Day: October 22, 2008

Mundane is Glorious

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Mark Altrogge is a name some may recognize as the author of such worship songs as I Stand in Awe and I’m Forever Grateful.  Most probably won’t recognize the name or the songs.  Mark is also a pastor in Western Pennsylvania, affiliated with the Sovereign Grace Ministries network.

Mark has written a recent post, Mundane is Glorious, that touches on something the Lord is – and has been – teaching me.  I’m a slow learner. But Mark’s post is encouraging.  It helps me deal with my glaring lack of greatness.  He reminds me that it is not greatness that necessarily honors God, but faithfulness:

[God is] no more glorified by the pastor preaching to thousands than he is by the Mom trying to get her one-year-old to eat his Gerber peas for the hundredth time.

[God is] no more blessed by the man who leads thousands in worship than by the dad who runs a high lift all day, plays catch with his kids after dinner, and falls asleep reading a Bible story to his kids before bed.

If you ever wrestle with wonder about how God can, and does, view a life that is common, ordinary, and seemingly unremarkable, check out Mark’s post.  It is is a refreshing, and godly, perspective.

Prayer at the Plate

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

The World Series begins tonight, and I’ve been thinking about prayer. What do those things have in common?  Perhaps not much. But consider:

We all like home runs. We like to watch them. And if we are playing, we like to hit them.  But if a player goes to the plate trying to hit a home run with every swing, he will usually strike out and end up on the bench.  Effectiveness is found in making contact, and usually hitting a lot of singles that add up to runs.  

I think this is where baseball and prayer might connect. 

In prayer we also like the home runs – those things that are so amazing that we stand in awe when we see God at work and our prayers answered.  Even if we are not the one who offered the prayer, we like to watch and hear stories of others who had prayers answered in a BIG way.  We seem to admire those who are gifted for prayer, and may even be a little envious.  But the fact is, when we pray most of the time we will not hit homers.  Many times the situation does not even call for it. Yet faithful singles add up.  If we understand this we are less prone to get frustrated or disappointed.  And occasionally a surge of power will amaze us.

By the way: Go Phillies!!