RonParrs.com: Notes from My Desk...

Does Prayer Work?

I saw the following news item and felt that it is terribly appropos.

Does Prayer Work?

By Rabbi Brad Hirschfield

"Does prayer work? I mean really work?

"I believe in a personal God – one who listens to my prayers, especially when those I love are suffering, when I am at a loss, or when things seem so dark in the world that there is no other response that makes any sense. 

"Prayer works amazingly well at providing some of the most important things we need especially at life’s most difficult moments – it takes us beyond ourselves, it connects us, battles loneliness, focuses attention on that for which we hope, and so much more."

Continue reading more at the link below:

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/01/29/does-prayer-work/?intcmp=spotlight#ixzz1l6O8rOoF

Demanding an Answer

"I'm human! Okay!?"

"And I'm tired. I'm frustrated. Things are crumbling around me. I cry out to God and He doesn't answer. My "friends" at church don't care. Heck, they don't even bother to call me and ask how I'm doing or take me for a cup of coffee."

"I go to church. I teach Sunday school. I sing in the choir. My kids are active in youth group. I'm in a small group, reading and studying the Bible. Things seem like they're finally leveling out and bam! I'm hit again. My spouse is clueless to the dilemmas and furthermore, they heap even more demands on me. They don't understand!"

Review: "Heaven is for Real"

"Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent.

I just finished reading this great little book last night. A good friend gave it to me this past Christmas 2011. 

We're only less than one month into the 2012 American political season to choose a President, and I just needed a mental rest. I needed a mental shower as it were. I finally picked this book up from my reading pile and literally didn't put it down! Actually finished it in 2 nights. Pretty astounding for a guy who is not a fast reader.

This book is a such a blessing. There is something "drop dead" honest about a child and what and how they experience things.  

This a glimpse of Heaven itself through a 4 year old boy's eyes. It is his experience.

My Reading List, page 1

I should have posted this a long time ago, but didn't.

Books are great things. All of us in our family are avid readers. Come to think of it, both of my parents were as well. My dad read everything: newspapers, magazines, novels, "faction or factory" (fiction based on history or a novel set in an accurate historical setting). Maybe one day I'll dig out his copy of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago" that I've got stashed away.

Anyway, following is a list of the books, along with a brief review, that I've read or am reading. Like my dad, there's quite a variety: history, politics, religion, philosophy, business, parenting. The list will be from most recent to a few years back. Some of these listed will have a separate post with a longer review and information depending how they've struck me.

Prayer 101: Silence & Solitude, Part 2

Practicing the disciplines of Silence and Solitude takes effort. Being silent and in solitude are not natural for many of us.

The busyness and noise of the early twenty-first century should actually be a clarion call to find some place of peace and tranquility. All of us are almost continually surrounded by people and their chatter (either live or via television, radio or internet), full schedules of meetings and appointments (whether it's our personal or professional lives, not to mention our kids, spouses, significant others), and a society that is literally screaming for attention.

In fact, it's so noisy and crowded that we often find it close to impossible to discover rest and peace. Silence and solitude are elusive friends.

CURL: The truly dismal State of the Union

Tuesday night's SOTU - State of the Union for some of you - should be a humdinger...

Columnist Joseph Curl of the Washington Times has the cold, hard numbers that truly matter.

We have to remember that numbers don't lie, but liars can sure number...

Click on the link below for the full editorial and facts.

CURL: The truly dismal state of the union - Washington Times

Prayer 101: Silence & Solitude, Part 1

Life in the early twenty-first century is not simple. It is noisy and crowded. Life almost seems to interfere with Life.

In chapter 3 of Peter Scazerro's book "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality", the ideas of silence and solitude are introduced in defining "contemplative spirituality". As we are in the process of becoming whole, we must join together "emotional health" with "contemplative spirituality".

The maturation process (sanctification) includes this wholistic view of who we are. More than that, I believe, is that in order to have a true and right and proper relationship with God - and therefore one another - we must be emotionally and spiritually healthy.

Scazerro briefly writes about such great saints as Saint Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa of Calcutta who regularly made time to be silent and alone with God. They knew that in order for them to be fully used by God, they needed to be regularly - and sometimes daily - recharged. They knew that they couldn't do it in their own strength. Today, we give that idea a lot of lip service, but don't really know how to do it. Keep in mind that this is a discipline that even our Lord Jesus regularly practiced. If He needed to find times of silence and solitude, how much more do we need to do those things? Life in the "fast lane" surely makes us "loose our minds..."

Dumb As A Rock: You Will Be Absolutely Amazed At The Things That U.S. High School Students Do Not Know

Never mind U.S. High School students, how about us adults? Honestly, I didn't score well with this test either...

 

Let's not blame the U.S. educational system outright, I believe much of the blame has to be owned by us parents. Over the past 20 - 30 years, we've allowed ourselves to buy in to the notion that certain people know  better than us. Sometimes that true, but God has endowed every single mom and dad with certain gut instincts about each of our particular children.

Sharing Our (My) Faith

Something that many of us struggle with is "sharing Jesus".

We are supposed to be bold in our faith, but sometimes it's just hard. For me, it's part shyness, part not wanting to be seen as a hypocrite, part not knowing what to say. I'm sure most of us have either struggled with or are struggling with this aspect (sharing, witnessing, whatever you want to call it) of our Christian walk.

The other side of "sharing Jesus" goes something like this: "my spouse (friend, neighbor, child, etc) is a good, solid believer but won't share Jesus openly with other people." They want to know why that's so.

Well, I can't give a reason why, but what I will say is, "it's personal".

Let's face it, sharing what Jesus Christ has done for us (me) is not only an individual issue, it is a very personal issue.

Gay Marriage & a Conversation with My Daughter

In recent days and weeks we've seen a lot of activity on the "gay rights" front. And it's not going to go away any time soon - or quietly for that matter.

What I found most striking is the fact that the issue is being addressed by state legislatures at a time when local budgets are in crisis and the common taxpayer is under assault. Instead, of dealing head long with those issues that affect the entire population, liberal governors and legislators are taking time to address, and dare I say appease a very small but vocal minority.

The politics are bad enough, and frankly, I don't want to address this subject from that angle. I believe there is a more important angle. It is a matter of the heart and mind.

To be bluntly honest, this post is in response to a text conversation that I was having with my daughter a while back. I never fully answered her questions and in the meanwhile, some other thoughts have come to my mind.