Lynn, May I?

Did you ever play “Mother, may I” as a child? I remember playing this game a few times. Each time, it was with my big sister, Lynn – the mother of all “Mother, may I” contestants. She was the oldest and the only female among us three children, so she felt it fitting that she should always be the first mother in the game of "Mother, may I."

My brother, Mark, and I never ever made it to the finish line to dethrone Lynn as top mama. Occasionally, she would feel generous and say, “Yes, you may.” Unless you asked for giant steps. As long as Lynn was big mama, it was baby steps or nothing. By far, her favorite answer was, “No, you may not!”

She was cute and always smiled when she said it, but there was something sinister about the whole thing. Thankfully, the cute part of Lynn has stayed with her and the sinister part has eroded over the years…I think! (I guess we’ll never know until or unless we have a “Mother, may I” rematch!)

Other than recalling the goofy eyeglass frames of the 60's that Lynn and Mark both wore back then, I don’t have fond memories of “Mother, may I.” But there is another game I absolutely LOVE to play – “Father, may I?” Actually, it’s not a game at all. It’s a way of life for the believer. “Father, may I” is the greatest conduit to the largest supply of resources in this world or any other.

Our Father has unlimited resources to match His unlimited love and grace. His only begotten Son, Jesus, taught us all about “Father, may I.”

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8, NKJV).

I’ll get us started and let’s all make it a daily part of our lives to say, “Father, may I?”

“Father, may I see Your mighty hand of revival sweep across this continent again?”

“Father, may I have the privilege of sharing your love and grace-message to one more person?”

“Father, may I sit near You for awhile and tell You I love You over and over again?”

What better month than the month of “May” and what better week than the one which holds the National Day of Prayer (this Thursday) to renew our zeal to ask, “Father, may I?”

Yes, You May.
Perry Crisp

Knowin' vs. Guessin'

A quick check of current bass fishing lures at a major retailer lists 937 types. With each type, there are size and color variations on the average of 22 per type. Multiply those together and you need a tackle box that can hold 20,614 items.

What's a fisherman to do? Unless he is on speaking terms with a largemouth bass (and I know a few people who ARE), he is forced to guess. There are, however, different levels of guessing.

Take Homer and his wife, Etta, for example. Being the romantic husband that he is, Homer decided to take Etta fishing on Valentine's Day. Actually, he had planned on taking her to the Dairy Queen but it wasn't his fault the bass began their pre-spawn activity on Valentine's Day!

So the two lovebirds hopped into the john boat and headed to the north end of the lake. Being the generous and loving husband that he is, Homer rigged Etta's pink and purple female-type fishing pole with a Texas-rigged, super killin', hog smashin' craw-worm. He told her to chunk it on out there, let it hit bottom, and then slowly crank it in, giving the rod an occasional pop. Even though Etta never said, "Huh?" - Homer knew the look. Being the patient husband that he is, he chunked it out there for her and demonstrated his prior instructions.

After a long ten minutes of fishing and catching nothing, Etta went to fiddling around in Homer's tackle boxes.

"What are you doing, sugar muffin?" asked Homer.

"I'm looking for something else to fish with. Something with a little bling to it," answered Etta. She looked up at him with her one good eye and grinned that gorgeous, albeit toothless, grin that always melted his heart. He returned the grin with a nod and a half smile, then turned where she couldn't see him smirk.

Homer thought to himself, "Bling? Did she say bling? It's a tackle box, not a jewelry box. She ain't gonna catch nothin. And when I catch me a hawg on this here craw-worm, she'll be sorry she didn't listen to the master!"

Homer prided himself on knowing exactly what the fish were biting. He even bragged to his buddies that God blessed him with a fish's brain and he "knowed what they were thinkin'."

Etta pulled a ten-inch worm out of the bottom of Homer's tackle box and held it up. "Can I try this one?" she asked.

