Bob Kauflin - "Does God Sing?"

I was reading a blog recently and I found Bob Kauflin asking the question "Does God Sing?". I thought it was interesting, so I thought I would share his response with you.

Kauflin says that God does sing and he proves this by pointing to Zephaniah 3:17, where it says:

...he (God) will exalt over you with loud singing

Kauflin said that God sings to us like a mother sings to her baby. What a beautiful example! I can now picture in my mind, God rocking us in His arms and singing peaceful and calming songs to us, just like a mother would. And I can also picture God singing happy songs to us, singing joyfully until He sees a smile on our face.

Do you desire to have God sing over you like a mother does to her baby? Do you want that close relationship but feel that God is far away? Do you want to be near to God like a baby is near it's mother? If your answer is "yes", then think about the following verse:

JAMES 4:8

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Does God sing? According to Zephaniah 3:17....He does!

Gas prices higher...Church attendance lower

As gas prices go up, it seems that some churches are starting to see that more and more people are cutting back on their trips to church. Especially those that do not live in the community where their church is located.

In order to try and help those who can't afford gas for driving to church, the following ideas have been tried:

- Less church programs through the week
- Regional care groups
- Shuttle bus to pick up people who need a ride
- Bus tickets
- Gas Cards

If gas prices doubled, how would that affect church life? What would happen if people could not afford to drive to church?

It's something that churches need to consider because higher gas prices seem almost certain.

Gossip-Free for 8 days! Can you do it??

In an article, a pastor in Michigan is encouraging people to go 8 days "gossip free" (starting August 8th). His reason for encouraging this is seen in the following quote:

gossip has caused more wars, broken up more homes, ruined more businesses, split more churches and destroyed more lives than anything else throughout human history.

Can you go 8 days without gossip? Do you want to try?

Drive through prayers

Drive-through prayers

I was reading something that got my attention. I thought you might be interested. It's an article about a church that had a drive-through prayer service in their church parking lot on a Saturday. Volunteers held up signs which read "Pull over for Prayer!"

The article goes on to say:

Customers didn't even have to get out of their cars. Those who pulled in filled out a form saying what they wanted to pray about and drove over to the other side of the church. Patrons rolled down their windows, and the Rev. Chris Martin or another minister held their hands and prayed while the cars idled.

Gail Liddell of Flint said she saw the signs and made a snap decision to pull in and pray for her 21-year-old daughter.

What do you think? Good idea or not?

When I first read the article, I felt that this drive-through prayer idea was just a man made attempt to get people interested in their church. It seemed to me that there was a total lack of faith in the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. After all, shouldn't we have faith in God to build His church...His way?

But when I got to the part in the article where it said that they held up signs that read "Pull over for Prayer!", it reminded me of an outreach program that my wife and I had the privilege of being a part of this summer. In July, a church that my wife and I have a very good relationship with, had a two day FREE CAR WASH at the church. Members of the church held signs up that said "FREE CAR WASH", and people came. They would get out of their car as the car was driven up to each station. While the driver (and any passengers) were waiting for their car to be washed and dried, people from the church who were trained in evangelism began conversations with them, hoping to lead the conversation to the topic of spiritual things. If I'm not mistaken, I think 5 people prayed to receive Jesus as their Saviour.

This attempt to draw people into the church, whether it be "drive-through prayer" or a "free car wash", is it right or is it wrong? Is it good or is it bad?

In my opinion, it's a good thing to find creative ways to make contact with unbelievers SO THAT we can share the Gospel with them. In other words, using the Gospel in creative ways would be wrong, but being creative in order to make contact with unbelievers, so that the Gospel can be shared, is more than okay....it's excellent!

12 year old girl takes father to court over school trip!

On Dr. Mohler's Blog

"Another Chilling Precedent --A Court Undermines a Parent"

Click here to read his blog

Because the 12 year old girl disobeyed her father and posted pictures of herself on an on-line dating service, and also was arguing with her step mother, the father told his daughter she could not go on a school trip. So the daughter took her father to court...and won! The court gave her permission to go on the school trip.

The Quebec Superior Court took away the authority of the parent to raise his child as he thought was best.

What could this mean for Christians?

In the future, if a child does not want to be involved in family devotional time, could that child take their parents to court? What if a child doesn't feel like going to church? What if parents send their child to a Christian school and the child doesn't want to go? Can they take their parents to court? What if the child wants to have sex and the parents say no?

Can you see what can happen when the authority of the parents is taken away by the courts?