Thank You Wineck's!!!

THANK YOU WINECK'S!!!
This was a quick illustration "thank you" I made for the Wineck's (I won't reveal their first names just in case they don't want me too) a while back after they gave us a very generous donation.

Today, as if an answer to a prayer yet prayed, they gave us another generous contribution towards our trip to Trinidad. It will more than cover our expenses and the rest will go towards the team. (Kevin and De also received a large gift from them.)

I don't think they read this blog as it has a very small following but I thought I would embarrass them anyway and give them a very large "Thank You"! (I think Erin has already made a card for them but this is my little thank you note.)

—b

Love Like Christ Loved

PETITION TO PRAY FOR OTHERS

I have received a few emails highlighting some concerns and some developements. So instead of talking about the Vikings new uniforms or how now is the time to purchase stock in Apple, I'll highlight these prayer requests in no particular order.

• Cyri's dad had a stroke a few days ago as a result of a recent surgery. He is doing fine. Please pray for a quick, permanent recovery.

• My cousin Scott and his wife will be moved to California by his wife's new company. Pray for a smooth transition as Melanie will soon graduate from college and Scott needs to find a job out there.

• My aunt Ruth has been battling with her thyroid for over a year and just recently found out "the nodule on her thyrod has gotten larger". Pray the doctors know how to best handle the recent development.
  

• Erin's dad has put in at least 2 days of overtime in a job that, how can I put it nicely...isn't his first choice. Pray for rest, and the Lord would find him a new employer.
  

• Although our grandparents seem to be doing fine physically, their mental states seem to be suffering. Please pray for clarity and patience for mom and dad Eidsmoe and Johnson.
  

• Erin and I will be in Peshtigo this weekend for another Trinidad related training. Please pray for safe travel and that the Lord will grant us favor when it comes to finding a new car. These gas prices are killing us. :(
  

We love you guys. And if you ever have any prayer requests that you would like prayer for, feel free to email them to me or post them on the message board. Do know that I WILL be in prayer for whatever needs come to my attention.

—b


Friday, April 28th, 2006/John chapters 13 and 14

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." —John 14:21

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
When I honestly take a look at my life, even recently, my actions don't reflect that I love Christ. I know that it is impossible for anyone to live a sinless life but that shouldn't detract us from trying. That also doesn't give us an excuse to sin. Luckily, our heavenly Father loves us and no sin will separate us from Him, as long as we ask His forgiveness.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 13,500 Jehovah Witnesses living in the Twin Cities
(Click here to learn more about Jehovah Winesses.)

Welcome Back Mr. Favre

I am swamped today with Trinidad related work so I'll hopefully be back on track on Friday. (We have a day off tomorrow.) But in the mean time the theme song from "Welcome Back Kotter" keeps gowing through my head concerning Brett's decision to come back to work.

—b

P.S. No, I'm not turning towards the "Dark Side" concerning becoming a Packer fan. I just like Brett more than QB #2 Aaron Rogers.

STMLC Exhaustion

This is how I feel

First off, I apologize for only posting 2 AudioBlogs. After I called them in, I checked this site and noticed they weren't up. Huh. So, I figured I had wasted my time. Obviously it must have just taken a while to get up. Oh well.

Second, thank you for your prayers. My back was great (although it has reverted to it's "old man state") and the conference was probably the best it has been in the 3 years I've attended. (A big thanks goes to my wife for her anal organizational skills.)

Speaking of Erin, even though she was behind the scenes, she received a few rave reviews on the STMLC evaluations. The people went out of their way to express their gratitude to Erin by name. GREAT JOB EMJ!

Me on the other hand, I was more visible and was able to incorporate my immature sense of humor to the presentations, and didn't get any special "thank you's" on the evaluations. Although I did have some people come up to me during the conference and say they liked my "youthfulness" while still being appropriate.

Erin and I had our own "it's over" celebration. We invited our next door neighbor with us to Chili's and got to know her a lot better and had a great time without any of the uncomfortable silences.

(FYI, in a future post, I'll have to write about our neighbor Shannon. She is a 26 year old military wife and her husband is in Iraq and has been since December. He is currently serving a year over there. Bella and Shannon's dog Cooper, who happens to be a 109 pound Rottweiler, are best friends and play all the time. It's quite the sight.)

