Blog

— Iris Lloyd
If you have been following this column, you have come to understand that places are very interesting to us and very important to God. Even places that seem somewhat “secular” may have a meaning to God that, well, we just don’t get. Memphis is a place like that, I believe.

On the outside, Memphis appears to be very worldly. Let’s face it, it is. It is the birthplace of “the blues” and home of Beale Street, Memphis’ answer to Bourbon Street. Did you know that Memphis was once the place that all cotton kingpins came to? Did you know that it was the birthplace of the music of Elvis, and believe it or not, the hotel chain of Holiday Inn? On the outside, not a whole lot of “spiritual” stuff going on there. Or is there?
While visiting on a “drive-through” ride, a day spent at The Cotton Exchange Museum, Sun Recording Studios, Beale Street, and the Gipson Guitar Factory revealed deep roots of racial unrest with a glimmer of hope mixed in. What did all these places have in common? Elvis and the colors black and white. When Elvis’s first record, made at Sun Recording Studio in Memphis, played on the air, it played 14 times in one day—some kind of record back then. The very next day, his savvy agent secured a radio interview for him. His record was playing on black and white stations. No one knew his race—until the interview. The announcer asked him what high school he went to. Living in a period of segregation, Elvis’s answer told the world that he was a white man. But his work of “joining the races through music” had already begun. His agent, Sam Phillips, later went on to found the chain of hotels that have become a staple on the road trips of many Americans–Holiday Inn.

Along Beale Street, one will find blues musicians of all races looking for an opportunity to sing their song and make their mark in the world of a genre of music that has its niche in one of only a few places known for its blues roots. Inside this music, a common thread of suffering and pain unites races and gender. Its roots go all the way back to the early days of slavery. The music itself is rooted in gospel songs written by slaves working in the fields, mostly cotton fields. The cotton they picked was more times than not brought to the Memphis Cotton Exchange to be brokered out around the country. The one room museum in Memphis offers visitors a complete history of the people, music, and events that elevated cotton to a “kingly” status. Elvis was the Grand Marshal at the annual Cotton Parade in his early days at Sun Recording Studios.
If you ever get a chance to visit, do yourself a favor: park, walk, and ride the trolleys that still use overhead wires to navigate through the city. Be sure to stop at Cafe 61 located at 85 South Second Street. The interesting artwork by Lamar Sorrento ordains most of the wall space and offers diners a colorful backdrop to a mouth-watering and varied menu. Add some spice to your meal and order the Crawfish Macaroni & Cheese as your side order–you won’t be sorry!
As summer approaches and the urge to hit the road begins to grow, choose your destination but let Him guide you while you’re there. He’ll turn your trip into an adventure and bring you closer to Him in the process. Your life may even take a new turn in a new direction as you learn to let Him guide you—and after all, isn’t that where The Rubber really Meets the Road?

