The Kiss

Image
  “Ryabovitch pulled the bed-clothes over his head, curled himself up in bed, and tried to gather together the floating images in his mind and to combine them into one whole. But nothing came of it. He soon fell asleep, and his last thought was that someone had caressed him and made him happy—that something extraordinary, foolish, but joyful and delightful, had come into his life. The thought did not leave him even in his sleep. When he woke up the sensations of oil on his neck and the chill of peppermint about his lips had gone, but joy flooded his heart just as the day before.” The Kiss By Anton Chekhov (1860–1904)

Book Review: "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" by Jim Cymbala

Cymbala, Jim. “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.” Michigan: Zondervan, 1997

[I read old books because they are there]

This short anecdotal book is required reading. Rationale: there is as much prayer in churches as in public schools.

Godly men and women call on the name of the Lord. This is the main teaching Pastor Cymbala’s book, built on the root principle found in Genesis 4. God’s people identified early in scripture as being “those who call on the name of the Lord.” The ungodly do not call on the name of the Lord (Psalm 14:4).

Prayer defines who are as as obedient children of God. Prayer shows that we take God seriously, believing Him. Prayer is central to our worship, the hallmark of the place in which we worship; but, we have become complacent with much, much less. The church is missing the spiritual connection and needs to get plugged back into the power source.

Cymbala’s scriptural applications both admonishes and encourages to stretch our hands and call out to God, who will respond to those who call on Him. Satan is not resisted if we are not pursuing hard after God. Prayerlessness is not God’s plan for His people and we cannot grow unless we go deeper with Him. Prayerfulness reminds us of our increasing need for Him. We cannot be Christian without prayer.

Popular posts from this blog

Rock Me, Epictetus!

The Smooth-flowing Life