Homer had no idea how such a worm ever made it's way into his tackle box. That worm was a sight! It looked like a mardi gras parade puked all over it. It had every bright-colored, glittery speck you could imagine imbedded into it's black and motor-oil colored body.

Homer spit. Then he spoke. "Apparently, that old worm has set too long on the bottom of my tackle box," he said. "And all the glitters and sparkles from other baits melted into it. That's the ugliest thing I ever saw! The fish ain't gonna hit that thing. In fact, it'll probably scare 'em all away...honey pie."

She batted her eye, squared her jaw, and tried to stand up in the boat so she could put her hands on her hips (a posture Homer knew all too well). "But, but, but, if my four-leaf clover darlin' wants to fish with that," Homer corrected himself. "Then, by golly, she's gonna fish with it."

Etta sat back down and grinned like a giddy school girl. Homer took the bling mardi gras puke worm from her hand and put it on her hook. It went against every fiber of his being and he hoped no one could see him. Etta cast the worm about two feet, making an awful splash as that big worm hit the water right next to the boat.

While Homer was shaking his head and whispering his good-byes to all the bass in a two-mile radius, Etta's pole went to bending and Etta went to screaming, "I got one!"

"No way!" Homer shouted before he could stop himself.

"Yes, way!" Etta yelled back. "Stop standin' there gawkin'. Get the net!"

"You sure it ain't a stump or a gar or a trot line?" Homer asked and instantly regretted asking it. Before that sentence got to "trot line," Homer knew the answer. A bass so big it would be a wallhanger in Jimmy Houston's house (pause for a moment of silence at the mention of his name) jumped straight up out of the water, did a hula dance in mid-air with five inches of puke worm hanging out of her mouth, and headed straight back down.

"Hang on, Etta! I'm gettin' the net. Give her some slack or she'll break your line," Homer shouted.

Etta leered at him and said, "I got this! You just get the net."

Homer did the husband hunker that all men are familiar with. The one that says, "Yes ma'am" without the words.

The fish was longer than the mouth of the net, but they managed to get her into the boat. After a dozen high fives, a thousand hoops and hollers, and a couple of pictures with the polaroid, Etta turned to the crowd that had gathered at the bank and held her lunker hawg big momma bass up like Jay Yelas at the Bassmasters (another pause). She could hear the folks whistling and shouting.

When she turned back around, Homer, being the humble husband that he is, was digging in the bottom of his tackle box for a ten-inch black and motor-oil worm with some bling on it.

The lesson of Homer and Etta is three-fold: 1) Take your dog - NEVER your wife - fishing on Valentine's Day. 2) If you DO take her fishing and she catches a bigger fish than you, DON'T go to the Dairy Queen right after that. 3) No matter how good a guesser you are when it comes to fishing -- everyone occasionally guesses wrong, and anyone can occasionally guess right.

Fishing is guesswork. But you can improve your chances of guessing right by learning patterns, studying the seasonal behavior of fish, discovering what is and is not working from other experienced fishermen (and knowing whether they are lying to you or not), and by following the three P's: practice, practice, practice.

However, even a first-time fisherman can crawl into a boat or stand on a bank and be in the right place at the right time with the right bait. The guesswork factor in fishing is what makes it fun.

Unless you're fishing for answers to life's questions.

Life was never meant to be a guessing game. The Creator of life did not create haphazardly. He created with purpose, design, and compassion. He not only planned YOU, He has a plan FOR you. You don't have to guess. You just have to search.

Where do you begin searching? The first place to search for God's plan for your life is in the Bible. It is God's instruction manual for man. In it, you will find truth. Truth is the guide of life that we all need. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me" (John 14:6).

The truth of the Bible also tells us that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). That's not a guess. That's a guarantee from the Manufacturer.

A second place to search is in prayer. Prayer is simply opening your heart to God and talking to Him. You can tell Him how you feel. You can ask Him to show you what He wants you to know. You can ask Him anything. He longs to hear from you. A third place to search is in a healthy church. Being around other followers of Christ gives you people just like you to talk to, lean on, and learn from.