I won't go into details about the conference since this post is already becoming quite long. But here are a few pictures to help give you a better idea of what went on.

STEM CEO Roger Peterson playing MC

Attendees were sometimes broken up into small groups to discuss "on-field senario" questions

STEM Team Leader Ramon Flores is "plugging" STEM in the exhibitor's room

Devotions leader Sammy Wanyonyi recharching our spiritual batteries as guest speaker Dave Gibson of Grace Church Eden Prairie looks on

One of the workshops taking place.

(Random Facts: The guy in the bottom right is our landlord from Haiti, Bob Stufflebeam. And since I am on a soccer kick (no pun intended) right now, I thought it was cool that the guy in the white dress shirt is 50+ and loves playing organized soccer and the lady in black is from Brazil and can't wait for World Cup 2006. I also met a huge MLS Chicago Fire fan.) Soccer brings the world together!

—b

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006/Luke chapters ???

ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT
Both yesterday and today, I fell asleep while attempting my daily Bible Study. I was able to make it up yesterday afternoon but I'm afraid I won't have time today as we have our small group Bible study tonight. I'm not giving up hope that I'll have time to spend with God alone though.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 25,000 Mormons living in the Twin Cities. The Twin Cities is also home to one of the few Mormon Temples in the world. The tricky thing about Mormons is they think they are Christians.
(Click here to learn more about what Mormons believe.)

LIVE From STMLC: #2

LIVE From STMLC: #1

STMLC 2006

STMLC 2006
(Short-Term Mission Leaders Conference)

This conference could also be known as the "LGA160PFSSALEHE" conference. (Lets Get About 160 People From Several States And Let Erin Handle Everything). Although STMLC is a little shorter and more catchy so I guess we'll stick with that.

This entire week will be devoted to the annual conference. There are way too many aspects to even begin listing so I will just say it's a HUGE responsibility. And as I said in the first paragraph, it's mainly Erin's. I'm not trying to be biased since she happens to be my beautiful bride. She is organizing nearly every aspect and making sure everything goes according to plan. I wish I was exaggerating this point.

As for me, I'm "Senior Gopher", "Mr. Picture-Taker", "PowerPointGuy", and "Hey you, this computer thing doesn't work, fix it." Needless to say, I won't be able to post traditionally Thursday and Friday.

Having that said, I'm going to offer a BEingDesinged blog exclusive! I will be broadcasting LIVE from the conference! How cool is that. Each day, I will say a few words via AudioBlogger. Just think, you exclusive peoples are lucky enough to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity!

—b



Wednesday, April 19th, 2006/Luke chapters 23 and 24

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" —Luke 24:32

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
A great way to try and explain how our heavenly Father speaks to us through His living word. I'm always refreshed and feeling energized after spending some time with Him. It's easily my favorite time of the day!

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 1300 Jains living in the Twin Cities
(Click here to learn more about Jains.)

Missing Our Cornerstone

STEM's "Cornerstone" is Gone.

Julie Tanning, STEM's COO is leaving us. She is the glue that holds this organization together. Besides regular COO (Chief Operating Officer) duties, which are tremendous, she is also Queen Techy. She knows her stuff when it comes to the IT side of things.

How does this effect Erin and me?

Erin will be more involved with the accounting aspect. (Which she is already good at.) But she will be formally taking on a much larger role when it comes to the monies. Basically, Erin's stock at STEM is about to go through the roof. So buy now!

I on the other hand have offered my geek skills toward IT. I'm already number 2 (not the bathroom code) in that area and would like to learn more of the hardware aspects. There will be some software geeking (ie. getting STEM's website higher on Google's search results) but for the most part, I'll be trading in my court jester costume for a squire outfit when it comes to computer troubleshooting.

Hopefully I'll still have enough time to update Mr. Blog everyday but it might get it a little tough. Erin and I are considering more and more getting internet at home as well as a second car. (But the second car issue is a post all in itself.)

Enjoy your Tuesday night!

—b


Tuesday, April 18th, 2006/Luke chapters 21-23

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. . —Luke 21:34-35

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
"Worries of life." What worries? Life is perfect! Um...no. Sometimes I just need to step back and realize that my worries aren't going to affect the grand scheme of life. I tend to put too much emphasis on some difficulties.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 1,500 Sikhs living in the Twin Cities
(Click here to learn more about Sikhs.)

