This week was our city prayer meeting.  A group of us from different sectors gather monthly to seek the peace and prosperity of our city together.  This month we were praying for the lonely in our community.  We split into small groups and the pastor in my group started it off.  "Lord", he prayed, "I'm lonely today."  That was as far as he got.  He hung his head, unable to continue.  We sat in silence for a moment and then I reached out and began praying for my brother.  It was as if his sincerity broke open our prayers.  From there we prayed for others who may be lonely:  single parents, seniors, prisoners, the hospitalized, , those far from home...it just kept going.  As we prayed for each one, the Holy Spirit led our prayers, reminding us of others. 

Shifting pace stinks. I have been shifting gears far too much recently. And I bet you have too. That is why I think it is crucial that we find a new gear for discussing spirituality. So today, on Twitter’s Follow #Friday (for you Twitter virgins, the # sign is Twitter lingo), I am wondering who we should follow. Who should we look to for hope when gears change, the economy is rearranged, and life is certainly not the same? (Yep, I can rhyme.)

One the saddest verses in the Bible concerns the strongest man in the Bible:  "But he didn't realize the Lord had left him" (Judges 16:20).  In our pursuit of the abundant/full/enjoyable/overflowing life Jesus promises us (John 10:10), we often run full speed along the wrong path, choosing to rely on our own strength and abiltities--like Samson did--rather than the Lord's.

You'll remember that when Samson was captured by the Philistines, he was tied up, his eyes were gouged out, and he was put to work grinding grain.  In other words, he lost his power, he lost his vision, and life for him was a grind.  Samson's condition describes how many of us feel as rely on our own power rather than the Lord's.  We stumble around, searching for the abundant life that seems to elude us.  We have no spiritual power, we have no spiritual vision, and our life is a grind.

I came across a funny story earlier this week... 

A South Florida woman said she was cooking fried salami when she noticed the word "GOD" on the meat, Miami television station WFOR reported.  Nancy Simoes said she had three pieces in a skillet and flipped one of them and saw the letter G.  "Then got the O and I thought to myself how cool will it be if the third letter was a D."

Simoes realizes people may think she's crazy.  "I can't make this up. ... it's there in the burn marks." For 20 years, her family has enjoyed fried salami for breakfast. Now Simoes is wondering how she will preserve the "holy" salami. 

4 But when d​the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, e​not because of works done by us in righteousness, but f​according to his own mercy, by g​the washing of regeneration and h​renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he i​poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that j​being justified by his grace we might become k​heirs l​according to the hope of eternal life. 

Titus 3:4-7

To teach that the filling with the Holy Spirit is given to the Christian to provide "power for service" is to teach truth, but not the whole truth.  Power for service is but one effect of the experience, and I do not hesitate to say that it is the least of several effects.  It is least for the very reason that it touches service, presumably service to mankind; and contrary to the popular belief, "to serve this present age" is not the Christian's first duty...