Zechariah 14:8-11 {Prayer} Cities spend big bucks on marketing. In the 1970’s New York City was in chaos. Crime was running wild. As a means of scaring off tourists, unions across the city actually ran a campaign called “Welcome to Fear City”. Tourists were told that they should “stay away from New York City if…
Zechariah 12:10-14 {Prayer} “God is dead.” This is what a 19th century German philosopher by the name of Friedrich Nietzsche said. The expression, “God is dead,” is famously associated with Nietzsche’s book titled Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Nietzsche used the phrase figuratively. Zechariah, however, used the phrase literally. God. Is. Dead. But really? That’s…
Zechariah 9:11-12 {Prayer} I invite you to look at this pit. It looks pretty deep and what you can’t see is that there is no water in it. Now envision a 17-year-old teenager stuck in the waterless pit. His hands are bound. His ankles are tied together. His eyes are wet from tears. His…
Zechariah 9:9-10 {Prayer} Expectations meet reality. The sandwich looked good on the menu, but it didn’t look good when it was served. You thought you had taken a great picture, but now you want a retake. You thought loading the car for the trip would be easy, but your children wanted to bring way…
Zechariah 13:1-2 {Prayer} When Jessica and I were dating, she lived in Perryville, Missouri and I lived in the west suburbs of Chicago. After work, which was in downtown Chicago, I would be driving down I-55 and see these large oil refineries in Joliet. The jungle of tubes, pipes, valves, switches and pumps could…
Zechariah 8:20-23 {Prayer} “First secure your own oxygen mask.” This directive is familiar to anyone who has traveled on commercial airplanes. In the event of an emergency, like a sudden loss of cabin pressure, we’re told by the flight attendant that an oxygen mask for each person will drop from the overhead compartment. In…
Zechariah 5:5-11 {Prayer} Who will take the garbage out? That is a question which has been asked in households for years. Obviously if your single that question doesn’t apply simply because you are the only trash-taker-outer there is. But for married couples and those with kids … now that’s a whole different story. …
Zechariah 3:1-10 {Prayer} Dr. Reed Lessing, the author of our series on the book of Zechariah, tells the story of a time when he was stuck in the Atlanta airport. His flight to St. Louis for whatever reason was canceled. The next flight was jam-packed and he knew that if he didn’t get on…
Zechariah 1:18-21 {Prayer} One of my favorite TV shows growing up was Home Improvement staring Tim Allen. In each episode, Tim hosted his own home improvement show with his trusty, mild-mannered assistant Al. They were introduced with the question, “Does everybody know what time it is?” And the response was always what? “It’s Tool…
Zechariah 1:1-6 {Prayer} This painting titled The Tower of Babel was painted in 1563 by Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel. The painting depicts the story in Genesis 11 where the people say, “Come, let us build a tower and let us make a name for ourselves” (11:4). What lies at the heart of The Tower…