Coming Soon...

I didn't get to my cube until 3:00 yesterday due to some new responsibilities, so I'll give you a more formal update hopefully by late afternoon.

(Notice I said hopefully.) ;)

Happy Easter

Happy Ressurection Weekend!

(sigh...poor dog.)
No, this isn't Bella and won't ever be.

Erin, Bella, and I are traveling to the flooded plains of Moorhead for the extended weekend. I'm kinda looking forward to seeing how bad it is up there. At least mom and dad's house is safe. The last time I spoke with them, all 3 of us were on the phone and I was temporarily left out of the conversation while they debated whether this year's flood was more similar to the flood of 1997 or 2002. (Got to love parents.) ;)

(This picture was taken about a week ago near my parents house and the water hadn't crested yet.)

I'm not sure what is planned for the weekend only that I get to see everyone (mom, dad, Leif, Cyri, and even Missy) again. It's been a long time. And with the possibility of leading 2 teams this summer, (yes I said 2), I don't know how often I'll get home.

FYI: Erin and I are leading a team from her home church in Peshtigo to Trinidad. (June 23rd - July 1st). And we have been asked to lead a youth team from Illinois on an Urban Minneapolis trip. (July 29th - August 3rd).

Anyway, we are both looking forward to another mini-vacation. Last weekend in Milwaukee to this weekend in the land of the Spuds. This time we get to take Bella with us. Double bonus!




Thursday, April 13th, 2006/Luke chapters 6-8

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. —Luke 4:13

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
An entire sermon could be preached just on this passage alone. Here is a quick summary of what I got out of it: Show God's love. It means so much to people to show God's love instead of only telling them of it. If we as Christians can lead by example, when we do speak of Christ, we will have so much more to stand on.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 23,500 Hindu's living in the Twin Cities

Luke chapters 4 and 5

Wednesday, April 12th, 2006/Luke chapters 4 and 5

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time. —Luke 4:13

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
Satan and his goons will never give up. It seems like just about every day (sometimes every hour) there is temptation to sin. Sometimes I conquer it, other times, I lose. But the times I lose is usually when I am at my weakest faith wise or when I try and defeat temptation with just "will power". It doesn't work. Luckily our heavenly Father has already won the war, it's just up to us to keep fighting the battles.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 54,000 Jews living in the Twin Cities

Weedend of First's

This past weekend was one of f1rsts.

Here they are listed in no particular order:

• 1st time...having to put my Jeep in park while on a highway. (Road construction.)
• 1st time...putting my Jeep in park while on a highway for a 2nd time! (Auto accident.)
• 1st time...leaving Bella alone for a couple of days.
• 1st time...Danae, who pokes fun of Erin and I for playing board games (which makes us "old"), played the game (Blokus) and wanted to keep playing it.
• 1st time...Kevin had to take a very tough test, which is why we went to Milwaukee, and hopefully he won't have to retake it.
• 1st time...since who knows when that both the Brewers and Tigers start out with a 5-0 record.
• 1st time...since 1994 that the Twins started out 1-5.

It was a great weekend. We didn't get to go to a Brewers game but maybe next time. It was also a great weekend for driving (weather wise). Bella did great and I don't think she initially wanted to come home. She had so much fun playing "you-can't-get-me-when-I'm-under-the-bed" with Gunner the black lab.

—b

P.S. Tonight at 7:00 on ESPN2, the US Men's National Team (soccer) play Jamaica. I'll have to catch the highlights since we'll be at Bible study tonight.



Tuesday, April 11th, 2006/Luke chapters 2 and 3

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You." And He said to them, "Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?" But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. —Luke 2:48 - 51

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
After looking for your 12 year old son for 3 days, I would think you would be happy-furious when you finally found him. But Mary kept in mind who her Son actually was and instead of getting frustrated at not understanding what Jesus was saying, she treasured it.

She didn't just accept it, but she treasured it. I need this attitude of when I don't understand what God is doing (or not doing) I need to treasure his response or lack there of. Good luck on my part but I'm going to strive for it.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 56,000 Buddhists living in the Twin Cities

Mark chapters 15 and 16

stupid gophers...

congratulations badgers...excuse me if i don't get too excited.
stupid gophers, losing to holy cross in the 1st round.

