Tell Me Somethin’ Good..
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
(Amos 8:13; Philippians 4:8 ESV)
We live in harsh times filled with harsh words, harsh feelings, and harsh attitudes.
One day a week, let’s talk about the good in life and the ways that God is showing His goodness in our lives.
Let’s take one thread and point to the good that people are doing and share praise reports to encourage one another.
Where do I begin? The church I am a part of is filled with strong, on fire believers of all ages. Reminds me of the ‘old days’ of the Jesus Movement. Many many young people are devoted to Jesus.
Last Saturday night, my husband and I attended a prayer meeting at Calvary Corvallis, with 500 hundred members of that church who were completing a week of fasting and prayer. They’d had 3 prayer meetings daily for 7 days, each day growing larger. Now, the daily prayer gatherings at that church continue. I spoke with numerous young folks who are strong in the Lord, the Word and the power of God.
After an 18 year hiatus from teaching/leading, I opened my home to a women’s Bible study group. Unadvertised, 16 women showed up (from several different churches, and unchurched), ready to study the Bible (not a work book) and pray for each other. Worship was spontaneous and incredibly beautiful…
While everything in my circumstances is not ‘rosy’, certainly not as hoped or desired, I will offer the sacrifice of Praise anyhow, as Jesus is Worthy of Praise all the time.
Good stuff, Paige!
I went to my Dr today for a physical – I passed the digit test. 🙂
You took a math test MLD? 🙂
Good to read of Paige finding herself a part of a wave of enthusiasm for the things of the Kingdom and of her role.. it seems so wrong when churches overlook the value of such saints in their midst
My son just reported that his beautiful, smart 16 year old daughter has taken an interest in a Wed. Bible study and has all her friends attending with her – this girl has a very hostile to the Faith, but big achievers, maternal side of the family … praying Christ becomes her most relevant reality… hope i didn’t kill the good report with caveats ?
Some friends of ours adopted a 2 year old little girl from Bulgaria who has cancer. She has a 50/50 shot. She’s getting treated at OHSU and getting loved on by her new Christian family. Thank you Lord.
My sister in law and here daughter are living in an overpriced, not-so-nice apartment in a large Midwest city. Just found out, literally 1 minute ago as I found this post, that my sis in law has tentatively been approved for a new, cheaper, and hopefully nicer apartment!
Also found out that a dog that my wife and I were hoping to adopt, which was adopted before we could get to said dog, is up for adoption again and we may get our beloved beagle Andy a companion soon!
At my church and in my ministry work I am surrounded by men and women who sacrifice, reach out into the community, are generous, and who are filled with praise. The church has made a real, true impact in an impoverished area of our community. But it is not a one-and-out effort. It is ongoing. I could give more details but enough said. “Love God and love others” is the mantra. It is a great joy to know and work alongside so many wonderful individuals.
The Eagles are playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday. 🙂
I’m still alive.
Thank God that you are Captain K and we’re still praying for you and your first mate…
Sometimes I send the kids to bed with a brief prayer, because they are so irreverent it bugs even me. It’s too much. They feed off of each other. I wanted to read to them Jean’s latest lesson, but we didn’t make it… we did make it through The Lord’s Prayer.
Last night, I said, “let’s sing a song.” S8 said he had a song, and he sang a song he made up praising God, how God was great and gave us everything. The little Psalmist! I told him about the Psalms and how king David wrote them to praise God and prophesy. Then D5 took the cue and did the same thing.
I’m not a parent who thinks my kids are little angels; they misbehave plenty. However, I was pleasantly surprised by them last night.
For all the battles we’ve had on the blog, I am grateful for many good and enduring connections I’ve made here. These are people who have come into my life solely because of this blog. Our conversations have moved beyond the blog to additional direct communications and mutual sharing and caring outside the blog. It’s been on balance very good.
Michael, this is kind of disturbing: you ask for “good” things and you get 13 responses. But I would guess that if you posted about something of a scandalous nature, some juicy tidbit of information, or some theological controversy, the response numbers would blow up.
Just thinking out loud . . .
My family is healthy and happy.
I love my PP family. Praising God with all of you
Davidm, nothing to praise God for?
I’m so excited for you, paige!
Happy for you MLD that you passed your dr appointment.
Woohoo John20:29, so happy your granddaughter is starting in a Bible study…praying with you for her.
Joelg praising and praying with you for your friends 2 year old
Dan, praising God with you for your sister in law finding a cheeper appartment. And that you get your dog!
Davedm, spoke too soon I’m sorry.
So glad you have a wonderful curch that is reaching out far beyond the walls of the building. It is so good to see.
Kevin h, glad your team made it to the super bowl.
Captain kevin, like john 20:29 i am glad you are still alive, still praying
The new Victor, praising God with ypu for that tender evening with your children .
Jean, glad you are here at PP too.
Thank the Lord I am having a better day today at work than I did on Tuesday!
