the work we are going to do on the house.
2. Time if you can help. We are going to go to her house after Christmas (day and time to be determined) and work on fixing up the place.

Please think about these two things and see how you can help. The basic things we will be working on at her house are:
1. Misc painting
2. Fixing some tile
3. Pressure washing outside of house
4. Misc small projects

These are things that i know of right now that might change. She is needing to sell her house because she cannot afford it anymore. I will get you more info later, but if you can help financially, please do so asap. thanks so much.

Stay Strong, PLD

STP, an IronMan

Service idea

IronMen, here is something i want you to be thinking about. I contacted KLTY and their Christmas Wish program to see if I could find a family that we as IronMen could help this holiday season. I have found one that I think is going to work out great! Please be in prayer about this and I will give you more info very soon. I don't want to give all the info right now because i have not confirmed it yet. So, just pray about it and maybe later today or tomorrow I can give you more info. Thanks men!

STP, and IronMan

A Thought on Prayer... from "Prayer" by Phillip Yancey

This is an excerpt from the book "Prayer" by Phillip Yancey and I thought you might enjoy this as it really put authentic prayer into focus for me:

I was teaching a class at a church in Chicago when a young woman raised her hand with a question. I knew her as a shy, conscientious student who attended faithfully but never spoke. The rest of the class seemed suprised as well and listened attentively. "I'm not always sincere when I pray," she began. "Sometimes it seems forced, more like a ritual. I'm just repeating words. Does God hear those prayers? Should I keep going even though I have no confidence that I'm doing it right?"

I let the silence hang in the room for a moment before attempting an answer. "Do you notice how quiet it is in here?" I said. "We all sense your honesty. It took courage for you to be vulnerable, and you touched a nerve with others of us in the room. You seem sincere, unlike a salesman, say, who gets paid to give a spiel. We're tuned in, listening, respectful, because you are being authintic. And I imagine it's the same with God. More than anyting else, God wants your autintic self."

And a couple of other quotes from the same chapter:

Prayer makes room for the unspeakable.

In truth, what I think and feel as I pray, rather than the words I speak, may be the real prayer, for God "hears" that too. (Reference Psalms 139:4,7-8)

Unless I level with God, our relationship will go nowhere.

"We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us." (C.S. Lewis) In other words, we must trust God with what God already knows.

Stay Strong, PLD
STP, an IronMan

Seeking the Savior - Max Lucado

Simeon said, “Can I stay alive until I see him?”

The Magi said, “Saddle up the camels. We aren’t stopping until we find him.”

The shepherds said, “Let’s go…. Let’s see.”

They wanted the Savior. They wanted to see Jesus.

They were earnest in their search. One translation renders Hebrews 11:6: “God … rewards those who earnestly seek him” (NIV, italics mine).
Another reads: “God rewards those who search for him” (PHILLIPS, italics mine).
And another: “God … rewards those who sincerely look for him” (TLB, italics mine).
I like the King James translation: “He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (italics mine).

Diligently—what a great word. Be diligent in your search. Be hungry in your quest, relentless in your pilgrimage. Let this book be but one of dozens you read about Jesus and this hour be but one of hundreds in which you seek him. Step away from the puny pursuits of possessions and positions, and seek your king.

Don’t be satisfied with angels. Don’t be content with stars in the sky. Seek him out as the shepherds did. Long for him as Simeon did. Worship him as the wise men did. Do as John and Andrew did: ask for his address. Do as Matthew: invite Jesus into your house. Imitate Zacchaeus. Risk whatever it takes to see Christ.

God rewards those who seek him. Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus himself. And what is the reward? What awaits those who seek Jesus? Nothing short of the heart of Jesus. “And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him” (2 Cor. 3:18 TLB).

Can you think of a greater gift than to be like Jesus? Christ felt no guilt; God wants to banish yours. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to remove yours. Jesus had no fear of death; God wants you to be fearless. Jesus had kindness for the diseased and mercy for the rebellious and courage for the challenges. God wants you to have the same.
He loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.

From Just Like JesusCopyright 1998, Max Lucado