—b

Saturday, April 8th, 2006/Mark chapters 13 and 14

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. —Mark 13:34

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
"...Assigning to each one his task,..." We each have a job to do while on earth. This job only we can do. No one can do it exactly like we can. No ones job is better or worse than anyone elses. (As long as it is the task given to us by our heavenly Father.)

InDecision 2006

C'mon Brett. Just make a decision.

Will Brett Favre be back next year? That seems to be the most asked and highly publisized question and poll going on in ESPN.

No big deal for us Viking fans. Erin and I had a conversation about it in the car. This is the only Packer QB she has ever known. On the other I have gone through Tommy Kramer, Wade Wilson, Rich Gannon, Warren Moon, Sean Salisbury, Randel Cunnigham, Brad Johnson, Dante Caulpepper, and back to Brad Johnson. And those are the only ones I can come up with off the top of my head.

Face it, Favre will be coming back. Aaron Rogers will still be #2.

—b



Saturday, April 8th, 2006/Mark chapters ???

CONFESSION: I had ample opportunity to complete my Bible study but I continued to sleep. Hopefully I'll make time to do it tonight. I don't have Bella to keep me accountable. (That's right, I'm blaming the dog.) ;)

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 125,000 Muslims living in the Twin Cities.

Mary Tyler Moore meets Laverne & Shirley

No, this isn't the latest TV Land special, but rather an obscure reference.

Check the end of this post to see what it is.

I feel like singing "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!"

Erin and I are going to Milwaukee. We will be making the 5+ hour trip to visit Danae, Erin's beautiful younger sister. It will be fun spending the weekend with her and Erin's parents. We will be leaving work a little early and meeting Erin's parents at a hotel around 8:30.

We don't really have anything special planned. I think we will be looking at places to live for Danae's sophomore year of school, possibly some shopping, and hopefully visit Miller Park to catch former Twins division rivals, the Brewers.

We will not be taking Bella with us. This will be the first time we will be without her. I know it sounds stupid but we are actually kind of anxious about it. We are leaving her with the Flores family and their black lab puppy, Gunner. It'll be interesting.

Have a great weekend!

—b

{OBSCURE REFERENCE: The Mary Tyler Moore Show takes place in Minneapolis where as Laverne and Shirley live and work in Milwaukee}

Friday, April 7th, 2006/Mark chapters 11 and 12

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. —Mark 9:22b – 24

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
Whoa! Behold the power of true righteous prayer. Obviously Jesus was making a point when He compared prayer to moving a mountain. I really need to work on my faith and trust in Him.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 275,000 people engaging in homosexuality in the Twin Cities. (This is the 5th highest concentration of any U.S. city.)

Band-Aid Bella

Bella has already had 2 "owwie's". I'm slacking as a puppy parent.

Last night, after a quick walk with Erin and Bella, we noticed blood on the floor.
WHAT HE'S THINKING: Bella, are you ok!
WHAT SHE'S THINKING: My floor!

It ended up being a cut on the bottom of one of Bella's paws. She must have stepped on something while walking.
WHAT HE'S THINKING: Come here Bella. I'll hold you and see if I can stop the bleeding.
WHAT SHE'S THINKING: My floor!

Bella doesn't even seem to know she's injured. Good. Obviously not too painful.
WHAT HE'S THINKING: Oh well. It will heal.
WHAT SHE'S THINKING: No more walks at night. It's too dangerous.

How can we prevent this from happening again?
WHAT HE'S THINKING: Prevent what from happening again?
WHAT SHE'S THINKING: Keep her on a very short leash and don't let her run.

What have we learned from this experience?
WHAT HE'S THINKING: It will happen again. I'll try and watch her more carefully. (Well, if Erin asks me, that's what I'll tell her I did.)
WHAT SHE'S THINKING: My floor!

—b


Thursday, April 6th, 2006/Mark chapters 9 and 10

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
"But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" And Jesus said to him, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief." —Mark 9:22b – 24

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
How often do I pray not expecting an answer. Sometimes, I feel like I'm talking to air. I know God answers prayer (even if it's not the answer I want), but I need to completely believe. Both head and heart must believe.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

• There are 10,000 full-time prison inmates in Minnesota

Back Through the Wardrobe

Last night, Erin and I entered the Wardrobe

Typically Tuesday nights are "Bible study" nights. But since a couple wouldn't be able to make it, Erin and I took advantage and had a movie night.

