Visual Prayer- Praying for the Southeastern District

When travel time in the car 

is a lot of the weekend-

 the prayers ascend.

for the Hollar family

for the Rameys

for the Oswalds

for the Uttons

for the Weichmanns

for Emily

for Emily and Jack

In the name of Jesus,

we pray.

 Amen.

Bible Marginalia- Servant Leadership

Bible Marginalia Series #139

Mark 9: 35

Greatest and Least

and on the hot seat in Capernaum.

Grumbling. Walking along the way.

 Jousting for importance in position.

In fact, arguing.....

and then Jesus says- 

Hey, what's

 up with you guys?

and then the silent treatment.

No one wants to touch

 this subject in front of Jesus.

(I always wondered if they ever

 really figured out-- HE KNEW.)

Jesus waits till they are in 

the privacy in a house.

He does not do a dress down in public.

He does not thrash 

the disciples for their behavior.

He brings a child to his lap.

He simply says:

A Leader- the first-

will always put himself behind others.

A Leader- the first-

will see the importance who is 

"not important."

A Leader- the first-

will serve others first,

and not expect to "be served."

Once again He flips 

cultural expectations of 

where importance lies.

The Jesus of counter-culture.

Supplies:

a piece of scrapbooking paper 

cut to margin size from my friend Pat Maier

Alpha stickers

Calligraphy Sharpie- Black

Washi tape

White Signo-Uni pen

When the flood waters rise

Touring the areas of flooding

 following a Nor'Easter in the south.

Hurricane Joaquin went out to sea.

 But the area had 18 inches

 of rain in about 12 hours.

Then it kept raining.

Such a loss.

 In those moments the blaring need

 is really apparent in our world that washes away.

The synodical helpers

 looking for ways to bring help.

L to R-Husband John- the Southeastern District President,

 Rev. Michael Meyer from the LCMS Disaster Response Team 

and Rev. Christopher Burger- 

Pastor at Holy Trinity in Columbia, South Carolina.

Reviewing the stories and connections.

Life dumped on the side of the road.

The water was rushing over this bridge 

when the owner of this property woke up. 

A neighbor was blaring a truck horn

 to wake up the neighbors. 

This fairly small body of water had 

become a raging river 

that completely covered the bridge.

Rev. Paul Sizemore (right) listens to the story 
at the home of members.
Paul is pastor at Mt. Olive-Irmo,
 South Carolina.

Floods do not leave much

 behind that is not ruined.

Time to just listen to the stories

 of what happened, 

how they managed to get out, 

and what they need NOW.

Thank you Lord, for organizations

that bring immediate help 

and the preparations to be ready for 

TIME of NEED.

Praying for your Pastor's Family

Praying for your Pastor's Family

Sometimes in the month of October 

there are all sorts of reminders 

about remembering your pastor 

and showing signs of appreciation.

I would like to offer the suggestion of

simply praying these Scriptures

 over the family of your pastor in the next month 

(and beyond is wonderful too).

Our enemy Satan looks for places to attack 

and is on the prowl for places

 to sneak in unaware.

If he can't bring down the Pastor-

he looks for places to shake up the home front.

Stand firm around ALL your church workers-

professional and laity alike.

And join me in these prayers....

as we lift up the families.