The days are getting longer
The sun is out
We have a home
We have each other
We have the love of God with us
#28 Yes, the days are getting longer! That means a lot here in the Pacific Northwest!
“Michael, this is kind of disturbing: you ask for “good” things and you get 13 responses. ”
For some reason I’ve never understood, certain people have always judged this site by the number of responses on the prayer list or threads like this.
It used to make me insanely angry, but I really don’t care that much anymore.
I’m sure that somewhere out there is a lovely “Christian” blog where everyone is kind, the readers are pious, and everything about it praises God.
I’m also sure that it has seven readers, four of whom are family members.
For sixteen years I’ve heard how “disturbing” this place is and sometimes it can be just that.
In the early days they also said there were only forty of us and we’d never survive.
16 years and 25 million visitors later we’re still here.
We’re still here, for better or worse, because we look a lot like the church and the world.
When I ask for prayer requests, the next time I get one asking me to praise God for someone will be the first.
People focus on the negative, enjoy conflict, and scandals pique their interest for a variety of reasons.
We don’t pander to any of that.
We deal with all of it.
Sometimes these prayer or praise threads will be busy, sometimes not.
It’s not a reflection on the site, or even the people who read here.
It’s simply who most of us are.
Spring training is only a couple of weeks away…
I don’t know if this is good or not… it’s kind of scary, but I’ll go with good. Good for my soul, I hope.
Lately, my past has been replaying itself in my mind. Rude things I’ve said to people years ago are popping into my head, things I had forgotten about. I think this reminiscing is from the Lord, He is giving me these names. Some of these things seem to require action on my part, an apology or a reconciliation. So I’ve been working on this, sending off emails to people I’ve wronged, etc. As the people pop into my head, I make a determination as to what I can do. I wonder what name the Lord is going to give me next…
Anyway, this has caused me to think about the nature of apologies and confessions. If I apologize by saying ‘If I have offended you in anyway, I am sorry” is not really an apology, is it? Because I am shifting the blame to the other person, insinuating that they are touchy. And it’s not zeroing on my actual offense, it is minimizing it by homogenizing it. This is also true for confession. If I tell a back story that justifies my sin, it’s not a good confession. Zero in the the actual offense, period. If the other party wants to hear more, be careful you don’t make yourself the hero of the story.
So I think this is good but I am not enjoying it very much.
bob1 (#31)…AMEN!!!
A pleasant phrase to hear….
“…pitchers and catchers report…”
I’ve spent the last two months going through what I prefer to call, “interesting times”. This involved adjustments in my professional life and some health concerns. I’ve kept Michael informed of the situation, but few others. So the good news, for which I thank God – no mini-strokes, no atypical seizures, no dementia (my wife debates this result) and no brain tumors. The best part was seeing from the high contrast MRI that, indeed, I still had a brain and it appears to be functioning well (another subject of debate).
Every day of life is a gift from God regardless of the challenges.
I almost made it though a half hour show without coughing. Hopefully I will get back to work soon!!
We have a new dog. My wife and son found her on the road last week. She’s a Beagle/Dachshund mutt, a year old, and as sweet as can be. My wife named her “Penny” because she’s one lucky girl.
Xenia, house cleaning is almost always good – even if it only has meaning for you, but somehow i just can’t picture you inflicting egregious pain on anyone 🙂 I have so few friends still living on the planet that it would be hard to do what you’re doing, but i have taken to praying for the children (now adults) of both folk who’ve blessed me in years past and those who have cursed me…
Dusty, thank you so much for noticing that our girl’s attention is being drawn to the things of the Lord and thank you for your prayers, also
So many folk have health problems that are affecting their day in day out now… at first i thought it was me getting older, but i don’t think so… dunno… i guess our Lutes would say that we’re taking the host “unworthily”… maybe not – hope not
16 years the PhxP has been shining the spotlight on the good and not so good among the Church and on those who may not be, but pretend to be, a part of the Church – perhaps, some have taken stock and begun a more honest walk or maybe even just begun a walk with their Creator and King… NOW THAT IS GOOD NEWS! None better… IMNSHO
I am pretty sure that the devil can’t stand Michael and that’s good news, too, is it not?
#33
DFG,
Yeah. One of the greatest phrases of hope for the future in the English language!!
):
(The worst 3 words, the day after the WS: “No baseball today.”)
bob1…haha! Paul Allen and Jeff Dubay on sports radio station KFAN in MSP years ago referred to the day after the MLB All-Star game as “the sports Abyss” – NO major sports games whatsoever.
And I’ll admit, once the World Series is over, my mind tells me “it’s quite a while til mid-February…”
Thankful for fun diversions such as baseball!
I LIKE this idea and thread! 🙂 And right now, with some significant issues over the last month especially, I am praising God that all I need is found in Him and that He is faithful.
#39
Yeah, me, too.
Last winter the Chicago sports station replayed the World Series between Christmas and New Year’s. That helped move winter along!