This life and the one following is too important to leave it all up to chance. God wants you to know. He hasn't put 20,614 options in front of you. Just one. His Son. I pray you will accept Jesus as, not only the Savior of the world who died for the sins of the world, but as YOUR personal Savior who loves you and died for you.

Googling Really Large Tackle Boxes,
Perry Crisp

Postponing the Amen

Nearly three-year-old Bethany climbed into her grandparent's bed to spend the night. Bethany's grandmother said, "We need to say our prayers." Little did she know what was on Bethany's prayer list. Grandmother and granddaughter bowed their heads and had a precious prayer time together. Grandmother said, "Amen" with enthusiasm, expecting granddaughter to follow suit. She didn't.

Instead, Bethany said, "We aren't done yet." So her grandmother prayed some more and said "Amen" again. Bethany repeated her first evaluation of the prayer and said, "We aren't done yet." Grandmothers never get tired of praying, but after this scenario repeated itself multiple times, Bethany's grandmother was scrambling to find something or someone else to pray for.

Finally, Bethany was satisfied enough to join her Grandmother's benediction and the "Amen" stuck.

Until Papaw came to bed.

The prayer meeting began all over again. Papaw prayed a good, hearty "Papaw prayer" and ended with a hefty, "Amen." He didn't know what Grandmaw knew. They weren't done yet.

Before the covers ever settled in a good night's sleep, every human, cow, horse, dog, crab and guinea pig on Bethany's heart was covered in prayer.

God speaks through tiny voices. Bethany's message is loud and clear. No matter how much praying we do, we aren't done yet.

"So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (Exodus 33:11). That's what prayer is. A two-party conversation between friends. A conversation that should never end.

Crisp but Not Done,
Perry Crisp

Every Day Should Be National Day of Prayer...Yep, it's That Bad

Samuel was frustrated. He had put up with Israel's disobedience and hard-hearted attitude for years. He had every reason under heaven to throw up his hands and walk away from the stubborn, rebellious nation.

Sam asked Israel for a list of all the ways he had mistreated them as a nation. They couldn't think of one. In 1st Samuel 12, Sam gave Israel a verbal highlight film of the many ways Israel had been unfaithful to God.

Score? Israel plenty, Samuel zero. Israel skunked Samuel in the game of disbodience. No one could blame Sam for his frustration with Israel. He could never be bad-mouthed if he chose to quit praying and interceding for the disobedient nation.

Hmmm... How are you doing when it comes to YOUR homeland? Do you get a wee bit frustrated with the direction and disobedience of this nation? America is racking up the points on the scoreboard of disobedience. Do I hear a collective sigh from the saints (not the fans in New Orleans, but the fans of the new covenant)?

Samuel did not give up on Israel. You and I shouldn't give up on America, either. Notice Sam's attitude, "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right" (1st Samuel 12:23, NIV).

Sam considered it a personal sin to stop praying for Israel. Though he had every reason under heaven to stop, Samuel's allegiance did not stop short of heaven. He was committed to obeying God, praying for his homeland, and spreading the truth of God's way.

Praying for others is a privilege and a responsibility God has granted us. To not pray for others, according to Samuel, is to fail God. Sounds like a good reason to pray!

The list is long of those who need our prayers. From the leaders to the laborers, the entire country needs the entire body of Christ praying fervently and consistently on behalf of this nation. We are off course. We have drifted into dangerous waters. We're trying to have a pool party in a cesspool. We need to plead before the throne of heaven for forgiveness of the mess we've made on earth.

The good news is, you will never run out of reasons to pray and heaven will never run out of resources to answer. When you put those two things together, a miraculous moving of the entire nation back to its foundations of faith is more than a possibility.

