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Interesting Quote

"God the Father bestows upon all, existence; and participation in Christ, in respect of His being the word of reason, renders them rational beings."

- Origen (185 - 254 A.D.)

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Financially Stressed?

Proverbs 22:7, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender."

Tired of feeling poor? Dave Ramsey (internationally famous financial speaker and author) gives us four tips to keep control of your finances. As no one says it better than Dave himself, I have included a link below this post, for those of you who want more. In the meantime, take a look at the following items, and weigh whether or not you are accomplishing these things in your own life!

1.) If you don't start to save money, you will always be broke.

2.) Create a plan for getting out of debt. You can wander into debt, but you cannot wander out of it. You need a specific plan.

3.) Get a part-time job [if you need to]. "If a man shall not work, he shall not eat" 2 Thessalonians 3:10.

4.) Pray for blessing. Your Father in Heaven is rich in abundance. You are able to "dial him up" at any time to ask for help!

Click here for more of Dave Ramsey: http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

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Stay in Your Lane

The excerpt below was taken from one of my good friends and spiritual mentors. Hope you enjoy it:

1 Kings, Chapter 1

These scriptures illustrate how Adonijah attempted to set himself up as King over Israel & Judah. Solomon was David’s choice, but Adonijah and his people tried to undermind David and Solomon. Adonijah decided he, not Solomon, should be King after David’s death.

He got chariots and horses, gathered his entourage, sacrificed animals, and had a big feast. He didn’t invite Solomon or the others that ordinarily would have been there, if in fact, he were supposed to be the King. When David heard this, he set things in order. He had Solomon anointed and to sit on David’s throne.

At this news, Adonijah’s entourage dispersed, leaving him alone. He was afraid because he had done wrong, so he went to the temple and held on to the horns of the altar. He knew that Solomon could have him killed for what he had done. In the end Adonijah bowed before Solomon and his life was spared.

Just like there can only be one king over a kingdom, there can only be one pastor of a church. Anyone that tries to set themselves in the office of pastor, divide the church, usurp authority and create disharmony, is asking for trouble from on high. God has something for each of us to do in the kingdom, but we can’t all be the king.

1st Corinthians 12, teaches us that we are one body with many parts. We can’t all be hands or feet, and there can only be one head. I challenge you to seek God for the assignment He has specifically for you, and then give that your best. For I also read that if you are faithful over a few things, God will make you ruler over many.

Yours in Love,

Min. Lacinda McClendon

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The Prayer Engine

In dealing with the personal experience as it pertains to God, we cannot neglect mentioning the power of prayer. If a personal God exists, then He would want to speak with us. Prayer is the language by which we speak to God. It is true that God is omnipotent and knows our heart at any given moment, but there is something special about finding a quiet place, sitting down, and talking to God. The Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing”, and you will find many people who pray in their vehicles on the way to work, in their homes, at the car wash… just about anywhere. We need not fold our hands and get on our knees every time we utter something to God. If we speak it, He can hear us.

I am blessed to have a true prayer warrior in my own family. If there is a fast track to Heaven, she is on it. My grandmother Kathleen is 92 years old. She has been praying almost all of her life. One afternoon over lunch, I went to visit her. My aunt and uncle were also present. I decided to pose 6 questions about prayer to all of them. What follows each question below is a paraphrased summary of their responses, with my own comments in brackets.

1.) Does Prayer Work?

Yes [everyone answered emphatically on this point].

2.) How do you Know Prayer Works?

Things so often turn out the way you want, after you have prayed about it. [There were actually so many prayer success stories here, that we had to work to trim them down to just a few]. There was actually one time in particular, when I [my aunt] was looking for a job and came across an advertisement for a high school religion teacher. I was uncertain about applying for this at first. As it happened I was soon recruited to be a chaperon for one of the student trips, and we were all riding in a bus together. Many of the students were listening to a radio, and I remember praying the prayer, “God if you want me to apply for this teaching job, play the song American Pie on the radio.” All joking aside, the VERY NEXT song was American Pie. And it continued to play 3 more times on the radio intermittently during the rest of the bus ride. I knew it was more than coincidence. I applied for the job, and got it! It turned out to be one of the most interesting and fulfilling jobs I have ever held.