Narnia was released yesterday, so it was perfect timing. Immediately following work we headed on over to Target and picked up the "Special Two-Disc Collectors Edition". Erin could have cared less which version we got, but I just had to have the "extras".

While Erin made tuna sandwiches, Bella and I put in disc 2 to check out the bonus features. I was able to watch the very brief bio on "Chronicles" author C.S. Lewis. For as outspoken as he was concerning his life with Christ, the biography was the most politically correct version possible. Only once did it refer to his faith and only then did it called it, "his religion". Oh well.

I wasn't able to dive deep into the extras but they seemed really interesting and I look forward to taking/making time to view them. (Of course I would still like to watch all of the Lord of the Rings extras but have only conquered 1 disc from the "Fellowship" DVD.)

We both forgot how much we liked the movie. I found myself appreciating the classical score even more now that I have the soundtrack. The C.G. (computer graphics) are also spectacular. Once I've seen a movie, I like to look for inconsistencies and errors. But I couldn't find one last night, though that hasn't deterred me from looking.

Bella also found parts of the movie to be real. She seemed to enjoy (or at least curious) the wolves. When Mr. Fox gets caught in the jaws of one of the wolves and yelps, Bella leapt from the comfort of her blanket and was at attention listening for what fellow animal was in pain. She soon gave up though and retreated back to the comfortable warmth.

Anyway, Erin has Awana tonight and I will be her transport. I do enjoy sitting in the churches "Gathering Grounds" playing in the internet. Who knows, maybe I'll end up blathering again via the BEingDesigned blog.

TTFN

—b



Wednesday, April 6th, 2006/Mark chapters 7 and 8

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. —Mark 6:51 and 52

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
This teaching of Christ came upon the heels of Peter rebuking Jesus. (Yep, good 'ole Peter. Let's just go ahead and rebuke our Savior.) ;) Jesus had just told his disciples for the first time that he will have to die. Peter pulled Jesus aside and told Him He didn't have to. Jesus didn't need to be tempted by Peter and said Peter was doing his will and not God's.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Basically, because Jesus didn't want to die on the cross. He prayed 3 times in the garden of Gethsename to "let this cup pass from Me" (Matthew 26:39,42,44). But Jesus knew He had to and honored God above all.

Jesus didn't do what He wanted. He obeyed His heavenly Father. We MUST do the same. Even if we think we have "good intentions", we MUST do God's will.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

•• There are 10,000 homless people in the Twin Cities

The CityView Report

"To reach your community, you must know your community."

Every year, John A. Mayer (not the pop musician) puts out a report on the state of the church in the Twin Cities. Over 50 hours of design time have been invested into the hard copy and we are still working on completing the PowerPoint version of the annual. (No small task.)

Anyway, I thought I would start to feature a daily addition to my posts concerning what is happening in the Twin Cities. The topics will include the unreached people, homosexual churches, witchcraft organizations, and the cult/sect/occult groups just to name a few.

In posting one a day, I'm hoping to "shed some light" on these groups but more importantly, pray for them. I can't even comprehend the power of prayer and the more people we have praying for these people who have believed Satan's lies, the better.

(Because I don't own the information, I will post a copyright line below each post giving credit to John for all of his hard work as well as a link to where you can purchase one for yourself.)

—b


Tuesday, April 5th, 2006/Mark chapters 3-6

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. —Mark 6:51 and 52

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
After all of Jesus' teachings, healings, exorcisms and recently following the feeding of 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, the disciples are still astonished at Jesus for being able to walk on water. Don't you think they would be convinced yet that He was the Son of God?

But wait, have I removed the log from my eye. No. When I pray and hear about the "miracles" that God has done on the mission field, why am I always suprised at the way He answers? Why am I astonished at what He continues to do? Do I also have a hardened heart? After all, I get to work in ministry and see and hear miraculous events happen almost on a daily basis.

Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

UNREACHED PEOPLE IN THE TWIN CITIES

• There are 45,000 deaf people in the Twin Cities and only 8 deaf churches