"Father, here we come to ask Your forgiveness for where we've been..." Ok. I've started the prayer.

You finish it...

Hugging an Answered Prayer

I hugged an answered prayer last night. It is an "amazing grace" story that has encouraged me to continue even more boldly in a practice I've employed for several years.

Through the years I have noticed that waiters and waitresses are often mistreated and misrespected by the people they serve. I have seen people, even Christians, be embarrassingly rude to the person who takes their order, fills their tea glass, and delivers their meals.

I have a chosen the opposite path. If these human beings are going to be the targets of rudeness by other human beings on a regular basis, then I want to be a positive part of their day to help overshadow some of the negatives. At first, I started with simple acts of kindness and a little humor to let them know I wasn't going to be a problem customer. I also tip generously and unconditionally.

Another common practice of mine is to pray before each meal. Whether I am at a restaurant with family and friends or at my desk unwrapping a bologna sandwich, I pause to give thanks.

At some point, I started combining these two practices. I don't remember when, but one day, after my waitress took my order, I called her by name (thanks to the name tag) and told her we were going to have prayer before our meal and we would like to pray for her. I asked her if she had any specific needs. She gave a nervous answer, smiled, thanked me, and went to her next task, and I prayed for her.

I've been doing that ever since. I've made a few friends along the way in the restaurants I visit frequently. It has blessed me to pray for them. It has blessed them to have someone see them as a real person with real needs. On a side note, it is amazing how great the service is when you treat people with compassion and respect. Please don't do it for that reason or it will ruin the real blessing.

I have a long list of fantastic responses from waiters and waitresses that I could share with you, but I want to tell you what happened that resulted in last night's answered-prayer-hug.

The Lord called me to serve as pastor of Lake Fork Baptist Church in east Texas in November of last year. Shortly after God called us here, the church staff and their families invited us out to eat following a Sunday evening service. There is a restaurant right around the corner from the church. As usual, after the waitress came to our table and took our order, I asked her if she had any prayer requests.

She hesitated. Then she held back tears as she asked us to pray for her brother. She didn't go into any personal details, but the rest of the staff knew the young man and knew a little about his needs. Her request for prayer for her brother stuck with me. She was sincere. She smiled and thanked us. We prayed for him by name. That was ten months ago.

For ten months, every time I've entered that restaurant and seen that waitress, I've been reminded to pray for her brother, not knowing who he was...until last night.

After our Wednesday night services were over and we were standing around talking, one of my deacons tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I want you to meet someone who just met my best friend." I introduced myself to the young man and hugged him. He had that smile on his face that Jesus gives people right after He moves into their hearts.

My deacon told me the young man's name, but nothing registered. It's a common name. But the wife of our worship leader was looking at me funny. She had that wide-eyed look that indicated to me there was more to the story than I realized. She whispered into my ear, "Do you remember that time right after you came here that we went out to eat and you asked the waitress if she had any prayer needs, and she asked us to pray for her brother?"

I love it when the light comes on! Instantly, I had an "A-ha!" moment. This was him! I turned back to the young smiling man and said, "Young man, I prayed for you long before I ever met you." I told him the story. We hugged again. That hug was sweeter than the one before because I was hugging an answered prayer.

I'm encouraged to continue asking waitresses and cashiers and anyone else God puts in my path if they have a prayer need. There's nothing like hugging the neck of an answered prayer.

When you go to a restaurant, do yourself a favor. After they take your order, take theirs.

Perry Crisp

Keep Roadkill Legal!

God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel saying, "I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one" (22:30).

I saw something recently that I never thought I would see in Texas. I was traveling down a two-lane road when I noticed both lanes of traffic were stopped ahead of me.

I thought maybe a child was crossing the road. Possibly a dog. Or perhaps I was being delayed by cat lovers protecting a wandering feline from people like me.

It wasn't a child or a dog or even a cat. It was an armadillo! Twelve cars were stopped so an armadillo could cross the road safely. I was amazed.

