Tuesday night at the last Scout meeting one of the Scouts said, Mr. Riley I do not even

read e-mails I only text!!!

I want to stay “current” even if that might prove electric.

But as I think about what is quicker or more current than texting, I realize prayer is quicker and more current than texting.

You do not have to type to pray, or worry about spell checking to pray. You do not have to know another persons cell number to pray. God does not need a cell connection to listen to us.

My friend Cole Huffman said, “You do not even have to know what to say in prayer. The Holy Spirit interprets for us”.

I want to stay current in my communication with all of the group lists and people with whom I minister. I found today a Web service where you can text to a group. You can join me in this communication by going to:

http://trunc.us/4bZ8kh  for Troop 86 folks;

http://trunc.us/LSJWOT for all others

So this devotional hopefully will go not only as an email but by a group text.

Technology changes, becomes more current and quicker.

God is unchanging, initiates time and is not bound by time

Prayer is unchanging, more current and quicker than texting.

I am glad that Osama Bin Laden is dead. I am glad that he was taken out by Navy Seals.

There is a difference between being “sealed” by a bullet (pun intended) and being sealed by the Spirit but that is not the point of this. Many throughout the news cycle have been celebrating how great it is that he is dead because of how bad he was. I agree but I am tempered in my assessment.

I think many are gleeful because thinking about Osama Bin Laden and his character deflects away from their and our own heart condition. Many are intrigued by criminals depicted on television shows because we can always say, “Well, I am not as bad as that person”. It is human nature to compare ourselves to the worse of human nature instead of comparing ourselves to the greatest human being who ever lived.

We know that the greatest human being who ever lived is Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected on the third day and reigns and rules at the right hand of God our Father.

But it is our sin and my sin that put him there.

But until each one of us realizes that we, apart from Christ, are as bad sinfully speaking as the worst person who ever lived upon the face of the earth we do not fully understand the gospel. In other words, I am as bad as, or worse, than Osama Bin Laden.

No, I did not participate in the twin tower terrorist attacks, or the USS Cole, or the attack on the Marine barracks or scores of other Al-Qaida related attacks but I sent Jesus Christ to the cross. So did you.

Osama Bin Laden did not because had Jesus Christ died for him he would be a Christian. That will give you a theological headache but it is true. All for who He died become Christians. That is election.

Christ died for my sins so in one sense I am worse than Osama Bin Laden.

That is not the end of the story. All Christians are cleansed, beloved, heirs of spiritual riches so now spiritually speaking I am way better than any non Christian. I am a son of the king. I will worship eternally in the presence of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

But before Christ regenerated me, I was worse than or as bad as Osama Bin Laden.

So for all of us who chest thump because we got him ought to rejoice that God does not “get us” for what we deserve but rather loves us for what we do not deserve. In His mercy, He extended grace and saved us based on the finished work on the cross.

But before we let out a collective sigh of relief because one so bad is gone we ought to thank God that because He changed our hearts of terrorism we who were just as bad are now being changed into the likeness and into the glory of Jesus Christ. We are better than any non Christian.

But apart from Christ we are worse than Osama Bin Laden

Increased prayer produces an increased eternal perspective.

With increased prayer the short view becomes diminished and the long view enhanced.

Increased prayer produces peace that is not found in our solving a problem but rather shifting the weight of the problem to the great problem solver.

Panic becomes peace and fear becomes courage.

Increased prayer produces greater masculinity in men and greater spiritual fragrance in women.

Increased prayer is hard work, and often not the first default but the last resort.

O please re-enroll us in the school of prayer and start us back in the elementary primers.

Thank you God for prayer on Good Friday.

Thank you God for prayer on Easter.

Thank you God that you woo us, to win us, to use us, to multiply us, for your sake and your glory.

In Jesus Name.

Today I helped hang dry wall in a house in the inner city of Memphis. A large Sunday school class from Second Presbyterian Church, the Crossroads Class had a large number of really enthusiastic guys and gals serve to the degree that we were finished by noon.

