Make him a minister of the Word! Fling him into his office, tear the office sign from the door and nail on the sign: Study. Take him off the mailing list, lock him up with his books and his typewriter and his Bible. Slam him down on his knees before texts, broken hearts, the flippant lives of a superficial flock, and the Holy God. Force him to be the one man in our surfeited communities who knows about God. Throw him into the ring to box with God until he learns how short his arms are. Let him come out only when he is bruised and beaten into being a blessing. Set a time clock on him that will imprison him with thought and writing about God for 40 hours a week. Shut his garrulous mouth forever spouting "remarks" and stop his tongue always tripping lightly over everything nonessential. Require him to have something to say before he dare break silence. Bend his knees in the lonesome valley, fire him from the PTA and cancel his country club membership; burn his eyes with weary study, wreck his emotional poise with worry for God, and make him exchange his pious stance for a humble walk before God and man. Make him spend and be spent for the glory of God. Rip out his telephone, burn up his ecclesiastical success sheets, refuse his glad hand, and put water in the gas tank of his community buggy. Give him a Bible and tie him in his pulpit and make him preach the Word of the living God. Test him, quiz him and examine him; humiliate him for his ignorance of things divine, and shame him for his glib comprehension of finances, batting averages, and political in-fighting. Laugh at his frustrated effort to play psychiatrist, scorn his insipid morality, refuse his supine intelligence, and compel him to be a minister of the Word. If he dotes on being pleasing, demand that he please God and not man. Form a choir and raise a chant and haunt him with it night and day: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." When at long last, he dares assay the pulpit, ask him if he has a Word from God; if he does not, then dismiss him and tell him you can read the morning paper, digest the television commentaries, think through the day's superficial problems, manage the community's myriad drives, and bless assorted baked potatoes and green beans ad infinitum better than he can. Command him not to come back until he has read and re-read, written and re-written, until he can stand up, worn and forlorn, and say, "Thus saith the Lord." And when he is burned out by the flaming Word that coursed through him, when he is consumed at last by the fiery Grace blazing through him, and when he who was privileged to translate the truth of God to man is finally translated from earth to heaven, then bear him away gently, blow a muted trumpet and lay him down softly, place a two-edged sword on his coffin and raise a tune triumphant, for he was a brave soldier of the Word and e'er he died he had become a spokesman for his God.
Floyd Shafer

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#1 · February 9, 2002, 9:01 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I am a member of the Presidential Prayer Team. It is good to have
a President who prays. What follows is a copy of the mailing list
that I regularly receive. I pray that you consider making the
requests in this list a matter of prayer.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

Reply-to: Membership@PresidentialPrayerTeam.org
Date: 09 Feb 2002 05:31:11 -0500

A BIG "THANK YOU" LAST WEEK FROM THE PRESIDENT... "Since we met
last year, millions of Americans have been led to prayer. They
have prayed for comfort in time of grief; for understanding in a
time of anger; for protection in a time of uncertainty. Many,
including me, have been on bended knee. The prayers of this
nation are a part of the good that has come from the evil of
September the 11th, more good than we could have ever predicted.

In this time of testing for our nation, my family and I have been
blessed by the prayers of countless of Americans. We have felt
their sustaining power and we're incredibly grateful. Tremendous
challenges await this nation, and there will be hardships ahead.
Faith will not make our path easy, but it will give us strength
for the journey." --President George W. Bush, National Prayer
Breakfast, February 7, 2002.

***** ISN'T IT A BLESSING THAT OUR PRESIDENT BELIEVES IN PRAYER!
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO YOUR FRIENDS WHO ARE
ALSO PRAYING, AND TO LET OTHERS KNOW THAT THE PRESIDENT GENUINELY
APPRECIATES THEIR PRAYER SUPPORT. THANK YOU! *******

PRESIDENTIAL PRAYER REQUESTS FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 11, 2002:
The Winter Olympics has returned to the United States. Over the
next days the world's greatest athletes will test themselves and
one another in the mountains near Salt Lake City, Utah. It will
also be a major test of our ability to protect those athletes and
a million or more visitors. Pray that this will be an
opportunity to demonstrate to the world that we can safeguard our
citizens and visitors without sacrificing our freedom.

Pray for the security forces at the Olympics, including the
leaders listed below.

Pray for wisdom in the President's decisions regarding the next
steps for fighting terrorists around the world.

Pray for the formation of the USA Freedom Corps, so that people
of all walks of life will volunteer their time and talents toward
meeting the needs of others.

The USA Freedom Corps will promote a culture of responsibility,
service, and citizenship. It will work with key service agencies
in government and the nonprofit sector to provide incentives and
new opportunities to serve at home and abroad. The USA Freedom
Corps will draw on help from Americans of all ages and of every
background.

LEADERS TO PRAY FOR THIS WEEK:

Director of the Secret Service: Brian L. Stafford Head of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation: Robert S. Mueller, III Head of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency: Joe M. Allbaugh

PRESIDENTIAL QUOTE FOR THE WEEK:

"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All
the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through
this book." --Abraham Lincoln

FROM THOMAS KINKADE, THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE HONORARY COMMITTEE:

"The power of prayer is like turning on a light as it illuminates
God's purpose for our lives. There is no greater connection to
knowing His will other than the Word. It is for this very reason that
The Presidential Prayer Team is needed. To under gird our President
and his staff as they lead us into this new millennium. It is a
calling of great purpose and we invite you to join with us." --Thomas
Kinkade

INSPIRATIONAL PRAYER FOR THE WEEK:
May the strength of God pilot us,
may the power of God preserve us.
May the wisdom of God instruct us,
may the hand of God protect us.
May the way of God direct us,
may the shield of God defend us.
May the host of God guard us
against the snares of the evil one,
against the temptations of the world.
--St. Patrick

PRAYER QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
"Usually prayer is a question of groaning rather than speaking,
tears rather than words. For He sets our tears in His sight,
and our groaning is not hidden from Him
who made all things by His Word
and does not ask for words of man."
--Augustine of Hippo

-----------------------------------------------

IT'S EASY TO TELL A FRIEND: click here:
http://www.presidentialprayerteam.orgtellafriend.asp (or cut and paste
this link to the address line in your web browser).

------------------------------------------------

TO DISCONTINUE EMAIL UPDATES: If this message came directly from the
Presidential Prayer Team, you may stop future email updates by forwarding
this entire email message to "remove@presidentialprayerteam.org." If it
came from another source and you wish to stop receiving it, please tell
the originator to no longer forward updates to you. Note: members
requesting removal from the email list may also be removed from the
membership decal mailing list.
------------------------------------------------

If you are not a member, add your name to over one million people who have
joined The Presidential Prayer Team by clicking here (or cutting and
pasting the web location to your web browser)
http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/register.asp. There is no fee to
join.
------------------------------------------------

The Presidential Prayer Team
P.O. Box 2300, Orange, CA 92859
520-797-7173
http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org
------------------------------------------------

NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information.
------------------------------------------------

The Presidential Prayer Team is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization established to encourage and remind individuals to pray for
the President, his advisors and our nation's leaders. The PPT does not
endorse, support or oppose political candidates, campaigns or parties.
Individual and corporate contributions are tax-deductible.
------------------------------------------------

Update #19 2/11/2002 (c)Copyright 2002, The Presidential Prayer Team,
Inc. All rights reserved. The Presidential Prayer Team name and seal is a
trademark of The Presidential Prayer Team, Inc.

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/

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