If you haven't been to Texas, Armadillos are to Texas highways what blankets were at Woodstock - they're everywhere! Armadillos are most commonly seen on the side of the road with all fours pointing toward heaven.

I've seen a few cars swerve to miss armadillos. I've seen cars aim for armadillos. But I'd never seen traffic stop for the shell-covered, lawn-terrorist...until now.

Can't you see the headlines? "Texans Join Forces to Save Armadillos." It won't be long now until I see a bumper sticker with a picture of an armadillo and the slogan, "No More Roadkill!"

People today will stand in the gap for almost anything. Especially if it isn't human. They will place their bodies between trees and timber companies to keep the trees from being cut down. They will buy millions of acres to keep endangered species from becoming extinct. They will run a marathon to save whales or even attach bumper stickers to their $50,000 vehicles that read, "I Brake for Armadillos!"

But who will stand in the gap for his neighbor? Who will step between sin in a friend and salvation in a Savior and become that bridge through whom an eternal connection is made?

Will you? If not, then who?

Standing in the gap - not shopping at it.
Perry Crisp

What's After If?

What comes after "if" in 2nd Chronicles 7:14 is the key to correcting our nation's corruption. Since you may not take the time to look it up, let's talk about it.

"If ________________________ will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

We tend to fill in the blank following the "ifs" of our nation's moral, social, and economic collapses and challenges a little differently than the Bible does.

"If the President would..."
"If Congress would..."
"If the Supreme Court would..."
"If the media would..."
"If government would..."

We fill in the blanks wrong. God put a different set of folks behind the "if." Don't get me wrong, I enjoy tossing blame grenades as much as anyone. But it doesn't transform anything or anyone. It only destroys.

In spite of how I might think the whole world needs to change, God keeps telling me to narrow it down a bit.

Willing to agree with God, I confess,"You're right, God. The whole NATION needs to change."

"Narrow it down a bit more," He replies.

I keep trying and He keeps making the circle smaller until I'm the only one standing in it. What's behind God's "if"? Me. You. Everyone like us who claims to be a child of God.

"If My people who are called by My name..." We thought we were spectators watching a movie called, "Why the World is Going to Hell," and all those other folks were the actors and stars in the movie. We're expecting to see drug dealers, corrupt judges, and liberal college professors on the big screen of blame. God takes our popcorn, hands us a script, and says, "You're needed on the set. You've got the starring role."

We have a part to play.

"But God! THEY took prayer out of our schools!"

"Yes, but who took it off YOUR schedule?"

Solutions to life's problems are not, as a rule, external. They involve us meeting with God at the altar inside our hearts, bowing before Him, confessing and turning away from our sins, and seeking a personal encounter with God. That's when the "if" turns to "then."

THEN things change. When we change.

If...Perry Crisp

Listen Up

Weird dreams visit my subconscious dvd player on occasion. It is usually the result of a chili-cheese dog after 9 pm. Sometimes I remember the dreams vividly. Other times they fade into forgetfulness with my first yawn.

But the scorpion dream is one I will not soon forget. It was more real than a reality show. In the scorpion dream, I was babysitting a room full of toddlers and infants. Okay, so it's more like a nightmare.

While overseeing all these babies, I saw a scorpion crawl between my feet toward the children. In the awake world of my existence, I despise and fear scorpions as much as any other creature. I have felt the poisonous power of a scorpion's tail more times than I can count. The pain is impossible to describe.

The nightmare continued to escalate as the toddlers started crawling toward the scorpion. They all saw it and wanted to play with it. I screamed at the children, warning them not to touch it. They ignored me and kept reaching for it. I tried time and time again to step on the scorpion, but there was always a child in the way.

The inevitable happened. One of the smallest babies was injected by the sting of the scorpion's tail and let out a blood-curdling scream that woke me up. I sat straight up in bed, wiping away sweat and letting out a sigh of gratitude that it was only a dream.

