Better than eHarmony

photo from movie website

My Year Listening to God: God answers prayer and He is a matchmaker.

I can still hear the song, "Matchmaker," from Fiddler on the Roof.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker,
Make me a match,
Find me a find,
catch me a catch
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
Look through your book,
And make me a perfect match

In the dialogue throughout the song, I feel the fear and the apprehension of matchmaking. Read it for yourself.

photo from movie website

Here in Genesis, Abraham asks his trusted servant to find a bride for his son. The faithful steward prays for success and God grants His petition. He finds a bride for his master's son. Whoa!


I love the fact that here is a prayer from someone in Abraham's household. It is not the patriarch, but the patriarch's servant who receives the blessing of answered prayer. Wow! The blessing of Abraham extends to even Abraham's household. God's work in humankind's lives makes a positive difference.


God brought two people together. They did not create a profile on eHarmony and discover compatibility levels as well as "values, character, intellect, sense of humor, spiritual beliefs, passion, and up to 24 other dimensions (eHarmony)." God directed them to each other in the most unimagineable circumstances. Some may claim, chance. Others may deride, luck. Even others may chide, archaic, old-fashioned, neanderthal. But I believe that God always oversees everything and is involved with everyone, even computer compatibility algorithms. Though some may declare online success, I trust God and His principles for working in my life and within the spectrum of my relationships. I am not opposed to compatibility results, but in addition to tests I believe that God's principles and precepts can be followed to maximize great relationships and to offer comparable success for those who abide by the Bible's teachings. God brings people together--whether by culturally arranged means or scientifically calculated algorithms, I believe God still presides over all relationships.


I wonder what you think. I wonder if you believe that God uses even computer sciences to do His will for arranging couples into marriages. Let me know what you think.

My Year Listening to God

"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me (Psalm 3:5)"

As I end my day, I neglected to read my portion of Scripture. I am determined to make this a new habit in my life for this coming year. I read the above words and giggle, because I am tired, yet I made the effort to get to the computer and read the passages and journal my thoughts on my blog.

I am a Christian. I know that the Lord sustains me. Even when I feel tired, unmotivated to read the Bible; God still sustains me.

I praise God for my family. My parents, two sisters, a nephew and a niece all came from New Mexico for a visit. It has been a great 24-hours. I do miss them greatly when we are apart. I need to tell them that. Nevertheless, God fuels my life. God energizes my life. God is a real battery charger for my life. Once I gave my life to Him, I can sleep or stay awake and He sustains me.

I trust you can find that kind of confidence too. I am so grateful to God for sustaining me. In Psalm 3 the context of the chapter is David fleeing from his own son who wanted to kill him. I do not have the same life circumstance, but the truth rings true. No matter how crazy or insane my life may feel--God can sustain you. I wonder what kind of insanity has made you crazy this week. I am open to hearing from you. Later, I need to go to sleep.

Wisdom for your life

Photo from National Geographic

My readings in Proverbs is coming to a close. On June first I will begin a year reading through the Bible. You may wonder why a minister, a pastor, a member of the clergy is reading through the Bible (my facebook page). You may ask, "don'cha already know the bible? You did graduate with many degrees of divinity and theology?"

Yeah. But I need a fresh dose of the Bible again. In my spiritual journey I discover that I need variety and a challenge. I will be following the through the Bible in a year format but i am adjusting it to fit my year. So I've adapted an online schedule to suit my need.

In my reading today, I am amazed at a lot of things. Agur, a wise man referenced in Solomon's book of Proverbs was also amazed at four things;

"There are three things which are too wonderful for me, four which I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid
(Proverbs 30:18-19)."

I don't understand a lot of things. But as I make time to reflect. I discover some amazing things. One of those is the way of an eagle in the sky. As a teen, I watched a golden eagle soaring the in the sky. At first I thought it was a crow or raven, but my father corrected me. "It's a golden eagle, son. You can tell by its flight (pattern), its size, and its silhoutte (plumage)."

I marveled at how my father could see those characteristics, but then I stared at the sky for a few minutes scanning the celestial spaces, tracking the golden, dark spectre spanning the skies above me. The more I observed, the more I understood what dad said. The more I stood amazed, the more I grew in understanding.

In a way I was jealous of that taloned aviator. I wished I could float on the thermals, to mount on wings over the high desert of New Mexico. To look down and over the barren land with regal stature. Wow! I was amazed and still am amazed at God's creation.

God made great things in creation. That's what my pastor, Pastor Bob will share this weekend in our services on Sunday. You may listen to his message on our website. The main truth is to honor and to enjoy your Creator while you're still young (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Though I am not "young" any more, I stilll honor and enjoy the Creator of my memories of golden eagles today.

I wonder if any of the things Agur mentions amazes you. Make a comment and let me know what amazes you.

No gas, no go

go get alone
In his book Confessions of a Pastor, Craig Groeschel candidly writes that while standing on the platform one Sunday and leading a prayer before speaking, he ...

I appreciate the help of Simply Youth Ministries. Before joining Wooster Grace I served at Northwest Chapel in Dublin, OH. One of my many pastoral roles was shepherding students. I always appreaciated my friends Doug and especially Kurt because I was leading junior high ministries.

This article "from the field" convicts me. I need to commune with God. I send out a prayer letter for missionaries. Yet I fail to pray consistently for them. In my Prayer Force Update I challenged our prayer warriors to see prayer as communion with God, not merely presenting prayer requests. So I need to unplug, to commune with God.

Just like my co-laborer, David Norman, I need to fill up the spiritual tank and go forward in the power of God. I need to go get alone with God. I love his tips (visit link above)--the one I will put into practice is using a reading schedule to daily read the Bible in a year. I am celebrating my birthday on June 1. So for my forty-third year of life on this earth, I choose to read through the whole Bible in a year. I may even join a group--one year bible blog.