3.) How has prayer made a difference in your life?

It settles your nerves and keeps you calm. It allows for a transfer of responsibility from your shoulders, directly onto God’s shoulders. If ANYONE needs help, they should pray. Because the God you are praying to can see farther down the road than you can – He knows what you need before you do.

There was one story in particular that comes to mind here. When my husband was in the military [Kathleen is speaking now], I had the same dream off and on for 3 nights. The dream was about my husband laying in a ditch somewhere out in the field. I could tell he was in trouble, and he didn’t move – just laid there. Some time later when he returned from the war we discussed this occurrence. He told me that at one point they were out on patrol, and he heard the voice of the enemy – he was forced to jump down into a low-lying ditch. He had stayed there all night. When his fellow soldiers found him the next day, they couldn’t believe he had survived the night alone, surrounded by the enemy. As it turned out, the timing on this matched when I was having those dreams!

4.) How do you View God?

He is the great protector. No one loves or protects you more than God. We are all His children, and I can’t stand to see people mistreating each other.

5.) Do you Have Any Tips for Praying?

[Kathleen] I always pray that people will be healthy, good Christians, and good role models. It is better to thank God first, so as not to be constantly bombarding Him with only personal requests.

[My aunt] Begin with praise for God, move on next to repentance, continue on to asking for things, and then finally you can end with petitioning God on behalf of yourself.


6.) What Would You Say to Someone Who Doesn’t Have Prayer in His or Her Life?

You don’t know what you are missing. It calms your fears.

I think [my uncle speaking] that prayer allows you to be separate and apart from your worries and problems. It frees you up.

Many have had a bad taste by looking in on “religion” from the outside, seeing only the rituals and hypocrisy of certain churches. But they haven’t experienced Jesus. That is different.

There are so many suicides and cases of depression today. I think lack of prayer, and lack of the knowledge of something greater adds to this.


The questions above were designed to get people thinking about the grace of prayer. All the people involved in the discussion that day were able to fill an encyclopedia with stories of prayers fulfilled, and lives changed. I was only there for an hour, but it could have gone for a day. It seems clear from the Bible that we were created to be in communion with God via the saving grace of Jesus, and by the language of prayer. Prayer operates like an engine, able to sustains us continually and operate in even the most difficult circumstances.

My grandmother finished with the following statement. I feel there is nothing else that needs said, so I will end this chapter with her words: “I pray that God gives the gift of Faith to all of my children and grandchildren, and I am grateful every day because I know He will.”

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New Book Coming from 'A Logical Faith'

Well it has been some time coming, but my book manuscript is almost 100% complete. The working title is: The God Circle: In Search of the Logical Christian Faith. It is a compilation of many of the different blog postings from this website, in conjunction with some new material, and also a list of appendices. During my faith walk these last 2 years or so, I had often thought about transferring the content discussed on the blog into a book which would challenge both believer and non-believer to examine many of the ideas they hold about God and Faith. I believe I have achieved that goal.

I am currently trying to decide whether or not to self-publish, or go through an agent and sign with a professional publishing house. I am investigating both options. I am also in prayer about it, and I'm sure that whichever path I go down, God will be at the center. It has been a wild ride already, and there are a few people screening the manuscript even as I write this.

So keep an eye out for the book in the near future. I will also keep you all abreast of things on this blog once it has gone to print. Thanks to all the people and faithful readers of this website that have helped bring this day to fruition. I really appreciate you!

- Jon

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God is Good

The Bible tells us that God is good. Many of us know this experientially as well. Last week a good friend of mine at work informed me that after 20-some years of hoping and praying, God moved in the heart of her elderly father, and he decided to receive Christ. This is overwhelmingly good news, and my friend's face was absolutely glowing when she told me. I have to admit, it made my day also.

What does something like this say to you and I? I believe it reminds us that time doesn't have the same meaning for us as it does for Him. 5 years, 10 years, 20 years... everything happens according to the proper season and at the perfect time. I enjoy hearing stories about God showing up. I enjoy them even more when they happen to the people around me, so I can experience the joy with them, and also be reminded first-hand that God really is in charge.

