www.andrewmackay.net:

We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.
- Sir Winston. Smart.

I just came across this prayer that John Piper asked his church to pray during his sabbatical. I’m sure most people saw it back in April, but it couldn’t hurt to bring it to your attention again: I think every church I’ve been in could stand to pray this together.

O Lord, as you are often accustomed to do, show your great power in Pastor John’s absence. Send a remarkable awakening that results in…

• hundreds of people coming to Christ,
• old animosities being removed,
• marriages being reconciled and renewed,
• wayward children coming home,
• long-standing slavery to sin being conquered,
• spiritual dullness being replaced by vibrant joy,
• weak faith being replaced by bold witness,
• disinterest in prayer being replaced by fervent intercession,
• boring Bible reading being replaced by passion for the Word,
• disinterest in global missions being replaced by energy for Christ’s name among the nations, and
• lukewarm worship being replaced by zeal for the greatness of God’s glory.

Lord, when Gideon had thousands of men you said, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’” (Judges 7:2). You stripped his army to 300, and with that you conquered the peoples of the East who covered the ground like locusts and whose camels were like the sand of sea (Judges 7:12).

O Lord, take the mighty 300 of Bethlehem and bless this church beyond anything we have ever dreamed. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Of course, you’d need to tweak it, but what a great prayer.

I came across this little list of creativity tips the other day. It really has some good points on it. As I’ve struggled lately to focus my creative energies, I’ve been looking for someone to tell me what I’m doing wrong.

I think perhaps the three most important tips in the list are:

• Don’t consume and create at the same time — separate the processes.
• Allow your mind to wander. Allow distractions, when you’re looking for inspiration.
• Then shut them off when you’re going to create.

If I could do those three things, I’d be way better off.

“Humor helps us to think out of the box. The average child laughs about 400 times per day, the average adult laughs only 15 times per day. What happened to the other 385 laughs?”

I don’t know who said that, but it seems like if it’s even close to true, they may be on to something. Of course, having this little boy running around saying outrageous things makes it easier to laugh more frequently.

(For example, Him: “Mama’s making some… some… food!” Me: “What is it?” Him: “I don’t know!” Me, trying to be silly: “Is she going to feed us a car?” Him, achieving silliness lift-off: “No, it’s going to be something we WANT!”)

I was in Minneapolis last week. It was great deals of fun. Friday evening was a unique experience, though. I was planning to do some shopping for things to bring to my family, then get some dinner, then head back to where I was staying. But, I had a client I needed to connect with. So, I talked with him as I drove about 10 miles from where I was staying. I sat in the parking lot where I was planning to shop, on the phone, and started to realize that the Tornado watch / severe thunderstorm warning might’ve been for real. The storm moving in from the west featured clouds dark enough to turn on street lights at 6:00 in the summer. So, I drove back to the burger king near where I was staying. I also wrapped up the call as I entered the parking lot. The wind was whipping up, and there was this big, black cloud that seemed to be rotating a little bit. Definitely the scariest cloud I’ve ever seen. I was pulling into the line up at good ol’ BK when, for the first time in my life, I heard a tornado siren go off.

I got out of the lineup and drove the final mile back to where I was staying and got in side just as the rain started to fall in earnest. I’ve lived through one direct hurricane hit (hurricane Georges, 1998) and numerous other near misses. But, hurricanes are, relatively, predictable. You know where the storm is headed, you know what to expect. This thunderstorm was the exact opposite of that. As I talked with my wife on the phone, watching the storm (I know, I know, don’t watch the storm, get somewhere safe), it changed directions at least three times. It was wild. It was unpredictable. It was powerful.

After about an hour, things had calmed down. I got dinner, even. The next day, I flew out, apparently just a few hours before another set of storms hit the area. But, I’m fairly certain that I’ll retain the memory of the first time I heard a tornado siren. I’m pretty sure I violated a speed limit on the way to safety.

Everyone is controlled by fear. Whether it is imagined or actual, the fear is real to them and controls every aspect of their lives.

- Debby Shoun (a stage actress with a penchant for overstatement?)

I’ve been thinking a lot about the way fear impacts behavior. While I think this quote is definitely hyperbole, there seems to be, perhaps, an element of truth to it.

This whole internet / social media / new media thing is confusing. I understand the way that it’s supposed to work, but I’m not sure that I understand very well how to approach it from a Christian Worldview.

Thankfully, Ligonier ministries just had a (pre)conference that dealt with the issue, featuring guys like Al Mohler and Tim Challies. You can find the audio here: http://www.christianity.com/ligonier/. It’s not all posted yet, and I haven’t made it all the way through yet, but I’m excited to get some help developing exactly how I ought to think about the internet and all these new methods of communication that we have available to us. Check it out.

I think that the continuing struggle for me as a writer is overcoming distraction. There’s just too many things to capture my attention. So, it was interesting for me to talk to a writer yesterday who works on writing from an older PC and then does all his other business / internet stuff from a newer computer. He finds that it’s an effective way for him to separate the two and prevent distraction.

While you might think that’s a little bit overboard, it made sense to me. It works for him. It’s like a lot of things in a writer’s life (platform/marketing, developing ideas), you have to figure out what works for you.

Sleep is for the weak
- my son

Theme for a weekend.

Let you know how it goes!