A few weeks ago I discovered a little article about the Carmelite Nuns of Indianapolis, Indiana. Their vocation is prayer, but their prayers have a unique twist. Daily, they "Pray the News." They hired an ad agency to develop a website from which they encourage us all to join them in prayer: http://www.praythenews.com/TheNews.htm. On my morning two-mile walk, as I listen to National Public Radio, I now follow the Carmelites' example and "pray the news." I thank the Lord for the freedom and security of this nation. I pray that our leaders may have wisdom as they ponder the next step in the war on terror. I pray for the grieving, the sick and the elderly. I pray for peace and the spread of the gospel. The Lord invites us to pray and promises to hear us. As spiritual descendants of Abraham, we are called as members of this great and powerful nation for a purpose: that "all nations on earth will be blessed through us." I pray that we who are the called members of the Body of Christ in this nation will use the resources placed into our hands both to "keep the way of the Lord" and to spread the Good News of his saving acts (Genesis 18:16-33). I pray also for our pastors and teachers. We at CrossTies encourage our pastors to proclaim the Good News clearly and boldly. That is why we publish sermons and sermon outlines as part of our resources. Pastor Richard Bolland of Pagosa Springs (strshooter@pagosa.net) was the first to accept our invitation to post his sermons: http://www.crosstiesministries.org/sermons.asp Recently, I asked him to share some thoughts about that venture. Here's what he writes: "In response, permit me to say that I am more than pleased that some pastors are finding my outlines useful and helpful. That is the point of doing it. Originally, I had suggested to the brothers in my circuit that we share outlines for the sake of assisting one another with the task of sermon preparation. So, to get the ball rolling, I kept sending mine out to them, receiving the occasional constructive criticism (which I appreciated) and the rare sermon outline in return. I found that if I was sending out my outlines for public review that I was a bit more careful about how I crafted them and that was good. So to submit my outlines to others helps me be a better sermon writer. "Additionally,
since Al Franzmeier has a vacation home in Pagosa Springs he was not only
on my distribution list for outlines, but was occasionally subjected to the
real thing delivered in my church. While occasionally looking
semi-sleepy during my preaching, I guess that he was paying more attention
than I thought "I would love to share the load with other pastors who have crafted outlines and see the offerings on Crossties be the sharing on the same text by more than one person. I think that would be both healthy and helpful. So my challenge to other pastors is submit what you've got! I have rarely received a negative comment and, from time to time, I have no doubt that I may have deserved one. I also learn from my mistakes! So, brothers, have at it. . . Let's flood the poor old Crossties website with multiple outlines and make a problem for Franzmeier! More than one set of good ideas are always in order."
We welcome the work of other pastors. Drop me a line: alandsyl@airmail.net. Dr. Al Franzmeier, Theological Director FEEL
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so when he requested that I submit my outlines for use on the CrossTies
website, for me, that was nothing more than a slight expansion of my already
extent distribution list. However, I might point out that I have tried
to send you my oldest outlines from years past. That way I can keep up in the
years to come rather than meet a deadline every week that I may not be able to
meet due to meetings in Denver, St. Louis, etc.