Pray for your City

Stress

During times of stress it is good to know God. The knowledge of my salvation and the knowledge of God are the most stabilizing forces in my life. Things are going awry at my work and so I feel the pressure of problems. I know that my situation is not unique. Each of you have your own stresses. I know you understand what I am talking about.

As I meditate upon my situation I realize it can be much worse. I was an alcoholic before I got saved. That means without God I would probably be sitting at a bar right now in Chicago. I am sure that I would have been divorced especially because before I met God I was mean and unsociable. (Imagine that) I am 90% different now than before I was saved. There is still about 10% of the old me but God and I are working on that.

The point is I am very thankful for who I am today. I am a result of God's goodness and favor.

Get elected

I haven't posted a blog in a while. School is out and so my normal routine gets shaken up. I am having to work hard to keep any sort of disciplined lifestyle lately. It doesn't help that I am about to finish up a development project and have to get a customer in his building as soon as a possible. All of this puts the blog on the bottom of my to do list. However today I have a few minutes.

I have been praying a lot for two men in our city, Mike Hill and Dan Mendoza. They are both Godly men and they are both running for elected office. Mike is running for Florida Senate and Dan is running for Florida House of Representatives. As I have been praying for these guys I have been asking God for help. How can I help to get them elected? What is my part in seeing Godly people elected to political office.

There is a group called Emily's list. They focus on helping liberal, pro-choice women get elected to political office. As I have been thinking about their success (every year they raise millions for their agenda) I have been wondering why I cannot do something similar. I would like to create a group that gets Godly, pro-life men and women elected. In this day and age I think more than ever we need people in office that bring some balance to this current government.

If you have ideas please contact me. Together we can change this country.

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Pace

According to Pensacola News Journal Pace high school seniors did not exactly shut up their faith as a federal judge ordered them to. Truthfully, graduation was a time of spiritual confrontation. The students all prayed the Lord's prayer and the salutatorian gave thanks to God. I was told that she was almost preaching for 10 minutes. The sound engineer is sending me a copy.

It appears to me that confrontation is becoming a normal part of our culture. I have noticed that the left is becoming more liberal and more vocal of their agenda while the right is as conservative as always but making their voice known. I think our generation is similar to the Moses generation. We has been wandering in the wilderness. We don't have backbone. We don't pray. We don't tithe. We don't stand up for our beliefs. We have lost the biblical foundation that prior generations have had. But I am now seeing a new generation grow up. They would be the Joshua generation. The generation that has faith. The are becoming more vocal about their faith and more radical. This is what is so important about Pace. The kids are learning that if they don't speak out and demand their free speech rights then no one else will. They are receiving more understanding about faith through this experience than from 100 Sunday school lessons.

I pray that these young graduates begin to take on leadership roles in the community and shape the future of Santa Rosa county. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with Nextel Direct Connect

Century

We continue to pray for Century. God is wanting to touch that city. Please pray for the drugs to stop flowing into the city. Pray against poverty and the unemployment rate. Pray for unity among the churches.

The following is from today's Pensacola News Journal. "Escambia County narcotics investigators arrested 19 people Wednesday evening as part of an investigation that took several months.Investigators served 10 search warrants in and around Century, a Sheriff's Office news release said.Escambia’s SWAT team, in conjunction with SWAT Teams from Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office, Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office, Pensacola Police Dept and Crestview Police assisted in serving the warrants, which led to the arrests and the seizure of cocaine, marijuana, cash and several vehicles."

Culture of death

The U.S. Continues forward with a culture of death. We are funding overseas abortions, we are expanding our own abortions, we are allowing minors to get "morning after" pills and now we are allowing suicide assistance. What our generation is allowing to happen the next generation will consider normal. Please read the following article from associated press.

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A 66-year-old woman from Sequim is the first person to die under the state's new assisted suicide law.

Linda Fleming died Thursday night after taking drugs prescribed under the "Death with Dignity" law that took effect in March. Compassion & Choices of Washington announced the death Friday morning.

The organization says Fleming was diagnosed last month with stage 4 pancreatic cancer

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New Principal

If you have seen me or spoken to me recently you have heard me say that we need to be praying for a new princpal at Warrington Middle School. The superintendant recently made a decision to start over with a whole new set of teachers and staff. So a new principal has been at the top of his mind. We have been praying for the right person. Acording to the Pensacola News Journal it looks like the right one stepped up to the plate.

"Rush, 56, is the new Warrington Middle School principal, replacing Principal Christine Nixon in an overhaul that could see the school's entire staff change for next school year. Currently principal of Montclair Elementary School, Rush called her new assignment "an honor." "I've always loved a challenge, and this is one of the biggest I've had," she said after Tuesday's Escambia County School Board meeting. Superintendent Malcolm Thomas decided last month to restructure and restaff Warrington Middle. Poor performance on state standardized tests led Thomas to a wholesale revamp of the school's staff. Under the state's Differentiated Accountability Plan, Warrington is an intervene school, meaning it is among those schools in the state that need the most help. As principal of Montclair, Rush developed a reputation as an innovative leader who brought the school from an "F" ranking to an "A" ranking. "Sandra has a track record of rising to the top," Thomas said. "It says a lot about her to take a risk. She was a sitting principal and stepped forward." PNJ 05/20/2009

I am very happy to see someone like Rush take the position. I do not know this woman but I can assure you I will be praying for her to be successful at her new position. If she is successful that means we are successful. (the parents and citizens of Escambia County)

Long day

Monday's are always difficult for me so I will not write too much but I did want to mention that earlier I was at an awesome prayer meeting that focused on the children of our city. I am fully expecting to see some major breakthrough with regard to the kids. Let's be watching the newspaper to see what God does this week. Prayer works!!!

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51 percent

According to a recent gallup poll 51% of Americans are now pro-life. This compared to only 44% of Americans being pro-life last year. This is the most amazing news that I have heard all year. It appears that Obama's radical pro-choice agenda is bringing abortion to the forefront of peoples minds and making them think about what they really believe. I have been a Christian for 20 years now and have never seen Christians praying so much about abortion and other social issues as I have seen in the past 2 years. We are living in a very polarized society and it is getting even more so. Left is left and right is right. There is less middle ground. But in some ways this is good because for to long Christians have forgotten their voice. If we stay silent then evil will reign. Even worse, if we are afraid to make our voices heard then we really are not the city on a hill or a light to a dark world. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with Nextel Direct Connect

Century

Today I visited Century. I was amazed at the level of poverty that I saw. There were a few streets we drove down that looked like something out of a missions trip in Mexico. I was appalled that this is in our country and our county. I am still in shock. When God speaks about righteousness and justice he is speaking to this very subject. How can we live as the rich man did? He ate well every day, he dressed well and was a member of the local synagogue. But he never paid attention to poor Lazarus (Luke 16:19) If you read the story what should catch your attention is that this man laid at the doorstep of the rich man for many years. During those many years the rich man never paid attention to Lazarus but God did. God was keenly aware of the injustice. After all what would some new clothes and some food had done to the rich man's net worth? It wouldn't even have dented it. But the rich man didn't notice or care. The end result is the rich man was in hell and Lazarus was in heaven. As I drove in Century I saw many people laid at the door of my house (Pensacola) I have never noticed them before. I have never cared but I stand in shame. Something has to be done.

National day of prayer

I was interviewed at the National Day of Prayer.