— Jody Neufeld
But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you that “In the last time there will be mockers [scoffers], walking after their own ungodly lusts [agendas].” These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual [fleshly], not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. Jude 17-21 (WEB, my paraphrase)
Each of us has a “call” or “mission” to fulfill in our lives. It may be something noteworthy by the world as Peter or Paul’s missions were. Or it may be unknown except to the One who put in the call; the only One who matters. Before God formed me, He knew me and had a plan for my life in His Kingdom. (Jeremiah 1)
As a child and teen my life was probably typical of the Midwest in the 60’s. I spent my first eight years of school in a parochial setting. This was an insulated world except it did include people of different races. We went to school and church together. We did not think of each other as “different” and so segregation did not impact my life until later. High school was painful as I felt socially inept and relegated to the “good kids” not the “in crowd”. I fell in and out of love. I had a circle of friends that didn’t stay out too late, didn’t smoke or drink, and went to church every Sunday with their parents.
When I stretched my wings in college, I did smoke, I did drink, and I did not go to church. I was taking my new found independence out for a spin in the Birthplace of the Blues, and managed to graduate without causing any major wrecks in my life.
It was as a wife and mother that I again drifted back into the path that God had laid for me. I went to church because it was one of my husband’s jobs as a choir director. I went on my first mission trip to Costa Rica because it sounded like an adventure and it left my husband in charge of three children for ten days! God turned that self-centered answer to a ‘call’ into a time of teaching: How to Serve the Least of These. I met people of simple ways but of great faith. I returned two more times to Costa Rica, thinking I was ministering but finding out that I was just as much ministered to. My heart was slowly changing and softening.
It was during these years that I became more and more career-successful and struggled with trying to “have it all”. Can you really have it all? Maybe, but only if the priorities are correct. Mine were not. As my life turned to God and I found that life-changing relationship with God, giving myself wholly, no-turning-back to Him, my marriage disintegrated and my children were hurt. It is the worse moment in a parent’s life to see the pain and betrayal in your child’s eyes and know that you are responsible for putting it there. There are always consequences for decisions. The consequence may be immediate or it may grow from a root of a bad choice.
God is faithful. He planted seeds, watered and fertilized my life through all the years. He never gave up that I could walk the path and answer the “call” that He had put into my life. He wanted me to live in the joy and blessings of that “call” all these years but He never stopped opening the door into His vineyard, allowing me to work. (Matthew 20)
Energion Publications is not just a publishing company. It is the ministry to which I am called to work for the One who truly owns it. God opens up opportunities for people to meet and work together in His Kingdom that maybe would not have met each other. Books are written, not by the world-recognized famous, but by souls who have been dipped in the Blood of the Lamb and warmed by His Spirit to transcribe the words He gives to them. And I am a worker in that vineyard. Whether my time in this vineyard is one more day or 30 more years, I am so very blessed to have been allowed to sweat along side the Owner and His called workers.
Is the Owner calling you? Don’t miss the opportunity.

1 Timothy 4 is referenced many times when speaking to the youth. We, in the Church, talk about growing up our young people, but do we really do it? What are your thoughts about this chapter and Paul and Timothy’s example?
The verse that is generally quoted either to or about young people in ministry is verse 12:

Don’t let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young. Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith, and purity. (CEV)

There’s two ways to go wrong in reading this passage. The first is to read it as addressing only the older members of the congregation. Sermons based on this reading generally start by explaining how Paul put Timothy in a leadership position and told him not to let others make fun of him or despise him, so modern church leaders should put more young people in ministry.
The second is to read it as addressing solely the young person. This reading is for sermons explaining to young people how they must step up to the plate when they are placed in a position of leadership. This latter reading pays more attention to the context, particularly the last part of the verse, but it still misses part of what Paul^* is getting at.
To get the message you need to read the whole book of 1 Timothy, but you can get a good deal of the message by just starting at the beginning of chapter 4, where Paul concludes the main portion of the letter. Here we have a warning regarding false teachings that will come. Paul is discussing ministry specifically in terms of how leadership is to deal with it.
Briefly, in verses 1-4, Paul tells us what the problem is, and in 5-10 he basically tells Timothy to keep his focus on ministry. Starting in verse 11 he gets specific about how Timothy personally should respond.
He’s not telling us who should be a leader; he does not question that Timothy is rightfully a leader. He’s interested in how a leader must behave so as to confront false doctrine and bad behavior. In this he starts with how the leader must behave. He is to be an example to the believers.
You might paraphrase the message in this way: “Timothy, you’re a leader, and people might try to despise you because of your age. In order to meet this challenge you need to be above reproach. Your life should be an example to those you lead.”
This isn’t a message that applies only to young people. People might despise your leadership because you’re too old, too young, not from around here, from around here (so you can’t be an expert), or for any of a number of other reasons.
There’s a message here for the people in leadership: Prepare and then commission. In the church we frequently spend years training people, but never let them get out and lead. On the other hand, we are constantly shoving unprepared people into positions of leadership. Sometimes the choice of church leaders involves the least time of prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit, rather than the most. But Paul specifically mentions that Timothy was commissioned because God had spoken (v. 14).
Let me summarize what Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4 for the church:

1. We need to be preparing people, young and old, for ministry. We have plenty of time with Sunday School classes to train . We need to do it.
2. When we choose leaders we need to pray, listen to the Holy Spirit, and identify the persons God is gifting for a particular position of leadership. Once we identify the gift, we need to learn to ignore all the irrelevant reasons people will find to oppose leadership. In Timothy’s case it was age, but there are many other possible reasons.
3. Once a leader is chosen, he or she is responsible to be an example. If there is to be opposition, let that opposition be unfounded.

