“Why pray? What is the point of prayer when God knows the future and is already in control of everything? If we cannot change God’s mind, why should we pray?”

For the Christian, praying is supposed to be like breathing, easier to do than to not do.

We pray for many reasons. For one thing, we pray because God commands us to pray. We also pray to follow the example of our Lord. If Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, we should also. This weekend as we continue our study through the book of James we’ll look at some qualities that will strengthen our prayer lives and deepen our relationship with God.

In Him,

Pastor Rick

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Do you like to wait?

I didn’t think so. Nobody actually likes to wait. Yet everyday we’re forced to wait – sometimes for things we need and sometimes for things we just want.

Statistics show that the average person spends close to an hour everyday waiting for something – elevators, traffic lights, your turn at the intersection, your turn to pay at the grocery store, a cup of coffee, a table or your food at a restaurant, the computer to load, and even the microwave… which is supposed to keep us from waiting for the oven!

When you add up all that waiting over a lifespan of 70 years, the average person will spend more than 3 years of their lives WAITING for something to happen.

The issue for most of us isn’t the waiting – it’s what happens in our hearts while we wait.

For too many of us, waiting creates a downward spiral of impatience, frustration, selfishness and anger in our hearts. While waiting in line, we find flaws with the people in front of us. And if this is how we respond to other people, what happens in our hearts when God makes us wait?

That’s just one of the questions we’ll consider this weekend as we continue our study through the book of James and look at “How To Develop Patience.”

In Him,

Pastor Rick
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Planning is a wonderful thing. There are a lot of things in life that don’t happen without planning.

Stadiums aren’t built, sewer systems aren’t installed, power grids aren’t maintained, children aren’t educated, and sometimes prayer doesn’t happen without a plan. Yet if you study the life of Jesus you’ll find that some of the most powerful ministry encounters recorded, seemed to take place during unexpected, informal, unprogrammed moments. Read through the gospel of John and you’ll discover that most of what John recorded of Jesus’ ministry — from his baptism to his post-resurrection appearances — were experienced by his followers and observers as unplanned, spontaneous events.

The picture presented of Jesus’ ministry strategy is not that of a highly structured three-year plan with a detailed, efficiently executed travel and preaching itinerary.

Rather, what we see is Jesus remaining in a state of constant communication with his Heavenly Father, confident in His Father’s plan, watching for his Father’s leading, and, in response to that leading, making decisions to stay or move or preach or heal — decisions that from a human perspective seemed spontaneous.

So what, if anything, does this mean for us as Christians who live in a complex technological culture that values strategic planning in just about every area in life? Should we plan, or should we just let go and let God? These are some of the questions that we’ll consider as we continue our study through the book of James and look at “How To Face Your Future.”

In Him,

Pastor Rick
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What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires…? James 4:1

“I want what I want when I want it.” According to the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, this is a central driving force within every single human being.

We want what we want when we want it, and we get upset when we can’t have what we want—or we envy others who have what we want.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we have to learn to ask God what he wants for us. We need to learn to say, “I want what God wants,” instead of saying, “I want what I want.”

Take a close look at your life, family, home, or work situation and ask, “Why are we fighting and quarreling? And what do we need to do to make the changes that will keep us from fighting?” I hope you can join us as we continue our study through the book of James and look at what it says about conflict, the pathway to peace, and “Curing My ‘I’ Problem.”

In Him,

Pastor Rick
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It’s brush fire season here in Southern California.

We received an early reminder of that a few weeks ago through the 5-Acre brush fire that burned along the 134 freeway between Glendale and Eagle Rock.

But do you know what can be even more dangerous than a tiny spark in a great forest?

According to the book of James which we’ve been studying together, it’s our tongue. James writes…

“A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.  People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:5-7

I hope you can join us this weekend as we look at what God’s Word has to say about “Managing My Mouth.”

Your fellow traveler on the journey,

Pastor Rick
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