16-9: June 2017

Monday, June 12, 2017

Clothed in White

This past school year I had the privilege of reading the Daily Promises of God for Educators with my brothers and sisters in the public schools on my podcast, Around the Word in 180 Days. God’s promises are beautiful, encouraging and a magnet to His heart. I was inspired by Dr. Barry Black, chaplain of the United States Senate to study the promises of God on Labor Day 2015. It took the whole school year (2015-2016) to gather His promises. I used many previously written books to determine how to present them, but nothing hit me until I placed them into a spreadsheet and realized that I had 200 promises: 99 in the Old Testament and 101 in the New Testament! I had no idea that He was a Promise Keeping God for time and all eternity. As I presented all 200 promises, I felt compelled to “regift” one of them to you in this post. In Revelation 3:5 it says, "The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.” Our God is going to dress us in white!

Each time that I gathered the promises, I presented them in four translations and then wrote a note that I simply called the Note to the Educator. This is the one from this promise:

What if we had a day when all Christian educators wore white to school? It would be our symbol of hope in this incredible promise. Let’s do it. I am proclaiming the first Thursday after Labor Day as “Clothed in White Day” to unite all Christians in the public schools to proclaim their belief that one day all His saints (us!) will be dressed in white with our names written in the Book of Life while He announces our names before our Father and His angels. What a celebration it will be. Help me spread the word. It may start small, but who knows how far it can reach with the power of the Holy Spirit?

AW 180 Days Clothed in White post (scroll down to the Day 196 promise)

Let’s do it, my friends! Let’s dress in white on the first Thursday after Labor Day. This year our Clothed in White Day will be September 7th. You may have to get a new shirt, slacks, skirt or dress, but can you imagine how beautiful you will look and feel knowing that you are representing one of the ultimate promises of our Lord and God? Pray about it, my friends. Let us give Him all the glory.

As always, I am prayerfully yours,

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

Join the Movement!

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com
AW 180 Days book on Amazon

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

• Go to www.one16pray.com and www.aw180days.com for more information.

• Visit, "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

• Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind

May God bless you as you rest and prepare for the 2017-2018 school year.

Christian Educators Association International is the only professional association in the United States specifically for Christian educators in public schools. CEAI protects our members first in prayer, next with excellent professional liability insurance and other benefits while helping them live out their high calling as a Christian in the public school.

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Summer 2017

“No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks,” is the refrain most remember from Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out For Summer,” because through the eyes of a student that doesn’t love school there’s great reality. However, don’t we all hope they are still learning throughout the summer. Many students are blessed to have parents who travel and take them places while other students vegetate in front of the TV. What about teachers? What do they do when the school door closes for the school year? For me, I always needed those first few days to do nothing. It was as if the hammer that was clanging on my head the whole year suddenly stopped. After that I typically had some type of professional development to attend, a conference or two and plans for next years. Fortunately, there is much more time for family and what a gift.

As you enjoy these summer days and typically have a slower pace, please let me encourage you to spend more time with the Lord. Develop holy habits that could be continued in the school year (perhaps on an abbreviated scale) that will cultivate your relationship with the Lord. It’s easy to cry out to Him in our desperations and exasperations, but too often we forget Him in less stressful times. I would like to offer just a few suggestions for spending time with Him:

Invest in the habit of prayerwalking.
Be in the Word everyday.
Give thanks.
Practice 1:16 PM
Find an accountability partner.

Investing in prayerwalking has been a life saver for me. One of our pastors suggested it and I have found it to be my most engaging time in prayer. You definitely cannot fall asleep. If you’ve never tried it, the first time it’s a little awkward to pray and walk at the same time. Depending on where you are, the words can be audible or silent but the beauty that He has created around you is a testimony to His love. I have been prayerwalking everyday for 25 years and look forward to any time I can get to the water’s edge to prayerwalk at sunrise.

Being in the Word everyday is critical to our success as educators. I realize how hard that is early in the morning, but it doesn’t have to be long and involved, but He’s our coach. We need to drink in His plans and promises to be effective. A simple holy habit that I love is “flopping” in the Word. I randomly “flop” open my Bible each day and search for His message. 90% of the time I’m jazzed by what He reveals to me and I write a quick note back to Him with grateful thanks and an attempt to understand the verse in my present situation. The great app available for devotionals and tons of Bible translations is simply called Holy Bible. It’s been a life saver to have the word on my devices and available everywhere and anywhere I go.

We are asking you to practice 1:16PM this summer because for the 2017-2018 school year, we are asking every Christian in the public schools to stop and pray at 1:16PM. Based on Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile, we believe that this movement can be in every public school in America. The key is reverence and discretion. For more information, visit www.one16pray.com. Help us spread the word to your sphere of influence.

Finally, seek an accountability partner or small group who will hold you accountable to your desires to please Him. There is no better summer investment of your time than to grow more in love with our Lord. He will guide you, provide for you, look over you and give you peace. May this be your most refreshing summer ever.