*While some scholars maintain that 1 Timothy was written by a disciple after Paul’s death because of the church structure it reflects, amongst other things, I would disagree. I think arguments for dating of New Testament books based on the development of church structures ignore the derivation of early church structures from the synagogue and other structures in the surrounding culture.

Think of us as servants of Christ who have been given the work of explaining God’s mysterious ways. And since our first duty is to be faithful to the one we work for, it doesn’t matter to me if I am judged by you or even by a court of law. In fact, I don’t judge myself. 1 Corinthians 4:1-3 (CEV)
The mission and vision of Bible Study Paths is to encourage enthusiastic Bible study in individuals and in the Church. It is to help us acknowledge the hunger and questions inside of us that can only be fed through the Living Bread of God’s Word.
I am saddened this month that only one person was nominated for the 2010 Bible Path Award. This person has been a tremendous influence on many, many people that I know. But this person is not the only one. Whether it is in a classroom, a sanctuary, a living room, or sitting at a table in the restaurant, there are people who have blessed me with their passion for God’s Word. Freely they have received and freely they have given to me! (Matthew 10:8) I wish I could nominate them all!
As we look at the modern Church, how many members are active? What is the percentage of those who attend worship once per week and those who do that and also attend a weekly Bible study? And how many encourage and mentor a ‘younger’ Believer? (And thousands of dollars are spent on surveys and studies to determine why the Church is declining!) All these things are vital to producing strong, deep roots in God’s vineyard. When will we learn to take the hard look at our life and set the priorities as God directs instead of allowing ourselves to be tossed about on the world’s sea? When will we live a real life example for our children and their children?
Take a moment and give thanks for those who have sown into your life, helping your to grow in your spiritual life. Maybe the Lord will speak to your spirit to send an email or card or pick up the phone and encourage this person who has given so freely to strengthen your feeble limbs.
Thank You, Lord, for these people in my life. Thank You for sending them with Your message. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

A comedian once said that people have the silly impression that the glass in cars somehow shields us from others seeing in. He wonders how could we think we were hidden by such a transparent material when it is so obvious that if we can see out certainly others can see in! It is so true! When I think about the things I’ve done “behind the windshield,” it just makes me burst out in fits of laughter! I’m quite sure that no other woman has perfected the art of the 5-minute make-up fix in the overhead mirror the way that I have. But, I’m really talking about time with God —praise, worship, and prayer kinds of things–hands waving, arms outstretched, heart totally revealed to God from the driver’s seat and hurtling toward destinations of His choosing. I think you get the picture. Glass is a two-way material.
Prophetic intercession is more than just walking places and proclaiming in English things that WE think God wants us to proclaim for Him. The majority of the time I have spent in prophetic intercession was behind the wheel of my Suzuki XL7, totally immersed in speaking in tongues, following His directions, without knowing where or why I was being sent–only that He was sending me. The things that are seen through that glass!
Now, I don’t want you to think that these “prayer rides” happen on a whim. Many times, the Lord will begin revealing certain issues months before a prayer ride actually takes place. The revelations determine a general course of a large ride. It is almost like a jigsaw puzzle. You can see how certain pieces fit together, but–well, God sometimes removes the box lid before He dumps the pieces out. That’s where faith comes in–and trust. You can’t always see the bigger picture. He teaches you to trust Him with the big things in life by starting with the smaller pieces. He reveals what you need to know, when you need to know it–and I’m not just talking about prayer rides here. It is the space between the beginning and the end that are filled with His surprises and delight–and His blessings.
One time, while in Bessemer, AL, I rode by a little storefront. It was in a seemingly forgotten part of town, and truthfully, looked like a junk store. The Lord said to go in there. So, always up for an adventure with Him, I parked and walked in. As I looked around, trying to figure out why I might be in there, I saw a most pleasant woman sitting at her desk. A prayer request box was sitting on the desk. That sparked a conversation during which it came out that she was a pastor. She didn’t have an appointed church, she said, but the Lord led me to tell her that this store* was her church. We talked about how every customer that came through those doors would be ministered to by her sweet spirit and willing heart to help those who were hurting. A wonderful prayer and blessing followed. She gave me a candle that I still have. One day, we’ll see each other again. What a report I hope to hear–whether here on earth or in Heaven!
Another story that cannot be overlooked here was in a section of NW Alabama that the Lord sent me through. Two counties and countless cow pastures; towns that didn’t even have a red light, where no car passed me in either direction on those beautiful country backroads. Six months later, a dear pastor friend and a life mentor of mine sent me a random email to let me know what she had been up to. She mentioned, casually, that she was conducting a revival in the very small town of Valley, AL, that had been at the heart of the two county ride six months earlier. Needless to say, I attended the revival and what an awesome time the Lord gave. Along with a small restaurant, Canada’s Homestyle Cafe, at exit 77 on I-85, we had some good food that trip–spiritual and natural! You never know how God is going to thread things together! Next time you and your family are through there, stop by and tell Miss Velma that Iris sent you. You will be blessed by her loving heart and her gracious hospitality. After a down home meal, you might need to take a nap before you get back on the road!
It is true that my tires have traveled through many cities and across many miles–50,000+ in one year. Those were some incredible trips. When you travel for God, you are listening to His directions true; but it’s His nature that is to be your guide. He seeks to spread His love. That’s the main purpose of a prayer ride–spreading His love into places, and sometimes the lives of people, who just need a touch. He can do that through us when we surrender our limited understanding of how He can use us. He can speak from behind that glass through our praise and worship, our spirit prayers, or His proclamations through our lips. Those trips transform the lives of not only those people whose cities we ride through but also our own. His revealed power and glory in the lives of others bring us to a new understanding of who He is to US; and more importantly, who we are to Him. A new place that we all need to come to understand –a place of transparent existence in Him, for those looking out and in. And, after all, isn’t that where THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD?
Rosie’s Unique Place, 527 19th Street North, Bessemer, AL 35020.

World Prayr was a vision given to Pastor Patrick Badstibner that God has grown by His Spirit into an organization of people founded on the belief that the second greatest commandment Christ gave us was to “love your brother as yourself.” We show we are his followers, not by what we might term “religious acts” but by our love for one another.
There are many team members who contribute to the success of World Prayr’s mission – bloggers, ezine and online store managers, business managers, the senior council team, Pastor Pat’s council of twelve and the trustees. Many are laying the foundation and the building blocks for what will hopefully be a ministry organization that will serve long after the founders have gone to be with their beloved Savior.
BSP: What is the day-to-day mission of World Prayer?
World Prayr aggressively evangelizes the web providing online resources of encouragement, support, and prayer. It is also developing a network of believers in Christ that re-connect hurting people to local ministries and local bodies of believers, providing fellowship, support, and real answers; and treat them as family ought to be treated – nothing more nothing less.
As World Prayr began to take focus, one of the things that became obvious to its leaders was the tremendous disconnect of those online in these networks. As we watched, prayers came through our streams – the pain, hurt, despair, and feeling of loss was overwhelming. The physical, emotional, and spiritual needs were huge.
People are disconnected in a multitude of ways including some of the following:

1. Need for a relationship with Christ
2. Believers who need fellowship in the body of Christ
3. Emotional pain
4. Financial challenges
5. Career changes and uncertainties

Too long has the body of Christ allowed itself to be divided by secondary issues, instead of making those outside the body envious to be in it. These divisions have made the body unattractive and have resulted in great chasms in the body of Christ.
It is within those chasms that World Prayr has chosen to work. It is our hope that in building connections and developing systems and methods to serve Christ that we will be able to work towards reconnecting those holes and letting the world know we are one.
BSP: What systems and methodologies is World Prayr developing and working on to put in place?
World Prayr is currently working on and developing the following systems to serve those hurts we see and help put feet on the many prayers we see.