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Sermon: Running from God

Did you know that many people are on the run from God? In fact, some are running and don't even realize it. I gave the following sermon last Sunday. Click on the link below to hear the different ways that people find to avoid God, and what God wants us to do about it. Hope you enjoy - you may be surprised by what you hear!:

http://www.pillarchristian.com/media.php?pageID=5

** You should see something like the graphic below after loading the sermon web page. Make sure you have my name and sermon selected from the list, and then click "play."

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Interesting Quote

"Only those who have sought to grow by effort and failed are in the position to appreciate the fact that God is the aggressor in the realm of development."

- Miles J. Stanford, The Complete Green Letters

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Evil Intent

I think that we often hear or read the words in the Bible that say "the thief comes to steal and destroy", but we gloss over them. Many of us may think that these words represent some mystical ethereal being called the Devil, but that they are simply not real. We think that spiritual warfare doesn't really happen, and most of the evil in the world can be attributed to human nature, or sin, or something to that effect. But is that all there is to the story? What if there were a real undercurrent of evil which existed in our world? Something stronger and more focused than just "human nature"?

I recently viewed part of a documentary called 'Worse Than War', outlining some of the reasons behind genocide and the mass killing of entire segments of the human population. I'm not talking hundreds of people here, I'm talking millions. Nazi Germany, or even the Bosnian War in more recent history for example. Wikipedia defines genocide like this: the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group. A fine definition. But now imagine that you lived in Darfur and you witnessed your neighbors, friends, and family being dragged into the street and murdered in front of you - only to realize that you were probably next. Lets bring it home: you are pulled out of your car at the stoplight, waiting to get to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. You get the idea. A definition is good as far as it goes, but then reality comes rushing in. Compare the black and white films we used to watch in high school about the German gas chambers, and contrast that with talking to a holocaust survivor.

The film-maker in this particular documentary went and interviewed one of the men from Rwanda who participated in roaming groups which went into communities and wiped out families. What he said made me sick. To paraphrase, he said the following: "we would go in with machetes and chop up whoever got in our way first. If they were fast and made us chase them for too long - we would purposely cause them more pain prior to death. If they submitted willingly to us, we would kill them quickly, or occasionally even let them live. Sometimes it was tough, because you would encounter young babies who would just start to learn to smile. They would smile at me, and then I would murder them."

When asked what caused him and his fellow "soldiers" to act like this, he said (also paraphrasing): "I don't really know. I don't have an answer for this. We knew we were doing it, we were fully conscious... but it was like a kind of fog enveloped us. A current of great cruelty overtook us, almost like it was controlling us." The documentary offered some different explanations for this type of killing; blind obedience, bias, racism, etc. These are all true, in so far as they go. But the answer that this man from Rwanda gave was much more haunting.

The Bible tells us that evil is real. That it isn't just some aberrant behavior carried out by small portions of the world's population. There is something more going on, and none of us are immune. Americans are lucky, my generation hasn't had to deal with conflict on our own soil really, apart from 9-11. It won't last forever. That great evils have occurred in the past, or that they will occur in the future - or even that they are currently happening - doesn't concern me as much as the reason they occur. If you answer that it is just human nature to seek out conflict, you may be right, to a degree. But what had to happen to the human being - who can be loving and generous one moment, awful and vengeful the next - so that we have fallen so far from the mark? I believe it was a fall indeed. Genesis talks about the fall of man due to sin, but not just that. That the devil is a real being. That demons are also real. And that there are spiritually dark undercurrents that do exist in our world.

The good news is this: if there is such a dark reality in our world, then there must be the opposite which exists also. For we cannot call true evil bad, unless we know the greater Good. This, in a round-about way, I believe points directly to the existence of a loving God. Do not let the fact that planet Earth can be a violent and horrible place wash away the fact that it won't be like that forever. That there is a God, that He loves us, and that He has promised not to abandon us. Let's focus on Jesus, and in so doing, live out that part of our human nature that is divine. In doing this we don't stay in our homes and hide from evil, but rather we go out into the world, and bring with us this Light.

That true evil exists, few people would doubt. At least God has provided us with the true Good.

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