Praying For Pastor's Family

1Pet 4:8...........Father, I pray that their family members love one another.
1Pet 4:9...........That they are hospitable to one another without complaint.
1Pet 4:11.........Serving by the strength that You supply,
1Pet 4:11.........so that in all things You may be glorified.
1Thes 5:11.......I pray that they encourage one another, comfort, edify,
Acts 20:32.......and build one another up.
Mt 18:19..........That they stand in agreement in every area of their lives,
Neh 8:10..........Letting the joy of the Lord be their strength,
Col 3:15...........with the peace of God ruling in their hearts.
Ps 138:8..........Father, I thank You that You're perfecting
Ps 138:8..........everything concerning them.
Ps 92:10..........Anoint them with fresh oil.
Ps 103:5..........Satisfy them with good things,
Ps 103:5..........So that their youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Ps 92:14..........In old age they shall still bear fruit,
Ps 92:14..........and be fresh and flourishing.
Ps 91:16..........With a long life You will satisfy them.
Job 1:10...........Father, place a hedge of protection
Job 1:10...........around them, around their household,
Job 1:10...........and around all that they have on every side.
Ps 34:7............I thank You that the angel of the Lord encamps
Ps 34:7............round about them and delivers them from all evil,
Ps 91:3............from the snare of the fowler, from every pestilence,
Ps 91:10..........and that no plague will come near their dwelling.
Prov 3:24..........They shall lie down and their sleep shall be sweet.
Prov 16:7..........Because their ways please You Lord,
Prov 16:7..........You make their enemies to be at peace with them.
Deut 29:9..........They keep Your word and do it,
Deut 29:9..........therefore, they prosper in all that they do.
Jn 15:4.............Because they abide in You and delight them selves in You,
Ps 37:4............You give them the desires of their heart.
1Pet 5:6............And because they humble themselves, exalt them in due season.
1Pet 4:19..........I thank You Father that they are committed to You, to doing good,
1Pet 5:7...........casting all their cares upon You, for You care for them.
1Pet 5:8...........That they are sober, vigilant, continually resisting the devil,
1Pet 5:9...........and steadfast in their faith.
1Pet 5:10..........Father, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle them in Jesus' name.

These Scriptures found here:

praying scriptures

Visual Prayer- Intercessory

A Bible verse stamped 

on a 4 by 6 blank index card

The names of those prayed for 

and the church if they serve in ministry

Or using a premade card

from a set purchased at Michael's

sometimes extra designs

 are stamped right on to the card

As the doodles are added- 

and the color is done.

 Just pray.

Just pray with silent words whispered.

 With no words.

And sometimes it is just resting in the Spirit.

And Lifting UP someone in prayer.

Then make a copy of the prayer.

Send the original

 to the people prayed for on the card.

Add the prayer copy to a prayer journal kept for us.

(It is just a regular old photo album)

Then the prayer card is scanned 

and added to the Pinterest board-

 Praying for the Southeastern District.

praying-for-the-southeastern-district

Join me in prayer.

Bible Margin Weaving

Bible Marginalia Series- #138

(Due to heavy traffic to this blog post 

I am adding a How-To video 

from the Visual Faith® Ministry YouTube channel)

watch?v=2kmxUMQ5ALw&t=41s

This week at a Creative Haven gathering 

we had guest artist Erika Quinn Radke in house.

She patiently showed us 

the step by step process of 

using small strips of water-colored paper

 and washi tape into the margins of our Bible.

She suggested this process 

could illustrate 

 Psalm 139:13- the

knitting together in the womb.

It could also highlight the making

 of the priestly garments and the fine

woven garments in Exodus 39: 1-3.

We used an Exacto knife on a self- healing mat

 to cut right along the lines in the Journaling Bible.

 We could choose every line or do every other line.

(mat in photo is not the cutting mat)

Erika had a beautiful set of Gelatoes.

We added the color to some watercolor paper.

Blending the colors with water.

On this section of Scripture-

 in Exodus I added simple color 

with iridescent watercolors-

in the same color palette 

as the watercolor paper.

Then we cut strips of paper 

about the same width 

as the lines in the margin.

Took a strip of washi tape 

and folded it back on itself

 to make it the same front and back.

Then cut the strip in half.

(Trimmed it to be near

 the width of the paper strips.)

Carefully weaving the 

strips of paper and the washi tape.

We varied in the strips that fit in the margin-

5, 6 and even 7.

The edges were finished with washi tape

 on the right side edge, 

and top and bottom

 with coordinating color washi tape.

This edge was done 

with lines cut on every other line.

Many tiny strips on this one.

Thanks Erika for helping us to have a

hands-on experience of weaving that connects to 

an Old Testament story and one in Psalms.

Supplies:

Exacto knife

Self- healing cutting mat

Watercolors

Watercolor paper

Variety of washi tape

Prayer--Disturb Us , O Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when

We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

Found this prayer in a book today-- and it spoke to my heart.