1. We are constantly at work developing a mission force using web technology to go into those sites where people are hurting
2. We are working on developing an online a connection point in times of emotional difficulty; to offer real hope
3. We are working on developing a connection point for support in budget management and career counseling
4. We are looking at creating ways to generate multiple streams of income; helping those in need and financially hurting to create new ways of generating income
5. We are making connections with other ministries and churches; we are working towards bridging that gap.
6. We are giving of our resources, time, and knowledge to serve others. In doing so we are exhibiting to the World our passionate love for another.

BSP: How can someone who is reading this help “put feet to prayers”?
We are on a definitive mission to put feet on the hundreds of prayers we see. As such, to say we need prayer would be stating the obvious. We welcome people who would like to serve in World Prayer. There are many ways to volunteer. We are in constant need of support from financial to time to other gifts that we may not have identified but that God has laid on your heart. If you are looking to be part of a bridge uniting the body of Christ and want to be part of a global effort to help put feet on people’s prayers as well as pray for others, World Prayr needs you! Contact us at: volunteer@worldprayr.org.
BSP: Let’s hear from three World Prayr members. Each was given this question: What does reconnecting a broken world mean to you and how does your answer and your role fit in with the mission of World Prayr?
Bob Kimball, CFO, World Prayr:
“We are all broken people as a result of sin inherited from Adam and practiced in our daily lives. Christ came to save us from our sin, but not only that, to sanctify us through his Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13). This can be termed the “restorative value of redemption.” In the words of John Donne, “no man is an island, entire of itself…” We are, or should be, connected to others and to Christ, but such bonds are severed by sin. Those of use who belong to Christ by faith and experiencing his sanctifying work, are called by Him to participate in His restorative work by bringing his message of salvation to others and healing the bonds broken by sin. We do this by helping others connect with a local body of believers where they can experience the human touch rather than virtually, and by helping fulfill needs under the right conditions.
My current role as CFO fits in with this by providing financial accountability, not just within the organization of World Prayr Inc, but helping those we come in contact with via World Prayr to be accountable to others.”
Pastor Bob Kimball became a follower of Christ in the summer of 1974. He graduated from a Bible College in 1981, was ordained, and worked at a Christian school for a year. He then went back for more schooling and received a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, married, and moved to Atlanta in 1989. He is a manager in the IT department at T-Mobile. He’s the father of special needs twins, which inspired his twitter name as @dadofspeckids. He has participated in music ministries in churches by singing in ensemble groups to lead worship.
Dora Perry, CPO and Network Coordinator, World Prayr:
“Reconnecting a broken world to me means to bring the hurting and the lost into the Light of Jesus. Revealing to them that there is a Savior who loves them unconditionally very much, and Who wants to forgive them of their past and give them an eternal future with Him. I am the person responsible for building that connection process. I look for ministries, churches, and organizations around the world that we can connect these precious lost sheep to that need Jesus in their lives.”
Dora Perry started in a stock brokerage in the cage at the age of 18 where she eventually advanced to Trade Controller. As a Broker/Owner of her own Real Estate Co. she was associated with a company that worked for several major banks completing Broker Price Opinions. She was ranked 1ST in Indiana and 5TH in the Nation in this area of her business. She a wife and a mother of seven. She has one granddaughter and a God-grandson. She is also a sponsor at Network Goodness, which is a company whose goal is to help end world hunger by feeding the starving children worldwide. A voice for the persecuted Christians and a prayer warrior.
Gary Patton, COO and Director of the World Prayr e-store:
“I think Paul said it best in Colossians 2:19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow”.
I, like so many people in this world today are struggling, not because of the physical world, God’s wonderful creation, but because of the spiritual ruler of this world, Satan.
Fortunately my Heavenly Father did not leave me to wander this modern day wilderness, he sent His people to lead me back to Him (note the word “back”). We are all His, always have been, it just takes someone or something to remind us of the love that God has for us….ALL OF US. I want to help remind people of this love and my position within World Prayr is both to assist and empower the people called by God to this Ministry to achieve His purpose.
I invite you to read Colossians 2 in it’s entirety and think of me whilst you do.
God loves you so much that He gave His only Son that we may be re-connected to Him.”