That's when I heard the voice. It wasn't audible because it wasn't coming from outside my head where my ears are. It was inside my mind. It was high-definition. It was clearly the voice of God. He said, "Now you know how I feel."

Then He left me there to meditate on what the dream and the God-statement meant. I knew what it meant. God wants so desperately for His children to hear Him. Yet we tune Him out so well. We fill our ears with what we want to hear. The voice of God drowns. When we do hear God, we often do not like what He says, so we learn not to listen.

We WANT to play with the scorpions. We think we know what's best. But we don't know what God knows. God knows the end result of playing with scorpions, and from a heart of passionate love He screams out to warn us and protect us. Will we hear Him? Will we trust Him?

1st Samuel 3:1 says, "the word of the Lord was rare in those days." I'm afraid we've let the voice of God become too rare a thing in our lives, as well.

The question for us to ponder is not, "Why isn't God speaking?" The question is, "Why am I not hearing?"

If you want to hear God better, He tells you how: "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). Hearing God begins with the Bible. If you are not reading it, you are decreasing your chances of hearing or recognizing God's voice.

Back to the scorpion dream. I tried to crush the scorpion with my heel, but the children were in the way. God's Son, Jesus, put Himself between the heel of God's judgment and the scorpion of man's sin. God has taken the eternal sting out of sin's tail, but He still doesn't want us playing with them.

Though the screaming child woke me up before I could see the reaction of the other babies, I would imagine none of them reached for the scorpion after hearing and seeing the pain it caused their fellow infant. So why would I want to play with that which caused Jesus so much pain? Why would you?

"Speak Lord, for your servant hears" (1st Samuel 3:9).
Perry Crisp

Empty Tanks

Four-year-old Andrew spilled something on the floor, sending his mother, Cathy, into a screaming tirade.

Andrew watched his mother have a fit and then said, "Mommy, you forgot to ask Jesus to help you be nice today, didn't you?"

It is so easy to do. Our bodies rebel at the sound of the alarm. We squeeze every second out of the snooze button. We rush through our morning rituals and swallow our barely-chewed breakfast on the way to work. The rest of the day keeps the same pace. The busyness never stops.

And the time with God never begins. Before we know it, we have spent another 24 hours without an eternal investment of time with our Father.

"He (Jesus) went up on the mountain by Himself to pray..." (Matthew 14:23). Luke wrote that Jesus "often" withdrew from others to pray. Every one of us needs time alone with God. We all need to ask Jesus to help us be nice. Even Jesus, the Son of God, needed to spend time with the Father.

We go through each day so quickly. But which is more important: Speed or direction? Under which circumstances are you able to see more: Zipping through traffic or taking a walk? That's what the Christian life is built upon: a refreshing walk between two friends.

Zipping through your day without spending time with God ends up zapping you of what you need for today and tomorrow. A van ran out of gas on the side of the road. The road-side assistant came to the rescue and noticed the van had two gas tanks. He asked the obvious question, "Are both tanks empty?"

"Both tanks? You mean, there are two?" The road-side assistant showed the owner of the van - no, it wasn't me - how to switch tanks and the van started right up. There's a difference between unavailable power and unappropriated power.

In Christ, you have all the power you need to survive and even thrive each day. It's up to you to appropriate it by taking that daily walk with Him.

Come apart with Christ so you don't come apart with anyone else,
Perry Crisp

Got Power?

In the summer of 1928, a terrible drought gripped West Texas. In the little town of Peacock, the church prepared for revival.

But it was hard for anyone to concentrate on revival. Their thoughts were consumed by the desperate need for rain. It hadn't rained for four long months. The blazing sun over Texas scorched the ground day after day with relentless heat.

Drinking water had to be shipped into Peacock by railroad tank cars. Crops were destroyed. Cattle lay dead beside empty waterholes.