I attended an outstanding seminar yesterday morning at the Christian Psychological Center in Memphis for those who run Christian ministries. One of the assignments was to write a letter to a younger protégé about advice that one would give to one in ministry. We had a time limit so it was a short assignment in a short time frame. The mental challenge caused a short in my hippocampus which is not a school for sub-Sahara African river horse mammals.

My pigmy thoughts.

It is a great opportunity to reflect on ministry. These past few years have me continually coming back to the basic and foundational core values necessary for spiritual growth in life and ministry.

One of the main ingredients of my Christian life and ministry is the daily dependence and need for prayer. Why pray when you can worry one wag intoned?

I know that the most important part of a person’s life is the part that only God sees. For if that part that only God sees is what it is supposed to be, than that part that others see will be what it is supposed to be. Prayer is a major component of that. It is instructive to me that of all of the things that the Lord could have been requested by his disciples for Him to teach them was how to pray.

Prayer is hard work. We rationalize not doing it at our own peril.

So pray when you feel like it, pray when you don’t feel like it, pray until you do feel like it.

Set aside time in your schedule to pray.

The next thing to do is to read the Bible daily. It is the best source book and manual for wisdom, life and for all of our answers. It is easy in ministry to teach it, and study it without really treasuring it as God speaking to us personally.

The third thing I encourage you to do is to get in a small group with a bunch of guys that will be there for you to encourage you, pray for you and build you up.

The fourth thing I encourage you to do is to read. Read widely and broadly. Read for illustrations, for insight, and for the wisdom of the ages. Read between the lines to gain a perspective on the world and life view of the author. John Wesley, while often riding fifty miles a day read science and history books propped on the pommel of his saddle.

Read to stretch your cerebral cortex until you have a mental Charlie horse.

The fifth thing I encourage you to do is do something physically to reduce the stress of life and ministry. Walk, hike, run, and swim, mountain bike, kayak, and climb or play a sport in the great out of doors that would cause you to sweat.

Finally be encouraged to encourage and love one another. We are all under construction, in process and “on the grow”. Everyone, yes everyone needs encouragement. Jesus said that all will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.

This was a short response to my assignment about challenging disciplines which may be daunting but remember God enables us to do tall things and all things by His unlimited power of His presence in us.

After sixty-six days at sea, the Mayflower borne Pilgrims reached a new land and a new spot. They called it Plymouth for the hospitality of some Christians who sent them off from Plymouth of Old England.

The winters of  the 1620’s were times of near starvation for the God centered Pilgrims, so much so that they dealt out five kernels of corn to each person daily to get through the winters.

The Pilgrims had little economically but still celebrated their first Thanksgiving lavishly because Indians brought five stuffed deer, and twelve turkeys to help them survive. The Indians also brought the Pilgrims a delicacy never before microwaved, “popcorn”.

The English speaking Indian “Samoset” of the Algonquin’s and the English speaking Indian “Squanto” of the Patuxet joined with “Massasoit” of the Wampanoag’s to teach the Pilgrims how to plant corn, stalk deer, grow pumpkins, draw sap for maple syrup, and also trade beaver pelts.

Samoset had walked into camp by himself and said “Welcome”, “Have you got any beer”? Out of beer, the astounded Pilgrims offered him brandy.

The resulting agricultural training yielded great crops the next summer and fall such that the second Thanksgiving was bountiful. They were able this time to eat to their fullest.

But they remembered from whence they had come, and before they enjoyed the plate laden food, they dispersed five kernels of corn to each person to remind them that it was God who had sustained them.

This Thanksgiving I am going to encourage my family to put five kernels of corn of each plate and then tell them the story of the first Thanksgiving feasts.

The early settlers of Jamestown tried their own devices and perished. The Pilgrims however continually turned to God for their provision. They endured because they relied on the God of all provision.

Remember it is God who provides. “You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.” Deuteronomy 8:18

Thank you to the many that have encouraged me to restart my email devotionals after many months of keyboard abandon.

So shucks, thanks for lending me an ear.

Have a husky, corn laden Thanksgiving with five kernels of corn.