We need to talk.

Redemption is My recycling plan.

Give Me what's right, not what's left.

When you have long-standing troubles, try kneeling.

Making a living is not the same as making a life.

Coincidence is when I choose to remain anonymous.

A sunrise is My way of telling the world to lighten up.

I love you whether you like it or not.

You know that "Love Thy Neighbor" thing? I meant it.

I answer knee-mail.

To hear My voice better, turn down the world's volume.

If you fear Me, you have nothing else to fear.

Bask in the warmth of My Son.

Your church is a gift from Me -- assembly required.

What part of "Thou shalt not" didn't you understand?

I loved the world so much that I didn't send a committee.

I don't want a share of your life. I want controlling interest!

Enjoy the day. My compliments!

Almost all people know January 1st is the first day of the New Year, but many people think of it as just the end of the past year. So, are you thinking the end of an era or a new beginning? Actually, for the person needing or wanting to start fresh, it makes no difference. Many people have a notion about when their life should get better, and that is what they are saving their best effort for. But to renew our life spiritually, the Bible tells us, “His mercies are fresh every morning.” Then they went back to their flocks, and carefully tended lambs that were destined for sacrifice on Passover. And though they could not know or understand it, the baby Deliverer in the manger would not challenge the Roman oppressors with His army of angels, but instead deliver mankind from the sin and death that oppress us all. For these lamb-herders had seen God's Lamb, born to be a Passover sacrifice for the sins of the entire world!

We are admonished to renew our minds daily, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Each new sunrise is a brand new day, ready for our personal new beginning.

Many people want to return to some space in time when life seemed simpler. I was thinking today about time itself; how it moves so quickly when we are not watching and how slow it seems when we are waiting for some event. The events of a life are recorded and deposited into the mind where the bank of our memories reside. They are always available for viewing with the eyes of the heart. Time doesn’t really take anything away from us, it is a gift for us to use to our own advantage.

This concept of time, and how to measure it, was the endeavor of the ancients down to our computer gurus of today. Timepieces through the ages took many forms. The ancients marked time with the sundial, the Jews had their civil and religious calendars, the Chinese developed the water clock, astrologers observed the stars and Native Americans marked the seasons by the shell of the turtle. Then came the hour glass, city tower clocks like the famous Big Ben, and then to the digital clocks and LCD wristwatches of today.

Each New Year is depicted graphically with a stooped old man carrying away his scythe having reaped the past year, while the innocent little baby crawls onto the scene in a fresh diaper ready to discover new life. Each of us will make many new starts in various aspects of living; but the only real New Beginning, that I believe is available on earth, to all men, is the New Birth John tells us about. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” John 3:3. This new birth takes place when one receives Christ as Lord and Savior into his life. Then the kingdom of God is made alive in his heart.

II Corinthian 5:17 describes it like this: “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” Our own fleshly old man walks slowly away as our new creature (the baby Christian) awakens to spiritual life with Christ, our elder Brother, so that we may become more Christ-like and build a stronger relationship with our loving Heavenly Father. We do this by reading and living the Word of God, the Bible.

Jesus, who is the timepiece of scripture, said, “Watch therefore, for you know not when the master of the house is coming - in the evening, or at midnight, or at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning – lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch.” Mark 13:35-37. In the meantime, we should pray and look forward to the “Son rise” of eternity each and every day.

Ebenezers
A Where Prayer Was Wont to Be Made

I have this memory of being at a certain convention when I was a teenager. I clearly remember being there, perusing the program and seeing the phrase, “Where prayer was wont to be made” listed as a service. It was, to the best of my memory, the first time I had ever encountered that phrase, which has since become very special to me.

The phrase was in quotations, so I figured it must be from the Bible, and because it was the first time I’d ever seen the word “wont” I was sure it must be the King James translation. As a matter of fact, I had no clue what the word “wont” meant. Now, in those days, I labored under a huge amount of young and foolish pride. As a result, there was no way I was going to ask anyone what “wont” meant. I figured my questions would be answered at that service.

Well, let me tell you, no reference at all came up at that service to the title of it. As I sat there, it became clear to me that the service was what is commonly called a testimony meeting. Still, I was intrigued by the phrase, and when I got home I investigated.

Sure enough, it was from the Bible; Acts 16:13 to be exact. It seems Paul was traveling by ship and had a layover in the city of Philippi. On the Sabbath day, being that there was no synagogue, Paul inquired as to the whereabouts of the place “where prayer was wont to be made.” Wont is an Old English word meaning accustomed.

You see, when Jews didn’t have a synagogue in a city, they would designate a location, usually by a riverside, as a place “where prayer was wont to be made.” People need a place to congregate together and worship their God. People need a place where prayer is wont to be made.

Lydia was a woman who went to this place quite often, but for her, this day would be life-changing. In this very special place, Lydia met Paul, and he spoke to her of Jesus. Scripture says, “Lydia attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul.” How I wish I could hear the exact things Paul told Lydia, because when he was done, Lydia was baptized into Jesus Christ. I’m sure he told her of the love of Jesus, the power of Jesus, the wisdom of Jesus, and Lydia attended unto those words, taking them into her heart.

You know, sometimes we should remember how Paul felt about his own preaching. He tells us in 1 Cor. 2:1-5 that he was not an excellent speaker. Rather, he says he preached with fear and trembling, in weakness.

Yet Lydia recognized the truth of Jesus in Paul’s words and took that truth into her heart. Lydia had gone to the place where prayer was wont to be made because she worshiped the Living God. She believed in God and God responded to her belief by rewarding her with the words of his servant about the truth of Jesus Christ.

Was it mere coincidence that brought Paul and Lydia together that day? Not a chance! Paul and Lydia came together that day because they both went to a place of mutual attraction: a place to come apart from the world, a place to worship the Living God, a place where prayer was wont to be made.

I remember at that convention, thinking to myself, that maybe “wont” was a variation of the word want. Maybe it meant, “A place you want to make prayer.” Well, that’s not what the word means; however, I don’t think it’s a bad thought. Prayer needs to be something we desire, something we want to do; sometimes in private and sometimes in a group. To do it in a group, we need a place to congregate, a special place where prayer is wont to be made.

I know a place like that, let me tell you! The address is 535 E. Maple, Lombard, IL. May it continue to be a place “where prayer is wont to be made.”