Four days into the revival services, a group of sincere, repentant people humbled themselves before God and began to cry out to God for rain. In less than 24 hours, the rain came crashing down with incredible force. A victory over the drought had been won through prayer.

Think about it: Drought...Prayer...Rain.

Now look around you. Do you see evidence of a drought? Is there a famine in our land? The one I see is worse than that of 1928.

There IS a famine in this land -- but not of water or bread. A spiritual dearth is all around us. Dry souls crackle and waste away. Lost souls hear no trumpets of salvation.

Yet...there is little concern, little alarm. It is hardly noticed. It is rarely mentioned. Tears do not fall. Cries do not escape from the lips of those desperate for God to send a flood of revival to this land that she may return to the God of her history.

Have we become Samson with a haircut? Have we forfeited the power of God for the pleasures and comforts of man? Instead of beating the drums of retreat or waving the white flag of surrender, shouldn't we sound the alarm for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to fall powerfully before God in prayer?

Third graders are plotting against teachers, children are killing their parents, morality is now colored only in gray...

The slope we are on is steep and we, as a nation, have slipped. We are gaining speed and soon will be at the scene of our own horrific accident.

Let's not put together an investigation committee. Let's not expect congress to fix this. Let's not grab torches and go out into the night to find the monster who is demonizing our village. Let's fall to our knees in prayer, humility, and repentance.

Unless we do...we assist the monster. We aid our country's descent when we have access to the power of change, yet do not tap into it with every ounce of our faith.

Hear, believe, and apply the promise of Jesus: "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:14).

Join the man of Acts 8:19 who said, "Give me also this power!"

Sounding the Alarm,
Perry Crisp

Rugged Cross Far Better than Paper Rug

My hope has been lifted to a whole new level! I received a thing in the mail this week informing me that a certain "church" in Oklahoma has prayed for me ("or whoever's hand touches this envelope") -- and I am going to be blessed!

They even sent me this cool prayer rug made out of paper. All I have to do is touch both of my knees to the prayer rug, ask God for anything I want (they even gave examples of "what I want" -- a Mercedes, a helicopter, a lottery jackpot).

There's a picture of Jesus on the paper rug. His eyes are closed. But when I finish praying, all I have to do is stare at His eyes and they will open. If they do, my prayers are answered. Then, I have to RUSH the rug (along with a form where I can enclose a donation) back to the Oklahoma "church" so another person named "Occupant" can get the same holy rug blessing.

If you are taking me or them seriously at this point, you need to log off of your computer, find a New Testament, Bible-believing church with an emergency room entrance and go to it as quickly as possible...you need Biblical Therapy!

God answers prayer. But He doesn't need paper rugs or holy envelopes. God is waiting for you to pray. And He knows your name isn't "occupant." God is prepared to bless you. But His blessings are eternal, spiritual, emotional, supernatural, often physical, and occasionally financial. God is not as interested in what you drive as He is what drives you. God is not nearly as apt to increase the odds of your gambling habit as He is to pay the debt of your sin.

God is bigger than that "church" in Oklahoma figures. His prayer lines are not for your profit. His throne room is not your casino. He doesn't exist to wait on you. You were created to serve Him.

He will take care of you. He will meet your needs. He will bless you as He chooses, and He looks at your obedience to His Son more than He checks to see if both knees are touching a paper Jesus.

All you need to know about prayer is found in the Bible, not in your mailbox. I won't waste time arguing how powerful prayer is because it is more powerful than any of us will take the time to realize and/or incorporate into our daily lives.

We don't need to open Jesus' eyes. Jesus needs to open ours. His words of truth are there for all to see: "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:13-14).

My hope is lifted. Not by a bunch of materialistic promises underlined in red on an envelope. But by the knowledge that God knows me by name, knows my past, present, and future needs, and cares for me enough to provide all that I need rather than all that I want.

Preferring a Personal Jesus to a Paper One,
Perry Crisp