Thomas Umstattd Jr.

The Problem With Power

Power confuses and concerns me. Here is the paradox: It is hard to do good without it. The more power a man attains, the more evil he commits. In politics we often think: “If only we could get more power we could do more good.” But is this the case? Three Stories -> One Questions Can you fix a broken system by taking power from bad men and giving it to good men? Here are three stories...

Spoken Prayer and Our Insecurities (Praying Aloud Part 4)

Praying aloud can be scary particularly in a group setting where others can agree or disagree. Fear in Prayer Praying out loud can hit the root of our insecurities. We fear man. We fear our own pride. But it is as we pray anyway that we begin to find true healing. What better way to find freedom from the fear of man than in prayer to God. Remember, if you have turned from your sins and put your trust...

The Benefits of Praying Aloud: Authority (Part 3)

Authority to Pray in Jesus Name Have you ever been in a group of people trying to make a decision and one person persuaded the group? What probably happened was that person spoke with authority. This is how Jesus spoke and it caused even his enemies to marvel (Mark 1:22). If you can write company checks in the boss’ name it means you have his authority to spend company money. In that same way Jesus...

The Benefits of Praying Aloud: Power (Part 2)

Power of the Tongue We live in a world spoken into existence. The power of God’s tongue created the world. He made us in His image and our tongues have power as well. In fact, of all of the faculties imparted to mankind the tongue may be the most powerful. “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” - King Solomon “The tongue that brings healing...

Why March?

Someone recently asked me what the point was to all these pro-life marches. We have marched a lot in recent weeks so the question is valid. I would like to submit the following 5 reasons why we should march and rumble for life. Marching Encourages our Leaders One of the challenges of leadership is that the higher you rise the more out of touch you become. Leaders rely on the media to clue them in...

The Benefits of Praying Aloud: Agreement (Part 1)

Someone once asked me. “Why should we bother to voice our prayers when God already knows our thoughts?” In response I have come up with four benefits to praying aloud. This is an adaptation from a series I did on my old blog. Silent Prayer is Fine Using our tongue to pray is by no means the only way to pray. In fact, it is possible to pray aloud for the wrong motives Matthew 6:5-8. We...

New Site: PracticalCourtship.com

I have started a new website Practical Courtship! The goal of the website is to help make courtship work. So in a way it is a critique of courtship but it is also a guide. So far, it has received a fair bit of traffic and a ton of great comments. I encourage you to come by and check it out. Leave a comment and join the conversation. Also, let me know if you are interested in writing an article for...

The Thin Line Between Creepy and Charming

Yesterday I tweeted “The only difference between creepy and charming is permission.” Some explanation is in order. No, I did not go on a date last night. No, I did not have yet another awkward encounter with a woman. But there is a story here and an interesting conclusion. The tweet was the result of three completely unrelated things blending in my mind. Thing 1: Barrack Obama There has...

A Woman at a Well (Psalm)

You may not know Charity Chambers but she is an up an coming poet. Unfortunately, she has no blog so it is hard to read her work. The good news is that she gave me permission to publish this poem. I think you will like it even if you’re not into poetry. A Woman at a Well By Charity Chambers I was almost there, I needed one more day. I was following a vision, and I was on my way. Chasing after...

Does Jesus Have Cancer? – Part 2

In part one we talked about Spiritual Cancer and how to see if you are a cancer cell in the body of Christ. So now what do we do about the other cancer cells in the Body of Christ? Here is what Jesus has to say about it: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped...